Several months ago, I embarked on a journey to rename 10 years-worth of bird photos. For each image, which includes both the JPG and RAW files, I added the four-letter bird species code. This would allow me to easily locate species I am targeting for a blog post, ID comparison, or to share on Facebook. It’s been a daunting task, but also a good learning experience.
I was worried that I would uncover cases of misidentification, especially in my earlier birding years. I haven’t tackled the Texas birds, with which I am frightfully unfamiliar. A case of misidentification will throw off my carefully maintained written and electronic life list. So far, so good (noting that I haven’t looked at Texas yet…).
Mystery Gull, 2016
I renamed and sorted through countless bird photos for months. In the end, I was left with 140 shots of birds I couldn’t immediately identify. Now the real sleuthing begins. It’s fun to crack open a field guide or two, research media online, and try to puzzle out the features which will all contribute to my continuing knowledge of birds. What fun!
Today my husband and I drove down to Fremont, which is one of our favorite birding areas. We heard that Bonaparte’s gulls were visiting Coyote Hills Regional Park (originally reported by local expert Jerry Ting), so we made sure to stop at this rich birding hotspot for the day’s birding destination.
We parked at the Quarry Staging Area and set-up our scope and tripod in preparation for seeking out water birds. The sun was still intensely warm – when will the cool autumn days finally arrive? I slathered on sunscreen while listening to the sweet, melancholy song of the nearby golden-crowned sparrows.
Near No Name Trail, Coyote Hills RP, 2018
The short walk to our destination featured deep blue sky and wispy clouds overhead. One by one, western meadowlarks flew by giving us a quick glance of their yellow stomachs. I spotted an American kestrel on a bare branch and watched as she preened herself. Through the scope, I could make out the brown-striped feathers and intricate head markings. It was beautiful to watch.
Digiscope of the American Kestrel, 2018
I was still in a grumpy mood about the unusually intense sun and lack of nearby shade, but that mood quickly shifted to excitement when we reached the aptly-named No Name Trail and spotted the Bonaparte’s gull. This little gull was in its winter plumage with its identifiable black “ear” patch and black bill against an otherwise white head. It was cute to watch as it slowly scanned the surface and gently dipped into the water to grab a morsel of food.
What I saw next made my heart leap. I was so focused on the gull that I neglected to see, or hear, the egrets close by. Typically, I’ll see a few together at a time. This time I saw nearly 150 snowy egrets squabbling with each other and several dozen great egrets focused on their seafood buffet, sponsored by the roaring water spewing out of a pipe. The noise of the egrets crabbing at each other was loud and I attempted to record it on my phone, but the powerful wind muddied my recording. Then another surprise. As we looked through the scope and binoculars, we spotted another Bonaparte’s gull! Then another, and another – wow ten! Wait, there’s more sitting on the water over there… Thirty in total! I was ecstatic to simply see one let alone dozens!
A variety of birds enjoying the flowing water. 2018
Snowy egrets, 2018.
We watched the birds for nearly an hour and decided to return to the car. We were delighted to watch a Say’s and black phoebe harass each other for the prized perching branch, spot house wrens in the bushes, and get a quick glance of a merlin as it flew off into the distance.
Entering bird sightings into eBird. Photo by Gabriel Olin, 2018.
