Dermot Breen's Blog: anna's hummingbird

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Tuesday, 28 April 2015

California 19th February 2015

So just to (finally) wrap up the California & Arizona trip I've added a few pictures from my last few hours in the US which I spent in Point Lobos area with the Golden Gate Bridge viewable in the distance. Lovely stretch of coastline and urban park along here. Plenty of Surf Scoters offshore which included another Harlequin Duck (a female this time), my first and only Black Scoters (two females), plenty of Harbour Porpoises and a pod of Bottle-nosed Dolphins. There was a small flock of gulls gathered around the Sutro Baths which have seen better days a bathing spot. This spot attracted two first-winter and a very brief adult Thayer's Gull. The park area proved very productive for Varied Thrush. There were probably around a dozen here most of which were much more approachable than previously seen individuals although they still typically kept to the shadows of the large pine trees. Also around the site were a few Pygmy Nuthatches, Brown Creeper and California Towhee. Not too shabby for a city park. I couldn't say I was particularly looking forward to heading back to what seemed like a relatively bird less place like Ireland compared to California and Arizona. I ended up with around 274 species during the three weeks of which 128 were lifers for me which wasn't too surprising given that it was my first trip to western US. Full trip list below.

Wild Turkey	Snowy Plover	Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Scaled Quail	Killdeer	American Cliff Swallow
California Quail	Mountain Plover	Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Gambel's Quail	Wilson's Snipe	Wrentit
Ring-necked Pheasant	Long-billed Dowitcher	Cactus Wren
Greater White-fronted Goose	Marbled Godwit	Rock Wren
Snow Goose	Whimbrel	Canyon Wren
Ross's Goose	Long-billed Curlew	Sinaloa Wren
Brant	Greater Yellowlegs	Bewick's Wren
Cackling Goose	Willet	Marsh Wren
Canada Goose	Lesser Yellowlegs	Pacific Wren
Wood Duck	Spotted Sandpiper	Blue-grey Gnatcatcher
Gadwall	Ruddy Turnstone	California Gnatcatcher
Falcated Duck	Black Turnstone	Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
American Wigeon	Surfbird	Black-capped Gnatcatcher
Mallard	Sanderling	American Dipper
Mexican Mallard	Western Sandpiper	Red-breasted Nuthatch
Blue-winged Teal	Least Sandpiper	Pygmy Nuthatch
Cinnamon Teal	Dunlin	White-breasted Nuthatch
Northern Shoveler	Pomarine Jaeger	Brown Creeper
Northern Pintail	Bonaparte's Gull	Northern Mockingbird
Green-winged Teal	Heermann's Gull	Sage Thrasher
Canvasback	Mew Gull	Bendire's Thrasher
Redhead	Ring-billed Gull	Curve-billed Thrasher
Ring-necked Duck	Western Gull	California Thrasher
Greater Scaup	Yellow-footed Gull	Crissal Thrasher
Lesser Scaup	California Gull	Le Conte's Thrasher
Harlequin Duck	American Herring Gull	Common Starling
Surf Scoter	Thayer's Gull	Western Bluebird
White-winged Scoter	Glaucous-winged Gull	Mountain Bluebird
Black Scoter	Caspian Tern	Townsend's Solitaire
Bufflehead	Forster's Tern	Hermit Thrush
Common Goldeneye	Royal Tern	American Robin
Barrow's Goldeneye	Common Murre	Varied Thrush
Hooded Merganser	Xantus's Murrelet	House Sparrow
Common Merganser	Cassin's Auklet	Nutmeg Mannikin
Red-breasted Merganser	Rhinoceros Auklet	Buff-bellied Pipit
Ruddy Duck	Rock Pigeon	Sprague's Pipit
Red-throated Loon	Band-tailed Pigeon	Phainopepla
Pacific Loon	Eurasian Collared-Dove	Purple Finch
Common Loon	White-winged Dove	House Finch
Pied-billed Grebe	Mourning Dove	Lesser Goldfinch
Horned Grebe	Inca Dove	Pine Siskin
Red-necked Grebe	Common Ground-Dove	Evening Grosbeak
Eared Grebe	Greater Roadrunner	Orange-crowned Warbler
Western Grebe	Whiskered Screech-Owl	Nashville Warbler
Clark's Grebe	Great Horned Owl	Common Yellowthroat
Northern Fulmar	Burrowing Owl	Myrtle Warbler
Black-vented Shearwater	White-throated Swift	Audubon's Warbler
White-faced Ibis	Broad-billed Hummingbird	Black-throated Gray Warbler
American Bittern	Black-chinned Hummingbird	Townsend's Warbler
Black-crowned Night-Heron	Anna's Hummingbird	Rufous-capped Warbler
Green Heron	Costa's Hummingbird	Bronzed Cowbird
Great Blue Heron	Allen's Hummingbird	Brown-headed Cowbird
Great Egret	Belted Kingfisher	Red-winged Blackbird
Snowy Egret	Lewis's Woodpecker	Tricolored Blackbird
Little Blue Heron	Acorn Woodpecker	Brewer's Blackbird
Reddish Egret	Gila Woodpecker	Great-tailed Grackle
Cattle Egret	Williamson's Sapsucker	Eastern Meadowlark
American White Pelican	Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	Western Meadowlark
Brown Pelican	Red-naped Sapsucker	Yellow-headed Blackbird
Brown Booby	Red-breasted Sapsucker	Sooty Fox Sparrow
Brandt's Cormorant	Ladder-backed Woodpecker	Slate-coloured Fox Sparrow
Neotropic Cormorant	Nuttall's Woodpecker	Song Sparrow
Double-crested Cormorant	Downy Woodpecker	Lincoln's Sparrow
Pelagic Cormorant	Hairy Woodpecker	White-crowned Sparrow
Turkey Vulture	Arizona Woodpecker	White-throated Sparrow
Osprey	Northern Flicker	Golden-crowned Sparrow
White-tailed Kite	Black Phoebe	Dark-eyed Junco
Sharp-shinned Hawk	Say's Phoebe	Savannah Sparrow
Cooper's Hawk	Hammond's Flycatcher	Baird's Sparrow
Northern Goshawk	Gray Flycatcher	Chipping Sparrow
Harris's Hawk	Vermilion Flycatcher	Brewer's Sparrow
Northern Harrier	Cassin's Kingbird	Black-chinned Sparrow
Bald Eagle	Loggerhead Shrike	Vesper Sparrow
Red-shouldered Hawk	Cassin's Vireo	Black-throated Sparrow
Red-tailed Hawk	Hutton's Vireo	Sagebrush Sparrow
Ferruginous Hawk	Steller's Jay	Lark Bunting
Golden Eagle	Western Scrub-Jay	Green-tailed Towhee
Crested Caracara	Mexican Jay	Spotted Towhee
American Kestrel	Yellow-billed Magpie	Rufous-crowned Sparrow
Merlin	American Crow	Canyon Towhee
Peregrine	Northern Raven	California Towhee
Prairie Falcon	Cedar Waxwing	Abert's Towhee
Clapper Rail	Bridled Titmouse	Northern Cardinal
Virginia Rail	Oak Titmouse	Pyrrhuloxia
Sora	Juniper Titmouse
Common Gallinule	Mountain Chickadee
American Coot	Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Sandhill Crane	Verdin
Black Oystercatcher	Bushtit
Black-necked Stilt	Horned Lark
American Avocet	Violet-green Swallow
Black-bellied Plover	Tree Swallow

