10,000 Birds

JUNE 23, 2022

Any California-raised person knows that it just doesn’t rain in California in June. San Francisco averages two-tenths of an inch for the month, while San Jose only averages half that much. After all, in California in June, how much could it rain? Should I go anyway? I decided that I should.

San Francisco 147

San Francisco San Jose California Battery 147

Critter News

JULY 2, 2009

Things have been tough at the San Francisco Zoo after Tatiana the Siberian tiger attacked those three people in 2007. From the San Francisco Chronicle. Tags: zoos california san francisco tigers. Here's an article that explains the hard times the Zoo has faced since then. It's a long list.

San Francisco 100

San Francisco Zoos Tigers 2009 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 16, 2022

Last week, I wrote about my recent trip from my current home of Morelia, Mexico to my childhood home of the San Francisco Bay Area in the United States, and how several species can be found in both places, in spite of how far apart they are, and yet look quite different in each place. California Towhee. Canyon Towhee.

Mexico 204

Mexico San Francisco California United States 204

Critter News

MAY 8, 2009

San Francisco supervisors have passed a resolution supporting city restaurants that remove foie gras from their menus. California will be banning that awful stuff in about three years. Tags: meat california foie gras. Foie gras is the liver of a duck or a goose that has been specially fattened by force feeding.

Foie Gras 100

Foie Gras San Francisco Meat California 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 29, 2022

My recent brief trip to California made this strategy especially easy. First, California is two time zones further west, so I was able to get out the door at 8 a.m. San Mateo time). We were going to get together with my niece on our last evening in California, but she cancelled. California is weird.

San Francisco 147

San Francisco California Battery Ducks 147

10,000 Birds

MARCH 5, 2024

In fact, the overwhelming majority of federal land is in just 11 western states (Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming). These include: Hawaiian Islands NWR , Farallon Islands NWR near San Francisco, Alaska Maritime NWR , and Channel Islands NP near Santa Barbara.

Virgin Islands 219

Virgin Islands Alaska United States Endangered Species 219

10,000 Birds

APRIL 26, 2014

This was a family vacation and I had led my unsuspecting wife and son out onto the curving pier at Aquatic Park, overlooking San Francisco Bay, ostensibly to get a better look at Alcatraz and the bridge, but actually with half a mind to finding a Wandering Tattler. Birding Birds California San Francisco Wandering Tattler'

San Francisco 165

San Francisco United States California Breeding 165

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 21, 2015

At the Northwest corner of San Francisco is Point Lobos. Heermann’s Gulls form large breeding colonies on arid islands in the Gulf of California, Mexico, from March through July. Here’s one last look at the adult Heermann’s Gull landing on the beach in San Francisco. www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUBX_tlHySc.

San Francisco 159

San Francisco North America Seals Sanctuary 159

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2015

Can California Condors be taught to avoid the dangers of power lines ? Staff from the San Diego Zoo think so. The best guess scientists have about the “mystery goo” that sickened hundreds of birds in San Francisco Bay earlier this year is “a polymerized oil similar to a vegetable oil.”

California Condor 166

California Condor San Diego San Francisco Ghana 166

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 7, 2013

The individuals above were seen at the top of the tide, pushed hard against the shore of San Francisco Bay. Below are birds from a small flock which were picking along the rocks by the AT&T Park, The San Francisco Giants Stadium, at the bottom of Third Street.

San Francisco 157

San Francisco Sea Lions Lions California 157

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 7, 2023

During the 70s my list grew slowly but surely thanks to European holidays, but in 1978 it received its first major boost with a holiday in California. I can still recall the thrill of that first morning outside San Francisco, surrounded by new birds.

Sri Lanka 239

Sri Lanka Kenya San Francisco Greece 239

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 30, 2011

I moved to San Francisco from Minnesota 12 years ago. It was kindled by my grandmother when I was a child but lay dormant until I’d spent enough time in San Francisco to feel at home. Now I’ve moved to Bolinas, just north of San Francisco and water is now big part of my life.

