| These highlights chronicle the year 2015. Created incrementally as new photos were available, the year runs generally "backwards" on this page. The abbreviation "MTY" means "Monterey County" in the text below. Text by Don Roberson. Photos on this page are copyrighted by the photographers to whom they are attributed, and may not be reproduced in any form (including other web sites) without the express consent of the photographer. | ||||||||||||
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 Also late in May (21 May), Rick Fournier observed this Dusky-capped Flycatcher
(left © R. Fournier) in a restricted access revegetation progress
in Moss Landing, and not far from Moonglow Dairy. Spring records in
California are very few, with a couple migrants from April, but five
the State's wintering Dusky-caps lingered into May, and one of them to
24 May. A wintering bird at Moonglow Dairy, found 27 Dec 1995, remained
until 6 May 1996. This makes me wonder whether there was a wintering
Dusky-capped this year along the central coast that went unnoticed
until seen briefly by Rick Fournier on 21 May. |
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| Certainly
the major news of 2015 so far was the discovery of two first Monterey
County records at opposite ends of the MTY coast in mid-May. First, on
14 May, Greg Smith (a longtime San Luis Obispo birder) had fine views
of a Black Vulture circling with Turkey Vultures over
Hwy 1, just a mile north of the little town of Pacific Valley. This is
just 13 mi north of the MTY-SLO border. Details have been submitted to
the CBRC, but Greg had seen the Black Vulture that has been present in
the SLO-Santa Barbara area for some time, including as a yard bird at
his home! There have been coastal Black Vultures as far north as
Humboldt County, so it seemed only a matter of time before one was
found here. The second "first record" was right on the MTY-SCZ border at the Pajaro River mouth on 16 May, when John Garrett and Nicholas Kronick saw this Gull-billed Tern. It was first spotted flying along the beach on the Santa Cruz side, and landing there, but eventually flew farther south to roost for a time on the MTY side (photo below © John Garrett). This Gull-billed Tern provided a first record for both SCZ and for MTY counties. There have been only two prior records for northern California: in south San Francisco Bay (Santa Clara Co.) 3 May 2009and reappearing 18 May 2009 in nearby San Mateo Co., and this spring from 26 Apr-2 May 2015 (King Co.) in the San Joaquin Valley. |
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| Hummingbirds
staged unusually impressive migrations this spring. Good numbers of
Rufous and Black-chinned were widely reported, including a male
Black-chinned at a P.G. feeder, where it is quite rare, on 18 Apr (D.
Roberson). The generally scarce Costa's Hummingbird
made several appearances in Carmel Valley. A displaying male was along
Lilac Lane in Carmel Valley at least 3-9 May (above left © Bill
Hill), and then up to 3 Costa's per day visited Paul Fenwick's feeders
above Carmel Valley town, including this young male (above right ©
Paul Fenwick) that lingered for weeks. Normally our MTY Costa's are in
drier country in south county, so these so near the Peninsula were a
real treat. In last year's spring update I featured Calliope Hummingbird, since 9 were recorded that year. This spring we beat that record, with a minimum of ten Calliope Hummingbirds found in MTY (all of them males) between 14 April-17 May. Seven of the 10 were at feeders between the Monterey Peninsula and upper Carmel Valley. Perhaps this was an exceptional spring — the drought produced a shortage of wild forage? — or perhaps there are just more birders with feeders. Even the Monterey Peninsula got Calliopes — 3 in Monterey and one in Pacific Grove (that one is shown near the top of this page). Most were photographed but this was a favorite: a male Calliope waiting its turn while a pollen-sprinkled female Anna's sips at Paul Fenwick's feeders in Carmel Valley 4 May (photo below © Carole Rose). |
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More expected but nonetheless welcome was the reappearance of American Bittern on the pond at Zmudowski SB. First noted by Paul Fenwick on 7 Feb, at least two have been present thereafter (photo left from 12 Apr © Carole Rose). This pond has been the only known breeding location for bittern for the last decade, but had been missed here entirely for two years (last report Feb 2013). Also welcome in this year of continuing drought was a Common Gallinule at nearby McCluskey Slough, first found 26 March (Rita Carratello; photo below © Michael Rieser). A pair presumably nested here last year.
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 In late February most local birders came to see a male Red-naped Sapsucker
at Lagunita Mirada Park, Monterey, first discovered by Rita Carratello
on 17 Feb. Although first found in a large old willow at the NW corner
of the pond, later in the day a male was frequenting the younger bare
willow at the S end of the pond. It was at that latter location that a
male sapsucker was found off-and-on every day thereafter. However, on
27 Feb, two male Red-naped Sapsuckers were briefly on that tree — and
the dominant male immediately chased the other away. Review of
photographs revealed the the dominant male (shown at right on 27 Feb
© D. Roberson), with a restricted nape patch and a broken
post-ocular white stripe, preferred this south-side willow and defended
it vigorously (even if it was occasionally dislodged by a larger Acorn
Woodpecker). It has now been photographed by many observers. The
subordinate male, with an expansive red nape patch and an unbroken
post-ocular stripe, had been the first bird discovered on 17 Feb, and
was an infrequent visitor to the old willows along the west side of the
pond. So far the only photos of it are iPhone digiscoped shots at the
time of its discovery. Both males were actually found 17 Nov and were
present through the end of the month. This is the first time that two
Red-naped Sapsuckers have been present at the same place in MTY, even
if their interactions were rare. |
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Our other invading thrushes — Varied and robins — began dwindling with unseasonably hot weather, but not before Carole Rose photographed this startling partially-leucistic American Robin at Monterey's Presidio on 10 Feb (below © C. Rose).
