N. Clairemont Rec Center rarities Sunday 2/23
Eve Martin and I birded the North Clairemont Rec Center area this morning. The female Hepatic Tanager is still there. Eve saw it around 7:45 a.m. pretty high up in a tree near the previously mentioned SE corner of the parking lot behind the Friendship Center. We then both saw it just before 8:30 much lower in another tree in the same area. It left that tree and flew to the pines near the road. The male Bullock's Oriole also continues near the SE corner. He is in very fine plumage. No White-throated Sparrow. There were some White-crowneds around, mostly immatures. There was a good number of Red-crowned Parrots. Probably 40 to 50.
An adult male Hooded Oriole made an appearance across the canyon from the Rec Center grassy area. It sat for a bit in a bare tree and then flew north. Doesn't appear anyone else has reported one there this winter, so maybe an early spring arrival? Also had an interesting Dark-eyed Junco in the SE corner. I listed it as Slate-colored/cismontanus. To my inexpert eye it looks more like cismontanus, but maybe it's something else.
eBird list and photos here:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S64909763
Photos also posted here. They display better from here than they do in eBird:
Looking for opinions on the Junco, and also whether this Parrot may have been a Lilac-crowned or a hybrid, rather than Red-crowned:
Lisa Ruby
Sabre Springs
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Lisa Ruby
Sabre Springs
Source: SanDiegoRegionBirding Latest Reports