Date: 4/29/26 11:18 pm From: Josiah Clark via groups.io <josiah.clark621...> Subject: [SFBirds] April 22 SF Bicycle Big Day belated report
One week ago today, Cedric Duhalde and I did a SF big day by bicycle
encountering 125 species on the day.
Nothing less than 10 to 25 from the northwest were are only other options.
(Of course, East winds are far and away the best conditions for an attempt
like this.) But my feeling was anything to avoid biking in northwest winds
all day…again.
April 22 Spring showers in the morning, followed by light south winds
all day was the forecast. What this day revealed about spring migration in
these conditions the city was the salient reward.
Dawning rain gear in the dark we pedaled around Lake Merced quickly
getting Sora and stubbornly trying for green Heron and Virginia rail for
way too long (more than 10 times?) as we awaited dry conditions.
Over at Fort Funston, we were greeted by hundreds of Sandlerling on
the beach. Mixed in were least and Western sandpipers, semi palmated
plovers and Dunlin mixed in. All the peeps stopped in the reverse condition
so to speak, the south wind that is. Just so rafts of Pacific loons loafed
on the water awaiting the prevailing north winds they need to fly into to
carry them to the Arctic.
Meanwhile Common murres were moving in mass going south. Sorting through
them for murreletts I scoped a lone southbound Rhinoceros Auklet flying
southwest. I was not able to get Cedric on it so it was a dirty bird, as
were the only 2 Pine Siskins Cedric had later.
Making stops along the great highway, just before giving up Cedric spied
what appeared to be THE last remaining snowy plover of the season laying
hidden in the sand by Lawton st.
A quick spin through Pine Lake turned up Bullock’s and Hooded Orioles,
House Wren and Band-tailed pigeon.
Scoters were scarce. The turnstone was solo. The Surfbirds had flown
on and tattlers were absent. Onwards through Golden Gate Park scoring
Cedric’s stakeout late Ruby Crowned Kinglet at Mallard Lake and barn owl
nearby. The wood duck at Lloyd, the last pair of ringneck ducks at Heron
Lake, where the hooded Mergansers had recently left, about-two weeks before
the cities last shoveler left there for the season.
Two late Townsend‘s and Cassin’s Vireo atop strawberry Hill were
holdovers from the previous day. Also not migrating, but holding over.
Should this rain storm have been preceded by a big movement of birds, there
may have been a genuine “fallout” as one might hope for in rainy spring
conditions.
The spirit of the day was distinct. Large dark panels of cloud cover
contrasted sharply with bright blue sky. A light sprinkle and mist passed
over like a shifting mood. A warm breeze arose from the south. There were
raptors, swallows and wt swifts in the air, not moving but stalling on
their trip north.
Jamming over to the Presidio we picked up the burritos but few new
birds. We were sitting down about five minutes at Presidio Hills before the
local wrentit pair started sounding off.
Inspiration point had perhaps the most Dramatic flight of the day as the
air mass turned from cool to hot. Rather suddenly an osprey and then
hundreds of swallows of passed over. Scopes came out aimed at the sky and
horizon. Five species of swallow included rough-winged and Cliff. Like a
clot in the migration bloodstream stuck between air masses, this swarm of
experienced migrants quickly took advantage of strengthening winds and
clearing skies to the east. We would soon follow.
Lazuli Buntings in the inspiration point grasslands got our juices flowing,
and we had high hopes of more migrants by the El Polin spring, but it was
not to be. No Swainson’s Thrush. No love with the lover’s lane chat
neither.
With the hour getting late and no “for sure” birds on our originally
planned much longer, mid city route over mt Sutro and thtough Glen Canyon,
we opted to go straight down to the bay and Crissy Field where we scored
our only great egret of the day.
At Ft. Mason, we were were stymied by construction at every turn.’Tis
a breeze to reach Sue Bierman by bicycle. Here almost immediately Cedric
found a western flycatcher. It was as weird as usual in the bushes down
there, but not very birdie and clearly time to move along.
At Pier 94 and Herons head we got the Gadwall pair in the flooded
parking lot. (Damn ballzy birds! Those things almost look like they’re
ready to set up shop and breed in there.)
A stealthy female American Kestrel stole the show in the adjacent
industrial wastelands, suggesting she probably has a yet to be discovered
nest in one of the buildings or towers nearby…This would be the first
breeder in the city in years.
Over at Yosemite Slough there were lesser scaup in the rather hefty scaup
raft but nary an goldeneye. It was what we expected but nothing more.
Perhaps 500 Short-billed Dowitchers flying tututuing over Candlestick on a
re-orienting flight was our last bird of the day.
It was sunset on the Bayside, and without a ripple, the bay was uncommonly
still for spring. The sublime moment in itself was something to celebrate…
We would go on and not find a great horned owl or anything else at night
back at Lake Merced or beyond on my ride back through the park to the inner
richmond.
Somebody may ask why bother to do a big day if you’re not gonna break
the record?
For the record-We never expected to break any records. For the love of the
game. For the spirit of the day. For the birds!
Date: 4/28/26 7:04 pm From: Brian Fitch via groups.io <fogeggs...> Subject: Re: [SFBirds] ARCTIC LOON on SF County Deepwater Pelagic 4/18
As the finder of that “old record off Fort Funston”, I’ll share that my
limited write up is in two sections in the SFBirds archives, 12/30/00, and
1/4/01. It was also confided to me later on that two competent birders saw
the Arctic at great distance off of the Cliff House a few days after my
sighting, too far off to feel adequate confidence to report publicly.
Congratulations to Caitlin for making Arctic an official member of the
county list, and to those lucky bow riders who saw it.
Brian Fitch
On Tue, Apr 28, 2026 at 4:11 PM Logan Kahle via groups.io <logan=
<archive.org...> wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> As I mentioned in my write-up last week, on the San Francisco deepwater
> pelagic a Loon was seen crossing the bow in the afternoon that was thought
> to be a potential Arctic. This bird was first noted by Caitlin Chock and
> also observed by Peter Pyle, Paul Saraceni, Linda Terrill, Henry Witkonson,
> Chris Dong and several others on the bow. Expert opinion has come in and
> this bird appears to be a pretty clear-cut second-year ARCTIC LOON.
>
> Pending acceptance by the CBRC, this would represent the first accepted
> record for San Francisco county, though there was an old record off Fort
> Funston that did not garner CBRC acceptance.
>
> Obviously not chasable, but given the significance of the record I felt it
> was worth posting on here anyways.
>
> Best,
> Logan
>
>
>
Date: 4/28/26 5:23 pm From: Alan Hopkins via groups.io <alanhopkins...> Subject: Re: [SFBirds] ARCTIC LOON on SF County Deepwater Pelagic 4/18
It is always nice to hear about these birds a few days after the trip!
Alan S. HopkinsSan Francisco, CALink to art website
On Tuesday, April 28, 2026 at 05:17:16 PM PDT, Alvaro Jaramillo via groups.io <chucao...> wrote:
Nice,
For comparison here is the Arctic Loon I had fly by in San Mateo county, May 2022. The extent of the thigh patch is about the same in both the SF and San Mateo bird. Cool.
-----Original Message-----
From: <SFBirds...> <SFBirds...> On Behalf Of Peter Pyle via groups.io
Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2026 7:44 PM
To: <SFBirds...>
Subject: Re: [SFBirds] ARCTIC LOON on SF County Deepwater Pelagic 4/18
On 4/28/2026 4:40 PM, Alvaro Jaramillo via groups.io wrote:
>
> Logan
>
> Are there photos?
>
> Alvaro Jaramillo
>
> <alvaro...> <mailto:<alvaro...> >
> www.alvarosadventures.com <http://www.alvarosadventures.com> >
> *From:*<SFBirds...> <SFBirds...> *On Behalf Of *Logan
> Kahle via groups.io
> *Sent:* Tuesday, April 28, 2026 7:11 PM
> *To:* <sfbirds...>
> *Subject:* [SFBirds] ARCTIC LOON on SF County Deepwater Pelagic 4/18
>
> Hi All,
>
> As I mentioned in my write-up last week, on the San Francisco
> deepwater pelagic a Loon was seen crossing the bow in the afternoon
> that was thought to be a potential Arctic. This bird was first noted
> by Caitlin Chock and also observed by Peter Pyle, Paul Saraceni, Linda
> Terrill, Henry Witkonson, Chris Dong and several others on the bow.
> Expert opinion has come in and this bird appears to be a pretty
> clear-cut second-year ARCTIC LOON.
>
> Pending acceptance by the CBRC, this would represent the first
> accepted record for San Francisco county, though there was an old
> record off Fort Funston that did not garner CBRC acceptance.
>
> Obviously not chasable, but given the significance of the record I
> felt it was worth posting on here anyways.
>
> Best,
>
> Logan
>
>
Date: 4/28/26 5:17 pm From: Alvaro Jaramillo via groups.io <chucao...> Subject: Re: [SFBirds] ARCTIC LOON on SF County Deepwater Pelagic 4/18
Nice,
For comparison here is the Arctic Loon I had fly by in San Mateo county, May 2022. The extent of the thigh patch is about the same in both the SF and San Mateo bird. Cool.
-----Original Message-----
From: <SFBirds...> <SFBirds...> On Behalf Of Peter Pyle via groups.io
Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2026 7:44 PM
To: <SFBirds...>
Subject: Re: [SFBirds] ARCTIC LOON on SF County Deepwater Pelagic 4/18
On 4/28/2026 4:40 PM, Alvaro Jaramillo via groups.io wrote:
>
> Logan
>
> Are there photos?
>
> Alvaro Jaramillo
>
> <alvaro...> <mailto:<alvaro...> >
> www.alvarosadventures.com <http://www.alvarosadventures.com> >
> *From:*<SFBirds...> <SFBirds...> *On Behalf Of *Logan
> Kahle via groups.io
> *Sent:* Tuesday, April 28, 2026 7:11 PM
> *To:* <sfbirds...>
> *Subject:* [SFBirds] ARCTIC LOON on SF County Deepwater Pelagic 4/18
>
> Hi All,
>
> As I mentioned in my write-up last week, on the San Francisco
> deepwater pelagic a Loon was seen crossing the bow in the afternoon
> that was thought to be a potential Arctic. This bird was first noted
> by Caitlin Chock and also observed by Peter Pyle, Paul Saraceni, Linda
> Terrill, Henry Witkonson, Chris Dong and several others on the bow.
