From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Fri Oct 17 15:38:21 2003 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id h9HMYkFx008062 for <[[email protected]]>; Fri, 17 Oct 2003 15:34:46 -0700 (PDT) Received: from scaup.mail.pas.earthlink.net (scaup.mail.pas.earthlink.net [207.217.120.49]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id h9HMXrJl008011 for <[[email protected]]>; Fri, 17 Oct 2003 15:33:53 -0700 (PDT) Received: from user-38lc17q.dialup.mindspring.com ([209.86.4.250] helo=birdnutz.com) by scaup.mail.pas.earthlink.net with esmtp (Exim 3.33 #1) id 1AAdAM-0001jn-00; Fri, 17 Oct 2003 15:33:51 -0700 Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 15:37:13 -0700 Subject: Re: [SBB] Black-bellied Whistling Duck report Content-Type: text/plain; delsp=yes; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v552) To: South Bay Birders <[[email protected]]> From: Les Chibana <[[email protected]]> In-Reply-To: <731A6F12A87AD2118E8B006097098F9A5AC604@CONCORD> Message-Id: <[[email protected]]> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.552) Cc: Monterey Bay Birds list <[[email protected]]> 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]] Caroline Nabeta, Mike Rogers and myself look for, but were not able to relocate the whistling duck this morning. We checked all ponds on the two golf courses (with Caroline's access privileges and consideration for the early golfers). At the pond where the duck was yesterday, the Mallards were curiously skittish. Caroline says that they normally just ignore the golfers, but this morning, nearly all of them flew off. We know where some of them went as we saw some of the uniquely-plumaged mallard hybrids at another set of ponds where a resident feeds them. One male Gadwall, 2 Mute Swans, and 2 Black Swans were on these ponds in addition to multitude of Mallards. A large falcon, probably Prairie, was spotted by Mike along Hwy 25 between Hwy 101 and 156. There are a lot of freshly plowed fields in this area, probably hiding Red-throated Pipits, Mountain Plover and Golden-Plover..... Les Chibana, Palo Alto On Friday, October 17, 2003, at 09:53 AM, Mark Paxton wrote: > Hello, > > I joined Caroline Nabeta yesterday afternoon and we easily relocated > the > Black-bellied Whistling Duck she reported earlier yesterday. The duck > is on > the water hazard near the tees to the 18th hole of the Gabilan Course > at > Ridgemark Golf and Country Club, just south of Hollister in San Benito > County. We had extended good looks at the bird. It is the ease with > which > the bird was viewed that leads me to strongly believe the bird is an > escapee > rather than a wild vagrant. > > The duck was in the company of lots of domestic mallards, appeared > calm and > settled, and as we approached, looked directly at us with no sign of > agitation and no attempt to retreat. Caroline indicated that when a > golfer > who feeds the domestic waterfowl around the course approached this > flock, > the Whistling Duck joined the mallards at the banquet table. > > In spite of its questionable provenance, the bird is beautiful. One > feature > not depicted in most field guides that was apparant to both of us is > that > the crown patch appeared to be raised, mohawk-like. Further, it was a > shade > darker than the rufous coloring across the bird's back. > > Ridgemark is semi-public. Should anyone be interested, it is possible > to > view the bird with a bit of a walk. Entering Ridgemark from Highway > 25, > turn into the parking lot on the right just before reaching the guard > house. > You will not need to pass through the guard gate if you're in the right > place. Park near the rear of the lot. The fairway that wraps around > the > parking lot, and the small office building at its edge, is the 18th. > Being > mindful of walkers, follow the cart path to the 18th tee, and check > the pond > that wraps around the back side of the tee. > > Mark Paxton > > _______________________________________________ > 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/ > les%40birdnutz.com > > This email sent to [[email protected]] > _______________________________________________ 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]]