Sunday, January 30, a small group of intrepid birders braved the forecast for rainstorm and showed up for a birding trip along Tomales Bay. We never did find the purported King Eider near Marshall, but we saw plenty of other fine birds and the rain was gone before 10AM. Complete checklists below. Highlights included a Mockingbird near Marshall and a Peregrine overhead as we ate lunch there. Three White-winged Scoters off Cypress Point. A small pond in Pt Reyes Station that sheltered at least eight Wood Ducks, a bright male Allen’s Hummingbird at Millerton Point (a very recent returnee) and lots of loon and duck action. Also at Millerton: Townsend’s and Orange-crowned Warbler plus vocalizing Nuttall’s Woodpecker in the eucalyptus trees.
Young Night-heron in willows over the Wood Duck pond.
Band-tailed Pigeons festoon peak of a Monterey cypress.
Common Loon in common winter plumage. We found one Red-throated Loon that still had a lot of color on its throat. Unsual for mid-wintering birds.
Well over 79 species in five hours of birding. Here are the checklists:
Location: Tomales Bay–east shore
Observation date: 1/30/11
Number of species: 69
Brant 1
Gadwall 6
American Wigeon 400
Mallard 15
Greater Scaup 750
Lesser Scaup 8
Surf Scoter 2500
White-winged Scoter 3
Bufflehead 350
Common Goldeneye 5
Red-breasted Merganser 3
Ruddy Duck 45
Wild Turkey 16
Red-throated Loon 80
Common Loon 25
Pied-billed Grebe 6
Horned Grebe 3
Eared Grebe 45
Western Grebe 300
Double-crested Cormorant 120
Pelagic Cormorant 2
Brown Pelican 1
Great Blue Heron 2
Great Egret 35
Snowy Egret 1
Turkey Vulture 6
White-tailed Kite 2
Northern Harrier 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 2
Red-tailed Hawk (Western) 7
American Kestrel 6
Merlin 1
Peregrine Falcon (North American) 1
American Coot 1200
Black Turnstone 20
Ring-billed Gull 40
Western Gull 5
Glaucous-winged Gull 1
Forster’s Tern 5
Band-tailed Pigeon 13
Eurasian Collared-Dove 1
Anna’s Hummingbird 2
Allen’s Hummingbird 1
Belted Kingfisher 2
Nuttall’s Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) 1
Steller’s Jay 1
Western Scrub-Jay (Coastal) 12
American Crow 25
Common Raven 12
Tree Swallow 12
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 3
Western Bluebird 2
American Robin 2
European Starling 40
Orange-crowned Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 3
Townsend’s Warbler 1
Spotted Towhee 1
California Towhee 1
Song Sparrow 3
White-crowned Sparrow 2
Golden-crowned Sparrow 10
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) 8
Red-winged Blackbird (California Bicolored) 70
Brewer’s Blackbird 15
American Goldfinch 2
Location: Pr Reyes Station
Observation date: 1/30/11
Notes: Mute Swan is feral. Count includes Giacomini Wetlands.
Number of species: 29
Brant (Black) 1 (definitely an unexpected sighting, lone Brant o levee at Giacomini Marsh)
Canada Goose 8
Mute Swan 1
Wood Duck 8
American Wigeon 200
Mallard 4
Northern Shoveler 1
Northern Pintail 40
Bufflehead 16
Wild Turkey 6
Pied-billed Grebe 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 2
Black-crowned Night-Heron 16
Turkey Vulture 8
Cooper’s Hawk 1
Red-shouldered Hawk (California) 1
Red-tailed Hawk (Western) 1
Band-tailed Pigeon 12
Great Horned Owl 2
Anna’s Hummingbird 1
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) 1
Western Scrub-Jay (Coastal) 4
American Crow 12
Common Raven 2
Wrentit 1
American Robin 2
European Starling 12
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) 8
Location: Pt. Reyes National Seashore
Observation date: 1/30/11
Number of species: 17
Mallard 1
California Quail 8
Anna’s Hummingbird 1
Acorn Woodpecker 4
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) 1
Western Scrub-Jay 6
Common Raven 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
Western Bluebird 8
American Robin 4
European Starling 25
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Townsend’s Warbler 1
Golden-crowned Sparrow 8
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) 25
Red-winged Blackbird (California Bicolored) 1
Brewer’s Blackbird 30
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By: MARIN GALLERY « Towheeblog on January 31, 2011
at 5:03 pm