two tropical kingbirds dairy mart/sod farm tijuana river valley 11-11-22
two tropical kingbirds dairy mart/sod farm tijuana river valley 11-11-22
By {authorlink} – 2:20 pm
From 9:45 to 10:35 this morning (11 Nov 2022), Elizabeth Copper and I observed two tropical kingbirds interacting with each other and with Cassin’s kingbirds along the west edge of the Tijuana River Valley sod farm and the road ESE of Dairy Mart Ponds. At times, the two were vocalizing to each other, and one was displaying, perching and standing horizontally with wings slightly extended and with tail flared. They shifted back and forth along the power lines on each side of the road, the small chainlink enclosure around the water pump on the east side of the road, and a trio of small sycamore trees on the west side of the road.
At 10:45, we also encountered a tropical kingbird at the east end of Sunset – I suspect this was a third individual, although it’s possible that one of the two seen earlier had shifted westward as we drove that way.
We also had a female vermilion flycatcher in the western parking lot of the Sunset Ballfields around 11:15. Earlier, we had at least 16 white-faced ibis wandering adjacent to the flooded model airplane facility, a male phainopepla on the utility lines just NW of Southwest Feed on Monument Rd, and at least three black-throated magpie-jays in the tamarisk row in Smugglers Gulch south of Monument.
Earlier along with multiple other birders, the continuing and very cooperative varied thrush, the Swainson’s thrush, and multiple hermit thrushes were seen just south of the main drip in the central Bird and Butterfly Garden, and the white-throated sparrow was seen moving back & forth across the dirt road at the SE corner of the community gardens.
Robert Patton
San Diego, CA
At 10:45, we also encountered a tropical kingbird at the east end of Sunset – I suspect this was a third individual, although it’s possible that one of the two seen earlier had shifted westward as we drove that way.
We also had a female vermilion flycatcher in the western parking lot of the Sunset Ballfields around 11:15. Earlier, we had at least 16 white-faced ibis wandering adjacent to the flooded model airplane facility, a male phainopepla on the utility lines just NW of Southwest Feed on Monument Rd, and at least three black-throated magpie-jays in the tamarisk row in Smugglers Gulch south of Monument.
Earlier along with multiple other birders, the continuing and very cooperative varied thrush, the Swainson’s thrush, and multiple hermit thrushes were seen just south of the main drip in the central Bird and Butterfly Garden, and the white-throated sparrow was seen moving back & forth across the dirt road at the SE corner of the community gardens.
Robert Patton
San Diego, CA