Date: 11/13/24 3:01 pm From: Alex Castelein via groups.io <alex.castelein...> Subject: [sbcobirding] American Redstart, etc
Hi all,
Other than the fantastic outing to Scorpion with Hugh and Florence, I
haven’t been able to get out much the last week or two, but there have been
some birds worth mentioning.
Today on my bike ride home from Goleta beach, I heard a Yellow-type chip,
and being quite late for Yellow, I stopped to locate the bird. Sure enough,
there was a female type *American Redstart* (“yellowstart”) happily
foraging in the large sycamore by Harold Frank Hall (34.4134990,
-119.8417258). It’s getting late for migrants, so there’s a chance this
bird attempts to overwinter, which would be great for the CBC.
Afterwards the *Lucy’s Warbler* that Conor found this morning close to the
thunderdome continued exactly where he described (34.4140757,
-119.8521619). Presumably this is last winter’s bird returning, another
good one for the CBC.
Last Tuesday (11/5) the immature *Common Gallinule* continued at the pond
by the intersection of Los Carneros and Mesa. Duck diversity there is
increasing, with 6 cinnamon and 2 gw teal, 2 shovelers, 26 gadwall, 2
wigeon, 2 bufflehead, and 2 ruddies. Also present were 1 shrike, 1 snipe,
and 3 Sora foraging out in the open.
I’ve also been checking the gull flock at Goleta Beach every few days, with
the winter gulls coming in. 11/6 I had my first Thayer’s of the winter.
11/7 my first Herring on south coast this winter, which showed some Vega
characteristics (clean white checkered wing coverts, lots of white in outer
rectrices giving it a dark tail band look), but I couldn’t get half-decent
photos before a dog flushed the entire flock out onto the water, and I
think the rump was too densely barred, so this one is going in the American
bucket. That day also had my first 2 short-bills of the season. Today
(11/13) there were 8 short-bills, but nothing much of note. I’ve had 2-5
Ring-billed in the flock since September, but numbers haven’t increased yet.
Storke Field has been holding numbers of American Pipit when no one is
using it, with 30 there 11/6. It could be a good spot to find an
interesting pipit or other field-loving bird. Also had a small flock of
Cackling Goose fly over and 2 meadowlarks on the lawn (weird for the spot).
On Sunday (11/10) I did a quick loop of the Jalama Beach Campgrounds after
fossil hunting, where the best birds were gulls, with one each of Thayer’s,
American Herring, Glaucous-winged, and Bonaparte’s. Lots of blackbirds
here, and it could be a great spot for a Rusty to show up.
