Two days after my return, on the 6th of July, helped a bit by my jetlag, I woke up and got outside before the sunrise to look for wildlife. With the start of fall migration, the first of the shorebirds were moving south, consisting mostly of Wilson's Phalaropes, dowitchers, and the smaller peeps. And with the start of giant flocks of shorebirds, it was the start of another season of fruitlessly scanning said giant flocks for that one rarity mixed in, hoping for eternal glory given by a first county record of Red-necked Stint or the cheers of adoring fans over a distant blurry picture just barely showing the diagnostic characteristics of a Spotted Redshank. Not really though.
Part of a gorgeous sunrise at good old Salt Pond A2E
A2E also had my first sightings of this year's California Gull progeny who had grown up while I was out of the country. Although these are essentially fully grown and definitely not as cute as the fuzz balls they were as they hatched, it was still nice seeing that that there was success in this species, unlike the Heermann's Gull, which apparently failed this year due to El Niño's effect in the Gulf of California.
More cute baby birds this time. One of the few (4) species of waders that actually nest in the county: the Black-necked Stilt.
I was greeted at Alviso by, as I had expected, giant flocks of shorebirds. Here are some Wilson's Phalarope.
Here are a few more Wilson's Phalarope. There were also several thousand more just outside this frame and in other areas of the park.
Gorgeous skies
In addition to the magnificent flocks of phalaropes, there were also these huge swarms of gnats swirling over the saltmarsh
More gnats with a feeding Barn Swallow acrobatically swooping through
Pseudasopia phoezalis, a lovely pyralid that was a pleasant surprise on my tripod.
Juvenile Black-necked Stilt just by the boardwalk. A beautiful state of plumage it's in right now, with the iridescent-black wings contrasting strikingly with the pure white front in addition to the lovely chestnut edges on the back and mantle feathers.
Killdeer chick at the Sunnyvale WPCP
7/12/15
Apparently people can be jetlagged for periods of time longer than a week! Such was the case for Helen and Stuart, who continued waking up at 5 am in California time. Fortunately, this worked out in my favor as Stuart offered to take us birding on the morning of the 12th. A mooched car ride is always a ride to take, so, of course I happily agreed. We decided a morning hike slow walk at Calero Reservoir County Park would be nice and so, our adventure began.
Widow Skimmer (Libellula luctuosa), always nice to see perched.
Some delightful Funnel Web Spider
Hello there. Newly fledged birds like this Western Bluebird are always so great to see with their curious attitudes (little guy flew over and landed on the post) and awkward plumage.
Look at that fleshy gape! Also, this picture was uncropped, showing how close that sucker was.
While we continued walking on the trail, Stuart pointed out at a large flying bird which I managed to miss at first. Turned out to be the oh-so-mainstream patriotic Bald Eagle.
Pathetically enough, I must admit that this is my first Bald Eagle of California...
My second Bald Eagle of California came flying overhead a few minutes later.
Some unidentified member of Heliothinae.
Unidentified Crab Spider species waiting patiently for an insect to land on this Tarweed blossom.
Double-crested Cormorant chilling with Red-eared Slider and Mallards (behind the rock). #squad
7/14/15
Exactly two years prior to this date, I was poking around Palo Alto with a friend on a boring summer's day. It just happened so that on that day, I would see a Belted Kingfisher sitting on a telephone wire. I was astounded to be in the presence of a majestic hunter I knew, but previously thought only fished in pristine rivers much farther away from civilization. All of a sudden, birds seemed to become more accessible and my lifelong fascination with them rose to a new level. Later that day, I set up my ebird account (which I just happened to learn about a few days prior from my friend Samuel Bressler) and entered my first checklist.
Fast forward two years, and although I still do not at all consider myself to be a "great" birder, I do believe that I have risen slightly out of mediocrity and continue to improve every day. Additionally, I have gained so many unforgettable experiences in diverse locations ranging from offshore California waters to deciduous forest of Upstate New York to roadside steppe in Kazakhstan. Seriously, I'm so unbelievably lucky to first of all, just live in the Bay Area, for (in addition to many other things) its great wildlife as well as to have been able to travel so much and to have met such amazing people along the way.
Anyways, that was my little rant thing and long story short: happy 2 year bird anniversary to me!
On the 14th, I again got up before the sunrise and biked out to Alviso in attempt to find something awesome to celebrate this special date. At 5:40 am while still biking out of residential Palo Alto towards Shoreline, I saw my first memorable animal of the day, with a super cute Striped Skunk running across the road (too quick for pictures).
Sunrise at Shoreline
Birding takes you to water treatment plants and makes you realize how beautiful they are (sometimes).
Young California Gulls at the Alviso levee breeding colonies
Meh composition but seriously the day was beautiful.
More reflections and shit. It's really great to be alive.
Not everyday that I get to be this up close and personal with a Wilson's Phalarope. Good luck to this bird as it continues it epic journey south towards some high mountain lake in the Andes. Say hi to the Andean Lapwing for me.
As I passed through the Sunnyvale Baylands on the way home, I noticed a couple Red Saddlebags flying around, a life dragonfly! This normally southern species has apparently been making a large northward push in 2015, with individuals even reaching Oregon for the first time ever. In addition to this beautiful insect, I also saw several Wandering Gliders, another highly migratory odonate species.
Although I didn't see any new birds, the day was still a great day to be out with gorgeous everything. Hopefully my third full year of birding will be filled with these times. Anyways, thanks for reading and enjoy life and love nature!
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