With a lot of help from local expert Brian Weed and members of his birding class, we were provided with excellent location information. We were very fortunate to find the Summer Tanager near the reported "Bee Tree" in Washington Park. This tree harbors a very active bee colony that provides the food source for the Tanager during his frequent visits to the Park. It is reported that the many Acorn Woodpeckers also feed on the bees although we did not see that activity this day.
Don Roberson in his book "Monterey Birds" (fully revised second edition 2002) reports that since 1959 there have been at least 49 records of Summer Tanager sightings throughout the County. On the coast in Pacific Grove, there have been far fewer sightings over the years.
Roberson reports; "Rare vagrant, with peak in the winter, but records span the seasons."
The Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America describes the Summer Tanager as "fairly common" and that "young males acquiring adult plumage may be patched with red, yellow and green". The Peterson's range map (p 356) shows the more common central and south-eastern range - not the California coast.
The Smithsonian Zoological Park has very complete information on the Summer Tanager in this link. It is well worth looking at this fine detail. They describe the Summer Tanager as "The Bird that Loves Bees". You will also note on this same link that there is a female Summer Tanager posing at almost the same angle as the last shot included below. Although the female in the link has the green coloration, our sighting seems to show the young male acquiring his adult plumage as mentioned in the Peterson Guide, page 356.
Identification of this bird therefore seems to be a maturing male as he has the "patched" coloration unlike the female.
After several trips to the Park, we finally found the "Bee Tree". At first we were just not looking high enough. Actually, we found the tree after sighting and photographing the bird. The colony was active on this day and provides a great source of nourishment for the birds.
Very near the "Bee Tree" we first sighted the Summer Tanager on a high branch consuming some kind of an insect. The photo below has been processed to maximize the detail resulting from the very shaded location. We can see some of the unusual rich coloration and a good profile.
The Tanager was very active and quickly moved to a sunny branch nearby where we could get much better detail of the coloration. The stripes across his back are a result of pine needle shadows just to the left of this shot.
An additional shot as he turned around on another nearby branch shows good detail of his coloration from the rear.
We offer sincere thanks to the friends and fellow birders without who's cooperation these shots would not be here for us all to enjoy.
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