Heya,

On June 16th I had the great pleasure of having my good friend Anne Pellegrini- who also wrote a guest article for us- visit me for a few days of off and on birding in both Marin and Sonoma Counties. During her stay we visited several areas, including Mt. Tamalpais, the outer Point (Point Reyes National Seashore), and Spring Lake in Santa Rosa. Unfortunately, we did not come up with a total species tally, but what follows are some of the highlights.

On June 16th while hiking over Mount Tamalpais I heard a Spotted Owl calling, but only briefly. After a few minutes of searching we found an amazing sight…an adult female Spotted Owl with two of her recently fledged chicks directly above the trail! In fact we were able to lay down on the trail and look straight up at the birds. Quite often the chicks would look down at us in a “Peek-a-boo I see you” fashion, while the mother was quite unconcerned with our presence. Other highlights of that trail included Allen’s Hummingbirds, Violet-green Swallows, singing Swainson’s and Hermit Thrushes, and Wilson’s and Orange-crowned Warblers.

The next day found me with a day off, and the time to head to Spring Lake in Santa Rosa to chase after a few east-coast warblers that were present in the same community park. Arriving at the park in the early morning with windows down in the car it did not take long to hear the zzzzzeeeeeee-up of a Northern Parula singing in some cottonwoods near the lake. Rushing out of the car we were greeted with great looks of this diminutive warbler as it flitted between the tops of trees. Despite the flitty nature of the bird we were able to get a few good scope-able views. The next bird that we looked for was a Hooded Warbler, and as we rounded the lake to the previously mentioned location of the bird that others birders spotted it at, we were greeted with an emphatic a-wheat-a-wheat-a-wheate-o. This bird, like the parula was easy to find as it sang its loud song that rang through the understory taking me back to my days in Jersey. I tried to get a few “digiscope” pics of this bird through my binoculars, however, that was not possible as I have not quite gotten down the technique.

Other good birds at the lake included Green Herons (below), Violet-green Swallows, Pacific-slope Flycatchers, Black-headed Grosbeaks, and a single Yellow Warbler, my first for the year!

After that we headed to Point Reyes Station to get some oysters, but unfortunately, we were too late.

My final day on Sunday found me doing a local Point Count early in the morning. After that we headed out to the point for a final afternoon of chilling together, where we finally got a chance to get some oysters to celebrate my upcoming (at the time) 25th birthday (below). A few good birds were observed this day, but since Anne had to depart early in the evening we could not prolong the day.

Up until this point Anne and I have not had a chance to really get together this year since my return back to CA. It was great to spend time with her seeing as she has been a dear friend for nearly 5 years now, plus she is an excellent birder. I hope that this is not the last I get to spend time with her anytime soon before I return to NY.

~Chad (06/28/2006)