Date: 6/18/26 3:37 pm From: Christopher Hayward via groups.io <p_t_nymph...> Subject: [pen-bird] Continuing Bell's Sparrows, Montara Mountain, 6/18/26
Hi All,
Inspired by eBird reports from Ryan Mense and Michael Long I decided to make the hike up Montara Mountain this morning. Starting at the Gray Whale Cove parking lot in partly sunny skies the weather rapidly got worse the higher I went, up near the classic "Bells' Bowl" area the wind was gusting around 30mph and visibility was down to 200ft at best.
This made locating the Bell's Sparrows tough to say the least. Finally after hearing multiple Junco-like "tink" calls I found two Bell's close together just down hill from the old rusted out truck near here at the top of the Alta Vista Trail, 37.56289, -122.48393.
I then headed up the main trail to the "gully" where both Ryan and Michael had photographed another bird, here the wind was really howling but I did get a few brief looks at another Bell's Sparrow there at this location given by Ryan 37.56054, -122.48141.
Bell's Sparrows were first reported here by Dominik Mosur in July 2018 and have been seen every year since with the exception of 2023 and 2024, certainly worth keeping an eye on them as a probable breeding location.
Good idea to try for a less windy and foggy day than me if one decides to hike up the mountain! The views can be amazing on a clear day.
Photos on my eBird list link below
Wow. How grateful to see so many nesting birds and fuzzy chicks. Gives one hope all is well in some parts of our world.
Thanks for the report.
Diane
Diane Hart
23150 Cristo Rey Loop Unit 71
Cupertino, CA 95014
Mobile: 650 766 4252
<dianehart...>
On Jun 14, 2026, at 2:24 PM, Barbara Kossy via groups.io <bkossy...> wrote:
Kayaking in the harbor today I went over to the island breakwater to check on the nesting Brant's Cormorants.
Today I counted twenty birds sitting on nests, as seen from the west. You might be able to see them from the dock area, since many were on the top of the breakwater. Also seen were many Western Gull nests, and even three little fuzzy chicks, just as cute as a Western Gull ever gets.
The Common, Red-throated and single Pacific Loons were still paddling around. The Common Loons were in breeding plumage.
I can't forget to mention the hundreds and hundreds of Brown Pelicans.
Did not see any Elegant Terns. Did see a few Pigeon Guillemots. Gotta love those red feet!
Date: 6/14/26 2:24 pm From: Barbara Kossy via groups.io <bkossy...> Subject: [pen-bird] Pillar Pt Harbor, Cormorants
Kayaking in the harbor today I went over to the island breakwater to check on the nesting Brant's Cormorants. Today I counted twenty birds sitting on nests, as seen from the west. You might be able to see them from the dock area, since many were on the top of the breakwater. Also seen were many Western Gull nests, and even three little fuzzy chicks, just as cute as a Western Gull ever gets. The Common, Red-throated and single Pacific Loons were still paddling around. The Common Loons were in breeding plumage. I can't forget to mention the hundreds and hundreds of Brown Pelicans. Did not see any Elegant Terns. Did see a few Pigeon Guillemots. Gotta love those red feet!
Date: 6/11/26 8:46 am From: Alvaro Jaramillo via groups.io <chucao...> Subject: [pen-bird] Start of Farallon season - two spots open for Sat June 13
Hello all,
It is breeding season, likely some of you have been diligently working
on the CA breeding bird atlas. Well, another type of breeding bird
experience is out here of course, and that is to see the masses of birds
(and mammals) on the Farallon Islands. We have two openings that just came
up for the previously sold out trip this Saturday. Weather forecast looks
good! We also have many other trips to the Farallon Islands this season,
into early August.
Early (June and early July) trips have the largest numbers,
concentrations of breeding birds as the Common Murres begin to fledge in
July and numbers therefore decline on the islands. On the other hand, while
seeing Tufted Puffin is likely on all of the trips, it seems like the late
July and early August trips have larger numbers. This year promises to have
a lot of warm water in the area based on ocean forecasts, and current data.
