California Groups San Francisco Species 
10,000 Birds
MAY 3, 2024
On Tuesday, my wife and I travelled 1750 miles (2,800 km) from our home of thirty years in Morelia, to the region in which I grew up, the San Mateo Peninsula of the San Francisco Bay Area in California. According to my list, which somehow ended up being the official group list, we saw 41 species in about four hours.
10,000 Birds
MARCH 14, 2017
The air was cooler in the Redwood Grove than the surrounding, sunlit areas of the San Francisco Botanical Garden. The place was full of parents with toddlers, kindergarten school groups, and walkers like us. Only, wait, did Winter Wrens live in California? Still, a lifebird was on the way. Pacific Wren.
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10,000 Birds
NOVEMBER 4, 2015
As I always do on the way home, following a short visit to the San Francisco Bay Area, I take in at least one of the National Wildlife Refuges (NWR) found in the Sacramento Valley. California is blessed with 51 NWRs and Wildlife Management Areas (WMA), second only to North Dakota with 77. Click on photos for full sized images.
10,000 Birds
APRIL 7, 2015
California is big. I only had a few days in California while visiting my brother at Berkeley, but we couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to visit one of the most famous birding sites in the country: Point Reyes National Seashore. The road was lined with scrub and short trees, and I spotted not one but two new sparrow species.
10,000 Birds
JULY 5, 2017
We had been at sea for 5 days and 5 nights, over 100 miles off shore, sailing non-stop from the USA-Canada border to San Francisco. We encountered a vicious storm, that convinced us the take a break, find some shelter, and head into Eureka, California.
10,000 Birds
AUGUST 27, 2013
The last thing you want to do is ignore certain subspecies just because you’ve seen another one; in other words, skip looking for a Northern Fulmar off Maine just because you’ve seen them off California. Clapper Rail: A recent study suggests the world’s Clapper Rails should be split into 3 species (maybe more?),
10,000 Birds
DECEMBER 9, 2020
For, in birder lingo, a split occurs when subspecies are determined to be, in fact, entirely separate species. If you happen to have seen both species, your life list can increase without you even leaving the house. Two former species can also be joined into one, the same way. And there was great rejoicing thoughout the land!)
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