Received: from pimout2-int.prodigy.net (pimout2-ext.prodigy.net [207.115.63.101]) by plaidworks.com (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g53EBMf24542 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 3 Jun 2002 07:11:22 -0700 Received: from localhost (adsl-63-196-6-56.dsl.snfc21.pacbell.net [63.196.6.56]) by pimout2-int.prodigy.net (8.11.0/8.11.0) with SMTP id g53EBK277180; Mon, 3 Jun 2002 10:11:20 -0400 From: Joseph Morlan <[[email protected]]> To: Brenda Priest <[[email protected]]> Cc: [[email protected]] Subject: Re: [SBB] song bird Date: Mon, 03 Jun 2002 07:11:11 -0700 Message-ID: <[[email protected]]> References: <[[email protected]]> In-Reply-To: <[[email protected]]> X-Mailer: Forte Agent 1.91/32.564 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: [[email protected]] Errors-To: [[email protected]] X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.5 Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: On Sun, 2 Jun 2002 16:36:50 -0700 (PDT), Brenda Priest <[[email protected]]> wrote: >It's song consisted of two sharp notes followed by a >trill and two notes at the end a little more >pronounced. The song never changed in about ten >minutes time. That song description sounds a lot like a Cassin's Sparrow. http://www.enature.com/guides/play_bird_wm.asp?recnum=BD0509 Maybe somebody should get out there and check it out. -- Joseph Morlan, Pacifica, CA 94044: mailto:[[email protected]] Fall Birding Classes start Sept 4: http://fog.ccsf.org/~jmorlan/ California Bird Records Committee: http://www.wfo-cbrc.org/cbrc/ Received: from hermes.fm.intel.com (fmr01.intel.com [192.55.52.18]) by plaidworks.com (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g53Gplf27305 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 3 Jun 2002 09:51:47 -0700 Received: from petasus.fm.intel.com (petasus.fm.intel.com [10.1.192.37]) by hermes.fm.intel.com (8.11.6/8.11.6/d: outer.mc,v 1.48 2002/05/24 00:39:04 root Exp $) with ESMTP id g53Gq7l24877 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 3 Jun 2002 16:52:12 GMT Received: from fmsmsxvs040.fm.intel.com (fmsmsxv040-1.fm.intel.com [132.233.48.108]) by petasus.fm.intel.com (8.11.6/8.11.6/d: inner.mc,v 1.22 2002/05/24 00:38:22 root Exp $) with SMTP id g53GnT611877 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 3 Jun 2002 16:49:29 GMT Received: from fmsmsx26.fm.intel.com ([132.233.42.26]) by fmsmsxvs040.fm.intel.com (NAVGW 2.5.1.16) with SMTP id M2002060309505326635 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 03 Jun 2002 09:50:54 -0700 Received: by fmsmsx26.fm.intel.com with Internet Mail Service (5.5.2653.19) id ; Mon, 3 Jun 2002 09:51:27 -0700 Message-ID: <[[email protected]]. com> From: "Tiwari, Vivek" <[[email protected]]> To: South Bay Birds Mailing <[[email protected]]> Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 09:51:21 -0700 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2653.19) Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Subject: [SBB] Alpine Pond/Skyline OSP Sender: [[email protected]] Errors-To: [[email protected]] X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.5 Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: On Saturday on June 1st I covered Skyline OSP for the Palo Alto SBC. Basically Alpine Pond to Horseshoe Lk. 2 singing HERMIT WARBLERs. Also BLACK-THROATED GREY WARBLERs, CHIPPING SPARROWs etc. AAA maps seem to indicate that the SC County line dips below Skyline Dr. in this area. Do Alpine Pond/Horseshoe Lk. fall in SC County? Thanks, Vivek [[email protected]] Received: from zcamail04.zca.compaq.com (zcamail04.zca.compaq.com [161.114.32.104]) by plaidworks.com (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g53H0tf27510 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 3 Jun 2002 10:00:55 -0700 Received: from cacexg11.americas.cpqcorp.net (cacexg11.americas.cpqcorp.net [16.105.250.94]) by zcamail04.zca.compaq.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 479F8D10 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 3 Jun 2002 10:05:22 -0700 (PDT) Received: from cacexc02.americas.cpqcorp.net ([16.105.250.99]) by cacexg11.americas.cpqcorp.net with Microsoft SMTPSVC(5.0.2195.2966); Mon, 3 Jun 2002 10:00:49 -0700 content-class: urn:content-classes:message MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 10:00:49 -0700 Message-ID: <[[email protected]] qcorp.net> Thread-Topic: GTGR Thread-Index: AcILIDYnBe64PcWyQviCZCNi12Ozsw== From: "Jeffers, Richard" <[[email protected]]> To: "South-bay-birds (E-mail)" <[[email protected]]> X-OriginalArrivalTime: 03 Jun 2002 17:00:49.0976 (UTC) FILETIME=[366CE380:01C20B20] Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by plaidworks.com id g53H0tf27510 Subject: [SBB] GTGR Sender: [[email protected]] Errors-To: [[email protected]] X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.5 Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: All, I had at least 1 male and 2 female Great-tailed Grackles at Parkway Lakes Sunday afternoon, but I think there were 3 females. Like Mike M, I never saw all three at the same time, but I had two together at the end of the peninsula. Then after walking