Date: 2/13/25 10:43 am From: Dominik Mosur via groups.io <dominikmosur...> Subject: [SFBirds] recent misc. - cont. Rufous Hummingbirds, Swinhoe's White-eye update et al
The two (now SY - Second Year ) male RUFOUS Hummingbirds continue at the Stanyan Street Historic Trailhead up to Mount Sutro. Both birds were present in the Abutilon patch at the start of the trail yesterday (2/12) - they seem to favor opposite sides of the trail. One favors the north side of the trail and appears to be further along in its molt with an almost completely filled in gorget and mostly rufous back; the bird that tends to hang out at the edges of the backyards on the south side of the trail still has a bit of green flecking in the upper back and only spotty gorget. I suppose extra attention should be paid to any fledgling hummingbirds that emerge at this location this spring for signs of hybridization.
Allen's Hummingbirds were first noted on Mount Sutro on 1/26 . So far I've only seen adult males but females should be arriving any day.
Since initially discovering the presence of SWINHOE'S WHITE-EYES in the Haight on 1/21 I've been visiting the area periodically and at least (2) and possibly (3) birds have been consistently present along Waller Street at the Junction with Clayton. While not currently a "countable" species, Swinhoe's White-eye has been steadily increasing in range and numbers in Southern California and may soon be joining the official list of naturalized species in the state.
For the fourth consecutive winter Buena Vista Park continues to host a small flock of WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS. A group of 4 birds were noted together on 2/6 in the NE portion of the park near the Tennis Courts/Gardening storage containers. In years past as many as 8-9 have been seen at this location. A single "white-stripe morph" White-throated was at the Clipper Terrace Community Garden on 2/7.
Murrelets continue to put in a good showing off the coast the past couple of weeks. During a Sunday morning seawatch on 2/9 (2) ANCIENT and (4) MARBLED as well as several more unidentified Murrelet sp. were noted.
There are still quite a few spots left for this Saturday's Corona Hill bird walk. There is nominal registration fee for this event which helps support programming at the Randall Museum, a City/Recreation and Parks facility, You can register for the walk at this link:
