Recent Sightings - January 2024

Baltimore Oriole photo by Tim Bray

We had relatively few unexpected sightings this month. On 12/08 a Nashville Warbler was found along with an unidentified oriole in the Rose Memorial Cemetery in Fort Bragg (CL). Also on 12/08, a Black-throated Gray Warbler made an appearance at the Hopland Research and Extension Center, HREC (CV). The oriole in the cemetery in Fort Bragg was identified as a Bullock’s Oriole on 12/15 (MF). Another oriole initially confounded identification at a home near Albion and eventually yielded definitive identification as a Baltimore Oriole on 12/18 (TB & CK). This was an excellent find and is the only third county record. Another Black-throated Gray Warbler was found at a home in Ukiah (CV). Again, at the HREC, a very late Western Flycatcher was found on 12/28 (CV). Three Rock Sandpipers were reported from Glass Beach in Fort Bragg on 12/28 (LWR). Clearly the most unexpected bird of the month, a Lucy’s Warbler turned up on the Noyo Headlands, just west of the Alder Street entrance, during the Fort Bragg Christmas Bird Count on 12/30 (TB & CK).

The Lucy’s Warbler breeds in the Sonoran Desert and uses the driest habitat of any southwestern warbler; it is thought to be largely dependent on mesquite habitat. This species winter range is along the west coast of Mexico, far from Mendocino. Neither threatened nor endangered, Lucy’s Warbler is considered a species of Least Concern. This third county record is the second of 2023; the other record this year was during January in Fort Bragg (AS).

Thanks to the following for reports: Chris Lamoureux (CL), Chuck Vaughn (CV), Matt Franks (MF), Tim Bray (TB), Catherine Keegan (CK), Lisa Walker-Roseman (LWR).

First published MCAS Black Oystercatcher January 2024