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Monthly Archives: August 2018

Re: Buff-breasted Sandpiper, here is what I saw on departure.

Hi Birders-

Great find, Dan. You made many, many people VERY happy and thanks for getting the word out. Congrats on a really solid bird find, and how cool is that to have it fly over and then land by you! I personally believe this could easily be, and almost certain to be a different individual than was observed on Naval Air Station North Island (NASNI). But who knows?! It appears to be a good year along the West Coast Region for this species so it wouldn’t surprise me, and perhaps several more could be found anywhere in Southern California and in San Diego County this season. On the other hand, if it is the same individual it may be worth a check at both locations where BBSA has been observed the past few days. So, FRNC and NASNI, on Coronado Island(accessed from dog beach). If going to dog beach, don’t walk right by it going straight towards the NASNI boundary.  There’s kelp wrack all over and it could be anywhere!

Thanks,
Jimmy McMorran
Leucadia, CA

Source: SanDiegoRegionBirding Latest Reports

Buff-breasted Sandpiper, here is what I saw on departure.

Good afternoon,

about 6 of us were still on the bird when suddenly, a Kestrel, chasing a Red-tailed made the Red-tailed dive really low right above the Sandpiper.  The bird flushed, flew straight east, about the Commital Shelter area and then I saw it suddenly drop, but one or two others said they saw it fly north.  We went and were never able to re-find it.  
Mark Stratton
North Park

Source: SanDiegoRegionBirding Latest Reports

Buff-breasted Sandpiper

Still present at 1:43, Friday Aug 31. Fort Rosecrans, just south of the dip.
Several of us had an incredible view of the bird. After an hour of distant views the bird picked up and flew around for a bit, finally landing on the curb of the road very close to us!
Every time a raptor goes over the bird lays down flat and is very hard to see.

Nancy Christensen
Ramona

A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song.
Chinese Proverb
Source: SanDiegoRegionBirding Latest Reports

Stick Pond and Bird and Butterfly

At the stick pond with the water (the one between the main Dairy Mart pond and the dry stick pond) I watched FIVE (!) Sora come out and walk around.  One came so close I was unable to focus with my camera.  Have never seen so many at once. AND…I actually watched two as they swam from one area to another.  Amazing.
Didn't see the Green-tailed Towhee, but did get some nice shots of a Downy Woodpecker.
The B & B was very quiet.  Only birds of note were two Common Ground Dove.
Photos at:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/122472313@N07/
Wishing you all good birding,
Catherine

—

Live in beauty….

Catherine

Competitive Obedience Toolbox: www.gettoready.net
Ch Borderfame Soul Train UDX, OM ('Kellan the Felon' a.k.a. 'Sir Barkalot')
OTCH Sporting Fields Summer Solstice, UDX 9, OGM ("Dax", as in "Dax of the Long Tongue" aka 'Sir Lickalot'))
GCH OTCH Sporting Field's Quantum Leap UDX5, OGM  ('Devon' as in 'Devon the Usurper'  aka "Monkey")   
Ch. OTCH Trumagik Step Aside, UDX 20, OGM   (2002 – 2015)
Shorewind Spellbound's Dragon Rider  ("Echo")
 
 

Source: SanDiegoRegionBirding Latest Reports

Green-tailed Towhee at the stick pond

Good afternoon, by a minute or two,
 
Nathan French and myself birded the Dairy Mart Ponds and the community gardens area today.  Right at the entrance to the main trail that runs along the south stick pond, we were watching various birds when something popped up right below us.  It was a Green-tailed Towhee.  Nathan will put an IDable shot on e-bird later.  At the community gardens, we kept chasing a Bunting Buzz that didn't quite sound right for Lazuli, but never quite got on the bird.  We did get an interesting bird that might be just a female or juvi Blue Grosbeak, but I'm trying to figure that out
 
Mark Stratton birding with Nathan French
North Park

Source: SanDiegoRegionBirding Latest Reports

Re: Buff-breasted Sandpiper at Fort Rosecrans section AA

I understand from folks on the scene that as of 1245pm, the BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER continues in section the southwest section of FRNC, accessed from AA (the bird is in section X).
At least one photographer was reigned in before he could spook the bird.
Justyn Stahl

Source: SanDiegoRegionBirding Latest Reports

Buff-breasted Sandpiper at Fort Rosecrans section AA

I found a juvenile Buff-breasted Sandpiper this morning at FRNC section AA. Still there as of 11:45, feeding amongst headstones. May be same individual as that seen this week at North Island, looks the same as photos posted on eBird.

Dan Jehl
San Diego
Source: SanDiegoRegionBirding Latest Reports

Possible Hybrid hummingbird

The feeders around my house near Iron Mountain in Poway have gotten busy again with a variety of hummingbirds.  One that looks a little unusual to me looks like a Juvenile Costa's with the coloration of an allens in its back and wing feathers.  Do these species hybridize?

It sounds exactly like a Costa's so it's probably just a Costa's.  But if someone more knowledgeable could look at the photos of it and let me know if you think it might be a hyrbrid I would be grateful.
-Roger Uzun
Poway CA
Suspicious Hybrid photos – 

Source: SanDiegoRegionBirding Latest Reports

brown boobies, pacific golden-plover, etc tijuana estuary 8-30-18

Did not see Gary's post until well after our visit, but no masked/Nazca booby seen this morning off Tijuana Estuary.  However, from 9:55 to 10:30, Janne Torres and I observed at least 2 brown boobies (and I suspect the number was realistically closer to 4 to 6) off Border Field SP to the SW of the rivermouth.  A handful of black-vented shearwaters were out on the horizon line as well.  There was a notably low number (finger-countable) of elegant terns.
Around noon, 2 reddish egrets were foraging/dancing in the river channel immediately upstream of the rivermouth, one adult & one juv.  At least one large-billed savannah sparrow was foraging in the kelp wrack to the west of the south end of the barrier dune.  From 12:05 through 12:25, the continuing Pacific golden-plover was visible roosting in verbena on the edge of the channel NE of the rivermouth (easily visible with binoculars looking east from the west side of the snowy plover/least tern nesting area twine fence, as it looked at us from its spot on the channel edge at the east side of the nest area about 200 yd north of the south end of the fenced nest area).  As Gary reported, a snowy plover chick continues in that south end of the nest area (should be flying in the next week, whew!).
Robert Patton
San Diego, CA
Source: SanDiegoRegionBirding Latest Reports

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