Field Journal Entry 4
Date & Location
September 27, 2023
Hawk Hill | 37°49’41.3″N 122°29’56.9″W | 923 ft
Site Description
Hawk Hill, located in the Marin Headlands just north of San Francisco, is a beautiful yet popular spot for tourists and birdwatchers. The hill offers a breathtaking view of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco Bay, as well as ideal conditions for viewing raptors fly by during their fall migration. Hawk Hill is a hilltop with a varied topography, with some steep slopes and some flat areas. Its diverse habitat, a mix of open chaparral, coastal scrub and grassland, is home to a wide range of species like birds, insects and reptiles, as well as endangered and threatened species. The hill is a great place to see raptors and accipiters during their fall migration and some of the key bird species are the Red-tailed Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Northern Harrier, Cooper’s Hawk and Turkey Vulture. As you make your way up to the hill, there are other birds that you can see as well such as the California Scrub-Jay, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Northern Flicker and a variety of songbirds.
Species Account
Sharp-shinned Hawk | Accipiter striatus
Sharp-shinned Hawks are found throughout North America, Central and South America as well as in some parts of Europe and Asia. They can be found in a variety of habitats like dense forests and woodlands where there is plenty of cover. They can also be found in open areas where they are able to perch and hunt for prey. While birding, we saw these hawks soaring over us in an open area, while riding the thermals. Sharp-shinned Hawks are smaller than other hawks, where they are about 12-15 inches and have a wingspan ranging from 24-30 inches. Adult hawks have a dark blue-grey upperpart with red-orange streaks across the chest while immatures have a mostly brown upperpart with white streaks. It was fairly difficult to distinguish between male and female because of how high they were in the air in addition to the sunlight. It’s possible we could’ve seen both sexes considering we saw 15 of them. Sharp-shinned Hawks are monogamous and they mate for life, in addition to both parents helping with incubating the eggs and raising their young.
Narrative
Around 8:15 am, we started heading out to the cars and started driving while passing by some nice views. We arrived at Hawk Hill at around 8:45 am and started to see some birds right where we parked the cars. After some time, we started heading up to the hill. On our way there, we saw a few Blue-gray Gnatcatchers and California Scrub-Jays. Once we got to the hill, we stayed around and birded for 2 hours. There was a little breeze but it was very sunny and warm during the time that we were there. The Golden Gate Raptor Observatory team came to do their work and we were able to get a short lecture from them, telling us what they do and got to learn more about raptors. They were kind enough to let us stand around while they work. Although we had to be a bit quiet, it was truly interesting seeing how they each stand in 1 quadrant and communicate with each other on what birds they saw to avoid any double counts. Overall, it was a fun day being able to see some hawks and falcons while having a nice view!
Sources
¹ Hawk Hill. San Francisco Recreation and Parks, CA.
² Sharp-shinned hawk – ebird.
³ Sharp-shinned hawk life history, all about birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology. , All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