As such birds from the south, such as the boobies are more likely this
season than in the last several years. I would not be surprised if Cocos
Booby is a standard out there this year, and we eventually have some
visiting Blue-footed even! Nazca Booby has been in northern California
already this season. Of course, the long staying Northern Gannet (Morris) is
out there, and we hope to be able to connect with him on the Farallon
visits.
Date: 6/9/26 6:43 am From: Ronald- Thorn via groups.io <Tronthorn...> Subject: [pen-bird] Coast and bayside sightings
Yesterday, I did a seawatch from Pigeon Point. Part cloudy sky, NW wind 8-12 mph, clear visibility out to the horizon. Here is a partial list of what was noted. A steady stream of SootyShearwaters flying north. There were ( 40,800 ) with many close behind the rock off the lighthouse. ( 2 ) Pink-footed Shearwaters. A Manx Shearwater was in with the stream of SootyShearwaters. Cruciform shape, sharp division between the black upperparts and white underparts, short tail, white undertail coverts, white underwings, snappy wingbeats, smallercompared to a Sooty Shearwater, there are a number of records from Pigeon Point, mostly in May. Expected at this time of the year are late northbound migrants. There were ( 22 )Surf Scoters, loons in alternate plumage, ( 1 ) Red-throated Loon, ( 7 ) Common Loons and ( 36 ) Pacific Loons. ( 2 ) Whimbrels. In with Western, California and Heermann's Gullswas a first-cycle Glaucous-winged Gull. ( 5 ) Rhinoceros Auklets and ( 2 ) Marbled Murrelets. Over on the bayside, there has been a lingering male Blue-winged Teal at the NobHill Pond on the 7th and maybe setting in to summer on the pond which would be a first there.
Ron ThornÂ
Date: 6/1/26 8:04 pm From: Marty Freeland via groups.io <martinf3...> Subject: [pen-bird] Tennessee Warblers and other notes
Hi all,
On May 31, Mei Li Palmeri and I had a singing Tennessee Warbler at Filoli. This is only my second spring Tennessee in the county and the first one was earlier this week! Tennessee is quite rare in spring with only about 4–5 spring records from the past two decades. Winterers can stay into April, and this past year we had a record number of fall and winter birds (exceeding 20), but as it happens this year not a single one of our winter Tennessees made it into the new calendar year. Also at Filoli was a singing Black-throated Gray Warbler, which is a somewhat local (though not very rare) breeder in the county, but has not yet been confirmed as breeding in San Mateo for the new California BBA.
On May 30, I birded the central coast from Arroyo Leon to Butano Ck for part of the morning and also put in some effort to confirm breeding for several BBA target species. I succeeded in confirming breeding by Eurasian Collared-Dove (Higgins Canyon Rd), California Thrasher (Pomponio Ck Rd), and Warbling Vireo (Butano Ck). Concerted efforts to confirm breeding by Black Oystercatcher at a variety of locations, Bullock's Oriole at the traditional Stage Rd spot, and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher at Jasper Ridge (far and away the best site for breeders of this species in the county) were not successful. A singing male Yellow Warbler was along Stage Rd at the oriole spot, though orioles were absent. Also, Mei Li and I confirmed breeding by Ruddy Ducks at Pescadero Marsh (N Pond) on May 3, but I omitted to submit that list at the time. These additions bring the San Mateo BBA confirmed breeding species total to 97, and there is still a fair amount of low-hanging fruit.
On May 29, I had multiple territorial Black-throated Gray Warblers along Los Trancos Ck and suspected Green Heron nesting at the small pond by the community center in Portola Valley Ranch.
On May 27, three Purple Martins and at least 8–10 Bank Swallows were at Ano Nuevo; the Bank Swallows were using some of their traditional burrows as viewed from the hillside just west of the pond.
