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Monthly Archives: June 2024

San Diego Co. rarity surge June 5-9: TWO Eastern Wood-Pewees, TWO Bay-breasted, Black-throated Blue, Magnolia, Parula, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, etc.

12:09 pm

It was a relatively slow May for landbird rarities in San Diego County, with the highlights being 14 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and 5 Tennessee Warblers, plus one Ovenbird and three Northern Parulas. But that changed between June 5-9, with a major surge of high-quality landbirds the past five days, producing a county-first TWO Eastern Wood-Pewees (FRNC), singing Bay-breasted Warblers at both the San Diego Zoo and FRNC (very brief), a casual-in-spring Black-throated Blue Warbler (FRNC), singing Magnolia Warbler in residential Point Loma, Yellow-billed Cuckoo along the San Luis Rey River in Oceanside, Northern Parula in Tierrasanta, a brief Indigo Bunting (FRNC), and yet another Summer Tanager (FRNC) and Rose-breasted Grosbeak (La Costa–#17 for the spring).
At this same time, there have been multiple good-quality landbird rarities in Orange and Los Angeles Counties as well.
Also today, the off-and-on adult Neotropic Cormorant reappeared at the San Diego River mudflats off Robb Field.
–Paul Lehman, San Diego

NEW Eastern Wood-Peewee at Cemetery

9:07 am

There is a NEW Eastern Wood Pewee at Fort Rosecrans Cemetery, which is now shutting down for the day For Boulder visitation until 4:00 p.m. Or  5:00 p.m.. This bird is in the northeast corner of the cemetery and I’ve repeatedly had it return to the hedgerow of bushes and small trees along the Catalina boulevard edge of the northeast corner, but then it’ll do full circuits of the Chinese elms in the whole corner. It’s giving pur-wee calls and visually it’s quite different from the first bird several days ago, as this bird is much paler below, with dustiness only across the upper breast slightly broken and with a light yellow wash and there’s a more obvious slight olivey tone to the upperparts and a thin broken eye ring look. In fact, in some aspects it’s almost empidonax-like, but is clearly a pewee and sounds like an Eastern Wood Pewee. Photos and tape recordings obtained by others: Luca C. and Dave T., to be posted later on eBird. Luca also had a splotchy male Summer Tanager near the office building area in the northwest corner, but I failed to refind it soon thereafter.

Paul Lehman, San Diego 

Black-throated Blue Warbler continues Sunday

6:19 am

Sunday morning, Steve Lima and I had the continuing male Black-throated Blue Warbler along the west edge of Fort Rosecrans Cemetery. Exact same coordinates given yesterday afternoon, which is the various tall bushes and pine trees on the outside of the fence on the immediate south side of the low point of the dip. Bird can be difficult to see through all the vegetation, but it did occasionally give single quiet songs.

Paul Lehman, San Diego 

San Diego pelagic trip, Saturday June 8th

4:59 am

The San Diego pelagic trip on Saturday, June 8th, sponsored by Buena Vista Audubon Society and aboard “Legacy” out of Mission Bay was blessed with very light seas and nice overcast (good lighting) all day. Virtually all the expected pelagic species were seen, along with several scarce or rare species for June (e. g., Common Murre, Sabine’s Gull, Northern Fulmar). Good photo opportunities were had of species like breeding-plumaged Red Phalarope, multiple very close Craveri’s Murrelets, Northern Fulmar, etc. Totals for the day, once we were about two miles offshore were:
Red-necked Phalarope  1 (basic)
Red Phalarope  2 (1 alternate, 1 basic)
Pomarine Jaeger  1
Parasitic Jaeger  1
Common Murre  3 (off Mission Bay)
Scripps’s Murrelet  6
Craveri’s Murrelet  16
murrelet sp.  2
Cassin’s Auklet  55
Sabine’s Gull  3 (one-year-olds, 30-Mile Bank)
Heermann’s Gull   5
Western Gull  175
Common Tern  1 (The Corner)
Least Tern  2
Royal Tern  2
Elegant Tern  3200
Pacific Loon  3 (basic, northbound)
Ashy Storm-Petrel  8
Black Storm-Petrel  175
Northern Fulmar  2 (SD Trough)
Pink-footed Shearwater  25
Sooty Shearwater  1250
Black-vented Shearwater  11
Brown Booby  2
Brown Pelican  130
Brandt’s Cormorant  2
Also: American X Black Oystercatcher & Black Oystercatcher (Mission Bay jetties)
The upcoming July trip is sold out, but there is space remaining on the three August and three September trips. See sandiegopelagics.com for more information.
–Paul Lehman, Dave Povey, Bruce Rideout, Nancy Christensen, Dan Jehl, Jimmy McMorran, San Diego

Northern Parula Singing in Tierrasanta

12:10 pm

This morning, June 8, 2024, at 8:53 AM, while birding with Barbara Carlson at various spots around Tierrasanta, I heard what sounded like a strange Orange-crowned Warbler singing, but it was different enough to investigate. The Merlin app wasn’t identifying it despite good recordings at close range. I went into the settings and manually changed the location to the East Coast, and it immediately identified the bird as a Northern Parula. The bird went silent for almost an hour, and just as we were about to give up having not sighted it, it started singing again. It was an adult male Northern Parula feeding in the silk oak trees along Santo Road (32.828488, -117.103477). There was also a family of Swinhoe’s White-eyes there, feeding fledglings.
Pictures: https://www.sdbirder.com/Birds/Norther-Parula-in-Tierrasanta-682024

—

Trent R. Stanley
Email: trent@…
Website: http://www.sdbirder.com

https://www.instagram.com/sdbirder/
Location: University City, San Diego, CA, USA

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

10:44 am

Oh my gosh I went out looking for a yellow-billed cuckoo this morning and just got one here!!! (33.2219189, -117.3565253) oceanside San Luis rey river bed.
And I didn’t call it!!

Not sure if it’s legal to park at Benet rd. and Airport rd. In bike lane.

Still here.

Sally Veach
Oceanside

Sally Veach Sent from my iPhone

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