Date: 4/29/24 9:27 am From: Logan Kahle via groups.io <logan...> Subject: [pen-bird] San Mateo county big day 4/27 186 species (long)
Hi all,
Yesterday Dessi Sieburth, Marty Freeland and myself undertook the
ambitious task of an all-out San Mateo county big day. We started at
12:15am in Atherton and ended at midnight in Pescadero Marsh. We ended
up with a grand total of 186 species, breaking the previous record of
179 set on April 30, 1977 (!) by Peter J Metropulous, Stephen F Bailey,
Lauren C Binford, and Barry Sauppe. For a brief history on big days to
contextualize this previous amazing record, big days tended to be
different back then. Normally little targeted scouting (vs simply
birding around and already having an amazing understanding of the
county) was undertaken, normally very little playback was used outside
of Owls and Rails, and the modern conveniences of eBird and Google Maps,
which has made all of this notably more accessible and easier for people
without a pre-existing understanding of every road and bird territory in
the county, were simply absent. There was a real local wave of big days
in the 1970s and early 80s when intensive birding in the region was
picking up, then another major wave in the early 2000s following the
county craze throughout the state. I have tried to break many of the
records set in these different time periods, and few were as
unbelievably tricky to surmount and technical as San Mateo's. The idea
of undertaking an effort such as that with that level of success, almost
50 years ago, is truly amazing, and hats off to the San Mateo heads of
the day for setting such an incredible record.
Like many big day records, the vast majority of the work, effort, and
success is thanks to the local folks on the team. In this case, I cannot
possibly credit Marty and Dessi enough for this record. Marty's
up-and-down knowledge of the entirety of San Mateo, its breeders, and
random pockets and corners where birds hang out is almost entirely to
credit for this day's success. Dessi's scouting abilities and additional
knowledge of the county were similarly invaluable. Its impossible for me
to lend enough gratitude to both of them.
Anyways, on to the day.
We started the morning at 12:15am at a random road in Atherton that
looked good, on satellite, for Screech-Owl. It was close to where we
were all sleeping, so we decided to give it a shot. Our first 10 minutes
of the day were spent whistling and waiting, but eventually it became
clear no Screech was going to make its presence known. But while waiting
Marty and Dessi picked up on the first bird of the day, a hooting GREAT
HORNED OWL.
The weather for the day was rough. It was windy. All flipping day.
Including at night. In fact, never was it MORE relevant than at night,
when owl and rail activity was very notably suppressed due to inclement
conditions. The number of Great Horns heard first night was pitiful (we
SAW nearly as many) reflecting this lull in vocal activity. Fortunately,
we were headed to the bayshore where that mattered little. Arriving at
Ravenswood around 12:45am, we got out of the car to a flush of birds:
FORSTER'S TERNS screaming from their colony in the midnight air, the
chorus of AMERICAN AVOCETS, WESTERN SANDPIPERS, MARBLED GODWITS, and
BLACK-BELLIED and SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS all coming from the Salt Ponds.
As we walked around some of the dikes a few other birds made their
presence known: a lone calling BLACK OYSTERCATCHER and a group of
BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS feeding around the outflow channels. These
would be our only Night-Herons of the day.
Proceeding north of the Dumbarton Bridge, still in ravenswood, we walked
the levee the Piping Plover had frequented earlier this month. While
picking through the swarms of Western Sandpipers by flashlight, we heard
the distinctive calls of a GREATER YELLOWLEGS, our only one of the day.
The shorebird composition was largely similar to the previous spot, but
we did score BLACK-NECKED STILT among the hordes. Looking through the
masses of peeps scurrying over the moonlit mudflats we were shocked to
see one of the closest birds to us was a SNOWY PLOVER! This was a bird
that had vexed us somewhat during scouting and we fully anticipated to
be a massive pain during the daytime. They eventually flew around, and
started uttering their bizarre low "farting" sounds, almost like a
shorebird Rough-winged Swallow. Nearby in the marsh, our desired target
RIDGWAY'S RAIL cackled away.
Our next stop along the bayshore was seaport drive. This area is an epic
high tide roost in the daytime (see later in this report) but sometimes
day high tide roosts are useless at night. Well, that was the case here.
No birds, as a certain author from the North Bay may say. We were hoping
for a night-singing mockingbird, but nada. We were off.
After a brief stop for refreshments (Bedwell's Gate was closed so we
opted not to try there for Barn Owl and waterbirds), we headed off to
the coastside. We arrived at Princeton Marsh at 2:20 and started trying
for Sora. While there was a GREAT BLUE HERON in the marsh, no rails
uttered a peep. Despite the wind becoming truly obnoxious (10-15+ miles
per hour steady in unsheltered areas), we tried for Barn Owl for quite a
while at a variety of locations. It seems to be that Barn Owls are not
as numerous as I'd expected on the coastside during the breeding season,
the sort of knowledge you pick up on these big days.
Regardless, we tried for Barn Owls a couple extra places, with the sole
consolation being cleaning up a couple Great Horned Owls perched around
highway 1 near Halfmoon Bay. A nuttall's WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW sang its
happy little heart out in the bluffs at Wavecrest, but the Sora at Verde
road pond remained silent.
