January 2003 Field Journal
1.1 Canada Warbler, Swamp Sparrow, Glaucous-type
Gull
Shortly after noon, I refound the
CANADA WARBLER at the SF Zoo near the southeast corner of the
Warthog pen, i.e. the corner that is furthest from the Blackbuck
pen. It was quite active, foraging all of the way from the top
of the trees along the southern edge of the pen to feeding from
the ground as a sparrow might underneath the pine along the eastern
edge of the pen. The bird is most easily located by its chip
note, which is unfortunately rather difficult to hear over the
din of the children and the the steam train..jpg)
Earlier, I had the SWAMP SPARROW at the southeastern
edge of Middle Lake, foraging in the dense brush in that area.
As well, the Zonotrichia flock just north of there along the
eastern edge had at least one tan-morph WHITE-THROATED SPARROW.
Finally, I had the GLAUCOUS-type GULL first thing in the morning
at Stow Lake. Initially, it was at the southeastern corner of
the lake, then it swam to the a point about halfway between the
southeastern corner and the bridge where there are some rocks
just in the water and a park bench. At this point, it could be
approached to within a few feet.
Glaucous-type Gull
photos:
Note the very pale scapulars and greater coverts
with diffuse mottling in contrast with the well-defined barring
on the median and lesser coverts, extensive dark along the cutting
edge of the bill, steep forehead, relatively small head and bill
on an otherwise massive body. A pure first winter Glaucous Gull
should not show any strong contrast between the scapulars or
greater coverts with the rest of the wing coverts, a crisp two-toned
bill, more barring on the tertials and a shallower forehead.
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Note the extreme wear on the remiges. Good
photos of a typical first-winter Glaucous Gull can be found here.
Swamp Sparrow description:
A _Melospiza_ sparrow similar to a Song Sparrow
with the following essential differences. The auricular region
was pale dusky buff, contrasting with the more whitish supercilium
and submoustachial stripe. The malar stripe was quite thin, unlike
any subspecies of Song Sparrow. The underparts were unmarked
dingy white. The tertials and wing coverts were prominently edged
rufous and the flanks were buffy. Song Sparrow would show a prominent
submoustachial and Lincoln's Sparrow should show a buffy submoustachial
stripe, upper breast and fine dark streaking on the upper breast.
Canada Warbler description:
An obvious warbler with the underparts bright
yellow extending all the way to the undertail coverts which were
snowy white. The undertail with grayish with white edging and
the upperparts were steelish bluish-gray. The bird had a prominent
white eye ring with a yellow horn or spectacles leading from
the top of the upper mandible back above the eye similar to spectacles
on a vireo. The yellow continued above the lores and joined with
the top of the eye ring. The gape appeared to be slightly pale.
The yellow on the underparts was fairly bright but even brighter
in the throat region. There was no hint of streaking or a necklace
around the throat.
The steelish blue-gray color of the upperparts
pretty much eliminates all other neotropical wood warblers other
than CANADA WARBLER, but the white undertail coverts and the
prominent white eye ring clinch the identification. The lack
of any necklace indicates that the bird is an immature female.
Original voice notes may be found here.
Stow Lake
Glaucous-type Gull 1st winter
Middle Lake
Steller's Jay
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow tan-morph
Common Yellowthroat
SF Zoo
Canada Warbler
10,000 screaming kids
Steam Train
1.4 Nutting's Flycatcher, Brown Booby,
Sedge Wren
Nutting's
Flycatcher description:
An obvious Myiarchius flycatcher
very similar to an Ash-throated Flycatcher. The edges of the
primaries were brightly edged rufous, but the edges of the secondaries
were yellow, tending towards rufous near the tips of the greater
coverts. The edges of tertials were white. There were two white
wingbars. On the dark tail the inner webs were prominently rufous
extending all of the way down to the tip of the tail, though
I could not tell where the inner edge of the rufous was relative
to the feather vane.
The bill was roughly the size of an Ash-throated
Flycatcher and all dark, though there did appear to be a pale
line along the gape. The head had a slight brown crest and a
grayish nape and a pale throat. The belly was pale yellow. The
call was a soft, whistled "kwip" or "whip",
quite unlike either an Ash-throated Flycatcher or a Dusky-capped
Flycatcher. Original voice notes can be found here.
Analysis:
Ash-throated Flycatcher and Dusky-capped Flycatcher
can be eliminated by call, tail pattern and color of the secondaries.
Great Crested Flycatcher would have a darker throat, brighter
yellow on the belly, larger bill and some pale at the base of
the lower mandible. Brown-crested Flycatcher should show whtish
edges to the secondaries, a drier "whit" call and,
in M. t. magister, a very large bill. La Sagra's Flycatcher
would show little to no yellow below and little rufous on the
tail. Flammulated Flycatcher, Deltarhynchus flammulatus,
should show pale spectacles and cinnamon wing edgings. Yucatan
Flycatcher, M. yucatanensis, can be eliminated by similar
reasons as Dusky-capped Flycatcher and is endemic to the Yucatan
peninsula. The call, tail pattern and coloration of the edges
of the secondaries all confirm NUTTING'S FLYCATCHER.
Brown Booby description:
An obvious sulid with entirely brown upperparts,
head, nape, neck, throat an chit, extending down to the upper
breast, where it was sharply demarcated from the upper breast
and belly which was white speckled brown. The flanks were like
colored, but the lower belly was pure white. The bill was bluish
with a cutting edge tending towards yellow. The basal portion
of the bill immediately adjacent to the head was more yellowish
than the rest of the bill. The feet appeared almost pinkish when
backlit by the sun; when not backlit, they appeared yellowish.