> Expert opinion has come in and this bird appears to be a pretty
> clear-cut second-year ARCTIC LOON.
>
> Pending acceptance by the CBRC, this would represent the first
> accepted record for San Francisco county, though there was an old
> record off Fort Funston that did not garner CBRC acceptance.
>
> Obviously not chasable, but given the significance of the record I
> felt it was worth posting on here anyways.
>
> Best,
>
> Logan
>
>
On 4/28/2026 4:40 PM, Alvaro Jaramillo via groups.io wrote:
>
> Logan
>
> Are there photos?
>
> Alvaro Jaramillo
>
> <alvaro...> <mailto:<alvaro...> >
> www.alvarosadventures.com <http://www.alvarosadventures.com> >
> *From:*<SFBirds...> <SFBirds...> *On Behalf Of *Logan
> Kahle via groups.io
> *Sent:* Tuesday, April 28, 2026 7:11 PM
> *To:* <sfbirds...>
> *Subject:* [SFBirds] ARCTIC LOON on SF County Deepwater Pelagic 4/18
>
> Hi All,
>
> As I mentioned in my write-up last week, on the San Francisco
> deepwater pelagic a Loon was seen crossing the bow in the afternoon
> that was thought to be a potential Arctic. This bird was first noted
> by Caitlin Chock and also observed by Peter Pyle, Paul Saraceni, Linda
> Terrill, Henry Witkonson, Chris Dong and several others on the bow.
> Expert opinion has come in and this bird appears to be a pretty
> clear-cut second-year ARCTIC LOON.
>
> Pending acceptance by the CBRC, this would represent the first
> accepted record for San Francisco county, though there was an old
> record off Fort Funston that did not garner CBRC acceptance.
>
> Obviously not chasable, but given the significance of the record I
> felt it was worth posting on here anyways.
>
> Best,
>
> Logan
>
>
From: <SFBirds...> <SFBirds...> On Behalf Of Logan Kahle via groups.io
Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2026 7:11 PM
To: <sfbirds...>
Subject: [SFBirds] ARCTIC LOON on SF County Deepwater Pelagic 4/18
Hi All,
As I mentioned in my write-up last week, on the San Francisco deepwater pelagic a Loon was seen crossing the bow in the afternoon that was thought to be a potential Arctic. This bird was first noted by Caitlin Chock and also observed by Peter Pyle, Paul Saraceni, Linda Terrill, Henry Witkonson, Chris Dong and several others on the bow. Expert opinion has come in and this bird appears to be a pretty clear-cut second-year ARCTIC LOON.
Pending acceptance by the CBRC, this would represent the first accepted record for San Francisco county, though there was an old record off Fort Funston that did not garner CBRC acceptance.
Obviously not chasable, but given the significance of the record I felt it was worth posting on here anyways.
Date: 4/28/26 4:11 pm From: Logan Kahle via groups.io <logan...> Subject: [SFBirds] ARCTIC LOON on SF County Deepwater Pelagic 4/18
Hi All,
As I mentioned in my write-up last week, on the San Francisco deepwater pelagic a Loon was seen crossing the bow in the afternoon that was thought to be a potential Arctic. This bird was first noted by Caitlin Chock and also observed by Peter Pyle, Paul Saraceni, Linda Terrill, Henry Witkonson, Chris Dong and several others on the bow. Expert opinion has come in and this bird appears to be a pretty clear-cut second-year ARCTIC LOON.
Pending acceptance by the CBRC, this would represent the first accepted record for San Francisco county, though there was an old record off Fort Funston that did not garner CBRC acceptance.
Obviously not chasable, but given the significance of the record I felt it was worth posting on here anyways.
Date: 4/25/26 1:55 pm From: Oscar Moss via groups.io <oscartmoss...> Subject: [SFBirds] Yellow-breasted Chat, Bernal
Heard singing at
37.74384° N, 122.41161° W from lush growth in a backyard. Likely impossible
to see on private property, but quite loud and easy to hear.
Date: 4/22/26 6:08 pm From: Peter Pyle via groups.io <ppyle...> Subject: Re: [SFBirds] Cliff Swallows around Crissy Field - request
Some info from 2021, in case it helps.
Cook's Petrels now being seen just 20 miles off Ft Bragg (see my post from this morning!).
Cheers, Peter
From: Anna Klafter <annaklafter...> Date: Fri, 28 May 2021 20:57:18 -0700 Subject: Re: [SFBirds] Cliff Swallows at Crissy Field. Where? To: Dan Harris <dh1236...> Cc: Peter Pyle <ppyle...>, Joel Perlstein <joelperl...>, SF Birds <SFBirds...>
Thanks all. I got a nice look at Thompson Reach on my dog walk this evening. One nest was different than the others and it had some loud babies- are these Cliff swallows as well or someone else? See first pic
On Fri, May 28, 2021 at 5:18 PM Dan Harris <dh1236...> wrote:
Also, one or two nests on the buildings east of the Mason Street and Crissy Field Avenue intersection. Dan Harris San Francisco
On Fri, May 28, 2021 at 4:28 PM Peter Pyle <ppyle...> wrote:
Hi Joel -
There's a small colony on the buildings to the north of the Thompson Reach mouth, just the other side of the bridge (Doyle Drive) from Quartermaster Reach. https://ebird.org/checklist/S87559933
Cheers, Peter
At 03:13 PM 5/28/2021, Joel Perlstein wrote: >Does anyone know where at Crissy Field the Cliff Swallows are nesting? >-- >Joel Perlstein >San Francisco >
On 4/22/2026 5:23 PM, Dominik Mosur via groups.io wrote: > Hello Presidio area birders, > > A visiting birder captured some good images of Cliff Swallows > appearing to be collecting mud for nests on 4/9/26. > > Photos can be seen on this checklist: > https://ebird.org/checklist/S319240704 > > This species is a very localized breeder in SF and since the > extirpation of the Lake Merced Colony some 10 years ago the Presidio > is the only place where they are known to breed in the last few years. > > Last year a couple of nests were built on some of the vacant buildings > around Fort Scott but these did not appear to be in use so far this > year on a visit last week and this species remains unconfirmed so far > this year. > > For anyone birding around Crissy Field/Quartermaster Reach keep an eye > out for Cliff Swallows coming to the marsh at low tide to gather mud > and see if you can track down where they are taking the material too. > > Thank you, > > Dominik >
This species is a very localized breeder in SF and since the extirpation of the Lake Merced Colony some 10 years ago the Presidio is the only place where they are known to breed in the last few years.
Last year a couple of nests were built on some of the vacant buildings around Fort Scott but these did not appear to be in use so far this year on a visit last week and this species remains unconfirmed so far this year.
For anyone birding around Crissy Field/Quartermaster Reach keep an eye out for Cliff Swallows coming to the marsh at low tide to gather mud and see if you can track down where they are taking the material too.
Date: 4/22/26 9:58 am From: Peter Pyle via groups.io <ppyle...> Subject: [SFBirds] Noyo Pelagics 4/26
Greetings all -
We have some space available for this Sunday's full-day trip. Weather forecast looks great, NW at 15 dropping to NW at 5 by late afternoon and low swell. It will also be NW at 15-20 for much of the interim period from now, which should be good for Pterodroma petrels in the vicinity. Cost is $185; you can sign up for this trip at https://noyopelagics.com/.
Mendocino Coast Audubon Society has been a great supporter of Noyo Pelagics, including making scholarships available to pay full fare for high school or collage students. They are also now stepping up further, reserving camp sites for the night before each trip to lower the lodging costs for those who don't mind listening to owls and waking up to singing Pacific Wrens in the woods of MacKerricher, Van Damme, or other local state parks.
If you are interested in the scholarship program and would like to apply for one, contact Tim Bray <tbray...>. If you are interested in the camp sites, contact me <ppyle...> and/or Roger Adamson <radamson...>.
We were out for a half-day trip on the 19th and it was quite birdy out there, with spectacular migrations of scoters and loons and an abundance of alcids, gulls, phalaropes, and shearwaters, although the south winds kept the albatross numbers lower than usual (15-20 as opposed to 135 at once on the 15th) and brought us no deep-water species. Northwest winds should change that. There are also tons (literally) of Humpback Whales out there now, with bird flocks all around them. Marine productivity seems very good off Mendo at the moment.
Hope to see you out there this weekend or later in the summer or fall.
