From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Sat Apr 24 16:27:11 2004 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id i3ONOwH3000283 for <[[email protected]]>; Sat, 24 Apr 2004 16:24:59 -0700 (PDT) Received: from mms2.broadcom.com (mms2.broadcom.com [63.70.210.59]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id i3ONNJAg000223 for <[[email protected]]>; Sat, 24 Apr 2004 16:23:20 -0700 (PDT) Received: from 63.70.210.1 by mms2.broadcom.com with ESMTP (Broadcom SMTP Relay (MMS v5.6.0)); Sat, 24 Apr 2004 16:23:09 -0700 X-Server-Uuid: 011F2A72-58F1-4BCE-832F-B0D661E896E8 Received: from mail-sjcw-3.sw.broadcom.com (mail-sjcw-3.sw.broadcom.com [10.20.128.23]) by mon-irva-11.broadcom.com (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id QAA21597 for <[[email protected]]>; Sat, 24 Apr 2004 16:22: 28 -0700 (PDT) Received: from mail-sjcw-1.broadcom.com (mail-sjcw-1.sw.broadcom.com [10.20.128.21]) by mail-sjcw-3.sw.broadcom.com (8.12.9/8.12.9/SSM3) with ESMTP id i3ONN0kp019408 for <[[email protected]]>; Sat, 24 Apr 2004 16:23:00 -0700 (PDT) Received: from pc2kmikem (dhcpe1-sjcw-254 [10.20.64.254]) by mail-sjcw-1.broadcom.com (8.12.9/8.12.4/SSM) with SMTP id i3ONN4E0028618 for <[[email protected]]>; Sat, 24 Apr 2004 16:23:05 -0700 (PDT) From: "Mike Mammoser" <[[email protected]]> To: SBB <[[email protected]]> Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 16:20:50 -0700 Message-ID: <[[email protected]]> MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IMO, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2910.0) X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1165 Importance: Normal X-WSS-ID: 6C9429572LO3982995-01-01 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: [SBB] : X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5b1 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]] On Saturday, 24 Apr 04, I revisited Smith Creek, where bird activity was lower than last week in terms of migrants. The hillside behind the fire station was virtually dead, but there was some activity on the hillside south of the old barn behind the station. Standing along the edge of the meadow, I heard some song from both a MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER and a NASHVILLE WARBLER. I moved up near a seep at the forest edge and pished into the undergrowth. The Nashville Warbler soon showed itself, followed shortly by a brief appearance of the MacGillivray's. Down along the creek all 3 vireos were present (CASSIN'S, WARBLING, and HUTTON'S), plus LAZULI BUNTING and TOWNSEND'S WARBLER. Lingering birds included GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW, LINCOLN'S SPARROW, and RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET. At the Twin Gates trailhead I heard LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCH when I exited the car, but was unable to find them subsequently. I drove in to the Grant Park visitor center, pausing to watch a rattlesnake crawl liesurely across the entrance road. With a tip from Dave Cook, I went a short distance up the Hotel Trail, where I was treated to great views of a GRASSHOPPER SPARROW singing from the barb wire fence only 20 yards from where I stood. It was engaged in some interesting behavior. While singing, it would flit from one perch to another, lean forward and look down into the grass, and then alternately flutter one wing and then the other. I thought that this was obviously some kind of courtship display being given to an unseen (by me) female below him. I then returned to Santa Clara Valley and stopped at CCFS, where I failed to find a Black-chinned Hummingbird. The banding board showed that a Swainson's Thrush was captured on 21 Apr. The waterbird pond was quite full of WESTERN SANDPIPERS and DOWITCHERS (with a handful of SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS). I finished the day at the EEC, where I was unable to find any hoped-for phalaropes. There was an interesting gull here, though, sitting on one of the new observation decks built on salt pond A16. I was able to approach to about 20 feet of this bird. It looked like an adult Mew Gull, with the same darkish gray back and of the appropriate size. It had a uniform dull yellow bill with, possibly, a slightly heavier bulk to it than is typical for Mew. It's hard to judge on a lone bird, but it certainly had a distinct gonydeal angle. What really caught my eye was the bird's eye. It was a dusky yellow-brown, paler than is typical of Mew Gull, and had a bright red orbital ring. I flushed the bird to see its wing tips, and noticed that the black tip of the wing was not as "pinched off" between the 2 white mirrors on the outer primaries and the white/gray bases of the inner primaries, as is usual on Mew Gull. This black tip remained fairly thick as it stretched from the leading edge to the trailing edge of the wingtip. The legs of this bird were yellowish-green, and it favored its left leg when standing, tending to hold the left foot up off the ground. I don't have any references handy at the moment, but I am wondering whether this bird might be a Kamchatka Gull or a Common Gull - or maybe some kind of hybrid? Mike Mammoser _______________________________________________ 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]]