We were running out of nighttime and it was time to wrack up some rails.
So we went to Pescadero Marsh. Pescadero Marsh was.....windy. And cold.
Two persistent factors of the day. But not just windy I might add. It
was REALLY windy. And exposed. Not a good combo. I have personally never
really done a big day in blasting cold west winds before (because, ya
know, why would you?), but as it turns out, rails shut the hell up! They
dont talk! Theyre all cozy and happy in the reeds and don't give a
single rip about clapping, or playback, or other rails, or dawn or
anything! Well, thats a rather long way of saying we could not find a
single rail despite half an hour of giving it our absolute best. And for
reference Marty had had 3+ respond at multiple different spots along
this stretch the previous week. Bully. But, with dawn approaching, we
knew we needed to leave the night with more owls than just Great Horned
Owl under our belt. So, we blasted off to Gazos.
At this point, we were feeling a little shaky. We knew we would need to
see almost every possible bird to have a shot at the record, and yet we
were missing birds left and right and had only secured one owl and one
rail (out of the 5 and 3 expected, respectively). We arrived at the
Gazos x Cloverdale intersection at around 4:30. As anyone who knows this
sort of timing knows, this is too late. We had 3 different target owls
here. Screech-Owls almost always respond, aggressively, within 10
minutes. As such, I figured we should try for them at the intersection,
where Dessi and Marty had found both Screech and Saw-whet. Well, we
waited 10 minutes. Nada. 12. Errr. 15, all the sudden, a few barks from
the nearby trees. A WESTERN SCREECH-OWL. Not even a song. Pathetic.
Well, one in the bag. Our next priority was Saw-whet. Saw-whets are much
more vocal late at night than any time near dawn/dusk, so we were
rapidly running out of time. We knew Pescadero Creek Road was probably
our best bet but opted for staying local (we needed to wait for
Pygmy-Owl to wake up) and try at Upper Gazos. Maybe it was just because
of all the rain this winter but upper Gazos was....noisy. If theres one
thing about listening for Saw-whets, you want QUIET. Well, didn't seem
like we were going to get that. After a few unproductive and at least
somewhat creek-noisy spots, it was time to return down the road,
saw-whet-less.
Returning down Gazos at 5:30, we were behind schedule. Our initial plan
was to be at La Honda at 5:25 to catch the first and busiest part of
dawn chorus at 5:45. But here we were listening for Pygmy-Owls. We
tooted. Silence. The first WESTERN FLYCATCHERS started to belt their
whistling songs into the redwoods, urging us to go. Our crummy night
luck was holding for us, even through the dawn. Then, over the babbling
creek and the early-rising passerines, a NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL started
tooting from the top of the ridge. Onwards!
As we drove up cloverdale and Pescadero Creek rds, the chorus of new
passerines started filling the air: SWAINSON'S THRUSHES, SONG SPARROWS,
BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAKS, STELLER'S JAYS, PACIFIC WRENS all sounded into
the riparian and redwoods. We made a quick detour/stop at Wurr road
with one target, a bird that Marty had scouted out last week but was
quiet the previous day due to wind and cold. But it was Hermit Thrush
hour. We tried a couple random spots for shits and giggles and were
treated with the just more Pac-slopes and Pac Wrens. But as we pulled
into Marty's scouted spot almost instantaneously the HERMIT THRUSH
sounded off. Score!
We arrived at La Honda late: 6:08 to be specific. Our initial schedule
had us arriving at 5:25 and I knew arriving any later than 5:45 was
extremely risky given how many targets were here. We listened right from
the parking lot for Chipping Sparrow. After a couple minutes, a CHIPPING
SPARROW sounded off, and nearby a singing SAVANNAH SPARROW made its
presence known. But more exciting than that was a HOUSE WREN uttering
its bubbling jumble into the dawn air. A most unexpected surprise, as it
was a bird we had not pinned down a territory for in scouting, and that
I had all but written off for the day. We were off to a good start. We
started running out to the La Honda shed. During the dawn chorus new
birds kept streaming in: CALIFORNIA QUAIL, WESTERN BLUEBIRD, CALIFORNIA
SCRUB-JAY, WRENTIT, BEWICK'S WREN. GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS were singing on
the ridges, and our staked out CALIFORNIA THRASHER was happily singing
in its coyotebrush kingdom. A WILD TURKEY gobbled at the base of the
Canyon, and a couple ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS sounded off in the
scattered oaks. We made haste to the barn. We knew that if we didn't end
up at the Barn early enough, birds like Lark Sparrow and Western
Kingbird could be potentially missable. So we jolted off down the trail.
As we were approaching the barn Dessi stopped in his tracks. "Theres the
Kestrel!" he yelled. Sure enough, the male AMERICAN KESTREL was sitting
on a wire! I had all but written the Kestrel off, knowing we might be
there too early in the morning for it to be active, and knowing no
others were on our route. Kestrels were a common breeding bird in much
of the overgrown agricultural grasslands in San Mateo through the 80s
and 90s but declined precipitously in the coming decades to the point
where it is now: a nearly-extirpated breeder. While I'm sure the issues
are complex and poorly understood, could be a good call to keep putting
nest boxes up in areas with Kestrel potential!
