Ocean Beach Friday Evening
After leaving JavaOne 2007 and collecting my baggage form the Phoenix Hotel where I’d left it, I cabbed over to the Oceanview Motel on Judah Street for the next few days. This hotel was both cheaper and closer to the sites I was planning to bird over the weekend. It was also a larger room with a genuine ocean view and air conditioning (not that you often need that in San Francisco in May.)
From my window I could see ravens and gulls. I didn’t have a lot of time before dark but I decided to hop over to the beach to see if any shore birds might be around. I wasn’t expecting much on this city shoreline, so I was pleasantly surprised when a quick scan down the beach revealed some obvious shorebirds. I walked a little further down the beach, where the larger birds proved to be Marbled Godwits, just before some offleash dogs chased them away. There were also dozens of Sanderlings running back and forth.
Turning back North up the beach I found a largish bird with a curved bill. After pulling out my binoculars, it resolved into a Whimbrel. It too got chased off by a dog, but I relocated it a little further up the beach where it was joined by a second Whimbrel.
In was also impressed by the large number of Common Ravens, more than I’d ever seen before. Flocks of Brown Pelicans flew by every few minutes. Western Gulls were common.
I was impresed enough by what I’d seen that I walked all the way past Golden Gate Park up to Cliff House. It was getting dark by this time, but hundreds of cormorants were dotting a couple of big rocks. (Seal Rock?) I didn’t see any seals or sea lions there. I did later learn that these cormorants were Brandt’s Cormorants, with possibly a few Pelagic Cormorants mixed in.
Total species count for the evening was 11:
- Brown Pelican
- Brandt’s Cormorant
- Whimbrel
- Marbled Godwit
- Sanderling
- Western Gull
- Rock Pigeon
- Common Raven
- European Starling
- Brewer’s Blackbird
- House Sparrow
Not bad for a quick evening walk on the beach.