Happy migrant birding, Peter
On 3/26/2026 8:29 AM, Peter Pyle wrote: > Greetings Bay Area - > > We still have some space available for our full day pelagic trips on > April 4th and 26th out of Noyo Harbor in Fort Bragg. We are already > seeing up to 135 Black-footed Albatrosses at once over Noyo Canyon and > I had a Parakeet Auklet just 2-2.5 miles from shore on March 15th. Our > most recent trip reports are here: > > https://noyopelagics.com/trip-reports/ > > Last year in April we had over 600 albatrosses on one trip including > several Laysans and a Short-tailed, and throughout May we had dozens > of Pterodroma petrels of three species plus two more Short-tailed > Albatrosses. > > We have also just set up a half-day trip on April 19th. Half the boat > will be filled with college students so if you are interested in this > one I wouldn't wait too long. > > You can sign up for these and other trips this year at > > https://noyopelagics.com/#calendar > > Hope you'll join us for one or more trips. Happy spring birding! > > Peter > > On 3/10/2026 12:23 PM, Peter Pyle wrote: >> Greetings Bay Area on this nice spring day (for upwelling and the >> ocean, at least...). >> >> Our buttons for full-day Noyo Pelagics trips are now ready for >> sign-ups for the previously mentioned dates: >> >> https://noyopelagics.com/ >> >> We had a fine half-day trip on March 1st including an unexpected >> Scripps's Murrelet and early Humpback Whales (see report at the link >> above). We will be offering more half-day trips on a short-notice >> (7-10 day) basis as good-weather windows approach; if you may be >> interested in these you can monitor Mendobirds or sign up for the >> Mendo-Pelagics io group serve >> (<https://groups.io/g/Mendocino-Pelagics>). See >> https://noyopelagics.com/about-our-trips/ for more on our half-day, >> full-day, and educational trips. >> >> We have attempted this year to organize some back-to-back trips along >> the NorCal coast, or with a day or two in between. Unfortunately at >> this time there are no trips planned to Cordell Bank since the Bodega >> Bay skipper sold his boat this winter. Hopefully something will work >> out there soon. For now, we have some back-to-back or even week-long >> opportunities for multiple trips from Sausalito, Fort Bragg, and >> Eureka. I have listed these below (with sign-up information below the >> dates); if you know of ABA folks or others around the country that >> may be interested, please pass this along. Logan has also set up a >> Google calendar which he will finalize tonight at: >> >> https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/r/month/2026/10/1?cid=bG9nYW5rYWhsZWJpcmRAZ21haWwuY29t >> >> >> Hope to see you up here for a trip, or two, or more! >> >> Good birding, Peter >> >> Northern California Pelagic Trip dates: >> >> Fort Bragg (Noyo Pelagics) - April 4th (Saturday) >> Sausalito - SF waters trip April 18th (Saturday) - currently full but >> see below* >> Fort Bragg (Noyo Pelagics) - April 26th (Sunday) >> Eureka Rob Fowler - May 2nd (Saturday) >> Fort Bragg (Noyo Pelagics) - May 9th (Saturday) - >> Eureka RRAS - May 10th (Sunday) >> Fort Bragg (Noyo Pelagics) - May 30th (Saturday) >> Eureka Rob Fowler - June 13th (Saturday) >> Sausalito Al's Adventures - Farallon Islands trips weekly June 13 - >> August 8 >> Fort Bragg (Noyo Pelagics) - June 14th (Sunday) >> Eureka RRAS - June 20th (Saturday) >> Fort Bragg (Noyo Pelagics) - June 26th (Friday) >> Eureka RRAS - July 18th (Saturday) >> Fort Bragg (Noyo Pelagics) - July 20th (Monday) >> Eureka Rob Fowler - July 25th (Saturday) >> Fort Bragg (Noyo Pelagics) - August 3rd (Monday) >> Eureka RRAS - August 15th (Saturday) >> Eureka Rob Fowler - August 29th (Saturday) >> Fort Bragg (Noyo Pelagics) - August 30th (Sunday) >> Eureka RRAS - September 5th (Saturday) >> Sausalito Al's Adventures - SF trip September 13th (Sunday) >> Eureka Rob Fowler - September 19th (Saturday) >> Eureka Rob Fowler - October 3rd (Saturday) >> Eureka RRAS - October 10th (Saturday) >> Fort Bragg (Noyo Pelagics) - October 17th (Saturday) >> Eureka Rob Fowler - October 24th (Saturday) >> Fort Bragg (Noyo Pelagics) - November 1st (Sunday) >> Eureka Rob Fowler - November 14th (Saturday) >> Eureka RRAS - November 21st (Saturday) >> Eureka Rob Fowler - December 5th (Saturday) >> >> *The 4/18 trip from Sausalito is full but there are still spaces left >> on the back-up date (4/21). Contact Logan Kahle <logan...> >> if interested in this back-up trip. >> >> Contacts and to sign up: >> >> Fort Bragg (Noyo Pelagics): https://noyopelagics.com/ >> Eureka Rob Fowler: contact Rob at <migratoriusfwlr...> >> Eureka RROS: contact Sean McAllister at <whiteouters...> >> Sausalito Al's Adventures: >> https://www.alvarosadventures.com/pelagic-dates-2026.html >> >> On 12/19/2025 7:36 AM, Peter Pyle wrote: >>> Greetings Bay Area birders - >>> >>> We have finalized our dates for full-day Noyo Pelagics trips (below). >>> >>> We are running 2-3 more trips in April-July due to great success >>> last year with albatrosses (up to 1000 Black-foots, many Laysans, >>> and three separate Short-taileds) and Pterodroma petrels (6+ >>> Hawaiians, 90+ Murphys, 15 Cook's, and one likely Herald) during >>> these months. I am also working with the organizers of pelagic trips >>> from Bodega Bay and Eureka to try and schedule some "runs" of >>> back-to-back-to-back trips over 3-5 days moving up or down the >>> coast. I have suggested the four dates below for these but they may >>> occur at other times. >>> >>> Our payment system for these trips at https://noyopelagics.com/ is >>> not yet set up. I'll send an announcement when it is, hopefully by >>> mid January. We wanted to get the dates out now so birders can start >>> thinking about joining us on one or more trips. Hope to see you at >>> Noyo in '26! >>> >>> Peter >>> >>> April 4th (Saturday) (Easter weekend) >>> April 26th (Sunday) >>> May 9th (Saturday) - coordinate with Humboldt and Bodega? >>> May 30th (Saturday) >>> June 14th (Sunday) - coordinate with Humboldt and Bodega? >>> June 26th (Friday) >>> July 20th (Monday) - coordinate with Humboldt and Bodega? >>> August 3rd (Monday) >>> August 30th (Sunday) - coordinate with Humboldt and Bodega? >>> October 17th (Saturday) >>> November 1st (Sunday) >>> >> >
Date: 4/22/26 9:01 am From: Keith Maley via groups.io <keith.maley...> Subject: [SFBirds] Another Hammond's Fly + migrant mayhem - Mt. Davidson
A Hammond's Flycatcher was working the scrub upslope and north of the X, and multiple western migrants were seen in the cypress just above the X including 3 Cassin's Vireos, a Western Warbling-Vireo, 2 Hermit Warblers, 2 grosbeaks, 5 buntings and more.
Hammond's eventually made its way to the X, last seen here: 37.738093, -122.453364
We are up to 62 confirmed species for San Francisco with three species: Anna's Hummingbird, European Starling and White-crowned sparrow confirmed in all 9 mainland blocks.
Shout out to Michelle Moir and Josiah Clark with the first confirmation of the year of nesting Orange-crowned Warblers in the Presidio.
If you'd like to delve deeper into the dataset you can do so on the SF County Atlas page here:
Additionally there's a new webinar with statewide updates, highlights and a tutorial on finding nests featuring our regional Atlas Coordinator Megan Jankowsi that you can watch on youtube:
Besides the excitement of documenting all our local breeding birds migrants are now moving through in large numbers. Some more unusual one's I've noted in the past couple of days in the course of atlas work were a Long-eared Owl in the Southeast part of the City yesterday and a male Black-chinned Hummingbird that showed up today on Corona Hill.
Date: 4/21/26 7:43 am From: Alan Hopkins via groups.io <alanhopkins...> Subject: Re: [SFBirds] San Francisco county Deepwater Pelagic 4/18 Murphy's Petrel, Flesh-footed Shearwater etc
Thanks Logan!
Alan S. HopkinsSan Francisco, CALink to art website
On Monday, April 20, 2026 at 07:11:12 PM PDT, Logan Kahle via groups.io <logan...> wrote:
Hi All,
On Saturday, April 18th, 40 intrepid birders set off aboard the Outer Limits on a 12 hour pelagic, with the primary purpose of accessing the offshore seamounts of San Francisco county, located southwest of the Farallon Islands in hopes of finding deepwater species in SF county waters. We departed around 5:30am and returned around 5:30pm, covering over 150 miles of oceanic turf.
We left the harbor while it was still dark. In the dawn light about 10 miles offshore it was clear the ocean was alive with birds. We were motoring through flocks of northbound Pacific Loons, Surf Scoters, and Red-necked Phalaropes everywhere we looked. As we got farther off, scores of Pink-footed Shearwaters joined the northbound streams, and a few lucky individuals noted a somewhat aseasonal and very near-shore SCRIPPS' MURRELET. Nearing the continental shelf edge, we saw our first Albatrosses, first a Black-footed and then a beautiful LAYSAN ALBATROSS, our first of three for the day! In the marine mammal department an Elephant Seal bobbed along the waves and a couple Fin Whales put on a brief show.
The birds today were moving north. Everything. It felt like Spring migration out there, with alternate-plumaged Phalaropes, Sabine's Gulls, Loons and Jaegers bee-lining it to their arctic breeding grounds. Pomarine Jaegers were in full splendor, with over 20 showing today, almost all in a northward path, and many with full spooning tail-streamers.
We charged on off the canyon edge and kept going, and going. We were headed to Guide Seamount, a location rarely visited by birders roughly 53 miles West of Half Moon Bay. As we passed the shelf edge, the birds thinned out. They often do when you reach the true deep water of the pacific, or the "oceanic desert" as some refer to it. But hopes were high, as we knew that the chances for sought-after deep-water specialty birds was high. Sure enough, right as we reached the very tippy-top of the Guide Seamount (a full 5500' depth in comparison with the 10000' waters that surround it), a beautiful MURPHY'S PETREL cruised right by the boat, offering everyone on board a great view and experience. We also encountered a Common Tern foraging near the boat, and a few Ashy Storm-Petrels danced around the waters.
Moving north, we headed on towards Pioneer Seamount, another major underwater topographical feature south of the farallons, about 20 miles north of the Guide. Birds were thin out here, and long stretches would pass where just a jaeger or Pink-footed Shearwater was in view. But we charged on, knowing the next great offshore rarity could be just around the corner. Sure enough, just east of the Pioneer Seamount a molty odd-looking shearwater passed by: a FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER! A rare bird in the spring off California, and a much desired county bird for many on the boat.
We continued heading inshore towards the Pioneer Canyon. While out here, Caitlin Chock and a few others noticed an odd loon crossing the bow. Most of the folks on board did not see it, but a couple of the ones who did got photos. It is possible this loon is an Arctic Loon, and we are still looking into the situation now.