San Francisco 211

San Francisco California Condor Coyotes Iceland 211

10,000 Birds

APRIL 10, 2015

In 2013, California voted to add this tiny estrildid finch to the California state list, and the ABA Checklist Committee also followed suit. Red-masked Parakeet is found in several major cities in California and Florida. Birding California parakeets Florida parakeets Miami birding' They were right!

Los Angeles 154

Los Angeles Miami San Francisco Florida 154

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 26, 2012

In January 1971, two oil tankers collided under the Golden Gate Bridge, spilling more than 800,000 gallons of crude oil into the San Francisco Bay. This 12,000 square-foot facility, completed in February 2001, is one of the two primary oiled bird facilities built by the Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN) in California.

Bird Rescue 204

Bird Rescue Rescue San Francisco Birds 204

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 8, 2019

Before I moved north to Portland, I lived in San Francisco. Off the coast of northern California, Sooty Shearwater are common and are seen on virtually all pelagic birding trips. Patch birding is rewarding because the birds become familiar, as do the changes across the seasons. There is satisfaction in the everyday.

San Francisco 132

San Francisco Portland Whales Whaling 132

10,000 Birds

MAY 26, 2012

Anna’s Hummingbird is resident in California, up through Oregon and into Washington and during the colder months will certainly be the most frequently seen hummer in the area. This individual was seen at close quarters in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park during a recent visit.

San Francisco 210

San Francisco Oregon Washington California 210

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 9, 2020

I doubt that would be true if I still lived in California. I have seen Mallards in places as distant as San Francisco and Munich. The Clark’s Grebe was split from the Western Grebe in 1985; our grebes here are Clark’s, but I have seen Westerns in southern California. A male Mallard from Munich.

San Diego 181

San Diego San Francisco Mexico Baltimore 181

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 30, 2012

Recently a Fork-tailed Flycatcher was reported from a park in San Francisco, a long ways away from its home in Central and South America. Pin-tailed Whydah at Sutro Heights Park, San Francisco, CA. Fork-tailed Flycatcher is a vagrant that ABA Area birders unashamedly lust for.

San Francisco 172

San Francisco San Diego Connecticut South America 172

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 13, 2018

I am a westerner who has lived in San Francisco and Portland my entire birding life. Although not a birding trip, before we moved from San Francisco to Portland, my wife and I did a long road trip across the United States, covering 12,000 miles and 34 states, from California to Florida to Maine to Montana.

San Francisco 100

San Francisco Portland United States Puerto Rico 100

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. Trips Birding California lighthouse point reyes' Migrating Gray Whales.

Seals 191

Seals Elephants Whales Whaling 191

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

I write to you this September from San Francisco, California. Chestnut-sided Warblers have been showing up in unusually high numbers in parts of California this fall. This, the last week of September, is the holiest week of the year for California birders. Photographed at White Lake, North Dakota.

San Francisco 161

San Francisco North Dakota California Albatross 161

10,000 Birds

MAY 9, 2017

Although some of the most popular Pacific pelagic trips depart from Monterey Bay in California, there are also regular trips out of Half Moon Bay, California; Newport, Oregon; and Westport, Washington. Channel Islands NP , also in California, supports most of the other 50%. The target birds tend to be similar.

Albatross 139

Albatross Hawaii Alaska Puerto Rico 139

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 23, 2011

If you live north of the San Francisco Bay area in California like I do, or north of Delaware on the east coast, you would most likely be looking at a Greater Yellowlegs. I actually find that a pretty good way to make the identification a bit easier. I must say, however, that geography can play a role also. Crossley, R.,

San Francisco 165

San Francisco Delaware Jordan New York 165

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 24, 2012

One Seagull Steve was living in San Francisco, on a birding hiatus. Instead of prowling the disgusting shores of Lake Merced for vagrant warblers, he had spent the fall in a haze of scumbaggery and debauchery in seedy bars and filthy apartments across San Francisco. Let me start from the beginning. It was the year 2010.

