Date: 4/13/26 6:37 pm From: David Armstrong via groups.io <darmstrong99...> Subject: [SFBirds] Presidio pedestrian Big Day
Hi SFBirders
Today Matt Z, Bob H and I spent 10 hours touring the Presidio on foot and compiled a list of 96 total species observed over the course of a 12-mile walk. Our route was generally counterclockwise, beginning and ending at the Golden Gate Bridge, and visiting as many hotspots as feasible during that time. We enjoyed great weather conditions and decent bird activity in multiple locations. We observed no rarities, but did have a few sightings of note along the way:
- we swept the expected swallows including 1 Cliff at Fort Scott. There were also numerous groups of white-throated swifts seen at various locations- at least 60 Band-tailed Pigeons flying over in multiple different flocks throughout the morning- Green Heron in the reeds along the western edge of Mountain Lake- conditions at Crissy Lagoon were very challenging with high water levels and no ducks or grebes, however we did pull out a few Least Sandpipers and a Dunlin at the NW corner of the lagoon- Fort Point produced our only Clark's Grebe (species # 96) as well as numerous Pigeon Guillemots, Caspian Tern, Elegant Tern and Common Murre. Peregrine seen on the bridge- 2 Wrentits heard - 1 in the expected location along Batteries-to-Bluffs trail and a second in the upper reaches of Lobos Dunes- Lingering Golden-crowned Sparrow (2) and White-throated Sparrow (1) on Simonds Loop
There were few western migrants on the day but we did have a calling Lazuli Bunting early in the morning in the weedy field at Fort Scott.
In the non-avian category were numerous interesting butterfly species and a gray whale just off Baker Beach.
All in all a great spring day of birding - full checklist at https://ebird.org/checklist/S321404022 David, Matt, Bob
Date: 4/10/26 4:09 pm From: David Assmann via groups.io <david_assmann...> Subject: [SFBirds] City List through March reaches 223
Twenty new species for March - Common Poorwill, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Pigeon Guillemot, Northern Parula, Western Warbling Vireo, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Hooded Oriole, Caspian Tern, Western Flycatcher, Purple Martin, Chipping Sparrow, Short-billed Dowitcher, Elegant Tern, Western Kingbird, Red Crossbill, Swainson's Hawk, Cliff Swallow, Cassin's Kingbird, Golden Eagle, and Ash-throated Flycatcher - brought us to 223 species for the year, tying the 2023 record through the end of March. You can see the complete list at https://sfbirds.net/2026-city-cumulative
Date: 4/10/26 4:07 pm From: David Assmann via groups.io <david_assmann...> Subject: [SFBirds] Mini-fallout this morning at Fort Mason
In between the rain, I had a PALM WARBLER and WESTERN FLYCATCHER in the Fort Mason Community Garden this morning, and a CHIPPING SPARROW near the Tennis Courts.
Date: 4/10/26 7:36 am From: sarahhadams via groups.io <sarahhadams...> Subject: Re: [SFBirds] Important for the house safety!
We’re scheduling a Drier cleaning with Dan. Normally, this is for 350, but if more people join, the price drops to 150 per home! Not cleaning it increases the risk of fire in your home because lint and dust build up inside, which can become a serious fire hazard. We’ve used them before, and they do an excellent job.
Feel free to message me if interested and I’ll arrange a convenient time.
Date: 4/10/26 6:34 am From: sarahhadams via groups.io <sarahhadams...> Subject: [SFBirds] yard bird
There has been a Wilson's snipe in my backyard the last two mornings. Yard bird list first. It hung around for a couple hours this morning poking in the grass and resting. Otherwise the feeders have been strangely quiet so I was glad to see the snipe.
Date: 4/7/26 4:51 pm From: San Mateo County Bird Alliance via groups.io <office...> Subject: [SFBirds] Thurs. April 9 - CA Condors!
*Thursday, April 9 Monthly Meeting– Zoom*
*Northern California Condor Restoration Program, Chris West*
Chris West is the Northern California Condor Program Manager and Yurok Wildlife Department Senior Biologist. He began working with California condor as an intern at Ventana Wildlife Society in 1999 after graduating from the University of California at Santa Cruz. His passion for condors led to his master’s research at Humboldt State University investigating condor vigilance behavior while feeding. He began employment with the Yurok Tribe in 2008, working to set up the first reintroduction site in the Pacific Northwest, and is now the Manager of the Northern California Condor Restoration Program, a joint Program between the Yurok Tribe and the National Park Service.
Date: 4/6/26 8:54 pm From: Logan Kahle via groups.io <logan...> Subject: [SFBirds] San Francisco Big Day 4/5/2026 145 species; Brown Booby (long)
Hi All,
Yesterday on 4/5/2026 Jonah Benningfield and I, the Benthic Vertebrates, embarked on a 19 hour, all-out San Francisco Big Day, logging about 110 miles in the car and seeing 145 species between 3:30am and 11pm.
While this was my first balls-to-the-wall big day in San Francisco, we learned an immense amount from an effort done by Emmett Iverson and I on March 18th (logging 128 species, and informing many of the routes, strategies, and things to absolutely avoid that we learned for this day). Also a huge shoutout to Dominik Mosur and Keith Maley for helping us understand modern bird distribution around the city. Jonah and I have not been properly active in San Francisco for many years, and the extended experience of the local community made this effort possible.
Our day began at 3:30 when I picked Jonah up from his house in the Presidio. I got there slightly early and listened for Great Horned Owls but none were calling. Weird. After we both assembled our stuff we went briefly to Simonds Loop to drop some stuff off and again listen for Great Horns. This territory was silent too. But at least there was never a worry of missing Great Horned Owl on an SF big day...right?
Anyways we reached Golden Gate Park just after 4am and added our first bird of the day: a BARN OWL staked out by Dom in a nest near Metson Lake. While quite common through the city, Barn Owls are not especially vocal, and can be a bit of a pain on these big days (indeed, we were not able to find one on the March 18th day), so we were excited to get one out of the way so early. But no Great Horns were vocalizing.
