Indigo Bunting, Burleigh Murray Ranch Park, San Mateo County, CA, July 2016

I have business trips to the San Francisco Bay Area every few months, and on each of the last several trips I’ve set up eBird Needs Alerts to see if there might be new CA statebirds in the area to chase after.  Typically my birding time is limited to a couple hours in the early morning, so the target birds have to be quite close to work, and rather cooperative, limiting my possibilities.  But on my July trip not only did the Needs Alert include a possible nearby statebird target, but that bird was also on the ABA Rarity list – a Red-necked Stint.  This bird was nearby in Hayward, and was being reported every day.  But a review of the posts on the local East Bay listserve showed that the bird was at best difficult to find among thousands of Western Sandpipers, and there were more than a few negative posts.  So although I would have loved to try to add this rarity to my CA list, it seemed like it was a real long shot given my time restrictions.  As a result I reluctantly decided not to try to chase after it.

So back to the Needs Alert - with a little more digging I noticed several posts of up to 2 male Indigo Buntings nearby in San Mateo County.  The birds seemed to be quite reliably heard and/or seen in Burleigh Murray Ranch Park, and had been in the area for quite some time.  Plus posts on the San Mateo County listserve provided excellent micro-directions to their favorite area – about 400-500 yards up the path from the parking lot where eucalyptus trees were on both sides of the trail.  With the help of GoogleMaps images I found the exact spot where the birds were being seen, and I was ready for some CA statebirding!

I arrived at the entrance to Burleigh Murray Ranch Park about 30 minutes before dawn to low overcast and drizzle.  While I waited at the parking lot for about 10 minutes for the sky to lighten a bit, a Great Horned Owl serenaded me – a nice start to the morning.  As I began the short walk up the trail to search for the target birds I was pleased to find quite a bit of activity - several Olive-sided Flycatchers singing from the woodlands above the trail, California and Spotted Towhees calling from the brush near the path, occasional fly-bys of hummingbirds that were likely Allen’s, and quite a number of Wrentits singing from the hillsides.  Just as I neared the area with the eucalyptus trees I heard a bird giving sharp chip notes right next to the trail – I’m very familiar with Indigo call notes and this bird sounded like a good match.  But the bird wouldn’t come into the open, and given that I’m unfamiliar with chip notes of many of the local species, I didn’t want to check it off my list based on chip notes alone.  Then I heard what sounded like a snippet of an Indigo song from the hillside above me.  But then both birds went silent.  Another “definite maybe”.  I think I was trying too hard to make either (or both) into my target birds.

I waited around in the area for another 30 minutes, adding some nice birds to my day list - a couple Black-headed Grosbeaks, a MacGillivray’s Warbler, several Bushtits, an attractive Chestnut-backed Chickadee, and both Steller’s and California Scrub-Jays.  But no luck on the Indigos.  Then out of nowhere I heard a distant song that sounded like an Indigo Bunting.  Was this going to be another not-so cooperative individual?  I cupped my hands around my ears focusing my attention on the distant hillside where I the song had come from.  Not 15 seconds later there was the song again – the clear paired notes of a male Indigo Bunting.  The bird continued to sing virtually non-stop for the next 15 minutes – not sure why it wasn’t singing earlier unless maybe it just didn’t want to start its day quite as early as some of the other birds in the area.  Although Lazuli Buntings have very similar songs, and are also in the area, I find their songs to be a bit buzzier than Indigos, so I’m confident I was hearing an Indigo.  As the bird continued to sing I scanned the distant hillside for the bird but could never spot it.  Interestingly another birder had a similar experience where he couldn’t see the Indigo even though it was being quite vocal.  Although I wanted to see the bird, my window of birding opportunity was nearing an end.  And as I left the area walking back to the car I could continue to hear the bird serenade me in the distance.

Indigo Bunting was #383 for my CA list.  I’d like to get to 400 in CA someday, but that will take quite some time if I only add 1 bird on each trip.  Though I did recently add an “armchair tick” to my CA list with the split of the Scrub-Jays – I’ve seen both California and Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jays in CA over the years.  (I’ve seen both species in NV as well!)  CA was my 42nd state for Indigo Bunting, and my 3rd state for this species as a rarity – along with NV and AZ.