back to the base of the peninsula, there was another female hanging around the boats at the dock. I'm fairly certain this is a different bird; none seemed to fly past me as I walked back, and its tail seemed a bit "ragged" compared to the two at the end. A couple of Bullock's Orioles were in the willows on the peninsula, two Green Herons squawked and flew from the reeds at the end, and rather unusual was an Oak Titmouse in the willows here as well. Cheers, Richard Received: from smtp1.Stanford.EDU (smtp1.Stanford.EDU [171.64.14.23]) by plaidworks.com (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g53HX3f28044 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 3 Jun 2002 10:33:03 -0700 Received: from smtp1.Stanford.EDU (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by smtp1.Stanford.EDU (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g53HX3Y04498 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 3 Jun 2002 10:33:03 -0700 (PDT) Received: from ctsurg-005c.stanford.edu (cv005-pentium-pc.Stanford.EDU [171.65.68.26]) by smtp1.Stanford.EDU (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g53HX1304483 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 3 Jun 2002 10:33:01 -0700 (PDT) Message-Id: <[[email protected]] u> X-Sender: [[email protected]] (Unverified) X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1 Date: Mon, 03 Jun 2002 10:33:00 -0700 To: [[email protected]] From: Grant Hoyt <[[email protected]]> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Subject: [SBB] weekend brding Sender: [[email protected]] Errors-To: [[email protected]] X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.5 Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Hello SBBirders--- On Saturday June 1 I participated in the Palo Alto Breeding Bird Count. I met Mike Rogers and Kunal Basu at 4 AM at the Page Mill/I-280 Park'n'Ride for owling. We were treated to a BARN OWL flying right over Page Mill Rd., nicely illuminated by streetlights. We drove up to Monte Bello OSP and began hiking into the Preserve around 4:30. We had nice looks at a WESTERN SCREECH-OWL that responded to a tape and then to Mike's squeaking; it posed cooperatively in the Q-beam spotlight. We also had several other W. Screech's, some calling spontaneously, even after first light. I had one COMMON POORWILL which called twice, then quit. Several GREAT HORNED OWLS called from Stevens Canyon. At least one N. PYGMY-OWL responded to Mike's whistles. Disappointing misses were Virginia Rail at the sag pond near Page Mill and N. Saw-whet Owl. The dawn chorus was lively, and included a WINTER WREN singing from Stevens Canyon, which Mike managed to pick out amid the cacophony of robins, grosbeaks, et al. (I'll let Mike post a more thorough report including numbers of owls and other dawn highlights.) At 6:30 we went our separate ways, and I met Karen at Frenchman's Tower on Old Page Mill Rd. Nothing really unusual there, just a lot of lively activity from local breeders. A WILSON'S WARBLER was a good find, and a few TREE SWALLOWS were the first of many during the day in the Stanford foothills. We moved on to the Arastradero Preserve parking lot, hoping for a Western Kingbird, but missed that species for the day. We had 3 WHITE-TAILED KITES on our side of Arastradero Rd. and 2 more on the Preserve side for a total of 5 foraging at once. Our next stop was Alpine and Arastradero, where for the tenth year in a row we couldn't locate a Yellow Warbler along Los Trancos Creek, a former reliable breeding site for this species. We walked up the private road parallel to Alpine and had a couple good sightings. A SHARP-SHINNED HAWK was flying low over the ridge separating Arastradero Preserve and and Alpine Rd. We both had good looks at this very unexpected raptor, and felt confident with the ID. A local resident informed us that he had been visited by a WILD TURKEY in his yard, which is only a matter of 50-100 yards from the San Mateo Co. border. Karen spotted a most unusual bird flying low over the Arastradero ridge: large, slender-bodied, medium dark, with a large rounded head, no obvious bill. The startling feature was a straight protrusion coming off the tail, reminiscent of a jaeger's tail profile. This protrusion was about 1/3 as long as the tail, and maybe 1/4 of the width. It was stiff, not dangling like jesses. We were completely confounded; "large falcon" is about the best we could come up with (it in no way resembled a shorebird, gull, etc,.) Later that evening at the countdown dinner someone mentioned there had been a recent report of an escaped raptor with a transmitter attached to its tail, which seemed the most plausible of any possibility for this weird sighting. Around 1130 AM I had 2 adult GOLDEN EAGLES over the Stanford foothills, one of which landed on the big Stanford Dish. Loggerhead Shrike and Western Kingbird were nowhere to be found. More Tree Swallows than I'd ever seen were observed between Arastradero Rd. and I-280---35 is probably a conservative number. ---Grant Hoyt Received: from gull.mail.pas.earthlink.net (gull.mail.pas.earthlink.net [207.217.120.84]) by plaidworks.com (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g53IUsf29084 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 3 Jun 2002 11:30:54 -0700 Received: from user-11206n9.dsl.mindspring.com ([66.32.26.233] helo=janetlap) by gull.prod.itd.earthlink.net with smtp (Exim 3.33 #2) id 17EwbV-0003us-00 for [[email protected]]; Mon, 03 Jun 2002 11:30:53 -0700 From: "Janet Hanson" <[[email protected]]> To: <[[email protected]]> Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 11:28:51 -0700 Message-ID: <[[email protected]]> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IMO, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2910.0) In-reply-to: <[[email protected]]ord.e d u> Subject: [SBB] Loggerhead shrike Sender: [[email protected]] Errors-To: [[email protected]] X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.5 Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Hello SBBirders, Grant's posting reminded me: middle of last week, I was thrilled to see a Loggerhead Shrike here in Alviso, first one in several years. They were common here in mid 90's (right, Tom?), but this was my first in 3 or 4 years. I'll be curious to hear if any were seen during the PABBC or elsewhere around south bay. ~Janet Janet T. Hanson Executive Director San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory (SFBBO) P.O. Box 247 Alviso, CA 95002 www.sfbbo.org -----Original Message----- From: [[email protected]] [mailto:[[email protected]]]On Behalf Of Grant Hoyt Sent: Monday, June 03, 2002 10:33 AM To: [[email protected]] Subject: [SBB] weekend brding Hello SBBirders--- On Saturday June 1 I participated in the Palo Alto Breeding Bird Count. I met Mike Rogers and Kunal Basu at 4 AM at the Page Mill/I-280 Park'n'Ride for owling. We were treated to a BARN OWL flying right over Page Mill Rd., nicely illuminated by streetlights. We drove up to Monte Bello OSP and began hiking into the Preserve around 4:30. We had nice looks at a WESTERN SCREECH-OWL that responded to a tape and then to Mike's squeaking; it posed cooperatively in the Q-beam spotlight. We also had several other W. Screech's, some calling spontaneously, even after first light. I had one COMMON POORWILL which called twice, then quit. Several GREAT HORNED OWLS called from Stevens Canyon. At least one N. PYGMY-OWL responded to Mike's whistles. Disappointing misses were Virginia Rail at the sag pond near Page Mill and N. Saw-whet Owl. The dawn chorus was lively, and included a WINTER WREN singing from Stevens Canyon, which Mike managed to pick out amid the cacophony of robins, grosbeaks, et al. (I'll let Mike post a more thorough report including numbers of owls and other dawn highlights.) At 6:30 we went our separate ways, and I met Karen at Frenchman's Tower on Old Page Mill Rd. Nothing really unusual there, just a lot of lively activity from local breeders. A WILSON'S WARBLER was a good find, and a few TREE SWALLOWS were the first of many during the day in the Stanford foothills. We moved on to the Arastradero Preserve parking lot, hoping for a Western Kingbird, but missed that species for the day. We had 3 WHITE-TAILED KITES on our side of Arastradero Rd. and 2 more on the Preserve side for a total of 5 foraging at once. Our next stop was Alpine and Arastradero, where for the tenth year in a row we couldn't locate a Yellow Warbler along Los Trancos Creek, a former reliable breeding site for this species. We walked up the private road parallel to Alpine and had a couple good sightings. A SHARP-SHINNED HAWK was flying low over the ridge separating Arastradero Preserve and and Alpine Rd. We both had good looks at this very unexpected raptor, and felt confident with the ID. A local resident informed us that he had been visited by a WILD TURKEY in his yard, which is only a matter of 50-100 yards from the San Mateo Co. border. Karen spotted a most unusual bird flying low over the Arastradero ridge: large, slender-bodied, medium dark, with a large rounded head, no obvious bill. The startling feature was a straight protrusion coming off the tail, reminiscent of a jaeger's tail profile. This protrusion was about 1/3 as long as the tail, and maybe 1/4 of the width. It was stiff, not dangling like jesses. We were completely confounded; "large falcon" is about the best we could come up with (it in no way resembled a shorebird, gull, etc,.) Later that evening at the countdown dinner someone mentioned there had been a recent report of an escaped raptor with a transmitter attached to its tail, which seemed the most plausible of any possibility for this weird sighting. Around 1130 AM I had 2 adult GOLDEN EAGLES over the Stanford foothills, one of which landed on the big Stanford Dish. Loggerhead Shrike and Western Kingbird were nowhere to be found. More Tree Swallows than I'd ever seen were observed between Arastradero Rd. and I-280---35 is probably a conservative number. ---Grant Hoyt _______________________________________________ south-bay-birds mailing list | [[email protected]] Help/Unsubscribe/Archives: http://www.plaidworks.com/mailman/listinfo/south-bay-birds Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. Received: from swan.mail.pas.earthlink.net (swan.mail.pas.earthlink.net [207.217.120.123]) by plaidworks.com (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g53J6vf29839 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 3 Jun 2002 12:06:57 -0700 Received: from pool0649.cvx40-bradley.dialup.earthlink.net ([216.244.44.139] helo=216.244.44.139) by swan.prod.itd.earthlink.net with smtp (Exim 3.33 #2) id 17ExAO-0003bX-00; Mon, 03 Jun 2002 12:06:56 -0700 Date: 03 Jun 2002 12:09:13 -0700 Message-ID: <[[email protected]]> From: Les Chibana <[[email protected]]> Subject: Re: [SBB] Alpine Pond/Skyline OSP To: South Bay Birds Mailing <[[email protected]]>, "Tiwari, Vivek" <[[email protected]]> X-Mailer: QuickMail Pro 2.1 (Mac) MIME-Version: 1.0 Reply-To: Les Chibana <[[email protected]]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-Ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by plaidworks.com id g53J6vf29839 Sender: [[email protected]] Errors-To: [[email protected]] X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.5 Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Vivek, The Hermit Warblers are a nice find! The morning of the count, I covered a small part of Jasper Ridge (Mapache Gate) with docent Ethel Meece and Kathleen Lee. In the afternoon, I covered Foothills Park, finding a male Ring-necked Duck on Boronda Lake. The county lines between San Mateo (SMO), Santa Cruz (SCZ) and Santa Clara (SCL) county in this general area do all kinds of zig-zagging, sometimes following the road, sometimes not. Alpine Pond and Horseshoe Lake are in SMO, while most of the hill between the two is in SCL. The intersection of Skyline Blvd. and Page Mill/Alpine Rd. is in SMO. A very small sliver of land in Russian Ridge OSP near Skyline Blvd. north of the intersection is in SCL. A sliver of land from the Canyon Trailhead at Page Mill Rd. almost to the Monte Bello OSP parking lot on the south side of the road, is actually in SMO (this is where Grasshopper and Chipping sparrows are often found). The SMO/SCL county line generally follows Los Trancos Creek northward from here, putting the lower section of Page Mill Rd., Foothills Park, and Arastradero Preserve in SCL. South of the Page Mill Rd.-Skyline Blvd. intersection, the SMO/SCL county line continues to zig-zag across Skyline Blvd. The SCZ county line starts intersects Long Ridge OSP and meets Skyline Blvd. about 0.3 mi. south of the Grizzly Flat Trailhead. This part of the county line continues to zig-zag across Skyline. Most of this part of the road, from the Grizzly Flats to the Hickory Oaks trailheads, is in SCZ. I'm glad that the counties aren't important to my bird lists. It's a chore to keep track of where you are up here. The USGS Mindego Hill CA quadrangle covers this area. Les Chibana, Palo Alto PS: Oh yeah, and I live in a disjunct portion of Palo Alto. The city annexed an area up here bounded, in part, by Page Mill Rd., Skyline Blvd., and Upper Stevens Creek Park. It includes most of Monte Bello Ridge and down the northeast slope, but excluding much of the Adobe Creek Drainage. On Monday, June 3, 2002 9:51 AM, Tiwari, Vivek <[[email protected]]> wrote: >On Saturday on June 1st I covered Skyline OSP for the Palo Alto SBC. >Basically Alpine Pond to Horseshoe Lk. > >2 singing HERMIT WARBLERs. > >Also BLACK-THROATED GREY WARBLERs, CHIPPING SPARROWs etc. > >AAA maps seem to indicate that the SC County line dips below Skyline Dr. in >this area. Do Alpine Pond/Horseshoe Lk. fall in SC County? > >Thanks, >Vivek >[[email protected]] >_______________________________________________ >south-bay-birds mailing list | [[email protected]] >Help/Unsubscribe/Archives: http://www.plaidworks.com/mailman/listinfo/south-bay-birds >Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. Received: from win110.nas.nasa.gov (win110.nas.nasa.gov [129.99.19.14]) by plaidworks.com (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g53Jg0f30443 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 3 Jun 2002 12:42:00 -0700 Received: (from mrogers@localhost) by win110.nas.nasa.gov (SGI-8.9.3/8.9.3/NAS 8.9.3-4n) id MAA77062 for [[email protected]]; Mon, 3 Jun 2002 12:41:55 -0700 (PDT) Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 12:41:55 -0700 (PDT) From: "Dr. Michael M. Rogers" <[[email protected]]> Message-Id: <[[email protected]]> To: [[email protected]] Subject: [SBB] Palo Alto SBC Sender: [[email protected]] Errors-To: [[email protected]] X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.5 Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: All, On Saturday 6/1/02, after owling at Monte Bello OSP as Grant Hoyt has already noted, I birded along the Bay for the Palo Alto Summer Bird Count. The owling highlights from Page Mill Road and Monte Bello OSP included 1 BARN OWL, 9 WESTERN SCREECH-OWLS, 3 GREAT HORNED OWLS, 1 NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL and 2 young BOBCATS. At least one singing WINTER WREN was farther up the Stevens Creek drainage than usual - and singing late into the season. Hiking back out to the cars, we 10 LAZULI BUNTINGS, 3 BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLERS, and 2 OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHERS. At 