Next on the agenda was Lake Merced. We were unclear how many of the birds there would be singing in the pre-predawn but we were excited to give it a shot. Marsh species sometimes sing amazingly early in the morning, so we had hopes that birds such as Great-tailed Grackle and Common Yellowthroat may be sounding off already. As we rolled up to the concrete bridge, arriving at the suiting hour of 4:20, we gave a round of clapping to the reeds, and immediately two VIRGINIA RAILS and several SORA gave their raucous calls into the night. Good start. Additionally, several MALLARDS called away, the goofy display of RUDDY DUCKS could be heard in the night and we also added our first calling AMERICAN COOTS, PIED-BILLED GREBES, and an early-singing MARSH WREN.
Our next stop was the Wooden Bridge. Cedric had given me some advice in the evening of the March 18th day that the best region and area of historical nesting of Green Heron was at the wooden bridge. So we were curious if we might hear a night-calling Green Heron. As we rolled up, we once again heard a pile of Sora calling in the reeds, along with our first CANADA GOOSE, WESTERN GULL and WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW. A BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON "quacked" away while a GREAT BLUE HERON also called from the reeds. A KILLDEER sounded off from the golf course, one of few we would encounter this day. But no Green Heron. Alas.
It was then on to maybe my most anticipated part of the night. I recently got access to a thermal camera and, while useless for most birding, I was eager to try it out for finding shorebirds at night on the beach. We walked out from Ortega, the spot that Emmett and I had found the plovers to be roosting back in March, and started scanning around the cold sandy dunes for little heat-blobs. Sure enough, after about 5 minutes I found one, a plover shaped blob amongst the sand. A quick look with the flashlight confirmed it was indeed a SNOWY PLOVER! It is always hell trying to find these things in the daytime on people-packed hot sunny spring days on the beach. Some SANDERLINGS were running around at tideline nearby, and a WESTERN SANDPIPER called overhead. We proceeded to sloat to see if we couldn't score some more shorebirds. We couldn't, but CALIFORNIA TOWHEES had started going off. In the thermal, an odd-shaped blob perched atop a cement patch. I couldn't figure out what it was so we wandered closer, and closer, then it took off revealing itself to be a EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE. Pretty funny little encounter.
Dawn was coming and we were going to try out a new strategy. Dawn chorus is a tricky and challenging time for San Francisco big days. In many areas, a series of scarce residents are extremely vocal in the early morning, but in San Francisco that is, for the most part, not the case, as many of the coveted migrant species are relatively silent. So we decided to head to the concrete bridge to see if some of the marsh species (Yellowthroat, Grackle etc) sound off earlier than their woodland bird counterparts. Dawn was explosive at the lake, but unfortunately that was mostly because several dozen TREE SWALLOWS were screaming away, drowning out any other sounds. Among them, our first BARN SWALLOW, AMERICAN ROBIN, HOUSE FINCH, and SONG SPARROW sounded off, but it was overall an underwhelming 30 minutes at that time of the day. We decided to relocate to the Wooden Bridge to once again try for Green Heron and any early marsh birds that may be singing. We couldn't find Green Heron once more, but the first of the morning's landbirds were sounding off in the form of MOURNING DOVE, AMERICAN CROW, COMMON RAVEN, CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE, and DARK-EYED JUNCO, among birds we'd already picked up, and CLARK'S GREBE and DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS swam around on the water. But, by far the highlight and what made the whole Lake Merced leg worth it was a single female CINNAMON TEAL that swam by just as we entered the time of visible light. With our first true score in the bag, we headed north.
On our way towards the Presidio we swung through Golden Gate Park. It was truly fantastic to be here in the early morning when the people and dogs and mayhem had not arrived yet, and we made a couple quick stops as we passed through, picking up BROWN CREEPER (not found in the Presidio in our last two big day attempts), along with our first RED-SHOULDERED HAWK, STELLER'S JAY, PACIFIC WREN, PURPLE FINCH, RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD, and TOWNSEND'S and WILSON'S WARBLERS. We rushed to the Presidio.
The Presidio is where we spent the majority of the morning. Having done a couple of these efforts now, and reading other's reports, it seems clear to me that spending most of the morning in the Presidio is the optimal strategy for any car-based city effort. However, there are a million ways to go about the Presidio and we experimented a little with this one.
We started our effort by gunning it for the coastal bluffs and their wonderful residents. Shortly after getting out of the car, we added SPOTTED TOWHEE and BEWICK'S WREN. But no wrentit. We listened. We whistled. We waited. Then, far out to the north we heard one of San Francisco's only Wrentits calling into the hills. Lets roll.
We went down the hill to Lobos Dunes. This was a suggestion from Jonah and one I had not thought of previously, but turned out to actually be a quite solid stop, and gave us a shot at scarce residents like Hairy Woodpecker and Hutton's Vireo. Anyways, we walked down the boardwalk quickly adding up a variety of new species, such as WESTERN BLUEBIRD, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, LESSER GOLDFINCH, and a WESTERN SCRUB-JAY perched up on a snag. Then, as we were leaving, Jonah spotted a FOX SPARROW, our only one of the day. It was time to roll.
Next stop was Fort Scott. Neither of us were sure about if the local Cliff Swallows had arrived yet, but we decided to give it a shot. Rolling up, we easily found the local HOODED ORIOLES. Walking out over the field, we noticed a group of swallows foraging overhead: VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW, NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW, and Tree. But no cliffs. Hmm. Well at least there had been plenty on the battery the previous day. Fingers crossed. Our first BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD called overhead, and a BREWER'S BLACKBIRD was singing from the parking lot. Our first RED-TAILED HAWK circled lazily overhead and our first WESTERN KINGBIRD bombed north. On a whim, we decided to check the community garden for any odd sparrows or the like. We were stoked to find a singing WESTERN FLYCATCHER, our only one of the day. It was heating up, and we headed for the battery.
We started our watch from the battery by looking at the rocks. In short order, we picked up BRANDT'S CORMORANT, SURF SCOTER, COMMON MURRE, ELEGANT TERN, HEERMANN'S and CALIFORNIA GULL, WESTERN GREBE, and WHIMBREL. There was lots of activity offshore, and we were feeling good. Jonah quickly spotted the male BLACK SCOTER, and on the rocks we added BLACK TURNSTONE, BLACK OYSTERCATCHER, and WILLET. Things were looking good. We continued scanning the channel. A group of BROWN PELICANS flew through, and we added COMMON and RED-THROATED LOONS. At one moment, we had Heermann's Gull, Brown Pelican, and Elegant Tern (not to mention murres) in the same scope view, and I realized that those were 3 different birds all missed on the original 2007 big day record, and all species that have basically become likely (or more likely) possibilities in early or mid April in the last 20 years. Times change. Jonah wisely checked the bridge tower, netting us PEREGRINE FALCON, and on the nearshore rocks was a lone PELAGIC CORMORANT, our only one of the day. It was time to move up to the main watch spot. We were astounded to find 0 birders. Where was everyone?? The winds were similar to the previous day, when over a dozen people were present. Fortunately, that made it nice and easy to not get information from observers outside our party!
