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Here is the report of our trip which Mary Beth sent to CALBIRD. It is
much better then I could do. The 13th bird was the SABINE'S GULL which
did not get a positive ID until we got back home. Nice surprise.

Jerry Converse



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Date: Sat, 19 Sep 1998 21:20:00 EDT
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Subject: <CALBIRD> Sabine's Gull at Robb Field (buried in this report...)
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Reply-To: MiriamEagl at aol.com

Hello, Cal and SD Birders!

Posting day trips can be dangerous: a couple from eastern Washington (Jerry
and Sandy Conberse) read my report of last Tuesday covering the southern
coastal area and said, "That's it! We're going to San Diego this weekend!"
They're fairly new birders (a year into it) and 18 of the birds I listed were
lifers for them, hence the sudden decision to migrate. So I picked them up
this morning to do a modified repeat of Tuesday's trip.

We started at Tijuana Slough NWR under a cloudy sky, taking first the trail
from the visitor's center. Happily, the Clapper Rails were just as
extroverted today as they were last week, and Jerry just missed getting a
cracking shot of one fighting with a fish! (The bird had eaten it before he
got his camera on it...) Otherwise most of the birds were the same, except
that the Tricolored Heron didn't show. The Red Knots flew in, which were
lifers for them. Say's Phoebe was different, and the friendly little Black
was a lifer as well!

Down at the end of Seacoast Drive they were having a Cleanup Day, so we scoped
the estuary; nothing out of the oridinary. At the beach, however, many birds
were flying by, including a dark shearwater fairly close to shore (that kept
dipping behind the trough)! I'm assuming Sooty just because that's more
likely, but I suppose one can't rule out Short-tailed, especially around here.
Also had a Western Grebe in the surf and several Brandt's Cormorants.

Took the 5th Street Trail down to the mouth after that, where at the parking
area another lifer awaited them: Cassin's Kingbird! The usual meadowlarks and
Song Sparrows greeted us (they were taken aback by our more strikingly-
patterned birds; the Washington birds are dark enough to make good Fox Sparrow
wannabes), and on the fence, all in a row, sat a Say's Phoebe, a Black Phoebe,
a Loggerhead Shrike, and an Osprey!

At the mouth itself the Elegant Terns weren't at my feet as before, but a few
individuals eventually showed up and flew around "keer-rick"ing for Sandy and
Jerry's enjoyment. Another lifer, a Common Tern still in breeding plumage
(except for the bill; it was rather dark) sat on a stick next to a Forster's,
the one usurping the other occasionally. Marbled Godwits and Willets blended
in with the rocks, and the usual mob of pelicans, cormorants, and Western
Gulls hung out off to the side.

After a bite to eat we headed up to Robb Field, where the tide was higher than
before (no Snowy Plovers :-( ), but several more Common Terns in various
stages of plumage were there for good studies, and many more Elegant Terns
flew in for excellent views. Now here's the laugh of the day, gang: in
amongst the shorebirds (mostly Black-bellied Plovers) was a shorebird directly
facing me, about the same size as the plovers, with totally white underparts,
mottley wings (from what I could see, which was only the "wrists"), and some
brownish on the crown, the bill firmly tucked away in the back, but with
bright orange legs! Of course with those legs I thought, "Gads! Could we
have a Ruff here?!" I put the scope on it and ran back to the car for my
other lens to shoot a picture through the scope, and had Jerry and Sandy look
at it, but by the time I got back I couldn't find it anywhere! But what I DID
find was an immature Black Skimmer that had in the meantime turned
sideways....

