Half Moon Bay: Land and Sea Birding, San Mateo County, CA PART ONE

Friday, September 21, 2018
For a Pelagic Trip with Debi Love Shearwater out of Half Moon Bay on Saturday (9/22/18),
I invited local bird leader/guide, Kathe Anderson to join me.

Fortunately, we both like adventure and enjoy birding relatively non-stop. Having researched from eBird, I had found some interesting locations for us to explore so we wouldn't just be guessing when we stopped.

As it turned out, our first stop was at the Pacifica Pier that looked perfect for a first look at the Pacific birds. As we walked along the beach, our best find was HEERMANN'S GULL -- lots of them. In the past, I've seen them only one or two at a time; now we were looking at more than a dozen as they foraged the beach.

HEERMANN'S GULL: Red Bill; Black Legs

From the pier, WESTERN and CLARK'S GREBEs were barely distinguishable. Closer to the pier gave us more precise looks but the WESTERNs far outnumbered the CLARK'S.

WESTERN GREBE

BROWN PELICANs glided in long lines just above the waves usually twelve to fifteen at a time, observed from the pier and the beach.

We located the entrance to our lodging for the night on the way to the southern-most birding spot I had chosen: Half Moon Bay State Beach and Francis Beach CG. Roaming the beach and campground for birds was a great way to spend the early part of this afternoon in such cool temps!!  

Great opportunity to refresh our gull IDs.

WESTERN GULL

HEERMANN'S GULL

CALIFORNIA GULL (basic plumage)

At the beach, about a half dozen blackbirds (AMERICAN CROW and COMMON RAVEN) were trying to eat what appeared to be a still-feathered chicken. Not appetizing to watch, we moved on to the next scenario of the same species working over a dead crab.

COMMON RAVEN

Other good finds at the State Beach included: AMERICAN GOLDFINCH, CALIFORNIA and SPOTTED TOWHEE, TOWNSEND'S WARBLER and CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE.

After two hours there, we moved south in search of the next birding spot for which I had turned Kathe south instead of north. That happened to lead to a rich habitat-looking spot so we stopped at COWELL RANCH BEACH ACCESS parking lot and walked for a mile along fenced agricultural fields of various grains and crops.

CALIFORNIA TOWHEEs were present at each of our stops: (Friday and Sunday

CALIFORNIA TOWHEE

An unexpected bird in the harvested brussel-sprout field was a GREAT BLUE HERON, probably waiting for vermin to come out for a feast.

GREAT BLUE HERON

As we returned from the one-mile walk to the beach (down many steps from our cliffside position), we enjoyed the highlight of the day. Kathe had mentioned to stay alert for a specific bird ... and, sure enough, she caught it first kiting over a distant field. WHITE-TAILED KITE!  It never came close but that doesn't mean I didn't TRY for a photo. (Marine layer as usual along the coast.)

WHITE-TAILED KITE - above and below

Wrapping up our birding there around 6:15 p.m., we headed into the town of Half Moon Bay with its "Scottsdale" feel. Art galleries, chic restaurants and pizza places. 

Interesting coincidence in our decision as to where to eat. On my phone, I'd found a place called Moon Bay Restaurant but we lost the street we were supposed to be on so we just kept looking for a parking place so we could walk to dinner. As Kathe parked, I laughed: "We're right in front of Moon Bay Restaurant!  -- But, I don't think we'll be welcome in our birding outfits."  The hostess, dressed to the nines, stood at the outside of the entrance with menus in her hand. Kathe inquired and discovered the place had been "bought out for the night". As we walked up the street, emerging from a limo-bus were the gorgeous folks of Half Moon Bay!!

Kathe (R); Me (L)

Day 1 e-Bird links:

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S48716022

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S48716640

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S48717247

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 22nd was the day for our pelagic.

DEBI LOVE SHEARWATER

I understand that in the 1970's Debi changed her name to what it is today. She's been taking birders out from Monterrey Bay and Half Moon Bay for many, many years (43) and is thinking about retiring the end of next year. She is the woman portrayed in the film, THE BIG YEAR, by Angelica Huston as Annie Auklet, the boat captain.

Let it be known that it was an awesome pelagic - so wonderful that I'm still processing photos.  A photo I missed happened when a SOUTH POLAR SKUA was called out. My bins flew up to my eyes and my jaw dropped! Wow! Quite a Life Bird.  

Part Two of this blog will contain the entire Pelagic (birding at sea for sea birds that don't come to shore) portion.

Continued land birding happened on Sunday before we returned to the SFO airport, so it continues below.

Sunday, September 23, 2918.

Pillar Point Marsh--Willows and Pond, an eBird hot spot between our lodging and the airport was our first stop. Bummed to find the entire area roped off, I wondered how folks got such long lists and then I remembered "birding by ear".  We did okay and were satisfied with walking the road with marsh habitat on one side and cliff-side trees on the other.

In a half hour, we spotted a COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, AMERICAN GOLDFINCH, CALIFORNIA TOWHEE, BLACK PHOEBE, SONG and WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS and a MARSH WREN.

At Pillar Point Harbor, we collected just a few good birds: SANDERLING and SEMI-PALMATED PLOVER.

SANDERLING (R); rear view of SEMI-PALMATED PLOVER

SANDERLING

Off again, then, to COWELL RANCH BEACH ACCESS where we had ended our day on Friday, we hoped to see even more "goodies". Birds I photographed are below:

One of the hundreds of BREWER'S BLACKBIRDS in the area

Like the GREAT BLUE HERON two days ago (here again today), this NORTHERN HARRIER chose to perch right in the harvested brussel-sprout fields.

In front of the fence line walking to the beach were thick shrubs filled with chirping birds. Fun time - especially when they came up to look around. The birds shown below made me work a bit but appeared to be: SAVANNAH SPARROWs.

From the cliff above the beach, we watched one row of BROWN PELICANs after another fly low and slow over the waves.

BROWN PELICAN

Our final sighting as we returned to the parking lot was an ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD.

Young male ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD

Allowing plenty of time to return to the airport, return the rental car and check in for our flight became a bit hectic. When I couldn't find my reservation at the kiosk, I walked up to the desk where a young man then called Kathe over. 
"Your plane will be late departing, but there's one going to Phoenix soon and you can go "stand by."
As quickly as we could find the train and the gate, we arrived to check in as "stand by" with about ten minutes prior to boarding. Not quite the leisurely lunch we had planned! But we grabbed some food - and I was delighted to find a disposal labeled COMPOST for the remainder of my uneaten pasta salad when our flight was called. 
Arrived home around 2:30 p.m. Both of us were feeling very good about a full and fun weekend. Kathe's husband was waiting for her as we exited and went our separate ways. 

eBird links:

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S48720874

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S48721066

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S48721891

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