My second day in California (May 27th) was another full dawn-till-dusk birding day. I had the pleasure of spending the day with Aaron Maizlish. It was spent in San Mateo county, birding from the Pacific coast to the San Francisco Bay area. We met up at Pigeon Point and started off at Gazos beach and Gazos road going inland. The riparian forest was excellent with lots of activity, visual and vocal, and some good stuff.
'Russet-backed' Swainson's Thrush - horrible photo of an insurance tick ahead of a proposed split
Often seen flying up in tree canopies, Band-tailed Pigeon is quite spectacular when seen at eye level.
In more open, grassy areas a few stunning Lazuli Buntings were seen:
As well as equally-stunning Grasshopper Sparrows ;-)
And a tatty-looking Savannah Sparrow
At Pigeon point we had two Wandering Tattlers. We then headed up the coast towards Half Moon Bay, that produced some nice stuff as well. At sea we had lots of alcids including many Pigeon Guillemots:
At Devil's Slide we had one Rock Wren, but it didn't stick around for photos
Across the ridge, we arrived in San Francisco Bay. At Coyote Point the long-staying Harlequin Duck was located resting on distant rocks:
Cinnamon Teal - what it says on the tin:
We were in desperate need for lingering migratory shorebirds for the day list. We checked different mudflats and wetlands - nothing left behind. Finally, while driving on Dumbarton bridge at full speed, we spotted a group of 'brown' shorebirds in Don Edwards NWR saltpans. We pulled over and enjoyed a medium-sized group of Greater Yellowlegs that also contained a marvelous Wilson's Phalarope (my third ever, after two winter-plumaged vagrants, in Israel and in UK):
'Western' Willet
And a beautiful summer-plumaged Long-billed Dowitcher
We ran out of daylight at Coyote Hills Regional Park. Our daily total of 113 species was quite good, I think. Thanks again to Aaron for another great day out. Aaron worked hard all day, including keeping all the eBird lists.
Your photos are really beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing. Warm greetings from Montreal, Canada.
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