As we turned our attention skyward, it quickly became clear this was a flight day as well. Groups of Yellow-rumps and Western Kingbirds passed by, as well as a smattering of swallows, including our desired CLIFF SWALLOWS. Our first of several LAZULI BUNTINGS sounded off, and a NORTHERN FLICKER called in the distance. While absent predawn at the concrete bridge, several groups of GREAT-TAILED GRACKLES came through, always a sign of a good day up here, and a rare-for-the-battery HOUSE SPARROW sounded off. Jonah scanned the channel for terns but our first CASPIAN TERN came from behind us. Things were looking good. An early-flying TURKEY VULTURE, a bird missed on my March effort, flew by, one of only two seen all day. A group of AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES headed along the bluff, normally a bird you would miss on one of these days if not for the battery. A BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER headed north right overhead, and our much-desired HAIRY WOODPECKER called to the east. But we were really hoping for some raptors. 10 or 15 minutes would go by without a new bird but enough stuff kept trickling in that we decided to wait and see. Sure enough, with a little patience, a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK came over. There had been a major flight of these the previous day, and we knew if we waited long enough one would appear. What we did not expect was a NORTHERN HARRIER to fly by to the south of us, a rare bird in the city in spring and a very unexpected and exciting big day score! We ran down to the bluff one more time to look for the continuing Long-tailed Duck but couldn't find it. However, we did find a single PIGEON GUILLEMOT. Things were looking up. Could the mystical 150 record be within shot today??
We jetted off to pick up the last few presidio residents. But first a detour to Crissy Field. Crissy had a number of targets, but not all would prove easy. However, reaching the lagoon we quickly added HORNED GREBE, a bird missed in March, BUFFLEHEAD, SNOWY EGRET and MEW GULL. On the shore of the lagoon, a COMMON YELLOWTHROAT called away. Nearby a few ROCK PIGEONS circled around. We looked out into the channel and along the beaches for Ring-billed Gull. No dice. Huh. The beaches were starting to get crowded but still...they should be around. We decided to check the Yacht Club Harbor and the Wave Organ for ringers. Sometimes they're around there. No dice. Errr. We swung by the palace of fine arts lagoon. No gulls. Gulls in general seem to have seriously cleared out early this year. Humbled, we decided to switch our tack to landbirds. The previous day I'd scattered a bunch of seed hoping the White-throated Sparrows would come back to Simonds. Since my feeders dried up in Fall they've been just absent. So, rolling up to simonds I didn't know what to expect. But when I wanted to the feeder, a very dark melospiza kicked up. Shortly after, two WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS started calling and then popped into view! Alright! A GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW, one of few today, also appeared. We were cleaning up. But we still needed a couple landbirds.
We dropped down into Tennessee Hollow. Hutton's Vireos is one of the most local and enigmatic landbirds in the city for these big day efforts, and we missed them last March. Fortunately, I had a territory staked out. So we wandered over and poked around. No vireo. We found a nice mixed flock in the region, which hosted our only HERMIT THRUSHES of the day. Jonah and I split up by a couple hundred feet. Then I heard him yelling. "COOPER'S HAWK!" I looked up to see the coop making lazy circles above us. Awesome. Both accipiters is far from a guarantee in SF! Shortly after, the HUTTON'S VIREO sounded off. Things were working out. We went to a particularly juicy corner of the region to finish off. I was keen on finding a Kinglet. Sure enough a RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET was flitting about in a low willow. Game on!
We headed back to Fort Scott. We thought maybe later in the morning there would be more flight, but did not seem to detect any. We briefly swung by the battery again, hoping a Martin or Vaux's or something may strafe by, but were ultimately disappointed. We left the Presidio at 11am with 110 species.
Leaving the Presidio, we headed straight for Stow Lake. We learned in March that Golden Gate Park on these hot days is an absolute hellhole and the less time spent there the better. Fortunately, we knew what to do. We made a couple stops on the way to the east end of the lake picking up RING-NECKED DUCK and there, at the east end of the lake, as hoped, was a female HOODED MERGANSER. Time to leave Golden Gate Park for the day. Good feeling. We headed south.
As we were heading south I realized we were passing the parula stakeout. So we decided to detour west and check that thing out. Within minutes of rolling up, the NORTHERN PARULA appeared in the same oak we saw it in March. We headed off to Pine Lake. Thanks to a tip from Dom, we knew where to find our target here. We walked up the hill and the territorial HOUSE WREN was singing away.
We headed west to Ocean Beach. Speaking of hellholes, the view from the south end looked like a "where's waldo?" image. There were likely upwards of 1000 people on the beach today, and bird numbers reflected it. We scanned to the south to see if any Bank Swallows were back on territory. Didn't look like it. But we decided to wait. There had been up to 8 godwits here lately and this was our only likely shot, so we might as well wait around. Offshore, a smattering of murres and loons streamed by but numbers were very low and the water was hazy and dead. But, after 20 minutes of waiting, a diversity pack of 4 shorebirds flew by: a Whimbrel, a LONG-BILLED CURLEW, and 2 MARBLED GODWITS. Good enough for me!
We briefly stopped by the boathouse in Lake Merced, following up on a tip from Dom to look for Kingfisher there. We scanned the snags but couldn't find one. However, the continuing YELLOW WARBLER was just west of the boathouse. We scanned both lakes for Eared Grebe but couldn't find any. Bother. We drove down towards the Concrete Bridge. Near gun club marsh, right offshore, was an EARED GREBE. Good stuff.
It was now 12:30 and we had a rather major dilemma. In a normal instance, I would have liked to finish off the west side, checking Sutro and Lands End, look for the Blackburnian Warbler, go to Lafayette Park, and maybe check a hill on our way to the bayshore. But the tides were terrible. The only proper low today was at 8am and an over-6' high tide was approaching at 3:30, and the tide would not drop below 4' until after sunset. I knew how screwed you can be at too high of a tide at the bayshore, and decided to opt for heading to the bayshore while we were close to there down by Lake Merced. While not optimal for the west side, it seemed like the best way to not miss 5 easy birds on the bayshore.
