From [[email protected]] Mon Dec 01 03:08:56 1997 Subject: geese We saw at least ten greater white-fronted geese--orange feet and bills, some adults with white near beaks, some jubveniles without--at the north end of Bair Island on Friday afternoon, 11/28, in the slough just south of the airport. Wonderful! ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Mon Dec 01 05:53:23 1997 Subject: Laughing Gull in Palo Alto (Santa Clara County) All: (Please ignore this message if you are getting this twice...there seems to be a network problem) There is a winter-plumaged Laughing Gull at the Palo Alto Baylands Duck Pond found on November 29th by Tom Grey. There has been some discussion whether the gull is a first-winter or second-winter, or in transition between both. This is only the second record of Laughing Gull in Santa Clara County. When I had first arrived there this morning, there were only four gulls on the pond, and none was the Laughing Gull. When I returned, some people were feeding bread to the ducks, and many gulls returned including the Laughing Gull. I placed information about this sighting at http://www.qedge.com/birds/ where a number of other rare birds are reported along with some birding milestones. Good luck and Good Birding Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA, [[email protected]], 11/30/97 2:06 PM ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Mon Dec 01 08:04:34 1997 Subject: thanks to Tlm Grey for RBA reporting Tom and all: I would like to repeat Steve's Rottenborn thanks to Tom Grey for reporting the LAUGHING GULL to the Northern California Bird Box as well as to South-Bay-Birds. A number of us including me would not have known about the gull as quickly if it had only gone to South-Bay-Birds. The whole time I was at the Palo Alto Duck Pond yesterday morning, 11/30/97, the White-fronted was never visible. Afterwards I made a trip to Shoreline Lake hoping from something special arriving; only special birds were two male Barrow's Goldeneyes. I did not refind the Red-necked Grebe nor the Common Loon. I also checked the area north of the maintenance yard near the "north" pond of the Palo Alto Flood Control Basin at high tide hoping to find Mike Mammoser's Swamp sparrow. The were few birds in the reids there, only a Marsh Wren. There were about 20 Redheads on the "north" pond. Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA, [[email protected]] ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Mon Dec 01 09:08:51 1997 Subject: Re: Laughing Gull, etc. Rosalie Lefkowitz wrote: > > The Laughing Gull was an easy find at the Palo Alto Baylands Duck > Pond this morning 12/1. > I had time afterwards for a leisurely walk out the airport levee. At the > very end there was a BROWN PELICAN flying over the water and in the pond > just past the Interpretive Center there was a SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER along > with a nmuber of Least's. Rosalie, Did you mean Semipalmated Plover? If not, how was the Semipalmated Sandpiper identified (i.e., distinguished from a short-billed Western or from a Little or Red-necked Stint)? It wouldn't surprise me if SESA did on rare occasions occur in California this late in the year, but PROVING that such a bird was actually a Semipalm rather than a stint or a Western would be nearly impossible without the bird in the hand or unless the bird retained some juvenal or alternate feathering. Thanks, Steve Rottenborn ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Mon Dec 01 10:02:29 1997 Subject: Almaden Waterbirds On Saturday, Nov 29, approximately thirty WOOD DUCKS were seen at Almaden Reservoir. This number is considerably lower than wintering numbers seen in previous years at this time, but the reservoir is also very low. The Wood Ducks were seen along a mud embankment near the Larabee Gulch extension. Hopefully as the water level in the reservoir rises, we will see more Wood Ducks this season. On Sunday, Nov 30, two COMMON LOONS seen at Calero Reservoir. Ann Verdi ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Mon Dec 01 10:09:40 1997 Subject: PRWA Hello All On Friday, 11/28, the PRAIRIE WARBLER was still present at the Guadalupe River near highway 880 at 1:30PM. It was about 200 feet north of the 880 overpass, and was foraging actively, flying back and forth across the river. At one point, it paused for about 2 minutes to preen in the medium sized walnut tree near me , and I took quite a few photo's of it from about 35 feet away. A check of Charleston Slough revealed the continuing presence of 12 BLACK SKIMMERS,and two SORA's foraging in the forebay at dusk. Alan ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Mon Dec 01 11:18:00 1997 Subject: Baylands Duck Pond (Sun.) I returned from a trip to the midwest in time to look for the Laughing Gull Sunday afternoon; thanks for the timely BirdBox reports by Tom Grey and (on Sunday) Nick Lethaby. When I first arrived the Gull wasn't around, but the Greater White-Fronted Goose was at the Duck Pond. (Later on its presence wasn't obvious.) Bob Reiling first located the Gull resting with Ring-Billed's on a wet area along the main Baylands road, adjacent to the airport parking area. (Repeated low flyovers by a helicopter disturbed us, but apparently not the Gulls.) It later flew to the Duck Pond, providing the absurdly close looks to which Nick has referred. The time-span of observations was about 2:45 to 4 PM. A couple of comments/questions re. plumage. The bird is clearly mostly in first-winter plumage. Nick mentioned, among other things, that the greater coverts were brown but the other (upperwing secondary) coverts were gray. I noticed that especially when resting in the water but even when standing on the ground, the bird managed to hide many or even all of the coverts under other (underparts?) feathering. On at least one occasion, however, it did expose some brown coverts, fairly far forward, which I thought might be parts of coverts tracts other than the greater coverts. However, I was uncertain of the latter conclusion, and it appeared in any case that most of these feather tracts were gray. Second, a feature clearly visible in Frank Vanslager's Questar (and hinted at with poorer optics) was a pinkish tint on the legs, especially their lower portions, although the predominant color was a rather dark gray. Is this typical