Greater White-fronted Goose GR

Canada Goose PADP

Cackling Goose SL

Gadwall PADP

American Wigeon PADP

Mallard PADP

Northern Shoveler PADP

Northern Pintail PADP

Green-Winged Teal PADP

Canvasback PADP

Greater Scaup PADP

Lesser Scaup PADP

Surf Scoter PADP

Bufflehead PADP

Common Goldeneye PADP

Common Merganser SL

Ruddy Duck PADP

California Quail MCR

Red-throated Loon SL

Pied-billed Grebe PADP

Horned Grebe SL

Eared Grebe SL

Western Grebe SL

Clark's Grebe PADP

American White Pelican PADP

Double-crested Cormorant SL

Great Egret GR

Black-crowned Night-Heron PADP

Turkey Vulture SL

White-tailed Kite SL

Northern Harrier PADP

Sharp-shinned Hawk MCR

Red-shouldered Hawk (h) MCR

Red-tailed Hawk PADP

Merlin PADP

Clapper Rail PADP

American Coot PADP

Black-bellied Plover PADP

Killdeer PADP

Black-necked Stilt PADP

American Avocet PADP

Greater Yellowlegs PADP

Willet PADP

Spotted Sandpiper SL

Long-billed Curlew PADP

Marbled Godwit PADP

Least Sandpiper PADP

Dunlin PADP

Short-billed Dowitcher PADP

Bonaparte's Gull PADP

Mew Gull PADP

Ring-billed Gull PADP

California Gull PADP

Herring Gull PADP

Western Gull PADP

Glaucous-winged Gull PADP

Forster's Tern SL

Rock Pigeon PADP

Mourning Dove MCR

Anna's Hummingbird PADP

Belted Kingfisher (h) MCR

Acorn Woodpecker MCR

Nuttall's Woodpecker (h) MCR

Northern Flicker MCR

Black Phoebe PADP

Say's Phoebe SL

Steller's Jay (h) MCR

Western Scrub-Jay MCR

American Crow PADP

Common Raven PADP

Chestnut-backed Chickadee MCR

Oak Titmouse MCR

Brown Creeper MCR

Bewick's Wren MCR

Marsh Wren PADP

Ruby-crowned Kinglet GR

European Starling PADP

Yellow-rumped Warbler MCR

Townsend's Warbler MCR

Common Yellowthroat PADP

Spotted Towhee MCR

California Towhee SL

Fox Sparrow MCR

Song Sparrow PADP

Lincoln's Sparrow MCR

White-crowned Sparrow PADP

Golden-crowned Sparrow PADP

Red-winged Blackbird PADP

Brewer's Blackbird SL

House Finch MCR

Lesser Goldfinch MCR

American Goldfinch MCR

House Sparrow SL

FIRT NOST!* Mary and Bill went out from 8 am to 2 pm on January 1 to get a start on the county list for 2008. Starting in Palo Alto, we walked out to see the Clapper Rail at the Lucy Evans boardwalk, with nice looks at male and female Common Yellow-throats along the way. At the end of the boardwalk, we found a group of Least Sandpipers climbing the grassy banks as the tide went out and Clark's Grebes in the bay.

Next stop, a look at the yacht harbor. We found one Dunlin with the sandpipers across from the Lucy Evans parking lot. A Merlin blew past at speed, spooking the smaller shorebirds. At the the duck pond and the exposed mud yacht harbor we poked our way to 7 gull species. I'm sure there were more.

Around 10:40 we gate-crashed some sort of January 1 community fun run to check out the golf course lakes visible from the parking lot at the end of Geng Road. We found single Greater White-fronted Goose among Canada Geese, but no mergansers.

By 11:30, we had made our way to Shoreline Lake, where our first bird was a Say's Phoebe on the golf course on the west side of the lake. Scoping from the shore near the pump housing, we saw one Spotted Sandpiper fly from the near shore to the largest island. We located 3 red-throated loons on the lake, where others have reported the same species.

Last stop of the day was McClellan Ranch, where our first sighting at 12:45 was a Sharp-shinned Hawk flying in to a high perch in the bare sycamores. We walked the perimeter trail without seeing many birds. The most productive area was near the junction of the trail into the garden area, where a large tree is down. Scrub jay, 2 woodpeckers, creeper, Townsend's Warbler, California Quail, Fox Sparrow and Lincoln's Sparrow were all seen here, while Red-shouldered Hawk, Belted Kingfisher and Stellar's Jay were only heard.

*FIRT NOST was a typo turned into jargon for users of the PLATO computer system at the University of Illinois in the late 1970's. After the nightly system restart, the first person to post in =pad, a popular "group note" (equivalent to a news group) would excitedly declare their posting to be the "First Note" of the day. When typing quickly, First Note became "FIRT NOST" and became the standard way to announce your first-ness. This is our "FIRT NOST" birding note of 2008. Bwahaha!