West Coast Birding

Birding in San Francisco was a crazy experience that any novice birder would love. This trip to California put me to the test to see if I could correctly identify birds without an experienced birder at my side to help. So, it was just me and my field guide left to discover the birds of the bay area. Saturday was my first day in SF and that evening we ventured over to Twin Peaks to watch the sun set. Twin Peaks are two hills of almost the same heights and are the highest point in San Francisco. On our way up to the top of the hill I heard a few Song Sparrows and when I looked around I saw about fifteen jumping around from shrub to shrub. Also for the first time I saw a White-Crowned Sparrow. These little birds have a white throat, mostly gray stomach, and a black-and-white striped crown. On Sunday afternoon we took the 30 minute drive across the Golden Gate Bridge and headed to Muir Woods. Muir Woods is a national US monument and is full of Redwood trees between 500-800 years old. On our way there I saw three Northern Harriers circling over a mountain. Two were adults but the third one looked like a juvenile. The adults had a chestnut spotting with black wing tips which signified that they were males. The tail was kind of rounded and they have a slim and sleek body. About two minutes after this very exciting sighting, we stopped at a stoplight and just as I looked to my right I saw a slim white bird with a black beak just hanging out in a little river next to the road. Immediately I grabbed my book and already knowing it was some type of egret it took only a glance to figure out that it was a Snowy Egret! The little guy is fairly uncommon at this time of year so it was really great to see it. This egret has a black bill, black legs but bright yellow feet, like little socks. After spotting this great and unexpected bird, I figured that that was definitely the bird of the day. After parking the car and walking towards the entrance of the national park, a gorgeous blue bird flew by about ten feet infront of us. It landed in a tree above us and when I looked up my eyes immediately noticed the black crest on top of its head. I had a hunch that it was some type of jay and because I had brought my guide with me I was able to look it up. This gorgeous bird was a Steller's Jay, Cyanocitta stelleri, and now was definitely tied with the egret for first place.

Monday rendered no bird sightings that were really important. A few pigeons and a Red-Tailed Hawk but nothing I hadn't seen before.This morning on my way to the airport I saw a Red-Breasted Nuthatch. This bird has a black eye line and black cap along with rusty underparts. This was a great bird to end a great weekend in San Francisco!