Megan Jankowski

Thanks to everyone who donated! I made it up to 134 species during the Birdathon period. In the past two weeks I led two bird walks, one for GGAS at the SF Botanical Garden and one for Ohlone Audubon on Mill Creek Road in Fremont. Mill Creed Road is an active road that follows along Mill Creek on the backside of Mission Peak. Highlights were Lazuli Bunting, decent views of a Grasshopper Sparrow, FOS Ash-Throated Flycatchers, Rufous-crowned Sparrows and lots of Black-headed Grosbeaks.

At the botanical garden we had an immature Red-shouldered hawk putting on a show eating worms off the ground. Probably the highlight of the day was a singing Cassin's Vireo spotted by Angie Geiger.

I've met and surpassed my goal! As of today I've seen 127 species, but I'm going to cap my number at 120 for the benefit of those donating per species. With another month to go, it's possible that I'll reach 150 species or so.

On Saturday I led a GGAS walk at Middle Harbor Shoreline. Highlights were a lone Greater White-fronted goose, two Osprey, a nice group of Semipalmated Plovers, a Cackling goose and DOZENS of Canada Goose goslings. The goslings were from a few different broods so we got to see a comparison of ages. We even had one brood that hadn't left the nest yet -- the eggs all looked hatched, but they hadn't yet strayed from the down-lined nest and mom and dad were close by.

Sunday my boyfriend and I went to Garin Regional Park where I picked up a few first of season birds: House Wrens, Pacific-Slope Flycatchers, Warbling Vireos and Bullock's Orioles. My boyfriend is not a birder, but it's hard not to be impressed by the bright orioles.

Today I checked on some nests at Salesforce Park. The mourning doves have fledged! They were not far from the nest and one of the parents was close by. Remember this time of year that fledglings are popping up, and not all baby birds need rescuing! Call a rehabber for advice if you ever have any doubts whether an animal needs help.

I’ve seen six new species since my last update: Forster’s tern, Cinnamon Teal, Tree Swallow, Cliff Swallow (all at or near Coyote Hills), Peregrine falcon, and a White-throated sparrow. I spotted the sparrow at Salesforce Park, which was not only beautiful, but a new bird for me at this location.

I made a point of going to Salesforce because I realized it had been 10 days since I checked on the mourning dove nest. It now has two nestlings, maybe halfway through their journey to fledging. I also found a robin nest today. In addition to another robin nest that I saw at a downtown park, I’m up to 14 nests.

I had a great weekend of birding - I led two walks for GGAS. On Saturday I co-led a birds and history walk at Glen Canyon with Evelyn Rose of Glen Park Neighborhood History Project (https://www.glenparkhistory.org/). Glen Canyon is a wildly popular recreation area, but just hike a little ways back in the canyon and you can't even hear the children's little league games and birthday parties. Evelyn is super knowledgeable about the area's really interesting past, including the several ways that we almost lost Glen Canyon and the ordinary people who fought to save it.

On Sunday I co-led the SF Botanical Garden monthly walk. This was a really exceptional day. We were treated to a brilliant Wilson's Warbler singing on the ground mere feet away, we spotted a pair of Cooper's Hawks, we watched an immature Red-Shouldered Hawk hunt from a perch a stone's throw off the trail and maybe 15 feet high in a tree. As if that wasn't enough we were treated to a gorgeous Wood Duck male in the company of a beautiful Hooded Merganser male. And the continuing Orchard Oriole popped up long enough for everyone in my group to get a look.

I've also doubled my nest count, I'm up to 12. Today I was absolutely thrilled to discover that there's a pair of ravens nesting on a fire escape visible from my office.

Since my last post I’ve added an additional six species: at the Albany Target parking I saw an Orange-crowned warbler and the famous Northern parula, and at Miller-Knox Shoreline I saw Eurasian Wigeon, a killdeer pair, flickers and a displaying Allen’s hummingbird.

I confirmed last week that the Salesforce Park mourning dove nest was still active — she was sitting on the nest. I will need to check again after these more recent storms. Also the stoplight house sparrow nest showed some activity. I have a new photo to post at some point. I also found a raven nest in a parking garage, so nest count is now at 6.