Estero Llano Grande State Park

Rose-throated Becard, Estero Llano Grande State Park, TX

Cory and I really enjoyed Estero Llano Grande State Park.  We made three separate trips to this location and got some of my favorite birds of the trip.  Cory got the rarest bird of the trip here, a female Rose-throated Becard.  Alas, I missed it because I was at Santa Ana looking for Hook-billed Kites at first light.  When Cory called I rushed over, but could not relocate the bird.

Common Pauraque, Estero Llano Grande State Park, TX

Alligator Lake was great for Common Pauraque, Anhinga, Neotropic Cormorant, Green Kingfisher, waterfowl, and Least Grebe.  There was also an Eastern Screech-Owl with its head out of a nest box, and a Long-billed Thrasher here.

Curve-billed Thrasher, Estero Llano Grande State Park, TX

Walking in the "Tropical Area" turned up a lot of great birds early in the morning including Buff-bellied and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Wilson's, Yellow-rumped, Pine, and Orange-crowned Warblers, Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet, Inca and White-tipped Dove, Clay-colored Thrush, Ladder-backed and Golden-fronted Woodpeckers, Green Jay, Altimira Oriole, Plain (boom) Chachalaca, and Curve-billed Thrasher.  This is where the becard hangs out when it is seen.

Neotropic Cormorant, Estero Llano Grande State Park, TX

Along the other trails in the park we saw lots of waterfowl and herons, Vermillion Flycatcher, and sparrows among other species.

Texas Trip: Santa Ana NWR

One of the places I was most excited to visit in south Texas was Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge.  This beautiful, more than 2,000 acre refuge harbors many of the rare and sought-after birds in south Texas.  We visited the refuge three times during our 6 days in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.  Despite the refuge's great reviews by other birders, we left the park each time a little disappointed.  Perhaps we had bad luck here compared with other places.  We did two long early morning hikes in the park, but found bird activity and diversity to be relatively low.  Still, we enjoyed the long hikes through forests of texas ebony, and got a lot of great birds.  Waterfowl and shorebirds abounded in the park, and we spent a lot of time scanning the impoundments and lakes hoping for a Northern Jacana or a Masked Duck, but with no luck.

Green Jay at the feeder, Santa Ana NWR, TX

White-tipped Dove, Santa Ana NWR, TX

The main birds we saw in the park were Green Jay, White-tipped Dove, Plain (BOOM!) Chachalaca, Harris's Hawk, Great Kiskadee, Olive Sparrow, and Long-billed Thrasher.  We also spent a lot of time pishing to see what we could turn up in the flocks of wintering songbirds.  Despite our efforts, we only had common species such as Orange-crowned Warbler (just about everywhere!), Yellow-rumped Warbler, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Pine Warbler, and Black-crested Titmouse.  On the lakes we saw Least and Pied-billed Grebes, most of the normal North American waterfowl, Wilson's Snipe, Long-billed Dowitchers, and other shorebirds.

Harris's Hawk, Santa Ana NWR, TX

I put in a little bit of time on the observation tower hoping to spot a Hook-billed Kite, but much to my chagrin, I could not locate one.  Harris's Hawk, Gray Hawk, Turkey and Black Vulture, Northern Harrier, Osprey, Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks were the only raptors I saw from up there.

Even though we were a little disappointed after our visits here, I would recommend this refuge to any birder or naturalist visiting south Texas.  The extensiveness of the trails, habitat diversity, and potential for rare birds is amazing in itself.  I am absolutely looking forward to going back in the future.

Texas Trip: Aransas NWR to Port Aransas

Brown Pelican, Port Aransas, TX

I'm back from my 9-day trip to Texas with my friend Cory DeStein.  We saw a lot of good birds and each got some good lifers (Cory got more than 40!).  Over the next week and a half I will do a few posts for each of the main locations we birded, and post some photos from them as well.

