Dermot Breen's Blog: April 2015

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

Friday, 24 April 2015

Dotterel 23.4.2015

I was lucky enough to come across a "trip" of four Dotterel down by Aillebrack yesterday. The Slyne Head area has proved to be a relatively regular spot for the species in the last five years or so. It's probably has had the most records for one site in Ireland during that time. I've added all the Dotterel records for county Galway below;

• One, Inishbofin, 1st June 1992 (K.P.Collins).
• Male, Aillebrack, Slyne Head, 23rd to 26th April 2010, photographed (D.Breen et al.).
• Juvenile, Aillebrack, Slyne Head, 10th October 2010, photographed (D.Breen).
• Juvenile, Truska, Slyne Head, 22nd to 29th September 2011, photographed (D.Breen et al.).
• Juvenile, Aillebrack, Slyne Head, 24th to 30th October 2011, photographed (D.Breen et al.).
• Three, Aillebrack, Slyne Head, 26th April to 4th May 2012, photographed (A.Ó’Dónaill et al.).

It's interesting to note that I found my first Dotterel at the same site on the very same date in 2010. They have a reputation for turning up at the same traditional sites at the same time most years. I'm sure many more go unnoticed on other machair commonages, fields and mountain tops each year.

These birds were hanging around with seven European Golden Plovers. These are presumed Arctic breeding birds as the local Connemara birds have been on their territories for well over a month now.

Bird 1

Bird 2

Bird 4 & 3

Bird 3

Bird 4

Golden Plover

Thursday, 16 April 2015

California 18th February 2015

So managed to eventually get out into Monterey Bay on one of the whale watching trips on my last full day of the US trip. We saw a lot of Rhinoceros Auklets but most would dive as the boat approached them. Smaller numbers of Cassin's Auklets but these would fly off at even greater distances. A few Black-vented Shearwaters and two Northern Fulmars really the only other proper seabirds around. I was expecting much anyway given the time of year though. Certainly the highlight had to be a very inquisitive Humpback Whale that came right up to another whale watching boat and later came to ours. I've never experienced anything like it before. The exhalant breath was over-powering!

I headed down along the Big Sur coastline to have a look for California Condors. Plenty of Turkey Vultures and a nice pair of Golden Eagles but no condors unfortunately.