Spring ***
Summer **
Fall ***
Winter ***The Presidio of San Francisco is a large park-like area in the northwest corner of the city adjacent to the Golden Gate Bridge. It became part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in 1994. For two centuries it has been a military reservation and, as such, has been inviolate to the spread of urban development. Large tracts were planted with eucalyptus, Monterey Cypress, and pine. Other area, where buildings and homes were clustered, have been planted and landscaped with shrubbery and lawns, all attractive to birds. Like Golden Gate Park, much of the land was originally covered with sand dunes, but there are outcroppings of serpentine with an interesting association of rare plants still growing in these wild places.
Among the special areas for birding in the Presidio are: a small "park within a park" called El Polin Springs, off MacArthur Blvd. ; Lobos Creek at the southwest Lincoln Blvd. Gate off 25th Avenue; Baker Beach on the shore just west of the Lincoln Blvd. Entrance; the San Francisco Bayshore, all along the north side of the Presidio; and the wooded hills below Arguello Blvd.
Like an oasis in the desert, this green community attracts a wide variety of birds. Red-tailed and Red-shouldered hawks and American Kestrel are known to breed here, and Peregrine Falcon occasionally flies in for a visit around Baker Beach. Both Great Horned Owl and Western Screech-owl are residents. Large flocks of California Quail gather to feed through the underbrush and on the wide lawns. These quail are among the very few wild coveys still left in the bounds of the city of San Francisco. It is hoped that these precious lands will be protected from the onslaught of feral cats, which have decimated, and even eliminated, most of the quail from elsewhere in the city.
In winter, both White-crowned and Golden-crowned Sparrows abound. An occasional White-throated sparrow has been recorded from these flocks. In spring and early summer, the White-crowned Sparrow is one of the most common nesting species; a surprising fact for visiting birders more accustomed to searching out this species in high mountain breeding habitat.
Other common nesting species are Mourning Dove, Anna's and Allen's Hummingbirds, Downy Woodpecker, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Western Scrub Jay, Chestnut Backed Chickadee, Bushtit, Brown Creeper, Pygmy Nuthatch, American Robin, Northern Mockingbird, Hutton's Vireo, Orange-crowned Warbler, California Towhee, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Brewer's Blackbird, Purple Finch, House Finch, and Pine Siskin. Wilson's Warblers and Swainson's Thrushes are usually present and probably nest in the area. A pair of winter wrens is known to nest in the heavily wooded area below Arguello Blvd.
One of the rarest species suspected of nesting on or near the Presidio is the Red Crossbill. It has been recorded at all seasons of the year, often with immature individuals in the small flocks. Perhaps the best areas to search for this bird are around the edges of the Presidio golf course and on the slope below the Inspiration Point. It has also been seen in the woods between Lincoln Boulevard and Baker Beach on the west side of the Presidio, as well as along Lobos Creek, at the bottom of the Lincoln Boulevard hill.
Since 1966, Hooded Orioles have nested in a small colony near the spot where Letterman Hospital once stood, just inside the Lombard Gate. Their nests seem to be placed only in the fan-leaf palm here - low-hanging, purse-shaped nests fastened neatly to the underside of the palm leaf and constructed of the fine, tough fibers pulled by the birds from the leaf edges. Originally the nests were found in the palms along Presidio Boulevard at the west end of Lombard Street. More recently, the orioles have moved first to an area by the Lombard Gate, and then westward across the Presidio to Sea Cliff and on toward Lincoln Park, wherever the fan palms are not too closely trimmed. There are usually a number of "dummy" or practice nests in these trees, but quiet careful watching will reveal the occupied ones. The first birds appear around mid-April, with May perhaps the best month to watch their activities. Northern Mockingbirds also nest in this general area.
Occasionally Red-breasted Sapsuckers are found, usually in winter, and flickers are seen in very large numbers in winter, in meadows such as the one at the ball field beside Lobos Creek. The Hairy Woodpecker is quite rare in this area, but has been suspected of breeding not far from Lobos Creek.
Large flocks of Cedar Waxwings come and go in winter and spring. Often feeding in blooming eucalyptus. Both Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Golden-crowned Kinglet, as well as Hermit Thrush, Winter Wren, Townsend's and Yellow-rumped warblers and not too difficult to see in wooded areas. Even a Hermit Warbler might catch one's eye in the winter, or a secretive Varied Thrush.
