Scouting For The 5MC

The Five Mile Challenge (5MC) is coming up fast! It is scheduled for this Saturday, and if the weather allows it, I will be squaring off with two other vicious (have you met Miss Brown???), unapologetic nerds in Portland and Austin. As This Machine Nate is prone to saying, anything can happen. While I do have a major advantage of having San Francisco Bay in my circle, there are shortcomings as well...there is no real, killer hotspot in my circle, and there is a definite lack of fresh water. San Pablo Reservoir is in my circle, but since I don't have an EBMUD permit I do not think I will be able to bird it. I'm also worried I won't be very strong with passerines...well you can bet I will be strong as fuck identifying them, but there just isn't much diversity in my circle, and I think I may have to struggle with getting a lot of the birds that Flycatcher Jen could easily get (i.e. Red-breasted Sapsucker, Varied Thrush). And bla bla bla bla shit, I hope it doesn't rain the whole weekend.

As I mentioned before, my traditional patch is actually over five miles away, so once it was decided that the 5MC was on I had to do some scouting and scouring of some previously overlooked sites. If I was going to win, I would have to bird some places I don't often bird. Scouting has indeed panned out, and now I know a spot that could be critical for me is the area around the Richmond Marina.

I have spent minimal time birding here in the past and didn't have high hopes, but I was happy to see a male Black Scoter, which are very rare in San Francisco Bay. This is a bird I haven't seen in a long time...a long time. And I'm not talking about the species, I'm talking about this particular individual...I last saw it in 2013! This bird has been wintering here for a great many years, so it was nice to be the official refinder of the bird for the winter of 2016-2017. Most birders who have seen a Black Scoter in Contra Costa County have seen this one individual. And this individual, for whatever reason, let me crush the shit out of it.

Black Scoters are very uncommon in most of California, and practically never appear in places where you can get very close to them. Honestly, I had better looks at the Del Norte Common Scoter than I have had of Black Scoter anywhere. This bird was remarkably confiding, hanging out and flirting with Greater Scaup hens just a stone's throw from the shoreline. Even more incredibly, the bird was calling regularly, something I've never heard before...a mournful, descending whistle, kind of a like a more poignant Dusky-capped Flycatcher. I recently went back to the marina and actually found the bird by call...birding is weird.

So while not a major rarity, I was chuffed to get such good looks (yes, they were soul-satisfying) at this bird so close to home.

Of course, you can't see Black Scoter in California without having to sort through Surf Scoters, which almost anyone can muster some enthusiasm over.

Say's Phoebe was a bit of a surprise foraging in a small grassy area on the bayside, and aren't particularly common in my Five Mile Radius (5MR). Hopefully it will still be around for the 5MC.

An adult Horned Grebe uses its terminator eyes to great effect, slaughtering very small fish with cold efficiency.

An immature Horned Grebe uses its dusky eyes to a not-so-great effect, but will hopefully catch enough to eventually be slaughtering very small fish cold efficiency.

East coast birders are likely not so impressed with our faithful, scaup-loving Black Scoter. To compensate, here is a shiny Pelagic Cormorant to get your dirty gripoff juices flowing. Unlike our other saltwater-loving cormorant (that's Brandt's Cormorant for you n00bs), they are fairly common in San Francisco Bay and aren't relegated to the area near the Golden Gate.

On another trip to the Richmond Marina and surrounding bayside, it was low tide and the whole area was just being torn asunder by Black Oystercatchers. American Crows were also mucking about in the intertidal, procuring mussels, which the oystercatchers undoubtedly frowned upon...omnivore poseurs. Occasionally I'll see an individual like this one with pale fringes on its flanks.

To all the aspiring gull lords out there, sorry I haven't been posting many gulls lately, I don't know what to tell you. Do you know how many gulls I saw in Puerto Rico? Two. Do you know how many years it has been since I've seen a Glaucous Gull? Five. FIVE! Did you really need to know that? Possibly. Anyways, here's a Thayer's Gull and a California Gull. Thayer's will be a very good pickup during 5MC, hopefully it will not be a bird that gets left behind.

Out in the great, untamed wilderness that lies beyond the 5MR, other birds can be found. Our resident, introduced moffitti/maxima Canada Goose flocks often lure in other species, usually diminutive Cackling Geese. Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline, Oakland, CA.

Separating the two species here is usually a no-brainer, though other parts of the country do not have it as easy as we do (there are smaller Canada Geese and larger Cackling Geese subspecies further east). I would be stoked to get any goose species besides Canada during the 5MC, but we will just have to wait and see.

Nate, Jen....5MC is going to break you. After this, there will be nothing left of you beyond cracked shells, empty husks of what once were people. Everyone you love will shun you, beginning with your local birds this Saturday. And if I lose because it is pouring rain this weekend (which is the current forecast), I hope you except my butthurt gracefully.

Herring Run! Slaty-backed, Thayer's, Hybrids and More

Immediately after returning from Mexico, I quickly found out that I did not have the typical birding hangover I usually endure after such prolonged, lifer-filled birding. A herring run was raging at Point Richmond, where it does every winter, so following a report of THE Slaty-backed Gull, Don Francisco headed out into the rain to wage mental war with thousands of feeding gulls...ersatz birding this was not. One of the first birds of note that we picked out was this first cycle Glaucous X Glaucous-winged Gull, an uncommon hybrid combo in the bay area.

This bird was quite typical looking; first cycle GLGU X GWGU hybrids in my experience show surprisingly little variation. They are big and bulky birds, generally shaped like GWGU, but with obvious pink on the bill (blending into the black tip) and plumage that recalls a dingy GLGU.

