From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Wed Aug 13 16:10:30 2003 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id h7DN83da000406 for <[[email protected]]>; Wed, 13 Aug 2003 16:08:03 -0700 (PDT) Received: from swan.mail.pas.earthlink.net (swan.mail.pas.earthlink.net [207.217.120.123]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id h7DN7Ivj000350 for <[[email protected]]>; Wed, 13 Aug 2003 16:07:22 -0700 (PDT) Received: from user-1121fo9.dsl.mindspring.com ([66.32.191.9] helo=pavilion.earthlink.net) by swan.mail.pas.earthlink.net with esmtp (Exim 3.33 #1) id 19n4i1-0002nI-00 for [[email protected]]; Wed, 13 Aug 2003 16:07:15 -0700 Message-Id: <[[email protected]]> X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.2.1 Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2003 16:16:25 -0700 To: [[email protected]] From: Bill Bousman <[[email protected]]> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Subject: [SBB] Pectoral Sandpiper (Sunnyvale) X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.2+ Precedence: list List-Id: South Bay Birding List-Unsubscribe: , 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]] Folks: This morning, 8/13/2003, I walked out the western levee that splits the oxidation ponds at the Sunnyvale WPCP. John Hutz was out on the Guadalupe Slough levee and was watching the adult PECTORAL SANDPIPER in the middle channel. It then flew to the small algae mats. The scapular and wing coverts were relatively uniform with brown centers and buff edges. Although not particularly worn they were unlike the fresh feathers of a juvenile. The supercilium was weak and the breast markings were gray and fairly heavy, all characteristics of an adult bird. Small numbers of phalaropes were in the west pond with counts of 18 WILSON'S and 5 RED-NECKED. I then stopped by New Chicago Marsh, looking unsuccessfully for the Ruff. Here I counted five LESSER YELLOWLEGS (among 35+ Greaters) and 15 WILSON'S PHALAROPES. Comments on some recent posts: Pine Siskins. There is a Santa Cruz Mountain breeding population. Presumably, the birds found recently in the Stanford area are either early dispersants or failed breeders from this population. Birds from further north that are found in irruptive winters usually do not show up until late winter. Black-chinned Hummingbirds. Steve Rottenborn did most of his field research on riparian areas and the influences of urban boundaries in 1995. In June and July of that year he found 48 males and 41 females along Coyote Creek from CCFS to above Hellyer CP. He found 16 females building nests, incubating, or feeding young. Along the Guadalupe River from Tasman to Curtner, he found 22 males and 19 females and six instances of breeding. Along Los Gatos Creek from the Guadalupe River to Glen Eyrie, he found 12 males and 12 females and 7 cases of breeding. Except for Coyote Creek below Hwy 237, few of these sites are regularly birded. Almost all sections of the Guadalupe River and Los Gatos Creek are in urban areas with poor access. Coyote Creek is different in that some of the sections are parkland. I made visits to Kelly Park along Coyote Creek and found no evidence of Black-chinned Hummingbirds this year. Along the Guadalupe River, I selected Almaden Road between Curtner to below Malone because there is good visibility of the riparian area (although the traffic is awful). On my two extended visits this summer I had at least 3 males and 3 females along this stretch; Steve recorded 7 males and 5 females. It may well be that there has been some decline in numbers since Steve's research, but there are two important points to make: (1) my field hours to check the few sites that I have looked at this year were many fewer than were Steve's, and (2) the Black-chinned Hummingbird appears to be an old-growth riparian obligate and much of this old growth appears to be in urban areas which are not birded. We really know very little about the status of this rare hummer. As for my finding a nest with traffic whizzing by, well this is the first nest I've ever found for this species, so we can conclude that it was beginner's luck (although it's much easier to find a nest while it is being built than during incubation). These young birds were probably born around the end of July and may still be in the nest. If you wish to try, then park on Almaden Road south of Curtner and walk downstream to 2180 Almaden Road. Across from that house and slightly downstream is a clear area where you can step off the edge of the road. At the left side of the clear area as you face the river is a stump of a shrub, maybe 6 inches high and 5 inches across. Stand beside this stub and look towards a large sycamore with ivy along its trunk that is next to the river (your side). Between you and the sycamore is a sycamore sapling that is no higher than maybe five feet above eye level. The nest is about 3 feet from the top. It's almost impossible to find unless the female comes to feed, as it is sometimes concealed by the sycamore leaves as the wind blows. The nest is constructed of cottonwood down and is a creamy white. Bill _______________________________________________ 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]]