Arriving at the bayshore south of Yosemite Slough at 1:15 we went about it the same way I had with Emmett in March. We first ran up to the mudflats at Yosemite Slough and Double Rock. On our way out we kicked up a LINCOLN'S SPARROW. By Double Rock was the first major new flush of birds for the day: both LESSER and GREATER SCAUP were loafing offshore in the Bay, several FORSTER'S TERNS loafed among the caspians, an AMERICAN WIGEON swam around the shoreline near an AMERICAN AVOCET, and a GREATER YELLOWLEGS and several BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS loafed nearby. On Double Rock proper a SPOTTED SANDPIPER bobbed away. A Marbled Godwit was along the far shoreline, and we walked toward the slough proper, picking up WESTERN SANDPIPER and DUNLIN. We searched hard for Semipalmated Plover but there were just none around. Alas. Walking back towards Candlestick we found a singing SAVANNAH SPARROW. We'd now found the major flush of new birds from the bayshore, and we would be picking up ones and twos for the rest of the day.
We scoured the Candlestick area for the next nearly 30 minutes for Western Meadowlark but just couldn't find any, but did turn up some more Lincoln's and Golden-crowned Sparrows. Continuing to Yosemite Slough north we found a single BLACK-NECKED STILT in the Community Garden Pond, and ran around for another 10 minutes for meadowlarks with no success. Surely there must be a flock somewhere?? We made a quick stop at Hillpoint Park overlooking the shipyard, and quickly scored the OSPREY on its nest. From near there we could overlook the whole greater Heron's Head/India Basin region and scanned. We had not seen a Great Egret at Yosemite Slough, and were starting to get concerned. The record big day from 2021 missed Great Egret, which I thought was crazy, but it seems they genuinely just thin out by April. We couldn't see anything new from the overlook, so we headed north.
We were hot and tired, and the 3am wakeup was getting to us. Fruitlessly walking fields for meadowlarks had somewhat sapped our morale, and the bayshore in general had come out with more misses than scores. But, we headed up to Pier 94 to test our luck. I wanted to try for the Tropical Kingbird that was still hanging around. We sat at the edge of the enclosure it normally likes. Nothing. We waited. Nothing. Then, a kingbird appeared. But is it just a western? It looked odd. We got the scope out and sure enough, the TROPICAL KINGBIRD was there on the edge of the fence. Moments later, one of the likely nesting AMERICAN KESTRELS bombed by. We were back on track! Feeling a little more motivated we decided to enter the saltmarsh restoration region and run around and hope to kick up a Meadowlark and check the little rock flats nearby. Well you can figure how that went. But, when on a big day it is extremely important to scan the *entire* shoreline. "Did you do that?" I asked Jonah. Cuz I did! And there's nothing!! LETS JAM!!!
We were back moving and in the beautiful air conditioning of the car. Next stop was Lafayette Park, and I was happy to have learned from the March effort where the Acorn Woodpeckers seem to normally hang out. We sprinted to the top of the hill and there, in all its glory, was a stunning ACORN WOODPECKER. Incredible. We decided to linger around a while to see if we might find an oriole or some other migrant. But time was of the essence, so we rolled on.
I picked up Caitlin in the Richmond at 4pm to finish off the day. I knew we couldn't count any bird she pointed out to us, and was hoping that wouldn't bite us! We rolled on to Lands End. We were just missing a single dumb passerine and I knew where to find it. We headed directly for the Grace's Warbler stakeout. I had scouted this site a week prior and while I could not find the Graces I found abundant siskins. Moments after we got out of the car we added a PINE SISKIN calling. Awesome. We looked around for a couple minutes for the Graces. Nada.
Heading on to the Cliff House we had one more easy west side bird in the bag. Surfbirds normally stick through mid April and they were seen just days ago. Rolling up, we were annoyed to find the main Cliff House viewpoint blocked off. Ugh. So we went to the south side. The vantage was fabulous. You could see the entire where's-waldo north end of the beach, most of the golden gate channel, and the close side of the rocks. We were ready. Scanning the rocks there were lots of shorebirds. I guess they roost there if the beach is the zoo. Looking at them however, I was surprised they were almost all Willets! Crazy. There were over 20. Only one Whimbrel among them. Not long after, several took flight, revealing a smaller bird among them: a SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER! Score! Things were going well again. But where were the Surfbirds? We scanned the rocks. Willets, Whimbrel, Dowitcher, Turnstones. Aaand...? I guess scan again. Willets, Whimbrel, Dowitcher, Turnstones. Huh. The Surfbirds must be on the other side of the rock. I guess we'll wait. Scanning the beach south there was a distant blurry apparent GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL, and a closer and more definite one out in the channel. Chill. We waited. One of us would pick through the birds on the rock time and again while the other scanned the beach or channel. Still no surfbird. Then, out in the channel we saw a familiar shape arcing around a large tanker: a BROWN BOOBY!!!! Or Cocos Booby for those so inclined. We watched it fly around for over a minute before losing it behind the tanker. An amazing highlight, and certainly nothing I was expecting on this day! But still no Surfbird. Ugh. We jogged 5 minutes and relocated near the northern platform (where there was a big party type event happening) and could see some fresh part of the rocks. But no Surfbird....Drat. So, after looking for an hour, we abandoned project Surfbird, and moved on. You gotta know when to fold em.
Next we decided to mob back to Crissy. We still had five very real possibilities at this site and were not about to let that slide. As we passed quartermaster reach on the highway I noticed a massive long-looking egret. Uuuh. Jonah missed it. So we flew down the half mile of road to get back there and, sure enough, a GREAT EGRET! Awesome. Now on to looking for gulls. There were way fewer people than at 9:30am, and it felt that we may actually succeed. We gunned it for the wave organ to visit the farthest site first. There was a little mudflat with some gulls, but no ringers. Ugh. We worked west by the yacht club. Nada. It was now concerning again. We went by the west end of the lagoon. Couldn't see a ringer there. From there we gave Caitlin the scope to scan while we did the lovely activity of walking the field for meadowlarks. We walked the whole thing out and back over a half hour with nothing. Boo. Time to switch priorities. We started looking for snipe and scoured every possible square inch of the lagoons shoreline. None. Oh well. After an hour with no new birds, we decided it was time to bail to the south.