During spring migration almost anything can happen such an environment. Western Tanagers can be common, and so can some warblers and vireos. Tennessee Warblers have been seen several times, usually announcing their presence in song, somewhere around El Polin Springs. The Ash-throated Flycatcher, Say's Phoebe, Western Bluebird, Lazuli Bunting and Black-headed Grosbeak, while seldom seen in numbers, can occasionally surprise a birder almost anywhere in the Presidio where there is appropriate cover.
The fall hawk migration can be spectacular over the Presidio. Many of the species recorded from the Point Diablo hawk lookout, at Fort Cronkite, and Battery 129, more commonly known as Hawk Hill, cross over here. Red-tailed, Red-shouldered, and a number of less common buteos are often seen. Among the rarities are Broad-winged Hawks, once thought to be "mistaken calls". Over the last decade or so, the have become more common due to increased birding skill and over 100 have been counted during the fall migration by the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory. In good years, some numbers of Ferruginous and Rough-legged Hawks may appear. Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks are common and others, such as Northern Harrier, falcons such as the American Kestrel and the less common Merlin and Peregrine can be seen over the Presidio. Ospreys are sometimes seen in fairly large numbers and even a Golden or even more rarely Bald Eagle is possible. One of the rarest fall migrants ever recorded on the Presidio was the Clark's Nutcracker. In late October of 1961, a group of at least seven birds appeared and spend some days among the pines on Washington Boulevard where it overlooks the ocean. (Our thanks to Naomi Svenningsen for this interesting record.)
There is much waterfront on the Presidio - from the baylands on the north side around to Fort Point, under the Golden Gate Bridge and thence to the ocean at Baker Beach. Most productive has been the bay side, where cormorants, loons, grebes, Red-breasted Mergansers, Surf Scoters, and other ducks may be seen close to shore. Long-tailed and Harlequin Ducks may appear along the beach just west of the Coast Guard Station along with large numbers of other water birds during the winter herring run. Common Murre, Marbled Murrelet, Parasitic and Pomarine Jaegers, Sooty and Black-vented Shearwaters are more likely to be seen farther out, in the strait beyond the Golden Gate Bridge. Some years have brought thousands of milling Sooty Shearwaters all the way up to the Bridge, feeding for several hours. The time must depend on the tide and the available food, but the season is usually late summer or early fall.
A few lucky birders have seen jaegers pursuing terns along the beach as far into the Bay as the yacht club just east of the Presidio. Forster's Terns are present the year round, and Elegant Terns move up from their southern breeding grounds into this area in summer, often in fairly large numbers. Common Terns and Least Terns are sometimes seen in small groups near, or on, the old pier at the Coast Guard Station. Many gull species can be studied to advantage her and on the Crissy Field landing strip nearby. This has proven to be a particularly convenient place to see Thayer's Gull in winter. Others that may gather here in winter are: Western Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Herring Gull, California Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Mew Gull, occasionally Bonaparte's Gull, and very rarely, a Glaucous Gull.
Brown Pelicans have become quite common in recent years and large numbers even winter here. When they arrive after breeding in summer, they are accompanied by a retinue of Heermann's Gulls, which find an easy way to feed by following the pelicans as they dive and bring in their catches. White Pelican may also appear occasionally in small flocks outside the breeding season - always a dramatic sight as they soar by the Golden Gate Bridge and down along the Marina.
Shorebirds, such as Black Turnstone and Sanderling can be common along the shore, especially in stormy weather. Willet, Black-bellied Plover (and even occasional American Golden-Plover) along with a few others may attract the birder's interest. Wandering Tattler will sometimes come inside the Bay, but chances are better along the rocks outside the bridge, around Baker Beach and beyond.
Whatever the season, the birder can expect more than the usual city birding while exploring the Presidio. <As this book goes to press> the details of the future of the Presidio under the National Park Service are still in discussion. But many good naturalists are working to reintroduce native plants and to protect the many natural habitats in this most beautiful park. Hopefully the birds will be protected and their numbers increase. <Over the coming years may it become a peaceful, favorite retreat for us all> Good birding.
© 1985, 1996 Sequoia Audubon Society, used by permission