Birds, Sun and Relaxation

Birding Tip #7: Go birding just to listen and relax...with the occasional peak in the binoculars.

Most of my posts are about places I've been and birds I've seen.  I write about birding basics, where to find birds and how to identify them.  So, for this post I decided to do something a bit different.  I will keep it along the same traditions...a birding tip, where I was and birds I saw...but this is going to be more of a storytelling and reflection piece.

Today I abandoned my plans to go birding at Bolinas Lagoon.  Bolinas Lagoon is rumored to be one of the best birding places in this part of California, so naturally I was attracted.  However, the low lying fog today made me think twice.  Not to worry, I will make it out to Bolinas on a clear, warm day soon and I'm sure it'll be amazing!  In the meantime, the sun was out in San Francisco and the air was still, so I decided to take a short walk to Thompson's Reach in the Tennessee Hollow watershed, near my apartment.  Last time I walked this trail, I discovered a somewhat secluded bench, surrounded by shrubs and trees and relatively out of sight.  That is where I went today.

Thompson's Reach in the Tennessee Hollow watershed, photo from presidio.gov

This particular bench in this watershed has quickly become one of my favorite spots in the Presidio.  Even though this restored watershed is surrounded by roads, cars and buildings, sitting there on my new favorite bench in the sunshine, is one of the most relaxing places I have found.  Naturally, I brought my binoculars.  As I sat on the bench, the sun gently warming my skin to an ideal temperature, I just listened.  The sounds of cars, people and fog horns can be hard to ignore but somehow I was able to only listen to the birds.  Sometimes birding can become a bit stressful; fumbling with a camera, switching lenses, focusing binoculars, frantically thumbing through a field guide, all the while trying not to look down for too long because you don't want to miss anything.  All of that was what I was trying to avoid this afternoon.

Yellow-rumped warbler, photo by Lyn Topinka

All around me birds were chirping and flying from bush to bush.  Most of these birds were yellow-rumped warblers, which generally hang out in flocks.  Another characteristic feature of yellow-rumps, besides their size and, well, yellow-rump, is their feeding techniques.  They perch on a branch and fly out and try to gleam insects from the sky.  This dance in the air is generally rather hectic and clumsy, but it gets the job done.  Sitting on the bench I watched yellow-rumped warblers flying all around my head, sometimes scaring off a fellow warbler from a particularly appetizing area.  In the distance, a few warblers were performing acrobatics in a stand of willows.  Through my binoculars I watched a warbler swing around a willow branch like a gymnast on the high bars.  I'm sure the birds weren't worried about their techniques, only that they caught a crunchy snack.

There is something to be said about just sitting, listening and watching.  It provides you with a connection to nature and wildlife that I believe to be incredibly important for our health, mental and physical.  Despite my calm state of reverie, I did get excited and quickly reach for my binoculars when I saw a bird.  I still have that desire to identify birds and know what I saw.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw a spotted towhee.  I only saw him briefly but in that short moment I could have sworn he looked me right in the eye.  His striking red iris gave me goosebumps.

The peaceful chorus of bird chirps was suddenly interrupted, all the birds in the redwood trees scattered, screaming in panic.  At least twenty yellow-rumps and five northern flickers, which I hadn't even seen before, fled.  I knew a predator had just arrived.  It was a thrilling sight in my moment of peace and relaxation.  Only seconds after the tiny birds fled the cover of the redwood trees, a hawk appeared in the sky.  I raised my binoculars and focused in on the small hawk.  It had distinct stripes on the tail, a light colored belly and light colored wings, with black stripes on the feathers.  There was also some streaking on the chest.  I knew instantly it was a sharp-shinned hawk because of the square tail.  The other hawk that it can be easily confused with is the cooper's hawk, which is a similar size and has very similar markings, however, the cooper's hawk tail is rounded.  This hawk was a juvenile, because it lacked the rufous colored chest.  I watched as the hawk circled a few times over the Hollow and then left.

