Location: Buena Vista Park, Vista US-CA (33.1579,-117.2466)

https://ebird.org/checklist/S65954870

Bird Journal Entry #6:

DATE: 3/5/2020

Location: 38.0257, -122.5176 approx.

Site Description: 

This week we went to a water sanitation plant in San Rafael. This area was filled with many waterbirds and we were able to see species interacting with one another that we have not seen before. The area was filled with reeds and small bushes floating in the water, but many of the spots we observed were unobstructed, so the species were easy to observe. We were focused on the water, but also observed some species in the sky. The weather was cold and partly cloudy throughout the whole excursion. The main species we observed were mallard (20), American White Pelican (3), Snowy Egret (3), American Crow (14), Black-crowned Night-Heron (3), House Finch (3), White-crowned Sparrow (5), Golden-crowned Sparrow (3), Red-winged Blackbird (300), American Coot (3), Green-winged Teal (8), American Wigeon (4), Northern Shoveler (3), Blue-winged Teal (2), Common Merganser (2), Killdeer (2), and Canada Goose (2). These species were the most observed out of all of the ones we saw throughout our excursion. I was excited to see a great variety of species in close quarters with one another.

Species Account: 

The species I enjoyed seeing the most this week was the American Wigeon. I had seen them many times before, but never had the ability to identify them before. There is a duck pond by my house that has many of these birds, so now I am able to easily spot them along with other members of the Anseriformes order. They are medium sized birds with somewhat short bills.  These birds are very versatile in where they obtain their food from. They can feed on land and in the fresh water habitats. We saw the species both sitting on land as well as foraging in the water. Since they can look for food in multiple locations, they eat plant material, but also insects and grass occasionally. I didn’t view any of this species during flight, but the presence of their brown and black feather made from melanin prevent deterioration. One quite interesting thing I noticed was how vocal they were. It was as though they were the loudest ones in the pond with their dominating calls.

Narrative: 

This week we ventured to an extremely calm area with little noise other than birds around us. Little did I know this was the last group excursion we would go on for the semester, but I am grateful to have seen such a variety of species in the outing. We traveled over the bridge and got to the area around 9 a.m. The overcast made seeing some views hard because there was some extreme backlighting that didn’t allow us to make out the colorings in trying to determine what species of bird we were observing. I had presented on the Anseriformes order earlier in the week, so I thought that this excursion was my time to shine. I was extremely excited to see Northern Shovelers because they have such a brightly colored green head. Their head is very striking and they also have a certain rufous coloring on their main body. In the middle of the water there were a few islands and any birds were  lying on the shore or swimming around in search of food. We observed the American Wigeon paddling around near the island and my favorite part of these birds are their light blue beaks. Their overall coloring is somewhat drab, but the light blue coloring is a great contrast to the brown and white coloring of the rest of their body. As we walked around the pond-like bodies of water we passed by some people who were walking and they were very curious as to what we were doing. There was even a woman looking for specific birds because she had heard that there were a few in the area. We used the scope for some the time because we were observing birds that don’t travel at a very fast pace. With this we observed the blue-winged teal which has a striking white ring on it’s nose as well as the common merganser which was cool to see because it has some long feathers on it’s that look like hair. We walked more and saw many birds we had seen before as well as the largest pack of red-winged blackbirds we had ever recorded. After about 2 1/2 hours we left the sanitation area and headed back across the bridge to USF.

E-Bird List Link: https://ebird.org/home

Citations:

American Wigeon. (2019, October 22). Retrieved from https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/american-wigeon

American Wigeon Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Wigeon/id

Caption: Two Canada Geese standing on the shore

Bird Journal Entry #7:

DATE: 3/17/2020

Location: 33.2421, -117.2719 approx.

Site Description:

The place I visited this week was Guajome Park in Oceanside, California. The park is filled with trails that are great for hiking. The landscape was a mixed brush and tall tree environment. There were not many angiosperms because the season has not fully transitioned to Spring. As we walked there were signs to be aware of snakes and bobcats. Halfway through the hike I came upon a pond, but I only saw one water bird. The path was well paved, but very muddy because it had rained for the past days prior to my birding excursion. The species I spotted during the 2 hour trip were Mourning Dove (2), Great Roadrunner (1), Anna’s Hummingbird (4), American Coot (1),  Red-tailed Hawk (1), Black Phoebe (1), American Crow (1), Northern Rough-winged Swallow (1), Cliff Swallow (1), Northern Mockingbird (4), Song Sparrow (6), Red-winged blackbird (20), Townsend’s Warbler (1), and the California Towhee (2). Some of these birds I had seen before in out weekly birding adventures, but some were new species, so I utilized a bird manual to look up the species I was seeing.

