Date: 3/8/25 10:33 am From: maliadances via groups.io <maliadances...> Subject: [pen-bird] San Mateo County Cumulative Year-list Report for --- February 2025
*Greetings Pen-birders,*
San Mateo County birders found a total of 9 species that were new for the year by the end of February. This brings the total species observed by the end of the second month to 224. In reading the following, please note, the number in parenthesis next to the bird name is the rarity code assigned for San Mateo County birds. *From the link below* , you can *see definitions for the rarity codes,* *download a checklist* which shows seasonality, frequency, and county breeding information, *find a full list of the birds* observed so far in 2025 *, plus* *all monthly reports going back to 2009.* http://www.sequoia-audubon.org/SMCbirds.php ( http://www.sequoia-audubon.org/SMCbirds.php )
*Here are the new birds for February, their finders and locations where found:*
A male TUFTED DUCK (4) was found in the pond at Oracle by Barry Thomson. Jake McCumber saw a WANDERING TATTLER (4) at Pescadero State Beach. During a sea-watch at Pigeon Point Ron Thorn spotted a RHINOCEROS AUKLET (1). Another sea-watch at Pigeon Point provided views of a BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE (3) for Alex Henry, Sharon J and Teale Fristoe. Aidan Sinha encountered a LEAST BITTERN (6) at Pilarcitos Creek. Records provided to me by Ron Thorn and Leonie Batkin indicate there were 4 previous records LEAST BITTERN in San Mateo County, making this the 5 th county record. Joshua Stacy has spent a lot of time in the forest tracking this bird down and finally his efforts paid off with being able to photograph and obtain audio of a/the BARRED OWL (6) in the Memorial Park area. Jeff Pace got a look at a PRAIRIE FALCON (5) while visiting the La Honda Creek OSP. Malia DeFelice and Chris Hayward were very much surprised to see a LAWRENCES GOLDFINCH (4) in their Half Moon Bay yard as this is not the species habitat. Liam Murphy discovered a CLAY-COLORED SPARROW (4) while birding along Tunitas Creek Rd.
*Birding San Mateo County:* There are plenty of ways to see birds. Did you know *The San Mateo County Bird Alliance leads birding Field Trips* on a regular basis? To join a field trip, check out their schedule here: http://www.sequoia-audubon.org/fieldtrips.html
*To stay informed of the latest bird news, consider creating an account with both Peninsula Birding (Pen-bird) and eBird.* To join eBird, simply go to https://ebird.org/home and create an account. To join the Peninsula Birding group, join here: https://groups.io/g/peninsula-birding You can post your sightings there and be kept informed of sightings throughout the county including discussions about birds, population trends, where-can-I-find topics, events, field trips, webinars, pelagic trips and conservation issues. You can engage with other members of the birding community and can connect with online/offline discussions.
*This Report:* As volunteers for the San Mateo County Bird Alliance we gather content for this report, each month, by primarily using eBird and Pen-bird. When posting to Pen-bird, please include the location and date of your sighting in either the subject line or in the body of your email. If you don’t use eBird or Pen-bird, you can always email Malia directly. Thank you!
If you have questions or comments regarding this report, or if we missed something,