Juvenile sharp-shinned hawk, photo by Kelly Wohlwend

There was silence.  I heard the cars driving by, people talking on the sidewalk above, the low bellow of the fog horns, but no birds.  I knew they would return so I sat and waited.  Return they did and I filled my ears with the sounds of birds and let the sounds of the city wash away.  When the yellow-rumped warblers and northern flickers abandoned the trees in lieu of the sharp-shinned hawk's arrival, I saw my first yellow-shafted northern flicker.  At least for that I can thank the hawk! 

Before leaving my favorite place, I decided to walk over to the edge of the trail and look out over Thompson's Reach one last time.  I skimmed the area with my binoculars, just in case anything else wanted to surprise me.  What I saw was something rather comical.  A male anna's hummingbird, a common sight here in the Presidio, was performing a rather amusing courtship ritual.  It was either courtship or territorial, but either way it made me laugh.  He did perform, just once that I saw, a typical courtship maneuver; flying straight up into the sky and then diving down toward the ground.  But this isn't what I found humorous.  He would sit on the end of a willow sprig and sing his raspy song, his body flat against the branch, in a completely horizontal position.  After one vocalization he would fly to a second bush, this time a lupine.  He flattened his body out again and vocalized.  After the lupine he moved to his final shrub, another willow, sat the very top of a sprig, laid out flat and sang.  He did this over and over, moving from these same three bushes, in the same rotation.  Every once and a while the sun would illuminate his shimmering, scale like feathers on his head causing them to glow a brilliant fuschia. 

Leaving the hummingbird to his antics, I left the Hollow.  I cannot end my post without listing off the bird species I saw, or at least was able to identify.  I didn't spent every moment with my eyes behind my binoculars and I didn't carry along my field guide, so a few species did elude me.  Here is a list of what I could say with certainty I saw today: red and yellow-shafted northern flicker, yellow-rumped warbler, anna's hummingbird, spotted towhee, sharp-shinned hawk, white-crowned sparrow, song sparrow, European starling.  I saw another bird, only for a moment, the size of a sparrow with very distinct streaking like a fox sparrow but it was holding its tail upright like a wren and bobbing it.  This bird will have to remain a mystery...for now.

Shorebirding Hotspots in San Francisco...Chrissy Field and Heron's Head

Birding Tip #6: Take pictures of the birds you see!

This is extremely helpful, especially if you are unsure of the identification of a bird species.  This way you can load the pictures onto a computer, zoom in on the bird and examine it to make a proper identification.

Chrissy Field at sunset, photo by Kelly Wohlwend (author)

Chrissy Field is located in the Presidio National Park which is operated by the the Presidio Trust, National Park Service and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.  Presidio National Park, which includes Chrissy Field, is part of the larger Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA).  Chrissy Field is managed by the National Park Service.  Part of Chrissy Field is restored, tidal, saltwater lagoon and dune scrub habitat.  The lagoon is a fantastic place for birding, especially if you are new to birding.  Shorebirds can be rather tricky to identify, so having a wide open area with ample viewing space is ideal.  Chrissy Field has large cement benches that allow you to sit and enjoy the birding while meddling with your camera, binoculars and field guide, if you have them.  The view isn't bad either!

Below are bird counts from two outings of mine, one to Chrissy Field and the second to Heron's Head.  Heron's Head is a park located on Pier 98 on San Francisco Bay with restored saltwater marsh habitat and plenty of calm, open water ideal for shore and seabird viewing.  Both of these counts were done in one day and include all the species I was able to identify during my birding, which lasted about 1 hour at each location.

Birds that have an asterisk (*) by their name indicate a first time sighting! 

Chrissy Field Bird Count:

Long-billed curlew, photo by Kelly Wohlwend

Black-necked stilt, photo by Kelly Wohlwend

• Brown pelican
• Great blue heron
• Great egret
• Snow egret
• American coot
• Bufflehead
• Least sandpiper
• Mew gull
• Ring-billed gull
• Herring gull
• Long-billed curlew*
• Black-necked stilt*

Two other bird species I saw at Chrissy Field that evening were white-crowned sparrows and black phoebes, two birds commonly seen throughout the Presidio.  I have also seen a white-tailed kite at Chrissy Field, hovering in the air over the restored scrub habitat, looking for food.  I only saw him from the bus, unfortunately.  Then one day as I was walking through the Palace of Fine Arts I saw a bird perched on a snag above the artificial pond in front of the palace.  Sure enough, it was the white-tailed kite.  For some reason I didn't have my binoculars or my camera on me.  Regardless, even without that technology I was able to clearly see his blood shot eyes as he scanned his surroundings.

