Fast moving Canada Warbler in Point Loma

Posted on October 29, 2014 by Gary Nunn

[All photographs copyright, Gary Nunn 2014] – This Canada Warbler Cardellina canadensis, most likely a first winter female, was first encountered by John Bruin in the southeast corner of Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery around 7:30 a.m. on 29 Oct 2014. Later, around 8:00 a.m., I spotted an “interesting” completely bright yellow bellied warbler moving rapidly between trees heading for the Committal Shelter. I ran ahead and managed to catch a few fleeting glimpses, and photographs, for the few moments it was stationary. It disappeared ahead of me, into the small palms around the Committal Shelter, and could not be relocated.

It appears to be a first winter female Canada warbler with just faint dusky markings about the necklace area of the bright yellow underparts and weaker facial markings. The face is distinctive though showing the typical black lores and a small amount of yellow supraloral coloration of this species. The large whitish eyering and bicolored bill are also quite distinctive. This bird behaved quite similar to a Wilson’s Warbler, but appeared larger in size. The complete upperparts and tail are a characteristic dark grayish, perhaps a little olive toned, although difficult to discern under the tree canopy. Although a bit wet and forlorn looking, the undertail coverts are characteristically white in coloration.

Canada Warbler – Point Loma, San Diego County, California 29 Oct 2014 (© Gary Nunn)

San Diego Field Ornithologists considers Canada Warbler a Category B rarity in the county. The last sighting, I believe, was from September 2012 at Lake O’Neill, Camp Pendleton.

“Myrtle” Yellow-rumped Warbler – visiting eucalyptus in Point Loma

Posted on April 5, 2014 by Gary Nunn

[All photographs copyright, Gary Nunn 2014] – I found this male “Myrtle” Yellow-rumped Warbler Setophaga (coronata) coronata on 05 April 2014 hiding out in a large flowering eucalyptus tree in Westminster Park, Point Loma. This is a well wooded park and was loaded with birds during my visit just after lunch. The large sycamores, leafing out nicely, and many flowering exotic trees were pulling in lots of birds. I picked through many common migrants and winter residents before suddenly spotting this nice looking male Myrtle Warbler. It appears to be almost in full alternate plumage which made it stand out from the dozens of accompanying “Audubon’s” Yellow-rumped Warbler. Features which distinguish this male Myrtle Warbler from the Audubon’s Warbler include the white throat (yellow in Audubon’s), blackish colored auricular (gray in Audubon’s), white supercilium (concolorous gray in Audubon’s), white tipped greater and median secondary coverts (a more extensively white “panel” look here in male Audubon’s), and the more extensive white underside to the outer tail feathers which extends to the tail tip on the inner feather vane (there are more extensive black tips in Audubon’s). It was a nice surprise although it proved difficult to photograph in the thickly foliaged eucalyptus! While trying to attract the warbler into view I also had close approaches by a couple of inquisitive male Rufous Hummingbird Selasphorus rufus that were very interested in the commotion of warblers darting around me.

“Myrtle” Yellow-rumped Warbler – Westminster Park, Point Loma, San Diego County, California 05 April 2014

Rufous Hummingbird male – Westminster Park, Point Loma, San Diego County, California 05 April 2014

Thin pickings – one White-throated Sparrow in Point Loma

Posted on October 31, 2013 by Gary Nunn

[All photographs copyright, Gary Nunn 2013] – It is almost mysterious the absence of birds around Point Loma. Even compared to a few days ago, it just emptied of birds. I was about to leave Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery on 30 Oct 2013, as it was getting towards dusk, when a familiar sparrow “seep” call caught my attention. Sure enough I had flushed a White-throated Sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis out of the Pride of Madeira plants and it teed up perfectly on the wall in front of me! After posing for a few photographs it took off with a band of Dark-eyed Junco picking over the roadside debris. This appears to be a first-winter individual still retaining considerable juvenile streaked feathers on the underparts. I think by this date last year I had found half a dozen White-throated Sparrows around Point Loma, so 2013 has been really thin pickings for even the more commonly expected eastern birds.