As we crossed over the Pioneer Canyon, we encountered a huge, active group of feeding Humpback Whales with hundreds of shearwaters and Bonaparte's Gulls frenzying about them. Mixed in with the shearwaters was another FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER. It was 3pm and we were still out at the shelf edge. It was time to come back to port.
This boat was organized by Keith Maley, Caitlin Chock and myself and was a great day on the water in excellent birding conditions. And a huge thank you to Eli Gross for meticulously keeping the eBird lists all day long.
See you out there!Logan KahleKeith MaleyCaitlin Chock
A trip report written by Eli Gross can be found here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/503148 Full list of birds seen offshore (i.e. more than 5 miles off) were:Red Phalarope-4Red-necked Phalarope-150+Parasitic Jaeger-1Pomarine Jaeger-20+Common Murre-4000SCRIPPS' MURRELET-1Rhinoceros Auklet-4Cassin's Auklet-5Sabine's Gull-43Heermann's Gull-1Western Gull-100California Gull-5Common Tern-1Pacific Loon-80Pacific/Arctic Loon-1 (see above)Common Loon-7Laysan Albatross-3Black-footed Albatross-5Ashy Storm-Petrel-3Northern Fulmar-7MURPHY'S PETREL-2-3Pink-footed Shearwater-50FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER-2Sooty Shearwater-300Brandt's Cormorant-20 including several out by the shelf edgeBrown Pelican-30 including several northbound birds over 40 miles offshore!
Date: 4/20/26 7:11 pm From: Logan Kahle via groups.io <logan...> Subject: [SFBirds] San Francisco county Deepwater Pelagic 4/18 Murphy's Petrel, Flesh-footed Shearwater etc
Hi All,
On Saturday, April 18th, 40 intrepid birders set off aboard the Outer Limits on a 12 hour pelagic, with the primary purpose of accessing the offshore seamounts of San Francisco county, located southwest of the Farallon Islands in hopes of finding deepwater species in SF county waters. We departed around 5:30am and returned around 5:30pm, covering over 150 miles of oceanic turf.
We left the harbor while it was still dark. In the dawn light about 10 miles offshore it was clear the ocean was alive with birds. We were motoring through flocks of northbound Pacific Loons, Surf Scoters, and Red-necked Phalaropes everywhere we looked. As we got farther off, scores of Pink-footed Shearwaters joined the northbound streams, and a few lucky individuals noted a somewhat aseasonal and very near-shore SCRIPPS' MURRELET. Nearing the continental shelf edge, we saw our first Albatrosses, first a Black-footed and then a beautiful LAYSAN ALBATROSS, our first of three for the day! In the marine mammal department an Elephant Seal bobbed along the waves and a couple Fin Whales put on a brief show.
The birds today were moving north. Everything. It felt like Spring migration out there, with alternate-plumaged Phalaropes, Sabine's Gulls, Loons and Jaegers bee-lining it to their arctic breeding grounds. Pomarine Jaegers were in full splendor, with over 20 showing today, almost all in a northward path, and many with full spooning tail-streamers.
We charged on off the canyon edge and kept going, and going. We were headed to Guide Seamount, a location rarely visited by birders roughly 53 miles West of Half Moon Bay. As we passed the shelf edge, the birds thinned out. They often do when you reach the true deep water of the pacific, or the "oceanic desert" as some refer to it. But hopes were high, as we knew that the chances for sought-after deep-water specialty birds was high. Sure enough, right as we reached the very tippy-top of the Guide Seamount (a full 5500' depth in comparison with the 10000' waters that surround it), a beautiful MURPHY'S PETREL cruised right by the boat, offering everyone on board a great view and experience. We also encountered a Common Tern foraging near the boat, and a few Ashy Storm-Petrels danced around the waters.
Moving north, we headed on towards Pioneer Seamount, another major underwater topographical feature south of the farallons, about 20 miles north of the Guide. Birds were thin out here, and long stretches would pass where just a jaeger or Pink-footed Shearwater was in view. But we charged on, knowing the next great offshore rarity could be just around the corner. Sure enough, just east of the Pioneer Seamount a molty odd-looking shearwater passed by: a FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER! A rare bird in the spring off California, and a much desired county bird for many on the boat.
We continued heading inshore towards the Pioneer Canyon. While out here, Caitlin Chock and a few others noticed an odd loon crossing the bow. Most of the folks on board did not see it, but a couple of the ones who did got photos. It is possible this loon is an Arctic Loon, and we are still looking into the situation now.
As we crossed over the Pioneer Canyon, we encountered a huge, active group of feeding Humpback Whales with hundreds of shearwaters and Bonaparte's Gulls frenzying about them. Mixed in with the shearwaters was another FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER. It was 3pm and we were still out at the shelf edge. It was time to come back to port.
This boat was organized by Keith Maley, Caitlin Chock and myself and was a great day on the water in excellent birding conditions. And a huge thank you to Eli Gross for meticulously keeping the eBird lists all day long.
See you out there! Logan Kahle Keith Maley Caitlin Chock
Full list of birds seen offshore (i.e. more than 5 miles off) were: Red Phalarope-4 Red-necked Phalarope-150+ Parasitic Jaeger-1 Pomarine Jaeger-20+ Common Murre-4000 SCRIPPS' MURRELET-1 Rhinoceros Auklet-4 Cassin's Auklet-5 Sabine's Gull-43 Heermann's Gull-1 Western Gull-100 California Gull-5 Common Tern-1 Pacific Loon-80 Pacific/Arctic Loon-1 (see above) Common Loon-7 Laysan Albatross-3 Black-footed Albatross-5 Ashy Storm-Petrel-3 Northern Fulmar-7 MURPHY'S PETREL-2-3 Pink-footed Shearwater-50 FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER-2 Sooty Shearwater-300 Brandt's Cormorant-20 including several out by the shelf edge Brown Pelican-30 including several northbound birds over 40 miles offshore!
Date: 4/19/26 6:48 pm From: Liam Murphy via groups.io <liammsf...> Subject: Re: [SFBirds] PAINTED REDSTART Bernal Hill
Hi birders,
A little more info on the Bernal PAINTED REDSTART from this morning.
The bird was initially sighted from the paved ring road, foraging mid height in the tall trees just south of the Esmeralda steps, approximately here: 37.74291824136184, -122.41697067766808
From there we watched the bird feed voraciously in typical flitting redstart style down the coordinates from my original email. It seemed to primarily prefer the trunks of the tall pines, but was also seen in eucs, and at several points aggressively chased other birds such as Yellow-rumped Warblers. It also sang loudly and repeatedly, a repetitive warble recalling Yellow-rumped Warbler, but sweeter sounding and much louder. Once some other locals arrived, my group moved on; I was happy to hear that a handful of others who arrived later also got to see the bird. From what I understand, it was later refound considerably further downhill, with the last sightings being around midday in the Three Pines just above the bottom gate at the crest of Folsom (north slope), approximately here: 37.74368899822701, -122.41330264063963
Conditions became windy, and rain is going to move in overnight. I am skeptical that the bird would have launched into long distance flight in the middle of the day. I suspect it could remain on Bernal Hill, and encourage folks to come back to search for it when the rain stops. If it is singing like it was this morning, that will help significantly in locating it, as it was quite loud. Check the tree groves, particularly the ones with pines, around the hill.
One of the coolest parts of this sighting is that we found it on a GGBA Bird Curious walk with a number of beginning birders. The excitement and awe was totally palpable and the bird put on an absolute show for us, foraging at length at eye level just 20 feet away. I have a feeling it may have been a “light bulb” moment for some of the folks there, a reminder of what keeps us venturing out into the field because you just NEVER know what might happen on any given day. I want to give a big thanks to fellow co-leaders Lydia Bruno, Lyra D’Souza, and Travis Smith. Travis completely nailed the photo ops today (see eBird checklist below) and Lydia and Lyra have been the driving force behind our blossoming Bernal Heights community birding events, which started up last summer and are only growing. We have been getting a lot of engagement from folks on the Hill and hopefully helping to grow the ranks of birders and conservation-minded citizens.
Other migrants of note on our walk were WILSON’S and ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS, HOODED ORIOLES, LAZULI BUNTINGS, WESTERN TANAGER, and BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK.
Because we were chatting with our group and the Redstart took up so much attention, I encouraged the other arriving birders chasing the rarity to keep an eye out for other birds. We did have a bit of a Patagonia Picnic Table Effect, with others finding BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER (Eli Gross), HAMMOND’S FLYCATCHER (Cédric Duhalde), as well as ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER and multiple CASSIN’S VIREOS (forgive me, I didn’t hear who these birds should be attributed to - but thanks!). Stellar morning for Bernal Hill.
Get out there and find those spring migrants!
Cheers,
Liam
> On Apr 19, 2026, at 9:08 AM, Liam Murphy via groups.io <liammsf...> wrote:
>
> GGBA Bird Curious walk on Bernal Hill just found a Painted Redstart on the west slope.
>
> 37.743331,-122.416750
>
> More details later,
> Liam
>
Likely Yellow-breasted Chat heard only from the willows near the Lover’s Lane footbridge in the McArthur Meadow in the presidio here: (37.7978701, -122.4541165). 10am this morning.
Heard repeatedly wheeting and then chattering. Not seen. Did not respond to playback nor pishing.
Apologies for the delayed report, we were going over the audio recordings to figure out what this bird was. Heard on the GGBA Birdathon trip lead by me and Keith.
Date: 4/19/26 1:34 pm From: Brian Fitch via groups.io <fogeggs...> Subject: Re: [SFBirds] Hilltops and Redstart Update
Correction; the redstart was on the north side of Bernal above Folsom!
BF
On Sun, Apr 19, 2026 at 1:31 PM Brian Fitch via groups.io <fogeggs=
<gmail.com...> wrote:
> After a long absence, the Painted Redstart found by Liam this morning was
> refound along the south side of the Bernal pedestrian road in pines near
> the sightline down Folsom. It's moving a lot, but can be located when it
> sings.
> Before hearing the news, I was up on Buena Vista and Corona, where more
> normal westerners were also moving through. BV had an Ash-throated
> Flycatcher, 2 Warbling Vireos, a late R-cr Kinglet, 5 regular warbler
> species, a female Western Tanager, and 3 Black-headed Grosbeaks.