Heron's Head Bird Count:

Ironically I didn't see any herons!

Snowy egret at Chrissy Field, photo by Kelly Wohlwend

• Great egret
• Snowy egret
• Bufflehead
• Mallard
• Brown pelican
• Western grebe
• Horned grebe
• Western sandpiper
• American coot
• Long-billed curlew
• Western gull
• Whillet*
• Greater yellowlegs*
• American avocet*
• Black oystercatcher*
• Black bellied plover (juvenile)*

Other bird species I saw at Heron's Head was an American kestrel (juvenile), European starlings, western meadowlarks, white-crowned sparrows, song sparrows and a yellow-rumped warbler.

Heron's Head Park, photo from www.sfport.com

When I first got to Heron's Head, I was really surprised at how beautiful the saltwater marsh and scrub habitat was.  The walk to the end of Heron's Head is an easy, gravel path and well worth it.  Make sure to walk slowly and look on both sides of the path for birds!  The first bird I saw was the American kestrel perched on a large shrub, illuminated beautifully in the rays of the setting sun.  The black oystercatchers, western sandpipers and black bellied plover were hanging around on the seaweed covered rocks along the northeast side of the walkway.  On the south side I saw a majority of the birds, including the whillets, american avocets, long billed curlew and all the grebes and other waterfowl.  The egrets and greater yellowlegs seemed to favor the mudflats at the beginning of the path on the north side.  I was really shocked at the number of birds, there were 50+ buffleheads, at least 20-30 western grebes and countless gulls out in the open water.  Heron's Head would be a fantastic place to set up a scope because there is a lot of space for birds to hang out, including the area to the south of the Heron's Head saltwater marshes. 


So don't be intimidated by shorebirding!  It can be a very rewarding experience, even if you aren't able to identify all the species.  Even the most experienced birders can be thrown for a loop when it comes to identifying shorebirds, so just have fun and take a lot of pictures!

Flying A Kite At Halfmoon Bay

Birding Tip #5:  Start a Birding Life List!  A birding life list is a casual list that you can start that helps you keep track of all the species you spot.  It is a fun way to challenge yourself to find new species!

So far in San Francisco I am adding numerous new species to my life list!  Two I will discuss in this post!

I arrived in San Francisco to the typical San Francisco weather...a cold, foggy mist veiling the afternoon sun.  After a light rain shower, which was only heavy enough to leave a glisten over the landscape, the sun came out and stayed.  I was excited to be welcomed to my new home by blue skies, calm breezes and warm sunshine.  It was perfect weather for a trip to Halfmoon Bay, a long expansion of open beach south of San Francisco. 

Halfmoon Bay, California.  Photo by Kelly Wohlwend (author)

I came to Halfmoon Bay for the gorgeous views, sound of the waves and to return to a place I had visited once before and loved.  I should have expected to be doing some birding, as well!  Fortunately I came somewhat prepared with my camera in hand.  Only moments after arriving I added a new species of bird to my Birding Life List!

The field adjacent to the parking lot (which is up on the cliffs above the beach) is open and full of various shrubs and small plants, ideal hunting habitat for aerial predators.  Hovering like a hummingbird above this field was a rather large, white bird with a short beak, stream-lined body and  piercing red eyes.  I knew immediately from the body shape that it was some sort of kite.  Even though I had never seen a kite before I recognized the bird from the countless occasions I flipped through my field guide.

White-tailed kite at Halfmoon Bay, photo by Kelly Wohlwend (author)

I was instantly mesmerized by the bird and elated to see a new species.  As I watched the white-tailed kite hover in the air searching for rodents, I knew I was in for a lot of birding excitement in California.  After a few moments of hovering, the kite started its decent.  I had to laugh at the way the bird kept its spotted, white wings extended in the air above its body as it floated to the ground.  A graceful decent yes, surprising to its prey, I couldn't imagine how.  Having seen other predatory birds such as osprey, merlin falcons, various hawk species and bald eagles perform fast, acrobatic aerial maneuvers to catch their prey, I was shocked at the white-tailed kite's technique.  It dove to the ground with patience and care and snatched up an unsuspecting rodent.  It was an unexpected style, to say the least.

