Pescadero State Beach and Marsh 10.30.05

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Surrounded by Carniverous Rails (Railus Virginius Carnivorous)

"There I was, friends to my right, friends to my left, but clearly surrounded by the dreaded carniverous sub-species of Virginia Rail. We could hear them, closing in for the oft-documented, seldom-witnessed (is that contradictory?) Virginia Rail lightning like bite-strike. I peered over the edge of the marsh. A huge Virginia Rail was gazing at me from the dense undergrowth. It lunged. I screamed and jumped into Ashok's protective arms. I was safe. This time."

from: Bob's Imagination Run Amok. Lifebirds Press. 2005

So that whole "San Mateo Coast on a Sunny Day" idea, isn't half bad. Sea, surf, rocks, sun, etc. Pretty intoxicating. I'll have to say, for me, the highlight was/were the Surfbirds. If we see them, typically, they're distant. I think we had a couple at Half Moon Bay last year that were met w/derision, ostracism, and a couple other isms and isions. These Surfbirds, in early morning light against the rock face, were just gorgeous. Plump and juicy. Well, o.k., not exactly. But field marks were available for all who wanted to note them. For those of you who have only seen distant Surfbirds in the past, you know what I mean. For others, who don't understand, here's my "Ode to a Surfbird" to help explain..................... Are you kidding? Not!

And the second highlight, again, for me, was to have all three cormorant species on one island for comparison. And then, we got the Sanderling "screensaver" swirl. And those sneaky rails.

And, it's a lesson, I'm not sure what lesson, but it's a lesson: A distant heat-shimmered rare bird (Eurasian Wigeon) is not equal to 50 close-up Sanderlings.

I hope you saw a couple of birds you haven't seen before. And, you saw something that makes you want to look at your field guide again.

The list: (PR)=seen at Phipps Ranch by Tate, Anne, Marcia, Curtis, and Bob

1. Eurasian Wigeon (courtesy Ron Thorn!) starting the list w/a bullet! Oooh.
2. American Wigeon
3. Mallard
4. Northern Shoveler
5. Greater Scaup
6. Bufflehead
7. Horned Grebe (good study bird)
8. Western Grebe
9. Brown Pelican
10. Brandt's Cormorant
11. Double-crested Cormorant
12. Pelagic Cormorant
13. Great Blue Heron
14. Great Egret
15. Turkey Vulture – V is for Vulture. Wings held in a high dihedral.
16. Osprey
17. White-tailed Kite
18. Northern Harrier
19. Sharp-shinned Hawk (PR)
20. Cooper's Hawk (PR)
21. Red-tailed Hawk (Wing panels..... nicely displayed).
22. Peregrine Falcon (Just as the last vehicle pulled out of the parking lot)
23. Virginia Rail (heard only; well, there was the one running across the trail, and the one splashing through the marsh, but: heard only)
24. Killdeer
25. Black Oystercatcher
26. Greater Yellowlegs
27. Willet
28. Whimbrel
29. Black Turnstone
30. Surfbird
31. Sanderling
32. Heerman's Gull
33. Western Gull
34. Glaucous-winged Gull
35. Anna’s Hummingbird – (PR)
36. Belted Kingfisher
37. Northern Flicker (heard only)
38. Black Phoebe
39. Say's Phoebe
40. Western Scrub-Jay (PR)
41. Common Raven
42. Bushtit - heard only (PR)
43. Marsh Wren
44. Western Bluebird (PR)
45. European Starling -- (PR)
46. Yellow-rumped Warbler (PR)
47. Common Yellowthroat
48. California Towhee (PR)
49. Fox Sparrow (PR)
50. Song Sparrow
51. White-crowned Sparrow (PR)
52. Golden-crowned Sparrow(PR)
53. Dark-eyed Junco (PR)

Class cumulative Fall species total: 116. And you are marking these in your little blue books, aren't you?

If I missed something, I'm completely relying on the team to remind me.

bob power

October .30 .2005