Our best bird today (26 Nov 2011) was a TROPICAL KINGBIRD we stumbled onto in Bodega Bay, Sonoma County:
The bird was located along Route 1, uphill from the Post Office. It was flycatching on the east side of the road from the powerlines and fences. This is across the road from a building with a grass roof. Here is a map of the location:
View TRKI in a larger map
Otherwise, things in Bodega Bay seemed on the slow side. We scoped from Bodega Head for a little while but the most notable things were a couple of whales (Gray? Humpback?).
In Owl Canyon, the most interesting thing was a TOWNSEND'S WARBLER (completely out of focus and backlit):
Between Sonoma and Marin counties, we tallied 17 species of shorebirds today:
Black-bellied Plover
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Willet
Greater Yellowlegs
Whimbrel
Long-billed Curlew
Marbled Godwit
Ruddy Turnstone
Black Turnstone
Sanderling
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Dunlin
Short-billed Dowitcher
Long-billed Dowitcher
You'll notice we missed some expected ones too such as Surfbird, Wilson's Snipe, and even Black Oystercatcher!
Here is part of a flock from within the Bodega Bay harbor:
Loons and grebes put on a good show today; here is a HORNED GREBE at Bodega Bay:
... and a PACIFIC LOON:
Here is another picture of the same bird. You'll notice how the posture changes neck patterns and overall shape:
We ended the day with 3 loon species, 5 grebe species, 8 gull species, and 3 alcids:
Common Loon
Red-throated Loon
Pacific Loon
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Eared Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
Western Grebe
Bonaparte's Gull
Heerman's Gull (2)
Mew Gull
Ring-billed Gull
California Gull
Herring Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Western Gull
Common Murre
Pigeon Guillemot
Rhinoceros Auklet
At Millerton Point along Tomales Bay in Marin County we found a flock of CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES:
The same flock included several HUTTON'S VIREOS as well:
