Good evening, South Bay Birders,
Today Dan and I met 12 birders out near the Sunnyvale WPCP to do a bit of
birding on a very nice day with a slight breeze from the SE and a
temperature of 72°F. So nice and un-July-like. Closely viewed birds were
Black-crowned Night Herons, Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Great Blue Herons,
and, of course, the rear ends of departing Green Herons. Along the way
providing entertainment was a family of Black Phoebes, Marsh Wrens singing
near their fresh "pineapple" nests, young House Sparrows "playing" among
the tules on the slough shore, with not-so-red House Finches flying here
and there. And then, appearing out of nowhere, were some American
White Pelicans gently flying away, all black and white against the
gray-blue sky. Barn, Cliff, and North Rough-winged Swallows danced
overhead all day long, only to be interrupted by a Caspian or a Forster's
Tern. A Cooper's Hawk presented an identification problem by landing on
the cross bars of a telephone pole, hiding its head and part of its body by
an insulator! Only the tail, wing length, and fluffy underparts were
visible to start an identification. There were lots of Brewer's, European
Starlings, and Red-winged Blackbirds of various ages to really challenge
our and my identification skills. Then, THE BIRD OF THE DAY made an
appearance! With tules as it's stage a juvenile male Tri-colored Blackbird
posed, sang, fluffed itself, posed some more , then flew off to do
Tri-colored Blackbird stuff. Really cannot add much after this show
stopper, except...
...thank you to Dan for keeping the eBird list which is here.
https://ebird.org/checklist/S366424006
Do not disclose information that identifies the location of nesting birds of any species, to minimize stress on the nesting birds and the risk of vandalism or abuse.