Anyways, on to the barn we were ready for some new birds. Nada. We tried
vigorously to find a Lark Sparrow or Western Kingbird. They weren't
having it. Where's a kingbird when you need them?? Well, not there
apparently. We did add a trickle of new birds: PINE SISKINS flew around
the few Douglas Firs, a PURPLE FINCH bubbled from the Bays, and a lone
migrant CEDAR WAXWING bombed by, one of the only ones of the day. But no
kingbirds, and no lark sparrows. We waited. We werent adding other
birds. There comes a point on a big day where you can only wait so long.
And as it happened there was something on the coast we needed to get to
ASAP, so we started jogging back to the car, keeping our eye out for
Lark Sparrows on the way back. It was not to be. But as we were still
near the barn it gave us two more gifts: a calling WESTERN TANAGER and a
calling AUDUBON'S (Yellow-rumped) WARBLER, both our only encounters of
the day. With Dessi's bum knee and my sore shins from too much sprinting
on our Alameda day, Marty was making laps around us. Still, he took pity
and slowed down to a fast walk. Fortunately, our slow pace and frequent
stops back to the car netted us some birds: a distantly calling HUTTON'S
VIREO, a HAIRY WOODPECKER, and another Northern Pygmy-Owl!
We rushed off to Reflection Lake where the mentally challenged Cackling
Goose has decided to set up residence with the 3 Mallards that live in
the 100 sq foot patch of lawn next to a lily lake in the top of the
Santa Cruz mountains. We scanned around but no goose. How can a goose
hide?? Well, it can't. Sure enough, the CACKLING GOOSE was right there
almost underneath a little blackberry bramble with the Mallards. Score!
On the lake, we searched and were quickly rewarded with the ongoing
HOODED MERGANSERS that have been frequenting the area all winter. We
also added some new landbirds like a roost of TURKEY VULTURES,
VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW, WARBLING VIREO and BLACK PHOEBE.
Heading downslope, Marty's San Mateo knowledge kicked in to full gear.
We wipped around a turn on Pescadero Creek road and got out of the car.
It didn't take long for the GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET to start singing and
calling, along with our first HERMIT WARBLER of the morning. Farther
down the road, we added a calling BROWN CREEPER and Marty and Dessi's
staked out BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER. We were starting to run out of
forest breeders we still hadn't seen. Farther down the road, a PYGMY
NUTHATCH sounded off.
Getting to Pescadero, we started adding birds at a clip: BREWER'S
BLACKBIRD, BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD, BARN SWALLOW, RED-SHOULDERED HAWK. We
pulled off briefly at the pond where Peter Metropulous had had snipe two
days prior and we'd had it the next day. We ran around the lake. No
snipe. We were baffled. Maybe it went elsewhere for the morning (when
we'd seen it the previous day it kicked up into a different field). We
decided we would check later in the morning.
We elected to drive down Cloverdale and Gazos before Pigeon Point just
to get a greater baseline of breeders out of the way. We continued onto
Cloverdale road, hoping maybe a Lazuli Bunting had moved in in the past
week. We made a few quick stops, quickly picking up AMERICAN GOLDFINCH
as well as a WHITE-TAILED KITE kiting and a NORTHERN HARRIER coursing
over the fields. Kites can be a notorious pain in the ass on these big
days, and we were greatly relieved to run into one so early. On a small
stock pond nearby, there was a lone LESSER SCAUP, and farther down the
road near Gazos we found our second California Thrasher of the morning.
On Gazos, we bolted almost directly for the "Pileated Pullout". That was
a bird we were both worried about and for which this was our only shot.
So, even if we decided to come back later, it felt like a good call. We
pulled off the road and played a few Pileated calls. The acorns sure
went nuts, but no pileated. We played some more calls. A DOWNY
WOODPECKER sounded off! Well even if the Pileateds werent responding it
sure seemed to be helping with other woodpeckers. We played it another
time. This time Dessi and I noticed a mid-sized Woodpecker looking
somewhat like an acorn but slimmer fly into a big Doug Fir. It landed in
plain view: a RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER!!! We couldn't believe it!! Of all
the years I've birded the Bay Area, I've always wanted to see a breeding
Sapsucker in the Santa Cruz Mountains. And for it to happen on a big
day! Our luck from the nighttime felt like it was turning. The sapsucker
chilled on multiple different snags, often in plain view, for a couple
minutes. It called a few times but unfortunately never gave out its
resonant drum. We were giddy. Is this how this day was gonna go?? As we
drove down gazos one of our last remaining forest breeders sounded off:
a MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER and a singing OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER. Things
were going well. But we knew things would have to go a whole lot better
if we wanted a crack at the big day record.
Now was on to the good part. The cold, blustery, blasting Northwest
winds that had vexed us all night ARE good for one thing and one thing
alone. Seawatching. The whole strategy of this day (other than our lack
of free time in the correct timeframe) hinged on the idea that whatever
birds we'd lost based on late date and windy conditions suppressed
activity, we would at least somewhat make back with seawatching. We were
off to Pigeon Point for a seawatch! As we rolled up to Pigeon Point just
before 8:30, we could quickly tell it was a good morning out there.
