From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Sat Jan 3 11:42:11 2004 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id i03JeL2l016513 for <[[email protected]]>; Sat, 3 Jan 2004 11:40:21 -0800 (PST) Received: from turkey.mail.pas.earthlink.net (turkey.mail.pas.earthlink.net [207.217.120.126]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id i03Jd11l016461 for <[[email protected]]>; Sat, 3 Jan 2004 11:39:01 -0800 (PST) Received: from user-vcaunc5.dsl.mindspring.com ([216.175.93.133] helo=pavilion.earthlink.net) by turkey.mail.pas.earthlink.net with esmtp (Exim 3.33 #1) id 1Acrbw-0003yh-00 for [[email protected]]; Sat, 03 Jan 2004 11:39:00 -0800 Message-Id: <[[email protected]]> X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.2.1 Date: Sat, 03 Jan 2004 11:43:15 -0800 To: [[email protected]] From: Bill Bousman <[[email protected]]> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Subject: [SBB] January CBCs 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: New Year's Day, 1/1/2004, I joined David Ekdahl for some owling east of Hecker Pass for the Moss Landing CBC. We spent about two hours and whistling in the rain, hearing nothing more than the steady rain in the trees and an occasional car passing down the grade from Hecker Pass. After sunrise, I joined Kai Yee and we birded Mt. Madonna CP and nearby areas in the heavy rain. Few birds were out and fewer still identifiable with wet bins. Other than a case of "prune" fingers, the morning's exercise was largely an affirmation of the intelligence of birds in stormy weather and the curious lack of same by CBC participants. I returned home on New Year's Day via the reservoirs and other birding spots. Of some interest were the continuing immature WHITE-THROATED SPARROW and two intergrade NORTHERN FLICKERS at Edenvale Garden Park. At the New Chicago Marsh, I found two COMMON SNIPE, but few other shorebirds. The local adult PEREGRINE FALCON was along the EEC entrance road. At Charleston Slough, I counted 15 BLACK SKIMMERS on their favored island. Since the stormy weather, many SURF SCOTERS have moved into Shoreline Lake--my estimated well over a hundred. Yesterday, 1/2/2004, I participated on the Mt. Hamilton CBC and took my 24th annual ramble in San Antonio Valley. Joining me were Paul Pickering, Rich Page, Steve Patt, and Debbie Jamison. Steve and Debbie left about midday. We had a lovely morning with mixed sun and clouds, with light rain showers in the afternoon. A tough GREAT EGRET was working the stock ponds, the 4th in 24 years. A local landowner said this bird has been seen regularly in the valley this winter. It was quite a day for WOOD DUCKS, with a tally of 28. I've only had them five times before, although there are sometimes large flocks (58 birds once). A female MERLIN allowed us very good looks and was enjoyed by all. We found two LEWIS'S WOODPECKERS, which was a treat as they've been missed in the last three years. Paul picked up a DOWNY WOODPECKER and turned a San Antonio Valley hat trick with seven woodpecker species. As surprising as it may seem, a single YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER was the first we've found in the valley in 24 years. We had an excellent day for SAGE SPARROWS. Once we were in the chamise chaparral with good seed set we started encountering multiple birds and totalled 19 for the day, well past the previous high of 13 birds. We also had good numbers of FOX SPARROWS. A few appeared to be relatively pure 'slate-colored' birds and we also had about four mostly 'sooty' Fox Sparrows. The rest seemed to be intergrades between the two subspecies. We finished a bit after four as the rain became heavy and drove over Mt. Hamilton in the snow. The weather up top made for a small countdown dinner, but Paul and I enjoyed a leisurely time with Lotus and Keith. 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]]