Today was my first day of birding since I've created my blog, so this will be my first ever post. It was also the first time I went birding this summer, as school finished two days ago. To celebrate the end of 11th grade, I decided to go birding in the Presidio in San Francisco. For those of you who don't know, the Presidio is the entire Northwest corner of the city of San Francisco. Its primary habitats are eucalyptus groves, spruce and conifer trees, and a couple redwood trees here and there. However, this is only inland. It also has a very long coastline, consisting of Baker Beach, the cliff sides of several batteries, Fort Point, and Crissy Field. This area boasts a vast array of avian species, making it one of the best, if not the best, place to go birding in city.
My day began at 8:30 when I arrived at Mountain Lake. I was immediately greeted by a singing AMERICAN ROBIN up in a tree. As I walked along the lake, I noticed the typical birds of this area: RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD, MALLARD, AMERICAN COOT, HOUSE FINCH, etc... My brief stop at Mountain Lake didn't prove to be very fruitful for I didn't find any noteworthy birds. The most exciting bird I saw was a single flying VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW, so that gives you an idea of how unexciting this area was.
My next stop was El Polin Springs. This area can be considered an oasis amid the forest. It is a very pleasant area with a little stream that runs right down the middle, where birds come down to bathe. When I arrived, a flock of finches flew into the tree in front of me. In the bushes to my left, a couple WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS cavorted about. Suddenly, coming from behind me, a loquacious flock of RED-MASKED PARAKEETS flew into the eucalyptus grove. Then I heard the reason why the flock flew so erratically and rowdily. A RED-SHOULDERED HAWK began calling very loudly as it flew in the vicinity. I did not witness this barred buteo chase the flock, but it was loud enough to make its presence noticed. Anyways, after all of this, I heard an OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER in the spruces on the other side of the springs. Its very distinct call resounded through the entire area. Then more finches flew over into the trees above me. I looked down to a small pond, and two VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS skimmed the water's surface and flew only a couple inches above the ground. Then, on the flowers below me, I noticed a male and female LESSER GOLDFINCH picking at the flowers, surely trying to extricate the seeds hiding within the plant. Finally, I reached the actual spring where I'm at the same level as the stream that flows down. The only birds bathing were two robins, that didn't enjoy my presence. Then I started hearing this high-pitched squeaking coming from behind me. I turned around to see two female ALLEN'S HUMMINGBIRDS attacking each other. Watching from the sidelines was a single female ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD that seemed indifferent about the brawl. As I walked along the boardwalk, I pished to attract some of the birds hiding within the dense foliage. To my luck, the pishing proved to be useful, as I attracted several species including: HOUSE FINCHES, LESSER GOLDFINCHES, AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES, PINE SISKINS, AMERICAN ROBINS, and BUSHTITS. Each the species were seen with their fledglings. This is the season to go out and look for juvenile birds; they're old enough to leave the nest, but they can't fend for themselves, so they still seek protection from their mothers. As I walked up the hill to leave El Polin Springs, I find a couple SONG SPARROWS, DARK-EYED JUNCOS, and a single HAIRY WOODPECKER. This concluded my visit to El Polin Springs.
El Polin Springs was the only spot that I was planning to visit today, but I realized that I still had time to continue birding. So I decided to just take a random trail, and see where it took me. Along this trail, a saw a single junco, and a vibrant WILSON'S WARBLER couple. This was the only species of warbler seen on today's outing. This isn't the season to go out and look for warblers, so it was delightful to find these two birds. At the bottom of the trail, I reached a clearing that was in fact a barren field. The only bird I saw in this clearing was a soaring RED-TAILED HAWK. Finally, I reached the suburban portion of the Presidio where there were several houses that all looked identical.
I wasn't expecting to find anything exciting in this area, but as I thought that in my head, a greenish-yellowish bird flits right in right of me into a bush. Having no clue what this bird was, I decided to follow it. This bird was very difficult to find, but after ten minutes of pursuit, I finally got close enough to identify it with the naked eye. It was a female HOODED ORIOLE! A first-of-year bird for me, so this was exciting. But then I noticed that she wasn't alone, she had a friend with her. However, this "friend" turned out to be a child. The oriole had a fledgling with it.
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| Female Hooded Oriole |
However, my excitement was about to increase even more when another family member joins the party. The male HOODED ORIOLE flew into a tree where the two previous birds flew into.
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| Male Hooded Oriole |
After the excitement of encountering this family of icterids, I decided to take a long walk up to Fort Scott, another known spot for birding in the Presidio. This is a spot where flickers are reliable and you can sometimes find a small flock of meadowlarks. Neither were present today, but the bird that was present topped both of those birds. Sitting atop a chain-link fence, next to a WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW was a male WESTERN BLUEBIRD. This was only the third time I've ever seen this bird in the city, and I have been birding here since I was ten years old.
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| Male Western Bluebird |
Other birds that I saw at Fort Scott were a BARN SWALLOW, three BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS, and a single BLACK PHOEBE.
This pretty much concludes my day. This day was very interesting, in that I noticed myriads of fledgling species. This is the first time that I really noticed this, so it made this day more special. Today's total of species was 43, which is pretty good, considering I didn't bird the coast or the beach at all. I hope that whoever reads this gets interested by the Presidio, and decides to go birding and enjoy this very special part of San Francisco.
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