Right off the bat birds like SOOTY SHEARWATER were noted just offshore
along with the normal residents and breeders like COMMON MURRE, PIGEON
GUILLEMOT, and BRANDT'S and PELAGIC CORMORANT. As the watch continued
more species kept piling up: all three regular LOONS were flying north,
streams of BROWN PELICANS, and shorebirds like LONG-BILLED CURLEW and
WHIMBREL. As we started focusing in on finding more uncommon seawatch
specialties, the hits just kept coming. A close RHINOCEROUS AUKLET, the
first of several, strafed by. Marty got on our first migrant flock of
BONEPARTE'S GULLS, while ELEGANT and CASPIAN TERNS foraged offshore.
Gull streams kept heading north, and among them were a reasonable
smattering of HERRING GULLS along with a couple GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULLS
among the WESTERN and CALIFORNIA GULLS. Marty and I had seen a bird on
the rocks yesterday that had gone AWOL, but after a long while Marty
picked up on the SURFBIRDS on the offshore rocks. Continuing our
seawatch, it kept adding new birds, soon in the form of a few MARBLED
MURRELETS and several large flocks of BRANT. Dessi called out "CASSIN'S
AUKLET!!!!" and Marty and I frantically looked to try and find it.
Amazingly, we both managed to get on the tiny gray alcid blasting its
way northwards among the waves a solid ways out. We had some continued
shorebird movement, and in time we picked up on a few northbound RED
KNOTS. Scanning through ever flock of shorebirds that went by, Marty
eventually noted a small flock of RED-NECKED PHALAROPES that landed on
the water a ways out. The seawatch started to slow down, and after an
hour and 45 minutes there, we decided to jam. Our only real "misses"
were Red-breasted Merganser and Heermann's Gull, not bad for a seawatch!
Gazos Creek mouth was a disappointment, but the presence of Godwits on
the beach reminded us that, at this date, we had to seriously consider
trying to get Sanderling sooner than later. The next spot, Año Nuevo, is
where Dessi and my leg disabilities were most pronounced, and Marty had
to slow down to wait up for the old farts. We started by quickly
scanning the cove, where Dessi spotted a single PIED-BILLED GREBE which
was present the day before, too, off on the ocean in the cove! Marty and
I didn't even think to look at it assuming we'd have plenty, a mistake
given we didnt see another til after sunset! Running on to the pond, we
easily found the pair of EARED GREBES. We rushed below the pond for the
platform for the real target and looked into the burrows on the sandbank
nearby. Weirdly, our target was not abundantly obvious. We waited. Then,
above the cliff, a couple of BANK SWALLOWS flew around. As we were
heading back to the car, I spotted an incredibly distant raptor. I got
the group on it and it was pretty clearly either a vulture or an eagle,
but the distance was immense. Marty took some super distant photos and
we kept watching. It sure didn't look like a vulture, and was clearly
not a buteo, and after a while we thought it looked like a really good
candidate for a Golden Eagle. But it just wasn't good enough, and it
disappeared behind a ridge. Frustrated, we went back to the car.
As we were driving north we had to make a decision: detour to Gazos to
try for Pileated, despite the relatively low chances, or just bomb
north. I deferred to the two San Mateoheads in the group, and we decided
to give it a shot. As we rolled along the base of the road, we saw a
group of swallows so we slowed down. We quickly got on a WHITE-THROATED
SWIFT, but Dessi couldnt see it. So we waited a little longer, and
pretty soon a VAUX'S SWIFT joined the group. We all got on all of the
swifts and were off! Farther down the road at the Pileated Pullout, we
got out of the car. We played a couple calls but were immediately
interrupted by a flyover GOLDEN EAGLE! Certainly made up for the
frustration at Año! Not seconds later Marty yelled out that a PILEATED
WOODPECKER was flying over. We were on a roll. Our shifty luck from the
predawn seemed to be gone.
We stopped briefly at Lake Lucerne hoping for Spotted Sandpiper,
Kingfisher, and Green Heron among others. As we pulled up we were
stunned to find a COMMON GOLDENEYE still hanging out west of the road.
That was one we'd assumed had already departed! Ecstatic, we started
scanning the lake. Our first TREE SWALLOWS were twittering and flying
around overhead. We decided to play a couple calls of Kingfisher just
for shits, and a GREEN HERON blasted towards us high overhead and
plummeted into the Willows. I guess he wanted to be best friends with a
kingfisher. On the shore of the lake, a single LEAST SANDPIPER foraged.
Amazingly, this was our only one of the day, but granted we didn't try
at all on the bayshore to look for one.
We blasted off to Pescadero Marsh. Our first stop was Pescadero State
Beach. As we waited at the stop sign I saw something fly onto the
Pelican rock right offshore. It turned out to be a HEERMANN'S GULL!