Thayer's Gulls have not appeared in many BB&B posts so far this year. This changes everything. This is a pale-eyed individual, not unusual to find around these parts. Note the very large white apical spots, one of the things that helps differentiates this from a wee Herring Gull.

For your edification, here is a first cycle Thayer's with a lot of white on the back.

This is a darker first cycle Thayer's, still quite "fresh" looking; many Thayer's look considerably paler and worn by this time (late January).

And here is a second-cycle Thayer's showing a classic wing pattern.

Don Francisco had never experienced such an intense gull scene. He was in awe.

As everyone knows, Don Francisco has excellent luck, so I figured it was just a matter of time before the Slaty-backed Gull made an appearance. Sure enough, we were lucky to see the bird for a few minutes after waiting around for a couple hours. This bird has been coming to bay area herring runs for many years, and I was happy to get reacquainted.

The white wing covert and "clean" head makes this bird easy to identify as the same returning individual. Whenever I'm birding a herring run, I'm always looking for this particular bird (among others, obvi).

With such a bounty of food available, much more than just gulls show up to partake in the feast. Pelagic Cormorants always attend in small numbers.

Big flocks of diving ducks feast as well.

Herring runs provide some of the best gulling in the western U.S., and is a major perk to winter birding in the bay area. Hopefully a Black-tailed Gull will show up one of these days!

Pic Of The Week: Pelagic Cormorant

Pelagic Cormorants shine blue, purple and green, generally much more colorful (yes, colourful too) than the similar Brandt's Cormorant. Obscure fact of the day: the poorly-known (and certainly extinct) Kenyon Shag, whose remains have only been collected in Alaska's Aleutian Islands, may actually be the one and only Pelagic Cormorant. Photographed in Morro Bay, CA.

Wait. I Thought We Weren't Supposed To Go On Pelagic Trips.

Rhinoceros Auklet. Not a Whiskered Auklet, despite the whiskers. But that's ok, because I have seen hundreds of Whiskered Auklets. No big deal.

Last month I had the opportunity to go on another pelagic with Debi Shearwater, out of Half Moon Bay, California. A big storm was coming in out of the north so we did not get as far offshore as planned, but we still managed to find a lot of the pelagic birds that one could reasonably hope for this time of year.

I'll post some more shots later. Today I'm going out to Point Reyes again to stare at a Dickcissel, amongst other things. Picture me birding.

Bonaparte's Gulls are stylish.

Red Phalaropes were seen on and off throughout the trip. They are too well-camouflaged for the brain of my autofocus, and this is one of the very few usable shots I ended up with.

A Sooty Shearwater impersonates a Black-footed Albatross, in order to mock all the birders on the boat hoping to see a Black-footed Albatross that day (we saw none).

Not tack-sharp, but otherwise I'm pretty happy with this Short-tailed Shearwater shot. They're not easy birds to accurately identify, let alone photograph.

Another Sooty Shearwater for comparison.

We saw a few Marbled Murrelets, including this rather "confiding" bird.

Northern Fulmars were often just a few feet off the stern of the boat. All the better to study their grunginess. For any nonbirders reading this, that strange apparatus on its beak is part of the bird's salt filtration system...they can drink salt water all day, no problem.

Pacific Loon. Economy of style.

The rarely seen cruise-missile flight mode of the Pelagic Cormorant. The pelican exploded a second after this photograph was taken.

Not One More Word Tonight

I was hoping to see an Ivory Gull perched on this Mola-mola. This event did not occur. Arroyo Grande, CA.

It is my honor, and privilege, to announce that I now number amongst the courageous few who have seen the Brown Shrike....or, as some call it, the Humboldt Brown Rain-Shrike. This species would normally be found on western Pacific islands this time of year, or mainland India, but we birders were lucky enough to have one come our way. (Stereo)Typically, what's bad for the bird is good for the birders. It will (hopefully) at least know to go north again if it makes it through the winter, but there is no way to say if it makes back to its homeland, which is likely someplace in Siberia.

A drake American Wigeon. Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA.

Which is a bummer. It's impossible to say how many passerines (songbirds) meet their doom far out at sea during their long migrations, with no land in sight. But to underestimate the ability of any given bird to navigate and travel vast, almost inconceivable distances would be a grave mistake. So I have faith in the Rain-Shrike. And no, I did not even bring a camera of any sort with me to see this bird. From past experience, having no way to document such a marvelous, crippling rarity would substantially increase my chances of getting a good look at the thing. I highly recommend attempting this method, as it "showed well".

Immature Red-shouldered Hawk, lurking outside the PRBO office. Surely it was hunting the many small and timid birdwatchers coming to and from the building. Schoellenberger Park, Petaluma, CA.

Along with the Brown Shrike, I also picked up Pacific Golden-Plover, Rough-legged Hawk, Ferruginous Hawk and Tundra Swan as year birds, snapping my long drought of new bird species seen in 2010. If I was from the south, I would tell you that I'm happier than a pig in shit right now....but being San Franciscan, I will say I'm giddier than a cokehead at Delirium. That's pretty giddy right? You San Francisco people know.

So let's just get down to The Heart of The Matter. Brown Shrike. Rarest bird I've seen in California in years. Good job team.

A Pelagic Cormorant keeps an eye to the sky. Morro Bay, CA.

Speaking of San Francisco, you may be surprised to learn that Mercury 'turns' wetland birds homosexual. Who knew?