coloration? Al Eisner ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Mon Dec 01 11:59:41 1997 Subject: Laughing Gull, etc. The Laughing Gull was an easy find at the Palo Alto Baylands Duck= Pond this morning 12/1. I had time afterwards for a leisurely walk out the airport levee. At the= very end there was a BROWN PELICAN flying over the water and in the pond just past the Interpretive Center there was a SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER alon= g with a nmuber of Least's. Rosalie Lefkowitz ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Mon Dec 01 15:56:36 1997 Subject: composite list DECEMBER 1 1997 SANTA CLARA COUNTY YEAR LIST UPDATE Well, we made it! Tom Grey's Laughing Gull was the 300th bird species to be reported in Santa Clara County this year. If we find four more species we will set a new record - that may be tough. A belated report of an apparently healthy adult Pelagic Cormorant was turned in to Bill Bousman by Peter Metropulos. The bird was on the Alviso Salt Ponds on 11/9/97. The next three species, Prairie Warbler, Swamp Sparrow, and Laughing Gull, have already been discussed on south-bay-birds. Possible targets and areas to find them include: Brandt's Cormorant - bayside areas Tundra Swan - Alviso, outer Palo Alto Flood Control Basin Black Scoter - Shoreline Lake, the bay off Palo Alto White-winged Scoter - Shoreline Lake, the bay off Palo Alto Rough-legged Hawk - bayside areas, south county areas jaegers - bayside areas Little and Black-headed Gulls - wherever there are Bonaparte's Gulls Red-naped Sapsucker - look for wells and check every sapsucker! Mountain Bluebird - Sierra, Felter and Calaveras Rds, San Antonio Valley Sage Thrasher - bayside areas Black-and-white Warbler - riparian areas Northern Waterthrush - Matadero, EEC Alviso, Guadalupe River Chestnut-collared Longspur - Sierra Rd summit (but none last winter) Mike P.S. Some advice from Kendric: [To make the columns line up, please copy this list to a word processor, and change the font to a monospaced font (Monoco, Courier, etc.), and set the right hand margin to 7.5 inches.] ________________________________________________________________________ Recent progress of the composite list: 297: 11/ 9/97 PELAGIC CORMORANT 298: 11/21/97 PRAIRIE WARBLER 299: 11/27/97 SWAMP SPARROW 300: 11/29/97 LAUGHING GULL Please send any additions, corrections, or comments to Mike Rogers, [[email protected]]. SANTA CLARA COUNTY YEAR LIST - 1997 RWR AME WGB MMR MJM KLP MLF SCR CKS COMP SOURCE 377 272 273 232 263 262 185 300 % OF COMPOSITE FOR 1997 % OF 377 1988 TOTALS 136 1989 TOTALS 183 1990 TOTALS 199 1991 TOTALS 214 209 1992 TOTALS 216 234 234 215 278 1993 TOTALS 228 254 250 235 279 295 1994 TOTALS 204 240 245 271 265 194 291 303 1995 TOTALS 201 220 170 257 242 165 262 185 293 1996 TOTALS 203 219 258 253 218 251 195 296 Red-throated Loon 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 6 1/ 3 1/14 1/ 1 MMR Pacific Loon 1/ 1 1/ 9 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/11 1/ 1 m.ob. Common Loon 1/ 8 1/ 9 1/ 6 1/ 3 1/14 1/11 1/ 3 MLF Pied-billed Grebe 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Horned Grebe 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/11 1/ 1 m.ob. Red-necked Grebe 10/22 10/22 10/22 11/ 9 10/22 10/22 RCC Eared Grebe 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Western Grebe 1/ 1 1/11 1/ 2 1/10 1/ 1 2/ 1 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Clark's Grebe 1/ 9 1/11 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 1 1/ 9 1/ 1 SCR Northern Fulmar Sooty Shearwater Ashy Storm-Petrel Brown Booby American White Pelican 1/23 4/26 1/ 1 1/27 1/ 1 7/13 1/ 1 SCR,KLP Brown Pelican 1/ 1 6/15 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Double-crested Cormorant 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Brandt's Cormorant Pelagic Cormorant 11/ 9 PJM Magnificent Frigatebird American Bittern 3/13 3/ 8 3/19 3/13 4/ 3 1/10 NLe Least Bittern Great Blue Heron 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 m.ob. Great Egret 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Snowy Egret 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Little Blue Heron 6/ 9 6/15 7/29 6/ 7 6/ 7 MLF,AME Cattle Egret 1/ 8 1/18 1/23 1/ 4 1/14 2/20 1/ 4 MLF Green Heron 1/ 8 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/11 1/ 1 3/23 1/ 1 SCR,KLP Black-crowned Night-Heron 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 8 1/ 1 m.ob. White-faced Ibis 9/ 5 9/ 5 9/ 5 9/ 5 9/ 4 AJa Fulvous Whistling-Duck Tundra Swan Greater White-fronted Goose 1/ 8 1/ 8 1/11 1/ 9 1/14 1/ 8 1/ 8 m.ob. Snow Goose 1/ 8 1/ 8 1/ 7 1/ 7 KLP Ross' Goose 1/ 2 1/ 8 1/ 2 1/ 4 1/14 1/ 2 MMR,KLP Brant Canada Goose 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 m.ob. Wood Duck 1/ 5 1/ 3 1/11 1/11 5/11 2/ 1 1/ 3 MJM,WGB Green-winged Teal 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 2 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Mallard 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 1 m.ob. Northern Pintail 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 9 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Garganey Blue-winged Teal 1/ 9 1/18 1/ 9 1/ 9 1/ 1 2/ 9 1/ 1 SCR Cinnamon Teal 1/ 8 1/ 5 1/ 2 1/ 3 1/ 1 2/ 9 1/ 1 SCR Northern Shoveler 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Gadwall 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 9 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Eurasian Wigeon 1/13 1/19 1/14 1/27 10/12 1/11 1/ 4 DMu American Wigeon 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 2 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Canvasback 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 2 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Redhead 1/ 9 1/ 5 1/ 9 1/ 9 2/ 6 2/ 9 1/ 4 DMu Ring-necked Duck 1/ 5 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/11 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 SCR,KLP Tufted Duck 1/13 1/18 2/ 2 1/24 1/ 1 1/ 1 SCR Greater Scaup 1/10 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 9 1/ 1 SCR,KLP Lesser Scaup 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Oldsquaw 2/13 2/14 2/13 2/13 2/15 2/13 LCh Black Scoter Surf Scoter 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 2/ 9 1/ 1 m.ob. White-winged Scoter Common Goldeneye 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Barrow's