Birding San Francisco: October 18,19, 2006

October 18, 2006
I arrived at S. Lake Merced at dawn and went straight to the east shore of the lake. Immediately I saw one VIRGINIA RAIL and two GREEN HERONS. Another rail flushed and got away. I listened for the kek,kek, kek of the Least Bittern but still after three days none of the early morning bird songs match that I can detect. A SORA was calling and a Great Blue Heron flew by but that was it. In exploring further north of the east shore I discovered two cowering RING-NECKED PHEASANTS, released birds no doubt. On the lake there were several RING-NECKED DUCKS, Ruddy Ducks, and Mallards. The only warblers were Common Yellowthroat and Yellow-rumped Warbler. A HUTTON'S VIREO was scolding from the willows and there was the ever present Black Phoebe and Red-winged Blackbirds. I saw my first of season MEW GULL mixed in with the Western Gulls and California Gulls.
After work duties I stopped by El Polin Spring. I set up beside the spring and many birds flew in to bathe and drink, including many Yellow-rumped Warblers, Townsend's Warblers, and HERMIT THRUSHES. A first of season VARIED THRUSH flew into the overhanging trees but I was unable to photograph or videotape it. Two HUTTON'S VIREOS came to bathe and then I was surprised to see two CHIPPING SPARROWS in the springs (rare in San Francisco). There were also many Northern Flickers, an unidentified woodpecker that looked suspiciously like a Gila but I couldn't get a bead on it before it flew off, Downy Woodpecker, Red-tailed Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Fox Sparrow, Song Sparrow, GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW, White-crowned Sparrow, House Finch, and LESSER GOLDFINCH.

The next day, October 19,2006 I decided to try a sea watch. There had been numerous reports of Black-vented Shearwaters seen from shore lately, a bird I have never seen, and I was hoping for that. I arrived at dawn at Pt. Lobos (Sutro Baths/Cliff House area) and started searching. Immediately there were numerous Elegant Terns fishing off shore, a good sign for Jaegers. Sure enough there were soon Jaegers chasing terns. I had 12 PARASITIC JAEGERS, one POMARINE JAEGER, and best of all one LONG-TAILED JAEGER. Long-tailed Jaeger is the most rare from shore and the first I have ever seen from shore. It was a light morph juvenile and had an obvious whitish head. It even landed on the water briefly. I saw no shearwaters at all but was thrilled to see all those jaegers. There were also a few Forster's Terns, three BLACk OYSTERCATCHERS, one Common Loon, two RED-THROATED LOONS, four COMMON MURRES, many Brandt's Cormorants, Brown Pelicans, Western Gulls, and HEERMAN'S GULLS. I also saw one Snowy Egret in Sutro Baths along with some Coots.
My next stop before starting my work day was a brief one at El Polin Spring. There were many Northern Flickers, one Downy Woodpecker, one Varied Thrush (heard only), some Hermit Thrushes, TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS, many Yellow-rumped Warblers, one Brown Creeper (HO), Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Red-tailed Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Fox Sparrow, Song Sparrow, and a flock of our resident RED-MASKED PARAKEETS. Then it was off to the work-a-day world.