> Corona was quieter, with another Ash-throat, some warblers and grosbeaks,
> and at least 2 Lazuli Buntings.
> Brian Fitch
>
>
>
Date: 4/19/26 1:31 pm From: Brian Fitch via groups.io <fogeggs...> Subject: [SFBirds] Hilltops and Redstart Update
After a long absence, the Painted Redstart found by Liam this morning was refound along the south side of the Bernal pedestrian road in pines near the sightline down Folsom. It's moving a lot, but can be located when it sings. Before hearing the news, I was up on Buena Vista and Corona, where more normal westerners were also moving through. BV had an Ash-throated Flycatcher, 2 Warbling Vireos, a late R-cr Kinglet, 5 regular warbler species, a female Western Tanager, and 3 Black-headed Grosbeaks. Corona was quieter, with another Ash-throat, some warblers and grosbeaks, and at least 2 Lazuli Buntings. Brian Fitch
Date: 4/18/26 6:01 pm From: David Assmann via groups.io <david_assmann...> Subject: [SFBirds] Fort Mason Local Interest
Good migration movement at Fort Mason this morning, with a pulse around 9:30. Migrants included a WESTERN KINGBIRD, a BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER, a BULLOCK'S ORIOLE, 5 ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS, a PALM WARBLER, a BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER and a BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK. Other birders reported a WESTERN WARBLING VIREO and a WILSON'S WARBLER, which I did not see.
Date: 4/13/26 6:37 pm From: David Armstrong via groups.io <darmstrong99...> Subject: [SFBirds] Presidio pedestrian Big Day
Hi SFBirders
Today Matt Z, Bob H and I spent 10 hours touring the Presidio on foot and compiled a list of 96 total species observed over the course of a 12-mile walk. Our route was generally counterclockwise, beginning and ending at the Golden Gate Bridge, and visiting as many hotspots as feasible during that time. We enjoyed great weather conditions and decent bird activity in multiple locations. We observed no rarities, but did have a few sightings of note along the way:
- we swept the expected swallows including 1 Cliff at Fort Scott. There were also numerous groups of white-throated swifts seen at various locations- at least 60 Band-tailed Pigeons flying over in multiple different flocks throughout the morning- Green Heron in the reeds along the western edge of Mountain Lake- conditions at Crissy Lagoon were very challenging with high water levels and no ducks or grebes, however we did pull out a few Least Sandpipers and a Dunlin at the NW corner of the lagoon- Fort Point produced our only Clark's Grebe (species # 96) as well as numerous Pigeon Guillemots, Caspian Tern, Elegant Tern and Common Murre. Peregrine seen on the bridge- 2 Wrentits heard - 1 in the expected location along Batteries-to-Bluffs trail and a second in the upper reaches of Lobos Dunes- Lingering Golden-crowned Sparrow (2) and White-throated Sparrow (1) on Simonds Loop
There were few western migrants on the day but we did have a calling Lazuli Bunting early in the morning in the weedy field at Fort Scott.
In the non-avian category were numerous interesting butterfly species and a gray whale just off Baker Beach.
All in all a great spring day of birding - full checklist at https://ebird.org/checklist/S321404022 David, Matt, Bob
Date: 4/10/26 4:09 pm From: David Assmann via groups.io <david_assmann...> Subject: [SFBirds] City List through March reaches 223
Twenty new species for March - Common Poorwill, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Pigeon Guillemot, Northern Parula, Western Warbling Vireo, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Hooded Oriole, Caspian Tern, Western Flycatcher, Purple Martin, Chipping Sparrow, Short-billed Dowitcher, Elegant Tern, Western Kingbird, Red Crossbill, Swainson's Hawk, Cliff Swallow, Cassin's Kingbird, Golden Eagle, and Ash-throated Flycatcher - brought us to 223 species for the year, tying the 2023 record through the end of March. You can see the complete list at https://sfbirds.net/2026-city-cumulative
Date: 4/10/26 4:07 pm From: David Assmann via groups.io <david_assmann...> Subject: [SFBirds] Mini-fallout this morning at Fort Mason
In between the rain, I had a PALM WARBLER and WESTERN FLYCATCHER in the Fort Mason Community Garden this morning, and a CHIPPING SPARROW near the Tennis Courts.
Date: 4/10/26 7:36 am From: sarahhadams via groups.io <sarahhadams...> Subject: Re: [SFBirds] Important for the house safety!
We’re scheduling a Drier cleaning with Dan. Normally, this is for 350, but if more people join, the price drops to 150 per home! Not cleaning it increases the risk of fire in your home because lint and dust build up inside, which can become a serious fire hazard. We’ve used them before, and they do an excellent job.
Feel free to message me if interested and I’ll arrange a convenient time.
Date: 4/10/26 6:34 am From: sarahhadams via groups.io <sarahhadams...> Subject: [SFBirds] yard bird
There has been a Wilson's snipe in my backyard the last two mornings. Yard bird list first. It hung around for a couple hours this morning poking in the grass and resting. Otherwise the feeders have been strangely quiet so I was glad to see the snipe.
Date: 4/7/26 4:51 pm From: San Mateo County Bird Alliance via groups.io <office...> Subject: [SFBirds] Thurs. April 9 - CA Condors!
*Thursday, April 9 Monthly Meeting– Zoom*
*Northern California Condor Restoration Program, Chris West*
Chris West is the Northern California Condor Program Manager and Yurok Wildlife Department Senior Biologist. He began working with California condor as an intern at Ventana Wildlife Society in 1999 after graduating from the University of California at Santa Cruz. His passion for condors led to his master’s research at Humboldt State University investigating condor vigilance behavior while feeding. He began employment with the Yurok Tribe in 2008, working to set up the first reintroduction site in the Pacific Northwest, and is now the Manager of the Northern California Condor Restoration Program, a joint Program between the Yurok Tribe and the National Park Service.
Date: 4/6/26 8:54 pm From: Logan Kahle via groups.io <logan...> Subject: [SFBirds] San Francisco Big Day 4/5/2026 145 species; Brown Booby (long)
Hi All,
Yesterday on 4/5/2026 Jonah Benningfield and I, the Benthic Vertebrates, embarked on a 19 hour, all-out San Francisco Big Day, logging about 110 miles in the car and seeing 145 species between 3:30am and 11pm.
While this was my first balls-to-the-wall big day in San Francisco, we learned an immense amount from an effort done by Emmett Iverson and I on March 18th (logging 128 species, and informing many of the routes, strategies, and things to absolutely avoid that we learned for this day). Also a huge shoutout to Dominik Mosur and Keith Maley for helping us understand modern bird distribution around the city. Jonah and I have not been properly active in San Francisco for many years, and the extended experience of the local community made this effort possible.
Our day began at 3:30 when I picked Jonah up from his house in the Presidio. I got there slightly early and listened for Great Horned Owls but none were calling. Weird. After we both assembled our stuff we went briefly to Simonds Loop to drop some stuff off and again listen for Great Horns. This territory was silent too. But at least there was never a worry of missing Great Horned Owl on an SF big day...right?
Anyways we reached Golden Gate Park just after 4am and added our first bird of the day: a BARN OWL staked out by Dom in a nest near Metson Lake. While quite common through the city, Barn Owls are not especially vocal, and can be a bit of a pain on these big days (indeed, we were not able to find one on the March 18th day), so we were excited to get one out of the way so early. But no Great Horns were vocalizing.
Next on the agenda was Lake Merced. We were unclear how many of the birds there would be singing in the pre-predawn but we were excited to give it a shot. Marsh species sometimes sing amazingly early in the morning, so we had hopes that birds such as Great-tailed Grackle and Common Yellowthroat may be sounding off already. As we rolled up to the concrete bridge, arriving at the suiting hour of 4:20, we gave a round of clapping to the reeds, and immediately two VIRGINIA RAILS and several SORA gave their raucous calls into the night. Good start. Additionally, several MALLARDS called away, the goofy display of RUDDY DUCKS could be heard in the night and we also added our first calling AMERICAN COOTS, PIED-BILLED GREBES, and an early-singing MARSH WREN.
Our next stop was the Wooden Bridge. Cedric had given me some advice in the evening of the March 18th day that the best region and area of historical nesting of Green Heron was at the wooden bridge. So we were curious if we might hear a night-calling Green Heron. As we rolled up, we once again heard a pile of Sora calling in the reeds, along with our first CANADA GOOSE, WESTERN GULL and WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW. A BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON "quacked" away while a GREAT BLUE HERON also called from the reeds. A KILLDEER sounded off from the golf course, one of few we would encounter this day. But no Green Heron. Alas.
It was then on to maybe my most anticipated part of the night. I recently got access to a thermal camera and, while useless for most birding, I was eager to try it out for finding shorebirds at night on the beach. We walked out from Ortega, the spot that Emmett and I had found the plovers to be roosting back in March, and started scanning around the cold sandy dunes for little heat-blobs. Sure enough, after about 5 minutes I found one, a plover shaped blob amongst the sand. A quick look with the flashlight confirmed it was indeed a SNOWY PLOVER! It is always hell trying to find these things in the daytime on people-packed hot sunny spring days on the beach. Some SANDERLINGS were running around at tideline nearby, and a WESTERN SANDPIPER called overhead. We proceeded to sloat to see if we couldn't score some more shorebirds. We couldn't, but CALIFORNIA TOWHEES had started going off. In the thermal, an odd-shaped blob perched atop a cement patch. I couldn't figure out what it was so we wandered closer, and closer, then it took off revealing itself to be a EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE. Pretty funny little encounter.
