Received: from merlin.arc.nasa.gov (merlin.arc.nasa.gov [128.102.219.21]) by plaidworks.com (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g8GH8BV10948 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 16 Sep 2002 10:08:11 -0700 Received: from merlin.ARC.NASA.GOV by merlin.ARC.NASA.GOV (PMDF V6.1 #46498) id <[[email protected]]> for [[email protected]]; Mon, 16 Sep 2002 10:08:00 -0700 (PDT) Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002 10:08:00 -0700 (PDT) From: [[email protected]] To: [[email protected]] Cc: [[email protected]] Message-id: <[[email protected]]> MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=us-ascii Subject: [SBB] - Sender: [[email protected]] Errors-To: [[email protected]] X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.13 Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Folks: Yesterday, 9/15/2002, I went to Alviso to catch up on some of the exciting birds in the New Chicago Marsh. I walked north from the EEC entrance road along the railroad tracks. At the first set of ponds I found the female RUFF preening in a small flock of dowitchers east of the tracks and the basic STILT SANDPIPER with a large flock of dowitchers west of the tracks. I didn't find the molting golden-plover. I walked further, to the last pond on the left (southwest) before the tracks join, and here I saw the second PACFIC GOLDEN-PLOVER, found previously by Jay Withgott. At least I think that this is a _fulva_, but I found some field marks slightly disconcerting. My description doesn't jibe exactly with Jay's, but that may just reflect two observer's different perceptions. This bird seemed to show a warm brown wash on the head and throat and I felt this included the supercilium as well. There was a prominent auricular spot. The scapulars and wing coverts were tan with white spots--I could not discern any gold speckling. This bird did not hold its primaries close to the tail (unlike the molting adult I saw later), which makes comparisons difficult, but it appeared to me that the primaries extended about half a bill width beyond the tail, which may well be in the range of _fulva_. It was hard to see the number of primaries extending beyond the tertials, the best I could do was see at least two or three. I agree with Jay that this is basic _fulva_, but the primary projection and coloration of scapulars and wing coverts seemed slightly towards _dominica_. Walking back, I ran into Don Starks and a friend and they had the molting adult PACIFIC GOLDEN-PLOVER east of the railroad tracks so I had some comparative looks. This bird has been well described by others in previous e-mails, and all characters appeared the same to me. For my walk, I counted 10 LESSER YELLOWLEGS (24 GREATER) and 10 WILSON'S PHALAROPES. I then went over to the Alviso Marina, but I was unable to find any Snowy Plovers. This morning, 9/16/2002, I found a few migrants along Stevens Creek above Crittenden Lane. At the lone euc I saw a WILLOW FLYCATCHER, a HOUSE WREN, and 7+ YELLOW WARBLERS. A hundred meters or so along the creek I saw an immature WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW, which is the first I've seen this fall. I then noted a Roland Kenner further up the creek and figured that something good must have been found this weekend. I went to my office, checked my e-mail, and noted Mike Rogers American Redstart. I then walked out and joined Roland, Al Eisner, and later Bob Reiling and Frank Vanslager. There was no redstart by the time I left, but Frank and I did see another WILLOW FLYCATCHER. Bill Received: from mms1.broadcom.com (mms1.broadcom.com [63.70.210.58]) by plaidworks.com (8.11.6/8.11.6) with SMTP id g8GIjfV12376 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 16 Sep 2002 11:45:41 -0700 Received: from 63.70.210.1 by mms1.broadcom.com with ESMTP (Broadcom MMS-1 SMTP Relay (MMS v4.7);); Mon, 16 Sep 2002 11:45:13 -0700 X-Server-Uuid: 1e1caf3a-b686-11d4-a6a3-00508bfc9ae5 Received: from mail-sjcw-1.sw.broadcom.com (mail-sjcw-1.sw.broadcom.com [10.20.128.21]) by mon-irva-11.broadcom.com (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id LAA06138 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 16 Sep 2002 11:45: 40 -0700 (PDT) Received: from pc2kmikem (dhcpe1-sjcw-254 [10.20.64.254]) by mail-sjcw-1.sw.broadcom.com (8.12.4/8.12.4/SSM) with SMTP id g8GIje1Z023841 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 16 Sep 2002 11:45:40 -0700 (PDT) From: "Mike Mammoser" <[[email protected]]> To: SBB <[[email protected]]> Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002 11:45:21 -0700 Message-ID: <[[email protected]]> MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IMO, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2910.0) X-WSS-ID: 1198F933413068-01-01 