Black phoebe, photo by Lois Manowitz

Moving on from the white-tailed kites hunting ground I traveled along a trail which traversed the edge of the cliff.  No sooner had I walked but a few hundred feet and I spotted my next new species!  A black phoebe was perched on a rusted pole jutting up from what looked like a steep boat ramp.  Perching on the pole it continuously bobbed its tail.  Not having my bird book on me I took a stab at the family and I was right!  I knew the bird was a type of flycatcher based on the size of the bird and slightly raised tuft of feathers on the head.  See the tuft on the back of the head in the photo to the right?  The prominent white chest and contrasting black head and upper body are also good field marks when trying to identify this species.  Remember our discussion on field marks in the previous post, "Identifying Birds in the Field: The Basics"? 

Northern harrier, photo by Dan Pancamo

 After adding a second new species to my life list I continued along the trail.  In the distance I spotted some sort of hawk flying along a line of tall trees.  I wasn't able to get a good look at the bird until it landed in a tree a good distance away.  All I could determine was that it was a hawk with a light colored chest with some barring on the chest.  Not until the action started was I able to identify the species.  I had noticed earlier that a few ravens were flying along the cliff edge.  One raven in particular got too close to the hawk I was watching and the battle commenced.  It was amazing to say the least!  The raven continued to fly by the hawk which left its perch and began an aerial assault on the raven that equaled him in size.  The raven croaked madly as the hawk dive bombed him over and over again in a flurry of attacks.  Despite the hawk's attacks the raven returned for multiple bouts until giving up and flying on.

Once the attacking had commenced I noticed the field mark used to best identify this species.  In both photos (to the right and below) a white patch of feathers is visible at the base of the hawk's tail (bird in the top of the larger photo below).  Northern Harriers are the only hawk species in the western United States with this field mark, making it especially easy to identify them if you see this white patch.  From the front they greatly resemble a pale subspecies of the red-tailed hawk, a juvenile red-shouldered hawk (another new species I added to my life list in California) and cooper's hawk.  The face of the Northern Harrier is quite different than these species, however.

Northern harrier (top of photo) attacking a common raven (bottom of photo) at Halfmoon Bay, photo by Kelly Wohlwend

After witnessing nature in action, I headed back to the car.  I figured my birding experience couldn't get much better than the hawk and raven battle but I saw something just as stunning.  Sitting in the car we spotted another bird.  It was a tiny falcon sitting on a "No Parking" sign.  From the distance I was at I thought it was a merlin falcon.  I rushed to grab my camera out of the trunk and slowly approached the tiny bird by sneaking up on it from behind the bathrooms.  As I approached I took a lot of photos, expecting the bird to fly away at any moment...but it didn't.  The second I took the first photo and looked at it I knew it wasn't a merlin, but a bird of a similar size and shape...an American kestrel.

American kestrel, photo by Kelly Wohlwend (author)

American kestrel are our smallest falcons and greatly resemble a merlin.  The biggest notable differences in appearance is the face and color.  The kestrel has two distinct, black vertical bars on the face, similar to a peregrine falcon and the coloring is vastly different than a merlin.  This kestrel is most likely a female because of the lack of rich blue on the face and wings.  I stopped my approach when I felt I was getting close enough to disturb the bird.  She seemed rather unaffected by my presence and merely moved to a different post further away.  I returned to my car, keeping my camera out just in case.  As I drove out of the parking lot I slowed down and admired the kestrel on its new perch, ecstatic that my first few days birding in California were so fulfilling!

As I left Halfmoon Bay, with its beautiful sandy beaches and blue ocean stretching to the horizon, I couldn't wait to continue my birding adventure in California and add to my growing Birding Life List!

"Be Your Best Birder" is moving to San Francisco!