Dawn was coming and we were going to try out a new strategy. Dawn chorus is a tricky and challenging time for San Francisco big days. In many areas, a series of scarce residents are extremely vocal in the early morning, but in San Francisco that is, for the most part, not the case, as many of the coveted migrant species are relatively silent. So we decided to head to the concrete bridge to see if some of the marsh species (Yellowthroat, Grackle etc) sound off earlier than their woodland bird counterparts. Dawn was explosive at the lake, but unfortunately that was mostly because several dozen TREE SWALLOWS were screaming away, drowning out any other sounds. Among them, our first BARN SWALLOW, AMERICAN ROBIN, HOUSE FINCH, and SONG SPARROW sounded off, but it was overall an underwhelming 30 minutes at that time of the day. We decided to relocate to the Wooden Bridge to once again try for Green Heron and any early marsh birds that may be singing. We couldn't find Green Heron once more, but the first of the morning's landbirds were sounding off in the form of MOURNING DOVE, AMERICAN CROW, COMMON RAVEN, CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE, and DARK-EYED JUNCO, among birds we'd already picked up, and CLARK'S GREBE and DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS swam around on the water. But, by far the highlight and what made the whole Lake Merced leg worth it was a single female CINNAMON TEAL that swam by just as we entered the time of visible light. With our first true score in the bag, we headed north.
On our way towards the Presidio we swung through Golden Gate Park. It was truly fantastic to be here in the early morning when the people and dogs and mayhem had not arrived yet, and we made a couple quick stops as we passed through, picking up BROWN CREEPER (not found in the Presidio in our last two big day attempts), along with our first RED-SHOULDERED HAWK, STELLER'S JAY, PACIFIC WREN, PURPLE FINCH, RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD, and TOWNSEND'S and WILSON'S WARBLERS. We rushed to the Presidio.
The Presidio is where we spent the majority of the morning. Having done a couple of these efforts now, and reading other's reports, it seems clear to me that spending most of the morning in the Presidio is the optimal strategy for any car-based city effort. However, there are a million ways to go about the Presidio and we experimented a little with this one.
We started our effort by gunning it for the coastal bluffs and their wonderful residents. Shortly after getting out of the car, we added SPOTTED TOWHEE and BEWICK'S WREN. But no wrentit. We listened. We whistled. We waited. Then, far out to the north we heard one of San Francisco's only Wrentits calling into the hills. Lets roll.
We went down the hill to Lobos Dunes. This was a suggestion from Jonah and one I had not thought of previously, but turned out to actually be a quite solid stop, and gave us a shot at scarce residents like Hairy Woodpecker and Hutton's Vireo. Anyways, we walked down the boardwalk quickly adding up a variety of new species, such as WESTERN BLUEBIRD, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, LESSER GOLDFINCH, and a WESTERN SCRUB-JAY perched up on a snag. Then, as we were leaving, Jonah spotted a FOX SPARROW, our only one of the day. It was time to roll.
Next stop was Fort Scott. Neither of us were sure about if the local Cliff Swallows had arrived yet, but we decided to give it a shot. Rolling up, we easily found the local HOODED ORIOLES. Walking out over the field, we noticed a group of swallows foraging overhead: VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW, NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW, and Tree. But no cliffs. Hmm. Well at least there had been plenty on the battery the previous day. Fingers crossed. Our first BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD called overhead, and a BREWER'S BLACKBIRD was singing from the parking lot. Our first RED-TAILED HAWK circled lazily overhead and our first WESTERN KINGBIRD bombed north. On a whim, we decided to check the community garden for any odd sparrows or the like. We were stoked to find a singing WESTERN FLYCATCHER, our only one of the day. It was heating up, and we headed for the battery.
We started our watch from the battery by looking at the rocks. In short order, we picked up BRANDT'S CORMORANT, SURF SCOTER, COMMON MURRE, ELEGANT TERN, HEERMANN'S and CALIFORNIA GULL, WESTERN GREBE, and WHIMBREL. There was lots of activity offshore, and we were feeling good. Jonah quickly spotted the male BLACK SCOTER, and on the rocks we added BLACK TURNSTONE, BLACK OYSTERCATCHER, and WILLET. Things were looking good. We continued scanning the channel. A group of BROWN PELICANS flew through, and we added COMMON and RED-THROATED LOONS. At one moment, we had Heermann's Gull, Brown Pelican, and Elegant Tern (not to mention murres) in the same scope view, and I realized that those were 3 different birds all missed on the original 2007 big day record, and all species that have basically become likely (or more likely) possibilities in early or mid April in the last 20 years. Times change. Jonah wisely checked the bridge tower, netting us PEREGRINE FALCON, and on the nearshore rocks was a lone PELAGIC CORMORANT, our only one of the day. It was time to move up to the main watch spot. We were astounded to find 0 birders. Where was everyone?? The winds were similar to the previous day, when over a dozen people were present. Fortunately, that made it nice and easy to not get information from observers outside our party!
As we turned our attention skyward, it quickly became clear this was a flight day as well. Groups of Yellow-rumps and Western Kingbirds passed by, as well as a smattering of swallows, including our desired CLIFF SWALLOWS. Our first of several LAZULI BUNTINGS sounded off, and a NORTHERN FLICKER called in the distance. While absent predawn at the concrete bridge, several groups of GREAT-TAILED GRACKLES came through, always a sign of a good day up here, and a rare-for-the-battery HOUSE SPARROW sounded off. Jonah scanned the channel for terns but our first CASPIAN TERN came from behind us. Things were looking good. An early-flying TURKEY VULTURE, a bird missed on my March effort, flew by, one of only two seen all day. A group of AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES headed along the bluff, normally a bird you would miss on one of these days if not for the battery. A BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER headed north right overhead, and our much-desired HAIRY WOODPECKER called to the east. But we were really hoping for some raptors. 10 or 15 minutes would go by without a new bird but enough stuff kept trickling in that we decided to wait and see. Sure enough, with a little patience, a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK came over. There had been a major flight of these the previous day, and we knew if we waited long enough one would appear. What we did not expect was a NORTHERN HARRIER to fly by to the south of us, a rare bird in the city in spring and a very unexpected and exciting big day score! We ran down to the bluff one more time to look for the continuing Long-tailed Duck but couldn't find it. However, we did find a single PIGEON GUILLEMOT. Things were looking up. Could the mystical 150 record be within shot today??
We jetted off to pick up the last few presidio residents. But first a detour to Crissy Field. Crissy had a number of targets, but not all would prove easy. However, reaching the lagoon we quickly added HORNED GREBE, a bird missed in March, BUFFLEHEAD, SNOWY EGRET and MEW GULL. On the shore of the lagoon, a COMMON YELLOWTHROAT called away. Nearby a few ROCK PIGEONS circled around. We looked out into the channel and along the beaches for Ring-billed Gull. No dice. Huh. The beaches were starting to get crowded but still...they should be around. We decided to check the Yacht Club Harbor and the Wave Organ for ringers. Sometimes they're around there. No dice. Errr. We swung by the palace of fine arts lagoon. No gulls. Gulls in general seem to have seriously cleared out early this year. Humbled, we decided to switch our tack to landbirds. The previous day I'd scattered a bunch of seed hoping the White-throated Sparrows would come back to Simonds. Since my feeders dried up in Fall they've been just absent. So, rolling up to simonds I didn't know what to expect. But when I wanted to the feeder, a very dark melospiza kicked up. Shortly after, two WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS started calling and then popped into view! Alright! A GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW, one of few today, also appeared. We were cleaning up. But we still needed a couple landbirds.
We dropped down into Tennessee Hollow. Hutton's Vireos is one of the most local and enigmatic landbirds in the city for these big day efforts, and we missed them last March. Fortunately, I had a territory staked out. So we wandered over and poked around. No vireo. We found a nice mixed flock in the region, which hosted our only HERMIT THRUSHES of the day. Jonah and I split up by a couple hundred feet. Then I heard him yelling. "COOPER'S HAWK!" I looked up to see the coop making lazy circles above us. Awesome. Both accipiters is far from a guarantee in SF! Shortly after, the HUTTON'S VIREO sounded off. Things were working out. We went to a particularly juicy corner of the region to finish off. I was keen on finding a Kinglet. Sure enough a RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET was flitting about in a low willow. Game on!
We headed back to Fort Scott. We thought maybe later in the morning there would be more flight, but did not seem to detect any. We briefly swung by the battery again, hoping a Martin or Vaux's or something may strafe by, but were ultimately disappointed. We left the Presidio at 11am with 110 species.
Leaving the Presidio, we headed straight for Stow Lake. We learned in March that Golden Gate Park on these hot days is an absolute hellhole and the less time spent there the better. Fortunately, we knew what to do. We made a couple stops on the way to the east end of the lake picking up RING-NECKED DUCK and there, at the east end of the lake, as hoped, was a female HOODED MERGANSER. Time to leave Golden Gate Park for the day. Good feeling. We headed south.
As we were heading south I realized we were passing the parula stakeout. So we decided to detour west and check that thing out. Within minutes of rolling up, the NORTHERN PARULA appeared in the same oak we saw it in March. We headed off to Pine Lake. Thanks to a tip from Dom, we knew where to find our target here. We walked up the hill and the territorial HOUSE WREN was singing away.
We headed west to Ocean Beach. Speaking of hellholes, the view from the south end looked like a "where's waldo?" image. There were likely upwards of 1000 people on the beach today, and bird numbers reflected it. We scanned to the south to see if any Bank Swallows were back on territory. Didn't look like it. But we decided to wait. There had been up to 8 godwits here lately and this was our only likely shot, so we might as well wait around. Offshore, a smattering of murres and loons streamed by but numbers were very low and the water was hazy and dead. But, after 20 minutes of waiting, a diversity pack of 4 shorebirds flew by: a Whimbrel, a LONG-BILLED CURLEW, and 2 MARBLED GODWITS. Good enough for me!
We briefly stopped by the boathouse in Lake Merced, following up on a tip from Dom to look for Kingfisher there. We scanned the snags but couldn't find one. However, the continuing YELLOW WARBLER was just west of the boathouse. We scanned both lakes for Eared Grebe but couldn't find any. Bother. We drove down towards the Concrete Bridge. Near gun club marsh, right offshore, was an EARED GREBE. Good stuff.
It was now 12:30 and we had a rather major dilemma. In a normal instance, I would have liked to finish off the west side, checking Sutro and Lands End, look for the Blackburnian Warbler, go to Lafayette Park, and maybe check a hill on our way to the bayshore. But the tides were terrible. The only proper low today was at 8am and an over-6' high tide was approaching at 3:30, and the tide would not drop below 4' until after sunset. I knew how screwed you can be at too high of a tide at the bayshore, and decided to opt for heading to the bayshore while we were close to there down by Lake Merced. While not optimal for the west side, it seemed like the best way to not miss 5 easy birds on the bayshore.
Arriving at the bayshore south of Yosemite Slough at 1:15 we went about it the same way I had with Emmett in March. We first ran up to the mudflats at Yosemite Slough and Double Rock. On our way out we kicked up a LINCOLN'S SPARROW. By Double Rock was the first major new flush of birds for the day: both LESSER and GREATER SCAUP were loafing offshore in the Bay, several FORSTER'S TERNS loafed among the caspians, an AMERICAN WIGEON swam around the shoreline near an AMERICAN AVOCET, and a GREATER YELLOWLEGS and several BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS loafed nearby. On Double Rock proper a SPOTTED SANDPIPER bobbed away. A Marbled Godwit was along the far shoreline, and we walked toward the slough proper, picking up WESTERN SANDPIPER and DUNLIN. We searched hard for Semipalmated Plover but there were just none around. Alas. Walking back towards Candlestick we found a singing SAVANNAH SPARROW. We'd now found the major flush of new birds from the bayshore, and we would be picking up ones and twos for the rest of the day.
We scoured the Candlestick area for the next nearly 30 minutes for Western Meadowlark but just couldn't find any, but did turn up some more Lincoln's and Golden-crowned Sparrows. Continuing to Yosemite Slough north we found a single BLACK-NECKED STILT in the Community Garden Pond, and ran around for another 10 minutes for meadowlarks with no success. Surely there must be a flock somewhere?? We made a quick stop at Hillpoint Park overlooking the shipyard, and quickly scored the OSPREY on its nest. From near there we could overlook the whole greater Heron's Head/India Basin region and scanned. We had not seen a Great Egret at Yosemite Slough, and were starting to get concerned. The record big day from 2021 missed Great Egret, which I thought was crazy, but it seems they genuinely just thin out by April. We couldn't see anything new from the overlook, so we headed north.
We were hot and tired, and the 3am wakeup was getting to us. Fruitlessly walking fields for meadowlarks had somewhat sapped our morale, and the bayshore in general had come out with more misses than scores. But, we headed up to Pier 94 to test our luck. I wanted to try for the Tropical Kingbird that was still hanging around. We sat at the edge of the enclosure it normally likes. Nothing. We waited. Nothing. Then, a kingbird appeared. But is it just a western? It looked odd. We got the scope out and sure enough, the TROPICAL KINGBIRD was there on the edge of the fence. Moments later, one of the likely nesting AMERICAN KESTRELS bombed by. We were back on track! Feeling a little more motivated we decided to enter the saltmarsh restoration region and run around and hope to kick up a Meadowlark and check the little rock flats nearby. Well you can figure how that went. But, when on a big day it is extremely important to scan the *entire* shoreline. "Did you do that?" I asked Jonah. Cuz I did! And there's nothing!! LETS JAM!!!
We were back moving and in the beautiful air conditioning of the car. Next stop was Lafayette Park, and I was happy to have learned from the March effort where the Acorn Woodpeckers seem to normally hang out. We sprinted to the top of the hill and there, in all its glory, was a stunning ACORN WOODPECKER. Incredible. We decided to linger around a while to see if we might find an oriole or some other migrant. But time was of the essence, so we rolled on.
I picked up Caitlin in the Richmond at 4pm to finish off the day. I knew we couldn't count any bird she pointed out to us, and was hoping that wouldn't bite us! We rolled on to Lands End. We were just missing a single dumb passerine and I knew where to find it. We headed directly for the Grace's Warbler stakeout. I had scouted this site a week prior and while I could not find the Graces I found abundant siskins. Moments after we got out of the car we added a PINE SISKIN calling. Awesome. We looked around for a couple minutes for the Graces. Nada.
Heading on to the Cliff House we had one more easy west side bird in the bag. Surfbirds normally stick through mid April and they were seen just days ago. Rolling up, we were annoyed to find the main Cliff House viewpoint blocked off. Ugh. So we went to the south side. The vantage was fabulous. You could see the entire where's-waldo north end of the beach, most of the golden gate channel, and the close side of the rocks. We were ready. Scanning the rocks there were lots of shorebirds. I guess they roost there if the beach is the zoo. Looking at them however, I was surprised they were almost all Willets! Crazy. There were over 20. Only one Whimbrel among them. Not long after, several took flight, revealing a smaller bird among them: a SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER! Score! Things were going well again. But where were the Surfbirds? We scanned the rocks. Willets, Whimbrel, Dowitcher, Turnstones. Aaand...? I guess scan again. Willets, Whimbrel, Dowitcher, Turnstones. Huh. The Surfbirds must be on the other side of the rock. I guess we'll wait. Scanning the beach south there was a distant blurry apparent GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL, and a closer and more definite one out in the channel. Chill. We waited. One of us would pick through the birds on the rock time and again while the other scanned the beach or channel. Still no surfbird. Then, out in the channel we saw a familiar shape arcing around a large tanker: a BROWN BOOBY!!!! Or Cocos Booby for those so inclined. We watched it fly around for over a minute before losing it behind the tanker. An amazing highlight, and certainly nothing I was expecting on this day! But still no Surfbird. Ugh. We jogged 5 minutes and relocated near the northern platform (where there was a big party type event happening) and could see some fresh part of the rocks. But no Surfbird....Drat. So, after looking for an hour, we abandoned project Surfbird, and moved on. You gotta know when to fold em.
Next we decided to mob back to Crissy. We still had five very real possibilities at this site and were not about to let that slide. As we passed quartermaster reach on the highway I noticed a massive long-looking egret. Uuuh. Jonah missed it. So we flew down the half mile of road to get back there and, sure enough, a GREAT EGRET! Awesome. Now on to looking for gulls. There were way fewer people than at 9:30am, and it felt that we may actually succeed. We gunned it for the wave organ to visit the farthest site first. There was a little mudflat with some gulls, but no ringers. Ugh. We worked west by the yacht club. Nada. It was now concerning again. We went by the west end of the lagoon. Couldn't see a ringer there. From there we gave Caitlin the scope to scan while we did the lovely activity of walking the field for meadowlarks. We walked the whole thing out and back over a half hour with nothing. Boo. Time to switch priorities. We started looking for snipe and scoured every possible square inch of the lagoons shoreline. None. Oh well. After an hour with no new birds, we decided it was time to bail to the south.
We headed south along sunset to Lake Merced, and realized we were passing *right* by the blackburnian spot. Couldn't hurt. So we popped out of the car for 3 minutes. Nothing. Oh well. We proceeded to the boathouse for kingfisher or maybe a swallow or Green Heron. We listened. Nothing. We scanned the snags. Nothing. Jonah peeled off to check the south lake while I staked out the kingfisher hunt. We convened and still nothing. We were driving out when we decided to stop one last time at a different angle. We waited for 5 minutes. Alas. We went to the concrete bridge to end. It was well after sunset and getting dark. We hadn't added a bird in two hours. Not the perfect way to end a big day. But we wanted to give Swallows and Green Heron one last shot. We got to the bridge. Not a swallow in sight. Ugh. We waited. We scanned the water. We looked up in the sky. Then, over the marsh wrens and people I heard a familiar sound. "WILSON'S SNIPE!!!" I looked all around and saw the bird, flying waaay up in the sky, making large circles and gaining altitude. It got way up in the sky then started heading north and up, and disappeared into the middle of a high cloud over a mile away from us. Amazing. What a way to end the day. Then, as a cherry on top, a pair of GREEN HERONS flew over the bridge heading south. Incredible.
The time had come to count up our total I was eager to see. We had had an unbelievable morning, a somewhat lull-ish midday, and a fairly strong ending. What would it add up too? After the counting was done, it looked like our total stood at 144. And it looked like two more were in the bag. But what to do besides nightbirds in the night? We were basically out of options. Hope for a semiplo on Ocean Beach or the Bayshore in the night? Look for Saw-whets in the Presidio?? Fat chance. 150 was out of the question. Well, let' get the two and go to sleep. First up poorwill.
We arrived at Mount Davidson before 8. We made the normal loop. No poorwill. 30 minutes ticked by. We busted out the thermal camera. No poorwill. Fog was starting to roll in. An hour ticked by. We made the loop again. Nothing?? They've got to be here! We went up to the top of the hill and looked. Nothing. Huh. It was after 9:30 and most restaurant options were going to close. It seems that they likely left. And with cold west winds and fog, no owls were calling up here. Ugh. We headed on.
After burritos in the mission we had to finish off the day in the Presidio. We went towards El Polin, the densest area of Great Horns in the Presidio in my experience. We stopped first by Tennessee Hollow. I made some hooting sounds, and almost immediately a GREAT HORNED OWL hooted in response. 145. The time was 10:50. We were spent.
It was a fantastic day with great company. The effort with Emmett and I in March seriously helped inform the overall route, strategy, and pace, learning that certain things like Hutton's Vireos are properly scarce and need prioritizing. We did quite well with regular SF species but did not go for all that many stakeout rarities, which can boost a total but can also sink serious time. I want to shout out the record-setting day set by Adrian Hinkle and Emmett Iverson back in 2021: https://groups.io/g/SFBirds/message/25464 and the old-time record of 149 set on April 16, 2007 by Hugh Cotter, Paul Saraceni, Alan Hopkins and Josiah Clark: https://groups.io/g/SFBirds/message/8653 And, regards to the old record, the city has changed immensely in the last 20 years, mostly for the better by big day standards. New habitat restoration and the colonization of native species back into our urban habitats since that time include Black-necked Stilt (since 2005), Acorn Woodpecker (since 2014), Nuttall's Woodpecker (mostly since 2007 or so), Northern Flicker (breeding since 2016), House Wren (breeding since 2020), Western Bluebird (breeding since 2002), Savannah Sparrow (breeding since 2009) along the with major expansion of several others like White-throated Swift and Northern Rough-winged Swallow, while we have lost birds like Quail and most of our Bank Swallows in that same time period.
And, like any big day, we had our misses: Ducks (no GW Teal, Gadwall, Shovelers or RB Mergs around SF right now), Pacific Loon (bad seawatch day), Surfbird (we gave it a full effort!), Semipalmated Plover (none in SF right now), Rb Gull (are the crissy birds really not there?? Checked twice), Bonaparte's Gull (bad seawatch day), Herring Gull (almost no gulls on the beach today), Kingfisher (tried twice), Meadowlark (tried for longer than I'd like to think about), migrants (many of these were on the hilltops, which we never got to on this day. We missed Vaux's Swift, Cassin's and Warbling Vireos, Bullock's Oriole, Chipping Sparrow, Western Tanager, BH Grosbeak) and wintering passerine stakeouts (like Nashville, Hermit and Blackburnian Warblers, Summer Tanager).
Date: 4/6/26 11:37 am From: Logan Kahle via groups.io <logan...> Subject: [SFBirds] Brown (cocos) Booby at Sutro
Hi all,
Yesterday evening, Jonah Benningfield, Caitlin Chock and I observed an adult Brown (Cocos) Booby off the Cliff House in front of a large tanker. The bird was in view for about a minute. It will likely linger in the channel for the next few days I would bet.
Date: 4/3/26 10:00 am From: Dominik Mosur via groups.io <dominikmosur...> Subject: [SFBirds] Breeding Bird Atlas update/pointers and some misc. observations
Happy Spring SFBirders,
I wanted to take a few moments of your time to share some news on the Atlas
effort so far and give some helpful pointers to those conducting the field
work.
To start, a bit of raw data. So far through April 1st - San Francisco City
and County is 15th in total species confirmed with *48 and 7th with *1627
observer hours logged out of 58 counties. This is especially remarkable
that SF is the smallest county by far , approximately 1/9th the size of
San Mateo.
Here is a list of the species confirmed in the most blocks so far:
Anna's Hummingbird (9)
American Crow
Common Raven
House Finch
White-crowned Sparrow (8)
Red-tailed Hawk
Bushtit
European Starling (7)
Dark-eyed Junco (6)
Mourning Dove
Great-horned Owl (5)
Red-shouldered Hawk
House Sparrow
Song Sparrow
American Robin (4)
I also wanted to address some issues that have come up for atlas
participants.
First is the importance of placing your breeding bird observations in the
correct blocks. A number of our larger frequently visited areas fall into
two blocks.
These are:
Golden Gate Park
Presidio
Lake Merced
Land's End
Additionally quite a few frequently visited Hotspots do as well including:
Corona Heights Park
Golden Gate Heights Park
Twin Peaks
Heron's Head
Pier 94
Sunset Reservoir
West Sunset Playground
Lafayette Park
Marina Green
Sunset Dunes Park
Sunset Blvd. Greenbelt
Laguna Honda
East Wash
Lincoln Park Golf Course
and the outlier Alta Plaza Park which lies in 4 blocks(!)
Here is the prescribed method for dealing with atlasing efforts that
involve covering multiple blocks:
"When you prepare to go out atlasing, keep in mind that you may cross over
block boundaries while in the field. It may help to look at the block map
before you head in the field so you have some idea of boundaries and if you
will need to create multiple checklists. You can also figure this out in
the field if you use the mobile app, but you need to stop and check your
location on the map. You’ll also need to be aware of the location of
breeding birds because they could be in a different block from where you
are located.
How to use eBird hotspots
If you are birding at an existing eBird hotspot that spans multiple
blocks, create
separate personal location checklists for each block where you bird. If you
plan to return to the area, it may be helpful to include the name of the
block when you name the new personal location. For example, if you are
atlasing along Bolinas Lagoon, which spans 4 blocks, you would not want to
use the general “Bolinas Lagoon” hotspot when atlasing near the inlet,
because the general hotspot is not located in the same block. You could
create a personal location or use a more localized hotspot that is located
in the proper block.
What to do when you see or hear a bird in an adjacent block
When you are located in one block and detect a breeding bird in a
neighboring block, you need to make sure the breeding code is assigned to
the correct block. Here’s how:
1. Record all species you observe while conducting your current eBird
checklist.
2. Record breeding codes on your current checklist only for species with
evidence of breeding *in the block where you are located. *
3. Create a separate incidental checklist for the neighboring block,
record the species, count, and breeding code for breeding observations in
the neighboring block.
The birds will be counted twice on separate checklists, but this is ok. It
won’t mess up anything with effort or eBird statistics because the second
checklist is incidental."
Another issue I've discussed with some observers recently involves
correctly interpreting behavior. A number of species exhibit
courtship behavior that can appear at a glance to be a juvenile bird
begging from a parent but is actually pair bonding involving one bird
feeding another. The bird being fed will exhibit juvenile like mannerism :
bowing down, rapid wing flapping and opening the bill all accompanied by
begging calls. I've recently observed this in Pygmy Nuthatches and
Chestnut-backed Chickadees as well as Oak Titmouse (outside of SF). In the
past I've seen this behavior as well in Western Bluebirds and others. If
you observe what looks like begging behavior be sure to closely study the
bird begging to see if you can note other marks of a juvenile, remains of
juvenile down (often retained longest on the head/mantle), brightly colored
gape flanges (at the base of the bill), not fully grown out feathers
(short-tailed appearance) etc.
The other thing to look out for involves cavity nesters and
differentiating between codes : N - visiting probable nest site, B - nest
building in woodpeckers/wrens (and nuthatches) and NB - nest building by
secondary cavity nesters. For example: you observe a Tree Swallow/or
Western Bluebird repeatedly perching at the entrance to a cavity and even
entering it. This would be coded as N - probable. NB - a confirmation code
can be used once actual nesting material is observed being carried into the
cavity.
With cavity makers like woodpeckers and nuthatches observing a bird working
on a cavity merits a probable code B as these species make and use roosting
cavities. Confirmation of their breeding requires additional observation
showing behavior like carrying in food (CF), removing Fecal Sacs (FS) or
hearing begging juveniles inside the nest (NY)
Finally I would like to conclude this Atlas update by shouting out some of
our All-star participants who are leading the pack with -
total species confirmed:
Daniel Scali (15), Anna Klafter/Megan Jankowski (13), Eddie Bartley/Theresa
Calpotura(12). David Assmann/Travis Smith(11)
and blocks with confirmed species:
Eddie Bartley/Theresa Calpotura/Noreen Weeden (7), Anna Klafter/Liam
Murphy/Jenna Magee (5), Daniel Scali/Megan Jankowski/Travis Smith/Danny
Grossman/Conor Schmidt/Richard Bradus/Rich Chambers (4)
In other news :
Spring migrants have been arriving ahead of schedule so far with notables
on Corona Hill on Tue. 3/31 - Chipping Sparrow and Bullock's Oriole. A not
so highlight was watching a Scrub Jay predate a Bushtit nest joining three
Anna's and one Allen's Hummingbird nests that befell the same fate in
recent weeks. A Steller's Jay appeared to pluck a newly hatched European
Starling from a cavity on Tuesday.
And on a City-wide scale happy to report first of the year breeding
confirmations of nesting by Barn Owl in Golden Gate Park and Brewer's
Blackbirds behind the Ortega Library at West Sunset Playground (outside of
the block in which the pin for the hotspot is sited so be sure to create a
separate location for this)
Thank you to all of you participating in the atlas, and for the rest get
with the program! If you have questions please shoot me a line off list.
Date: 4/2/26 4:32 pm From: Brian Fitch via groups.io <fogeggs...> Subject: Re: [SFBirds] Royal Tern Sutro
I had hoped that some migratory movement would be happening today in the
wake of the storms and with April on the books, and though there was less
variety than I wanted, terns did what they could as far as numbers.
Only a few Elegants were heading out of the Gate early on, but then quite a
few began to stream in from the south, many more than had already
gone out. Hundreds had flown by when some pelicans and cormorants began
gathering beyond the rocks, starting one of the biggest feeding frenzies
I've ever seen. The fish moved further into the Gate and split up,
reflected in a small flock of divers right offshore (I could see loon and
corm eye color in my binos), a big flock a few hundred yards out, and a
massive flock in the chop south of Point Bonita. The prey was so small
that I only once caught sight of a 2-3 inch long fish in an Elegant's beak.
I was scoping the mid-distance group when a large tern circled into my view
and instantly caught my attention. Its bill was bright orange-red, and a
little stouter and shorter than the Elegants. It had the notably forked
tail and flight style of the Elegants, as well as white on the underside of
the primaries. It was in alternate plumage, so no difference there
either. I was relatively certain that it was a Royal, but until it finally
dove down amongst the mob, I didn't feel complete confidence. It didn't
hit the water, but it flew amongst several much smaller Elegants, and then
headed north toward the Bonita frenzy, not to be seen again before I left
at 10. Only after it had moved on did any Caspians appear, with five
coming in from the south over the subsequent hour.
The frenzies never abated, and the other notable species present was
Bonaparte's Gull. Numerous individuals were swirling through the feeding
flock, making it hard to count, but a quick sweep showed at least fifty,
and others had flown north before the frenzy broke out. Another
interesting item was that Elegants began rafting on the surface in several
scattered groups, each group consisting of around 25-30 birds. I've seen
them on the surface before, but what was new to me was that some appeared
to be washing themselves in the salt water, while the others were holding
their beaks and their wingtips tilted up above the splashes of the choppy
water. The angular geometry would have made a great photo if they'd been
close enough.
Hundreds of murres were moving in every direction, while three Common Loons
were northbound along with five small flocks of Whimbrel.
Brian Fitch
On Thu, Apr 2, 2026 at 8:51 AM Brian Fitch via groups.io <fogeggs=
<gmail.com...> wrote:
> Good looks at a Royal in a feeding frenzy nw of Sutro Baths. It just
> moved off to the north but may stay local.
> Details later
> Brian Fitch
>
>
>
