Highlights from the past week or so have included a Cattle Egret, a teal-shoveler hybrid, a returning American Redstart, and new Black-and-white, Tennessee, Nashville, and (wintering) Wilson's warblers.
On 11/17, I was going to bird north coast neighborhoods all morning but 30+ kt winds made this challenging. A short seawatch from Montara was not very productive, although some loons were moving (and Logan Kahle and Caitlin Chock had more than 30,000 Pacific Loons at Pigeon Pt). Checking locations in eastern Montara sheltered from the strong west winds, I had a Nashville Warbler on Ivy Street, a group of Golden-crowned Kinglets by the Valverde Rd pastures, and a White-throated Sparrow at the base of June Hollow Rd.
On 11/16, a Black-and-white Warbler was along Honsinger Ck at Tomkat Ranch in Pescadero, seen during surveys. This private ranch can be accessed only with prior permission. Stopping at Water Ln on the way out of Pescadero, I was surprised to see a Cattle Egret (or Western Cattle-Egret) in a horse paddock (so maybe a Western Horse-Egret). It was very cooperative and a fun bird to spend time with. There are only ~3 records from the county over the past decade, one of which involved two individuals. This species was formerly regular in the county and Ron Thorn described their arrival as typically taking place just after the first rains of the fall (https://groups.io/g/peninsula-birding/message/5978). Although no longer as regular in the county, that is still the context in which this one showed up! Later, I checked some neighborhoods in the Half Moon Bay area. A female American Redstart was at Frenchman's Ck Pk in Half Moon Bay, likely a returning bird present for at least its second winter, and both a new Tennessee Warbler and a cool-looking Audubon's x Myrtle hybrid Yellow-rumped Warbler that gave calls like a Common Yellowthroat were in El Granada neighborhoods.
On 11/14, stopping at the end of Bloom Ln in Half Moon Bay on the way back from surveys at Tomkat Ranch there was a Wilson's Warbler in Arroyo Leon riparian. Bonaparte's Gulls were at the mouths of Pescadero Ck and San Gregorio Ck.
On 11/13, Noah Eckman and I seawatched from Pigeon Point for part of the morning. Conditions were Beaufort 6–9 with southerly winds and rain squalls. We noted relatively little movement. Nearly all of the 100-some southbound loons were Red-throated. 2 male Black Scoters were with southbound Surf Scoter flocks. Numbers of Bonaparte's Gulls were moving south and six Brant were headed north.
On 11/12, a hybrid Blue-winged Teal x Northern Shoveler was at Nob Hill Pond. This is a returning bird first noted in fall 2022 (unless it is the same individual as a record from April 2017) by Ron Thorn and Leonie Batkin. Ron Thorn and Pat Boor had previously encountered it this fall. It is a striking and distinctive-looking duck. Male Northern Shovelers can show a diffuse white crescent on the face and such birds are sometimes erroneously reported as BWTE hybrids. Several such birds are also at Nob Hill Pond at the moment. Peter Pyle has noted that the incidence of this plumage may be higher in the southern part of Northern Shoveler's wintering range, which is interesting.