White-throated Sparrow – Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, Point Loma, San Diego, California 30 Oct 2013

Very different – “Eastern” Bell’s Vireo in Point Loma

Posted on October 28, 2013 by Gary Nunn

[All photographs copyright, Gary Nunn 2013] – I definitely jumped when a short-tailed green bird with a prominent white wing bar hopped out in front of me late this afternoon in a tiny planted cedar tree at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. I ditched the binoculars immediately in favor of the camera, who knows where this thing might go next! As it turned out this was a smart move. After showing itself in the tiny cedar for a minute it took off through the cemetery fence. Resurfacing beyond the fence for a few seconds it then just vanished. I did not see it again in spite of considerable searching.

This bird appears to be an “Eastern” Bell’s Vireo most likely of the nominate V.b. bellii form. It is certainly much brighter colored than the arizonae form and, so far as I can tell, also the intermediate colored medius form. Features of plumage coloration matches the detailed description of the nominate bellii form of Bell’s Vireo in Pyle (1997), Identification Guide to Passerines, and the photographs also match very closely the color illustration of a bright “Eastern” Bell’s Vireo shown in The Sibley Guide to Birds (the illustration is presumably of the nominate bellii form, although it is not labeled with a scientific name).

Elements that jumped out at me about this bird included; the much shorter tail compared to our local breeding pusillus form of the species (“Least” Bells’s Vireo), the olive-green coloration of the upperparts, the strong bright yellow wash on the underparts, the bright yellowish uppertail coverts (seen in flight), and the striking white wing bar on the greater coverts. In addition behavioral characteristics support the identification as “Eastern” Bell’s Vireo. This bird flicked its wings and pumped its tail continuously like the eastern birds. Examination of many of the photographs below show the wings in semi-raised (“flicked”) poses, including one shot with one wing flicked up, as well as various shots of the tail pumped upwards.

“Eastern” Bell’s Vireo – Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, Point Loma, San Diego 28 Oct 2013

The “Eastern” Bell’s Vireo is a very rare vagrant to San Diego and California as a whole in fact. There are two previous reports from San Diego County including one found at Point Loma 10 Oct 1988 by Richard Webster and another found more recently in the Nestor neighborhood of Imperial Beach on 02 Nov 2012 by Paul Lehman. I believe this is the first “Eastern” Bell’s Vireo to be photographed in San Diego County and certainly a very nice looking vireo to encounter.

Royalty visits – Golden-crowned Kinglet comes to Point Loma

Posted on October 26, 2013 by Gary Nunn

[All photographs copyright, Gary Nunn 2013] – I had just stepped out of my car early yesterday morning when I heard the unmistakeable high-pitched call of a Golden-crowned Kinglet Regulus satrapa. Funny thing was that it was coming from a small Lemonadeberry Bush right in front of me! Sure enough, as I approached a bit closer, out popped this tiny and delightful looking royal visitor! I know the call of this species well because it sounds very similar to its congener the Goldcrest from Europe which I had grown up listening to from a very young age. Some pishing soon attracted the inquisitive Kinglet over to my side of the fence. At 7:00 am in the morning there is not much light so I used the “breathhold” tactic. Put the camera shutter speed down as low as it takes to get a correctly exposed image and then hold your breath and the camera as tight as you can while running shots! Usually a few good images can be obtained this way, and as you will see below, even the blurry ones can be pretty artistic looking! The final image below, cropped to the head shot, was the best quality taken at ISO 3200 and 1/60th second, lens wide open at f 5.6 aperture.

Golden-crowned Kinglet – Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, Point Loma, San Diego 25 Oct 2013

Frazzled looking Dusky Flycatcher in Point Loma

Posted on October 24, 2013 by Gary Nunn

[All photographs copyright, Gary Nunn 2013] – While watching the very camera friendly Hammond’s Flycatcher at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery another dull olive-gray Empidonax, agitated and a lot more frazzled looking, suddenly came flying into the scene next to it. Interacting briefly with the Hammond’s, the new flycatcher then moved off to a distant isolated pine tree before finally returning briefly to feed along the fence line. At first I thought it might be another Hammond’s Flycatcher but its longer tailed look, different head shape, and strong looking bill, made me think again. After examining detailed photographs that show its very short primary projection, relatively scruffy looking plumage, strong bill, and mostly absent yellow coloration on the underparts, this does appear to be a Dusky Flycatcher Empidonax oberholseri.

