Mark F

Hi all, I'd just like to conform (or not) that these are Says Phoebe's. Thanks! Bird 3 by Mark Featherstone, on Flickr Bird 2 by Mark Featherstone, on Flickr Bird by Mark Featherstone, on Flickr

That's a lifer! Thank you!

Hi all, Saw this one today a little inland from San Francisco Bay. I thought it might just be a female Stellar's Jay, but doesn't seem so. Thanks! Bird by Mark Featherstone, on Flickr

Ah, wonderful. Thank you!

Hi all, I don't think I've seen these guys in my backyard before. Seen today in the San Francisco Bay area. Thanks! Stranger by Mark Featherstone, on Flickr Sparrow by Mark Featherstone, on Flickr

Many thanks to both of you!

Seen at Half Moon Bay just south of San Francisco today (8 Sept) hanging out with a bunch of Brewer's Blackbirds (the Starling, not me). I didn't realize how painfully ugly this poor thing was until I saw the photo at home. Looks like the skin around the face is completely denuded. Is this some transition between summer and winter plumage, or juvenile and winter plumage? Thanks. Ugly Starling by Mark Featherstone, on Flickr

Thank you, psweet!

I'm thinking these are non-breeding Forster's Terns. Thanks for your help. EDIT: Seen on Labor Day in the SF Bay area. Forster's Tern 2 by Mark Featherstone, on Flickr Forster's Tern by Mark Featherstone, on Flickr

Many thanks!

Oh, wow. That's a lifer. Thank you! Re-posting photo with correct name: Pelagic Cormorant by Mark Featherstone, on Flickr

My best guess is that this is a Double-crested Cormorant. Seen near San Francisco Bay the day before yesterday. Thanks for your help. Double-crested Cormorant 3 by Mark Featherstone, on Flickr

Hey, amazing! Thank you!

Yay! Thanks, akiley! Here's the same photo with the corrected name. Spotted Sandpiper by Mark Featherstone, on Flickr

It's spotted. But is it a Spotted Sandpiper? Thanks in advance. Spotted bird by Mark Featherstone, on Flickr

Oh that's great. I've never seen their chicks before. Chicks? Cootlings?

Thank you!

Thanks, akiley!

I think the original photo at the top of this thread is going to disappear as a result of my editing on Flickr. Here it is again. Black-bellied Plover by Mark Featherstone, on Flickr

Yay! Thank you!

Saw this on the east side of SF Bay during the same outing in which I saw the Black-bellied Plover identified earlier. I'm thinking it's a Whimbrel. Thanks for your thoughts. Whimbrel 2 by Mark Featherstone, on Flickr Whimbrel by Mark Featherstone, on Flickr

I've put this in the wrong sub-forum. I am going to repost in the correct one. Thanks.

Saw this on the east side of SF Bay during the same outing in which I saw the Black-bellied Plover identified earlier. I'm thinking it's a Whimbrel. Thanks for your thoughts. Whimbrel by Mark Featherstone, on Flickr

Great! Thank you both so much!

By this time last year in our little area on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay, it seemed you couldn't throw a stone without hitting an American Coot. They were so plentiful and ubiquitous that I got a little sick of them. Now I regret my past indifference, because I have not seen a single one as yet. Very strange. Any idea as to what might cause a species to abandon an area it was so clearly fond of the year before? Just to note, there are lots of mallards (mostly domestic, I think) and the Canada Geese are back. Also some Snowy Egrets, Black-bellied Plovers (I think), many more Brown Pelicans than last year (it seems), some Long-billed Curlews, Marbled Godwits, etc. We've only lived here a year, so I can't say off the top of my head how last year compared to previous ones. Thanks!