On May 25, I birded the north coast from Calera Ck to the West Miramar Willows. The highlight was a male Tennessee Warbler at San Pedro Valley CP, quite near where San Mateo's last spring Tennessee was (J. Morlan, 5/18/2024). This male was not singing, unlike the Filoli bird, but was low in the willows exactly where last fall's Canada Warbler was. Also notable at this site was a Long-tailed Weasel.
Date: 5/25/26 1:58 pm From: Al Eisner via groups.io <eisner...> Subject: [pen-bird] Bayside area on Palo Alto Summer Bird Count
The June 6 Palo Alto Summer Bird Coubt is held each year in the same circle as the Palo Alto CBC. We are looking for an experienced birder to participate in sector 1, Bayside San Mateo County. If you are interested, please contact me off-list.
Date: 5/25/26 10:57 am From: Barbara Kossy via groups.io <bkossy...> Subject: [pen-bird] Kayaking Pillar Pt. Harbor
Yesterday I was kayaking in the harbor on a lowish tide.
It was fun seeing three species of loon:
1 Pacifc Loon male
about 6 Red-throated loons in various parts of the harbor, including near the mouth
and about 6 Common loons also throughout the harbor.
I noticed two Brandt’s cormorant nests on the island breakwater, and another carrying nesting material. This was is the center part of the breakwater. I saw these from the West side of the breakwater. In the 25 years I’ve been kayaking the harbor, I’ve never before seen nesting cormorants.
Barbara Kossy
Moss Beach
Date: 5/23/26 10:28 pm From: Marty Freeland via groups.io <martinf3...> Subject: [pen-bird] Black-and-white Warbler and Hammond's Flycatcher
Hi all,
Today Mei Li Palmeri and I birded the south coast from San Gregorio Creek to Green Oaks Creek. A cooperative male Black-and-white Warbler was along Whitehouse Ck at Costanoa. Black-and-white is less than annual in spring in the county, with only about three other records that appear to pertain to spring migrants from the past decade (5/13/16 at Frenchman's Ck, 5/30/19 on Gazos Ck, and 6/29/25 also on Whitehouse Ck). By contrast, last fall the county had c. 9–10 individuals, roughly half of which evidently attempted to winter (at central Stage Rd, Honsinger Ck, Madonna Ck, Pilarcitos Ck, and Frenchman's Ck), but of these apparently only the Frenchman's Ck bird made it into this calendar year. Also at Whitehouse Ck was a Swainson's Thrush singing a bizarre aberrant song.
Later in the day we birded the Sandy Pt burn zone accessed from upper Gazos Ck Rd. We were very surprised to hear a singing Hammond's Flycatcher along Gazos Ck Rd a short distance above the gate that marks the upper end of the portion of the road accessible to vehicles. Hammond's is annual in the county in spring, but most records are from Coyote Pt (or Sem Ln or similar bayshore traps) and are from earlier in the season. This spring there have already been two, 4/13 at Sem Ln (R. Thorn) and 4/26–4/27 at Long Ridge OSP (J. Toivanen et al.). Three is an above-average number for the county and May 23 is quite a late date; there is a single record from early June at Coyote Pt, but other than that I think the latest date recorded for a bayside migrant in the county may be May 19 (?). Although this bird was clearly and repeatedly audible giving two Hammond's song elements (the two with quick upswung introductory notes; it did not give the burry song element), it was not very close to the road and we were not able to locate it, and it was not singing on our return. The burn zone in general had numbers of House Wren and Western Flycatcher, much as it did two years ago, and while it still seems worth checking for things like Bell's Sparrow, it does not really have much good Black-chinned Sparrow habitat, at least in the areas within a couple hours' walk of Gazos Ck.
The Indigo Bunting found yesterday by Elliot Schoenig along Cloverdale Rd was not present in a short stop in the morning.
Regionally this spring has been very good for southeastern vagrants so far (above-average numbers of Hooded Warbler and Northern Parula plus several each of Prothonotary, Kentucky, and Yellow-throated warblers and Yellow-throated and White-eyed vireos) and we should be on the lookout for all of these in San Mateo Co.!
