Date: 10/14/26 10:40 am From: Thomas Turner via groups.io <habarimbu...> Subject: [sbcobirding] Evening Grosbeak, maybe RE Vireo again, North Goleta
I headed out for my weekly San Jose Creek bird count this morning with 399 county birds, thanks to the amazing birds found by others over the past few weeks. I was therefore quite excited to be greeted by an unfamiliar call right outside my house. It was loud, made me think of a house finch trying to making a flicker call. Turned out to be an Evening Grosbeak. It gave great looks as it tried out a few different trees on the cul-de-sac, but flew to the North after a few minutes. I recorded the call, if you want to hear it, at the link below.
I know there is a bit of a tradition of saying a few words about your birding journey when you hit 400 county birds, so let me mainly say: thanks. Thanks to Rebecca Coulter for showing me how neat it is to be able to listen & learn from all the birds around you. Her ears were what inspired me to get serious about birding. I decided to start keeping a list at the very end of 2014, and have had a lot of fun exploring the county since then. Thanks to everyone who shared their cool finds, especially Nick Lethaby and Hugh Ranson, who have got me on so many cool birds these last years. The most exciting bird I found myself would have to be the time a decided to ride my bike down and check Goleta Beach, only to have a Magnificent Frigatebird <https://ebird.org/checklist/S24425485> come up in my face and nearly cause me to crash. I also enjoyed finding my own Philadelphia, White-eyed, Bell’s, Yellow-throated, and Red-eyed Vireos…I guess you can tell I like to bird the riparian.
Speaking of vireos, I think I had a Red-Eyed Vireo singing on San Jose Creek yet again this morning, North of the Patterson bridge. There is a recording of the song at the ebird list below — feedback very welcome, because I didn’t see the bird. I don’t know if the same bird has been hanging out all year or what, but if he has been, he is quiet most of the time.
