This chilly morning I led SFO's beginners Group 5 at Sapsucker Woods and Stewart Park. We spent a lot of time indoors at the Lab of O, not simply because the weather was so cold but because there was some really neat stuff to watch. As soon as we arrived, and intermittently later on, we saw a FOX SPARROW in the feeder garden as well as several other sparrow species for comparison. We also saw a female RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD to compare with males and one male BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD as well as male and female COMMON GRACKLES shining in the sun. A single COMMON REDPOLL joined the yellow-mottled AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES as did a couple of HOUSE FINCHES. But the real show was on the small open area of the pond. The male MALLARDS' heads positively glowed green in the sun, while the females quietly dipped their wings to show off their blue speculums. They were joined by 2 pairs of HOODED MERGANSERS, but for some reason only one of the females got all the males' attention. The males went through an amazing array of simultaneous displays such as Candace Cornell recently described, including rapid sideways shaking of the head, throwing the head far back, and stretching up the head on the extended and inflated vertical neck. At some point the bill was rapidly clattered open and shut, and we wished the microphones had been turned on for us to hear them inside the observatory. These displays were all new to me, and quite a treat, but seemed to have little effect on the female. There was also one chase which I missed because I was distracted by the feeder birds.
We did venture out onto the Wilson Trail North where the excitement included a pair of GREAT BLUE HERONS flying east, an accipiter circling high overhead which we judged to be an adult COOPER'S HAWK, and a singing female NORTHERN CARDINAL. We also went to Stewart Park where we spent just enough time along the windy lakeshore to ID male RING-NECKED DUCKS, REDHEADS, one CANVASBACK, SCAUP sp, and AMERICAN WIGEON. In the marshy edge of the Jetty Woods across Fall Creek we saw a crowd of WOOD DUCKS, a pair of GREEN-WINGED TEAL, a pair of AMERICAN BLACK DUCKS, a male COMMON MERGANSER, and more HOODED MERGANSERS, MALLARDS, and CANADA GEESE. A few of us saw an OSPREY fly upstream along Fall Creek. We ventured carefully into Fuertes Sanctuary and managed to see an adult GREAT HORNED OWL clinging to the upper part of the entrance of its nesting cavity. As we were leaving the woods we heard calls, then deep drumming then saw a PILEATED WOODPECKER.
It was a great morning despite the cold, and among the 47 species I think we all saw things that were new to us.
--Dave Nutter
