Date: 10/3/25 2:51 pm From: Zac Denning via groups.io <zdenning1...> Subject: [EBB-Sightings] Chestnut-sided Warbler at Creekside Park in Albany
While birding with Ed Yong at about 9am, I found a juvenile female
Chestnut-sided Warbler this morning at Creekside Park in Albany.
I first spotted it at (37.8978491, -122.3048576), looking down from the
upper trail (not far below the first hairpin turn in the trail), and I got
Ed looking for it as well. The bird was frustratingly skulky, fast moving
and tough to follow as it moved through the densely wooded area. It was
foraging low to mid canopy in oaks, in the vicinity of a large mixed flock
of chickadees, kinglets and warblers in the canopy. It always stayed at a
lower height than the main flock, flying with occasional acrobatic swoops
in between bouts of foraging mostly hidden in dense clusters of oak leaves.
It remained in this area by itself (on the lower northeast slope of Albany
Hill) even after the flock moved on.
After losing sight of the bird, Ed Yong and I walked down to the lower
trail, to just below the original sighting location, to try to re-find it.
After some effort, Ed refound it in low branches of the oaks on the south
side of the trail - this time in the midst of the mixed flock, just after
we ran into Melani King and Sam Zuckerman at (37.8982372, -122.3050045). We
were standing near where there’s a sanitary sewer manhole cover in the
middle of the lower trail.
Both Ed and I saw it well (and Melani King and Sam Zuckerman may have had
brief glimpses), but unfortunately we weren't able to get photos. We may
have later heard it call a few times (with a chip call similar to a Yellow
Warbler) near the original sighting location with Sam and Melani. While
Merlin identified that call as Chestnut-sided, Merlin also isn't very
reliable with Yellow Warbler-like calls, and we actually didn't see the
bird at that point.
Also notable:
Ed and I saw a northward movement of around 20 Vaux's Swifts from about
mid-way up the hill trail, looking north through a gap in the trees. Two
Swinhoe's White Eyes were also seen by 4-5 of us (after bumping into
Whitney Grover) at the Madison St dead end. It seems like these birds
(considered as exotic escapees on eBird), have become a regular wintering
species at this location, with many of the sightings near the Madison St.
dead end.