We headed south along sunset to Lake Merced, and realized we were passing *right* by the blackburnian spot. Couldn't hurt. So we popped out of the car for 3 minutes. Nothing. Oh well. We proceeded to the boathouse for kingfisher or maybe a swallow or Green Heron. We listened. Nothing. We scanned the snags. Nothing. Jonah peeled off to check the south lake while I staked out the kingfisher hunt. We convened and still nothing. We were driving out when we decided to stop one last time at a different angle. We waited for 5 minutes. Alas. We went to the concrete bridge to end. It was well after sunset and getting dark. We hadn't added a bird in two hours. Not the perfect way to end a big day. But we wanted to give Swallows and Green Heron one last shot. We got to the bridge. Not a swallow in sight. Ugh. We waited. We scanned the water. We looked up in the sky. Then, over the marsh wrens and people I heard a familiar sound. "WILSON'S SNIPE!!!" I looked all around and saw the bird, flying waaay up in the sky, making large circles and gaining altitude. It got way up in the sky then started heading north and up, and disappeared into the middle of a high cloud over a mile away from us. Amazing. What a way to end the day. Then, as a cherry on top, a pair of GREEN HERONS flew over the bridge heading south. Incredible.
The time had come to count up our total I was eager to see. We had had an unbelievable morning, a somewhat lull-ish midday, and a fairly strong ending. What would it add up too? After the counting was done, it looked like our total stood at 144. And it looked like two more were in the bag. But what to do besides nightbirds in the night? We were basically out of options. Hope for a semiplo on Ocean Beach or the Bayshore in the night? Look for Saw-whets in the Presidio?? Fat chance. 150 was out of the question. Well, let' get the two and go to sleep. First up poorwill.
We arrived at Mount Davidson before 8. We made the normal loop. No poorwill. 30 minutes ticked by. We busted out the thermal camera. No poorwill. Fog was starting to roll in. An hour ticked by. We made the loop again. Nothing?? They've got to be here! We went up to the top of the hill and looked. Nothing. Huh. It was after 9:30 and most restaurant options were going to close. It seems that they likely left. And with cold west winds and fog, no owls were calling up here. Ugh. We headed on.
After burritos in the mission we had to finish off the day in the Presidio. We went towards El Polin, the densest area of Great Horns in the Presidio in my experience. We stopped first by Tennessee Hollow. I made some hooting sounds, and almost immediately a GREAT HORNED OWL hooted in response. 145. The time was 10:50. We were spent.
It was a fantastic day with great company. The effort with Emmett and I in March seriously helped inform the overall route, strategy, and pace, learning that certain things like Hutton's Vireos are properly scarce and need prioritizing. We did quite well with regular SF species but did not go for all that many stakeout rarities, which can boost a total but can also sink serious time. I want to shout out the record-setting day set by Adrian Hinkle and Emmett Iverson back in 2021: https://groups.io/g/SFBirds/message/25464 and the old-time record of 149 set on April 16, 2007 by Hugh Cotter, Paul Saraceni, Alan Hopkins and Josiah Clark: https://groups.io/g/SFBirds/message/8653 And, regards to the old record, the city has changed immensely in the last 20 years, mostly for the better by big day standards. New habitat restoration and the colonization of native species back into our urban habitats since that time include Black-necked Stilt (since 2005), Acorn Woodpecker (since 2014), Nuttall's Woodpecker (mostly since 2007 or so), Northern Flicker (breeding since 2016), House Wren (breeding since 2020), Western Bluebird (breeding since 2002), Savannah Sparrow (breeding since 2009) along the with major expansion of several others like White-throated Swift and Northern Rough-winged Swallow, while we have lost birds like Quail and most of our Bank Swallows in that same time period.
And, like any big day, we had our misses: Ducks (no GW Teal, Gadwall, Shovelers or RB Mergs around SF right now), Pacific Loon (bad seawatch day), Surfbird (we gave it a full effort!), Semipalmated Plover (none in SF right now), Rb Gull (are the crissy birds really not there?? Checked twice), Bonaparte's Gull (bad seawatch day), Herring Gull (almost no gulls on the beach today), Kingfisher (tried twice), Meadowlark (tried for longer than I'd like to think about), migrants (many of these were on the hilltops, which we never got to on this day. We missed Vaux's Swift, Cassin's and Warbling Vireos, Bullock's Oriole, Chipping Sparrow, Western Tanager, BH Grosbeak) and wintering passerine stakeouts (like Nashville, Hermit and Blackburnian Warblers, Summer Tanager).
Date: 4/6/26 11:37 am From: Logan Kahle via groups.io <logan...> Subject: [SFBirds] Brown (cocos) Booby at Sutro
Hi all,
Yesterday evening, Jonah Benningfield, Caitlin Chock and I observed an adult Brown (Cocos) Booby off the Cliff House in front of a large tanker. The bird was in view for about a minute. It will likely linger in the channel for the next few days I would bet.
Date: 4/3/26 10:00 am From: Dominik Mosur via groups.io <dominikmosur...> Subject: [SFBirds] Breeding Bird Atlas update/pointers and some misc. observations
Happy Spring SFBirders,
I wanted to take a few moments of your time to share some news on the Atlas
effort so far and give some helpful pointers to those conducting the field
work.
To start, a bit of raw data. So far through April 1st - San Francisco City
and County is 15th in total species confirmed with *48 and 7th with *1627
observer hours logged out of 58 counties. This is especially remarkable
that SF is the smallest county by far , approximately 1/9th the size of
San Mateo.
Here is a list of the species confirmed in the most blocks so far:
Anna's Hummingbird (9)
American Crow
Common Raven
House Finch
White-crowned Sparrow (8)
Red-tailed Hawk
Bushtit
European Starling (7)
Dark-eyed Junco (6)
Mourning Dove
Great-horned Owl (5)
Red-shouldered Hawk
House Sparrow
Song Sparrow
American Robin (4)
I also wanted to address some issues that have come up for atlas
participants.
First is the importance of placing your breeding bird observations in the
correct blocks. A number of our larger frequently visited areas fall into
two blocks.
