Frenchman's Creek Park Description & Information

Frenchman's Creek Park

Spring Summer Fall Winter

Frenchmen's Creek Park, October 2010 (Jennifer Rycenga)

Description

Area Habitats
Mixed Woodland, Riparian, Suburban

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This small city park is located in a housing development. Frenchman's Creek forms the southern boundary of the housing development. The riparian zone here is quite rich, making the park a good quick stop, especially during migration and for over-wintering warblers.
Turn east from SR 1 to Ruisseau Francais; the park is on your right. Beware the speed bumps, euphemistically called "Traffic Calming" at this location. The entire park holds promise for migrants and flocks. Follow the southern edge by the creek, which is rather deep and difficult to see from this angle. Look for flowering plants, most notably blooming German ivy in winter. There are usually flocks of Bushtits and/or Chestnut-backed Chickadees: sift through these for the warblers. The presence of conifers makes Pygmy Nuthatch an expected bird here, as well as both Jays.
The surrounding neighborhood features well-maintained gardens and a few feeders. While in the park, there is a bird feeding station in the SW corner, just behind a locked fence. The noise from SR 1 can interfere with birding by ear at this location.
The next street south from Ruisseau Francais is called "Frenchmen's Creek Road." It borders on the riparian on the north side, and an active agricultural field to the south. One can bird this side of the creek also, but much of it is private property. Please use proper discretion and courtesy if you explore on that side.

Look For These Birds

Canada Goose, Mallard, Green-winged Teal, Ruddy Duck, California Quail, Turkey Vulture, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, American Coot, Killdeer, Wilson's Snipe (rare at this location), Greater Yellowlegs, Western Gull, California Gull, Herring Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull (gull flyovers are common here), Caspian Tern, Great Blue Heron, Band-tailed Pigeon, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Anna's Hummingbird, Allen's Hummingbird (spring-summer), Vaux's Swift (rare at this location in migration), Barn Owl, Great Horned Owl, Red-breasted Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker, Nuttall's Woodpecker (rare at this location), Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, American Kestrel, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Western Wood-Pewee, Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Black Phoebe, Say's Phoebe, Warbling Vireo (migration), Hutton's Vireo, Steller's Jay, California Scrub-Jay, American Crow, Common Raven, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Tree Swallow, Violet-green Swallow, Barn Swallow, Bushtit, Wrentit, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Pygmy Nuthatch, House Wren (uncommon), Pacific Wren, Bewick's Wren, European Starling, Hermit Thrush, Swainson's Thrush (spring-summer), American Robin, Cedar Waxwing, House Sparrow, American Pipit, Purple Finch, House Finch, Pine Siskin, American Goldfinch, Lesser Goldfinch, California Towhee, Fox Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Spotted Towhee, Western Meadowlark, Hooded Oriole, Red-winged Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird, Tricolored Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Townsend's Warbler, Hermit Warbler (migration), Yellow-rumped Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Nashville Warbler (uncommon, winter), Yellow Warbler (rare, fall migration), Wilson's Warbler, Western Tanager, Black-headed Grosbeak

Rarities Seen Here

In this guide, "rarities" are defined as those species given an County Abundance Code of 4, 5, or 6.
Rufous Hummingbird (2015), American Tree Sparrow (1997), White-throated Sparrow (1983, 2010, 2013, 2017), Black-and-White Warbler (1998, 2011, 2012, 2013), Tennessee Warbler (1983, December 2000), Lucy's Warbler (1996, December 1997, December 2007), American Redstart (1975, 2008), Magnolia Warbler (1975), Blackburnian Warbler (1975), Yellow-throated Warbler (2012)

Directions

This park is located off of SR1 in Half Moon Bay, north of SR92. There is a traffic light at Ruisseau Francais. Turn east at this light. The park will be visible on your right before you've even traveled a full block. There are small cut-out parallel parking spaces along the park boundary.

Interactive Map

Red Markers: Parking Area or Trail Head
Hover mouse pointer over marker, or click marker, for pin identification.
Use + or - buttons to change map zoom. Click & Drag to pan.

Fees

This park is free!

Hours

Sunrise to 9:00 pm

Hazards

There are some slopes here; the grass is uneven (I suspect gopher holes); the neighbors might stare at you for pishing or peering through binoculars. In sum, this is a safe neighborhood park with great riparian habitat.

Facilities

There is a playground, making this an ideal place for the birder who has experienced breeding success in the recent past. While there is no bathroom, there is a mailbox. The park is close to the many restaurants and emporia of Half Moon Bay.

Accessibility

Accessibility information is currently not available for this location.

Contact

Half Moon Bay Recreation Department can be reached at 650-726-8297, or by email at recreation@hmbcity.com.

Avian Research Status

Frenchman's Creek Park is a hotspot in eBird. The information page announces that over 100 species have been found in this little park - that's birders doing what we do best collectively! Data exists in 37 of 48 time quadrants. When this account was first written, in 2010, there wasn't even an eBird hotspot yet! This spot is so easily checked, let's keep populating it with data!

Frenchman's Creek has been undervisited by iNaturalist users. The place marker indicates the sorry situation.