Goldeneye 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Bufflehead 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Hooded Merganser 9/24 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 11/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 1 KLP Common Merganser 1/ 3 3/ 1 1/ 6 1/11 1/ 1 2/ 1 1/ 1 SCR Red-breasted Merganser 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 2 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 8 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Ruddy Duck 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Turkey Vulture 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 SCR,KLP California Condor Osprey 4/ 3 3/ 1 2/ 8 3/ 3 1/10 1/10 SCR White-tailed Kite 1/ 5 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 SCR,KLP Bald Eagle 1/13 1/ 3 1/ 7 1/11 1/ 1 1/ 1 SCR Northern Harrier 1/ 6 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 SCR,KLP Sharp-shinned Hawk 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/11 1/17 1/12 3/ 9 1/ 1 MMR Cooper's Hawk 1/10 2/12 1/ 7 1/ 4 1/12 2/16 1/ 3 WGB Northern Goshawk Red-shouldered Hawk 1/ 1 1/11 1/ 2 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/30 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Broad-winged Hawk Swainson's Hawk 2/ 8 2/ 8 MJM Red-tailed Hawk 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 9 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/ 1 m.ob. Ferruginous Hawk 1/13 1/ 3 1/14 1/19 11/ 3 1/ 3 MJM Rough-legged Hawk Golden Eagle 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/14 1/19 1/ 1 1/11 1/ 1 SCR American Kestrel 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 4 1/ 1 m.ob. Merlin 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 3 10/ 4 1/ 4 1/ 1 MMR Peregrine Falcon 1/ 5 1/ 5 1/ 2 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/ 8 1/ 1 SCR Prairie Falcon 1/23 1/ 3 1/ 1 9/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 1 SCR,KLP Ring-necked Pheasant 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/23 1/ 4 1/14 1/ 1 MMR Wild Turkey 3/ 5 3/ 9 4/ 5 7/20 3/ 9 1/26 LCh et al. California Quail 1/ 3 1/ 3 3/20 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/19 1/ 1 SCR Mountain Quail 5/ 7 5/ 4 5/13 3/21 1/12 LAY Yellow Rail Black Rail 1/ 8 1/ 8 1/ 9 1/ 9 2/ 8 1/ 8 m.ob. Clapper Rail 1/ 8 1/ 8 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 1 1/ 9 1/ 1 SCR Virginia Rail 1/ 1 1/ 8 1/ 7 1/ 4 1/14 1/ 1 MMR Sora 1/ 8 1/ 8 1/ 7 1/ 6 1/10 1/ 6 MLF Common Moorhen 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 m.ob. American Coot 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob. Sandhill Crane 10/12 RLi Black-bellied Plover 1/14 1/19 1/ 2 1/19 1/ 1 10/13 1/ 1 SCR Pacific Golden-Plover 7/30 8/ 4 7/27 DNo,JAb American Golden-Plover 7/27 PJM Golden-Plover sp 7/24 Snowy Plover 5/12 4/ 6 8/13 4/ 6 MJM Semipalmated Plover 1/14 4/12 1/ 2 7/21 1/ 1 7/21 1/ 1 SCR Killdeer 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 2 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/ 7 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Mountain Plover Black Oystercatcher Black-necked Stilt 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. American Avocet 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Greater Yellowlegs 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Lesser Yellowlegs 7/ 7 3/ 8 1/ 2 1/17 3/26 1/26 1/ 2 KLP Solitary Sandpiper 4/27 4/21 4/21 SCR Willet 1/ 8 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 SCR,KLP Wandering Tattler 9/14 PJM Spotted Sandpiper 4/23 3/ 9 5/ 8 5/13 1/10 1/ 3 AV Whimbrel 3/16 2/23 3/19 7/ 8 1/21 7/21 1/21 SCR Long-billed Curlew 1/ 1 1/11 1/ 2 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/26 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Hudsonian Godwit Bar-tailed Godwit Marbled Godwit 1/14 1/ 5 1/ 2 1/19 1/ 1 3/29 1/ 1 SCR Ruddy Turnstone 10/30 11/ 1 7/24 7/21 4/17 4/17 SCR Black Turnstone 10/30 8/17 10/27 8/17 MJM Red Knot 9/24 4/26 4/30 10/12 4/26 MJM Sanderling 1/14 8/17 1/ 7 1/17 1/ 1 1/ 1 SCR Semipalmated Sandpiper 5/12 7/ 6 8/13 7/ 8 7/ 6 5/12 MMR Western Sandpiper 1/13 1/19 1/ 2 1/17 1/ 1 1/ 8 1/ 1 SCR Least Sandpiper 1/13 1/11 1/ 2 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 SCR White-rumped Sandpiper 9/ 4 9/ 4 9/ 4 9/ 4 9/ 4 9/ 3 NLe Baird's Sandpiper 8/12 8/16 8/13 8/13 8/12 4/13 AJa Pectoral Sandpiper 9/ 2 8/29 9/ 2 8/31 9/ 2 7/30 AJa Sharp-tailed Sandpiper 10/ 4 10/ 4 10/ 5 10/ 4 10/ 4 10/ 3 NLe Dunlin 1/13 1/ 5 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 SCR Curlew Sandpiper 7/23 7/25 7/24 7/24 4/17 4/17 SCR Stilt Sandpiper 8/27 8/24 8/22 8/24 8/28 8/20 NLe Buff-breasted Sandpiper 9/ 2 9/ 6 9/ 1 9/ 1 AJa Ruff 9/ 4 10/ 4 10/ 5 9/ 4 6/29 6/29 SCR Short-billed Dowitcher 3/16 3/23 1/ 2 3/22 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 SCR Long-billed Dowitcher 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 2 1/ 3 1/ 1 2/ 9 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Common Snipe 1/ 8 3/ 2 3/ 3 11/ 2 1/ 1 1/ 1 SCR Wilson's Phalarope 6/25 6/15 7/29 6/17 5/10 9/ 4 4/22 AJa Red-necked Phalarope 4/ 1 7/ 4 7/29 7/28 4/20 9/ 4 4/ 1 MMR Red Phalarope 10/20 RCo,RLe Pomarine Jaeger Parasitic Jaeger Long-tailed Jaeger Laughing Gull 11/30 11/30 11/30 11/30 11/29 TGr Franklin's Gull 4/13 MDa,LDa Little Gull Black-headed Gull Bonaparte's Gull 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 2 1/16 1/ 1 1/26 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Heermann's Gull 10/17 10/17 SCR Mew Gull 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/26 1/ 1 m.ob. Ring-billed Gull 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 2 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. California Gull 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 3/ 1 1/ 1 m.ob. Herring Gull 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/26 1/ 1 m.ob. Thayer's Gull 1/ 1 1/11 1/11 1/10 1/ 1 3/ 1 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Lesser Black-backed Gull 1/ 1 10/11 10/26 1/14 1/ 1 MMR Western Gull 1/14 1/ 5 1/23 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 SCR Glaucous-winged Gull 1/ 6 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 8 1/ 1 SCR,KLP Glaucous Gull 2/10 1/11 3/ 5 1/17 1/11 m.ob. Black-legged Kittiwake Sabine's Gull 10/ 8 10/ 7 10/ 8 10/ 8 10/ 7 10/10 10/ 7 SCR Caspian Tern 3/ 6 4/26 8/30 4/ 5 3/ 6 7/13 