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: [SBB] : Sender: [[email protected]] Errors-To: [[email protected]] X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.13 Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Late Sunday morning, 15 Sep 02, I checked Stevens Creek north of L'Avenida for Mike's American Redstart. Chris and Claire Wolf were there when I arrived and hadn't seen it. Roland Kenner arrived before I left and hadn't seen it up to my departure. While there, I had 4-5 YELLOW WARBLERS, 2 WILSON'S WARBLERS, 2 "WESTERN" FLYCATCHERS, and a SWAINSON'S THRUSH. Mike Mammoser Received: from mtiwmhc21.worldnet.att.net (mtiwmhc24.worldnet.att.net [204.127.131.49]) by plaidworks.com (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g8GIlGV12466 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 16 Sep 2002 11:47:17 -0700 Received: from hx1tg ([12.81.6.85]) by mtiwmhc21.worldnet.att.net (InterMail vM.4.01.03.27 201-229-121-127-20010626) with SMTP id <20020916184706.HECY5139.mtiwmhc21.worldnet.att.net@hx1tg> for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 16 Sep 2002 18:47:06 +0000 Message-ID: <000701c25db1$8b475e60$5327fea9@hx1tg> From: "R. Strait" <[[email protected]]> To: "South-bay Bird List" <[[email protected]]> Subject: [SBB] Red-shouldered Hawk and Say's Phoebe Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002 11:47:09 -0700 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2600.0000 Sender: [[email protected]] Errors-To: [[email protected]] X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.13 Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Hello, During a morning walk at Sunnyvale Baylands Park, I was a bit surprised to find a RED-SHOULDERED HAWK perched on one of the 404(?) line demarcation poles at the southeast corner of the main park. The bird moved one pole at a time ahead of us as we walked giving me excellent views of the bird in flight. This bird had the solid reddish breast of a mature bird as shown in Sibley. It eventually flew out of sight through the eucalyptus grove along the Wave Walk. This is the first time I've seen this species in this park. Another nice surprise happened just after we passed the observation platform and walked toward the walkway entrance. A SAY'S PHOEBE was perched on the fence between the trail and the walkway. I got closeup views before this bird headed out toward the levee. I've seen this species here during winter. I wondered if this was early for seeing this species. Rosalie Strait Received: from merlin.arc.nasa.gov (merlin.arc.nasa.gov [128.102.219.21]) by plaidworks.com (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g8GJCbV12918 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 16 Sep 2002 12:12:37 -0700 Received: from merlin.ARC.NASA.GOV by merlin.ARC.NASA.GOV (PMDF V6.1 #46498) id <[[email protected]]> for [[email protected]]; Mon, 16 Sep 2002 12:12:29 -0700 (PDT) Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002 12:10:50 -0700 (PDT) From: [[email protected]] To: [[email protected]] Cc: [[email protected]] Message-id: <[[email protected]]> MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=us-ascii Subject: [SBB] Say's Pheobe Sender: [[email protected]] Errors-To: [[email protected]] X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.13 Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Folks: Wintering Say's Phoebes turn up sometime in September in most years. We also have a very small population of breeding birds in the the Diablo Range. It's not certain that they are resident or move out after breeding. Bill Received: from rwcrmhc51.attbi.com (rwcrmhc51.attbi.com [204.127.198.38]) by plaidworks.com (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g8GJeqV13423 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 16 Sep 2002 12:40:52 -0700 Received: from computer.attbi.com ([12.240.80.104]) by rwcrmhc51.attbi.com (InterMail vM.4.01.03.27 201-229-121-127-20010626) with ESMTP id <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 16 Sep 2002 19:40:47 +0000 Message-Id: <[[email protected]].