Lowland Brown Creeper in Santee

On our way to Lindo Lake today (Sunday 06-JAN-2013) we stopped by Santee Lakes at about noon to see if we could re-find Brennan Mulrooney's HOODED MERGANSERS. We carefully checked the three southernmost ponds; no luck.

But just as it started to drizzle lightly, Amrit spotted a BROWN CREEPER skittering up in a spiral fashion from very low on a medium-sized Cottonwood situated at (32.850432,-117.005003), just north of Mast Blvd on the east side of the pond. After reaching the top of the trunk, the bird flew away to the north, whereupon we completely lost sight of it.

Along with the infusion of RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, it continues to be an odd year for birds that ought to be found much higher in the mountains in this part of the state! 

According to the SD County Bird Atlas (Unitt), creepers found way from coniferous woodlands are rare, and were noted at lowland elevations (e.g., Santee at ~400' AMSL) on only 13 occasions from 1997 to 2002.  Phil Unitt continues:

"These records are scattered over the coastal slope south to Singing Hills golf course (Q14; one on 5 December 1999, N. Perretta), though in previous years the species had been recorded south occasionally to the Tijuana River valley (3 November 1963, G. McCaskie; 19 December 1987, P. Unitt). The Brown Creeper is recorded rarely on Escondido, Oceanside, Rancho Santa Fe, and San Diego Christmas bird counts, in frequencies ranging from 4 times in 17 years for Escondido to 3 times in 50 years for San Diego. Its occurrences are not as irregular as those of many other montane birds, but there was a larger incursion in 1987-88, when these four counts yielded a total of six individuals; their annual average is only 0.13."

All in all, a very small bird, but kind of a big deal to find one of these critters in this neck of the woods!