NORTHERN CALIFORNIA 
11 Nov (4-3 birds; EP). Very rare on the im- 
mediate coast, an Oak Titmouse was at Bode- 
ga Bay, Sonoma 7-13 Oct (BDP, TE, RAR, DN). 
Single Dusky Warblers at Pt. Isabel, Rich- 
mond, Contra Costa 9 Oct (TES, ph. BLe et 
al.) and Antonelli Pond, Santa Cruz 16-18 Oct 
(OsJ, RyT, ph. MtB, JCS, SGe, Adam Searcy, 
m.ob.) were the first to be found in the Re- 
gion since 2004 and would represent the 8th 
and 9th Regional records if they pass muster 
with the C.B.R.C. Astonishingly, the Santa 
Cruz bird was found at the exact site as the 
first county record in 1997! A single Moun- 
tain Bluebird was on outer Pt. Reyes, Marin 
21 Oct (RS). An early Hermit Thrush reached 
the C.V. at C.R.E 1 Aug OTr)- 
THRASHERS THROUGH WARBLERS 
Four Gray Catbirds included an individual 
continuing from summer through 15 Sep at 
Natural Bridges S.B., Santa Cruz (BRa, RRa, 
DLSu, m.ob.), one at Campbell Cove, Sonoma 
16-19 Sep (BDP, AWgh, m.ob.), one in G.G.R 
20 Sep (BFi, m.ob.), and another on El. 25-28 
Sep (PRBO). A Northern Mockingbird near 
Goose L. 27 Nov (SCR) was a rare Modoc find. 
Other mockingbirds in unexpected locations 
included one in Big Basin Redwoods S.P., San- 
ta Cniz 14 Aug (DLSu) and another at Usal 
Beach Campground, Mendocino 30 Sep QCS, 
JSL). A Sage Thrasher near Burney 16 Aug 
(KBu, Debby Dailey Anderson) was Shasta's 
2nd. Other Sage Thrashers were on El. 13-17 
Sep (PRBO), near Byron, Contra Costa 11 Nov 
(Hugh Harvey, Eugenia Larson), and at H.R.S. 
31 Oct-2 Nov (]im Chiropolos, Derek Heins, 
ph. Bob BrandrifO. Brown Thrashers were 
along Hardy Cr., Mendocino 20 Sep (JRW) and 
at Pt. Reyes, Marin 14-26 Oct (RS, MtB, 
DWN). The coast saw a spectacular fallout of 
Red-throated Pipits 14 Oct-11 Nov, with at 
least 25 individuals from Humboldt, Marin, 
S.E, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Monterey, and 
Santa Cruz. The 2 (or possibly 3) birds at 
Crissy Field 14-22 Oct provided a first record 
for S.E (HuC, m.ob.). Al! Red-throated Pipits 
were coastal except for one in Gilroy, Santa 
Clara 17-20 Oct (SCR, RWR, MMR, MJM). In 
addition, we received three well-documented 
reports of the Asian (japonicus) subspecies of 
American Pipit: San Mateo's first at Redwood 
Shores 27 Oct (tRSTh, tKrO, ph. JMD), at 
Salinas W.T.E, Monterey 29 Oct (ph. BLS), and 
on EL 29 Oct (Mark Dettling, JTz, Tim Gui- 
da). A single Bohemian Waxwing played 
hide-and-seek with birders 19-22 Nov at 
South Lake Tahoe, El Dorado (Susan Steven- 
son, Don Harriman, ph. WRi). 
Overall, it was an excellent season for war- 
blers, with numbers and variety both high. 
Coastal counties from S.E north reported ex- 
ceptional numbers, while Santa Cruz and Mon- 
terey judged their seasons unremarkable. Near- 
ly all the more regular “eastern” warblers ex- 
ceeded their 16-year averages. We tallied 39 
Tennessee Warblers, 57 Chestnut-sideds, 24 
Magnolias, 15 Blackburnians, 72 Blackpolls, 39 
Northern Waterthrushes, and a remarkable 77 
American Redstarts, the highest for that species 
since 1999. Eleven Ovenbirds was nearly twice 
the 16-year average and also our highest total 
since 1999. Eight Virginia’s Warblers and 8 
Northern Parulas also exceeded recent aver- 
ages. The only regular eastern vagrants with 
low numbers were Black-and-white Warbler 
(24, a bit low) and Palm Warbler (79, less than 
half the average). Even some of the rarer 
species were present in unusually high num- 
bers. We had 7 Prothonotary Warblers, 6 Bay- 
breasteds, 6 Cape Mays, 6 Hoodeds, and 8 
Canadas. Black-throated Blue and Prairie War- 
blers bucked the trend, with 7 and 5 respec- 
tively, both numbers well below average. 