San Francisco 161

San Francisco Sea Lions California Lions 161

Critter News

NOVEMBER 16, 2008

From the website : Just after sunrise on Halloween, a sole trick or treater descended on the home of University of California-San Francisco primate vivisector Stephen Lisberger. As Stephen and his wife Chieko slept in San Francisco, tubes of superglue were used to fill his front door locks.

Primates 100

Primates San Francisco Animal Welfare Act Research 100

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.

Wildlife 159

Wildlife San Francisco Sacramento North Dakota 159

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2012

This individual was seen during a recent visit to San Francisco while I was looking for a Great Horned Owl’s nest in Golden Gate Park. All the birds seen today were males. If the females had shown, they would have been similarly marked but less vividly than the highly contrasting patterns of the males.

San Francisco 217

San Francisco North America Owls America 217

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2014

as well as a rare mammal, the California fisher. RATS persuades local governments to pass anti-poison resolutions using facts, figures, photos, and a Claymation video ( “Raptor Blues” ) made by high school student Ian Timothy (which, Lisa observes, often makes people ‘get it’ far faster than the written word).

Rats 246

Rats Barn Owls Rodents San Francisco 246

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.

San Francisco 100

San Francisco Shelters Canada California 100

Critter News

OCTOBER 10, 2010

Tags: california san francisco marine life marine animals whales krill.

Whales 100

Whales Whaling San Francisco Marine Life 100

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2012

San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park is rich in bird feeders and the jays find rich pickings. Though Steller’s Jay is usually associated with western coniferous forests, it can be found in many different habitats as well as town parks and gardens were they will take advantage of food left out during the winter.

San Francisco 182

San Francisco Sparrows Ducks Birds 182

10,000 Birds

APRIL 30, 2019

Paul Lewis moved from California to Mexico 36 years ago. My first birding period was over 40 years ago, in the San Francisco Bay Area. But then I moved to Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, which has almost no opportunities to see interesting species (except for a good population of burrowing owls).

San Francisco 117

San Francisco Mexico Turkey California 117

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

In January 2008, a day after hurricane force winds raked the coast of Northern California, another juvenile Magnificent Frigatebird turned up in the small town of Healdsburg, on the Russian River, hundreds of miles north of where frigatebirds are found. Like it or not, you’re the resident “expert” now.

Los Angeles 246

Los Angeles Killing Wildlife Rehabilitation San Francisco 246

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 17, 2016

Once we said our good-byes to Oregon we headed to Crescent City, California, in the northwestern edge of the state, from which we explored Redwoods National Park and the plethora of state parks in the area. Then Daisy and I spent the afternoon being tourists in San Francisco before I dropped her at the airport that evening.

Idaho 105

Idaho Colorado Wyoming San Francisco 105

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 21, 2012

Interesting to learn, for example, that in 1885 more than five million birds were killed in the United States for the millinery industry, and that in 1904 market hunters in Oregon killed over 120 tons of waterfowl for the restaurant trade in San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle.

Hunters 201

Hunters Oregon San Francisco Portland 201

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 5, 2016

But what I have long wanted to do is get out on a boat in California, the fabled land of albatrosses, murrelets, and auklets. California: if you can make it here well, that’s actually not that impressive because if you can’t make it as a birder in California you must really suck. Sadly, it was the best that I got.

Whales 112

Whales Whaling Albatross Dolphins 112

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2015

I doubt we have to worry about Herring Gulls , Ruby-throated Hummingbirds or California Towhees going extinct, though their abundance and distribution will surely shift in time. Here in California, we have had yet another dry, very warm winter. As deserts expand, birds suited to arid climates may be just fine. It’s that simple.

North America 222

North America Birds San Francisco Suffering 222