Natural History Wanderings

Brandt’s Cormorants and Western Gulls

Yesterday I  had a field trip with the Master Birder’s class at Land’s End  San Francisco. Land’s end is at the ocean at the west end of San Francisco and is best known for Seal’s Rocks and the Cliff House.  There is also a native plant restoration area that has been developed over the last several years. It is also a good birding area. Not just the rocks and shoreline but also along the Coastal Trail that heads north. We walked  about 3 miles from Land’s End to Legion of Honor and back.

I saw or heard 38 bird species and other members of the group had well over 40. Highlights including seeing a White-Kite, which is not typical of this area at this time of the year, seeing a large number of Pigeon Guillemots, and seeing Heermann’s Gulls. Also observed many Brand’s Cormorants sitting on nests, feeding young and watched one aggressively hold off a Western Gull near nest.  Also seen were  Sea Lions and Bottleneck Dolphins.

Click Read more to see my bird and plant lists

Bird List

Surf Scoter  4

Brandt’s Cormorant  X

Pelagic Cormorant  4

Brown Pelican  X

Snowy Egret  1

Turkey Vulture  4

White-tailed Kite  1     See flying overhead by several group members including trip leader. Possible photo taken by group member.

Red-tailed Hawk  1

American Coot  1

Black Oystercatcher  2

Pigeon Guillemot  20

Heermann’s Gull  4

Western Gull  X

California Gull  1

Caspian Tern  2

Band-tailed Pigeon  1

Eurasian Collared-Dove  1

Anna’s Hummingbird  4

Allen’s Hummingbird  2

Peregrine Falcon  1

Common Raven  1

Tree Swallow  X

Violet-green Swallow  X

Chestnut-backed Chickadee  1

Pygmy Nuthatch  1

Pacific Wren  2

Swainson’s Thrush  1

American Robin  2

Orange-crowned Warbler  1

Wilson’s Warbler  1

California Towhee  1

Song Sparrow  2

White-crowned Sparrow  4

Dark-eyed Junco  2

Brewer’s Blackbird  X

House Finch  4

Purple Finch  1

American Goldfinch  1

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23807899

Plant List

The native plant restoration area at Land’s End included the following native plants:

Paintbrush

Lizard Tail

Purple Bush Lupine

Yellow Bush Lupine

Sticky Monkeyflower

Seaside Daisy

Yarrow

Gumplant

Coastal Buckwheat

There were also significant amounts of alien wild radish and mustard.