6:40am I was back at the bay edge, birding the end of Embarcadero Way in Palo Alto. Only surprise here was an ALLEN'S HUMMINGBIRD doing a complete courtship display of shuttle flights/dive. This has been observed here before, but on the early date of 9 Apr when other migrating selasphorus were present. Is there bayside breeding in this area? With a few minutes to go before I had to meet Frances Oliver at the Mountain View Forebay (she needed the materials to cover Shoreline Park), I decided to check the old Palo Alto yacht harbor and duck pond for unusual birds (this area was covered by John and Maria Meyer for the count). Among 127 MARBLED GODWITS in the yacht harbor were 5 WHIMBRELS and 4 LONG-BILLED CURLEWS. A bleached one-year-old GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL was at the duck pond and at least two WESTERN GULLS were there as well. A few other large gulls appeared to be likely WESTERNxGLAUCOUS-WINGED hybrids, but may have just been faded young WESTERNS. No rails responded to taped calls at the Forebay, but both COMMON YELLOWTHROATS and MARSH WRENS were singing. Back in Palo Alto at the end of Geng Road, a few lingering migrants were about. I had one singing WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE, and single dull female YELLOW and WILSON'S WARBLERS. A pair of BEWICK'S WRENS here is a new species for atlas block 7545. A female DOWNY WOODPECKER feeding young was not new, having been found on the count in 1994. I biked out to the San Francisquito Creek Delta, but the only shorebirds on the newly exposed mud flats were 3 AMERICAN AVOCETS. Couldn't find a Clapper Rail here and this species was apparently missed on the count (anyone have a count week bird from between 29 May and 4 Jun?). An immature COOPER'S HAWK was perched on a golf course tree on my bike ride back to the parking lot. The riparian habitat at Matadero Creek had 21 AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES and a singing YELLOW WARBLER, this bird likely a breeder rather than late migrant. A late CEDAR WAXWING flew north overhead. I couldn't find any lingering migrants along Stevens Creek between L'Avenida and Crittenden lane. Eleven BULLOCK'S ORIOLES (including 3 recently fledged young being fed) was a large number for this species, which is clearly on the increase in bayside areas (thanks to maturing trees?). An adult male HOODED ORIOLE provided a nice comparison. A BEWICK'S WREN here (as well as those at the end of Embarcadero Way and Geng Road) suggests that this species may be benefiting from more mature vegetation along the bay edge as well (not recorded at these locations during the breeding bird atlas). I next drove the dikes around Crittenden Marsh and Salt Ponds B1 and A2E. Not many lingering ducks of interest (mostly MALLARDS with 58 GADWALL and a similar number of RUDDY DUCKS). I did find several LESSER SCAUP and 3 NORTHERN PINTAIL though. Evidently the only LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE of the entire count was perched on the fence north of the Moffett Field airstrip. A very recently fledged young NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD here was right at the bay edge, without even a Coyote Bush nearby. While driving along Salt Pond B2 I noted a single pair of WESTERN GULLS nesting in the CALIFORNIA GULL colony on one of the islands. Coverage of Moffett Field turned up 5 BURROWING OWLS and a singing HORNED LARK (on the airstrip), both good birds for the count. Back at Shoreline Lake, 3 SURF SCOTERS were visible, along with the injured male GREATER SCAUP that has been here for years. Unfortunately the combination to the Cargill lock on the dike to outer Salt Pond A1 had apparently been changed. Lacking the time to walk out there, I had to census the island in the northwest corner from Shoreline Park. My guesstimates of 300 CALIFORNIA GULLS and 50 AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS were likely low based on a more careful count from out near the island the next day. I did manage to make it out the eastern side of Salt Pond A2W, which turned up a female RING-NECKED PHEASANT with two young and 20 more AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS. Four active DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT nests were on two towers in this pond. Mike Rogers Received: from win110.nas.nasa.gov (win110.nas.nasa.gov [129.99.19.14]) by plaidworks.com (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g53Jhnf30536 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 3 Jun 2002 12:43:49 -0700 Received: (from mrogers@localhost) by win110.nas.nasa.gov (SGI-8.9.3/8.9.3/NAS 8.9.3-4n) id MAA77449 for [[email protected]]; Mon, 3 Jun 2002 12:43:44 -0700 (PDT) Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 12:43:44 -0700 (PDT) From: "Dr. Michael M. Rogers" <[[email protected]]> Message-Id: <[[email protected]]> To: [[email protected]] Subject: [SBB] Grant Ranch, grackles, and Salt Pond A1 Sender: [[email protected]] Errors-To: [[email protected]] X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.5 Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: All, On Sunday