California part 3 - Stanford and Palo Alto

I am writing here while missiles are exploding over my head... What else is there to do other than reminisce about better days and hope for better days ahead.

After the first two full days of birding in California, I had to slow down a bit because of the Stanford conference I was taking part in. I had time only for quick pre-breakfast sessions on Stanford Uni campus and in nearby Palo Alto. My initial intention was to see enough birds to maintain my eBird checklist streak. However, urban birding in Palo Alto and Stanford was really enjoyable. I appreciated the common urban birds - good diversity, and several attractive species.

Acorn Woodpecker - this is a female (red rear crown), of ssp. bairdi I presume, with a broad pale forehead, solid black chest, and flank streaks.

American Robin is very common but always cool. This male singing by a main road has some skin infection on its legs (known as 'scaly legs'), likely caused by Cnemidocoptic mites or papillomavirus.

One morning I birded with Marty around Lake Lagunita, at the south side of campus, which was actually very nice. A Virginia Rail was calling from the little remaining wet vegetation, listen to it here, somewhat faint, at ''5 and ''14:

Lake Lagunita

Western Bluebird is a common urban feature too, but this male caught the early morning sun so beautifully that its photo had to be taken:

California Towhee - subtle, fairly range-restricted, but very common

Brown Creeper - superficially similar song to European trecreepers

Arizona Gardens in Stanford Campus - the tall palm hosted a Hooded Oriole

Warblers weren't easy to come by in Stanford and Palo Alto during my stay, so I was pretty pleased to stumble upon this singing Yellow Warbler. Listen to it here, at ''5, ''14 and towards the end (California Towhee in the foreground).

My final morning before heading back was spent at Bayfront Park in Millbrae, by the San Francisco airport. It wasn't easy to hear much with all the aircraft noise, but eventually I had good scope views of a Ridgway's Rail feeding along the saltmarsh edge - nice end to an excellent visit to California. 

Check my eBird trip report here - 163 species, 57 checklists (most of them done by Brian and Aaron - thanks again), it was fun and I can't wait to be back and finally catch up with two species I keep missing (because I arrive at the wrong time of year) - Surfbird and Black Turnstone.