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Local patch fun – RB Grosbeak, Plumbeous Vireo, etc

This morning I decided to check my local park, San Carlos Rec Center, which I have been neglecting recently despite it having the award-winning combo of tall lerpy eucs AND a nice wet drainage ditch (plus plenty of big grassy baseball fields with weedy edges). 

As I was checking the activity along the ditch (which runs along the N edge of the park), I was surprised to see a young male ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK moving between the sweetgum and cottonwood trees along the ditch and the fruit trees in the yards on the N side.  This individual showed a relatively slender band of color across the chest with buffy orange blended with blotches of rose pink, and crisp streaking running across the band.

Then as I was about to leave, close to 10am, a PLUMBEOUS VIREO began singing from the pines on the park side of the ditch.  I had a PLVI a couple of weeks ago at this exact spot, so perhaps this bird will winter?  

I returned in the late afternoon to see if I could refind the grosbeak, and while that did not happen, the PLVI was vocal and easy to re-find. I also had a Western Wood-Pewee and Western Tanager.  Then, again as I was about to leave, I was shocked to see a LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE perched up on a chainlink fence.  Despite being this far inland with so much open habitat around Mission Trails, this is a very scarce species in the area these days.

Eitan Altman
San Carlos

Source: SanDiegoRegionBirding Latest Reports