Date: 11/3/26 11:49 am From: Dominik Mosur via peninsula-birding <dominikmosur...> Subject: [pen-bird] misc. from the Coast 11/2/26
Spent some time birding around the San Mateo county coast yesterday, with most of my efforts around the Purisima Creek mouth/Cowell Ranch Coastal trail and Verde Road. Some observations I found of note were: a Cackling Goose with Canada geese in the field south of the junction of Purisima and Verde Rd.s (2) Canvasbacks and (2) American Wigeons along with more expected waterfowl on the Ranch pond viewable from the shoulder of HWY 1 a few hundred meters south of the trailhead/parking lot for Cowell-Purisima a massive gathering of (~4500) TRICOLORED BLACKBIRDS on the utility wires along Verde road starting around an hour before sunset. This appears (at least as far as eBird records) the largest concentration seen in the county. I hope someone who lives closer to the area can go back there in upcoming weeks and check my work. I counted 200 Trikes on one section of utility line and extrapolated from there so some +/- margin of error is entirely possible. an Orange-crowned warbler showing the field marks of a potential Channel Islands (subspecies _sordida_) was in with a flock of bushtits et al near the mouth of Purisima Creek accessed via the Coastal Trail. Also of possible interest was a squeaky sounding Pacific/Winter wren that I managed to record in the same general area.
Earlier in the morning I collaborated with Nicholas Sundeen of Santa Cruz to track down the continuing AMAZING Grace's Warbler at the edge of Pescadero (thank you MARTY). Took a couple of hours but well worth the effort. Also of note here were (13) Evening Grosbeaks and (10) Type Red Crossbills.
