Keeping up with S.F.'s champion birder

By Richard Karevoll Bay Nature

Dominik Mosur calmly scans the tree line of Buena Vista Park through his binoculars from the sidewalk below. In a large Carhart jacket and loose jeans, and his long hair poking messily from his baseball cap, he easily identifies birds among the trees by their calls, flight styles, colors and sizes. But they're not the species he's after.

His phone rings. "This could be the call," he says. "All right, excellent, you just saw it? I'll be right there."

Mosur, 34, recently achieved San Francisco's record for identifying the most bird species in one year within the 49-square-mile city limits. The accomplishment, known within the birding community as a "Big Year," is somewhat obscure to the wider public, but has gained star power this year, thanks to the recent Hollywood film, "The Big Year," starring Steve Martin.

On this early November day, Dominik is in pursuit of a bird that would put him up to No. 257. The previous record of 254 was set in 2005 by Hugh Cotter during a competition amongst local birders.

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