Birding at outer Point Reyes
Last Sunday I went on an excellent birding field trip with my field ornithology class, bagging 2 lifers and 1 year bird.
Short-eared rabbit at Drake’s Beach
DetailsEA 110 – Field Ornithology – Class 6
Wednesday was another great class in the continuing field ornithology class I’m taking. It’s hard to believe that next week is the last class of this session (but the next set of 7 classes starts the following week, and I do plan on continuing to take this class indefinitely, or until we finish the book, whichever comes first).
Red-tailed Hawk at Point Reyes on last weekend’s field trip
Charleston Slough and Shoreline Park Birding
Oops, almost a week late here, but last Monday, 1 October, I birded Shoreline at Mountain View Park and had a fine time of it, although I didn’t see any rarities.
American White Pelicans, American Coots, Ducks, and Dowitchers in Charleston Slough
EA 110 – Field Ornithology – Class 5
Last night’s class began with Joe’s account of the annual WFO meeting in Las Vegas the previous weekend. One gets the impression that Joe doesn’t much care for LV :).
Of the convention and trip:
- when in Vegas, bird at the Henderson Sewer Ponds, which has set up a nice bird observation site with an environmental center, good bird habitat, and so on. Joe saw a Palm Warbler and Black-tailed Gnatcatchers there
- also birdy near Vegas is Corn Creek, part of the Sheep Range. It’s a vagrant trap, and Gray, Hammond’s, and Western Flycatchers were seen, along with Red-naped Sapsuckers, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and 2 tail-less Flycatchers that generated some debate
- The book “Rare Birds of California” was launched at the convention. Although launched, it isn’t actually purchasable anywhere as yet
It contains a record of the CBRC’s activities for the past 30 years with photos, graphs, and such.
Marbled Godwit at Palo Alto Baylands Park
DetailsWestern SF birding
Saturday proved a fine day for birding in the western parts of San Francisco, netting me 43 species, probably the most I’ve seen in a (mostly) solo outing.
Red-shouldered Hawk
Birding at Palo Alto Baylands
Last Monday I swung by the baylands on the way home from work, and although it was pretty quiet out bird-wise, there was decent variety.
Domestic (Greylag?) goose
DetailsEA 110 – Field Ornithology – Class 4
Another fun- and fact-filled class last night. Joe talked about the carniverous River Otters inhabiting Rodeo Lagoon (see my post about our field trip for more on this). 3 species not seen on previous class trips (for the last 20 or so years) to the lagoon were noted: Common Tern, Blackpoll Warbler and Black-bellied Plover.
Long-billed Curlew at Palo Alto Baylands Park
Birding at Rodeo Lagoon (Marin Headlands, CA)
Today was the first field trip in the fall semester of the continuing Field Ornithology class I’m taking, and it was a bang-up day, even with somewhat soggy weather. Unlike the first semester, when I left my camera at home so I could focus on learning, I decided to bring it along today, in case anything interesting turned up.
PARK(ing) Day SF
Friday was PARK(ing) day in San Francisco, where folks convert parking spaces into actual mini-parks. There were several dozen locations about town, and I decided to hop on my bicycle and visit the 7 nearest home. It didn’t start well, with the park at Fulton & Masonic gone missing (odd, since it was sponsored by…
DetailsEA 110 – Field Ornithology – Class 3
Last night’s class, held on a Monday instead of the usual Wednesday due to a conflict with a parent-teacher meeting at Marina Middle School, finished up genus Tringa and some more rare sandpipers.
Wandering Tattler at Sutro Baths, San Francisco, California