Keith’s Gallery Wildlife List
Most birders like to keep LISTS. So of course, I had to have one for my gallery. I began the species list the day that I opened my shop, “The Wildlife Gallery & Studio”.
With a list comes rules that I have set up for myself and that I adhere to like law. For a species to be officially counted on my gallery list, I have to have seen or heard it, either from within the actual gallery or from the small cement slab that lies one step outside of each of the two gallery doors. From that vantage point I can count anything that I can identify, no matter how far away it is. I’m limited only by my optical power and weather condition such as heat waves, wind, rain and glare. In short, my list is confined to an area of about 15 X 20 feet!
The gallery is located in “downtown” Bolinas, Marin County, California. It is situated just south west of the San Andreas fault line at the extreme southern end of the Point Reyes Peninsula, nestled between the Bolinas Lagoon and the Pacific Ocean. While I’m bordered on two sides by water, I can’t see any from the gallery. There was, however, a three day period when a hellish windstorm blew down a fence across the street, allowing me to see about 100 feet of the Bolinas Lagoon and giving me nine new gallery birds in that brief window of time. Unfortunately the fence was quickly repaired thereby shutting off my view of salt water! The main gallery window faces south across a patio, adorned with numerous feeders and a large granite water sculpture that acts as a liquid bird magnet. Beyond is a lush garden with a couple of small fresh water pools hidden behind a fence. Framing that area is a heavily forested hillside composed of Coast Live Oak, Douglas Fir and numerous other plant species. On fall mornings this hill is a drop in zone for south bound migrants, as these are simply the last trees of choice before crossing the mouth of the Bolinas Lagoon. During the evenings, this hillside catches full sun and is a warm, buggy and perfectly illuminated swath of green. There is a small gap where I can see the back side of Mount Tamalpais approximately three miles to the east, otherwise most of my view is at fairly close quarters. There is also a nice swath of sky for hawks, swallows or high flying migrants. There is often a passage of birds at an incoming high tide as shorebirds and ducks exit the lagoon and pass over the gallery to seek high ground at the Bolinas sewage ponds.
The species below are listed in the order that they were first recorded with the date they were first seen.
The Wildlife Gallery & Studio, Bird & Wildlife List
1991
1. 4/20 Great Blue Heron
2. “ Western Gull
3. “ Pine Siskin W,F
4. “ House Finch W,F
5. “ Band-tailed Pigeon
6. “ Cedar Waxwing W
7. “ Orange-crowned Warbler W
8. “ American Crow W,F
9. “ Red-winged Blackbird
10. “ European Starling W
11. “ Osprey
12. “ Double-crested Cormorant
13. 4/21 Song Sparrow W,F
14. “ Wrentit
15. “ Barn Swallow
16. “ Pacific-slope Flycatcher W
17. “ Western Scrub-Jay W,F
18. “ Belted Kingfisher
19. “ Caspian Tern
20. “ American Goldfinch W,F