The underwing was white, broadly edged in brown and the axillaries
and underwing coverts were unmarked white. The iris was white.
Original voice notes can be found here
and here.
Analysis:
Only two sulids can show dominantly dark necks
and white underparts; Blue-footed Booby and Brown Booby. However
a juvenile Blue-footed Booby should show a gradual transition
from dark to white on the upper breast as well as a dark gray
bill. Only Brown Booby shows a well-defined demarcation between
a dark throat and a lighter belly, which is present even in juvenile
plumage. Aging the bird is somewhat more interesting. The bird
is clearly not an adult; an adult would show snow white below
the breast demarcation. Similarly, the bird is not a juvenile;
a juvenile should show more dark coloration below the breast
demarcation, such as this bird
photographed near the Dry Tortugas, presumably the nominate subspecies.
So, it appears that the bird is a subadult BROWN BOOBY. Since
S. l. leucogaster and S. l. brewsteri differ
only in adult male plumage, the bird may not be identified to
subspecies.
Photos were attempted of the Sedge Wren.
Brown Booby (2)
White-tailed Kite (4)
Merlin (1)
Nutting's Flycatcher (1)
Sedge Wren (3)
Western Bluebird (5)
Locations:
1) 1425 Laurel, SCZ (Jan 04)
2) Pillar Point Harbor SM (Jan 04)
3) Half Moon Bay S.P. SM (Jan 04)
4) Hwy. 1 SM (Jan 04)
5) Old Stage Road SM (Jan 04)
1.6 Black-capped Gnatcatcher Identification
There are two characters in the photos which look good for
Black-capped Gnatcatcher to me. One is the relative length
of rectrix 6. On Black-capped it is usually or always
quite a bit shorter than the others, which makes for a
more graduated tail formula. The other character is bill
length. Black-capped has a longer bill than Blue-gray. The
photos show a bird that looks long billed to me. It's a
difficult identification, at least I find it so.
1.26 Panoche Road and environs
EURASIAN WIGEON drake at Paicines Reservoir (Jan 26)
BALD EAGLE 2 at Paicines Reservoir (Jan 26)
FERRUGINOUS HAWK adult in the valley (Jan 26)
FERRUGINOUS HAWK 2 near the creek beyond Silver Ranch (Jan 26)
MOUNTAIN PLOVER 138 halfway between junction of Panoche and Little
Panoche Roads & Panoche school (Jan 26)
GREATER ROADRUNNER in the corral at Silver Ranch (Jan 26)
LONG-EARED OWL 3 at Mercy Hot Springs (Jan 26)
71 species seen:
Pied-billed Grebe (16)
Eared Grebe (1)
Western Grebe (1)
Clark's Grebe (1)
Double-crested Cormorant (1)
Great Blue Heron (1)
Great Egret (1)
Turkey Vulture (1)
Gadwall (16)
Eurasian Wigeon (1)
American Wigeon (1)
Mallard (1)
Northern Shoveler (1)
Northern Pintail (1)
Green-winged Teal (1, 1)
Canvasback (1)
Ring-necked Duck (1)
Bufflehead (1)
Common Merganser (1)
Ruddy Duck (1)
Bald Eagle (1, 7)
Red-tailed Hawk (1)
Ferruginous Hawk (8, 12)
Merlin (3)
Wild Turkey (5)
California Quail (3)
Virginia Rail (12)
American Coot (1)
Killdeer (1)
Mountain Plover (14)
Greater Roadrunner (13)
Long-eared Owl (15)
Anna's Hummingbird (4)
Acorn Woodpecker (5)
Northern Flicker (5)
Black Phoebe (1, 1)
Say's Phoebe (3)
Loggerhead Shrike (1)
Western Scrub-Jay (1)
Yellow-billed Magpie (3)
American Crow (3)
Common Raven (3)
Horned Lark (10)
Tree Swallow (1)
Barn Swallow (1)
Oak Titmouse (3)
Bushtit (2)
White-breasted Nuthatch (5)
Rock Wren (11)
Bewick's Wren (1, 11)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (5)
Western Bluebird (1)
Wrentit (3)
European Starling (1)
Cedar Waxwing (5)
Phainopepla (5, 6)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (1)
Spotted Towhee (5)
California Towhee (5)
Lark Sparrow (9)
Savannah Sparrow (9)
White-crowned Sparrow (1)
Golden-crowned Sparrow (3)
Dark-eyed Junco (5)
Red-winged Blackbird (1)
Tricolored Blackbird (16)
Western Meadowlark (6)
Brewer's Blackbird (1)
House Finch (3)
Lesser Goldfinch (11)
Coyote sp. (5)
Locations:
1) Paicines Reservoir (Jan 26)
2) Panoche Road (Jan 26)
3) First Bridge (Jan 26)
4) Falcon Rock (Jan 26)
5) MP 13.30 (Jan 26)
6) Fire Station (Jan 26)
7) Bumb Ranch (Jan 26)
8) Valley (Jan 26)
9) Panoche Inn (Jan 26)
10) Panoche/Little Panoche (Jan 26)
11) Side canyon off New Idria (Jan 26)
12) Creek beyond Silver Ranch (Jan 26)
13) Silver Ranch (Jan 26)
14) Halfway between junction & school (Jan 26)
15) Mercy Hot Springs (Jan 26)
16) Little Panoche Reservoir (Jan 26)
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