Just got back from a sojourn in San Francisco and thought you might be interested in the trip report. The conference lasted from July 26-28. After that, the fun began. (Life birds are all caps.)

We picked up a rental car on 7/29 at 8:00a.m. and drove over to Cliff House Restaurant in Lincoln Park, following the advice we had that a good breakfast could be had at a reasonable price there. The rocks just off shore were filled with Brandt's Cormorants, Brown Pelicans and a Black Oystercatcher or two. A nice selection of gulls, Herrings and Heerman's were on the restaurant roof and the shore to the south below the eatery. Brewer's Blackbirds were also in good numbers in the area. The target bird here was the WANDERING TATTLER, although we had been warned that it was early in the season to find them. Good luck and perseverance were rewarded, however. In the small rocky bay just to the South (of course, we had already looked north from the observation deck) we found five of

them flitting in and out of the rising tide on the rocks. A phone call to a local birder revealed that these may have been the first seen this season. Lucky us! A great way to start the day.

We stopped for tea and cookies at the Japanese Tea Garden and paid a visit to the Museum of Natural History in Golden Gate Park where we added American Crow, Scrub Jay and House Sparrow to the day list, then headed South on I-280 to the Skyline Drive. As we took CA-92 of the expressway, we noticed a large lake on the right and stopped to have a look. Added Red-tailed Hawk, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, and Caspian Tern to the list here. We took a liesurely drive down the beautiful Skyline Drive (CA-35), adding Turkey Vulture and California Quail to the day-list. (Both drive-by birds - we turned around and drove back a ways to get a good look at the very cooperative quail in Windy Hill Open Space Preserve.)

We arrived at Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve about 2:30 p.m. A visit to Alpine Pond across the road from the Russian Ridge parking lot yielded Bushtit, Belted Kingfisher, Acorn Woodpecker, and little else. We drove the 8 miles into Palo Alto for a late lunch at McDonald's, returning out Page Mill Road to Montebello Open Space Preserve near 5:30. A walk down to Steven's Creek Canyon was surprising for the dearth of birds. We moved up the road to Los Trancos Open Space Preserve and again netted no birds.

At 6:45 we were back at Alpine Pond looking for our target bird here, Lawrence's Goldfinch. As the sun began to set, bird activity increased and we added 2 coveys of California Quail, Purple Finch, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Black-throated Grey Warbler, Mourning Dove, White-breasted Nuthatch, and American Goldfinch to the day list. I glimpsed a couple of goldfinches that might have been of the target type, but was foiled by their fast movements and deteriorating light in my attempt to make a positive id.

It was time to begin the search for the other target bird for this area, Northern Pygmy-owl. We scoured Steven's Creek Canyon with no luck.

We drove around to Steven's Creek County Park and tried there, but the rangers chased us out as the park closed at sunset. The rangers also told us not to be caught trespassing in the Open Space Preserves after dark because they, too, closed at sunset. It was now after 8:30p.m. and we decided that we didn't want to risk the heavy fines associated with chasing the bird on closed land; we returned to San Francisco. However, a lifer a day keeps the blues away.

With the near miss on the goldfinch, we decided to try the area again the following morning, foregoing (we thought) the trip we had planned to Point Reyes to look for Cassin's Auklet.

We arrived on Tuesday (7/31) at Alpine Pond about 8:30a.m. and began our day with Acorn Woodpecker, California Quail,

Spotted Towhee, Violet-green Swallow, Mourning Dove, Red-tailed Hawk, and American Goldfinch. As we stood on the nature center porch thinking that we had made a mistake not going to Point Reyes, a bunch of goldfinches appeared in the pines above the center. Not too hopefully, we scanned the busy birds among the branches.

At last! Among several American Goldfinches, clearly visible for a few seconds, were three LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCH. One of them was a male still in breeding plumage!

We decided to return to S.F. via Skyline drive and were rewarded at Windy Hill with Dark-eyed Junco, Red-tailed Hawk, Swainson's Hawk, American Kestrel, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, American Goldfinches, California Towhee, Cliff Swallow, and Chestnut-backed Chickadee. We ate the box lunch prepared by the hotel (should have done that yesterday, too) and decided that there was still time to drive up to Point Reyes.

We took the scenic route 1 off Golden Gate Bridge and arrived about 3:00p.m. at Point Reyes (pronounced, we learned from the rangers, RAY-iss).

Examining the sightings log at the Bear Valley Visitor's Center, we discovered that the Northern Pygmy-owl on the published checklist is not merely rare, it is very rare. None had been sighted and recorded at least since the last Christmas Bird Count (that was as far back as I looked).

The Lighthouse and Chimney Rock were fogged in and having a sea-watch was out of the question. On Chimney Rock Trail, we did add Barn Swallow, Brown Pelican, Cormorant sp., American Coot, Savannah Sparrow, Purple Finch, and House Sparrow to the day list. We left Point Reyes about 6:00p.m., returning to S.F. on US-101 expressway.

Bottom line: four target birds, two seen (Wandering Tattler, Lawrence's Goldfinch). Pretty good for two days of birding. We'll have to try for the Cassin's Auklet on a pelagic and the Northern Pygmy-owl when we luck onto one.

Many thanks to all the chatters who made this whirl-wind tour so profitable for us. Special thanks to Richard Carlson, Todd Newberry, Jim Yurchenko, Jim Stasz, Pete Janzen, and Paul DeBenedictis without whose input we could never have made this work so well.