These are:
Golden Gate Park
Presidio
Lake Merced
Land's End
Additionally quite a few frequently visited Hotspots do as well including:
Corona Heights Park
Golden Gate Heights Park
Twin Peaks
Heron's Head
Pier 94
Sunset Reservoir
West Sunset Playground
Lafayette Park
Marina Green
Sunset Dunes Park
Sunset Blvd. Greenbelt
Laguna Honda
East Wash
Lincoln Park Golf Course
and the outlier Alta Plaza Park which lies in 4 blocks(!)
Here is the prescribed method for dealing with atlasing efforts that
involve covering multiple blocks:
"When you prepare to go out atlasing, keep in mind that you may cross over
block boundaries while in the field. It may help to look at the block map
before you head in the field so you have some idea of boundaries and if you
will need to create multiple checklists. You can also figure this out in
the field if you use the mobile app, but you need to stop and check your
location on the map. You’ll also need to be aware of the location of
breeding birds because they could be in a different block from where you
are located.
How to use eBird hotspots
If you are birding at an existing eBird hotspot that spans multiple
blocks, create
separate personal location checklists for each block where you bird. If you
plan to return to the area, it may be helpful to include the name of the
block when you name the new personal location. For example, if you are
atlasing along Bolinas Lagoon, which spans 4 blocks, you would not want to
use the general “Bolinas Lagoon” hotspot when atlasing near the inlet,
because the general hotspot is not located in the same block. You could
create a personal location or use a more localized hotspot that is located
in the proper block.
What to do when you see or hear a bird in an adjacent block
When you are located in one block and detect a breeding bird in a
neighboring block, you need to make sure the breeding code is assigned to
the correct block. Here’s how:
1. Record all species you observe while conducting your current eBird
checklist.
2. Record breeding codes on your current checklist only for species with
evidence of breeding *in the block where you are located. *
3. Create a separate incidental checklist for the neighboring block,
record the species, count, and breeding code for breeding observations in
the neighboring block.
The birds will be counted twice on separate checklists, but this is ok. It
won’t mess up anything with effort or eBird statistics because the second
checklist is incidental."
Another issue I've discussed with some observers recently involves
correctly interpreting behavior. A number of species exhibit
courtship behavior that can appear at a glance to be a juvenile bird
begging from a parent but is actually pair bonding involving one bird
feeding another. The bird being fed will exhibit juvenile like mannerism :
bowing down, rapid wing flapping and opening the bill all accompanied by
begging calls. I've recently observed this in Pygmy Nuthatches and
Chestnut-backed Chickadees as well as Oak Titmouse (outside of SF). In the
past I've seen this behavior as well in Western Bluebirds and others. If
you observe what looks like begging behavior be sure to closely study the
bird begging to see if you can note other marks of a juvenile, remains of
juvenile down (often retained longest on the head/mantle), brightly colored
gape flanges (at the base of the bill), not fully grown out feathers
(short-tailed appearance) etc.
The other thing to look out for involves cavity nesters and
differentiating between codes : N - visiting probable nest site, B - nest
building in woodpeckers/wrens (and nuthatches) and NB - nest building by
secondary cavity nesters. For example: you observe a Tree Swallow/or
Western Bluebird repeatedly perching at the entrance to a cavity and even
entering it. This would be coded as N - probable. NB - a confirmation code
can be used once actual nesting material is observed being carried into the
cavity.
With cavity makers like woodpeckers and nuthatches observing a bird working
on a cavity merits a probable code B as these species make and use roosting
cavities. Confirmation of their breeding requires additional observation
showing behavior like carrying in food (CF), removing Fecal Sacs (FS) or
hearing begging juveniles inside the nest (NY)
Finally I would like to conclude this Atlas update by shouting out some of
our All-star participants who are leading the pack with -
total species confirmed:
Daniel Scali (15), Anna Klafter/Megan Jankowski (13), Eddie Bartley/Theresa
Calpotura(12). David Assmann/Travis Smith(11)
and blocks with confirmed species:
Eddie Bartley/Theresa Calpotura/Noreen Weeden (7), Anna Klafter/Liam
Murphy/Jenna Magee (5), Daniel Scali/Megan Jankowski/Travis Smith/Danny
Grossman/Conor Schmidt/Richard Bradus/Rich Chambers (4)
In other news :
Spring migrants have been arriving ahead of schedule so far with notables
on Corona Hill on Tue. 3/31 - Chipping Sparrow and Bullock's Oriole. A not
so highlight was watching a Scrub Jay predate a Bushtit nest joining three
Anna's and one Allen's Hummingbird nests that befell the same fate in
recent weeks. A Steller's Jay appeared to pluck a newly hatched European
Starling from a cavity on Tuesday.
And on a City-wide scale happy to report first of the year breeding
confirmations of nesting by Barn Owl in Golden Gate Park and Brewer's
Blackbirds behind the Ortega Library at West Sunset Playground (outside of
the block in which the pin for the hotspot is sited so be sure to create a
separate location for this)
Thank you to all of you participating in the atlas, and for the rest get
with the program! If you have questions please shoot me a line off list.
Date: 4/2/26 4:32 pm From: Brian Fitch via groups.io <fogeggs...> Subject: Re: [SFBirds] Royal Tern Sutro
I had hoped that some migratory movement would be happening today in the
wake of the storms and with April on the books, and though there was less
variety than I wanted, terns did what they could as far as numbers.
Only a few Elegants were heading out of the Gate early on, but then quite a
few began to stream in from the south, many more than had already
gone out. Hundreds had flown by when some pelicans and cormorants began
gathering beyond the rocks, starting one of the biggest feeding frenzies
I've ever seen. The fish moved further into the Gate and split up,
reflected in a small flock of divers right offshore (I could see loon and
corm eye color in my binos), a big flock a few hundred yards out, and a
massive flock in the chop south of Point Bonita. The prey was so small
that I only once caught sight of a 2-3 inch long fish in an Elegant's beak.
I was scoping the mid-distance group when a large tern circled into my view
and instantly caught my attention. Its bill was bright orange-red, and a
little stouter and shorter than the Elegants. It had the notably forked
tail and flight style of the Elegants, as well as white on the underside of
the primaries. It was in alternate plumage, so no difference there
either. I was relatively certain that it was a Royal, but until it finally
dove down amongst the mob, I didn't feel complete confidence. It didn't
hit the water, but it flew amongst several much smaller Elegants, and then
headed north toward the Bonita frenzy, not to be seen again before I left
at 10. Only after it had moved on did any Caspians appear, with five
coming in from the south over the subsequent hour.
