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!