Fifth Bird Excursion 2/27/2020

Bird Journal Entry #5:

DATE: 2/27/2020

Location: 37.8615, -122.5753 approx.

Site Description: The place we visited this week was Muir beach which is fairly close to many of our other lab outings over the Golden Gate Bridge. The landscape was a mixed brush and tall tree environment. There were angiosperms and it seemed to be almost a less dense riparian environment. We also went toward the beach later in the lab to spot some water birds. The path was well paved and most of the observations were made either from here or from the street. The bird species we spotted during the 2.5 hour trip were Anna’s Hummingbird (8), Clark’s Grebe (1), Western Gull (1), Brandt’s Cormorant (1), Great Blue Heron (1), Turkey vulture (1), Northern Harrier (1), Red-shouldered hawk (1), Red-tailed hawk (1), Downy Woodpecker (1), Peregrine Falcon (1), Black Phoebe (2), Steller’s Jay (1), California Scrub-Jay (1), American Crow (15), Chestnut-Backed chickadee (1), Bushtit (4), Wrentit (3), Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1), Pygmy Nuthatch (2), American Robin (1), House Finch (2), American Goldfinch (1), Fox Sparrow (2), White-crowned Sparrow (4), Song Sparrow (2), Lincoln’s Sparrow (2), California Towhee (1), and Red-winged Blackbirds (3).

Species Account:

The species I enjoyed seeing the most this week was the Downy Woodpecker. I had never seen a bird prior that was so intricate in design. It had almost black and white dots on its’ chest and stomach along with a red mohawk-like head. We spotted this bird along the path not too far after the beginning of our trip. This woodpecker is the smallest in North America. It tends to forage from trees as well as in shrubs. Their diet consists mostly of insects and also seeds. These birds are very widespread in North America and move down to some valleys during the winter if they live in cold environments. An interesting fact is that males and females have separate feeding areas, which is fascinating because it means that they are territorial to an extent if they do not share eating habitats. Sadly we only saw one of this species and it was hanging onto the side of a tree. It was kind of hard to see because it was out in the distance across the road, but the district coloration made it easier to spot than other birds.

Narrative:

This week we begin our trip around 9 AM at Muir Beach. The weather was really sunny and it actually started getting warm throughout are 2 1/2 hour trip. We met up with one of Professor Paul’s neighbors who is an avid bird, so he could aid in trying to locate various bird species. We started walking and saw many birds along the road. As we walked the birds were mostly found in brushes and some in trees with the exception of high flying hawks and falcons in the air. We continue to walk down the road and entered into a more grassy region where we saw more birds that we haven’t seen yet. We stopped at one part that was used as a horse pen and saw many birds on the ground, such as bushtits, wrentits, and sparrows. I found it very interesting that the sparrows were hanging around together yet they weren’t the same type of sparrow. We walked farther along and came across horses that everyone in the class loved. I enjoyed when we came across finches because I had really never seen them before and I thought the American Goldfinch was really beautiful in color. We continued to spot more and more birds and used the scope that professor Paul’s neighbor brought to see some birds that were sitting in bushes or that were very far away. At the end of the lab we walked to the beach to see if we could see any sea birds. As we walked there were three dolphins swimming as well as a surfers enjoying the beautiful beach. It was nice to be somewhere that was very secluded and calming. The only bird that we spotted here was a Clark’s Grebe. We saw this via the scope. It was a great lab all and all because we were highly successful today. We ended up walking back around 11:30 a.m. and thanked the neighbor for coming out to help us for the today. Overall, this birding adventure was a lot more successful day than the previous week’s because we saw many more bird species than we saw the week prior. Also, it was nice to see birds that we have not seen before and become more familiar with regional species.

https://ebird.org/checklist/S65377040

Citations:

Downy Woodpecker. (2019, November 26). Retrieved from https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/downy-woodpecker