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'Thick-billed' Fox Sparrow |
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| We
may have taken a step forward in solving a local mystery. It all began
in mid-November 2014 when Alex Rinkert reported a probable "Thick-billed" Fox Sparrow
potentially wintering at Loma Prieta, Santa Cruz Co., and then obtained
photos on 28 Dec. Meanwhile, on 27 Dec, a "Thick-billed" Fox Sparrow
was heard and seen at Chews Ridge, MTY (Logan Kahle, Paul Fenwick,
Cooper Scollan). And then on 8 Jan 2015, Justin Hite saw one in thick
montane chaparral along upper Cone Peak Road. So on 17 January, Rita
Carratello and I walked the 1.2 miles between the Cone Peak lookout
trailhead (at 3700' elev) to the end of the road (the North Coast Ridge
trailhead, at 4100' elev). This final 1.2 miles of road is on the sunny
south slopes and passes through dense manzanita chaparral (habitat shot
above). In this thick brushy habitat we had at least a half-dozen
"Thick-billed" Fox Sparrows — based on their distinctive 'tink' calls,
which recall California Towhee but are sharper and thinner (also no
Cal. Towhees seen here) — and I was able to photograph one of them
(above). Note the huge bill size (almost as thick at the base as it is
long, recalling a grosbeak); the ivory bill color (becoming yellow at
base of lower mandible); the plain and pale gray head and back
contrasting with red tail and wings; and the unique 'chevron-shaped'
spots on the breast. Until very recently it was not known if
"Thick-billed" Fox Sparrows (of the megarhynchus Group in
eBird) were regular in winter anywhere along the central coast. It now
appears that they may be found in thick montane chaparral on sunny,
steep slopes. This habitat is almost never visited in winter — in wet
winters, the roads to these spots in MTY would be impassable. I would also add — consistent with Rinker's experience in SCZ — that "Thick-billed" Fox Sparrows are incredibly shy. Of the 6+ we encountered, only this one perched up briefly for photos. The others responded to 'pishing' or playback of their 'tink' calls, but would not show themselves in the very thick brush, even when almost at your feet. In contrast, both "Sooty" and "Slate-colored" Fox Sparrows in that habitat — all giving typical Fox Sparrow "smak" calls — were much more responsive. [For more i.d. points, see my i.d. page on the four 'types' of Fox Sparrows in MTY.] With the discovery of "Thick-billed" Fox Sparrows in MTY this January, we now have the complete set of the four "types" of Fox Sparrows wintering in our county. These four may be split as different species sometime in the future. These four are shown in the panel below (all photos © D. Roberson). |
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Nelson's Sparrow is usually very shy and secretive, so often photos give us better views to study than what is glimpsed in the field. As it happens, Rita & I had the opportunity to view another very rare and secretive sparrow — Le Conte's Sparrow at Abbotts Lagoon on Pt. Reyes, Marin Co. — within just 5 days of photographing the Nelson's in Monterey Co. Because identification between the two can be problematic, it is fun to share the side-by-side photos in the panel below, and to compare similarities and differences. |
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The
most remarkable and unexpected rarity early this spring was in Pacific
Grove. On 16 April, Emmy Reese was in her second-floor 'tree-house'
room that overlooks Washington Park, and saw a huge dark bird fly by
and start calling. It flew down to work on the stump of a broken tree.
She called for her husband, Bill, but realized this was a Pileated Woodpecker and
it needed documentation! She located a camera and got this one photo
(above © Emmy Reese; vignette added by DR in production to
simulate a view out the window). Bill Reese arrived in time to see it
briefly before it flew off towards the east. Although promptly posted
to the BirdBox, and the efforts of many local birders, it was not seen
again. There are only about 10 records for MTY — none previous for the
Peninsula — and it still remains elusive for most county birders. The
Reeses think it appeared from the west — perhaps the coast? — and if so
it flew over our house, or Blake's house, or even Fred's house enroute
to Washington. Collectively we say aarrrggggg!
The influx of Townsend's Solitaire,
first noted in the mountains (see farther down this page), encompassed
the lowlands with one in Carmel Valley Village in January. First found
on Holman Road 11 Jan (Don Glasco), it frequented Brian Sullivan's yard
from 26-31 January (right, photo © Paul Fenwick). 
The first exciting find of 2015 was the discovery of one ... and then two .... Nelson's Sparrow
at high tide along Elkhorn Slough near Moonglow Dairy (ph © Sarah
Lane, above; © Rita Carratello, right; and following shots below).
One was first discovered by Rick Fournier and his field trip on 3
January, with the second bird seen with the first by Sarah Lane &
Jerry Stengel on 6 January. This very much recalls the situation in
winter of 2012-2013, when one on 29 Nov 2012 became two together by Feb
2013, and both lingered to the end of March 2013. Yet, not a single one
was located at the site in winter 2013-2014. Do we think the 2015 birds
are new arrivals? 
There
is just one record for LeConte's Sparrow in MTY — at Crespi Pond on 19
Oct 1974 (ph © Ronald L. Branson, right). That is over 40 years
ago! We are long overdue for another. Should you find one: take photos,
post to the BirdBox [831-250-4550], and post to MBB and/or eBird
immediately!