Things were lining up. We pulled into the Parking lot and ran down the
beach to look for rockpipers. In short order we found a few lingering
BLACK TURNSTONES. Running across the street to overlook the marsh we had
a couple target birds in mind: Bald Eagle and Cinnamon Teal. We scanned
the marsh, picking up GADWALL and a good number of BUFFLEHEAD in the
Channel. All of the sudden Dessi started shouting about a female
RED-BREASTED MERGANSER right below us! Another bonus bird! We continued
scanning. Marty shortly after found a male COMMON MERGANSER way up the
creek! Holy cow!! Three merganser species for the morning! We could not
believe our luck! Still none of our original targets though. We were
baffled. The Cinnamon Teal had been so obvious the previous morning, but
with all the channels and mud at low tide they were nowhere in view. We
decided to scan the beach. There, amongst all the Whimbrel, were our
only SANDERLINGS of the day! Without these, we would likely have missed
this normally ubiquitous species. But still no teal. We ran back over to
the marsh but nothing. It was starting to get concerning. Dessi had had
none on the Bayshore the previous day so I feared my birds from the day
before at Nob Hill had bailed. We had to find these. We detoured to the
north end of the marsh. None. We whipped around and went back to our
vantage. They just weren't there. We gave up and headed back towards
Pescadero. We turned on Pescadero road, and on a hunch I pulled off at
the past remaining patch of open water before we left the marsh. There,
like a radiant beam of sun, was a pair of CINNAMON TEAL. Hallelujah.
We tried one more time for the snipe in Pescadero and still didn't find
them. It may have left the previous night. Damn. We continued on to
Stage rd, where we had mostly just a single target. We arrived to the
eucalyptus line that Marty had shown me the previous day and started
looking. It was windy. It was cold. Bird activity was not high. There
were a scattering of birds around: a flicker, some grosbeaks, and plenty
of other birds. But not the target. We kept looking. It was so easy the
previous day we'd assumed it would be easy now. We were wrong. Then, in
the distance, in the same alders and willows it was the previous day,
Dessi spotted the male BULLOCK'S ORIOLE, one of the only breeding
territories in western San Mateo county. We were off!
Continuing down the road to Seaside School road, we saw a single male
ALLEN'S HUMMINGBIRD, unlike all the female "selasphorus sp" we'd been
seeing. We arrived at Seaside and almost immediately heard Marty's
staked-out singing WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE. Things were lining up! We
continued to Lobitos. Dessi had had a kingbird there a week prior and
they had bred at this spot in the past. As such, we pulled up and
started scanning. Nothing. A HOODED ORIOLE sounded off, saving us a stop
down the road. But no kingbird. We all split up by 60' or so and scanned
the ridges, fencelines and trees but still nothing. Time kept ticking.
After about 15 minutes we decided it wasn't worth any additional wait
and decided to move on. Drat. It was on to Half Moon Bay.
We briefly detoured to Gary Deghi's back yard for a lingering waterbird.
When we rolled up it wasnt visible. Then it popped up: the female
RING-NECKED DUCK. We made several brief stops overlooking Pillar Point
Harbor for the chance at an odd Scoter or Horned Grebe but added no
birds. We were entering that stage of the day. We busted on to Devils
Slide. There were several targets here, but none would likely be
especially easy: Peregrine Falcon, Rock Wren and Black Scoter. We ran
out to the cliff where the Peregrines had a scrape the previous year. We
looked around. No falcons. We decided to start splitting up, with some
of us looking actively for the wrens while others stayed on Falcon duty.
Shortly after, Marty called out to Dessi and I that he had the falcon.
We rushed back and saw one PEREGRINE FALCON sitting on the side of the
cliff. Success! Still having 2 targets left we decided to stick it out.
Even if it took 10 more minutes of waiting, if we got one of the
additional birds it would be worth it. So Dessi and Marty kept scanning
for Scoters among the 150 or so Surf Scoters offshore I wandered farther
down the trail looking for the wren. We failed on both fronts. After a
solid amount of time, it seemed like it was time to pack up. We started
walking back. As we were passing the Peregrine cliff, we decided to give
it one last listen for Rock Wren. Lo and behold, on the same exact
cliff, the ROCK WREN was singing away! 2 for 3! We were off.
The next stop was a brief one. We rolled up to Sharp Park Golf Course
per Cedric's instructions and scanned the northwest part of the course.
We quickly located a few geese and among them was the long GREATER
WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE. Driving north along the highway in Pacifica we
found a few ROCK PIGEONS. And we were headed to Rock Pigeon heaven. Our
next stop was Westlake Shopping Center in Daly City. We arrived in full
anticipation of seeing grackles. "Oh!" one of us yelled as a crow flew
over. Too excited. "oh look!" Brewer's Blackbird. "what's this!?" A
black Rock Pigeon. We were getting ahead of ourselves. We scanned all
the posts in the home depot parking lot, excellent grackle habitat.
Nothing. Hmmm. We drove around for about 10 minutes. Still nothing. We
kept driving. They must be here soooomewhere....right? We were getting a
little desperate. After a while we had an idea. We drove across the
street to Burger King. Surely a grackle couldn't resist a whopper and
fries. Or they could? They weren't there now! Hmm. We gave it one last
thorough shot. They /had/ to be in this shopping center. We drove
slowly, checked every post. It was getting to the time where one bird
wasn't worth it. We had to call it. No luck. San Mateo's most
charismatic denizen would have to go unseen. Dejected, we continued on.