The frenzies never abated, and the other notable species present was
Bonaparte's Gull. Numerous individuals were swirling through the feeding
flock, making it hard to count, but a quick sweep showed at least fifty,
and others had flown north before the frenzy broke out. Another
interesting item was that Elegants began rafting on the surface in several
scattered groups, each group consisting of around 25-30 birds. I've seen
them on the surface before, but what was new to me was that some appeared
to be washing themselves in the salt water, while the others were holding
their beaks and their wingtips tilted up above the splashes of the choppy
water. The angular geometry would have made a great photo if they'd been
close enough.
Hundreds of murres were moving in every direction, while three Common Loons
were northbound along with five small flocks of Whimbrel.
Brian Fitch
On Thu, Apr 2, 2026 at 8:51 AM Brian Fitch via groups.io <fogeggs=
<gmail.com...> wrote:
> Good looks at a Royal in a feeding frenzy nw of Sutro Baths. It just
> moved off to the north but may stay local.
> Details later
> Brian Fitch
>
>
>
Date: 3/29/26 6:14 pm From: David Assmann via groups.io <david_assmann...> Subject: [SFBirds] Fort Mason Local Interest
Seasonal changes are in full swing at Fort Mason. YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS (the few that are left), HERMIT THRUSHES, GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROWS and FOX SPARROWS, to name just a few, are all singing. A number of species, including SONG SPARROWS, RED-TAILED HAWKS, NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRDS, and WESTERN BLUEBIRDS are nest-building. A pair of Bluebirds were passing nesting material back and forth to each other this morning, and ferociously defending their nest by chasing any EUROPEAN STARLING that came close. The Red-breasted Sapsuckers have left. The SUMMER TANAGER is now almost completely red, and the hybrid BULLOCK'S x BALTIMORE ORIOLE is now singing frequently, sounding just like a Baltimore Oriole. The WESTERN TANAGER continues, and a number of HOODED ORIOLES have arrived. Migrants have been trickling through, with a PALM WARBLER bobbing its tail in the Battery on the 21st, a WESTERN KINGBIRD on the 23rd and 28th, a NORTHERN YELLOW WARBLER on the 25th, a very early ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER on the 27th (it made a ka-brick call before landing briefly on the north fence of the garden), and a WESTERN WARBLING VIREO today.
Date: 3/20/26 2:40 pm From: Lang via groups.io <langtian.lang...> Subject: Re: [SFBirds] grebe stranded on ocean beach
Thank you Cleo. I'm glad someone was able to gather the bird. Hope they're
able to recover.
On Fri, Mar 20, 2026 at 2:38 PM Cleo <congnancleo...> wrote:
> I was able to retrieve the bird and bring it to International Bird Rescue.
> It’s currently under intensive support for leaky grebe syndrome.
>
>
> On Fri, Mar 20, 2026 at 2:28 PM Langtian Lang <langtian.lang...>
> wrote:
>
>> Hey Travis, I called sf animal control soon after the initial email.
>> They said they were aware and would attempt to gather the bird.
>> Unfortunately I had to leave quickly after, so not sure if they
>> actually got there or if there's any further update.
>>
>> On Fri, Mar 20, 2026 at 2:26 PM Travis Smith <sivarthtims...>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> > Any update on this?
>> >
>> > On Fri, Mar 20, 2026 at 12:53 PM Cleo via groups.io <congnancleo=
>> <gmail.com...> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> Anyone nearby that has a carrier and a towel? The bird should be
>> brought to peninsula humane society or international bird rescue.
>> >>
>> >> On Fri, Mar 20, 2026 at 11:42 AM Lang via groups.io <langtian.lang=
>> <gmail.com...> wrote:
>> >>>
>> >>> hey all, there's a grebe stranded at ocean beach. there's a beach
>> rescue there doing his best to block the off leash dogs right now but not
>> sure how long he'll stay.
>> >>>
>> >>> (37.7452640, -122.5090163)
>> >>
>> >>
>>
>
Date: 3/20/26 2:38 pm From: Cleo via groups.io <congnancleo...> Subject: Re: [SFBirds] grebe stranded on ocean beach
I was able to retrieve the bird and bring it to International Bird Rescue.
It’s currently under intensive support for leaky grebe syndrome.
On Fri, Mar 20, 2026 at 2:28 PM Langtian Lang <langtian.lang...>
wrote:
> Hey Travis, I called sf animal control soon after the initial email.
> They said they were aware and would attempt to gather the bird.
> Unfortunately I had to leave quickly after, so not sure if they
> actually got there or if there's any further update.
>
> On Fri, Mar 20, 2026 at 2:26 PM Travis Smith <sivarthtims...>
> wrote:
> >
> > Any update on this?
> >
> > On Fri, Mar 20, 2026 at 12:53 PM Cleo via groups.io <congnancleo=
> <gmail.com...> wrote:
> >>
> >> Anyone nearby that has a carrier and a towel? The bird should be
> brought to peninsula humane society or international bird rescue.
> >>
> >> On Fri, Mar 20, 2026 at 11:42 AM Lang via groups.io <langtian.lang=
> <gmail.com...> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> hey all, there's a grebe stranded at ocean beach. there's a beach
> rescue there doing his best to block the off leash dogs right now but not
> sure how long he'll stay.
> >>>
> >>> (37.7452640, -122.5090163)
> >>
> >>
>
Date: 3/20/26 2:28 pm From: Lang via groups.io <langtian.lang...> Subject: Re: [SFBirds] grebe stranded on ocean beach
Hey Travis, I called sf animal control soon after the initial email.
They said they were aware and would attempt to gather the bird.
Unfortunately I had to leave quickly after, so not sure if they
actually got there or if there's any further update.
On Fri, Mar 20, 2026 at 2:26 PM Travis Smith <sivarthtims...> wrote:
>
> Any update on this?
>
> On Fri, Mar 20, 2026 at 12:53 PM Cleo via groups.io <congnancleo...> wrote:
>>
>> Anyone nearby that has a carrier and a towel? The bird should be brought to peninsula humane society or international bird rescue.
