1. For over a year a black-crowned night-heron has claimed a dumpster on 4th Street behind Market Hall and Peet’s Coffee. Migration and hunting are not his thing, but possibly there is more to it. He has my attention.
2. He’s a familiar sight. He has an audience. The dumpster is his stage. Now that the nearby restaurants are closed, the dumpster is largely empty. My last two visits I haven’t seen the heron.
3. Nearby, the great blue heron roams Cesar Chevez Park and the Berkeley Marina.
4. California gull is often found at Cesar Chavez Park usually on the same shoreline rock opposite the Golden Gate.
5-6. After disappearing for weeks, my backyard visitor returns. He greets me from his usual perch above the deck. It happened to be my birthday, nice timing. Now he comes for short visits every day. Because his beak isn’t especially heavy, I don’t know if he’s a raven. He does have the ruffled feathers under his neck, but not much. He’s a bit brownish, rather than crow black. When he’s hungry he brings his mate. They’re a twosome, as raven’s often are. He seems bigger than a crow. Again not by much. When he does a deep caw, he hunches down with shoulders up, but sometimes he just greets without hunching. He chats. He hunches a bit. He likes it when we talk in our separate languages. Now he wants to come in the house. Maybe when he says a clear Hello. Is this a raven? Or is he a crow?
7-8. At Aquatic Park, Berkeley, a great egret was side hunting with neck and head approaching parallel to the water. Every minute or two he has a fish. He circles and slowly high-steps as he hunts. In fast repetition with flawless technique, he has his target.
9-10. Late afternoon same day a golden crowned sparrow picked blossoms from the cherry tree that is in bloom in the middle of the yard. A dozen feet away a golden crowned sparrow worked the wine-colored leaves of the plum tree.
11-12. Recently this stylish bird gave the backyard’s other plum tree a visit. Black phoebe 99% is what my iBird identifier says. But it’s brown. Its back feathers resemble an eastern phoebe in color. One friend suggests perhaps the sun has lightened the feathers and they may darken with the July moat. Another friend offers possible morph.
Does someone know this bird and if he’s a black phoebe, why is he brown?