I have only ever been to San Francisco once and I remember it being amazing!  Fortunately some of the bird species I already know overlap, somewhat, with this part of California.  I'm going to be exposed to a lot of new species and it will definitely be a new birding challenge!

Stay tuned for many exciting birding posts from California!

Birding in the Methow Valley and Sun Mountain, Washington

Methow River, just south of Winthrop, WA.  Photo by Kelly Wohlwend

Birding Tip #4:  Always carry your binoculars and field guide...you never know when you will need them!

Even if you may think you won't need them, I would suggest bringing them.  For example, I went camping for two days in Eastern Washington on the Methow River.  Wanting to pack lightly I decided to leave my binoculars and field guide at home.  Little did I know the Methow River and surrounding areas are excellent birding habitat.

In this post I will share some of my birding stories from this trip (including an encounter with a great horned owl!) and list the species I was able to identify at three separate locations: near my campsite along the Methow River, Beaver Pond by Sun Mountain Lodge and Patterson Lake.

Bird Counts

(Note: these are not all the birds I saw.  This is a list of the birds I was able to identify without my binoculars or field guide.  I did, however, have a good camera with me with a zoom lens, so I was able to take photos of most of the birds and identify them at home.  Remember your binoculars!).

Key: A Visual ID means I saw the bird and visually identified it.  Audio ID means I heard the bird and identified the bird based on its vocalization.  An asterisk (*) means that I have never seen this bird in nature and it is a first time sighting!

Methow River, ~2 miles south of Winthrop

Lewis's woodpecker, photo by Kelly Wohlwend (author)

• Belted kingfisher (Audio and Visual ID)
• Steller's jay (Audio and Visual ID)
• American robin (Audio and Visual ID)
• Tree swallow (Visual ID)
• Brewer's blackbird (Visual ID)
• Osprey (Audio ID)
• Common merganser (Visual ID)
• Cedar waxwing (Visual ID)
• Lewis's woodpecker* (Visual ID)  
• Cassin's finch (Visual ID)
• Evening grosbeak (Visual ID)
• Northern flicker (Visual and Audio ID)
• American crow (Visual ID)
• Unknown warbler (Visual ID) (Based on the size of the bird and its colors (mostly yellow/green) it was either an orange-crowned warbler - Taiga version, female yellow warbler, or Wilson's warbler.)
• Black-capped chickadee (Audio ID)  (Note: there may also have been chestnut backed chickadees.  I didn't have any Visual ID's and both species sound very similar).

Lewis's woodpecker, photo by Mike Wisnicki

Lewis's woodpecker:

It is somewhat difficult to tell in the upper photo that I saw a Lewis's woodpecker.  However, after observing the bird's feeding and perching behavior I knew it was a woodpecker.  I watched these birds perch on a snag over the river and periodically fly out over the water, perform a few acrobatics and then fly back to the tree, sometimes perching vertically on the side of the trunk...just like a woodpecker.  This feeding behavior is typical of Lewis's woodpeckers that generally do not search for insects by boring holes in trees but by snatching them out of the air (The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 2011).  Another feature that gave it away is the well-defined notch in the tail.  In my photo I was also able to narrow down the species by its red face, gray collar and long beak.

The Methow River was a birding hotspot!  I couldn't believe the number of birds I saw just along the river bank.  The area of the river I camped at only had a ~10 foot buffer with trees and shrubs between the campground and the river.  This buffer was equally small on the opposite side of the river, which was lined with farms.  It also seemed as if the birds were using the river as a corridor.  I watched common mergansers and other ducks travel up and downstream, staying within the river's buffer.  Other birds, such as the belted kingfisher, also traveled up and down the river, diving for fish.  There was a massive amount of insects, which most likely accounted for the high number of insectivorous birds in the area.  