Anna's Hummingbird

California Towhee

Ring-necked Duck with mud/sludge on bill and forehead.

Varied Thrush

First-winter Thayer's Gull, bird no. 1.

First-winter Thayer's Gull, bird no. 2.

First-winter Thayer's Gull, bird no. 1.

First-winter Thayer's Gull, bird no. 2.

First-winter Glaucous-winged Gull

First-winter Glaucous-winged x ? hybrid gull.

First-winter Western Gull

Second-winter Western Gull

Tuesday, 24 March 2015

California 13th February 2015

So I was to be in my own company for the next week. This is how I usually bird for the majority of my time out birding anyway. As much as I enjoyed the tour and the participant's company I have to say it was a bit of a release not to be on other peoples timetable and trying to round up tour members into the van which was like trying to herd cats at times ;-) As I've mentioned before my aim for this week was to spend a bit more time by the coast and concentrate on some target species. I would also have a lot more time to spend on photography and found the quality of my shots increased during my solo week.

I had flown into San Francisco the previous evening and was out at the Lucy Evans Baylands Centre first thing in the morning. This is right by San Francisco Bay and the saltmarshes here are supposed to be a favourite spot for Ridgway's, Virginia and even Black Rails (rarely seen). The boardwalk across the saltmarsh beyond the Interpretive Centre was closed when I arrived as it looked like it was falling apart. So that was that plan for rails out the window! However the area around here was still excellent. I was amazed at how common Golden-crowned Sparrows were here and just about everywhere else during the week in Northern California. During the first two weeks we had only seen the species once up in the San Jacinto Mountains. There was a decent amount of duck about also. I really wanted to get acquainted with Canvasback on this trip. We had already seen numerous Canvasbacks on the trip already but I had some really nice close views of them at this site. Some of the birds seemed to digging around in the mud at the bottom of lagoons for food as a few came up with their foreheads covered in black mud. A few male Greater Scaup were also giving great views on the Duck Pond as well. Interesting wingbar pattern on one bird which flapped while I was there.

From here then I left the "Bay area" and headed west up into the hills which stand between the bay area and the Pacific coastline. I hadn't planned on stopping here but as I was making good time I dropped into Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve. Some nice large redwoods here which was a habitat that I hadn't yet visited. I had been hoping to add new species such as California Quail (surprisingly missed it on the tour), Pacific Wren, Band-tailed Pigeon and Townsend's Warbler. Although I didn't get any of these here (got all later in the week) I managed one tick in the form of Chestnut-backed Chickadee, which proved to be common during the week. There were a few ther good birds here as back-up like a showy Wrentit, Pygmy Nuthatch, lots of Steller's Jays and Hutton's Vireo.

I hit the Pacific coastline next and headed south until I got to Pescadero State Beach. This proved to be a productive spot for me. My main reason for visiting here was the presence of male Harlequin Duck. It's an area of rocky shoreline and with a minute of setting up the scope I had ticked Surfbird and Black Oystercatcher along with the bonus of seeing more Black Turnstones. Following a tip-off from another birder on site I picked up the male Harlequin beyond the breakers. Harlequin's are far from common in this area of California so it was a good one to see. Most of the stuff was just too distant for photography unfortunately.

I continued south stopping off at Lake Lucerne which is just off the Cabrillo Highway. There wasn't a huge amount of birds on the lake although there were about 50 Mew Gulls washing in the freshwater, the biggest gathering of Mews that I had seen yet. They proceeded to fly overhead as they made their way back out to the coast which gave a good opportunity for photos. It was good to get an idea of the variation in the wing patterns of several individuals. Surprisingly of the 50 or so birds present there was only one second-winter and no first-winters at all.

The final stop of the day was Pigeon Point Lighthouse. This is know as a seawatching spot with the right conditions and I was hoping for possibly a few auklets and/or murrelets offshore. The conditions while I was there weren't obviously up to much as it was very quiet. Some nice views of Bottle-nosed Dolphins passing close by the point though. I spent the night in Santa Cruz.