morning 6/2/02, Alma and I headed up to Grant Ranch for some early morning birding. TREE SWALLOWS had already fledged young, which were perched near the Grant Lake parking area. On a loop up the east side of Grant Lake, back down the Canal Trail to Mt Hamilton Road, along the Hotel Trail to the ranch houses, and back out to the entrance booth, we had 11 singing GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS, many providing excellent scope views. Also had 10 LAZULI BUNTINGS on this loop. Prior to heading out the entrance road, we tallied 26 LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCH; however, a flock of 20 more goldfinch along the entrance road contained at least 12 more LAWRENCE'S, suggesting numbers here are still similar to last month. No breeding evidence was noted, which seems strange given the time of year. A real surprise (and new for atlas block 1030) was a male PHAINOPEPLA flying over the ranch houses. Two male TRICOLORED BLACKBIRDS flying north over the Canal Trail were also a surprise, as they do not appear to be nesting on the Grant Lake island this year. We stopped by Parkway Lakes at 10:30am on the way home. A singing male GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE was visible atop a dead snag directly west of the entrance fish shop. Heading over there we were surprised to see 3 males fly across the channel and later what may have been a fourth male on the tules on the west bank (two of the three original birds were still in the dead tree displaying at this point). I managed to get some pictures before one male headed south to the tip of the peninsula and another flew up high far to the north. Heading south after the first bird we found at least two female GREAT-TAILED GRACKLES carrying food from the east bank to the reed beds here. On one occasion an apparent fecal sac was dropped in the water on a return trip. A very brightly marked male YELLOW WARBLER (extensive red streaks) was quietly foraging in the willows. Late in the afternoon (high tide) I headed out to outer Salt Pond A1 (my Cargill permit was valid through Sunday) to investigate the island in the northwest corner of the pond. At least 460 CALIFORNIA GULLS, 360 AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS, and 50 DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS were present here. Another 230+ precocial CALIFORNIA GULL young were begging and wandering around, while at least 50 CALIFORNIA GULLS were incubating nests (the actual count was probably much higher, but the massive pelican bodies prevented seeing much of the island). Besides 6 LESSER SCAUP, a male NORTHERN SHOVELER and a female-plumaged BUFFLEHEAD were on the outer part of the pond, the latter missed on the count I believe :(. A check of Adobe Creek on the way out turned up pairs of GREEN-WINGED TEAL and NORTHERN PINTAIL, a COMMON MOORHEN, and 22 DOWITCHERS. Most of the DOWITCHERS were silent and in mostly basic plumage, rendering identification virtually impossible. However, there were also several alternate-plumaged birds, many of them apparently injured (thus likely explaining their presence on this date). One long-billed bird had complete brick-red underparts, a mostly dark tail, and still showed remnants of dark barring along the sides of the breast, indicating a LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER (many messed up feathers on the left side indicating an injury). Several other birds were fairly typical adult SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS and others were perhaps too worn to be confidently identified. Mike Rogers Received: from smtp1.Stanford.EDU (smtp1.Stanford.EDU [171.64.14.23]) by plaidworks.com (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g53KRaf31369 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 3 Jun 2002 13:27:36 -0700 Received: from smtp1.Stanford.EDU (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by smtp1.Stanford.EDU (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g53KRaY24915 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 3 Jun 2002 13:27:36 -0700 (PDT) Received: from ctsurg-005c.stanford.edu (cv005-pentium-pc.Stanford.EDU [171.65.68.26]) by smtp1.Stanford.EDU (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g53KRZ324908 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 3 Jun 2002 13:27:35 -0700 (PDT) Message-Id: <[[email protected]] u> X-Sender: [[email protected]] (Unverified) X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1 Date: Mon, 03 Jun 2002 13:27:32 -0700 To: [[email protected]] From: Grant Hoyt <[[email protected]]> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Subject: [SBB] Smith Creek Sender: [[email protected]] Errors-To: [[email protected]] X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.5 Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: SBBirders--- Yesterday, 6/2/02, I took my birding-by-ear class to the Twin Gates area of upper Grant Ranch Co. Park and Smith Creek. We met at 7 AM and were rewarded with much bird song from most of the expected species. The oaks just uphill from the Twin Gates parking area were loaded with birds, as usual. WESTERN KINGBIRD, W. WOOD