Birding at Chain of Lakes (SF)

Saturday was the 3rd field trip w/my fellow Field Ornithology students, led by our instructor, Joe Morlan, and we had a good outing, although no rarities were seen.

A banded Red-tailed Hawk at Middle Lake

A cancer fundraising run was also in this area of the park, and while I certainly support any and all efforts to find a cure for any and all cancers, it did make for quieter birding than usual, since there were several thousand more people in the area than on most other days.

We met up at the parking lot between South Lake and Middle Lake on Chain Of Lakes Drive in Golden Gate Park.  Since there were so many people afoot, South Lake, not very birdy in my experience on the best of days, had only a few Mallards in it, so we headed to Middle Lake.

A clearing by the lake, at which I’ve often seen Chickadees, Creepers, and various Warblers was eerily quiet, with a Great Blue Heron standing sentinel in the reeds, and little else.  A Red-tailed Hawk perched on a tree by the lake, and through a scope we could almost, but not quite, read its band numbers.

 
Crossing guard for the cancer walk/run

Some American Coots and a Pied-billed Grebe foraged at the lake’s edge, and a female-type Northern Pintail swam alone by the south shore, and that being about that, we continued to North lake.  The south end of North Lake was also quiet, with Mallards and Coots and a(nother?) Great Blue Heron.  Things picked up on the northwest side, though, with a Hairy Woodpecker, many flycatching Yellow-rumped Warblers, a spiffy male Common Yellowthroat, and the usual myriad Black Phoebes.

Neat orange’ish spider at North Lake

We took a short break from birding to admire some large spiders that had congregated along the path – I don’t know my arachnids, but these were pretty.  Someone suggested a detour to the forest west of North Lake, and this proved the most productive spot of the day.

 
Northern “Red-shafted” Flicker

The sparse coniferous forest (human-planted, like everything else in Golden Gate Park)  is great habitat, and in short order we saw Norther Flickers, Common Ravens, a Red-tailed Hawk (possibly the same one from Middle Lake) a small flock of Cedar Waxwings, Brown Creepers, Pygmy Nuthatches, and yet more Yellow-rumped Warblers.   A little walking turned up both White-crowned and Golden-crowned Sparrows, along with a Hermit Thrush and a California Towhee.  A Turkey Vulture soared overhead, and several American Robins foraged in the pine duff.

 
Cedar Waxwings

We made our way back to North Lake and walked around the east side, not seeing much at all, although an obliging Anna’s Hummingbird did hang around long enough for photo ops.

 
Anna’s Hummingbird

Next we walked around the equine area west of Middle Lake, a part of the park I hadn’t visited before.   It’s not especially scenic, with some equipment storage sheds and horse corrals, but we did get a great look at a Lincoln’s Sparrow, which came uncharacteristically close before running off into a shady wood tangle.

Lincoln’s Sparrow

It was nearly noon by this time, and so we returned to the lot and went our separate ways.  This was a fun outing, and considering the crowds in the park, was still pretty birdy.

Birds seen (37 species):
– American Coot
– American Crow
– American Goldfinch
– American Robin
– Anna’s Hummingbird
– Black Phoebe
– Brown Creeper
– California Towhee
– Cedar Waxwing
– Chestnut-backed Chickadee
– Common Raven
– Common Yellowthroat
– Dark-eyed “Oregon” Junco
– Downy Woodpecker
– Golden-crowned Sparrow
– Great Blue Heron
– Great Egret
– Hermit Thrush
– Lincoln’s Sparrow
– Mallard
– Northern “Red-shafted” Flicker
– Northern Pintail
– Pied-billed Grebe
– Pygmy Nuthatch
– Red-shouldered Hawk
– Red-tailed Hawk
– Ruby-crowned Kinglet
– Ruddy Duck
– Song Sparrow
– Steller’s Jay
– Townsend’s Warbler
– Turkey Vulture
– Western Gull
– Western Scrub-Jay
– White-crowned Sparrow
– Yellow-rumped “Audubon’s” Warbler