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Thank you for subscribing to the <daily> San Luis Obispo County Rare Bird Alert. The report below shows observations of rare birds in San Luis Obispo County. View or unsubscribe to this alert at https://ebird.org/alert/summary?sid=SN36231 NOTE: all sightings are UNCONFIRMED unless indicated.
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Yellow-crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa violacea) (1) CONFIRMED
- Reported Sep 30, 2026 11:10 by Petra Clayton
- Pismo Creek mouth, San Luis Obispo, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-120.6392555&<ll...>,-120.6392555 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S397910690 - Media: 3 Videos
- Comments: "Continuing since 9/27/26 (Yamina Pressler).
Overall gray plumage; black head with a bold pattern of a buffy triangular crown stripe with some brownish tinge in the forecrown; a broad off-white facial stripe, that starts under the eye and flares out towards the back of the head, stout all gray bill with yellow feathers at the base of the lower mandible; orange-red eye. ---
Perched and preening in the willows on the north side of the creek, up-creek and close to the Cypress Street bridge.
Click on the image below for a Flickr video, which shows the Yellow-crowned Night Heron preening, scratching and stretching:
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jack-petra-clayton/55562249068/in/dateposted-public/" title="Yellow-crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa violacea), Pismo Beach, CA"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/31337/55562249068_e5f0483622.jpg" alt="Yellow-crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa violacea), Pismo Beach, CA" /></a>
**Birds of the World**
Self-Maintenace: Preening, Head-Scratching, Stretching:
"Preens flight feathers by nibbling at base of feather and running bill down length of feather. Preens coverts and ventral body feathers by nibbling at base and intermittently ruffling feathers. Preens dorsal contour feathers and scapular plumes by extending neck back over shoulder. Preens rectrices by extending neck underwing, nibbling base, and drawing bill distally over feather. Scratches head with claws on toes by lowering head toward foot and raising foot. Stretches frequently follow nest exchange. May stretch leg and wing of one side simultaneously.""
Red-breasted Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus ruber) (1)
- Reported Sep 30, 2026 10:38 by Herb Elliott
- Pismo SB--Oceano Campground, San Luis Obispo, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-120.6265268&<ll...>,-120.6265268 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S397877386 - Comments: "While waiting for the Least Flycatcher to reappear along the maintenance road, a sapsucker flew across the road and moved up a large pine. We continued to focus on the flycatcher.
Sapsucker with red head and breast, no black border separating red crown from white throat, and no black chest band, white mottling on wings; back mottled black-and-white with extensive white speckling."
Red-breasted Sapsucker (daggetti) (Sphyrapicus ruber daggetti) (1) CONFIRMED
- Reported Sep 30, 2026 07:17 by Kilian Hampl
- Pismo SB--Oceano Campground, San Luis Obispo, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-120.6265268&<ll...>,-120.6265268 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S397905041 - Comments: "*A few days early, FOS. One bird in small pine on the east side of the maintenance road. Dark woodpecker with mostly red head and red breast, pale malar stripe, white wing patch, “racing stripes” on back, etc."
Least Flycatcher (Empidonax minimus) (1)
- Reported Sep 30, 2026 10:38 by Herb Elliott
- Pismo SB--Oceano Campground, San Luis Obispo, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-120.6265268&<ll...>,-120.6265268 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S397877386 - Comments: "At 10:56 AM, Kilian and I refound the flycatcher midway along the maintenance road. We heard it give a "whit" call a few times, but my view was single, brief, and at about fifteen feet and slightly below eye level.
Small, compact Empid with relatively large gray head, low rounded crown, and short thick neck; complete white eye-ring, whitish throat, grayish vest, two white wingbars, relatively broad bill with yellowish lower mandible and darker upper mandible. During my brief view I was unable to get images."
