#11 Birds of October and November

The disadvantage of this blog format is that the bird photos dwindle as the year gets older. It becomes increasingly difficult to see new species as the year moves on.

In October, I was fortunate to travel to San Francisco for the Oracle Open World convention and take a couple of extra days down there for birding. This resulted in some new species for October, including one last lifer.

After that, I only got out once in November and then for a few days after Christmas in December (to no avail). So this is the last post for 2015.

#234 Red-throated Loon Date - October 4.  Location: White Rock Pier, White Rock BC. Status: Abundant
This is a good time of year to visit the White rock pier if the weather cooperates. There are a good variety of loons, grebes and ducks. Also, the crowds are sparser than other times. The target bird this day was a rare (for here) Clark's Grebe. No luck with that species, but I was happy to see a couple of Red Throated loons off the far end of the Pier. This was a life bird for me last year and only the second time I'd seen one. The red in the neck is often obscured, but you get a peek of it in this photo.

#235 Red-necked Grebe Date - October 4.  Location: White Rock Pier, White Rock BC. Status: Abundant
I usually see this bird in the Okanagan at one of the golf courses but no luck this year. At first I thought that this bird was a Loon, but then realized it was a young Red-necked Grebe.


#236 Western Gull Date - October 25.  Location: Pier 6, San Francisco Ca. Status: Abundant
On our first night in San Francisco we walked from our Hotel down to the Ferry Building, and then along the Embarcadero. We decided to have dinner at a nice seafood restaurant that overlooked the Bay. The Western gull is the predominant Gull species in this area. it is similar in size to a Herring or Glaucous-winged Gull, but has a darker body.


#xxx Red-masked Parakeet Date - October 25.  Location: Near the Coit Tower, San Francisco Ca. Status: Feral
These birds don't have a number as they are not countable per American Birding Association rules. There is a feral population of these birds in the city, most of them being escapees or releases from captivity. However, the population is growing and they may achieve listing status sometime in the future.





#237 Western Scrub Jay Date - October 29.  Location: Golden Gate Park, San Francisco Ca. Status: Abundant
On the last day of the convention, I was done at noon. Since Edith was an expert in using the Bay area Transit system, we hopped on a bus and headed for Golden Gate Park. I went for a birding walk while she toured the Legion of Honour museum. I saw a few birds but nothing new. After we met up, we headed for the park's Botanical Gardens where we saw some interesting butterflies and this common California Jay. The photo was taken on the following day further south in Atherton.


#238 California Towhee Date - October 30.  Location: Holbrook Palmer Park, Atherton Ca. Status: Abundant
After the convention, Edith flew home and I moved further south to spend two days birding in the San Mateo area. I visited this suburban park two years ago and had two lifers. My visit this time was not not quite as productive, I noticed the park looked much drier than it did two years ago. However, I was happy to see this Towhee skulking in the under-brush. It was the second time I'd ever seen one.


#239 Ladder-backed Woodpecker Date - October 30.  Location: Holbrook Palmer Park, Atherton Ca. Status: Abundant
I saw this bird for about 3 seconds and I assumed it was a strange looking Hairy Woodpecker. However, when I studied my photos later in the evening, it just did not look right. I had a field guide with me and when I saw the Ladder-back I knew I had lifer #417, the last one for 2015. The photo is very poor as the bird was gone in seconds, but it is conclusive.


#240 Snowy Egret Date - October 30.  Location: Bedwell Bayfront Park, Menlo Park Ca. Status: Abundant
I also visited this park in 2013, it's well worth risking one's life (or at least sanity) to visit it during rush hour. It's located on the East Bay and features shorebirds on the flats and songbirds in the arid hills. The hills were alive with Western Meadowlarks. This area was much drier than two years ago, but there were still good numbers of shorebirds including Snowy Egrets. This photo was taken the next day at Redwood Shores at Oracle headquarters.


#xxx Crested Duck Date - October 30.  Location: Bedwell Bayfront Park, Menlo Park Ca. Status: Abundant
Two more uncountable birds as these  are likely domestic escapees. When I first saw them I just could not figure out what I was seeing. I concluded they had to be domestic ducks, and some Google research that night proved me right.


#241 Black Phoebe Date - October 30.  Location: Holbrook Palmer Park, Atherton Ca. Status: Abundant
I returned to Holbrook-Palmer on my way back to my Hotel and added one more bird for the day. This is one of my favourite California birds as it is quite tame and is always willing to pose for photos. The first shot is from this day, the second was taken at Redwood Shores on the next day.




#242 Green Heron Date - October 31.  Location: Redwood Shores Ca. Status: Abundant
Redwood Shores is the headquarters for Oracle, the reason I was in San Francisco. This is not your typical business district, it is a mix of corporate buildings, sloughs, and walking trails. The photo below shows the Oracle complex, with the America's Cup Catamaran in front of the farthest building.


I took some nice Snowy Egret photos here including the one seen in #240. Just across the street was another slough and there I saw this Green Heron.

#243 Willet Date - October 31.  Location: Redwood Shores Ca. Status: Abundant
Although I saw quite a few birds in this area, the only other new species for the year was this Willet. It is a larger shore-bird that we see occasionally in the Lower Mainland.

This ended the California trip and the month of October.

#244 Black Oystercatcher - November 11.  Location: Tsawwassen Ferry Jetty, Delta BC. Status: Abundant
I was trying to pad out my year list to reach 250, but I fell a bit short. I knew that this bird was a certainty at this location, so I spent part of Remembrance Day here. I hoped to add Snow Bunting or Horned Lark, but no luck with those species.


#245 Trumpeter Swan Date - November 15.  Location: 112 St. Delta BC. Status: Abundant
Another species that is pretty much guaranteed in Fall/Winter in Delta. The swans were a bit too far away to get a good shot.

I had few opportunities to get out birding in December and was unable to add any more species. The 245 birds I saw in 2015 were a personal record although I've only been counting year birds since 2012. I added 21 birds to my life list, my best year since 2013 when I had 29.

Here's a few birds that I'm kicking myself for missing this year:

Blue-winged Teal

Long-tailed Duck

Pacific Loon

Sora

Virginia Rail

Spotted Sandpiper

Sabine's Gull (Two flew over our boat on the Pelagic but I could not see them)

Horned Lark

Brown Creeper (seen Jan 1, 2016)

Northern Mockingbird (seen Jan 1, 2016)

Snow Bunting

Fox Sparrow