Species Account: 

The species I enjoyed seeing this week was the Song Sparrow. This sparrow is native to North America and are medium sized birds in comparison to other sparrow types. At first I was unsure if it was a Song Sparrow or if it was a Chipping Sparrow. The colors seemed to be very similar,  but as I was able to get closer and with the help of the birder we confirmed it was a Song Sparrow. It was brown in color with rufous markings over the body. Their diet consists of mostly seeds, grasses, and berries along with the occasional insect. We came along a few more and they were very active but they tended to stay in the area. Their flight patterns seemed to be very short as they were searching for food in the brush. I enjoyed seeing them pop up left and right along the bushes as we were walking closer. They tend to nest in open habitats which was exactly where we were. They sometimes nest near urban areas and even in backyards. They learn their song very young and I think a fun fact is that scientists have defined 24 different subspecies of Song Sparrows.

Narrative: 

This week I went birding without the class because I am currently in San Diego to wait out this Corona virus epidemic, so from now on I will be birding weekly from different parts of North County. I had an opportunity to go with family friends and one of them Terry, is a slight birder because his dad is a huge fanatic. We all had binoculars and bird guides ready to go on a 2 hour hike. We traveled to Guajome Park which is located about a 20 minute drive from my house. This place is commonly visited by people who enjoy running and mountain biking. We started walking and saw many birds. I was excited to see so many because the other person in our group Nicole, has never been bird watching. As we began walking the first bird we spotted was Anna’s hummingbird. The bird was truly stunning because how the light was shining allowed for us to view its’ iridescent color. Nicole in our group was mesmerized by the beauty of the bird. We continued along the path through mud and saw many red-winged blackbirds. I have seen so many while in San Diego and am always fascinated by the little red and yellow patch that they have. We kept walking and climbed a large hill where we saw song sparrows. They were difficult to identify because they blended in with the brush that was on the hillside. As we walked more there were horse stables and we took in the view of the entire park. We suddenly saw a mockingbird. It was distinguishable because of its’ prominent tail. I was excited that I got to see one because I don’t believe we have seen one so far on our outings. we made our way to a pond area, but unfortunately I only saw one coot swimming. The reeds were very high and filled most of the pond. We walked back in the same way we walked in and spotted a Red-tailed hawk in the sky. It was gliding very majestically through the sky. We ended the hike extremely muddy, but happy to have been out in the sun for a few hours and had the opportunity to see many birds. It was fun going in a new region, but I missed going with my class.

https://ebird.org/checklist/S65954920

Citations:

“Song Sparrow Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology.” , All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Song_Sparrow/id.

Song Sparrow, www.psu.edu/dept/nkbiology/naturetrail/speciespages/song_sparrow.html.

Caption: Me enjoying the sun and fresh flowers that were blooming

Caption: Some bird tracks after the rain had stopped

Caption: View from the top of the trail

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

Caption: The main path we walked along throughout the lab

Caption: Muir Beach overlook

Bird Journal Entry #4:

DATE: 2/20/2020

Location: 37.9128,-122.6089 approx.

Site Description: This week we went back over the bridge to Mt. Tam. The landscape was highly coniferous and also was mixed in some places. There were some flowers, but trees and grasses dominated the area. We began at the amphitheater and hiked around the area for the majority of the trip. We also later went to an overlook in an attempt to see more birds. The main bird species spotted during this 2 hour trip were band-tailed pigeons (3), acorn woodpeckers (4), northern flickers (red-shafted) (3), common ravens (2), chest-nut backed chickadees (2), dark-eyed juncos (3), and a California scrub-jay.

Species Account: The bird I enjoyed seeing the most today were the acorn woodpeckers. We saw these birds around the amphitheater about 100m from the car. This species was the first we saw of the morning and I adore the red coloring on the top of their head. These birds flew extremely fast and lived close to one another in small colonies. We saw multiple woodpeckers zooming by together and it was hard to catch them in the binoculars if they didn’t land on a tree in an attempt to locate food. Their habitat is more forest-like with plenty of conifers. They need to have a large number of trees to forage on. I was surprised to see the quantity of holes in some of the trees that the woodpeckers had drilled. The bird is small with black, white, and red coloring. This bird in some ways reminds me of the Downy Woodpeckers. Their coloring and thin frame are extremely similar.There is distinct white coloring on their wings that is shown when they take off for flight. Their diet consists of hoarding acorns as well as eating some seeds and fruit occasionally. They hoard acorns for later use during the winter when food is not as plentiful. These birds are different from other woodpeckers in the way that they never dig within trees to find food, but instead they prefer to glean, which is the process of foraging for food that may be present on the outer part of the tree without actually digging its’ beak within the tree.

