A Milestone

This past week I hit a milestone in my 40+ years of birding. Species number 550. Every year along the coast of California we seem to get a White Wagtail that has wandered down the Pacific Coast from Siberia. Maybe in L.A. or perhaps Santa Cruz. This year one appears to be roaming around the bay side of Marin county. First seen at Las Gallinas in San Rafael and lately in a marsh off Rowland Blvd. in Novato. Several weeks ago I tried for it without success at Las Gallinas so when it began being seen in Novato I took another trip over to see if I could see it. Once again I benefited from other birders being present and looking for the bird. When I parked and walked over to the group a young women had it in her scope and offered me a look. I then spent the next hour following it around as it was very actively fly-catching on the shores of the marsh. Other birders came and went and everyone had good but distant looks at this Siberian vagrant. 

White Wagtail