Date: 3/26/25 10:11 pm From: Daniel Edelstein via groups.io <danieledelstein...> Subject: [northbaybirds] Last Few Days: Grasshopper Sparrow At Mt. Burdell (Novato), plus Las Gallinas (San Rafael) & Pacheco Valle (Novato)
Please note the following Seasonal Sightings/Detections, per the last few days:
3/25/25:
1 singing *GRASSHOPPER SPARROW* via my listening for 20 minutes at the southwestern portion of the meadow*
(* = 1/2 mile uphill on the main trail from San Andreas
Drive cul de sac parking area/trailhead)…..(Note I did NOT detect this species on my 3/21/25 visit to the south flank of
this mountain where I have heard and seen in by late March annually over many past years.)
Other info.:
As you may already know, this species is typically an annual breeder on Mt. Burdell…and my 3/25/25 detection is on par with its typical arrival date within the suitable breeding habitat (cropped 3-5" non-native grassland) upon the mountain's south flank and within
expansive non-native grassland hosted in the meadow…..
Wish to hear it? Find the six-foot-long prostrate log next to the main trail's northwest side
after you ascend the trail .5 mile.
Then stand and listen to your east 200' where non-native grassland dominates; the individual I heard was within or adjacent to a thicket of blooming California Buttercup
SORRY, I tried but was NOT able to obtain a recording because I ONLY heard one song in the 20 minutes I listened….and a repeat song never occurred after the initial one happened.
Amazing....though it's possible a more early arrival than my mid-morning visit to this area would have yielded more song episodes.
*
3/10 - 3/25/25 inclusive in Pacheco Valle (i.e., forested area via the southern-most Novato exit off Hwy. 101…and across the highway from Hamilton Field):
Ongoing calling and singing *VARIED THRUSH* presence in Marin Co. Open Space District forest adjoining our residence in Pacheco Valle.
Interested in noting the abundance presence by region in N. America for this species’ northward migration in Cornell Lab of Ornithology's “Status & Trends”…?
If so: Please feel free to view and watch an animation map of this species progressive presence and absence via:
1 *LEAST BITTERN* performing classic “poo poo poo” call from the western-most island of the three in Pond #1….but no glimpses visually.
I reported this detection on my eBird list, but did not see a rare bird species alert posted in the aftermath of my submittal on 3/24/25.
29 remaining *BONAPARTE’S GULL* remaining on pond #2
6 *BLUE-WINGED TEAL* present as three separate male-female diads in the western-most of the three “sludge” ponds that occur inside the
barbed wire fence area (that is immediately east of pond #2).