The photographs below show very well the short primary projection characteristic of Dusky Flycatcher. One can compare it to the the rakish, extremely long, primary projection of Hammond’s Flycatcher (for example, see my previous blog post). In addition the pale whitish patch around the lores area is very evident along with the stronger bill and more rounded head shape. This individual has just begun molting with some patchy new and stronger colored plumage (more olive) scattered around on its body. Much of the underpart feathers appear to be worn looking.

Dusky Flycatcher – Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, Point Loma, San Diego 20 Oct 2013

Viewed in ideal lighting conditions the outer edge to the outer tail feather (r6) appears distinctly white in Dusky Flycatcher. The short primary projection and long tail creates the relative impression of about the longest tailed Empidonax there is in my opinion.

Dusky Flycatcher – Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, Point Loma, San Diego 20 Oct 2013

It is difficult to capture images from below of Empidonax bills and usually the coloration is next to impossible to see. My only advice is keep taking photographs from all angles underneath the bird! The following images show the characteristic narrower spear-shaped bill and extensive darker coloration of the lower mandible of Dusky Flycatcher. It really only has a pale base. The Gray Flycatcher has a fully pale lower mandible with a small dark tip, while the Pacific-slope Flycatcher is wholly pale and in addition of greater width with a spade shaped morphology.

One novel field character which I believe can differentiate Dusky Flycatcher apart from the confusion species, Hammond’s Flycatcher, is the small overhanging hooked tip of the upper mandible. To my eye it looks like the small hook seen on a vireo bill and is noticeable in the close-up head-shot below. Certainly this hooked upper mandible feature is very difficult to see with binoculars! But I feel I can always notice this hooked tip in photographs of birds that I believe are Dusky Flycatchers. Hammond’s Flycatcher has a smaller bill with more closely meeting mandible tips without the hook present on the upper mandible like Dusky Flycatcher. Maybe a “birding photography” strategy here is to “get as close as you can photographs of the bill tip”! I think it could be very useful for differentiating the two species apart. The hooked tip of the upper mandible can also be clearly seen on photographs of a Dusky Flycatcher that I found at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery earlier this year. In my opinion Dusky Flycatcher is under reported in San Diego County due to the difficulties of identification. Look for the hook!

Dusky Flycatcher – Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, Point Loma, San Diego 20 Oct 2013

Camera friendly Hammond’s Flycatcher in Point Loma

Posted on October 22, 2013 by Gary Nunn

[All photographs copyright, Gary Nunn 2013] – I am beginning to think video could be a great aid to teaching Empidonax identification. There is just a look-and-feel of each species in my opinion. I put together some high definition video clips of the Hammond’s Flycatcher Empidonax hammondii found by Sue Smith on 20 October 2013 at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, Point Loma, San Diego, California. This flycatcher was very approachable and you can hear the “flaparazzi” in the background. Yes, that noise is Matthew Binns’ Canon 1Dx shooting at a full 12.5 frames per second!

All the field marks appropriate for this species can be seen in the video including, most importantly I think; the extreme long primary extension beyond the tertials (start of the second clip, for example!), the strong yellow wash on the freshly molted plumage of the underparts, the small dark bill, and the light gray throat (tricky to see I agree, but it is actually not white). Digital photography, or videography for that matter, can be extremely helpful but lighting is a very important factor. To observe many of the subtle plumage coloration characteristics of Empidonax species avoid strong sunlight and follow a bird around into more shaded light conditions if possible. Also, obtaining truly representative images of primary extension can be frustratingly difficult. The best documentation photographs require the bird to be at camera height straight ahead of you standing with its side facing you. Photographs taken from above or below, or at an oblique angle, will be inferior and more difficult to interpret.