Our next stop...Beaver Pond Trail near Sun Mountain Lodge

Great horned owl, photo by Kelly Wohlwend (author)

• Great horned owl* (Visual ID)
• Merlin falcon (Visual and Audio ID)
• Spotted towhee (Visual ID)
• Black-capped chickadee (Visual and Audio ID)
• Red-breasted nuthatch (Audio ID)
• Juvenile wood duck* (Visual ID)
• Osprey nest (no birds present, photo below)

Osprey nest, photo by Kelly Wohlwend

The Beaver Pond Trail is an easy, mostly flat trail that is ~1.5 miles round trip.  When I first started on the trail I wasn't expecting much wildlife because of it's location near the road and relatively short distance.  Oh was I wrong!  The trail began in a beautiful setting near the pond, lined in cattails and various wetland plants.  The pine forest was also stunning, with bright, red bark and a forest floor littered in pine needles and cones.  White bark of quaking aspen speckled the forest edge and their leaves sang in the breeze.  Shortly after beginning the trail, a cacophony of Douglas fir squirrels broke the silence.  At first I thought the alarms were due to our presence on the trail, however, they were most likely for the great horned owl that silently lept from its perch and soared silently through the trees.  I was elated.  I knew it was an owl because of its size and the fact it didn't even rustle a leaf on its departure.  I'm surprised I even saw it.  We followed the owl down the path, getting glimpses of it as it flew in silence from one perch to the next.  Finally, it stopped long enough for us to admire it.  A few times it even turned its head, stared at me and made eye contact.  It was a very eerie feeling and it definitely gave me goose bumps. Once I was able to get a good visual of the owl I knew it was a great horned owl because of the feathered ear tufts.  The size of the bird also eliminates other owl species with ear tufts, however, it can be confused with the similarly sized barred owl.  Barred owls do not have ear tufts and they have completely different facial markings.

Great horned owl, photo by Kelly Wohlwend (author)

Merlin falcon, Taiga subspecies, photo by Kelly Wohlwend

Another absolutely, amazing bird we saw along this trail, not too far from the owl, was a Merlin falcon.  Having spent over a year studying Merlin falcons in Bellingham, Washington, the second I saw it I knew it was a Merlin.  It was perched on a snag overhanging the water, occasionally scanning its surroundings.  I was even more thrilled when I heard the characteristic, high-pitched "ki-ki-ki-ki" vocalization of the Merlin.  I was certain that the one I was looking at wasn't vocalizing, which meant that at least two Merlins were in the area.  There are various subspecies of Merlin falcon, including Pacific, Taiga and Prairie.  This is a Taiga subspecies because of the bright, brownish-red chest and lightly colored head (not as light as the Prairie subspecies, however).  

Photo by Christopher L. Wood

Photo by Cameron Rognan

The Merlin falcon (left) is often confused with other species, including peregrine falcon (right).  The Merlin falcon is smaller (by nearly half) and has vertical barring on the chest (adult peregrine falcons have more horizontal barring).  Also, the wing tips on Merlins do not reach the tip of the tail, unlike peregrine's.  Another feature used to distinguish the two is the head.  The Merlin has a white eye stripe (not as evident in the Pacific subspecies) and black lines on the cheeks, resembling a mustache.  The peregrine has a prominent, solid mustache that is not lined and white cheeks.

Last stop...birding on Patterson Lake

Male belted kingfisher, photo by Ed Schneider

Common raven, photo by Chuq Von Rospach

• Great blue heron
• Belted king fisher
• Common raven
• Canada geese

My time on Patterson Lake was spent in a kayak so it was difficult to really do accurate birding.  Above are the species I was able to identify with only my naked eyes and by any vocalizations.  The lake is ~1.5 miles long and is a great place for kayaking.  There are also a few trails that provide hiking along the lake and also great vantage points. What I did enjoy about kayaking Patterson Lake was how quiet the area was.  Having the lake almost entirely to ourselves, made us feel as if we were further from civilization than we actually were.  It also made the loud, croaking call of the common raven reverberate off the hills, leaving us with a chilling feeling as we floated over the still water.

My exciting birding journey in the Methow Valley was made even more memorable as I was serenaded to sleep by the "hoot hoot" of the great horned owl's song on my last night in Eastern Washington.

Thank you for following me on my journey around the Methow River Valley.  I hope my adventures encourage you to explore these amazing habitats.  Remember, don't forget your binoculars or field guide!

References:

Sibley, Allen D.  2003.  The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America.  New York: Alfred A. Knopf.  471 pp.  

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 2011, http://www.allaboutbirds.org