This morning, I woke up at 7:00 AM, to arrive at Lake Merced at around 7:25 AM. Accompanied by my mom, we searched for a Black-and-white Warbler that was sighted the previous day. I've gone after rarities in the past, and in my experience, the searches usually last an hour, and end up with me getting a brief glimpse of the bird, and with my neck aching. But today was different, because within the first two minutes of our arrival, the pied bird popped out into the open. I had seen this bird before, on my trip to Maine, but never before have I seen it in California, let alone San Francisco. Though it was easy to find the bird, it proved very difficult and tricky to photograph the bird. My mom must have taken over a hundred pictures before she finally got a decent photo of it. Although, they did end up rather nice, and even identifiable.
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| Black-and-white Warbler (notice the egregious black and white streaking all over, and the slightly down-curved beak) |
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| Black-and-white Warbler (notice the streaking on the flanks and the yellow feet) |
After finding and admiring this hyperactive bird, we headed down to the the Concrete Bridge to just look around. Little did we know how exciting it was going to be. We looked down into the open area of the marsh, and found a Sora feeding out in the open. This species of rail is typically shy and skittish, which makes it difficult to observe for long periods of time. However this one was different, for it let us admire it and photograph it for over fifteen minutes.
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| Sora (notice the black face and bib, the yellow bill, the vertical streaking on sides, and the brown and streaked back) |
Shortly after, another delightful bird made an appearance. A Wilson's Snipe flew very quickly across the open marsh, only to join another snipe! This is a bird that I've only seen once in my life, and never at this location.
The reeds that encircled the marsh harbored Marsh Wrens, Common Yellowthroats, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and a single Orange-crowned Warbler. A Black-crowned Night-heron landed on a branch jutting out of the water, and Song Sparrows cavorted in the bushes nearby. I don't think I've ever been to this location before and have seen such a variety of species.
As we walked along the actual Concrete Bridge, we came across some other species such as Chestnut-backed Chickadees, American Coots, and several Fox Sparrows.
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| Fox Sparrow (notice the blotchy white patterning on the chest and belly, and the sooty brown coloring on the head and back.) |
Another species that isn't common in San Francisco, that we encountered, was a male Great-tailed Grackle. This is an unusual bird because it isn't very common in the Bay Area outside of certain areas in the East Bay, but this species bred at this exact location this past year. There were around 6 individuals, of both sexes, that bred here. All but one left. This remaining bird put on quite a show as it stood on a branch stemming from the water and began calling. As most blackbirds do, the grackle has an interesting, almost metallic call. It also makes another call where it sounds like somebody tuning a radio: it makes a very fuzzy and static sound.
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| Male Great-tailed Grackle (notice the overall large appearance, the long bill and tail, and the shiny, almost iridescent, feathers.) |
As we walked across the bridge, we encountered several others birders including Bob Gunderson (whom I met as I was searching for the Sage Sparrow on Mount Davidson), Dominik Mosur (a renowned birder in San Francisco that I interviewed for a movie I made on the Clapper Rail), and Calvin Lou (whom I met at Fort Mason, while looking at the Dickcissel with Logan). Dominik found something interesting and called me over. He pointed out an interesting duck. It was much smaller than the nearby Mallards, much darker, and had a blue speculum. Dominik was thinking that it was maybe a female Blue-winged Teal (a rare migrant for San Francisco), but wanted a second opinion to confirm his ID. I had recently encountered a female of the same species at Radio Road Ponds, so I had the key field marks fresh in my head. It had eye-arcs around its eyes, and had a hint of white at the base of the bill (those are the field marks used to differentiate it from a female Cinnamon Teal). At first, we identified this bird as a female Blue-winged Teal, a rare migrant to the city. However, local experts such as Alvaro Jaramillo and Peter Pyle corrected us, and told us it was actually an immature male Cinnamon Teal. Not as exciting as a Blue-winged Teal, but a good bird nonetheless!
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| Immature male Cinnamon Teal (notice the hint of blue of the speculum, the eye-arcs around the eye, and the broad bill.) |
The teal basically concluded my day, which was not problem at all. There isn't anything better than finishing an already good morning of birding than with a great bird! The Black-and-white Warbler was definitely exciting and attracted many birders from all over (even Marin County!). Though I didn't get any lifers, the birds were nonetheless amazing. From the ostentatious grackle, to the salient Sora, and with the gregarious snipes, I had a wonderful morning with my mother.
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