Aransas National Wildlife Refuge was beautiful, and our main target bird there was Whooping Crane.  We started the morning off birding near the visitor center where we picked through the winter flocks of songbirds, which contained mostly Yellow-rumped Warblers and Ruby-crowned Kinglets along with Orange-crowned Warblers and a few other common species.  We also had American Kestrel, Merlin, and flyover Sandhill Cranes, Snow and Ross's Geese, and a Pine Siskin.

We then drove the auto loop stopping every so often to look at the waterfowl, pelicans, and waders.  Highlights along the loop were hundreds of Redhead, Northern Pintail, and several other waterfowl species, and great looks at Whooping Crane from the observation tower.  We had six in all.  Two right by the tower (they are usually very distant), two close flybys, and two distant birds.  Other birds we had on the loop included Inca Dove, Orange-crowned Warblers, Red-tailed Hawks, and some very large wild pigs that scared the pants off of Cory (I saved him though).

Whooping Crane, Aransas NWR, Texas

Whooping Crane, Aransas NWR, Texas

From Aransas we drove south to Goose Island State Park where we saw hundreds of Brown and American White Pelicans, Common Goldeneye, Red-breasted Merganser, Redhead, Caspian and Royal Terns, and other waterfowl and shorebirds.

We then drove to Port Aransas to look for terns (I still needed Sandwich for the year).  At the jetty we head Black, Forster's, Caspian, Royal, and Sandwich Terns, and a Reddish Egret but not much else except for an unidentified sea turtle that popped up for a few seconds.  We continued south from there adding Crested Caracara and White-tailed Hawks on the power lines on the barrier islands north of Corpus Christi.

Reddish Egret, Port Aransas, TX

 By Luke Musher

Goodbye Farallones

As you may have gathered, I have departed from the Farallones.  Although it is weird being back in civilization, it's good to be home.  Overall I had a great first season on the Farallones, with 193 species on my Farallist.  I was hoping to break 200, but I missed a few good birds early in the season, that I just couldn't make up for during my 10-week tenure on the island.  My list includes 12 species of waterfowl, 8 tubenoses, 2 Sulids, 5 Hawks, 17 shorebirds, 9 gulls, 7 alcids, 5 owls, 9 flycatchers, 6 thrushes, 24 warblers, 19 Emberizid sparrows, 6 Cardinalids, 8 Icterids, and 7 finches!  I got 38 year birds on the Farallones (marked with stars), putting my total at 430 for 2012 (now 432 with 2 species I've gotten since leaving the Farallones, Barnacle Goose and White-winged Crossbill, both in Long Island, NY).  Here is my complete 2012 Farallist of species, including some photo highlights.

Greater White-fronted Goose (3 October)
Brant (2 November)
Cackling Goose (9 October)
BLUE-WINGED TEAL (17 September)
CINNAMON TEAL(17 September)
Northern Shoveler (29 September)
Northern Pintail (8 September)

Green-winged Teal (7 November)
Surf Scoter (30 October)
COMMON GOLDENEYE (30 October)
Red-breasted Merganser (7 November)
RUDDY DUCK (27 September)

Pacific Loon (15 September)
Common Loon (4 October)
Horned Grebe (7 November)
Eared Grebe (15 September)
Western Grebe (27 September)
*Northern Fulmar (21 October)
*Pink-footed Shearwater (11 September)
*Flesh-footed Shearwater (16 October)
*Buller's Shearwater (21 October)
*Sooty Shearwater (8 September)
*Short-tailed Shearwater (7 November)
*Black-vented Shearwater (16 October)
*Ashy Storm-Petrel (13 September)
*Brown Booby (13 October)
NORTHERN GANNET (8 September)

Brandt's Cormorant (8 September)
Double-crested Cormorant (8 September)
Pelagic Cormorant (8 September)
Brown Pelican (8 September)
Great Blue Heron (5 October)
Great Egret (12 September)
White-tailed Kite (13 October)
Northern Harrier (18 September)
Sharp-shinned Hawk (12 October)
COOPER'S HAWK (25 October)
*Rough-legged Hawk (25 October)

Black-bellied Plover (8 September)
Semipalmated Plover (8 September)
Killdeer (12 September)
Black Oystercatcher (8 September)
Spotted Sandpiper (15 September)
Wandering Tattler (8 September)
Willet (8 September)
Whimbrel (8 September)
Black Turnstone (8 September)
Sanderling (15 September)
SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER (8 October)
Pectoral Sandpiper (8 October)
Short-billed Dowitcher (9 October)
Long-billed Dowitcher (28 September)
Wilson's Snipe (18 October)
Red-necked Phalarope (8 September)
*Red Phalarope (10 September)
Black-legged Kittiwake (2 November)
Bonaparte's Gull (7 November)
Heermann's Gull (9 September)
Mew Gull (7 October)
Western Gull (8 September)
California Gull (8 September)
Herring Gull (27 September)
Thayer's Gull (30 October)
Glaucous-winged Gull (22 October)
*Elegant Tern (27 September)
*Pomarine Jaeger (15 September)
Parasitic Jaeger (11 September)
Common Murre (8 September)
*Pigeon Guillemot (8 September)
Ancient Murrelet (23 October)
*Cassin's Auklet (8 September)
Rhinoceros Auklet (8 September)
*HORNED PUFFIN(3 November)
*Tufted Puffin (11 September)
Eurasian Collared-Dove (8 September)
Mourning Dove (12 September)
Barn Owl (8 September)

Burrowing Owl (23 September)
*Long-eared Owl (8 November)
Short-eared Owl (12 October)
*Northern Saw-whet Owl (8 November)
*Vaux's Swift (28 September)
Anna's Hummingbird (8 September)
Rufous Hummingbird (8 September)
Belted Kingfisher (19 October)

Northern Flicker (7 October)
American Kestrel (12 September)
Merlin (8 September)
Peregrine Falcon (8 September)
*Olive-sided Flycatcher (12 September)
Western Wood-Pewee (8 September)
Willow Flycatcher (14 September)
*Least Flycatcher (8 September)
*HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER (18 September)
Pacific-slope Flycatcher (18 September)
Black Phoebe (15 September)
Say's Phoebe (23 September)
Ash-throated Flycatcher (12 October)

Hutton's Vireo (3 November)
Warbling Vireo (12 September)
Common Raven (18 September)
Horned Lark (18 October)
Northern Rough-winged Swallow (12 September)
Violet-green Swallow (11 Ocotober)
Cliff Swallow (10 September)
Red-breasted Nuthatch (9 September)
Brown Creeper (7 October)
*Rock Wren (8 September)
House Wren (3 October)
Pacific Wren (14 September)
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (17 September)
Golden-crowned Kinglet (9 October)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (25 September)
*ARCTIC WARBLER (28 September)

*TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE (11 October)
*GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH (4 October)

*Swainson's Thrush (18 September)
Hermit Thrush (18 September)
American Robin (4 November)
Varied Thrush (25 September)
Northern Mockingbird (8 September)
European Starling (2 October)
American Pipit (12 September)
Cedar Waxwing (12 September)
*Lapland Longspur (19 October)
Ovenbird (25 September)

Black-and-white Warbler (16 September)
*Tennessee Warbler (11 September)
Orange-crowned Warbler (8 September)
Nashville Warbler (25 September)
*MacGillivray's Warbler (17 September)
Common Yellowthroat (13 September)
American Redstart (12 September)
*Cape May Warbler (8 September)
Magnolia Warbler (12 September)
*Bay-breasted Warbler (12 September)
Blackburnian Warbler (12 September)
Yellow Warbler (8 September)
Chestnut-sided Warbler (12 September)
Blackpoll Warbler (10 September)
Black-throated Blue Warbler (29 September)
Palm Warbler (26 September)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (15 September)
YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER (14 September)

Prairie Warbler (21 September)
Black-throated Gray Warbler (16 September)
Townsend's Warbler (12 September)
Hermit Warbler (13 September)
Black-throated Green Warbler (4 October)
Wilson's Warbler (12 September)
Spotted Towhee (1 October)
Chipping Sparrow (8 September)
Clay-colored Sparrow (8 September)
Brewer's Sparrow (8 September)
*Vesper Sparrow (17 September)