In addition the following still photographs show more of the field characters of this delightful small Empidonax species. Primary extension beyond the tertials is strikingly long in this species and presents a very good field mark if seen well at close enough range. Digital photography of course makes this much easier to study, but practice really helps when looking for this field mark. To photograph the flycatcher Mathew Binns let me try out his Canon 1Dx and 500 mm II lens and the first two shots below reflect this!

Hammond’s Flycatcher – Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, Point Loma, San Diego, California 20 Oct 2013

“Thick-billed” Fox Sparrow in Point Loma

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Gary Nunn

[All photographs copyright, Gary Nunn 2013] – Just before leaving Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery today I heard an unfamiliar, but quite pleasant, bird song just outside the east fence line south of the eucalyptus grove. I walked over and, from some distance, caught sight of the bird singing atop a bush behind the perimeter fence. But then it immediately hopped down out of sight! Viewed from behind the sparrow shaped bird had a large gray head, gray back, rich rufous wings, a long rufous tail, and, particularly noticeable, rufous upper tail coverts demarcated against the gray back. Hmmm, to be honest I was a bit puzzled!

I walked down to the fence and decided to give the “Universal Bird Attractor” (Wrentit chatter call!) a go. I waited a few minutes and was about to give up when, sure enough, out hopped the bird I had just seen. I was impressed to see it was a Fox Sparrow of the megarhynchus group of forms, more commonly known as “Thick-billed” Fox Sparrow! There were in fact two birds traveling together, one with a real honking grosbeak sized bill and the second a bit smaller billed.

It seems most likely both these birds are of the Passerella iliaca stephensi form found breeding in Southern California including just a handful found summering on the highest mountain tops in San Diego County. “Thick-billed” Fox Sparrows are only known to migrate a short distance moving to lower elevations in the winter near to their breeding range. So most likely these two birds originated nearby or from the southern Sierras.

“Thick-billed” Fox Sparrow – Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, Point Loma, San Diego 19 Oct 2013

I was confused by the bill color of these two individuals which both show some orange-yellow coloration on the lower mandible, and in one bird the upper mandible. What’s puzzling is that Thick-billed Fox Sparrows are illustrated in field guides with uniformly gray-colored bills. However after researching this point a bit further, including Jim Rising’s excellent The Sparrows of the United States and Canada illustrated by David Beadle, I discovered that outside the breeding season the bill can be more orange-yellow, and was in fact illustrated this way in older descriptions of these large-billed forms of Fox Sparrow. The Handbook of the Birds of the World, Vol. 16, already treats the four natural groups of Fox Sparrow as full species and also mentions the bill coloration being more orange-yellow outside the breeding season for the “Thick-billed Fox-sparrow” (note the logical new common name).

“Thick-billed” Fox Sparrow – Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, Point Loma, San Diego 19 Oct 2013

The Fox Sparrow complex is almost certainly headed towards a more progressive taxonomic treatment when it will be subdivided into its four natural groups – Red, Sooty, Slate-colored, and Thick-billed. This could prove interesting for San Diego County birders since all four have been found here in the county! I would recommend keeping a careful note of when and where you have seen these very different looking forms of Fox Sparrow.

First storm moves in – Great Crested Flycatcher and more!

Posted on October 9, 2013 by Gary Nunn

[All photographs copyright, Gary Nunn 2013] – I have been anxiously monitoring the first “winter” storm to move in down here in Southern California with the hope it might steer some wayward vagrants our way. But after getting to Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery at dawn this morning for a quick walk around it seemed like the high winds and rain might, literally, put a damper on everything. Add to that the virtual darkness under the thick, damp cloud cover and I was not hopeful!

