Showing well at Golden Gate Park

We decided to go true dude on our final day and headed to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. No major targets (aside from getting some nice images of Mew Gulls of all ages), just to see a few yanks at close range. The ponds, or at least one of them, was filled with Ring-necked Ducks and American Wigeons as well as a couple of Lesser Scaup - all to within a couple of metres. And they didn't pass the bread test (though the 3 Hooded Mergs on the same pond did).

drake American Wigeon

female American Wigeon

drake Lesser Scaup

drake Ring-necked Duck

Pied-billed Grebe

There were also the obligatory gulls just waiting to be papped, which included four Thayer's and some lovely Mew Gulls: -

juvenile Thayer's Gull

adult Mew Gull

Josh keeping the Western Gulls and hybrids alive

The place is the San Francisco equivalent of Hyde Park, so much so I almost expected Des McKenzie to burst out of the bushes. But he didn't, and nor did anyone else thankfully. It's a great introduction to Pacific coast US birding, and probably best to come here first as opposed to last as - typical of any urban birding - you don't get the biodiversity you get elsewhere. With just a load of common species to show for our casual efforts (Townsend's Warblers, Anna's Hummingbirds and three species of sparrow the highlights), Josh and Lee wanted to take the dudeometer to the next level, so we headed on down to the Golden Gate bridge.

And then there was a nice American Robin on a lawn along the Presidio, and the odd Western Grebe, Black Turnstone and Heermann's Gull by Fort Mason, before Josh navigated our way back through San Francisco to the airport largely based on his knowledge of the city from Grand Theft Auto San Andreas...

American Robin