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