john@nmt.edu (John Shipman) (03/17/91)
Got out today with Mike Mammoser (whom I met through rec.birds). We worked the Pescadero area, which is on the California coast pretty much due west of the Bay Area. This is one of my old favorite spots and it was great to get out there again. We spent most of the morning scoping the rocks offshore in hopes of seeing the Rock Sandpiper that has been reported in this area lately. No luck, but we did well with most every other species expected in this habitat. I've always been very fond of two rocks that are pretty close to the shore and just south of the Pescadero Creek bridge. These rocks have been consistently good for Surfbird and Wandering Tattler, and I have seen Rock Sandpiper here on one occasion. There were three Surfbirds here today along with the usual Whimbrels and Black Turnstones. Mike suggested that we work some rocks a mile or so south of this place, and here we really did well. One rock had TEN Black Oystercatchers on it, a personal high for Mike and me both. There was also one Wandering Tattler with this group, doing his Spotted Sandpiper imitation, wagging his tail and bobbing along. I had never seen more than a handful of Surfbirds before, but between this spot and some flat-topped rocky shelves just south of here we saw at least fifty Surfbirds! They all showed the characteristic bill pattern, with the proximal half of the lower mandible orange and the rest black, but the plumages varied from the plain, solid gray winter pattern, through birds molting into the streaky breeding plumage, to one bird that was starting to show the buff scapulars of the full breeding plumage. Although the swell was fairly heavy, we did well scoping beyond the breakers. One Clark's Grebe and several Westerns showed up. Along with the usual groups of Surf Scoters, Mike found a couple of female Black Scoters, never an easy bird to find around these parts. Normally I have to go to Point Reyes or Bodega Bay to see these birds. We had one Pacific Loon. In addition to a few Double-Crested Cormorants, we had at least a half dozen Pelagic Cormorants, most showing the white flank patches that make this species easy to ID around this time of year. I saw a rather small, slim immature gull go by that looked like a Black-legged Kittiwake. I called it too late for Mike to get a look at it, which is a shame because Mike needs that species for a life bird. Tonight, just after doing my notes, I logged on and found a report from the bird-alert server saying that 14 kittiwakes had flown by Pigeon Point recently (just a few miles south of Pescadero), which tends to support my call. We had lunch at Duarte's in Pescadero, which is even better than I remember it from the late 70's when I was last there. I was hoping for one of their famous abalone sandwiches, but abalone is out of season. The mahi-mahi, though, was outstanding, a generous portion cooked to tender perfection, and the soup was also terrific. I didn't even have room for some of their famous pie (they had about ten flavors today). No wonder people come over here from the Bay Area just to eat! After lunch we worked the marsh ponds and the estuary. No real surprises, but a good, diverse fauna as always in this rich, diverse habitat. My day-list follows: LOON, Pacific; GREBE, pied-billed, eared, Western, Clark's; CORMORANT, double-crested, pelagic. HERON, great blue; EGRET, snowy, great; MALLARD; TEAL, green-winged, cinnamon; SHOVELER, northern; GADWALL; WIGEON, American; SCAUP, greater; SCOTER, black, surf; GOLDENEYE, common; BUFFLEHEAD; MERGANSER, red-breasted; DUCK, ruddy. VULTURE, turkey; HARRIER, northern; HAWK, red-tailed; KESTREL, American; COOT, American. PLOVER, black-bellied; OYSTERCATCHER, black; YELLOWLEGS, greater; WILLET; TATTLER, wandering; WHIMBREL; GODWIT, marbled; TURNSTONE, black; SURFBIRD; SANDERLING; DOWITCHER sp.; GULL, Thayer's, western, glaucous-winged; KITTIWAKE, ?black-legged. DOVE, rock; FLICKER, northern; SWALLOW, tree, violet-green, barn, northern rough-winged; JAY, scrub; RAVEN, common; WREN, marsh; ROBIN, American; WARBLER, Audubon's; YELLOWTHROAT, common; SPARROW, song, white-crowned; BLACKBIRD, red-winged, Brewer's. -- John Shipman/Zoological Data Processing/Socorro, NM/john@jupiter.nmt.edu ``Let's go outside and commiserate with nature.'' --Dave Farber