San Benito Mountain? Yes, that must be what Stokes and Sibley have outlined as summer presence of the gray flycatcher. It's south of the "Bay Area" isn't it? So, yes, that must be what I was referring

Tail flicking is a rather confusing term. I took pains to describe it in a previous post, but briefly from my observations of gray flycatchers where dusky and Hammond's are also present, the gray slow

My superpower is to hold still for long periods of time. That suits my decaying ankle joints and patulous retinaculum just fine, and it's how I came to know today's empidonax (sp) as the gray flycatch

The first statewide triennial tricolored blackbird (TRBL) survey in five years will be done April 15-17, 2022. I've been pressed into service for that and have continued my scouting of a colony at mil

The colony I described last week as a mosh pit and party has heard that it's closing time at the bar and the pairs (or promiscuous triads) have gone nearly silent and invisible as nest construction, e

I found a colony of TRBL at Patterson Pass Road milepost 1.69 yesterday and watched them for an hour. Today I went back and watched for 2hr38min in overcast skies and only a 5-minute rain. Field notes

Today's 0700 to 0900 walk at Sycamore Grove Park in Livermore gave me a few treats. Two GREAT BLUE HERONs interacted mid air and I got photos of the session. It seems to me that the one originally per

A note on identifying birds in photos: I'm not as good at it as some people are. I seem to get more reliable clues from live birds in the field. Photos pick only a single pose and often foreshorten fe

Claude, I'm sure you meant common raven, not American raven. Yes, the bird on the right in your photo is a common raven. I think the left hand bird is an American crow based on the shorter length of t

I wanted to capitalize on high tide and early morning light at the Emeryville Marina, especially the high tide roost. The roost was, as always, packed with dunlins, willets, and marbled godwits. Jim C

Friday, 2021-10-01, Rosmarie Richardson and I went to Cesar Chavez Park and then Elsie Roemer Bird Sanctuary for my first foray in close to four months -- it's too hot for me otherwise. We walked alon

Alan Bade, thanks for the checklist and its photos although I cannot contribute to the discussion about hybrids. I appreciate seeing birds from one of my favorite places. I didn't know about Red Seep

Thank you, Marcus for educating us on the status of the OHV lands which Alex mentioned. I have two bits to add. Where I practiced my environmental sciences, the off-highway parks would be called sacri

At my tiny bird habitat I am seeing birds now that don't come frequently but they do come sometimes after there is no need to stay near their former nest. The juvenile juncos, house finches, Anna's hu

My first observation in July (in LIvermore) of a rufous hummingbird was today. It perched near my water feature about 6 feet from my window for long periods of time and briefly hovered at the water, l

On my 60 square feet of the Republic of California the house finch juveniles are sprouting the expected "horns" on their heads. It must be something like a "first pre-basic molt." Sometimes I've been

As anticipated a sudden departure of white-crowned sparrows occurred last night. Evidence is from my limited feeding station and from Sycamore Grove Park. None were there whereas the day before there

Thank you Alex for correcting one of my impressions. My GISS (general impression of size and shape -- also including behaviors) was incorrect, even with a photo. I thought I could tell the difference

Thank you for your expert help. I have changed the ID on my checklist to reflect the truth. Dave Yeamans ********************* That is best for us which is best for our souls. [Matthew Henry] ********

In this checklist https://ebird.org/checklist/S82749997 I included two photos of a sparrow I have called Lincoln's sparrow. It could be mistaken for a swamp sparrow given that Sibley says the two as i