3/ 6 SCR,MMR Elegant Tern 10/18 10/17 10/ 2 PJM Common Tern 10/26 10/17 10/17 SCR Arctic Tern Forster's Tern 1/ 1 1/11 1/ 7 1/10 1/ 1 3/29 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Least Tern 7/21 7/ 6 7/29 7/21 7/24 7/21 7/ 6 MJM,PJM Black Tern 10/ 8 NLe,RWR Black Skimmer 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 9 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Common Murre 8/29 8/29 8/29 8/29 MLF Ancient Murrelet Cassin's Auklet Rock Dove 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 2 1/ 1 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob. Band-tailed Pigeon 1/ 3 1/ 3 3/ 3 3/ 8 2/13 5/11 1/ 3 MMR,MJM White-winged Dove Mourning Dove 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 1 m.ob. Yellow-billed Cuckoo Greater Roadrunner 5/17 5/17 1/ 3 WGB Barn Owl 3/16 2/23 1/ 7 1/ 6 1/ 6 6/ 7 1/ 4 RWR,FVS Flammulated Owl Western Screech-Owl 2/15 1/19 3/21 7/20 1/19 MJM Great Horned Owl 2/15 1/19 1/ 7 2/23 1/ 3 WGB Northern Pygmy-Owl 2/15 1/19 3/ 8 10/12 1/19 MJM Burrowing Owl 1/ 1 1/18 1/ 9 1/10 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Long-eared Owl 1/ 6 5/11 1/ 3 GBi Short-eared Owl 1/ 9 3/ 8 1/ 9 1/19 1/ 8 SSt Northern Saw-whet Owl 2/15 1/19 1/ 1 10/12 1/ 1 MLF,JMa Lesser Nighthawk Common Nighthawk 6/12 SBT Nighthawk sp. 7/18 Common Poorwill 5/ 7 4/27 3/21 3/21 MLF Black Swift 5/24 5/24 MJM Chimney Swift 9/19 9/19 SCR,SBT Vaux's Swift 4/17 4/27 4/ 8 5/10 6/23 7/16 4/ 8 KLP White-throated Swift 1/ 5 1/11 1/ 4 1/ 4 1/ 6 2/16 1/ 3 MtHamCBC Black-chinned Hummingbird 4/22 4/12 8/11 4/ 3 5/14 4/ 3 NLe Anna's Hummingbird 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 1 m.ob. Costa's Hummingbird 7/18 7/19 7/18 7/18 DCr Calliope Hummingbird 5/ 6 5/ 6 SCR Broad-tailed Hummingbird Rufous Hummingbird 3/15 3/29 4/ 1 4/ 3 2/22 TGr Allen's Hummingbird 1/13 2/15 1/23 1/21 3/23 2/16 1/13 MMR Belted Kingfisher 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 1 2/13 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Lewis' Woodpecker 1/ 3 1/ 3 3/ 1 5/17 1/ 3 m.ob. Acorn Woodpecker 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 7 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/19 1/ 1 SCR Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1/ 5 1/11 1/ 2 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/ 1 SCR Red-naped Sapsucker Red-breasted Sapsucker 1/ 3 1/11 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/ 1 3/22 1/ 1 SCR,KLP Williamson's Sapsucker Nuttall's Woodpecker 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/ 1 m.ob. Downy Woodpecker 1/ 1 1/11 1/ 4 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/ 8 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Hairy Woodpecker 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 4 1/ 1 2/23 2/15 1/ 1 MLF,JMa Northern Flicker 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/ 1 m.ob. Pileated Woodpecker 5/31 m.ob. Olive-sided Flycatcher 5/ 6 5/ 3 5/ 6 5/ 4 5/ 8 4/20 4/17 JMa Western Wood-Pewee 4/17 4/19 5/ 6 5/ 4 4/20 4/20 4/16 JMa,AV Willow Flycatcher 8/30 9/ 1 9/ 1 8/31 5/27 5/18 LCh Least Flycatcher 9/10 CCRS Hammond's Flycatcher 4/12 4/25 4/12 MMR Dusky Flycatcher Gray Flycatcher 5/ 6 5/ 6 SCR Pacific-slope Flycatcher 3/29 2/17 4/ 2 3/ 5 3/23 3/30 2/17 MJM Black Phoebe 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 1 m.ob. Eastern Phoebe 3/ 2 3/ 2 3/ 5 3/ 3 3/ 2 MJM,MMR Say's Phoebe 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 7 1/ 9 1/ 1 1/ 8 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Ash-throated Flycatcher 3/16 4/ 5 5/ 6 4/30 4/ 8 2/ 5 1/23 MNi,CNa Tropical Kingbird 10/10 10/10 10/ 5 DSt Cassin's Kingbird 4/13 4/13 4/17 5/ 4 5/ 2 4/13 MMR,MJM Western Kingbird 4/ 3 4/13 4/17 4/ 5 4/ 3 4/ 5 3/30 NLe,LAY Eastern Kingbird Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Horned Lark 1/10 1/19 1/29 1/ 4 5/13 1/ 4 MLF Purple Martin 5/ 6 5/ 3 5/ 7 5/10 4/20 3/23 FVs Tree Swallow 2/28 2/23 3/ 5 2/28 3/ 2 1/ 3 WGB Violet-green Swallow 2/28 2/23 5/ 6 3/ 6 1/ 1 3/ 9 1/ 1 SCR Nor. Rough-winged Swallow 2/27 3/ 9 3/ 5 3/ 5 3/13 3/22 2/27 MMR Bank Swallow 9/29 7/ 6 4/?? LTe Cliff Swallow 3/ 6 3/ 8 3/19 2/28 3/ 2 3/22 2/28 MLF Barn Swallow 3/12 2/28 3/ 5 3/10 3/ 2 3/23 2/24 AJa Steller's Jay 1/ 3 1/19 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/19 1/ 1 m.ob. Western Scrub-Jay 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/11 1/ 1 m.ob. Clark's Nutcracker Black-billed Magpie Yellow-billed Magpie 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 2 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/ 1 SCR American Crow 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 2 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 1 m.ob. Common Raven 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 2 1/ 2 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 SCR Chestnut-backed Chickadee 1/ 1 1/11 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Oak Titmouse 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/19 1/ 1 SCR,KLP Bushtit 1/ 1 1/11 1/ 1 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob. Red-breasted Nuthatch 1/10 1/11 1/ 1 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/ 4 1/ 1 SCR,KLP White-breasted Nuthatch 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 7 1/ 4 1/ 1 2/15 1/ 1 SCR Pygmy Nuthatch 2/17 2/16 1/ 1 10/12 1/ 1 MLF,JMa Brown Creeper 1/ 3 1/19 3/20 1/ 1 1/10 1/ 3 1/ 1 MLF,JMa Rock Wren 1/10 1/ 3 1/29 1/ 4 5/13 1/ 3 MJM Canyon Wren 1/10 2/ 9 3/20 1/19 1/ 1 3/22 1/ 1 SCR Bewick's Wren 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 1 2/ 5 1/ 1 m.ob. House Wren 3/15 3/16 3/20 3/15 1/ 1 3/22 1/ 1 SCR Winter Wren 2/17 1/19 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 1 m.ob. Marsh Wren 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 7 1/ 9 1/ 1 1/ 9 1/ 1 SCR,MMR American Dipper 3/ 2 3/ 1 3/19 3/ 4 1/30 CFi Golden-crowned Kinglet 1/ 3 2/15 1/ 1 1/19 1/ 1 2/ 5 1/ 1 SCR,KLP Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 m.ob. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 3/29 3/23 5/ 6 3/29 4/13 5/11 1/17 AJa Western Bluebird 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 2 1/ 4 1/ 1 2/15 1/ 1 SCR Mountain Bluebird Townsend's Solitaire 11/ 4 1/ 3 GCh,HGe Swainson's Thrush 5/ 1 5/ 4 4/17 5/10 5/ 8 4/17 KLP Hermit Thrush 1/ 1 1/11 1/ 2 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 8 1/ 1 m.ob. American Robin 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Varied Thrush 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 7 1/ 1 1/ 1 2/15 1/ 1 m.ob. Wrentit 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/23 1/ 1 1/ 1 2/15 1/ 1 m.ob. Northern Mockingbird 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob. Sage Thrasher Brown Thrasher California Thrasher 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/14 1/ 4 1/ 1 2/15 1/ 1 SCR Red-throated Pipit American Pipit 1/ 5 1/ 3 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/11 1/ 1 SCR Bohemian Waxwing Cedar Waxwing 1/ 3 2/17 1/23 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 SCR Phainopepla 6/10 5/18 5/31 5/17 1/ 3 DSc Northern Shrike Loggerhead Shrike 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 2 1/ 9 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 SCR,MMR European Starling 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 1 m.ob. Bell's Vireo 5/14 5/13 5/13 5/13 SCR Blue-headed Vireo Cassin's Vireo 3/16 4/ 6 5/13 5/ 4 4/12 1/ 6 KNe Plumbeous Vireo Hutton's Vireo 2/15 2/16 3/ 1 4/ 8 1/19 1/ 1 JMa Warbling Vireo 3/29 3/15 5/ 6 3/22 4/ 8 4/ 6 3/12 AME Red-eyed Vireo Tennessee Warbler Orange-crowned Warbler 2/12 1/25 5/ 6 3/ 8 1/ 1 4/ 6 1/ 1 SCR Nashville Warbler 4/24 4/ 5 5/ 4 5/12 4/ 5 MJM Virginia's Warbler Northern Parula Yellow Warbler 1/ 8 4/12 5/ 6 4/ 5 1/12 9/13 1/ 8 MMR Chestnut-sided Warbler Magnolia Warbler 10/26 10/25 10/26 10/25 10/25 MJM,SCR Black-throated Blue Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Black-throated Gray Warbler 4/12 3/30 5/13 4/ 5 5/17 3/30 MJM Townsend's Warbler 1/ 5 1/19 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/10 1/11 1/ 1 MLF,JMa Hermit Warbler 3/15 4/25 1/ 4 3/15 2/ 7 1/ 3 1/ 3 CKS Black-throated Green Warbler 9/28 AJa Blackburnian Warbler Prairie Warbler 11/22 11/21 11/23 11/21 11/21 SCR Palm Warbler 1/ 5 1/11 1/ 4 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 3 MLF,CKS Blackpoll Warbler Black-and-White Warbler American Redstart 8/ 8 8/16 8/11 8/12 8/ 7 8/ 7 SCR Prothonotary Warbler Worm-eating Warbler Ovenbird 9/23 CCRS Northern Waterthrush Kentucky Warbler Connecticut Warbler MacGillivray's Warbler 5/11 5/11 5/11 MMR,MJM Common Yellowthroat 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 1 1/ 8 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Hooded Warbler 1/ 6 1/11 1/11 1/11 1/ 1 1/ 1 SCR Wilson's Warbler 3/16 3/23 8/11 3/29 4/ 3 4/ 6 3/16 MMR,TJo Yellow-breasted Chat 5/10 5/18 5/18 5/13 4/13 DLS Summer Tanager 1/16 3/ 2 1/14 2/23 1/24 1/14 KLP Scarlet Tanager Western Tanager 4/24 4/25 5/ 6 5/ 7 5/ 8 9/ 3 4/20 AV Rose-breasted Grosbeak Black-headed Grosbeak 4/ 3 4/ 5 4/17 3/21 4/ 3 9/ 5 1/ 8 RCO Blue Grosbeak 4/20 4/22 5/ 5 4/30 5/ 6 4/27 4/20 MMR Lazuli Bunting 4/13 4/13 5/ 5 4/30 4/20 4/27 1/19 MMi Indigo Bunting Dickcissel Green-tailed Towhee 10/ 7 10/ 7 10/ 5 BHa Spotted Towhee 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/19 1/ 1 SCR California Towhee 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob. Rufous-crowned Sparrow 4/10 2/ 9 3/20 3/22 5/ 6 4/27 1/ 3 MtHamCBC American Tree Sparrow Chipping Sparrow 4/12 4/13 5/13 5/11 5/17 4/12 MMR Clay-colored Sparrow Brewer's Sparrow 9/28 10/12 9/28 MMR Black-chinned Sparrow 5/ 6 5/10 5/10 5/17 5/ 6 MMR Vesper Sparrow 10/ 5 CCRS,NLe Lark Sparrow 1/10 1/ 3 1/ 7 1/19 5/13 1/ 3 MJM Black-throated Sparrow Sage Sparrow 1/ 3 4/19 5/17 5/17 1/ 3 m.ob. Lark Bunting Savannah Sparrow 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 7 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/26 1/ 1 SCR Grasshopper Sparrow 4/10 4/20 4/16 5/ 4 4/13 4/10 MMR Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow 1/ 8 1/ 8 1/ 9 1/ 9 11/14 2/ 9 1/ 8 m.ob. Fox Sparrow 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/11 1/11 1/ 1 1/ 8 1/ 1 m.ob. Song Sparrow 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 2 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Lincoln's Sparrow 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 9 1/11 1/ 1 2/ 5 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Swamp Sparrow 11/27 11/27 MJM White-throated Sparrow 10/12 11/ 7 4/17 11/11 1/16 1/ 6 KNe Golden-crowned Sparrow 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. White-crowned Sparrow 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Harris' Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Lapland Longspur 11/ 2 NLe Chestnut-collared Longspur Bobolink 9/ 1 9/ 1 MJM Red-winged Blackbird 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/26 1/ 1 m.ob. Tricolored Blackbird 1/ 2 2/22 1/ 2 1/28 1/ 1 1/ 1 SCR Western Meadowlark 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Yellow-headed Blackbird 4/13 4/13 5/ 7 5/ 4 4/11 4/11 SCR Brewer's Blackbird 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 2 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 MMR,SCR Great-tailed Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird 1/ 1 2/20 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/ 1 5/ 8 1/ 1 m.ob. Hooded Oriole 3/27 3/29 4/16 3/27 4/10 4/ 5 3/19 PLN Baltimore Oriole 10/21 10/17 10/21 10/21 10/18 10/17 MJM Bullock's Oriole 3/15 3/15 3/20 2/23 3/26 4/20 2/23 MLF Scott's Oriole Purple Finch 1/16 1/ 3 1/29 1/ 1 2/13 3/22 1/ 1 MLF,JMa Cassin's Finch 4/12 4/ 5 3/ 2 SBT House Finch 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 1 m.ob. Red Crossbill 4/10 3/ 8 3/27 1/ 1 2/16 1/ 1 SCR Pine Siskin 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/15 1/ 1 1/ 1 2/16 1/ 1 m.ob. Lesser Goldfinch 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 7 1/11 1/ 1 1/19 1/ 1 SCR Lawrence's Goldfinch 4/ 3 4/13 4/ 5 4/ 3 1/ 3 WGB American Goldfinch 1/ 1 2/17 1/ 2 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Evening Grosbeak 1/ 1 1/ 1 SCR House Sparrow 1/ 1 1/18 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Mon Dec 01 19:01:36 1997 Subject: birds On Thursday, 27 Nov 97, I went to the Palo Alto Flood Control Basin, = and this time I got my SWAMP SPARROW=21 I walked around to the = back of the maintenance yard along the gravel levee that borders the = north end of the north pond. The bird was in the cattail area that borders = the pickleweed marsh, before you get to Matadero Creek. There were = also 32 REDHEADS on the north pond. = On Saturday, 29 Nov 97, I drove up Mt. Hamilton Road and along = Kincaid Road, hoping