From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Wed Nov 26 09:03:20 2003 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id hAQH03ou018336 for <[[email protected]]>; Wed, 26 Nov 2003 09:00:04 -0800 (PST) Received: from smtp2.Stanford.EDU (smtp2.stanford.edu [171.67.16.116]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id hAQGwbg8018274 for <[[email protected]]>; Wed, 26 Nov 2003 08:58:37 -0800 (PST) Received: from [10.0.1.2] (KSmith-pbdsl2.Stanford.EDU [171.66.208.19]) by smtp2.Stanford.EDU (8.12.10/8.12.10) with ESMTP id hAQGwVx2025569 for <[[email protected]]>; Wed, 26 Nov 2003 08:58:32 -0800 Mime-Version: 1.0 X-Sender: [[email protected]] Message-Id: Date: Wed, 26 Nov 2003 08:58:30 -0800 To: [[email protected]] From: "Kendric C. Smith" <[[email protected]]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed" X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.2+ Subject: [SBB] Santa Clara Co. Bird List October 2003 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]] BILL BOUSMAN WRITES: October added four new species for the composite list, bringing the total to 264. We added two 5s for October. A flock of RED CROSSBILLS was seen on Summit Ridge near Loma Prieta on 11 Oct. On 25 Oct a female TUFTED DUCK was found on the western oxidation pond at the Sunnyvale WPCP. Two 6s were added this month. A SHARP-TAILED SANDPIPER was seen briefly in the Palo Alto Baylands on 6 Oct. The big news was the addition of PINYON JAY to the county list on 10 Oct. This bird was seen in the San Antonio Valley by Matthew O'Brien. Remarkable numbers of Pinyon Jays have been found in the Coast Range this fall. A bird seen a few days earlier along Skyline Boulevard was just a few tens of meters outside of the county line and barely missed being the first county record. When I say there were 'remarkable' numbers of Pinyon Jays, I don't mean to imply that there were very many or that they were easy to find. Many local observers sought out places where this wandering corvid could be found over the next few weeks, but without success. An interesting aside about the four species added this month is that each was found only once by one group. The crossbills were seen for probably less than a minute as they flew over Summit Ridge. The Tufted Duck, seen on a SCVAS trip, could not be found in subsequent days. The Sharp-tailed Sandpiper was seen for a minute or two and the Pinyon Jay was seen for 12 seconds. As the year comes to a close it is possible to look at some depressing statistics. So far, as concerns species totals, 2003 has been poor. In the last decade, the composite list average species total has been 292. This year we are at 264, an amazing deficit of 28 species compared to the decade's average! We are in an excellent position to beat out last year's 277 species for a new, decadal low. In the last decade we've seen 35 4s in every year but 2002 when we missed one species (Red-throated Loon). This year we are missing five as of the end of October! [November has dropped that to 4, but this is still remarkable.] The average number of 5s we find, based on the last ten years is 48 species, this year we've found only 28 so far. Our previous low was 43 in 1996 (which, by the way, was a good year). For the rarest species, the 6s, we normally find about 22. This year we have had only 9. Previously, the worst we've done was 12 in 2002 (which was a lousy year). Okay, okay, looking at these kinds of numbers is a bit like navel-gazing. The sky has not fallen, life goes on, so fagiddaboutit! Get out there and enjoy that Fox Sparrow singing within the shrubs or the drake Mallard that thinks he's so cool (he is). The complete list can be found at: South Bay Birders Unlimited (SBBU) http://www.stanford.edu/~kendric/birds/ -- Kendric C. Smith, Ph.D. 927 Mears Court Stanford, CA 94305-1041 (650) 493-7210 (voice or fax) [[email protected]] http://www.stanford.edu/~kendric/ _______________________________________________ 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]]