21. “ Turkey Vulture
22. “ Northern Rough-winged Swallow
23. “ Cliff Swallow
24. “ Ring-billed Gull
25. “ Anna’s Hummingbird W,F
26. “ Glacous-winged Gull
27. 4/22 Black-bellied Plover
28. “ Yellow-rumped Warbler W
29. “ Purple Finch W,F
30. “ Red-shouldered Hawk
31. “ Chestnut-backed Chickadee W,F
32. “ California Gull
33. “ Short-billed Dowitcher
34. “ White-crowned Sparrow W,F
35. 4/23 White-tailed Kite
36. “ Brewer’s Blackbird
37. “ Mourning Dove F
38. 4/24 Red-tailed Hawk
39. “ Wilson’s Warbler W
40. “ California Quail F
41. “ Spotted Towhee F
42. 4/26 Warbling Vireo W
43. “ Golden-crowned Sparrow W,F
44 “ Violet-green Swallow
45. 4/27 Common Loon
46. “ California Towhee W,F
47. “ House Sparrow W,F
48. “ Whimbrel
49. “ Great Egret
50. 4/28 Northern Mockingbird 51. Hairy Woodpecker
52. “ Mallard
53. “ Bushtit W
54. “ Vaux’s Swift
55. 5/1 Allen’s Hummingbird W,F
56. “ Cooper’s Hawk
57. “ Brown Pelican
58. “ Common Raven
59. 5/2 Tree Swallow
60. “ Least Sandpiper
61. “ American Robin W
62. 5/10 Downy Woodpecker
63. “ Snowy Egret
64. 5/13 White-throated Swift
65. 5/14 American White Pelican
66. 5/16 Bonaparte’s Gull
67. 5/19 Olive-sided Flycatcher
68. 5/21 Brown-headed Cowbird
69. 5/23 Purple Martin
70. 5/24 Killdeer
71. 6/1 Yellow Warbler W
72. 6/12 Swainson’s Thrush W
73. 6/15 Black-headed Grosbeak W,F
74. 8/30 Greater Yellowlegs
75. 9/5 Pygmy Nuthatch
76. 9/6 Brown Creeper
77. 9/10 Western Tanager W
78. 9/11 Western Wood-Pewee
79. “ Townsend’s Warbler W
80. “ Sharp-shinned Hawk F
81. 9/14 Western Sandpiper
82. 9/20 Steller’s Jay F
83. 9/22 Merlin F
84. 9/29 Broad-winged Hawk
85. “ Northern Flicker
86. 10/3 American Kestrel
87. 10/8 Black Turnstone
88. 10/9 American Pipit
89. “ Winter Wren
90. 10/16 Black Phoebe W
91. 10/17 Hermit Thrush W
92. “ Canada Goose
93. 10/18 Hutton’s Vireo W
94. 10/23 Varied Thrush
95. 10/24 Dark-eyed Junco W,F
96. 10/31 Ruby-crowned Kinglet W,F
97. “ Spotted Sandpiper
98. 11/2 Mew Gull
99. “ Herring Gull
100. 11/10 Tricolored Blackbird
101. 11/11 Northern Harrier
102. 11/15 Black-crowned Night-Heron
103. 11/20 Golden Eagle
104. 11/22 Northern Shoveler
105. 12/7 Northern Pintail
106. “ American Wigeon
107. “ Long-billed Curlew
108. 12/21 Peregrine Falcon
109. “ Short-eared Owl
110. 12/21 Greater White-fronted Goose
1992
111. 1/17 Fox Sparrow W,F
112. 6/16 Heermann’s Gull
113. 6/30 Elegant Tern
114. 7/22 Nuttall’s Woodpecker
115. 8/4 Common Yellowthroat
116. “ Orchard Oriole
117. 10/2 Lesser Goldfinch W,F
118. 10/5 Golden-crowned Kinglet
119. 10/12 Red-breasted Nuthatch
120. 10/22 Red-breasted Sapsucker
121. 11/1 Tropical Kingbird
122. 11/8 Willet
123. 11/15 Red Crossbill
124. 11/17 Western Bluebird
125. “ Marbled Godwit
1993
126. 3/6 Barn Owl
127. 4/30 Semipalmated Plover
128. 6/20 Bewick’s Wren
129. 9/13 Black-throated Gray Warbler
130. 9/26 Rock Dove W,F
131. 9/30 Acorn Woodpecker
132. 10/5 Long-billed Dowitcher
133. 11/1 Swamp Sparrow
134. 11/5 Great Horned Owl
135. 11/12 Snow Goose
136. “ Ross’s Goose
137. 12/1 White-throated Sparrow W,F
1994
138. 4/17 Pileated Woodpecker
139. 5/16 Wandering Tattler
140. 7/29 Hooded Oriole F
