From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Mon Dec 16 21:31:52 2002 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.2/8.12.2) with ESMTP id gBH5TToN022696 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 16 Dec 2002 21:29:30 -0800 (PST) Received: from smtp.slac.stanford.edu (smtp.slac.stanford.edu [134.79.18.80]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.2/8.12.2) with ESMTP id gBH5SYwO022653 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 16 Dec 2002 21:28:34 -0800 (PST) Received: from CONVERSION-DAEMON.smtp.slac.stanford.edu by smtp.slac.stanford.edu (PMDF V6.1-1 #37665) [[email protected]]; Mon, 16 Dec 2002 21:28:34 -0800 (PST) Received: from smtpserv1.slac.stanford.edusmtp.slac.stanford.edu <[[email protected]]> for [[email protected]]; Mon, 16 Dec 2002 21:28:34 -0800 (PST) Received: from SLACVX.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU ([134.79.144.12]) by smtpserv1.slac.stanford.edu (PMDF V6.1-1 #37665) with ESMTP id <[[email protected]]> for [[email protected]]; Mon, 16 Dec 2002 21:28:33 -0800 (PST) Received: from SLACVX.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU by SLACVX.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU (PMDF V5.2-32 #37499) id <[[email protected]]> for [[email protected]]; Mon, 16 Dec 2002 21:28:27 -0700 (PDT) Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2002 21:28:27 -0700 (PDT) From: Al Eisner <[[email protected]]> To: [[email protected]] Message-id: <[[email protected]]> X-VMS-To: IN%"[[email protected]]" MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: [SBB] Preliminary results from Palo Alto CBC X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1b4+ Precedence: list List-Unsubscribe: , List-Id: South Bay Birding List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Sender: south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Errors-To: south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] The weather for the Dec. 16 Palo Alto CBC was better than anticipated - most parties experienced only very limited rain; but it was fairly windy most of the day. Surprisingly, there were almost no storm-driven strays (for example, no Loons at all were found). The wind no doubt kept down numbers and variety. Owl species particularly suffered from this, and the two individual Western Screech Owls found under the conditions were a sort of triumph. I'll list a few highlights without attribution (since there are a few names I don't know, and I'd rather not just attribute some of the birds); I assume at least some of these birds will also be reported in individual posts from their discoverers. First, the three "off-list" species (found on less than 1/4 of the previous 10 and 15 counts counts): Pacific Golden-plover - the continuing bird at the Stevens Creek tidal basin (first ever on Palo Alto CBC). Red Phalarope - our one storm waif, at the mouth of Stevens Creek. Chipping Sparrow - one with Juncos at the Palo Alto Hills Golf and Country Club. Some other notable sightings: Greater White-fronted Boose - 1 with Canada flock near Byxbee Park. Barrow's Goldeneye - just the 1 male (along with the 1 hybrid) at Mountainview Shoreline Lake Red-Breasted Merganser - 2 on a salt pond (sorry, I forget which). Semipalmated Plover - 1100 on one salt pond near the Dumbarton Bridge was an impressive collection. Black Skimmer - now expected; the day's high count for the flock was 21 (seen at the Charleston Slough island). Pileated Woodpecker - 1 along the Canyon Trail in Montebello OSP. Violet-green Swallow - 5 over the Lockheed pond. Orange-Crowned Warbler - 2 in all. White-throated Sparrow - 1 at Hidden Villa, and 1 on the Stanford Campus; also found at Stanford was a Slate-colored Junco. The most surprising misses were probably Common Merganser (usuall seen in good numbers, but this year missing from all the standard spots) and Say's Phoebe. Also missed were Wood Duck (we have been getting this every year, but in sharply reduced numbers recently), Spotted Sandpiper (never numerous, and missed the previous 3 years), Wilson's Snipe, and Pygmy and Saw-whet Owls (no doubt due to the weather). The preliminary total species count was 156, which I think is a bit below average. Thanks to everyone who went out in less-than-ideal conditions, and to Jack Cole for organizing the effort, and to the Troetschlers for hosting the dinner and countdown. Al Eisner _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. south-bay-birds mailing list ([[email protected]]) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://www.plaidworks.com/mailman/options/south-bay-birds/south-bay-birds-archive%40plaidworks.com This email sent to [[email protected]]