Narrative: We started at the amphitheater and began to hike around to look for birds. We spotted band-tailed pigeons over in this area, but they tended to dominate the area because we didn’t spot any other bird species here. The weather was cold, but very sunny so we quickly warmed up and began the hike around 9:15 a.m. The surrounding area was very serene and quiet. It was difficult however to look for birds because the trees are so tall and the birds were either hidden or flew too fast for us to recognize them. We went on a long walk and saw the research that our graduate student Alex is working on up there. As we walked we only saw The weather was very calm, but there seemed to be a lack in birds flying around. We continued to walk around a 2 mile loop in search of birds, but unfortunately they were ether too fast to spot or we could not find them in the binoculars. We spotted one other man on a hike, which was fascinating along with two types of jays that we have seen and Acorn Woodpeckers which were new species to the list. Overall, the bird count at Mt. Tam was not very high whatsoever because there just was not a great amount out that day. We moved on and went to an overlook that was showed endless views of the ocean. We were able to take a great group picture and enjoy the scenic views, but again there were not many birds present. However, this trip was one of my favorites because we were able to do a bit of hiking. We then drove back over the bridge to SF.

https://ebird.org/checklist/S65174943

Citations:

Acorn Woodpecker. (2019, October 11). Retrieved from https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/acorn-woodpecker

Caption: Common Woodpecker Habitat

Caption: Mt.Tam Beach Overlook

Caption: Mt. Tam Habitat

Bird Journal Entry #3:

DATE: 2/13/2020

Location:  37.9061, -122.6507 approx.

Site Description: This week we crossed the bridge into Marin County once again. We went closer to the water this time in Bolinas. Our aim fort he day was to travel around the marsh-like lands to observe wading birds. The spots we observed we very near one another and we parked the cars right off the road. We were birdwatching for only 2 hours, but nonetheless saw many species. The main species we saw on this excursion were the Northern Shovelers (3), Eurasian Wigeon (1), American Wigeon (130), Northern Pintail (21), Killdeer (2), Long-billed Curlew (50), Marbled Godwit (20), Willet (1), Western Gull (1), Larus sp. (151), gull sp. (5), and a double-crested Cormorant (1). These species of birds are very common in the marsh, but I was surprised to see how many species I had never seen before.

Species Account: The species I enjoyed seeing this week was the Long-billed curlew.

Narrative: This week we drove farther than we had last week.   The weather was crisp (about ~45 degrees) and extremely overcast.

https://ebird.org/checklist/S64425583

Citations:

Bird Journal Entry #2:

DATE: 2/6/2020

Location:

#1:  37.8797,-122.5548 approx.

#2: 37.8672,-122.5803 approx.

#3: 37.8631,-122.5855 approx.

Site Description: We visited three locations in Marin county this week. We went birdwatching near Mt. Tam and later at the Muir Beach Outlook. The landscape was a riparian forest type with an array of bushes, trees, conifers, even a small creek. Mt. Tam is a California State Park that is just on the other side of the bridge. The 3 hour excursion was filled with many fascinating species of birds. The main bird species we spotted were American Robins (46), Allen’s Hummingbird (7), Turkey Vultures (5), Red-tailed Hawks(3), Ruby-crowned Kinglets (2), Pygmy Nuthatch (3), and a Peregrine Falcon (1). We spotted many bird species on the trip different from those we saw the week before in Golden Gate Park.

Species Account: The species I enjoyed seeing this week was Allen’s Hummingbird. I spotted the bird at the first location we visited about 50 meters off the road and we were able to spot a few more over the next couple of hours. This bird species is very small and compact with green and brown coloring. The species tend to always be moving and have a very active behavior type. They have a very specific noise they make as the swerve in and out of bushes. These birds tend to live near the coast in chaparral and scrubs along California and Oregon coastlines. The diet of the species is mainly nectar with an insect or spider for protein in some circumstances. The mating season of the bird begins around February with males tending to mate with many females. The females have no controversy over their males’ mating style because they are not choosy when it comes to who they are courted by. Overall, they mate for approximately 1 day.

