Mokka mit Schlag » Birding

I don’t know what it is about me and orioles: I just can’t keep track of which ones I have and haven’t seen. Last May I thought I’d seen Hooded Oriole before, but I hadn’t. What I’d seen at Starr Ranch a couple of years ago was a Scott’s. Then this January I forgot all about that Scott’s , and double counted Scotty in Union Square Park as my life Scott’s.

I eventually cleared that up, but last Sunday I did it again. I was birding with Alberto Marcone, visiting from Italy; and local birder Toni Bryant was showing us around Upper Newport Bay. She found a beautiful Bullock’s Oriole in full breeding plumage which I initially misidentified as a Hooded Oriole. Toni politely corrected me, but I still didn’t realize that this beautiful orange bird with a very distinct face pattern was a new bird for me.

In fact, I didn’t figure that out until I was checking my eBird list a few days later and noticed it showed up there as a life bird. I quickly checked back with my complete list (which includes some species from outside the eBird area, as well as a few I only saw prior to eBird’s launch) and sure enough: Bullock’s Oriole was life bird #404.

A little later in the afternoon Alberto and I found a Golden Plover at Bolsa Chica. This was almost certainly a Pacific Golden Plover from the location and time of year. However in non-breeding plumage it’s virtually indistinguishable from an American Golden Plover. (Both birds are possible but unlikely at this location at this time. However the Pacific Golden Plover is merely unlikely while the American Golden Plover is extremely unlikely.) I don’t think I’ll count this one just yet. More should be coming through in the Fall when the plumage is more distinguishable.
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After work today I walked over to San Joaquin to see what might have come in the last week. New birds included three Blue-winged Teal and two Least Sandpipers (both in Pond A), new birds for the year and my BGBY list. There were also close to 100 dowitchers feeding. The light was decent and some of them were quite close, so I paid more than the usual amount of attention to them, and some of them definitely looked like they had eaten grapefruits, a classic field mark of a Long-billed Dowitcher, though personally I’m not sure how reliable that is. Two of them looked like they distinctly had not eaten grapefruits. Maybe Short-billed? or Long-billed in a funny posture? Who knows? Certainly not me.

However, shortly after I arrived something spooked most of the dowitchers and they took off in a tittering flight. When I got home I compared the flight calls of the Long-billed Dowitcher to the Short-billed Dowitcher. The Long-billed calls were spot on with what I heard, and the Short-billed calls were noticeably different. At least the ones that flew were Long-billed. Of course now I’m uncertain about the “Short-billed” Dowitchers I’ve reported earlier this year. I may have to go back and revise those. I think I had both species today, but it’s really hard to tell.
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California Sea Lion, Zalophus californianus
Dana Point, 2008-03-26

Yesterday I spent the morning exploring William R. Mason Park, trying to add a few more birds to my BGBY list and keep pace with fellow OC birder Neil Gilbert (at least for the walking competition. No way I can match him for the bicycling BGBY). I started at the West end (more park-like) and walked all the way out to Concordia Road, then back.

I got out early enough to catch the shorebirds that sometimes hang out on the park’s lawns at dawn and dusk. Today there were not only several Long-billed Curlews and a dozen Whimbrels. There were also a few Marbled Godwits, a first for the park if not my list.

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Brown Garden Snail, Helix aspersa
William R. Mason Regional Park, Irvine, CA, 2008-03-23

These are edible if they haven’t eaten any poisonous snail bait in the last couple of weeks. They were introduced to California around 1850 in a failed effort to jump start an escargot industry.

While updating my life list, I discovered that the Red-naped Sapsucker seen on this month’s Sea & Sage Audubon trip to Santiago Oaks was in fact a life bird. That makes the Cassin’s Kingbird we found a little later #400! (I had previously seen this one on my own at San Joaquin Wildlife Refuge but misidentified it there as a Western Kingbird.)

However, that number is a little “soft”. It includes several exotics that don’t officially “count” including:

• Muscovy Duck (in my opinion, this one should count. These are feral populations, but very well established.)
• Common Peafowl
• Yellow-chevroned Parakeet
• Greylag Goose: I know I’ve seen Greylag Geese in multiple countries. I just don’t know if any of them were wild.
• Black Swan: this one really shouldn’t count, but it was very early in my list keeping.

If I remove those, I’m only at 395.

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