Date: 4/25/24 10:41 pm From: Aaron Maizlish via groups.io <amm.birdlists...> Subject: [SFBirds] Swallow-tailed Gull and Blue Rock-Thrush on the Farallons
Hey SF and Peninsula Birders,
For those of you who don’t subscribe to the eBird alerts, there was an absolutely bonkers checklist submitted by the Farallon Islands team today.
A (the) SWALLOW-TAILED GULL showed up on the islands, looking spiffy in full alternate plumage, just like the one last fall. I’ll go out on a limb and suggest that it is the same adult bird that was seen on San Gregorio Beach on Sept. 1, 2023, and prior to that in Goleta in July. (Might even be the same bird as prior year’s records.). I think that was the 7th North American sighting of this species, normally found around the Galapagos.
But that’s not even the main story. A BLUE ROCK-THRUSH is also on the checklist. This is a bird that had never been reported in the United States until four days ago when one was photographed on the beach in Cannon Beach Oregon, about 600 miles north of here. Is it the same bird? Probably, and it’s woefully misoriented if it’s heading south in April. They’re found in Europe and Asia, and this is the philppensis subspecies that breeds in Asia at about this latitude. This will be a first California record - the photos on the checklist are awesome.
I would hit the beaches tomorrow if these aren’t being seen on the Farallons. The Swallow-tailed Gull is a nocturnal feeder and tends to rest-in place during the daytime, so any big gull flock in San Mateo, San Francisco or Marin Counties, all about equidistant from the Farallons, is possible. The Goleta and San Gregorio sightings were both in large flocks of loafing gulls on a sand berm separating a wide beach from a lagoon. And the Blue Rock-Thrush? Who knows. They like rocky cliffs, harbors, rip-rap, sandy beaches, even concrete buildings and built-up areas according to Alvaro Jaramillo. If it’s the same bird as the Oregon sighting that means it’s averaging 150 miles a day.
Crazy stuff to kick off our spring-rarity season.
Aaron Maizlish
San Francisco
https://ebird.org/checklist/S170310255
eBird Checklist - 25 Apr 2024 - Southeast Farallon Island (Farallon Islands NWR, restricted access) - 39 species (+3 other taxa)
ebird.org