Then one of those “uh-oh” moments! Here sat a perfect candidate – on the ground at the base of the fence in front of me was a very exhausted looking Myiarchus flycatcher! A bird that is tired looking, semi-moribund, tells me one thing – it probably came a long way! This needed checking out very carefully! I approached a bit closer but the flycatcher came to life and flew off low through the fence. I played cat-and-mouse getting looks at a bright yellow blob moving ahead of me with a shocking dark red-rufous tail. The bill did appear pinkish at the base and bright white markings stood out edging the tertials. Then it just flew out and flopped down on the grass in front of me about twenty yards away! I managed to get a nice series of photographs at this point, phew. I really thought the bird would just continue to hop around on the ground in front of me, but no, it flew up a small height and was whipped away by the strong winds! Aaarghh! I ran over to the pine tree, where it was blown to, but there was no sign of it in the noisy rustling canopy. That was it – the last view I got!

Great Crested Flycatcher – Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, Point Loma, San Diego, California 09 Oct 2013

My gut feeling, looking at the bill size and color, yellow underparts up to the lower chest, dark gray throat and face, and dark (olive) brown back and crown, was that this was probably a Great Crested Flycatcher Myiarchus crinitus. On my way home I called Paul Lehman for some advice on the flycatcher. In addition to the olive-brown upperparts, he also reminded me that this species shows off a large crisp white outer edge to the innermost tertial on the wing. At home, scrutinizing the photographs, this bird does indeed show off all the credentials of a Great Crested Flycatcher.

Great Crested Flycatcher – Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, Point Loma, San Diego, California 09 Oct 2013

Looking to refind the flycatcher on the east side of the cemetery I then also found a Yellow-green Vireo Vireo flavoviridis actively moving along just behind the fence line in the southeast section. In fact from a distance I saw a yellowish-green bird perched on the fence top and thought it might be a small oriole! But a quick look through binoculars and I was soon running towards the vireo! It was hard to see in the gnarly Myoporum bush tops but I finally managed to obtain some reasonably good photographs of my second Yellow-green Vireo of Fall 2013!

Yellow-green Vireo – Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, Point Loma, San Diego, California 09 Oct 2013

Escaped cagebirds on the increase – Point Loma

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Gary Nunn

[All photographs copyright, Gary Nunn 2013] – I have been seeing a lot of introduced or escaped birds lately around San Diego. Reported earlier this year in Point Loma, both at the residence of Sara and Keith Mayers and in February near Famosa Slough, I just happened upon this European Goldfinch Carduelis carduelis while getting into my car on Silver Gate Ave. I heard a twinkling goldfinch song, not quite right for our native species, and, sure enough, here was an iconic bird from my childhood in England singing from a small maple tree right over my car! The goldfinch eventually moved up to a higher tree perch and continued calling before flying off further away out of sight. This bird is of the nominate carduelis group of forms found throughout the Western Palaearctic, I think the most popular form kept in captivity.

European Goldfinch – Silver Gate Ave neighborhood, Point Loma, San Diego 07 May 2013

Just the other day I again heard the giveaway gurgling fluty call of a bulbul in the southeast corner of Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. Sure enough it appears to be the same White-eared Bulbul Pycnonotus leucotis that I ran into back here last year in June. Perhaps it does not make its way up to the cemetery very often, but I did also see a report in eBird from this location recently of this species! Easily recognized by its black-and-white head pattern, long tail and yellow undertail coverts, this bird is banded (blue left leg) and the call is loud and sounds typically like members of this genus of bulbul. This species originates from the Middle East and Asia with a widespread range extending from Kuwait through India and Pakistan. This individual is rather shy but I did obtain some photographs at a distance shown below.

White-eared Bulbul – Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, Point Loma, San Diego 01 May 2013

San Diego Birding

Birding California and beyond with Gary Nunn

Category Archives: Point Loma

Fast moving Canada Warbler in Point Loma

“Myrtle” Yellow-rumped Warbler – visiting eucalyptus in Point Loma

Thin pickings – one White-throated Sparrow in Point Loma

Very different – “Eastern” Bell’s Vireo in Point Loma

Royalty visits – Golden-crowned Kinglet comes to Point Loma

Frazzled looking Dusky Flycatcher in Point Loma

Camera friendly Hammond’s Flycatcher in Point Loma

“Thick-billed” Fox Sparrow in Point Loma

First storm moves in – Great Crested Flycatcher and more!

Escaped cagebirds on the increase – Point Loma