Lark Sparrow (8 September)
*Lark Bunting (8 September)
Savannah Sparrow (8 September)
Grasshopper Sparrow (18 October)
Fox Sparrow (21 September)
Song Sparrow (11 November)
Lincoln's Sparrow (11 September)
Swamp Sparrow (12 October)
White-throated Sparrow (3 October)
*Harris's Sparrow (18 October)
White-crowned Sparrow (22 September)
Golden-crowned Sparrow (25 September)
Dark-eyed Junco (24 September)

*LITTLE BUNTING (14 November; Pending acceptance by CBRC)
Summer Tanager (14 November)
*Western Tanager (16 September)
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (12 September)
Black-headed Grosbeak (10 September)
Lazuli Bunting (9 September)
Indigo Bunting (17 September)
*PAINTED BUNTING (18 September)
DICKCISSEL (17 September)
Bobolink (8 September)
Red-winged Blackbird (7 October)
Western Meadowlark (23 September)
Yellow-headed Blackbird (9 September)
*RUSTY BLACKBIRD (14 November)

Brewer's Blackbird (7 October)
Brown-headed Cowbird (11 September)
Baltimore Oriole (11 September)
Purple Finch (11 October)
House Finch (18 October)
RED CROSSBILL (13 September)
Pine Siskin (28 September)
Lesser Goldfinch (8 September)
American Goldfinch (7 October)
*EVENING GROSBEAK (11 October)

I Pick up Year birds like it's my Job

Okay.  Maybe I didn't pick up that many year birds today, but I got a few, and was able to get some good photographs on the way.  First spot I went was Las Gallinas, and finally saw the long-staying Laughing Gull.  Nothing much else of note here.  Some Cackling Geese were present, which are always nice, including both Aleutian and Minima subspecies.  Next spot I hit was Sonoma to look for the Ruff, which I'd already struck out on once.  I walked the whole pond and was disappointed to hear that it had flown off with a yellowlegs about ten minutes before I arrived.  Ugh.  Pretty standard.  Finally I stopped in Petaluma and walked around the cemetery where there's been a Palm Warbler.  Spent a lot of time looking around for it seeing Nuttall's Woodpecker, Oak Titmouse, Townsend's Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and a single Chipping Sparrow was a nice surprise.  Linda Hunn showed up and we sat for a while at the "lollipop tree" waiting for the Palm Warbler.  Luckily, our patience paid off.  The Palm Warbler showed up.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

This Purple Finch was right outside our house at Palomarin the other day.

Savannah Sparrow, Las Gallinas Valley WTA

Laughing Gull, Las Gallinas Valley WTA

California Gull, Las Gallinas Valley WTA

Horrible photo of the Petaluma Chipping Sparrow

Palm Warbler, Petaluma, CA

Male Eurasian Wigeon with the American Wigeon, Bolinas, CA

Got a little too close to these American Wigeon, I guess.

Female Eurasian Wigeon with the Americans

By Luke Musher

Recent Birding in the North Bay Area

Black-necked Stilt, Las Gallinas Wastewater Treatment Area, Marin county, CA 1/16/2012

It's been hard to find time to get birding in recently.  With all the recent bad weather we've had to make up a lot of banding days.  Most of our birding this week has been restricted to an hour or so in the late afternoon. Thursday, though, Cory and I were able to get a day off and do some birding around the North Bay area in Marin and Sonoma Counties.  Some of our recent highlights include Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (more on this to come), Burrowing Owl (Cory and I have spent a lot of time visiting and revisiting a good spot right by PRBO with no success until Tuesday), Blue-winged Teal (another bird we've been trying for in Marin county with no success until recently), Cattle Egret, Lewis' Woodpecker, Ancient Murrelets (two flyby individuals seen from Bodega head), Lesser Yellowlegs (a hard bird to get this time of year in the North Bay area), Golden Eagle, Nashville Warbler, Yellow Warbler, and Common Poorwill (seen along Mesa Road in Bolinas on the drive back to PRBO one night).

