Date: 1/8/25 3:18 pm
From: Zac Denning via groups.io <zdenning1...>
Subject: [EBB-Sightings] Continuing Winter Wren at Berkeley Meadows (pending CBRC acceptance)
After a long hiatus with no observations, I was able to refind the
continuing presumed Winter Wren (pending CBRC acceptance) today at about
10am at Berkeley Meadows. The bird was at roughly (37.8673626, -122.3093088
<https://maps.app.goo.gl/Mc7d6HmY1WqMAPUh9>), though it tends to move all
around this willow patch. I originally found this bird on November 24th.

Ebird list from today with low quality photos and audio:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S208524113
Ebird list from 11/24/24 with better photos and audio:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S203502632

This bird can be tough to find: it's skulky and tends to stay deep within
the large willow thicket on the south side of the trail. Hearing the bird
is key to finding it: listen for nasal sounding double bark calls that are
reminiscent of a Song Sparrow's contact call, sometimes faint / from deep
in the thicket. It also made the chatter call once today that's included in
Sibley.

For anyone chasing, I would plan to dedicate a few hours, listening
intently for extended periods at various points along the border of the
trail and the willow grove. The bird sometimes responds to House Wren
chatter calls or pishing. Morning from 8-11am as well as late afternoon to
dusk seem to be when the bird has most often been encountered.

Based on my experience with this and another recent Winter Wren (found by
Lucas Stephenson, Emmett Iverson and Adrian Hinkle at the SF zoo on 12/22),
I'd suggest looking for the bird in the next few days rather than waiting,
as they seem to sometimes 'disappear' or become harder to detect over time.
The SF zoo bird was not refound after the first day (though birding
coverage there outside of the CBC is sparse).

FYI: Merlin won't necessarily suggest the correct ID for this bird's calls
(it suggested Song Sparrow today, as it did on 11/24/24). Perhaps after
enough reports of this species on Merlin / Ebird, that will begin to change
(as I'm told it did after multiple reports in November).

Based on today's photos, this bird can be confirmed as being the same
individual that I initially encountered in November, based on an
idiosyncratic pale left allula (originally pointed out to me by Marty
Freeland in his plumage analysis).

Good luck,

Zac Denning
Albany


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