A Blue-winged Warbler on F.I. 17 Sep 
showed signs of introgression with Golden- 
winged (tJTz, tMtB, tRyT); previously, the is- 
land had single records of Blue-winged and 
Blue-winged x Golden-winged. Southeast 
Farallon 1. also produced our only Golden- 
winged Warbler 14 Sep (tJTz, tMtB, tRyT, 
Andy Kleinhesselink). The only Tennessee 
Warbler in a non-coastal county was along 
Putah Cr., Yolo 9 Sep OTr)- Lucy’s Warblers 
were at Pt. Reyes, Marin 29 Sep (RS) and Coy- 
ote Pt., San Mateo 8 Oct (RSTh). Both our in- 
land Northern Parulas were at C.R.E: one a 
male continuing from summer to 2 Oct OTr, 
CCo) and a different bird 27 Sep QTr). Chest- 
nut-sided Warblers near Eagle L., Lassen 12 
Sep (RPD, ph. SAG) and at North Davis Farm 
Ponds, Yolo 6 Oct (SCH) were the only ones 
away from coastal counties. A Magnolia War- 
bler on Reclamation Rd. 17 Sep was Lake’s 
2nd (GEC). Three Black-throated Blue War- 
blers in Mendocino were the 3rd, 4th, and 5th 
records for that county. One Black- throated 
Green Warbler was in Monterey, Monterey 1 
Oct (tSarah & Jerry Lane) and another was in 
G.G.E 12 Nov (PJM, TDominik Mosur). A 
Palm Warbler along the American R. Parkway 
23-25 Sep (DKo, ph. CCo, m.ob.) was the 4th 
for Sacramento. The American R. Parkway 
also provided our only inland Bay-breasted 
Warbler 20-21 Sep (JML, ph. CCo, m.ob.), 
the 4th for Sacramento. On Reclamation Rd., 
Lake got its overdue first Blackpoll Warbler 
16 Sep (tJRW). A Prothonotary Warbler in Ft. 
Bragg 18 Nov (tKHv) was probably only the 
3rd for Mendocino. One Worm-eating Warbler 
was at Pt. Reyes 11 Sep (RS); another at 
C.C.ES. 16-17 Nov (b., ph. Gina Barton, 
MMR, MJM, RGJ) was Santa Clara’s 2nd. The 
well-described and sketched Ovenbird at Red 
Bluff Recreation Center 16 Sep (tDan 
Williams) was a first for Tehama. Notable 
Northern Waterthrushes were at Pine Cr. 
Basin, Modoc 12 Sep (]Tr) and San Felipe L., 
San Benito 21-22 Sep (DLSh). A Connecticut 
Warbler that hit a window in Brentwood 3 
Oct, if accepted by the C.B.R.C., would be a 
first for the C.V, a first for Contra Costa, and 
one of very few inland records for the Region 
(ph. Lindsay Wildlife Museum, fide SAG). 
The bird was released 9 Oct. Mourning War- 
blers (all pending C.B.R.C. acceptance) were 
on EL 14-17 Sep (PRBO, tMtB), at Big Sur R. 
mouth, Monterey 20 Sep (SBT, LTer, ph. OsJ), 
and, a first for Sonoma, at Campbell Cove 30 
Sep (ph. David Hoffman, BDP). 
TANAGERS THROUGH FINCHES 
Fourteen Summer Tanagers was a total not 
seen in at least the past 16 years. All were 
coastal except for a male at Upper San Leandro 
Res., Contra Costa 8 Aug-2 Sep (Tim Howe, 
ph. Jeff Hoppes, m.ob.). A female Scarlet Tan- 
ager was at Pt. Reyes, Marin 14 Sep Qudi Sier- 
ra, TKvG). American Tree Sparrows were at Pt. 
Reyes, Marin 12 (Cin-Ty Lee, JLw, MSk) & 16 
Oct (RS), Half Moon Bay, San Mateo 12-14 Oct 
(RSTh et al). King Salmon, Humboldt 2 Nov 
(SMcA), and near Alturas, Modoc 28 Nov 
(SCR). Sixty-two Clay-colored Sparrows was 
right on our 16-year average. Mainland S.E’s 
first Black-throated Sparrow was present 6-16 
Sep at the Presidio (Andy Kleinhesselink; ph., 
tMWE; JM, m.ob.). A 2nd S.E Black-throated 
Sparrow at Ft. Mason 27 Sep might have been 
a different bird (both were imms.). Santa 
Cruz’s 2nd Black-throated Sparrow was at the 
U.C. Santa Cruz Arboretum 22 Aug (ph. Carla 
Galloway), and its 3rd was at Natural Bridges 
S.B. 25-28 Sep (PDB, SGe, LGo, m.ob.). An- 
other coastal Black- throated Sparrow was at 
Coyote Pt., San Mateo 26 Sep (RSTh), and 
Sonoma got its 2nd record in Healdsburg 8-11 
Oct (Gail Roper, BDP, DN). Three Lark 
Buntings was well below average: singles on 
El. 22-24 Aug and 13-18 Sep (both PRBO) and 
one at Coyote Pt., San Mateo 8 Oct (RSTh). 
Single Baird’s Sparrows on EL 3-4 (tRyT, 
tMtB, tJTz, Dave Logan) & 14 Sep (ph., tRyT; 
MtB, JTz, Andy Kleinhesselink) would consti- 
tute the 5th and 6th state records, if accepted 
by the C.B.R.C. All but one of the C.B.R.C.-en- 
dorsed records have come from EL We re- 
ceived 29 Swamp Sparrow and 108 White- 
throated Sparrow reports. Harris’s Sparrows 
were in Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz 13 Nov-i- (KAr, 
Jeb Henley, ph. Bruce Barrett, m.ob.), Occiden- 
tal, Sonoma 16-23 Nov (Roger Marlowe), Rich- 
mond, Contra Costa 16-24 Nov (Sheila Dickie, 
ph. BLe, ph. Jim Scarff , m.ob.), and Lanphere 
154 
NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS 