Narrative: This week we traveled over the bridge to Marin county. We left around 8 a.m. and made it to the first watching location around 9 a.m. We walked in the open brush along a path and spotted many birds in the trees off the trail. There were not many people around, except for the occasional person biking. The weather was cold (48 degrees Fahrenheit) in the morning, but the sky was very clear. This made it easy to spot birds in the sky. After about an hour we moved to another more dense forest-like landscape off a road and walked about 0.25 miles down. There was a creek that used to house many salmon, but over the years they stopped returning to reproduce. This is where we spotted the Peregrine Falcon. The whole class was very excited because the species is the fastest in the world. It was harder to spot birds in the dense brush because the light was unable to shine through the trees. We have gotten into a rhythm of being comfortable shouting out birds we spot and helping our classmates locate them as well. After 30 minutes in that location we went to a beach overlook. We spotted some Anna’s hummingbirds on our  way to the lookout, but as we were looking over the ocean, there was a female gray whale. We ran to a lookout and were able to spot the whale and 3 dolphins. After, observing the majestic whale, we went birdwatching for a bit more then around 12 p.m. we left back to campus.

https://ebird.org/checklist/S64180426

https://ebird.org/checklist/S64182166

https://ebird.org/checklist/S64183581

Citations:

Allen’s Hummingbird Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Allens_Hummingbird/id

Allen’s Hummingbird on Zauschneria cana. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.laspilitas.com/california-birds/hummingbirds/allens-hummingbird/allen-hummingbird.html

Allen’s Hummingbirds: Reproduction / Nesting. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.beautyofbirds.com/allenshummingbirdbreeding.html

Bird Journal Entry #1:

DATE: 1/30/2020

Location: 37.774417,-122.455029 approx.

Site Description: The place we visited for our first outing was to Golden Gate Park right off of Stanyan and Fulton. The landscape was a riparian forest type with a mix of bushes, some tall trees, and many angiosperms. Golden Gate Park was built on sand dunes and this is artificial. The main bird species spotted during this 2.5 hour trip were rock pigeons (17) , Anna’s hummingbird (6), mourning dove (1), red tailed hawk (1), red-naked sapsucker (1), black phoebe (1), stellar’s jay (1), California scrub-jay (1), common raven (15), chestnut-backed chickadee (2), bushtit (10), dark-eyed junco (5), golden- crowned sparrow (35), California towhee (1), and the red-crowned kinglet (1).

Species Account: The species I enjoyed seeing the most from this week was the chestnut-backed chickadee. I spotted the bird about 50m off of the main path inside the Stanyan park entrance. The bird is small and  ball-like shaped with a darker brown head, a white patch under its’ eye, and a lighter cream colored stomach. The bird were social with one another and tended to hop around from branch to branch. The habitat we saw the chickadee in was very riparian. A few of the birds were interacting with one another.  The species tend to be very active and in Winter migrate toward Kinglets (Chestnut-backed Chickadee Identification). That is interesting because we spotted one Kinglet. Also, they are distributed in many places, for example in trees, parks, and cities. The type we spotted is seen along California’s central coast because they have more of a brown-red coloring near their tails. Their diet mostly consists of berries, fruits, and seeds. Since they are smaller birds, they can’t prey on anything very large.

Narrative: We began the trip around 9:45 am and walked into Golden Gate Park from Fulton St. and Stanyan St. The weather was about 51 degrees Fahrenheit and the sky was sunny with patchy clouds. We went for the first time to get a sense of how the binoculars worked and to get int the rhythm of spotting birds. We only walked about 100m in and began seeing birds. I was surprised how hard it could be to find birds even with binoculars because they are so quick. One of the first birds I saw was the dark-eyed junco. I spotted it in a tree and we all struggled to locate it. For the next two hours we only walked about another 400 m or so around the area to spot 14 other species of birds. There were some “tweakers” trying to spot rare birds with telephoto cameras. The bird species we saw were very common for the area, except around 11:40 am we followed a tweaker and spotter what they thought was a Red-Naked Sapsucker. This species has not been seen in Golden Gate park in 20+ years. Not long after we walked back to school at around 12 pm. Overall, our first time out in the filed was extremely successful and we have been able to see how one can spot birds efficiently.

https://ebird.org/checklist/S63942082

Citations:

Chestnut-backed Chickadee Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Chestnut-backed_Chickadee/id

Chestnut-backed Chickadee. (2020, January 6). Retrieved from https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/chestnut-backed-chickadee

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