>>
>> On Fri, Mar 20, 2026 at 11:42 AM Lang via groups.io <langtian.lang...> wrote:
>>>
>>> hey all, there's a grebe stranded at ocean beach. there's a beach rescue there doing his best to block the off leash dogs right now but not sure how long he'll stay.
>>>
>>> (37.7452640, -122.5090163)
>>
>>
Date: 3/20/26 2:26 pm From: Travis S via groups.io <sivarthtims...> Subject: Re: [SFBirds] grebe stranded on ocean beach
Any update on this?
On Fri, Mar 20, 2026 at 12:53 PM Cleo via groups.io <congnancleo=
<gmail.com...> wrote:
> Anyone nearby that has a carrier and a towel? The bird should be brought
> to peninsula humane society or international bird rescue.
>
> On Fri, Mar 20, 2026 at 11:42 AM Lang via groups.io <langtian.lang=
> <gmail.com...> wrote:
>
>> hey all, there's a grebe stranded at ocean beach. there's a beach rescue
>> there doing his best to block the off leash dogs right now but not sure how
>> long he'll stay.
>>
>> (37.7452640, -122.5090163)
>>
>>
>
>
Date: 3/20/26 12:53 pm From: Cleo via groups.io <congnancleo...> Subject: Re: [SFBirds] grebe stranded on ocean beach
Anyone nearby that has a carrier and a towel? The bird should be brought to
peninsula humane society or international bird rescue.
On Fri, Mar 20, 2026 at 11:42 AM Lang via groups.io <langtian.lang=
<gmail.com...> wrote:
> hey all, there's a grebe stranded at ocean beach. there's a beach rescue
> there doing his best to block the off leash dogs right now but not sure how
> long he'll stay.
>
> (37.7452640, -122.5090163)
>
>
>
Date: 3/20/26 11:42 am From: Lang via groups.io <langtian.lang...> Subject: [SFBirds] grebe stranded on ocean beach
hey all, there's a grebe stranded at ocean beach. there's a beach rescue there doing his best to block the off leash dogs right now but not sure how long he'll stay.
Date: 3/20/26 10:57 am From: Dominik Mosur via groups.io <dominikmosur...> Subject: [SFBirds] Breeding Atlas news and miscellaneous observations from recent days
The California Breeding Bird Atlas held its first virtual Town Hall meet up last night. For anyone who thought about joining the project but was hesitating or wanted more information, this video answers a lot of questions:
Some breeding bird activity from my personal notes:
Band-tailed Pigeons - a pair was observed copulating in a Redwood tree next to the Aldea Housing community building on Johnstone/Mount Sutro OSP. This species is quite secretive in building nests high up in dense trees so I'm calling on folks to put in an effort to locate one for this spring. Band-tails are also regularly seen displaying around the Forest Hill/Inner Sunset Neighborhoods nearby as well so searching some of the small parks could be productive.
White-throated Swifts - multiple birds were noted on March 9th in the vicinity of probable nest sites along the HWY 280 corridor and at the 101 interchange. This species is also notably hard to "nail down" with confirmation codes so anyone who doesn't mind birding near freeway overpasses is encouraged to make periodic visits and see what we can document. The highway overpasses in the presidio are another place to look for swift nests.
California Gulls - the breeding colony on the north facing half of the roof of Recology complex at Pier 96/Cape Henry Berth is ramping up. March 9th 500-600 birds were already present and some engaged in courtship and occasional copulation, outnumbering the Western gulls by about 10 to 1. This spot is quite far for me to bike to so I am encouraging birders on the east side of town to take a look and note any progress like the carrying of nesting material and nest building.
American Crow - five different nest sites in progress at North Lake in Golden Gate Park were noted on March 16th. If you see crows carrying nesting material or building, expand your search of the area and you may find more, as they appear to be loosely colonial to some extent. A week previously, two pairs were working on nests at Gamble Memorial Park in the Haight.
Violet-green Swallows - first arrivals in the airspace between Corona Hill and Buena Vista Park were noted on 2/25 and have been noted daily since. Courtship behavior is increasing now and this species breeds in the area and throughout the city but sites are difficult to locate. Most in my experience have been in roof cavities of buildings rather than in natural cavities; the so called "spanish tile" roofs are especially popular although I've seen ventilation vents with broken/missing screens also being used.
Red-winged Blackbirds (California Bicolored) - the colony at Pier 94 was in full swing with nest building noted March 9th. Red-winged Blackbirds have become quite scarce in SF with continuing loss of habitat, other locations to check: Candlestick Park (especially around the seasonal wetland at the main entrance), Golden Gate Park lakes (Blue Heron, Elk Glen, North Lake et al), Lake Merced.
I've also located two nests of Cooper's Hawks and a potential Barn Owl nest; I can share the location off list with a volunteer or two who are willing to monitor these. I have additional target species assignments for anyone who is interested.
Happy spring birding and get out there and find some nests!
If you have questions please don't hesitate,
Dominik Mosur San Francisco CA Breeding Bird Atlas crew
Date: 3/15/26 5:12 pm From: David Assmann via groups.io <david_assmann...> Subject: [SFBirds] Fort Mason Local Interest
A great mixture of overwintering and arriving birds resulted in sightings of 62 species at Fort Mason this morning for the GGBA field trip. A male SUMMER TANAGER turning into alternate plumage (picture attached) gave us nice views as it hunted wasps in the garden. The BULLOCKS x BALTIMORE ORIOLE was in full song first thing this morning (interestingly Merlin wasn't able to ID it at all, even at very close range - maybe this hybrid isn't in its database), and spent some time no more than 20 feet away from the group. A little while later a male HOODED ORIOLE was in the Avocado tree, and then in one of the Eucalyptus - presumably the same bird found yesterday. Two NASHVILLE WARBLERS were chasing each other on the north side of the garden. The overwintering NORTHERN FLICKER - YELLOW-SHAFTED x RED-SHAFTED spent close to 30 minutes preening in the Cabbage Palm in the garden. One of the RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKERS is still there, but we didn't see any HERMIT THRUSHES. We were able to find one of the adult GREAT HORNED OWLS, but not either of the two fledglings seen this week. BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS are back, and a PIGEON GUILLEMOT was swimming along the pier in Aquatic Park. At the end of the morning both TREE SWALLOWS and a VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW flew over.