Nashville Warbler, Bodega Bay, CA 2/16/12 [Photo by Lukas Musher]

Orange-crowned Warbler, Bodega Bay, CA 2/16/12 [Photo by Lukas Musher]

This bobcat (so blurry) watched us as we walked back to our car after watching the Burrowing Owl on 2/14/12

Immature Lewis' Woodpecker, Sebastopol, CA 2/16/12 [Photo by Lukas Musher]

Cory's and my Marin county Northern Mockingbird, Las Gallinas WTA, 2/16/12 [Photo by Lukas Musher]

Yellow-rumped Warbler, Las Gallinas WTA, Marin county, CA 2/16/12

Very distant shot of Cory's and my Marin county Common Gallinule, Las Gallinas WTA, Marin county, CA 2/16/12

Say's Phoebe, Las Gallinas WTA, Marin county, CA 2/16/12 [Photo by Lukas Musher]

Turkey Vulture, Las Gallinas WTA, Marin county, CA 2/16/12 [Photo by Lukas Musher]

Adult male Northern Harrier, Las Gallinas WTA, Marin county, CA 2/16/12

By Luke Musher

Marin County Year-birding

This stunning male Barrow's Goldeneye was very cooperative for the camera. A real treat.  Rodeo Lagoon, Marin Headlands, CA [Photo by Lukas Musher]

Well, the rain continued on yesterday in Point Reyes.  So Dan, Frenchie and the BoomCha boys made the day our weekly day off to spend some time birding, mostly in Marin County, CA to find some year (and even life for some of us) birds.  We made a loop around the southern part of the county heading first to the Marin Headlands, then briefly in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, and then to a few spots in San Rafael and Novato.  Although we got skunked on about half of our target birds, we ended up getting some pretty awesome birds including Barrow's Goldeneye, Golden Eagle, and Short-eared Owl.  See below for our complete species list from the day.

Pied-billed Grebe, Rodeo Lagoon, Marin Headlands, CA

Bufflehead, Rodeo Lagoon, Marin Headlands, CA

Ring-necked Duck and Common Goldeneye, Rodeo Lagoon, Marin Headlands, CA

Barrow's Goldeneye, Rodeo Lagoon, Marin Headlands, CA

Barrow's Goldeneye, Rodeo Lagoon, Marin Headlands, CA

Barrow's Goldeneye, Rodeo Lagoon, Marin Headlands, CA 

Common Goldeneye, Rodeo Lagoon, Marin Headlands, CA

Hooded Merganser, Rodeo Lagoon, Marin Headlands, CA

Spotted Sandpiper, Marin Civic Center Pond, San Rafael, CA

One of the dozens of Mew Gulls in the hundreds of gulls seen in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco on 01/23/2012 

Dan Lipp ran off to get some photos of a SY Cooper's Hawk.  Still waiting to see how they turned out!

Day List (85 species):
Common Loon
Horned Grebe
Eared Grebe
Western Grebe
Clark's Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Brant's Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Canada Goose
Cackling Goose
Wood Duck
Mallard
Gadwall
Northern Pintail
American Wigeon
Northern Shoveler
Cinnamon Teal
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Ring-necked Duck
Common Goldeneye
Barrow's Goldeneye
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Turkey Vulture
Northern Harrier
Cooper's Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Golden Eagle
Merlin
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
American Coot
Killdeer
Black-bellied Plover
American Avocet
Black-necked Stilt
Greater Yellowlegs
Spotted Sandpiper
Willet
Long-billed Curlew
Marbled Godwit
Wilson's Snipe
Mew Gull
Ring-billed Gull
California Gull
Herring Gull
Thayer's Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Western Gull
Mourning Dove
Rock Pigeon
Great-horned Owl
Short-eared Owl
Anna's Hummingbird
Black Phoebe
Say's Phoebe
Steller's Jay
Western Scrub Jay
Common Raven
American Crow
Tree Swallow
Marsh Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
European Starling
American Pipit
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed "Oregon" Junco
Western Meadowlark
Red-winged Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
House Finch
Purple Finch
House Sparrow

By Luke Musher