Birding with Judy and Terry from Chicago 20 September 2013

Terry and Judy enjoying the north jetty.

Last Friday, 20 September, I had the opportunity to show Judy and Terry (from Chicago, IL) around the north spit of Humboldt Bay for a 1/2 day of birding. We got started around 9:00 a.m. and drove out to the north jetty of Humboldt Bay, one of the best locations in Humboldt County to do seawatches and see the West Coast rocky shorebirds like Black Turnstone, Wandering Tattler, and Surfbird. We also visited some of the famed migrant traps on the north spit of Humboldt Bay in an effort to find landbirds of interest.
    We arrived at the jetty around 9:40 a.m. and, due to the first major fall storm set to arrive shortly, the ocean swell was pretty big (around 7-9 ft) and the whole jetty and the waters east of it were full of surfers hoping to catch one of the big waves that were coming in. I told Terry and Judy that these were the most surfers I had ever seen at this spot as the whole parking area was full from the 30-40 of them present here! High tide was scheduled around 12:50 and we walked out quickly to reach the tip while taking a couple of minutes to enjoy some SURF SCOTERS, PELAGIC CORMORANTS and our first BLACK TURNSTONE (lifer for Judy) of the morning. Since the tide was coming up most of the rocky shorebirds were already in roost mode and were grouped together at the north end of the jetty. Here we had perfect looks at more BLACK TURNSTONES, Judy's lifer SURFBIRDS and WANDERING TATTLERS.

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At the tip of the jetty we had decent numbers of BROWN PELICANS flying by in groups of 5-10 heading south,  some HEERMANN'S GULLS also flying south, and larger groups of SURF SCOTERS, and a flock of 10 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS heading north. We also had some perfect looks at about 6 different PARASITIC JAEGERS (most of them juveniles), that were busy harassing some small groups of ELEGANT TERNS that were coming into Humboldt Bay to roost. We had some nice scope views of some RED-THROATED LOONS right off the tip of the jetty that were still in alternate plumage. 
    After leaving the jetty we headed to the famed cypress patch that is right at the southeastern tip of the north spit and is a famed migrant trap that have turned up such rarities such as Yellow-green Vireo and numerous "eastern" warbler species. Here we had a group of BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES, some migrant YELLOW WARBLERS, and some WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS but otherwise the patch was somewhat quiet. We walked out to the breakwater east of the patch and found some roosting shorebirds which included 21 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS, 2 juvenile SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS, and 3 WESTERN SANDPIPERS. Here we also enjoyed large groups of roosting BROWN PELICANS and HEERMANN'S GULLS and a juvenile COMMON MURRE outside of the breakwater in the bay. I also pointed out the city of Eureka, King Salmon and Field's Landing on the opposite side of Humboldt Bay.

View of Humboldt Hill and King Salmon looking southeast from the Cypress Patch. Note the storm clouds coming. About 45 minutes later the rain started falling!

After the Cypress Patch we stopped off at the most famed migrant trap on the north spit of Humboldt Bay, the "Horse Pasture." This location is famous for the myriad of eastern vagrant flycatchers, vireos, warblers that have been found here since being first discovered by the late Rich Stallcup in the late-1960's. The day before a VIRGINIA'S WARBLER was found here but we and others had no luck in finding that bird today. It must have flown out in anticipation of this storm that was going to touch down at any moment. We may not have found the Virginia's but we did have nice looks at a HUTTON'S VIREO, which was a new species for Judy, and also got brief looks at a migrant WILSON'S WARBLER. We also got some ok looks at a TOWNSEND'S WARBLER which was also new for Judy.
    By time we had covered the Horse Pasture it was around 1:00 p.m. and the dark clouds were really starting to arrive on he coast and rain was imminent at any moment. We decided to drive back towards Arcata and drive through the Arcata Bottoms on the way to our morning spot where we met up and while we did the rain started coming down in first small drops and, by the time we had arrived by to my car, it was coming down in sheets! We called it quits at 1:30 and Judy and Terry went to go visit a friends art gallery in Arcata and I went back towards home. It was a short but productive morning with some very nice and enthusiastic birders from the Midwest!
Below are some photos of the rocky shorebirds encountered on the north jetty:

Black Turnstones. 20 Sept. 2013 n. jetty, Humboldt Bay.

Some of the Surfbirds that were present out on the north jetty, 20 Sept. 2013.

Nice looking juvenile Wandering Tattler. 20 Sept. 2013. north jetty, Humboldt Bay, CA. Note the overall freshness of the plumage and the pale fringes and dark subterminal markings on the wing coverts indicating this birds age.

eBird lists from the morning:

Humboldt Bay--North Spit jetty
North Spit--cypress patch
North Spit--Horse Pasture Willows

Full species list plus numbers: 36 total species
Surf Scoter 340
White-winged Scoter 10
Red-throated Loon 20
Western Grebe 10
Brandt's Cormorant 3
Double-crested Cormorant 2
Pelagic Cormorant 10
Brown Pelican 85
Great Egret 1
White-tailed Kite 1
Killdeer 15
Black-bellied Plover 21
Wandering Tattler 3
Black Turnstone 12
Surfbird 8
Western Sandpiper 3
Short-billed Dowitcher 2
Parasitic Jaeger 6
Common Murre 6
Heermann's Gull 50
Western Gull 15
California Gull 2
Elegant Tern 50
Downy Woodpecker 1
Hutton's Vireo 1
Black-capped Chickadee 11
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 1
Pacific Wren 2
American Robin 1
American Pipit 3
Yellow Warbler 5
Townsend's Warbler 1
Wilson's Warbler 1
Savannah Sparrow 3
Fox Sparrow 2
White-crowned Sparrow 4