life list: 507

Five Brooks

Because I feel extremely depressed rn unless I’m debilitatingly stoned reading a book or I am actively gazing upon a bird, I decided to do an early morning trip out to Five Brooks, in Marin County. I picked this place because, as I’ve made abundantly clear, I love Wood Ducks, and according to some eBird sleuthing, they have been reliably seen in larger groups here, at Five Brooks. Five Brooks Trailhead has several trails that are belovéd by horses and horse girls (you can rent time with horses!!), and some that are kind of strenuous that take you down to the ocean. I didn’t do those because I had one single commitment later in the day, and my purpose was mostly to check out the pond, which is basically right at the trailhead.

Like most destinations in the Point Reyes area, the drive is not my favorite thing to do. The road is very curvy and for most of it is just one lane. People will ride your ass if you’re going 10 over, even at 7 am on a weekday. So, be prepared for that. If you’re a passenger, plan on railing some Dramamine.

I arrived at Five Brooks around 7:50am and the whole place was drenched in fog. I was scared the fog would prevent me from seeing birds, but I saw 20 species! Pretty fun!

The craziest part of this day was the absolute bombardment of birdsong happening at Five Brooks. As soon as I arrived, I was overwhelmed with the sounds of like 7 different birds singing at once. Using Merlin helped me identify some known and some N2MBs, including a Red-shouldered Hawk, which I didn’t see but 100% heard. I am being defensive because some birders only include birds seen by eye. I disagree, but sound off below!!

One huge mistake I made on this outing was bringing too many things. I had with me my digital camera, binocs, film camera with 300mm lens, and phone. I somehow needed all of these things almost at the same time and despite my dumb little harness, I was still massively struggling, almost dropping my digital camera, and probably missing a million possible shots. In the future I need to buy a second camera extension for my harness (cringe!) or, better yet, chill the fuck out and just bring one camera at a time. If I were better at IDing birds by sound, my phone wouldn’t have to be out every 30 seconds either.

I didn’t see another soul at Five Brooks the entire time I was on the trails, which was nice, because as you have likely gleaned from the last paragraph, I looked beyond deranged. Maybe other people were there but saw me and fled.

Anyways, I saw several Varied Thrushes, which are N2MBs! That was very cool. I also saw a number of other birds (19 others to be exact!). I would love to come back here again to try to hike down to the beach.

I unfortunately could not get a great pic of a Varied Thrush, but they are a beautiful orange and navy (???wtf fashion icon) songbird of the Pacific coast. I gasped outloud when I saw him! Their orange color really pops against the dense green of the trees.

After about an hour of circling the lake, going crazy with device management, about to faint from birdsong sensory overload, I got my first look at the Wood Ducks! There were around 6, all together enjoying this green shit. I saw my first female Wood Duck, which made me gasp!! Look at her!

After circling for another 45 min around the lake to get another look at the Wood Ducks, I finally accepted they were gone. At this point the area was taken over by Stellar’s Jays and they kind of freak me out. My plan was to head home, but I looked at the map and realized Bolinas Lagoon was on my way home, so I decided to stop there as well!

Bolinas Lagoon

Bolinas Lagoon is one of the premiere birding locations of the Bay Area. It is an estuary that houses many birds, amphibians, and mammals, including many endangered animals! It’s a stopover place for migrating wawa birds, who rest here after and before long flights. It’s very beautiful and there are tons of birds to see! However, I’m not sure I know how to do it correctly. This is my second attempt and both times I just pulled out on every single pull out and looked from there. Maybe having a scope would make things easier. I also read that the Olema Bolinas Road side has some trails and maybe better vistas. I also think it’s possible to go by kayak, so that’s my next move! Either way I didn’t do it right but I still saw lots of cool birds!

There were quite a few American Avocets in their winter garb (black and white). They use their interestingly-shaped bill to sweep the shallows for food. Here is an amazing fact about them from All About Birds: “In response to predators, the American Avocet gives a series of call notes that gradually rise in pitch, simulating the Doppler effect and making its approach seem faster than it actually is”. What!!

For a thrilling moment, I thought I saw a Loon (I am on a Loon Quest RN and they’re my Bird du Moment) but it was a rock. You can’t win ’em all! All in all, I saw 16 different species here, all from like 4 feet from my car at 5 different pull outs.

Anyways, I am currently taking a black and white film development class, and this morning I began to shoot my first roll of black and white film that I will be developing. I’m nervous and excited to see how that goes, and pending everything, I will be making a post with some of those pics in #duetime. Next week, I have a couple of exciting bird outings planned that I will be writing about, as well, including My First Big Day, so click a link baby and subscribe down below!

After this outing (and my daily neighborhood incidental eBirding and an outing to Bolinas and Muir Woods that I forgot to bring a camera to), my 2023 total is at 106, and my life list is at 366, after two N2MBs, a Varied Thrush and a Red-shouldered Hawk. If you’re paying close attention, which I know you aren’t, you’ll realize the math doesn’t add up. That’s because eBird did a big update and “escapee” birds have been removed from life lists. I reported a Muscovy Duck at a park in the Bay Area last year, and because they are all feral in the US, I lost him on my life list. That’s fine! Fine!