#375 Clark’s Grebe at Fort Mason Park
I had a few hours to kill Sunday after I arrived at my hotel in San Francisco so I took the #19 bus up Polk to Fort Mason Park. That proved to be a wise decision. I was looking for Cherry-headed Conures (the birds made famous by The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill) but I almost immediately found a native life bird instead: Clark’s Grebe. This bird is very similar to the more common Western Grebe. The difference is whether the dark head feathers extend downward to encompass the eye or not. Normally you’d need a scope to tell for sure, but there were several birds close enough to ID with binoculars alone. Another field mark: all the birds showed more white on the body and less black than you’d expect with a Western Grebe. Furthermore one bird had a bright yellow bill rather than the dingier bill you’d expect on a Western. However, the eye is really definitive.
Annoyingly some of the birds had an eye right on the border, which isn’t supposed to happen at this time of year. However there wasn’t enough black around the eye to turn any of them into a Western, and they did look more like a non-breeding Clark’s. Barring something weird like a hybrid Western-Clark’s, I think all the grebes I saw yesterday were Clark’s, and at least one of the birds hit all the field marks for a Clark’s dead on.
Juvenile Clark’s Grebe? 
After satisfying myself that I really did have Clark’s Grebes, I wandered up the hill into Fort Mason Park. I heard one bird singing a load pretty song I didn’t recognize, but I think it was a White-crowned Sparrow. At least that’s what I found hiding in the bushes, though I never saw it sing. I walked through some shady trees (Redwoods?) and added American Crow. Near the bathrooms I spotted my first Black Phoebe perched on a wire.
Walking back, I stumbled on the community gardens, which was the best area for passerines at the site. There were lots of songs here I couldn’t identify either. One I did recognize was a Northern Mockingbird doing its usual three repeats-switch pattern. However it was really strange to hear it imitating a completely different set of phrases. The mockingbirds back home have a very different repertoire.
I found quite a few species in the gardens: House Finch, Purple Finch, American Robin, Anna’s Hummingbird, Bushtit, European Starling, House Sparrow, and several more. Frustratingly there was at least one, possibly two yellowish species in large numbers that never cooperated in large enough numbers foor me to recognize. I didn’t know the songs, and they kept hiding in high leafy trees after flying across. I don’t think they were orioles or warblers, though I could easily be wrong about that. One very bright bird may have been a goldfinch, possibly American, but I did not see it clearly.
One new bird I did recognize by both sight and sound almost immediately was this handsome fellow: a Red-masked Parakeet, a.k.a. Cherry-headed Conure.
These loud squawking birds were all over the gardens and surrounding houses. They may be nesting in the palm trees. They haven’t been established long enough to count officially for a life list, but they’re still very charismatic birds and quite cool to see.
I exited the gardens and added 2 Cedar Waxwings. I then walked back toward Fisherman’s Wharf and added the final species for the day: Brewer’s Blackbird. Then I caught the #19 bus back to the hotel. Totals species count was 22:
- Clark’s Grebe
- Brown Pelican
- Double-crested Cormorant
- Herring Gull
- Western Gull
- Rock Pigeon
- Mourning Dove
- Red-masked Parakeet
- Anna’s Hummingbird
- Black Phoebe
- American Crow
- Bushtit
- American Robin
- Northern Mockingbird
- European Starling
- Cedar Waxwing
- White-crowned Sparrow
- Brewer’s Blackbird
- Brown-headed Cowbird
- Purple Finch
- House Finch
- House Sparrow
I’m going to try to find some more local parrots, but otherwise that should be it for birding till Saturday. Next weekend I want to spend some more time at Golden Gate Park, Land’s End, Sutro Heights, and the Presidio. I’m hoping to add a few more passerines to the list.
