Scouting around on the eve of the SF CBC, we took advantage of the beautiful winter
light and snapped some images of the birds that might be counted the next day.
First stop, the Sutro Bath’s where the day before we
had counted 3 Red Phalarope amongst the many Ring-
neck, Grebe and Goldeneye in the main pool. Only one
on this visit and it was totally immersed in collecting as
many insects in the small pool, seemingly oblivious to
the Golden Retriever that was fetching a tennis ball it’s
owner had chucked only a few yards away.
Perhaps the very same single bird on the tally sheet for
that area on count day.
Male Ring-necks come in two models,
green and purple iridescent. OK, I admit it,
its the same bird.
American Coot with amorous intentions
"I'm gonna get you, I'm gonna get you, look out girl, cause I'm gonna get you" M. Jackson
A quick stop at
Mountain Lake to
view the many
California,
Western, and
Mew gulls
enjoying a fine
winters day.
Sparrows were especially
active on this sunny day,
occasionally pausing for a
quick dry.
From an SF Birds report (Thanks
Vikki!) we knew to stop by Lloyd’s
Lake to look for our psychedelic
feathered friends, a group of one
male and two female Wood Ducks
who were very busy feeding,
preening and even (1X) copulating
Quick! We may need a duck box
over there!
The Wood Ducks mostly kept
to themselves on the far side of
the water under an
overhanging (willow?) tree.
After extensive courting and
mating behavior, the involved
female climbed into the
overhanging tree and the male
preened and bathed and
preened and bathed. It’s a lot
of work keeping that good
looking!
Two Mallard buddies
couldn't decide whether
they were best friends or
in each other's way. Here
they are alternating
between flapping wildly in
circles on the water and
swimming side by side.
A large contingency of
American Wigeon.
Many flew in to be
together for the holidays
An excavating Botta’s Pocket Gopher
being watched by a lone Great Egret at
Lloyd's Lake
Count Day - December 29, 2005
Count day was more about counting than photography but hauled along the 400 mm lens in hopes
of needing documentation. We counted with Area 3/Team Z (Matt & JoAnne that is) starting off on
bicycle at about 5:00 AM clear skies, no wind. It was perfect owling weather and we managed to
hoot up three Great Horned Owls, one flying low over us at Stow Lake.
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Still early, on the west side of the
arboretum nursery, a rather stoic
Red-shoulder Hawk posed.
A short while later, in the California zone, we were happy
to see this small covey of California Quail. They walked
right up to us which caused concern that they may be
being fed bread from folks. Looking a little on the thin
side. A few minutes later, still in the Strybing Arboretum,
we had our first uncommon bird sighting of the day, a
Nashville Warbler. Too busy memorizing details to get an
image of the bird.
Mostly the usual suspects on
Stow Lake, lots of gulls. A
few of which were head
scratchers for me anyway
including this (Herring Gull?)
with an almost white bill
Thanks to Team Z’s scouting effort we knew to look hard
in the area above the Dahlia Garden (Fuchsia dell?) for a
Summer Tanager pair. Missed the female that they had
seen day before but located the male in pretty short
order. Not a hard bird to spot if its around. We observed it
for about 15 minutes very actively flitting and foraging in a
large blooming Eucalyptus. Light was getting low by that
point and it would not hold still for a good photo but
managed to get a few low rez images. We had this same
species (same bird?) last year at a nearby location.
Hope you enjoyed these Christmas Birds!
Big Thanks to all those who participated!
All the best to you and our fine-feathered friends in 2006!
Eddie Bartley & Noreen Weeden
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San Francisco CBC 2005 - Birds that (you may have)counted
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"Hey, you're not the only pretty boy
here" Mr. Bufflehead
