Golden Gate Park, Nov. 12
The above pic is from Calvin Lou, best he coudl get of the lone Lappie upand down the furrows.
We put together an ad hoc birdwalk this morning in Golden Gate Park. One note to my small email list on Friday brought out twenty birders this mild morning after the storm. The sun was bright, the small land birds busily feeding. Mostly we found what we expected. Townsend and Yellow-rumped Warblers. Many Ruby-crowned Kkinglets. Wintering sparrows, Coots, Mallards, Greg Egret, Blue Heron, Double-crested Cormorant. Scores of Ravens. A pushy Steller’s Jay who seemed to expect peanuts. Black Phoebe, of course. Bushtit flock, Chestnut-backed Chicakdees. Red-tailed Hawks, one calling Red-shouldered that we never saw.
Then walking past the Buffalo Paddock toward Spreckels Lake we stopped for a look. The field has been newly plowed and the bison were in a separate pen to the north. Killdeer by the dozens. All were lazing in the morning sun, many with their two-stripe chests in the full light. Some were behind furrows, with only their brown skull caps and large staring black eyes visible. I was thinking, “Maybe a pipit, or even a Horned Lark. That’d be great.”
One of the great pleasures of leading bird trips in San Francisco: you get birders who are as good or better than you are. Sharp-eyed. Quick to note field marks. And they don’t spend their whole time palavering or answering questions so they often notice more birds than the leader. This time it was Laurie Graham. She and her husband have been on many of my field trips and bird widely in the Bay Area, seeking those new birds for their life lists. Chasing any interesting rarity. She spotted the small brown sparrow.
“Lapland Longspur,” she called. And sure enough. She and her husband had recently seen them in another spot outside San Francisco.
At first the bird was about thirty yards away. We all got decent views through binoculars. The trip leader, myself, had stupidly not carried a scope. “Just ponds and trees,” I thought. No scope is always a mistake.
We reported the Lapland to the birdbox, then went on to Spreckels Lake. Twenty minutes later we came back and Calvin Lou was already there with his scope AND mega-camera. By this time the bird was only about twenty yards away and the light was perfect. All the field marks were clearly visible. Pictures should be forthcoming.
Other sightings (and soundings): Singing Marsh Wren, 2 Ring-necked Ducks, Belted Kingfisher, Common Yellowthroat at North Lake.
Male Hooded Merganser and same Kingfisher at South Lake.
Ravens harassing RT Hawks over Middle Lake. Say’s Phoebe hunting in the buffalo paddock.
At Spreckels Lake over a dozen of the gulls had some oil on their plumage. One juvenile Western Gull had a large smear on its chest, one adult had one whole check and eye covered. Mostly had minor smudges only.
