Date: 4/15/25 8:12 am From: David Armstrong via groups.io <darmstrong99...> Subject: [SFBirds] Presidio walking Big Day
Hello SF birders -
Yesterday Dom, Matt, Bob and I covered 14 miles on foot, over the course of 10 hours, hitting the main Presidio hotspots in a quest to tally as many bird species as we could find. Conditions were challenging, with a foggy start to the day and a cold and windy end - nonetheless we managed a total of 94 species starting with duetting Great Horned Owls at Rob Hill Campground at dawn and ending with a Northern Mockingbird seen at Lobos Dunes near the end of our walk. We had relatively few ducks (only 3 species), gulls (also 3) or shorebirds, in large part because the water level was too high at Crissy Lagoon and Quartermaster Reach. We mostly missed out on migrants as it seems the action yesterday was on the hilltops above the fog. We did manage a few late overwintering birds including Ruby-crowned Kinglets (2), Hermit Thrush (1) and Fox Sparrow (1). Swallows put in a good show (we saw the 5 expected species) as did swifts (1 Vaux's and numerous white-throated). Other highlights included a singing Wrentit along the upper part of Battery Caulfield Road, a late Belted Kingfisher at Crissy, and a splendid alternate-plumaged Horned Grebe at the west end of the lagoon, one of the very few birds we saw there. Surprising misses included Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, and Red-throated Loon. All in all a great day in the field! Dom's detailed checklist with notes is here.
Happy spring birding -David
