Brown Creeper (Certhia americana phillipsi), Junipero Serra County Park, San Bruno, San Mateo Co., CA. © 7-9 July 2010 Joseph Morlan
We found these Brown Creepers attending young in a nest lodged under a piece of bark in a large Eucalyptus near the Upper Meadow parking lot. To the left you can barely see the babies wedged at the top above the adult. This photo was taken 9 July.

While we watched the nest from a safe distance, one of the chicks attempted to climb out of the nest and perched on the outside of the tree trunk. Its tail was too short to hold itself against the bark and it eventually dropped back down into the nest with its less adventurous sibling.

The two chicks were very quiet, never begging when the adults came for brief feeding visits and they blended very well with the tree bark.

Here the adult feeds one of the chicks. This is the race Certhia americana phillipsi which breeds in the Coast Ranges from San Francisco south to San Louis Obispo County.

Digiscoped with Panasonic DMC-LZ5 | Nikon FieldScope 3 | 30X WA | hand-held (no adapter)

[ Back to Photo Gallery ] [ Home ]