> X-Sender: [[email protected]]. X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1 Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002 11:50:03 -0700 To: "Tiwari, Vivek" <[[email protected]]>, [[email protected]] From: Alvaro Jaramillo <[[email protected]]> Subject: Re: [SBB] Id' ing Willow Flycatchers in fall In-Reply-To: <[[email protected]] . com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Sender: [[email protected]] Errors-To: [[email protected]] X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.13 Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: At 05:21 PM 9/11/2002 -0700, Tiwari, Vivek wrote: >We have been seeing reports of migrating Willow Flycatchers. >I assume none of the birds are calling. > >How much confidence can one have wrt a visual id? Vivek et al. In my experience you can have a great deal of confidence making visual identifications of Empidonax flycatchers. However it takes a great deal of practice, studying calling birds or birds of known species in the hand. Even so, you do need a superb look to see all the features you need to see to make a confident ID. >a) Shape of the eyering - tear-shaped and more prominent in "Western" >b) Color of the upperparts (brownish for Willow vs. olive greenish for >"Western") >c) Color of the underparts (whitish throat for Willow contrasting with the >breast vs. a uniform dirty greenish/yellow > throat and breast for "Western") >d) Difference in the head shape >e) Difference in bill shape >f) Difference in size There is another feature which is not mentioned in field guides and that is the wing formula. The wing formula compares lengths of primary feathers, and it differs in various Empidonax flycatchers. What you look for is how the folded primaries stack up, and mainly if the gaps between primary tips are even or there are wider gaps. What the wing formula describes is actually the shape of the wing tip, species with short rounded wings look quite different than those with long and pointed wings, even when the wing is folded. A component to look at is the primary extension, which is the length of the visible primaries beyond the longest tertial. Species with long wings have long primary extensions, those with short wings have shorter primary extension. Generally long-distance migrants tend to have longer and more pointed wings, while residents or short distance migrants have shorter and more rounded wings. In Willow Flycatcher the primary extension is relatively long, and the spacing of primary tips on the folded wings is very even. Our other common Empidonax, the Pacific-slope (Western) Flycatcher has a shorter primary extension, and there is a larger gap between the second primary (counting from the wing tip on the folded wing) and the third primary. This gap is even more prominent on Hammond's Flycatcher, and their primary extensions are very long. Figuring this stuff out takes some practice, but once you know to look for it, it can be really enlightening. To practice a bit I would suggest starting to look for patterns in common birds. At a feeder try and spot the long-winged "Gambell's" White-crowned SParrow in the flock of shorter-winged "Puget-sound" White-crowned Sparrow. You can use plumage to confirm your identification based on wing length. Also you can compare with the long-winged Golden-crowned SParrow to give you some reference. I think their primary spacing is all similar, but I have not looked at that feature carefully in sparrows. regards Al >Are any of these diagnostic on their own or do we need to check off a >combination of these features (some of which >would only seem safe in a side-by-side comparison)? >(Or am I being too paranoid and old-school here wrt fall Empids?) > >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. Alvaro Jaramillo Biologist San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory P.O. Box 247 Alviso, CA 95002 (408)-946-6548 http://www.sfbbo.org/ [[email protected]] Received: from imo-r06.mx.aol.com (imo-r06.mx.aol.com [152.163.225.102]) by plaidworks.com (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g8GKqbV14649 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 16 Sep 2002 13:52:37 -0700 Received: from [[email protected]] by imo-r06.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v34.10.) id t.18f.e332236 (16484) for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 16 Sep 2002 16:52:26 -0400 (EDT) From: [[email protected]] Message-ID: <[[email protected]]> Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002 16:52:25 EDT To: [[email protected]] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" X-Mailer: AOL 7.0 for Windows US sub 10509 X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative by demime 0.98b X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain Subject: [SBB] No American Redstart Sender: [[email protected]] Errors-To: [[email protected]] X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.13 Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: All, This morning Frank Vanslager and I failed to refind the American Redstart seen yesterday in Stevens Creek by Mike Rogers. Roland Kenner, Al Eisner and Bill Bousman, who were there ahead of us, also failed to find the bird. The area of "the sighting" was very slow birding (except for HOUSE FINCHES), Roland indicated that the birding had been quite a bit better. We did find a GREEN HERON in the open portion of the creek near L'Avenida, a PEREGRINE FALCON