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Comments by Wim on the current Green Big Day record:
We started at 6 am at the Berkeley bridge for warblers and other songbirds. After that we biked to Stow’s Grove Park to get our Red-breasted Nuthatch and some more passerines for the day. Lake Los Carneros was our last big location for the morning hours. Biking south we stopped at Tecolotito Creek at Hollister and checked out the wetlands around South Los Carneros Road. Area K disappointed greatly as all ducks had left by now; at the end of the day this location provided 0 unique birds. Detouring via Harder Stadium we turned west on Mesa Road where we had our first good bird of the day: 2 Yellow-headed Blackbirds. We continued west to Girsh Park, which delivered a hoped-for Say’s Phoebe, the only Western Bluebird of the day, and a place to have lunch. As predicted the wind was picking up in strength and as we arrived at a choppy and filled up Devereux, the time for small songbirds had passed. We ticked the 2 Brant Geese and some other expected stuff, but again no ducks. Our planned sea watch at Coal Oil Point was made difficult by the strong western winds. We got no scoters and only one far-away loon sp.; we did find Snowy Plover on the beach though. Walking and biking along Del Playa Dr we got a good collection of shorebirds by peeking over the bluffs. The campus lagoon finally got us an American Wigeon, Long-billed Dowitcher and Forster’s Tern. Campus Point was the highlight of the day with its Black Turnstone, Ruddy Turnstone and Surfbirds; too bad we could only stay there a few minutes because of the sand that was blasting us. The way back to Berkeley Rd went along Lagoon Rd, Goleta Beach, Ward Blvd + Dr (no Ross’ Goose), Atascadero Creek, Maria Ygnacio Creek and University Drive. This last strech was extremely unproductive and in retrospect we should have scheduled this later afternoon time for more water/shore birds. The last hour back at Berkeley bridge got us to avoid some potential embarrassments like Nutall’s and Downy Woodpecker. Last bird of the day at 7 pm was a Vaux’s Swift.
- Wim van Dam (Solvang)
| 1. Brant 2. Canada Goose 3. Gadwall 4. American Wigeon 5. Mallard 6. Ruddy Duck 7. California Quail 8. Loon sp. 9. Pied-billed Grebe 10. Western Grebe 11. Clark’s Grebe 12. Brandt’s Cormorant 13. Double-crested Cormorant 14. Brown Pelican 15. Great Blue Heron 16. Great Egret 17. Snowy Egret 18. Green Heron 19. Black-crowned Night-Heron 20. Turkey Vulture 21. White-tailed Kite 22. Cooper’s Hawk 23. Red-shouldered Hawk 24. Red-tailed Hawk 25. Sora 26. American Coot 27. Black-bellied Plover 28. Snowy Plover 29. Semipalmated Plover 30. Killdeer 31. Black-necked Stilt 32. Spotted Sandpiper 33. Greater Yellowlegs 34. Willet 35. Whimbrel 36. Long-billed Curlew 37. Ruddy Turnstone 38. Black Turnstone 39. Surfbird 40. Sanderling 41. Western Sandpiper 42. Least Sandpiper 43. Dunlin 44. Short-billed Dowitcher 45. Long-billed Dowitcher 46. Ring-billed Gull 47. Western Gull 48. California Gull 49. Glaucous-winged Gull 50. Caspian Tern 51. Forster’s Tern 52. Rock Pigeon 53. Band-tailed Pigeon 54. Eurasian Collared-Dove 55. Mourning Dove 56. Vaux’s Swift 57. Black-chinned Hummingbird 58. Anna’s Hummingbird 59. Rufous Hummingbird 60. Belted Kingfisher 61. Acorn Woodpecker 62. Nuttall’s Woodpecker 63. Downy Woodpecker 64. Northern Flicker 65. Pacific-slope Flycatcher 66. Black Phoebe 67. Say’s Phoebe 68. Cassin’s Kingbird 69. Western Kingbird 70. Hutton’s Vireo 71. Western Scrub-Jay 72. American Crow 73. Northern Rough-winged Swallow 74. Tree Swallow 75. Barn Swallow 76. Cliff Swallow 77. Oak Titmouse 78. Bushtit 79. Red-breasted Nuthatch 80. White-breasted Nuthatch 81. Bewick’s Wren 82. House Wren 83. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 84. Western Bluebird 85. American Robin 86. Wrentit 87. Northern Mockingbird 88. California Thrasher 89. European Starling 90. Cedar Waxwing 91. Orange-crowned Warbler 92. Nashville Warbler 93. Yellow Warbler 94. Yellow-rumped Warbler 95. Black-throated Gray Warbler 96. Common Yellowthroat 97. Spotted Towhee 98. California Towhee 99. Song Sparrow 100. Dark-eyed Junco 101. Western Tanager 102. Black-headed Grosbeak 103. Red-winged Blackbird 104. Yellow-headed Blackbird 105. Brewer’s Blackbird 106. Great-tailed Grackle 107. Hooded Oriole 108. Bullock’s Oriole 109. Purple Finch 110. House Finch 111. Lesser Goldfinch 112. House Sparrow |