Led SFO group 7 "The Finches". We began at SSW and saw many of the common SSW birds that have been around. Highlights for the group were watching a DOWNY WOODPECKER drum on a hollow log which was very loud for such a small bird. There were at least 3 other downies in that area. We also heard a PILEATED WOODPECKER. There was one female GREEN-WINGED TEAL that Dave Nutter already mentioned. We had great views of this bird and her field marks. Female ducks can be tough when males are not around!! It was a good teaching moment as the size comparison between the female mallards and the GW teal was very apparent, plus the green fleck on the wing showed well with the small buffy patches on her rump.We also had a small flock of COMMON REDPOLLS come to the feeder for a while along with the other usual feeder birds there.
Next stop was Myer's Point where we had all three common species of gulls, MALLARDS, fly-over BLACK DUCKS, fly-over SCAUP sp and RING-NECKED DUCKS and 1 KILLDEER among a few other common birds. Best spot was the Myer's Point marina area where we had a nice flock of various waterfowl species. The birds were fairly close and the lighting was perfect. We had both GREATER and LESSER SCAUP, RING-NECKED DUCKS, REDHEAD, GADWALL, BUFFLEHEAD, HOODED MERGANSERS, COMMON MERGANSERS, BLACK DUCK and MALLARDS. We also had 2 AMERICAN WIGEON which were calling. An immature BALD EAGLE flew low over the tree tops. Ladoga had more aythya ducks, AMERICAN WIGEON, many AMERICAN COOTS, and all three merganser species. We met up with Meena's group here and Meena was able to find one lone male RED-BREASTED MERGANSER among some HOODED MERGANSERS fairly distant. No loons or grebes at these 3 spots. We totaled 48 species for the day. It was a great start to SFO despite the chilly winter like conditions. The students that take this class make it most worth it. We had a great time. This is going to be another great SFO year, that is my prediction! Dave Nicosia -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