But on a more serious note, in the gull flock that was closer to the other
side of the channel was a gull that totally had me stumped: smaller than the
Westerns, it had the feel of a Franklin's Gull, with the same small dark bill
and smudge around the eye, but the crown, hindneck, and back were dull brown!
The greater coverts were light gray, like a giant gray speculum bordered in
darker brown. The primaries were black; I could not see the tail, nor did the
bird fly. The legs were pinkish; the face, throat, and underparts were white.
The only "match" I could find was a first year SABINE'S GULL, and after
running my description past Guy McCaskie later he sounded confident that
that's undoubtedly what it was. Obviously, had the bird flown it would have
been obvious what it was, but this plumage was a first for me!

Headed up to San Elijo Lagoon after that to get some landbirds as well as
waterbirds, and unfortunately most of the titllating things spoke but never
showed. Sandy got a fleeting view of her life Anna's Hummingbird as it sang
like crazy then flew once she spotted it. More Elegant Terns were in the
lagoon, as well as plenty of juvenile Great Blue Herons, a few stilts, many
Shovelers, and one Cinnamon Teal at the far end. A dark Peregrine Falcon
circled overhead, and the California Gnatcatchers mewed once and retreated.
What would have been their life California Thrasher sang but never came out
(something flew that I suspect was it).

It was getting warm by the time we were done, but they had racked up 12
lifers, which they said was the most they had ever gotten at one time (aside
from their first field trip out, of course)!

Bird List:

Pied-billed Grebe Podilymbus podiceps
Western Grebe Aechmophorus occidentalis
Sooty (probably) Shearwater Puffinus griseus
Brandt's Cormorant Phalacrocorax penicillatus
Double-crested Cormorant Phalacrocorax auritus
Brown Pelican Pelecanus occidentalis
Mallard Anas platyrhynchos
Cinnamon Teal Anas cyanoptera
Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata
Snowy Egret Egretta thula
Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias
Great Egret Ardea alba
Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
Osprey Pandion haliaetus
Northern Harrier Circus cyaneus
Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis
American Kestrel Falco sparverius
Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus
Clapper Rail Rallus longirostris
Sora Porzana carolina
American Coot Fulica americana
Marbled Godwit Limosa fedoa
Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus
Long-billed Curlew Numenius americanus
Greater Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca
Willet Catoptrophorus semipalmatus
Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres
Short-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus griseus
Red Knot Calidris canutus
Western Sandpiper Calidris mauri
Least Sandpiper Calidris minutilla
Dunlin Calidris alpina
Black-necked Stilt Himantopus mexicanus
American Avocet Recurvirostra americana
Black-bellied Plover Pluvialis squatarola
Killdeer Charadrius vociferus
Heermann's Gull Larus heermanni
Ring-billed Gull Larus delawarensis
California Gull Larus californicus
Western Gull Larus occidentalis
Herring Gull Larus argentatus
Sabine's Gull Xema sabini
Caspian Tern Sterna caspia
Elegant Tern Sterna elegans
Common Tern Sterna hirundo
Forster's Tern Sterna forsteri
Black Skimmer Rynchops niger
Rock Dove Columba livia
Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
Anna's Hummingbird Calypte anna
Say's Phoebe Sayornis saya
Black Phoebe Sayornis nigricans
Cassin's Kingbird Tyrannus vociferans
Western Scrub-jay Aphelocoma californica
American Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos
Northern Raven Corvus corax
Loggerhead Shrike Lanius ludovicianus
California Thrasher Toxostoma redivivum
European Starling Sturnus vulgaris
Marsh Wren Cistothorus palustris
House Wren Troglodytes aedon
California Gnatcatcher Polioptila californica
Bushtit Psaltriparus minimus
Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
Wrentit Chamaea fasciata
House Sparrow Passer domesticus
House Finch Carpodacus mexicanus
Common Yellowthroat Geothlypis trichas
Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia
Savannah Sparrow Passerculus sandwichensis
Spotted Towhee Pipilo maculatus
California Towhee Pipilo crissalis
Western Meadowlark Sturnella neglecta
Brewer's Blackbird Euphagus cyanocephalus

74 SPECIES

Mary Beth Stowe
San Diego, CA
MiriamEagl at aol.com


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