Date: 12/30/25 11:29 pm From: Josiah Clark via groups.io <josiah.clark621...> Subject: [SFBirds] presidio CBC area report, 11 warbler species etc
The Presidio was fortunate to have a packed team of 15 dedicated counters
who came through on Count day.
This team has a remarkable number of people who live or work in the
territory, which combined yields a deep and vast local knowledge of
virtually every corner of this territory. We were also honored to have the
participation of Members of the Presidio natural resource staff and counters
from the East Bay and beyond.
Good coverage, accurate counts and the identification of as many birds as
possible was our unified goal. And to that end yesterday’s crew absolutely
crushed it!
By delegating tasks and working from the corners of the territory towards
the middle, the team was able to make the most of nearly perfect winter
birding conditions. we even had time for a midday meeting at the battery
before redeployment.
A solid winter east wind flight at Battery Godfrey combined with
exceptional rare and vagrant bird hounding in the riparian laden
neighborhoods of the eastern Presidio were the significant
contributing factors in the territory reaching its highest (and likely
unbeatable) total of 131 species.
While rarities and high species totals often take center stage, The trends,
patterns and data are the most important part of any Christmas bird count.
On a positive note, it was great to see an increase in yellow- rumped
warblers (Hundreds in the Presidio and all through the neighborhoods).
Junco numbers feel like they have improved a little bit to me. As usual,
the hummingbird numbers got kind of ridiculous but I suspect at least 300.
three FalconsSeriously
An estimated 4000 band-tailed pigeons And 1500 robins (Varied thrushes,
Siskins, purple finches mixed in ) passed over the Presidio, most on their
way north. I was riding around pre-dawn and had to go over there to check
it out. Swarming pigeons and robins on the first breath of the new day,
strafing Falcons and so forth. It was a good scene.
Many of the native habitats, especially Oak and riparian were quite active
with Bird life. Similarly, the Experimental forest areas planted and led up
by The Presidio Trust are coming into their own and proving to be rich new
birding areas.
Barn Owls have been around recently, but we missed it despite over five
hours of owling effort. Nine great-horned owls was actually low. It was
silent night out there with most sounding off only at dawn.
Sea level rise is another major theme that has become obvious to me over
the decades as I cover the Presidio over and over again. Once
again,Christmas counts capture the shifting baseline.
The Snowy Plovers that always used to be In the shorebird protection
area are now gone along with the Driftwood and native Dune vegetation in
which they hid. Washed away on historic level king tides.
The Rocky shores of North Baker Beach where Surfbirds used to be are now
covered over much more of the time and the intertidal
foraging regime altered.
The Crissy Field Lagoon, which used to have more open mud and gradual
chores is now filled like a bathtub with little room for sure Birds. In the
much constricted shoreline, locals found just 12 Wilson’s Snipe, About half
of normal And there is decreasing shorebird habitat In the Crissy Lagoon.
What was really missing for us in the Presidio were not species but rather
the numbers of them. Sparrows. I suspect we get about 25% the numbers that
we used to get a decade ago. Golden-crowned numbers are better than last
year, but overall crowned and fox sparrow numbers are way down. Studies
indicate that a new breed of organophosphate Fertilizers and
Neonicinitinoid Pesticides have been linked to sparrow declines.
Bushtits are getting quite sparse hard to find. Similarly blackbirds have
essentially evacuated the territory, except at their very important
roosting and nesting site in the reeds at Mountain Lake Park. Mourning dove and
scrub jay numbers are way down. Mockingbirds used to be common in the
territory, now we often miss them. I believe the recent population
explosion of crows and ravens is directly responsible for the decline in
the non-migratory, resident species listed above.
Highlights:
We had three species of falcon, 2 species of Eagle (9 raptor species),
Grebe grand slam, both rails, 14 Species of waterfowl, 7 species of sparrow
and 11 species of warbler!
Hugh Cotter at the helm of Godfrey: Golden Eagle, Barn Swallow, WF geese,
cackling geese, pintail, more uncommon presidio ducks etc
Andrew Mcgann- Bald Eagle, east bluffs (He also tried for saw-wet Owl for
like three hours)
David Webster-Wilson’s Warbler (A stake out in one of his secret patches)
Logan Kahle- This growing boy found the other 10 species of warbler all by
himself… Hermit Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Black and white warbler that he
Originally found in November.
The other two species of eastern warbler include three individuals, and he
should tell you about them…
