Date: 10/20/25 9:17 pm From: Ethan Monk via groups.io <z.querula...> Subject: [EBB-Sightings] Pt. San Pablo/Molate flight 10/18
A bit of a late report, but to be complete, and perhaps especially of
interest for other "flight-watchers" in the Bay...
On the 18th with clear skies and ~7-10mph NE wind at dawn, I headed to Pt.
San Pablo to watch flight. I was there from 7:18 to 9:38, which is
basically an identical time and the identical date as a similar
exercise last year. Completely coincidental. I reported that email to the
listserv and reply to it with this one, so that list can be found below.
Some counts of note:
B-t Pigeon: 1
Gr-Yellowlegs: 3
Hairy Woodpecker: 1 local, uncommon here
Northern flicker (no ssp./R-S/intergrade): 5/9/5
Say's: 1
Tree Swallow: 2 adults, unusual, in my experience VG swallows are by far
the dominant swallow on the Richmond bayshore in Oct. I have seen Tree
rarely before in Oct.
Starling: 98
Varied Thrush :18
Hermit Thrush: one in active migration; it is rare (for me) to see Catharus
actively migrating during the day.
Robin: 113
Waxwing: 41
Pipit: 19
Purple Finch: 14
Siskin: 2
Lawrence's Goldfinch: 2 flying over early in morning, ea. one separated by
~30 min. Later in morning, a pair came in together and landed on the hill,
where they spent a while before heading off. So four total.
Am. Gol: 2
Meadowlark: 3
R-w Blackbird: 6
R-w/Tricolored: 22
Cowbird: 1 male
Brewer's: 15
Y-r Warbler, no ssp: 24
Myrtle: 19, I was surprised to have this many.
Audubon's: 19.
A challenging count today. Some days, most of the things are going one way,
some days not. Many birds migrate up the peninsula coming from Richmond and
cross into Marin, but many turn around and head back. The first flock of
robins I saw on this day (~20 birds) headed up the point past me, heading
as if to cross the bay into Marin. 2-3 minutes later, ~20 robins came back
going south towards Richmond... oh, the flock must have turned around when
it was out of sight. About 30 seconds later came a flock of 30 Robins,
coming from Marin, going towards Richmond.
While I am here, some other Richmond odds and ends from recently. Oct. 15th
with Derek Heins, a late Warbling Vireo and a Yellow Warbler were at Booker
T. Anderson. Also October 15th, was a Bewick's Wren singing vigorously from
the dog park cypresses west of the parking lot at Pt. Isabel. This is the
only Bewick's Wren I have ever seen here in now well over 100 visits. The
Bewick's Wren was not present the 12th. Some of you keeping track will have
been aware of the group of 6-10 R-n Phalaropes at Landfill Loop. The 12th
there were 17 of them. On the water were plenty G-w Gulls and some mutts. I
pinned down Olympic and Cook Inlet among them. An arrival nominate type
Red-winged Blackbird was with a flock of bicoloreds that same date at
Landfill Loop (and while this paragraph is about Richmond, the 11th there
was an arrival nominate male at Holland Tract). And going way back to the
4th, there was a Common Poorwill in the scrub at Miller/Knox. I have seen
Common Poorwill once before in Richmond, also October 4th, but in 2020, at
Booker T. Anderson.
Best,
Ethan Monk
On Fri, Oct 18, 2024 at 8:41 PM Ethan Monk <z.querula...> wrote:
> Given strong N/NE winds over night, I headed to Pt. Molate to see what
> would fly over. I sat in one spot from 7:05-9:40, after which point the
> flight died considerably. Below are some counts of note:
> Wigeon-2
> Band-t Pigeon: 50
> Collared-Dove: 1
> Turkey Vulture: 65
> Sharp-shinned: 1
> Bald Eagle: 1
> Red-tailed Hawk: 3
> Flicker: 28, 4 of these looking to be "intergrades"
> Merlin: 1
> Peregrine: 1
> Say's: 1
> G-c Kinglet: 3
> Starling: 49
> Varied Thrush: 3
> Waxwing: 9
> Pipit: 17
> Purple Finch: 11
> LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCH: 1
> White-throated Sparrow: 1
> Savannah Sparrow: 16
> Meadowlark: 322
> R-w Blackbird: 56
> R-w/Tricolored: 1
> Brewer's Blackbird: 112
> Blackbird sp. : 26
> Yellow-rumped Warbler (no ssp. determined): 28
> Myrtle Warbler: 2
> Audubon's Warbler: 24
>
> From my watch, I observed the "Seattle Harmony" head under the Richmond
> Bridge and north into San Pablo Bay, being trailed by 12 Heermann's Gulls,
> the most Heermann's I had ever seen in the East Bay... and then later in
> the morning along the same route came the (much less imaginatively named)
> "Petrochem Supplier" being trailed by about 40 Heermann's Gulls!
>
> On a different note, Anna's Hummingbirds in the winter and spring make a
> high pitched, descending "peer!" call while perched. The literature as far
> as I can find calls this a juv. begging call. I don't think this is right,
> but either way, I heard my first Anna's "peers" of the season this
> afternoon at Meeker Slough.
>
> Otherwise, some passerine migrants are hanging on, I had a smattering of
> Yellow Warblers around today and one Warbling Vireo, on the late side now,
> at Booker T. Anderson.
>
> Ethan Monk
>
