[EBB Sightings] Coyote Hills Regional Park , 10/27/08

Hi, all

Ginny Marshall, Rob Cullison, Jef Fairclough, and I, Laurie Graham, went to
Coyote Hills yesterday, and had a fabulous time. The weather was cool and
hazy. Due to the combination of bay, marsh, trees, and hills, we had a high
species count of 66, one of which we could not identify to our satisfaction.
This was a pair of falconidae, flying and perching above Hoot Hollow. By the
time we got the scope set up, they were gone. Their behavior reminded me of
juvenile sibling Cooper's Hawks seen at Corona Heights in SF: practicing
flight skills rather than harassing each other.

The pelicans were seen feeding in the bay, then flying over into North Marsh
to rest and preen. Northern Pintails flew out of the marsh in groups of 8 to
30, heading west, but there were still plenty on the water. Northern
Shovelers flew in from the south with a whirring noise that sounded like
miniature Blue Angels.

After lunch, we drove down to the Quarry Staging Area, where we had some
really good birds, including a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and a flock of Cedar
Waxwings. We walked out to Dairy Glen, where there was nothing happening.
Ginny said "There should be eagles here." A minute later, she and Jeff were
hollering "Golden Eagle, Golden Eagle!" and I was countering with
"Red-tailed Hawk!". The controversy was solved when the Red-tail knocked the
eagle to the ground. The eagle recovered and was harassed several more times
by the hawk, before flying off south. An exciting finish to the day.

Laurie Graham
South San Francisco

Location:     Coyote Hills Regional Park
Observation date:     10/27/08
8:10 am - 2:20 pm
2.5 miles
Number of species:     66

Gadwall     7
American Wigeon     8
Mallard     43
Northern Shoveler     750
Northern Pintail     1100
Green-winged Teal     86
Canvasback     3
Ruddy Duck     11
Ring-necked Pheasant     1
California Quail     1
Western Grebe     1
American White Pelican     175
Great Blue Heron     1
Great Egret     4
Snowy Egret     6
Turkey Vulture     4
White-tailed Kite     3
Northern Harrier     3
Red-tailed Hawk     7
Golden Eagle     1
American Kestrel     1
Merlin     1
Peregrine Falcon     1
American Coot     6
Killdeer     4
American Avocet     4
Greater Yellowlegs     8
Willet     2
Least Sandpiper     12
Long-billed Dowitcher     13
California Gull     10
Forster's Tern     50
Anna's Hummingbird     2
Nuttall's Woodpecker     1
Downy Woodpecker     1
Northern Flicker     1
Black Phoebe     11
Say's Phoebe     6
Loggerhead Shrike     1
Western Scrub-Jay     9
Chestnut-backed Chickadee     2
Bushtit     25
Bewick's Wren     3
Marsh Wren     1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet     5
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher     1
Swainson's Thrush     1
Hermit Thrush     1
Wrentit     2
Northern Mockingbird     1
Cedar Waxwing     20
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's)     3
Spotted Towhee     3
California Towhee     5
Savannah Sparrow     9
Fox Sparrow     1
Song Sparrow     4
Lincoln's Sparrow     2
White-crowned Sparrow     47
Golden-crowned Sparrow     15
Dark-eyed Junco     6
Red-winged Blackbird     9
Western Meadowlark     5
House Finch     10
American Goldfinch     1

This report was generated automatically by eBird
v2(http://ebird.org/california/)



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