for Townsend's Solitaire or Vesper Sparrow. I = found neither. I had a female COMMON MERGANSER flying by in = the drainage along Kincaid Road, and heard my first VARIED = THRUSH of the season. A RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER was = working the walnut trees along Mt. Hamilton Road near Quimby. = On Sunday morning, 30 Nov 97, I went first thing to the Palo Alto = Duck Pond. I checked the gulls on the pond and the estuary, and then = walked around the path that borders the lagoon. When I came full = circle, Nick Lethaby was there and we continued checking gulls on the = estuary. Finally, we decided to go to the dump next to Byxbee Park and = check those gulls, eventually wandering up the hill to overlook the outer = flood control basin. Here we had about 500 CANVASBACKS, 3 male = EURASIAN WIGEONS (one possibly associating with a female), and a = partial albino GREEN-WINGED TEAL. The gulls we checked through = included a few MEW and THAYER'S GULLS. When we returned to = the duck pond, Nick immediately found the LAUGHING GULL sitting = on the water. We watched for a minute before it took off and flew out = over the estuary, just as Frank Vanslager arrived. We searched the = estuary and then picked it up flying back to the duck pond, where it = settled in fighting for food that people were throwing to the birds. We = got killer views for the next 20 minutes or so, with Mike Feighner and = Ann Verdi arriving as well, before I left. It looked to be attaining some = second-winter plumage, transitioning from first-summer. = Mike Mammoser ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Tue Dec 02 07:38:58 1997 Subject: Laughing Gull still at PA Duck Pond Arrived at pond at 7:10 this morning. Intimidated by rockers and coots when eating rice on the berm. ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Tue Dec 02 14:13:14 1997 Subject: Western Tanager This morning I checked the stretch of Palo Alto Avenue between Middlefield Cowper in Palo Alto. Unfortunately, the Euc. just west of Webster has been decimated. However, the large Euc. at the northwest corner of Middlefield and Palo Alto was in flower and lively. Among the birds in this tree was a female-type Western Tanager. I would not be surprised if more than one Western Tanager was present: in one early glimpse I thought I was seeing a male; and still earlier I heard one calling from near (or across) Middlefield a bit farther south. Al Eisner ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Tue Dec 02 16:29:05 1997 Subject: Palo Alto All, On Friday 11/28/97 I made a quick try for Mike Mammoser's Swamp Sparrow, but failed to find this bird among the many Lincoln's and Song Sparrows present. I did have a MERLIN hunting over this corner of the Flood Control Basin and an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER in the Matadero Riparian. On Sunday 11/30/97 I enjoyed close views of the LAUGHING GULL at the Palo Alto duck pond with numerous others. The LAUGHING GULL was still present today 12/2/97 at about 2:00pm, but later flew off in the direction of the airport. Also here were the immature GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, a second-winter MEW GULL, and a first-winter THAYER'S GULL. As others have noted, the plumage of the LAUGHING GULL seems somewhat intermediate between a first-winter and second-winter bird. It still has much black in the tail and white-tipped black secondaries. However, most of the wing coverts are gray already and those brown feathers that remain are quite orange and very worn and faded, suggesting that they are quite old. The bird has fresh new tertials that match the 2nd winter illustration in NGS, not the brown feathers shown for 1st winter. Also the outer tail feathers are largely white with more limited dark markings on the outer web than what is depicted for a 1st winter bird - perhaps these are newly grown second-winter tail feathers? Either this bird is a very advanced 1st winter bird (rather surprising this early in the winter) or a 2nd winter bird that has barely begun its molt into "2nd winter" plumage. Mike Rogers ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Tue Dec 02 19:11:35 1997 Subject: more birds I forgot to mention that on Thursday, 27 Nov 97, I had a BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCH= ER and an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER along Stevens Creek downstream from the end o= f L'Avenida in Mt. View. Mike Mammoser ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Tue Dec 02 20:53:14 1997 Subject: SBBU Update Larry Tunstall has updated the Bay Area Calendar for December 6-12 for SBBU. Mike Rogers has updated the 1997 SANTA CLARA COUNTY YEAR LIST as of December 1. There are now 300 species. Only 4 more are needed for a new record. Mike has suggested the species to look for, and where to look. Kendric South Bay Birders Unlimited (SBBU) http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~kendric/birds/ ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Wed Dec 03 08:34:55 1997 Subject: BWTE, BRPE All: On my bike commute this morning, 12/3/97, I counted five male and three female BLUE-WINGED TEAL in the the North Pond in the Palo Alto FCB beside the bike path just before sunrise. An adult BROWN PELICAN was over Shoreline Lake. Bill ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Wed Dec 03 12:10:17 1997 Subject: Eastern Phoebe All: This morning, Maria and I finally saw (after perhaps 5 tries) the Eastern Phoebe in Shady Oaks Park in San Jose. Calvin Lou's advice was helpful: Walk into the orchard from the 'Jungle Jim' maybe 150-200 yards. BUT ANGLE A LITTLE TOWARD THE ROAD, and away from the riparian area. Find the gray VW hood on the ground. The bird was foraging within 20-40 yards of that hood. It called only once, during the half hour we were there, but that was enough to help find it. John Meyer ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Wed Dec 03 12:17:39 1997 Subject: San Jose/Palo Alto CBCs Hello Everyone, This is a call to all you dedicated birders to please consider joining us on the San Jose CBC (Sunday, Dec 21) and the Palo Alto CBC (Monday, Dec 22). For information and sign-up for the Palo Alto Count, please contact the SCVAS office at 408-252-3747 or volunteer coordinator Merry Haveman at 650-344-2146. The Palo Alto CBC especially needs counters in the Santa Cruz Mountain foothills. As compiler for the San Jose CBC, I also have some specific requests and needs. We especially need experienced counters in the Alviso Sector, an important sector for waterfowl and unusual wintering vagrants. Other sectors still looking for experienced (and non-experienced) counters are listed below. Sector A - Alviso* Team Leader: Dick Carlson 650-494-3160 [[email protected]] *Includes Alviso Salt Ponds, Arzino Ranch, EEC, CCRS, Coyote Creek riparian Sector B - Fremont Hills* Team Leader: Craig Breon 408-252-3748 [[email protected]] *Includes a portion of Ed Levin CP Sector C - Calaveras* Team Leader: Kep Stone 408-263-3395 (evenings) *This sector is in pretty good shape as far as counters, but is interesting as that it covers Calaveras Reservoir and the boondocks Sector E - Evergreen* Team Leader: Mary Simpson 408-370-2177 [[email protected]] *This sector includes Lake Cunningham, wintering home of the LBBG Sector F - South (Central San Jose)* Team Leader: Clysta Seney 408-261-9431 [[email protected]] *Urban riparian corridors and parks, including Kelly Park (site of the countdown dinner) Sector G - South Central (Santa Clara)* Team Leader: Mark Miller 650-967-3429 [[email protected]] *Includes SJ Airport, Guadalupe River (possible Ferruginous Hawk), Carmelite Monastery Sector H - Agnew* Team Leader: Grant Hoyt 650-969-7892 [[email protected]] *Includes Guadalupe River & Coyote Creek riparian; Mission College; Calabasas Creek To participate in the SJ CBC, please contact one of the sector leaders listed above, or you can contact me, Ann Verdi, at the following: (h) 408-266-5108 (w) 408-749-2199 [[email protected]] After the count, we have a countdown dinner at the Leininger Center in Kelly Park in San Jose. Hope to see you at one or both of Bottom-of-the-Bay CBC's! Thanks, Ann ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Wed Dec 03 15:12:58 1997 Subject: Favor to ask on Gull sightings Hi everyone, I have a favor to ask. A fellow rehabber has a Franklin's Gull in her care that came in from the Santa Cruz oil spill. Other than being oiled, the bird has a number of puncture wounds that it is recovering from. Knowing that Franklin's do not winter this far north we are trying to come up with an appropriate release site for this individual. I remember two years ago a wintering Franklin's at the Sunnyvale Treatment Plant, but though that it would be better to release with other small gulls such as Bonaparte (sp?) Gulls. I would like to hear about any Bonaparte Gull sightings that anyone has over the next two weeks. Who knows this may be an individual that will hang around to be counted on the County year list. Thanks in advance for any information you can provide. Karen [[email protected]] To: SOUTH-BAY-BIRDS@LISTS cc: ML.KAH(Karen.Hoyt) ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Wed Dec 03 15:57:37 1997 Subject: LAGU Hello all I'm not sure if "LAGU" is the correct abreviation for Laughing Gull, but that's what I am referring to. Today(12/3) I watched the gull for about an hour from 12:30 TO 1:30PM at the Palo Alto Duck Pond. It quite readily comes close when fed scraps of bread. Les Chibana arrived and we both were able to get many closeup photo's of the gull both on the water and on land, where it showed it's black legs and feet well. By the way, when I first arrived, the LAGU was roosting with about a hundred other gulls, mostly Ring-Billed Gulls, in the field between the airport Terminal building and the duck pond. Regards Alan W. ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Wed Dec 03 16:14:59 1997 Subject: Re: Favor to ask on Gull sig Karen, There were about three Bonapart Gulls soaring high over the PA Duckpond today at about 1:30p, just after the Laughing Gull left. It would be in good company there :-). (The Laughing Gull seemed to be headed in the direction of the dump.) ================================================== Les Chibana, Mountain View, CA [[email protected]] ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Wed Dec 03 16:55:26 1997 Subject: Grant Ranch Raptors All, Although birding was slow on the SCVAS field trip to Grant Ranch Co. Park the wind brought out at least two Golden Eagles (interacting, with at least one overhead most of the morning), one Ferruginous Hawk and one Prairie Falcon (both in the same view at one point, the PRFA seen at least three times during the morning), many Red-tailed Hawks (one very dark phased), a Red-shouldered Hawk, a couple of White-tailed Kites and a couple of American Kestrels. Take care, Bob Reiling, 4:44 PM, 12/3/97 ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Wed Dec 03 17:36:56 1997 Subject: Re: Favor to ask on Gull sightings I really question whether it is appropriate to deposit a bird a thousand miles (or more?) from where its species spends the winter. There must be a reason why Franklin's Gulls do NOT routinely winter in our climate (or any- where in the U.S.), but Bonaparte's Gulls do. Probably someone more know- ledgable than I am needs to comment about this. At the very least, it would certainly cause a lot of confusion for rarity-chasers, unless exceedingly well publicized! Cheers, Al Eisner ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Thu Dec 04 00:08:11 1997 Subject: LAGU plumage All: Tuesday (2 Dec.), I saw the LAUGHING GULL again at the Palo Alto duck pond. This bird was very cooperative (as it has been when it's been present), and I got to study the plumage very well. I also got pretty good in-flight video. I don't see how this bird could possibly be in its second year as some have proposed. Granted, this bird has more gray coverts than I would have expected at this time of year, and I certainly would not have expected a first-year LAGU to have "adult-type" tertials this early. However, the bird still retains quite a few juvenal coverts, more I think than some observers realize. The innermost 2-3 greater coverts and most of the median, lesser, and marginal coverts are new gray feathers. However, the vast majority of greater upper-secondary coverts are still juvenal feathers, and several of the outermost median, lesser, and even marginal coverts are juvenal feathers. I would agree that the retained juvenal median, lesser, and marginal coverts are very worn, but the greater coverts are not "very worn and faded". Incidentally, the "first- winter" LAGU in the Master Guide shows a lot of gray in the coverts. The primaries, secondaries, and rectrices are very fresh. Although I heard from at least one observer that the secondaries were very worn, they clearly are not. They also have the blackish centers and white tips typical of juvenal feathers, with much more black than would be present on a second-winter bird. If this were a second-year bird just beginning to replace its rectrices, then at least some of these tail feathers should be very old, faded, and worn. The outermost rectrices are, as Mike Rogers described, mostly white with only a small oblong black streak subterminally. However, even if these are not juvenal feathers, they are not necessarily "second-winter" feathers. Some individuals of the smaller gull species can replace a few tail feathers in their first winter, and some of these birds have already begun; I've already seen single first-winter Bonaparte's, Mew, and Ring-billed Gulls that had replaced a pair of juvenal rectrices with all-white ones. The tips of the axillaries are dark; those of second-winter Laughing Gulls should be whitish. Really, the only character that seems unusual for a first-winter bird is the fresh adult-type tertials, but given all the problems with this bird being a second-year individual, I think it's first-winter. Nick Lethaby suggested to me that perhaps some southerly-breeding Laughing Gulls (e.g., from west Mexico) might breed so early that by this time, some individuals are more advanced than we'd expect. Sounds pretty plausible to me. Steve Rottenborn ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Thu Dec 04 23:23:02 1997 Subject: Oldsquaw at Pescadero etc. All, On Sunday afternoon, 11/30/97, I had an extended view of a female OLDSQUAW in winter plumage in the North Pond at Pescadero Marsh. She was very close to Hwy 1 in the center of the crowded pond. On the morning of Tuesday, 12/2/97, I was on Portola State Park road at its junction with Alpine Rd., sifting through a large mixed flock of TOWNSEND'S and YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS mixed with 40 or more BUSHTITS and a few CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES, when a single BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK began to vocalize in the poison-oak thicket just to the South of that junction. After a few minutes the bird appeared briefly and proved to be an immature male. --Garth Harwood ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Fri Dec 05 13:11:09 1997 Subject: Re: feeding ban Last week Nick Lethaby (I think) said he had heard something about a bird-feeding ban in San Mateo Co, and asked for more information. Last night I caught an item about this on one of the local news reports. I unfortunately missed the beginning of the story, but from what I heard it applies to San Mateo Co. parks, not to the entire County (and of course not to individual's backyard feeders). Given that, it sounds like a good idea. It is apparently a misdemeanor, punishable by fine or jail(!). They (park spokespersons) indicated some uncertainty about how they would enforce it. Al Eisner ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Fri Dec 05 17:50:15 1997 Subject: the ban on feeding wildlife Hi Everyone-- >From what I could glean from the 10:00 news, the law applies to public parks, and gives park rangers a tool to control abusers. It is not a firm prohibition. Enforcement is at the discretion of the ranger. Mark ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Sat Dec 06 11:44:00 1997 Subject: SCVAS 12/6/97 Highlights Hi All, The monthly trip to Charleston Slough turned up the following highlights: 5-7 Barrow's Goldeneye on Shoreline Lake 1 Say's Phoebe near the Pump House 1 AMERICAN BITTERN in Adobe Creek near the first bench 15 SKIMMERS on an island in the slough near the second bench 1 Peregrine Falcon on a stake in the Flood Control Basin 1 male Ring-necked duck in Adobe Creek near the pump house Finally, I had 1 swallow sp. very high up and flying away Of course all the commonly seen species of ducks, shorebirds & raptors. Nick Yatsko ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Sat Dec 06 12:52:32 1997 Subject: Western Tanager (2) at San Francisquito Creek Two WESTERN TANAGERs were in the large eucalyptus next to San Francisquito Creek near the intersection of Middlefield Road and Palo Alto Avenue between 8:15 and 9:15 AM this morning, Saturday, 12/6/97. Thanks to Al Eisner for discovering these. The LAUGHING GULL was present at the Palo Alto Duck Pond at 9:30 Saturday. - Dick Richard Stovel [[email protected]] ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Sat Dec 06 17:17:03 1997 Subject: Saturday birds Having got up at 3.00 am to join Mike Rogers and Mike Mammoser owling, I found I had a temperature and mild shivers, all suggesting flu (hopefully not). This sent me back to bed but I did do an easy car-based circuit later in the day. At Calaveras Res., I saw 3 Golden Eagles, an adult Bald Eagle and a Peregrine. Sierra summit added v. close looks of a Golden Eagle, a Cooper's Hawk, Lark Sparrows and Horned Larks. At Cunningham Lake I had excellent views of both the Red-necked Grebe and the Lesser Black-backed, which appears to have made little progress on molting. Incidentally, I don't agree with the claims that the legs above the knees are yellowish. They appeared more a pale greenish-gray. _____________________________________________________________ Nick Lethaby Elanix, Inc [[email protected]] 1112 N. Abbott Avenue Tel: (408) 941 0223 Milpitas, CA 95035 Fax: (408) 941 0984 U.S.A. ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Sun Dec 07 10:02:58 1997 Subject: Re: Laughing Gull plumage I previously commented on the upperwing (secondary) coverts on the Palo Alto Laughing Gull -- brown outermost feathers on apparently both the lesser and median covert tracts, vs. gray otherwise -- and Steve Rottenborn has posted a much more complete, clear description. Although I missed this in first reading, Grant's book on Gulls does refer to this effect. He notes that the moult into first winter plumage replaces a variable number of juvenal wing covert feathers with gray ones, particularly among the median coverts. So far as I can tell (unless I've still missed something), he does not discuss the tertials at all. