Ethan is unavailable at the moment. I think he’s taking a long and
necessary rest after reading Logan’s maniacal account of the big day ,but
he gave me his blessing to respond to your question.
While possibilities of extralimital breeding always exist to some level The
best bet is that these finches are overwintering and haven’t departed yet.
There is no documentation of Cassens Finch nesting in the Diablo range or
any of the coastal foothills of central California. Their closest breeding
stronghold is in the Sierra Nevada.
I think the closest they come to nesting near the coast in Northern
California is maybe the highest reaches of Lake/Mendocino county. But I
could be off by a mountain range or two.
Happy spring birding,
Dominik Mosur
San Francisco
On Tue, Apr 23, 2024 at 16:45 Erica via groups.io <ihearwaxwings=
<gmail.com...> wrote:
> Thank you for sharing these observations Ethan. Do you suspect that they
> may be breeding locally? Also a question about access. The park technically
> opens at 8:00 am. Are you able to enter earlier than the posted time? If
> so, is it fairly reliable to be able to do so?
>
> Many thanks and congratulations. I hope we'll see your photo at some
> point.
>
> Best, Erica
>
>
>
