Sightings - April 2025

Black-headed Grosbeak, 5/5/24, Fort Bragg by Roger Adamson.

While March birding has been slow, we do have a few sightings to report. Our hybrid oystercatcher (Black Oystercatcher x American Oystercatcher) was reported from Ward Avenue on 3/3 (CV). We will learn over the coming years if the American Oystercatcher genes persist in our area. If so, we should begin seeing this bird’s descendants soon and good photos will be able to differentiate individuals. A Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco was found with other sparrows in Redwood Valley on 3/5 (KL). At Virgin Creek Beach on 3/9 a Glaucous Gull x Glaucous-winged Gull hybrid was noted (PP). The same day at Rose Memorial Cemetery a Bullock’s Oriole was seen (PP). A single Rock Sandpiper was reported from Laguna Point on 3/9 (JB). Common Poorwill has been reported twice this month, 3/11 and 3/24, from the Hopland Extension and Research Center (HB). A Black-necked Stilt made an appearance at the Ukiah Water Treatment Plant on 3/12 (KC). Somehow, I missed the report at the time of a Glaucous Gull, also on 3/12, on Virgin Creek Beach (PP). The birder photographed what appeared to be a “snow-white 2nd-cycle bird; female by rounded head and small bill.” Indeed, the photos make it look no bigger than the surrounding Western Gulls.

Gorgeous bird; wish I had been there. An early Black-headed Grosbeak returning from its wintering grounds in southern Mexico visited a feeder in Fort Bragg on 3/16 (DJ). Lastly, we should note that on the pelagic trip to the Noyo Canyon we observed at least two Laysan Albatross and perhaps 30 Black-footed Albatross (3/24). True to the time of year we found only a handful of Sooty Shearwaters; they are nearly all in the Southern Ocean where they are now raising young that hatched in January and February. The stars of the pelagic trip were several hundred Risso’s Dolphin. Good birding to you for April; Spring is here.

Thanks to all who reported sightings: Chuck Vaughn (CV), Keith Leland (KL), Peter Pyle (PP), Junco Bullick (JB), Hannah Bird (HB), Kristy Cook (KC), and Dave Jensen (DJ).