Our next stop was Filoli Estate. Unfortunately, Filoli is a destination
for more than just birders. As such, there are actual lines and tickets
and stuff. This, it would seem, was incredibly lame. However, we had an
ace up our sleeve: Marty's mom was a member of the Save Filoli Estate
Committee or something to that effect, and as consequence we were able
to secure tickets to visit the area free of charge. Score. We rolled up
to the entrance kiosk while some people were showing tickets and others
were being turned around. Marty swiped his extra-suave VIP Filoli
super-members only tickets and we were escorted in to the estate with a
caravan of 3 limousines. Luckily, the escort bailed by the time we got
to the oaks where our targets lived. We pulled off. First thing, we
started looking for Cooper's Hawks. Marty lingered perhaps 50' back to
check the tree that the nuthatches like while Dessi and I scanned for
hawks. After about 15 minutes a pair of COOPER'S HAWKS started
display-flying over the ridge. Sweet. Now it was just up to nuthatches.
We looked. We listened. We split up. all of the sudden, Marty called us
over. A WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH had started calling down the trail. We
all walked down towards it. However, the bird had gone quiet and Dessi
and I had not heard it. We listened. Nothing. The problem with birding
oaks at 2pm... After a good wait, we decided it was best to count it as
dirty, try to clean it up later and move on.
As we were driving south paralleling Crystal Springs Reservoir on 280 we
kept our eye to the sky for one primary reason. Not long after, Dessi
cued us in on something ahead. We were locked on. As we got closer it
became clear: BAAAALD EAAAAGLE!!!!! The American Icon swooped overhead,
exuding incredible amounts of patriotism. Reinvigorated by the heart of
our country, we blasted on towards residential East Menlo Park.
Our next spots were in Atherton. The first was an odd entrance via
neighborhoods to Edgewood Park Marty had staked this out during
scouting. We parked on a neighborhood street and walked through the
eastern entrance. As we approached the patch of chemise there, we
quickly noted a calling BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER, not a bird I was
expecting to be this easy to find. We were off! It was on to a series of
locations Dessi had scouted the previous day. The first among them was a
neighborhood in Atherton. As we rolled up, another Gnatcatcher was
sounding off. Ugh. There were other interesting birds, like Acorn
Woodpeckers, Pygmy Nuthatches, Band-tailed Pigeons and a lone (migrant?)
Olive-sided Flycatcher. But no Nuttall's. After a little under 10
minutes, we decided it was time to try a different spot. So we went to
another area Dessi had found them that day. As we rolled up, a NUTTALL'S
WOODPECKER was calling away. Our last dryland/oak hills target! We went
to the end of the road to try to clean up White-breasted Nuthatch
briefly but failed, though a Nuttall's was calling there, too. It was
time for the bayside.
Rolling up to Seaport drive, Dessi picked up on our first SNOWY EGRET of
the day. It was clear only hard birds were left. We entered the
shorebird roost region and easily found many WILLETS and DUNLIN among
the vast swarms of (thousands of) Short-billed Dowitchers and Western
Sandpipers. But no Long-billed Dowitchers. We went to a different
vantage but saw all the same stuff. It seemed clear we should move on.
But as we were cruising around the parking lots, a pair of NORTHERN
MOCKINGBIRDS flew by and perched up on a couple of bushes. We were off.
Our next stop was Redwood Shores. Marty directed me down a way to Nob
Hill pond I had never been before. The benefit was that we could see the
channel. Pretty quickly after arriving along the channel we picked up
one of our last truly dumb bayshore needs: CLARK'S GREBE. We were doing
well. Arriving at Nob Hill, we were greeted by a whole series of new
birds. An AMERICAN WIGEON swam around the opposite shore along with a
pair of BLUE-WINGED TEAL and a small group of NORTHERN SHOVELERS. A
single male GREEN-WINGED TEAL loafed on the opposite bank, while a flock
of RING-BILLED GULLS was roosting on the bayshore. Dessi had expressed
no concern over Spotted Sandpiper because of their presence at this
site. Sure enough, a single SPOTTED SANDPIPER was bobbing along the
shoreline. Additionally, birds we had seen already today like Hooded
Oriole and Green Heron made their presence known. As we were getting
ready to leave, a Dowitcher picked up giving the characteristic "keek!"
calls of a LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER. Things were going alright. We looked
out onto the channel and saw a couple Scaup way out there.
We decided to detour on our way to Radio road to try to check out the
scaup. We overshot and when we got to the channel next, we were well
beyond the Scaup flock. We drove back along the bay to another vantage
point. This time we were just about level with them. I was hoping the
wintering Tufted Duck I'd seen two days before at Nob Hill would be with
this group. I didn't really see any candidates, but I did notice a
female CANVASBACK with the scaup. Then, while we were all looking at the
Canvasback, we noticed that the scaup we were looking at in this flock
were actually GREATER SCAUP, our last truly "dumb" need on the bayshore!
Luck was on our side. "I wonder how many species we're at for the day?"
Dessi pondered. "Oh we've broken the record", I assure him, not knowing
the true number. "You think?? I don't think we have" he responded. Well,
we were both wrong. As it happened, we were currently on the precipice
haven just seen our 179th species, tying the record at this point. But
we had no idea, and we rushed off to radio road. At Radio road, we
quickly found the hoped-for NORTHERN PINTAIL. Running up to the levee,
Marty trained his scope on the known OSPREY nest, though the bird was
hardly visible. We scanned extensively for the Snow Goose and checked
its other usual spots but no dice. It was last reported 4 days prior and
probably took off for the Arctic or maybe some city park in Medford
given this particular bird's preferences. We headed North.
Our next stop was Coyote Point. Virginia Rail was starting to feel like
an actual concern, and one worth prioritizing. So, pulling up we went
right for the marsh. We got to the parking lot and jogged out. We got to
the marsh and played a couple Virginia Rail calls. Silence. It was our
old friend: wind. A few Blue-winged and Green-winged Teal and a calling
Hooded Oriole occupied our attention, but we couldn't find this darn
rail. We listened. Then, in the distance, I thought I heard our other
target at this spot: the Great-tailed Grackle. We all listened. It
wasn't talking. Then, I noticed the bird perched in a small tree: the
male GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE. Redemption! We realized we were likely not
going to hear this rail so we ran back to the car where an Osprey was
obviously visible. Felt much better than the bird a mile away at Radio
rd. We drove to another area to look for Horned Grebe and Harlequin Duck
but came up dry.
Our next stop was Foster City. Ignoring Marty's recommendation we booked
it for Shorebird Park, where I'd seen our target bird in visits past,
instead of stopping along the way to check the shellbar. This was a
mistake. They werent there. What was there were a few dowitchers and
some peeps. Shoot. We walked to the shoreline. Nothing. We walked north
along the shellbar near Shorebird Park. There were birds way way out
there and Dessi remarked that he thought he had Skimmers. Sure enough, a
flock of BLACK SKIMMERS was loafing way out along the Bayshore. By the
time we got back to the car we'd lost lots of time. We drove up to that
other spot. We'd lost about 20 minutes total. We got to the skimmer area
and started scanning. The skimmers were much closer now and doing their
normal skimmer stuff. Whats not to love. The biking big day had turned
up Ruddy Turnstone here so we had our eyes peeled. But no turnstones
were visible.
Running out of daylight we decided to pull something ambitious: a mad
dash to the hills for the last hours of light. We winded up the Santa
Cruz mountains for our last stop of the day, and arrived at El Corte de
Madera Open Space Preserve at around 7:52. Patchy fog made it slightly
darker than it would've otherwise been. We felt we had a shot, but it
was still solidly windy and very much cold. We played a couple
Red-breasted Nuthatch calls. Not long after, an uptight Park Ranger
curmudgeon walked over to us and started chewing us out about how
"playing music" was against park rules, and about how walking outside
the parking lot was also against part rules. It took about 3 minutes to
settle the guy down, precious minutes we'd hoped to be listening to
nuthatches. When we got back to listening, it had already gotten a bit
quieter and darker. There was indeed a chorus of birds, but mostly just
Robin's, Brown Creepers and a Hairy Woodpecker. No nuthatches. We
listened. Nothing. We listened some more. Silence. A little past 8 it
seemed our chance had truly left, and accordingly we left too. Like the
Alameda big day the previous week, we spent the last hour of light going
for a long shot we did not see because we were out of likely options. Go
figure.
We decided to visit a small pond grown in with cattails along Sand Hill
road for rails. There were many rail reports historically and it felt
like a good shot. We arrived and started listening. Only problem was
that every 3-4 minutes a commuter or joyrider would come blasting down
the road making it impossible to hear. After about 25 minutes of trying,
Marty and I heard a BARN OWL overhead. Several minutes later, it called
closer to us just about right overhead. But still no rail.
We decided to blast upslope to look for Saw-whet. While we didn't reach
it last night, Pescadero Creek road seemed perfect: totally quiet, huge
dense conifers (redwoods mostly) and near-ish a creek. We felt like it
must be loaded. Marty had done limited owling along this road but had
had them at one location before. So we assumed they must be all over. We
tried at one spot for over 30 minutes. Another point for 20. Also
nothing. At this point it was 10:45 and we were running out of time. We
had to make a decision and we decided we should keep trying for Saw-whet.
I had heard stories since growing up of the late Barry Sauppe owling at
Butano State Park, shirtless and with a football helmet on, which he
wore for protection as Saw-whets would get so aggressive in response to
his whistled imitations as to start mobbing his head. So, we figured it
must be a pretty damn reliable spot for Saw-whets! Worth a shot, at
least. So, we rolled up to Butano. None of us had really owled there
much, so we didnt know the rules of the park. Turned out, we could drive
right in! So, we did so and parked near the end of the road to try.
Nothing. Our chances were looking low but we had over 50 minutes to try
before midnight. Seemed worth the effort. We walked back along the road.
