Taking part in the first Filoli bird walk on a warm last day of winter

For the first time Filoli is offering walking bird tours. Rick Morris, our local Menlo Park bird photographer and tour guide, joined the group yesterday. Here’s his report .

Our group of eight participants were greeted by Ben and Nikzad, two very engaging, friendly and informative tour guides, who provided great background information, including how to use the Merlin Bird ID phone app by Cornell Labs.

We started at the main ticket booth and headed toward the Clock Tower Shop and through the open door to the beautiful sunken garden, where we could see the tulips and multiple other vibrant flowering plants. We paused as what appeared to be an elementary school field trip group of young kids all in orange shirts passed by us.

We then headed out past the wading pool and toward the back of the garden, where we were led through a locked gate into a private part of the Filoli Estate.

Ben mentioned that he had been trying to find the elusive Purple Finch and our Merlin Bird ID app picked it up multiple times, but we were never able to spot it.

We came upon a group of Acorn Woodpeckers on what appeared to be a tall but dead stump where we saw one of the woodpeckers fly into one of the nesting holes. Woodpeckers typically nest in April/May so Ben explained they were getting their nests ready.

We also saw some Bushtits fluttering around in a low and small tree.

Next, we came upon a Black Phoebe, who appeared to be bringing materials to her nest that was nestled under the roof arch of a small building.

We continued on and passed the very large troll artwork that was originally built for and showcased at Burning Man but then was sold to and brought to Filoli.

We then came upon a hummingbird right above us in some tree branches and I was able to get a few shots.

Ben pointed out a quite large Western Fence Lizard scaling down a tree trunk.

Crossing an open meadow,  all of a sudden a Red-shafted Northern Flicker flew out of a tree across the meadow. This was our most exciting sight of the day. But it happened so fast, I was not able to get a picture.

We then watched a California scrub jay eating worms and insects in a tree and fly down to the grassy field and fly back up into the tree.

All in all, it was a great experience and good information was shared by Ben and Nikzad about birds and their habits and behaviors. Highly recommend the tour!

Note: There is one last bird walk on Monday, March 23. Buy tickets in advance online.

Photos by Rick Morris (c) 2026 except for bottom photo which shows Rick in the middle next to the two tour guides