I promised a trip report to the two bayside locations in the last post, so here it is. From now on, lifers will be in bold, as well as capitalized. On Sunday, I went to Charleston Slough, in Shoreline at Mountain View Park for twenty minutes, then to theater class, then to Bayfront Park for ten minutes in Millbrae, and then to pick up our dad form the San Francisco International Airport.
My main inspiration for going to Shoreline was a Pectoral Sandpiper that had been reported there, and seen by many birders during the past week. It had been hanging around in Coast Casey Forebay. I also wanted to pick up several possible lifers that were easy to find there at this time of year. The problem was: could I do it in twenty minutes?
I had to act fast, and I did. I shot out of the car with my binoculars, field guide, and camera, and began racing down the trail toward Coast Casey Forebay. As I ran, a small bird flitted from a Sycamore to my left into the brush on my right. As it flew back into the Sycamore, I identified it as a YELLOW WARBLER. No time to get a photo, I thought, as I rushed towards the forebay.
In Coast Casey Forebay, there were plenty of waterbirds, including BLACK-NECKED STILTS, NORTHERN SHOVELERS not yet out of breeding plumage, and lifers LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS (ID'ed for me by the people on Whatbird), and LEAST SANDPIPERS. I also saw a flyby GREATER YELLOWLEGS, my life bird #150!
As I stood there, I saw many birders also birding the surrounding area, and should have asked them if they had seen the Pectoral Sandpiper, but decided not to. Well, this probably cost me the bird... because I read on my local listserv that someone had seen the sandpiper in the exact same location, fifteen minutes before!
I moved on to check out the action in Charleston Slough for a few minutes, and saw more Least Sandpipers, AMERICAN AVOCETS, MARBLED GODWITS, LONG-BILLED CURLEWS, and several AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS in Adobe Creek.
This ends my trip report for Shoreline. I went to my theater class, and then on the way to the San Francisco Airport to pick up my dad, we decided to stop at Bayfront Park in Millbrae for ten minutes, for my mom and brother to watch the planes, and for me, the birds.
Thinking I would be there for only ten minutes, I didn't take my camera. As I got out of the car, I spotted several WILLETS on the marsh. As I crossed the bridge, I noticed a medium-sized shorebird on the marsh. As I took a closer look, it turned out to be a BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, my lifer number 151. Another bird on the marsh was a WHIMBREL, and FORSTER'S TERNS were fishing offshore. Unfortunately, I had to leave after only ten minutes at Bayfron Park. In all, a great day, with no Pectoral Sandpiper, but four lifers!
# Birds Seen: 20 altogether
Lifers: 4
FOYs: 0
Bird of the Day: Greater Yellowlegs for #150!
Updates:*
ABA Yearlist: 138
ABA Lifelist: 152
World Yearlist: 163
World Lifelist: 185
*It will take me some time to sync my eBird and actual life/year/etc. lists, but, the two life list numbers are currently correct.
Good birding,
Sergey
P.S. -- My ABA lifelist number is currently at 152 because of a NASHVILLE WARBLER I saw in La Rinconada Park in Los Gatos on September 28. I will not be including a trip report there, but here's the eBird checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S15275345
Pretty good, with 23 species and an uncommon lifer!
My main inspiration for going to Shoreline was a Pectoral Sandpiper that had been reported there, and seen by many birders during the past week. It had been hanging around in Coast Casey Forebay. I also wanted to pick up several possible lifers that were easy to find there at this time of year. The problem was: could I do it in twenty minutes?
I had to act fast, and I did. I shot out of the car with my binoculars, field guide, and camera, and began racing down the trail toward Coast Casey Forebay. As I ran, a small bird flitted from a Sycamore to my left into the brush on my right. As it flew back into the Sycamore, I identified it as a YELLOW WARBLER. No time to get a photo, I thought, as I rushed towards the forebay.
In Coast Casey Forebay, there were plenty of waterbirds, including BLACK-NECKED STILTS, NORTHERN SHOVELERS not yet out of breeding plumage, and lifers LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS (ID'ed for me by the people on Whatbird), and LEAST SANDPIPERS. I also saw a flyby GREATER YELLOWLEGS, my life bird #150!
 |
| Black-necked Stilt |
 |
| Long-billed Dowitchers |
 | ||
| Least Sandpipers |
I moved on to check out the action in Charleston Slough for a few minutes, and saw more Least Sandpipers, AMERICAN AVOCETS, MARBLED GODWITS, LONG-BILLED CURLEWS, and several AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS in Adobe Creek.
This ends my trip report for Shoreline. I went to my theater class, and then on the way to the San Francisco Airport to pick up my dad, we decided to stop at Bayfront Park in Millbrae for ten minutes, for my mom and brother to watch the planes, and for me, the birds.
Thinking I would be there for only ten minutes, I didn't take my camera. As I got out of the car, I spotted several WILLETS on the marsh. As I crossed the bridge, I noticed a medium-sized shorebird on the marsh. As I took a closer look, it turned out to be a BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, my lifer number 151. Another bird on the marsh was a WHIMBREL, and FORSTER'S TERNS were fishing offshore. Unfortunately, I had to leave after only ten minutes at Bayfron Park. In all, a great day, with no Pectoral Sandpiper, but four lifers!
# Birds Seen: 20 altogether
Lifers: 4
FOYs: 0
Bird of the Day: Greater Yellowlegs for #150!
Updates:*
ABA Yearlist: 138
ABA Lifelist: 152
World Yearlist: 163
World Lifelist: 185
*It will take me some time to sync my eBird and actual life/year/etc. lists, but, the two life list numbers are currently correct.
Good birding,
Sergey
P.S. -- My ABA lifelist number is currently at 152 because of a NASHVILLE WARBLER I saw in La Rinconada Park in Los Gatos on September 28. I will not be including a trip report there, but here's the eBird checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S15275345
Pretty good, with 23 species and an uncommon lifer!
To be fair, how about you only put your ABA year list on Whatbird's Young Birders! Jk, Cool finds! Many would be lifers for me!
ReplyDeleteBtw, check out my blog sometime ;)