Least Flycatcher (Empidonax minimus) (1)
- Reported Sep 30, 2026 07:17 by Kilian Hampl
- Pismo SB--Oceano Campground, San Luis Obispo, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-120.6265268&<ll...>,-120.6265268 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S397905041 - Comments: "***Very rare, always strikes me as somewhat odd considering how frequent they are in other parts of the state. While walking up the road to the amphitheater I picked up on what sounded to my ear to possibly be a whitting Empidonax. I followed the call and found it was whitting incessantly from the tall pines here: (35.110227, -120.627866). At this point I was becoming more convinced of a calling Empid, and as I walked around to view a section of the pine from a different angle I accidentally flushed the bird from the understory of the pine and it flew directly away from me in the direction of the maintenance road where I lost it. My view of the bird flying away was brief and not good, but it was apparent that it was an Empid and a small bright one at that. The call that I heard the bird give was a clear soft extended/slurred “whit”, sounding to my ear perfect for Least and differing slightly from the sharper whits of Dusky and Gray Flycatcher. I then went over to the maintenance road after it and along with Herb we were eventually able to relocate the flycatcher on the west side of the maintenance road here: (35.111768, -120.626974). Initially we only heard it give occasional short bouts of “whit” calls as it stayed back deep in the willows, and it was not calling as consistently as it was before. There was also an almost continuous stream of state parks employees driving through the maintenance road as well which made things very difficult. Eventually during a break in vehicle traffic the bird came in much closer and gave a short bout of whit calls close to us that we were able to hear clearly, though unfortunately the bird was still not visible. Not long after that the bird went silent and seemed to have flown back farther in the willows. We then opted to use a limited amount of LEFL playback: no response. We then on a whim followed it up with Acadian Flycatcher playback to which the bird began calling and then suddenly materialized on an open branch deep back in the willows at eye level where I was able to get a decent look to confirm Least Flycatcher. I then tried to get Herb on it but it immediately flew and we lost it. Over the next 30-45 mins we would continue to hear the bird call from back farther in the willows but it did not come closer and was not seen again. We last heard this bird late morning just before state parks vehicle traffic picked up and then a Cooper’s Hawk flew in.
As mentioned previously, my view of this bird only lasted a few seconds, but I was able to see that this was a very small bright Empid, and that Most obvious was the bright wing with strongly contrasting white wingbars contrasting starkly with the nearly black remainder of the wing coverts. The olive back contrasted slightly with darker olive head and the white eyering was complete and narrow. There was a faint olive vest that contrasted only slightly with the white throat and underparts. The belly and lower sides were off white with a slight yellow wash. Overall this bird appeared large-headed with a low rounded crown and a short thick neck. It was relatively short tailed and had very short primary projection. In the few seconds I saw it, it did flick its tail up once. The bill was of medium length and the lower bill mandible was entirely yellow-orange, whereas the upper bill mandible was dusky darker color. The bill base was broad and the bill tip was broader and not sharp, almost curved on the sides and not straight-sided. From what I could tell the legs and feet were dark. Overall my views were extremely brief and not very satisfactory, but were unobstructed and at a reasonable distance and nevertheless sufficient to confirm this bird as a Least Flycatcher. Unfortunately this bird did not cooperate for photos and/or audio recordings (I think…)"
Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus) (1)
- Reported Sep 30, 2026 11:44 by Ann Stockert
- Laguna Lake — Prefumo Creek Mouth, San Luis Obispo, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-120.6930037&<ll...>,-120.6930037 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S397882968 - Comments: "Observed across from the creek mouth with a scope. It had a reddish (slightly orangey) breast and belly, dark wings, back and tail, with a little red slightly showing on the head. I didn’t really notice a dark mask because it was so quickly chased off by a Say’s Phoebe. It also was smaller than the phoebe. I stuck around hoping it would show back up but to no avail. No photos unfortunately."
Tennessee Warbler (Leiothlypis peregrina) (1) CONFIRMED
- Reported Sep 30, 2026 16:00 by Kaaren Perry
- Morro Bay yard, San Luis Obispo, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-120.844846&<ll...>,-120.844846 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S397878724 - Media: 2 Photos
- Comments: "Bright individual, moving loosely with a small group of Bushtits. Visited the nearby bushes before perching on the birdbath. Was flushed off by HOFI. Small warbler, green upper parts, white underparts including undertail, white eyebrow and dark eyeline. Male?"
Orange-crowned Warbler (sordida) (Leiothlypis celata sordida) (3) CONFIRMED
- Reported Sep 30, 2026 07:17 by Kilian Hampl
- Pismo SB--Oceano Campground, San Luis Obispo, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-120.6265268&<ll...>,-120.6265268 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S397905041 - Media: 18 Photos
- Comments: "*Expected, past peak now it seems. Two in native garden area and another on the peninsula. All dusky Orange-crowned with large bill, slightly greener supraloral, greener upper and paler lower eye arcs, “large-headed” and “hooded” appearance, diffusely streaked breast, “vested” appearance, and extensively dusky-streaked undertail coverts. At least one heard giving deep husky metallic chip calls. Photos of two tba, see media notes for additional comments."
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