on a power tower in Salt Pond A2W and two BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS joined the SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, LONG-BILLED CURLEWS, WHIMBRELS, both "peeps" and mostly eclipse plumaged ducks in the Stevens Creek Mitigation Pond. Several calling VIRGINIA RAILS near the bridge over the southern portion of the pond became county year bird # 232 for me (bad record keeping on my part). Take care, Bob Reiling, 1:55 PM, 9/16/02 Received: from mtiwmhc23.worldnet.att.net (mtiwmhc23.worldnet.att.net [204.127.131.48]) by plaidworks.com (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g8GLEcV15073 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 16 Sep 2002 14:14:38 -0700 Received: from webmail.worldnet.att.net ([204.127.135.75]) by mtiwmhc23.worldnet.att.net (InterMail vM.4.01.03.27 201-229-121-127-20010626) with SMTP id <[[email protected]]net.a tt.net>; Mon, 16 Sep 2002 21:14:33 +0000 Received: from [144.228.143.70] by webmail.worldnet.att.net; Mon, 16 Sep 2002 21:14:33 +0000 From: [[email protected]] To: [[email protected]] (SBB) Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002 21:14:33 +0000 X-Mailer: AT&T Message Center Version 1 (Sep 10 2002) X-Authenticated-Sender: Mjg9Rz4wZEVcXE1JQSlGVDhZV0liREI8N1YzTUM= Message-Id: <20020916211433.RMGP3050.mtiwmhc23.worldnet.att.net@webmail. worldnet.att.net> Subject: [SBB] Weekend birds Sender: [[email protected]] Errors-To: [[email protected]] X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.13 Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: This last Saturday, 9/14/02, two of my daughters (Shawn and Kim) flew up from Riverside County to join me in their first Pelagic Bird trip out of Monterey. (See http://www.montereybaywhalewatch.com) We observed Elegant, Arctic, and Common Terns, a Sabine's Gull, great looks at one gorgeous Tufted Puffin, a dozen or more Black-Footed Albatrosses (seven together at one time), several Buller's Shearwater's and Pink-Footed Shearwaters among thousands of Sooty Shearwaters, and two Cassein's Auklets. A pod of four Killer Whales put on quite a show as two of the three females shared a Sea Lion lunch, on-board 'experts' estimated a school of Northern White-sided and Right-Whale dolpins numbered between two and three thousand, and a young Blue Whale Dolphins. A very impressive sight. Then in my own backyard on Sunday, we were watching a squirrel hang by its hind legs from the top of my large 'squirrel-proof' sunflower feeder eating sunflower seeds, an adult male Cooper's Hawk (COHA) exploded into view to capture a Mourning Dove (MODO) feeding on the ground directly below the thistle feeder. The squirrel never moved, didn't stop feeding or even appear to notice the hawk. The COHA kept looking up at the squirrel until the MODO finally stopped struggling. He spent about 5 minutes on the ground then finally flew off with its breakfast. Shawn and Kim found it awesome. I belive we have a couple of new birders in the family. What a week-end. Karl -- American Kestrel - Falcon Sparverius - The tiny but mighty falcon. Received: from mms2.broadcom.com (mms2.broadcom.com [63.70.210.59]) by plaidworks.com (8.11.6/8.11.6) with SMTP id g8GM5SV15880 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 16 Sep 2002 15:05:29 -0700 Received: from 63.70.210.1 by mms2.broadcom.com with ESMTP (Broadcom MMS-2 SMTP Relay (MMS v4.7);); Mon, 16 Sep 2002 15:03:15 -0700 X-Server-Uuid: 2a12fa22-b688-11d4-a6a1-00508bfc9626 Received: from mail-sjcw-1.sw.broadcom.com (mail-sjcw-1.sw.broadcom.com [10.20.128.21]) by mon-irva-11.broadcom.com (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id PAA18207 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 16 Sep 2002 15:05: 28 -0700 (PDT) Received: from pc2kmikem (dhcpe1-sjcw-254 [10.20.64.254]) by mail-sjcw-1.sw.broadcom.com (8.12.4/8.12.4/SSM) with SMTP id g8GM5R1Z028794 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 16 Sep 2002 15:05:27 -0700 (PDT) From: "Mike Mammoser" <[[email protected]]> To: SBB <[[email protected]]> Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002 15:05:08 -0700 Message-ID: <[[email protected]]> MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IMO, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2910.0) X-WSS-ID: 11988AA9923531-01-01 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: [SBB] : Sender: [[email protected]] Errors-To: [[email protected]] X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.13 Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: This afternoon, 16 Sep 02, I again visited the Sunnyvale fennel patch with much the same results as previously - 15 YELLOW WARBLERS, 2 ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS, and 6 COMMON YELLOWTHROATS. Mike Mammoser