PEWEE, ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, W. BLUEBIRD, LAZULI BUNTING, LESSER GOLDFINCH, BULLOCK'S ORIOLE, WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH were all present, and the starlings offered some clever mimicry as well as their own quirky vocalizations. A couple of LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCHES caused a stir as they flitted through the foliage; we wouldn't have struggled so persistently for good views if we'd known in advance how many we'd see throughout the morning. We climbed the hill under the power lines and were soon rewarded with the first of 4 singing GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS. Several more singing male Laz. Buntings and even a female were seen. A soft "tink-tink" alerted us to the presence of a flock of 12-15 Lawrence's Goldfinches, which we saw in good light as they foraged in some trailside vegetation. It seemed that most of the birds in this flock were male. One HORNED LARK gave us great looks as it poked around at the edge of the trail, though we didn't witness courtship flight or vocalization. Things were active at Smith Creek, as we were greeted by several singing HOUSE WRENS, BLACK PHOEBE, AMERICAN ROBIN, WARBLING VIREO and BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK at the bridge. Consistent with recent reports from other observers, we missed Chipping Sparrow at its usual spot behind the fire station, but more Lawrence's Goldfinches giving killer up-close looks were a treat. Only one CASSIN'S VIREO was heard, but sang at length for all to hear. Oh, and more great looks at Laz. Buntings. Kirsten Holmquist had a male WESTERN TANAGER (migrant) at Twin Gates just before the group arrived at 7 AM. If you want to get good looks at Lazuli Bunting and Lawrence's Goldfinch, two stunningly beautiful birds, this is the year to do it! ---Grant Hoyt Received: from thorium.btinternet.com (thorium.btinternet.com [194.73.73.67]) by plaidworks.com (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g53Loof00485 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 3 Jun 2002 14:50:50 -0700 Received: from lanthanum ([194.75.226.97]) by thorium.btinternet.com with esmtp (Exim 3.22 #8) id 17Eziz-0006Ry-00 for [[email protected]]; Mon, 03 Jun 2002 22:50:49 +0100 Received: from 192.73.228.8 by lanthanum ([194.75.226.97]); Mon, 03 Jun 02 22:50:49 BST Message-ID: <2793498.1023141049357.JavaMail.root@127.0.0.1> Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 22:50:49 +0100 (BST) From: [[email protected]] To: [[email protected]] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 X-MAILER: talk21.com WAS v2 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by plaidworks.com id g53Loof00485 Subject: [SBB] Alviso Sender: [[email protected]] Errors-To: [[email protected]] X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.5 Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: This lunchtime the Wilsons Phalaropes by the EEC were down to four: two females; two males. One of the two Black Skimmers flew off from the windbreak levee. A couple of Pintail were lurking in the slough, where there was also what looked like a first-year Thayers Gull (or would it be Glaucous-winged?) On the way out my attention was caught by something fluttering up to one of the pylons. I hurriedly reversed and got my binoculars on a Loggerhead Shrike. Nice. Andy ([[email protected]]) "Only connect..." Received: from goose.mail.pas.earthlink.net (goose.mail.pas.earthlink.net [207.217.120.18]) by plaidworks.com (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g53N3Gf01656 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 3 Jun 2002 16:03:16 -0700 Received: from user-2ivfla9.dialup.mindspring.com ([165.247.213.73] helo=kirstennt) by goose.prod.itd.earthlink.net with smtp (Exim 3.33 #2) id 17F0r4-0002GH-00; Mon, 03 Jun 2002 16:03:15 -0700 Reply-To: <[[email protected]]> From: "Kirsten R. Holmquist" <[[email protected]]> To: <[[email protected]]>, <[[email protected]]> Subject: RE: [SBB] Alviso Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 16:04:44 -0700 Message-ID: <[[email protected]]> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IMO, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2911.0) In-reply-to: <2793498.1023141049357.JavaMail.root@127.0.0.1> Sender: [[email protected]] Errors-To: [[email protected]] X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.5 Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Hmm...Must be a timing thing. I was there around 8-11 AM today. I got 5 near the 1st island in (3 F, 2 M). Two flew up ahead of me. I got another female in New Chicago Marsh. Then, a raft of 9 (6 F, 3 M) around the second island. A Forster's Tern got upset with me and started giving me the bum rush and scolding harshly. I don't take well to harsh scolding so I headed back. I'm sure the breeding status of the Tern went up measurably as the colony saw him drive off the fearsome invader. :-) Back at the first island, there were now 8 (4 pairs). Near as I can tell, I saw anywhere from 10-18 individuals. Sadly, I missed the Shrike but I did have a Burrowing Owl on the