I whistled some calls and saw a shadow bolt by my face. I shined the
flashlight and was amazed to see a NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL staring right
back! The bird was remarkably tame, and we got within 20 or so feet of
it as it perched low in an alder. It would look at us, look away,
scratch a little, and just chill out. It hopped perches a couple times.
We were ecstatic. This may have been the most exciting moment of the
exciting day, and to have it happen after 11pm! We watched it for a
couple minutes before deciding to move on. Luck was back on our side.
While we were walking back to the car, the eery chorus of a nocturnal
flock of Whimbrel sounded off overhead. It was 11:12 and we had to
decide if we wanted to bolt back to Sand Hill road (as we would have
only 10 minutes tops there before midnight if we did, but where the road
traffic had presumably lightened up), or try somewhere else for Virginia
Rail. Given the hour, I opted for Pescadero Marsh again.
While it was pretty windless in the interior ridges, the immediate coast
was still windy. We got to Pescadero Marsh and were confronted with the
same issue from the night before: cold and windy, and the rails were
silent. We tried along the same main road for about 15 minutes and were
still met with nothing. Marty had the idea of trying the Butano Creek
trail for access into the marsh. So, at 11:40, we decided to cut our
losses and take the trail. By 11:48, we were out among the marsh, but
with no wind! And it was a great access into the marsh! I couldnt
believe it. This might be the way! But we only had 12 minutes to look.
We found a nice patch with some real reeds by water and sat down. No
sound. We clapped. Nothing. We played a rail call. Crickets. We waiting
a little more. All the sudden, though the darkness, came the "kidik"
song of a lone VIRGINIA RAIL. SCORE!!!!! We did it. This was, without a
doubt, by far the hardest I have ever worked in my life for a Virginia
Rail. We were elated. We spent the last few minutes of the night trying
for Sora before the clock ticked midnight and we new our effort is over.
Like any big day effort, it came was its fair share of misses. In our
case the most pronounced ones were White-winged and Black Scoters,
Horned Grebe, American White Pelican, Ruddy Turnstone, Lesser
Yellowlegs, Wilson's Snipe, Mew Gull, Sora, Belted Kingfisher, Western
Kingbird, Cassin's Vireo, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Red-breasted Nuthatch,
Townsend's Warbler, Lincoln's Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, Red
Crossbill, Lazuli Bunting and any rare western migrant species (e.g.
Swainson's Hawk, Nashville Warbler, Hammond's Flycatcher, Gray
Flycatcher, etc). What was more surprising than what we missed, though,
was what we /almost/ missed. Birds like Virginia Rail, Greater
Yellowlegs, Long-billed Dowitcher, Sanderling, and Audubon's Warbler we
only found by the narrowest of margins. All of these birds should be
easy, but be it the late date, the cold wind, or the ever changing
conditions, we struggled for all of these.
As mentioned above, without the knowledge and intensive scouting of San
Mateo locals like Dessi and Marty, we would have had no shot whatsoever
at the record. Dessi mentioned at least half a dozen times in the weeks
leading up to the day "this is awfully late for San Mateo" and it took
weeks of me denying it before I eventually picked up. One week earlier
would have presumably been the ideal timing, as certain birds (e.g.
Tanager, Swainson's Thrush, Pewee, and some seawatch things) would
presumably not be findable much before. While we may have added some
seawatch stuff and some other random things due to the later date, we
very nearly missed over a dozen birds (Mergansers, Goldeneye, Surfbird,
Sanderling, Auduobon's Warbler, etc) that would not have been an issue
at all, and we /did /miss another 5-10 that we easily couldve gotten a
week ago (Horned Grebe, Townsend's Warbler, Lincoln's Sparrow, Fox
Sparrow etc). Between Dessis and Martys scouting on Friday and Sunday
and Jonah and Cedric's big biking big day on Saturday, they saw a grand
total of 15 birds we did not see on this day. Additionally, while we did
impressively well with waterfowl given the date, even more could be
expected earlier in the season (e.g. both scoters). We ended up with
just 3 Dirty Birds: Red-necked Phalarope seen only by Marty, Pink-footed
Shearwater seen only by Dessi, and White-breasted Nuthatch seen only by
Marty.
As some among the previous record team will be keen to point out, San
Mateo is just not the same as it was 50 years ago. Vacant lots along the
bayshore and coast used to host numbers of breeding Burrowing Owls and
Horned Larks. Yellow Warblers used to breed in the riparian, and
Kestrels, now a local breeder confined to just a few territories in the
entire county, was a numerous breeder throughout the county. We have, of
course, added additional breeders and regular visitors as well:
Collared-Doves and Turkeys, while introduced, have colonized, as have
Grackles nearby and Elegant Terns more patchily. But overall, the amount
of Summer habitat and breeding diversity since 1977 has no doubt decreased.
Along with the members of my team, I want to thank Cedric Duhalde and
Jonah Benningfield for their efforts with the Biking Big Day effort
which helped scout out some of the spots we were hoping to visit on this
day.
For a complete list of the birds seen see the eBird trip report here:
https://ebird.org/tripreport/228549 or the fleshed-out eBird list here:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S170838543 (this has more locations for
species than the bare-bones trip report and much much more accurate
numbers for our whole day)
