Date: 4/1/25 5:08 pm From: Curt Bianchi via groups.io <curt...> Subject: [pen-bird] Fox Sparrow at Burleigh Murray
In light of the discussion regarding Fox Sparrows yesterday, I found it ironic that the very first bird I saw (as opposed to heard) at Burleigh Murray today was a Fox Sparrow foraging around a rivulet created by the overnight rains just beyond the parking lot.
Burleigh Murray has become one of my regular spots lately and this is the first Fox Sparrow I've seen there. I checked and the most recent Fox Sparrow previously reported on eBird at Burleigh Murray was on March 9, over thirty checklists ago. Anyway, anecdotal evidence regarding Fox Sparrows.
Despite intermittent rains, birding at Burleigh Murray today was pretty typical compared to my recent visits. 29 species, most of them heard, although I had excellent looks at a Purple Finch, among others. Wilson's Warblers, Orange-crowned Warblers and Purple Finches singing all along the way. And lots of Pacific Wrens singing their elaborate songs, some in bushes right next to the trail. One Orange-crowned Warbler had the audacity to share the same tree as some Ruby-crowned Kinglets, which made them extremely agitated. Consequently, I got some of the best views of their ruby-red crowns that I've ever had :-)
In my recent Burleigh Murray checklists I've reported two or three Northern Flickers by sound. I've sometimes wondered if I was over-counting them. That is, was I hearing the same Flicker at different times in two different places instead of two different Flickers? Today, I saw one fly across the valley to some Eucalyptus trees near the trail. A moment later, two Flickers flew out of the trees and back across the valley. More than one Flicker.
I typically use Merlin Sound ID when birding. I find it useful for confirming what I'm hearing myself. It also makes me question what I'm hearing if it hears things differently from me. In that respect, it's a really good tool to have. Merlin Sound ID is extremely good in an environment like Burleigh Murray, although it occasionally comes up with a weird ID. Today it claimed to hear an American Redstart—a rare bird for this location, for sure. (None have ever been reported on eBird at Burleigh Murray, so far as I can tell.) Obviously, I ignored Merlin's ID.
But often it correctly hears things for which I don't give it enough credit. That is, if I don't recognize the sound myself or if I can't get a visual confirmation, I discount Merlin's ID and won't include it in a checklist. To be honest, I've repeatedly found that in such cases Merlin was correct all along. I'm not talking about weird rare bird IDs like a Redstart, but birds expected at a given location that I may not have the confidence to identify by sound myself.
For instance, Wavecrest has become another one of my regular haunts. In mid-March Merlin started claiming to hear American Goldfinches there. I didn't see (or hear) many American Goldfinches in the South Bay, where I lived until recently, so I wasn't familiar with what they sounded like and didn't include them in my eBird checklists. But as it turns out, a few days later I was birding at Wavecrest and there was an American Goldfinch singing right in front of me along the trail. Later, I saw and heard many others in the willows. Merlin was right all along, something I've noticed at other times as well.
Anyway, soon the Black-headed Grosbeaks, Olive-sided Flycatchers and Swainson's Thrushes will arrive at Burleigh Murray and the valley will become even more alive with the sound of birds than it already is.
