San Francisco Treats (aka lifers)

Kelly was willing to take me to San Francisco this morning. I didn't want to pay the $6 to go over the Golden Gate Bridge, so since she was going anyway, I went with. She let me borrow her car to drive around the Presidio, which is the northwestern part of the city, part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Right at her building, there was a little scrubby valley. I checked it out, and in there was a CALIFORNIA TOWHEE, many LESSER GOLDFINCH, FOX SPARROW, and ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD. A great start to the day.


I took the car over to Crissy Field and looked out into the ocean and marshes for birds. By Fort Point, there were a good number of WESTERN GREBE, and a small cormorant near a DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT. After a few minutes, I determined that it was a PELAGIC CORMORANT.

I stopped at Baker Beach, and found a RED-THROATED LOON, and another further out that took me awhile to allow him to be a COMMON LOON.


Needing a break, I drove down to the Haight. Since it was a quarter for every 7 minutes of paring, and because I got the point quite quickly that marijuana is awesome and Bush was the worst president ever, and partly because there were too many designer homeless people, I was ready to get back to birding.


I stopped at the Cliff House and Ocean Beach to see if I could pick up any other ocean-dwellers. I did see some unidentifyable scoters fly by in their V formation, and the cormorants on Seal Rock were also to go unidentified.


I took the bus home and left Kelly her car. The bus driver was very mean to me. I guess I'm the first person to ride his bus that was not from here. I did not know I was supposed to wave down the bus while I was at the bus stop, and exactly how to use the odd card swiping system.