141. 8/24 Rufous Hummingbird W,F
142. 11/3 Western Meadowlark
143. 12/6 Swainsons Hawk
144. 12/11 Ferruginous Hawk
145. “ Clay-colored Sparrow W,F
1995
146. 4/24 Ash-throated Flycatcher
1996
147. 9/1 Willow Flycatcher
1997
148. 7/13 Lincoln’s Sparrow W,F
149. “ Green Heron
150. 8/3 Chipping Sparrow
151. 9/22 American Redstart
152. 10/6 Surf Scoter
1998
153. 2/22 Thayer’s Gull
154. 3/12 Bald Eagle
155. 4/18 Brant
156. 4/25 Bullock’s Oriole
157. 5/17 Bank Swallow
158. 7/22 Magnificent Frigatebird
159. 8/28 Prothonotary Warbler
1999
160. 1/10 Williamson’s Sapsucker
161. 1/20 Dickcissel F
162. 1/30 Common Goldeneye
163. 2/6 Forster’s Tern
164. 5/14 Black-legged Kittiwake
165. “ MacGillivray’s Warbler
166. 9/19 Chestnut-sided Warbler
167. 9/22 Say’s Phoebe
168. 10/2 Lesser Yellowlegs
169. 10/4 Marsh Wren
170. 10/25 Rough-legged Hawk
2000
171. 10/4 Pacific Loon
172. 10/28 Surfbird
173. 10/31 Harris’s Sparrow F
174. 10/17 Sanderling
2001
175. 2/6 Dunlin
176. 5/7 Zone-tailed Hawk
177. 9/26 Nashville Warbler
2002
178. 5/16 White-faced Ibis
179. 5/17 Eastern Phoebe
2003
180. 8/15 Lucy’s Warbler
181. 10/3 Blackpoll Warbler
182. 10/15 Glacous Gull
183. 10/21 Lesser Nighthawk
2004
184. 9/28 Northern Waterthrush
185. 10/23 Tennessee Warbler F
186. 10/23 Cackling Goose
187. 11/4 Tundra Swan
188. 12/10 Bufflehead
189. “ American Avocet
190. “ Red-breasted Merganser
191. 12/11 Western Grebe
192. 12/12 Gadwall
193. “ Ruddy Duck
194. “ Clark’s Grebe
195. 12/13 Horned Grebe
196. “ Greater Scaup
2005
197. 5/13 Savannah Sparrow F
198. 10/25 Palm Warbler
199. 10/31 Indigo Bunting W,F
2006
200. 9/7 Lazuli Bunting
201. 10/5 Cassin’s Vireo
202. 10/15 Blackburnian Warbler
203. 11/9 American Tree Sparrow W,F
2007
204. 4/26 Eurasian Collared Dove
205. 8/23 Calliope Hummingbird F
206. 8/27 Ruby-throated Hummingbird F
207. 9/11 Black-chinned Hummingbird F
208. 9/12 Broad-tailed Hummingbird W,F
209. “ Western Kingbird
210. “ Bairds Sandpiper
211. 9/13 Brewers Sparrow
LIST STARTED ON APRIL 20th. 1991
“W” indicates species that visited water sculpture & “F” indicates species that fed at feeders.
BIRDS
MAMMALS
1. Opossum
2. Brazilian Free-tailed Bat
3. Little Brown Myotis
4. Raccoon
5. Norway Rat
6. Striped Skunk
7. Western Gray Squirrel
8. Deer Mouse
9. House Mouse
10. Harbor Seal (heard)
11. Broad-footed Mole
12. Mule Deer
13. Sonoma Chipmunk
14. Shrew-Mole
REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS
1. Terrestrial Garter Snake
2. Pacific Tree Frog
FISH
(being carried by Osprey)
1. Leopard Shark
2. Striped Bass
3. Jack Smelt
BUTTERFLIES & MOTHS
1. Pipevine Swallowtail
2. Anise Swallowtail
3. Satyr Comma
4. Monarch
5. Spring Azure
6. Cabbage White
7. Pale Swallowtail
8. Variable Checkerspot
9. West Coast Lady
10. Western Tiger Swallowtail
11. Red Admiral
12. Umber Skipper
13. Lorquin’s Admiral
14. Acmon Blue
15. Buckeye
16. California Sister
17. White-lined Sphinx Moth
18. Cecropia Moth
19. Field Crescent
DRAGONFLIES
1. Red Saddlebags
2. Black Saddlebags
3. Pacific Forktail
4. Swift Forktail
5. Blue-eyed Darner
6. Widow Skimmer
7. Cardinal Meadowhawk
8. Common Green Darner
