From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Tue Dec 17 14:48:05 2002 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.2/8.12.2) with ESMTP id gBHMj8oM005828 for <[[email protected]]>; Tue, 17 Dec 2002 14:45:09 -0800 (PST) Received: from rtjones.nas.nasa.gov (rtjones.nas.nasa.gov [129.99.19.30]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.2/8.12.2) with ESMTP id gBHMiYwO005791 for <[[email protected]]>; Tue, 17 Dec 2002 14:44:34 -0800 (PST) Received: (from mrogers@localhost) by rtjones.nas.nasa.gov (SGI-8.9.3/8.9.3/NAS 8.9.3-5n) id OAA25998 for [[email protected]]; Tue, 17 Dec 2002 14:08:34 -0800 (PST) Date: Tue, 17 Dec 2002 14:08:34 -0800 (PST) From: "Dr. Michael M. Rogers" <[[email protected]]> Message-Id: <[[email protected]]> To: [[email protected]] Subject: [SBB] Alviso - San Jose 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]] All, On Sunday 12/15/02, I covered the salt ponds north of the Alviso Marina for the San Jose CBC. I started out before dawn, driving around Alviso in search of Barn Owls. This was unsuccessful, but as I was walking to the SFBBO trailer to open up for the morning a BARN OWL flew to the corner of a nearby concrete wall! After getting the Alviso sector counters all their paperwork, I headed up to the Marina to tape for rails. Got 9 VIRGINIA RAILS to respond, but no Soras. I did get 3 SORAS and 3 VIRGINIA RAILS farther out along Alviso Slough later though. Also lots of FOX SPARROWS at the Marina (six) and a surprising one way out opposite A10 along Alviso Slough. The Troetschlers reported 5 FOX SPARROWS from the EEC. They haven't noted many there on past CBCs, although many move through in fall migration. Heading out north of the Marina I had at least 2 SANDERLINGS in with a flock of DUNLIN and WESTERN SANDPIPERS in the impoundment between Salt Pond A12 and the railroad tracks. A female/immature SURF SCOTER in Salt Pond A12 was later seen flying north. A group of 39 FORSTER'S TERNS over A13 was a good number for winter. My excitement grew as I heard a call I was not familiar with. High overhead a loud "dweep" had me dreaming of rare shorebirds. I searched urgently, hoping to get on the bird before it disappeared. I succeeded and identified the culprit as a COCKATIEL :( As usual, much of the counting in this region involves gulls. Gull numbers were somewhat down and most of the birds were adults. The low number of first-winter birds suggests not particularly good breeding success this year - or maybe the young birds can't compete with the adults for the prized dump trash? :) I had 4710 HERRING GULLS, 950 CALIFORNIA GULLS, 94 BONAPARTE'S GULLS, 87 RING-BILLED GULLS, 57 GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULLS, 26 WESTERN GULLS, 7 THAYER'S GULLS, and 2 WESTERN x GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULLS (as well as 600 GULL SP). Only the eastern portion of pond A10 and the southeastern corner of pond A9 are in the count circle. However, many ducks were in these areas trying to hide behind the dikes from the southeast wind. This year 47 REDHEAD were inside the circle in pond A9, with another 21 further out in A9, probably the same hundred or so seen the day before out in A10, and 10 more in Alviso Slough. The eight NORTHERN PINTAIL in A9 may have been the only ones for the count! A flock of 16 SURF SCOTERS (including 6 to 8 adult males) flew close by me at A10, then over A11 to A12. These birds may have been storm-driven, as they usually don't make it that far from the bay edge. Two adult and one immature BROWN PELICAN were on the A10/A11 dike; two other single birds were seen flying over Alviso Slough during the morning but were probably birds counted by the neighboring party. Falcon highlights included a MERLIN low over the A12/A13 dike and dueling PEREGRINE FALCONS out towards Triangle Marsh. After meeting some of the Alviso parties in the early afternoon at the SFBBO trailer, Mike Mammoser and I headed back out for a couple of hours to recheck other areas. The water level in the pond at State and Spreckles was very high and the only shorebirds seen were 12 KILLDEER, 6 COMMON SNIPE, and a BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER. The water level was also not right for shorebirds at the drying ponds of the San Jose-Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant. The most interesting thing we saw there was a large gull flock with 7 species, including 6 THAYER'S GULLS and 26 MEW GULLS. Back at the Alviso Marina a large blackbird flock coming to roost included 3 TRICOLORED BLACKBIRDS. And finally, an adult COOPER'S HAWK was perched near the SFBBO trailer as I picked up the last party packets. Mike Rogers _______________________________________________ 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]]