Mokka mit Schlag

The Yellow-billed Cuckoo has been my nemesis bird for a while now. Although it breeds in New York City, and although it is regularly reported in city parks, I have never had an unambiguous look at one. That chyanged this morning. I had joined Steve and Heidi Nanz, Rob Jett, Janet Schumacher, Suzanne Ortiz, and several others for a continuing breeding bird census at Ridgewood Reservoir. This was the third of a planned six visits to the site this season.
We parked the cars across Vermont Place from the reservoir. A pair of male Baltimore Orioles were obvious in a nearby tree. However the census doesn’t start till we cross the street. No sooner had we done so, than Rob called out “Yellow-billed Cuckoo!” It was high up in the trees, and moving; but it didn’t fly too far away; and eventually I was able to get a clear look at it. I

I’m afraid this is the best picture of the bird I got, and you really can’t identify it from this:

It did not pose for my photographs, I’m afraid. I have several other photos of the branch it just left, but it was clearly ID’able through binoculars. It was obviously a cuckoo, had a prominent slightly curved yellow bill, and large white spots on the underside of the tail. The Black-billed Cuckoo, the only other cuckoo in the area, has a black bill and small white spots on the underside of the tail.
Read the rest of this entry »

The latest episodes of Lost have strongly hinted that the survivors are, in fact, dead; and in some sort of afterlife. This is a red herring. They are very much alive and present on our Earth, in the present day.

The strongest evidence that they’re dead are the helicopter pilot’s claims that the plane was in fact found four miles down in the ocean, with the bodies on-board. However, there’s a very simple explanation for that, albeit one that is used frequently in real life and almost never in fiction:

Someone is lying.
Read the rest of this entry »

Monday morning I had a few hours to kill before I had to get to SFO and catch my flight home so I took a quick spin up Ocean Beach and then into the Western part of Golden Gate Park. Common Ravens were once again common. A couple of American Crows also called, but they were vastly outnumbered by the ravens. Song Sparrows and American Robins were common. Hummingbirds, both Allen’s and Anna’s, were almost as common. So were any number of people doing Tai Chi at various locations.

The first new trip bird I found was a Winter Wren. I think I had these on Mount Davidson the previous day, but I was never sure. This particular wren was a lot more cooperative and let me see it rather than just singing from distant bushes.
Read the rest of this entry »

After striking out at Mount Davidson, I arrived at Golden Gate Park at about 10:30 A.M. on Sunday. The 43 bus left me off roughly at Ninth Ave. so that’s where I entered (near the Lawn Bowling Club). A Great Blue Heron flew over almost immediately. Song Sparrows were calling from multiple locations. Tree Swallows were hawking for insects. Black Phoebes were flycatching over a ballfield. I zigzagged back and forth across the park to the west end for the next five hours or so, getting frequently lost and accidentally backtracking a lot. Thank god for GPS.

Overall, though, it It was a slow start in Golden Gate too. I saw a Western Scrub-jay in the Aids Memorial Grove, a few hummingbirds in the Botanical gardens and the Tea Garden, but nothing hugely exciting. Then, about 2:00 P.M., I’m sitting on a bench on the north end of a small pond.¹ when a Pygmy Nuthatch flies into the conifer immediately to my left! It forages for a minute or two; then flies off. It’s a small bird, but I managed one recognizable photo before it took off.

Read the rest of this entry »

Mount Davidson had had a fallout earlier in the week while I was at JavaOne. I didn’t know if the winds were favorable for Sunday, but the sun was shining, and I wanted to get up there at least once. If nothing else, I could check it out as a potential site for a future Birding BoF at JavaOne. Unfortunately the birding gods were not with me this morning. The buses were slow and confusing. The 36 goes right to the trailhead, but runs very infrequently. I eventually gave up and took the third 43 to come by while I was waiting for the 36 instead.

The 43 goes around the other side of the mountain and does not stop at the park. I guessed the best place to hop off, and pulled the cord. I then used my GPS to figure out how to get to the actual park. (Most of Mount Davidson is covered in houses.) As the crow flies it wasn’t very far, but the roads around there are extremely steep. I found one Dark-eyed Junco in somebody’s backyard as I walked by. I did however, eventually find my way into the back end of the park.

Read the rest of this entry »

I entered Land’s End near the Northeast corner about 4:00 P.M. I was planning to walk along the cliffs but some Violet-green Swallows got me to detour briefly over to the golf course. Also present were Mouring Doves, Brewer’s Blackbirds, and about 100 loud motorcycles. However, they all passed and I returned to the main cliff trail.

This trail has some of the most impressive views in San Francisco. Among other things I was watching soaring ravens from above. However, my camera battery ran out of juice near the end of the Presidio so no pictures in this report, sorry.

At least one Aechmophorus grebe was swimming in the bay, but without a scope pinning it down as a Clark’s or a Western was hopeless. Even looking down at the bay from the heights was a little dizzying and I had to steady myself against a Redwood.

A little further down the path, though, you can walk down some steps to the edge of the water. From here it was easy to pick out numerous Brandt’s Cormorants as well as a dozen or so Surf Scoters (almost all female). Roughly nine Brown Pelicans and one Caspian Tern flew by. There may have been some Common Murres in the surf too, but they were too far away to be sure.
Read the rest of this entry »