levee, New Chicago Marsh side. I got great looks before he decided I was too close and flew off. I too saw Black Skimmers, several pairs. I went down the ramp to check out the rushes. Marsh Wrens singing all around. The first wren to pop up...a House Wren. I kept trying to turn it into a Marsh Wren given the habitat. But it started singing and I was forced to conclude it really was a House Wren. On my way back through the Butterfly Garden, Monarchs were engaged in furious aerial battles with Western Tiger and Anise Swallowtails. Bullock's Orioles were moving through the shrubs along with a pack of 10 or so Bushtits. Regards, Kirsten R. Holmquist -----Original Message----- From: [[email protected]] [mailto:[[email protected]]]On Behalf Of [[email protected]] Sent: Monday, June 03, 2002 2:51 PM To: [[email protected]] Subject: [SBB] Alviso This lunchtime the Wilsons Phalaropes by the EEC were down to four: two females; two males. One of the two Black Skimmers flew off from the windbreak levee. A couple of Pintail were lurking in the slough, where there was also what looked like a first-year Thayers Gull (or would it be Glaucous-winged?) On the way out my attention was caught by something fluttering up to one of the pylons. I hurriedly reversed and got my binoculars on a Loggerhead Shrike. Nice. Andy ([[email protected]]) "Only connect..." _______________________________________________ south-bay-birds mailing list | [[email protected]] Help/Unsubscribe/Archives: http://www.plaidworks.com/mailman/listinfo/south-bay-birds Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. Received: from mtiwmhc22.worldnet.att.net (mtiwmhc22.worldnet.att.net [204.127.131.47]) by plaidworks.com (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g540QUf02824 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 3 Jun 2002 17:26:30 -0700 Received: from acer ([12.81.9.171]) by mtiwmhc22.worldnet.att.net (InterMail vM.4.01.03.27 201-229-121-127-20010626) with SMTP id <20020604002623.NWVY13408.mtiwmhc22.worldnet.att.net@acer> for <[[email protected]]>; Tue, 4 Jun 2002 00:26:23 +0000 Message-ID: <002601c20b5e$a46c7d80$ab09510c@acer> From: "John Mariani" <[[email protected]]> To: "South-bay-birds" <[[email protected]]> Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 17:27:39 -0700 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2314.1300 Subject: [SBB] More of the same, Black-chinned Sparrow & Lawrence's Goldfinches Sender: [[email protected]] Errors-To: [[email protected]] X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.5 Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Howdy South-bay-birders, This afternoon I drove up to the gate on Mt. Umunhum Road and walked the trail to Bald Mountain, hoping to find some of the Loma Prieta birds without driving so far from home. Even though it was midday there was plenty of bird activity. The first bird I heard singing as I opened the car door was a BLACK-CHINNED SPARROW. It was on the chaparral covered slope near the beginning of the trail to Bald Mountain (within 50 yards of the gate at the trailhead). I was able to get absurdly close views of it before it flew off downslope. After that I walked the rest of the way to the summit of Bald Mountain. Since Lawrence's Goldfinches have been as common as dirt this spring, I thought I would check the grassy summit area where the habitat seemed appropriate. Sure enough I found 4 LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCHES foraging in the grass below the trail, and heard a RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW singing from the chaparral farther downslope. There are A LOTof mariposa lillies putting on a great show along the trail as you approach the summit. With all the blooming chaparral along the trail it was really buggy up there, and there were lots of actual mariposas floating around too. After that I walked Mt. Umunhum Road beyond the gate. As usual it wasn't as productive as the trail to Bald Mountain, although there is plenty of good chaparral habitat. I kept scanning the sky, hoping a migrating Black Swift or Purple Martin might wander over from nearby Loma Prieta, but I had to settle for a single BAND-TAILED PIGEON and a couple of TURKEY VULTURES. On the way back down I had another LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCH fly by and and got a too-brief look at a Selasphorus hummingbird. Only reptiles I saw were several WESTERN WHIPTAILS along the road margins. Other birds up there included lots of ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRDS, a few ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS, HUTTON'S VIREO, lots of BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHERS, CALIFORNIA THRASHER, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS, and PURPLE FINCHES. Driving back along Hicks Road I stopped to check Guadalupe Creek above Gudalupe Reservoir. Birds there included WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE, PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER, WARBLING VIREOS, singing ORANGE-CROWNED, YELLOW and WILSON'S WARBLERS, and BULLOCK'S ORIOLE. John Mariani [[email protected]] www.birdswest.com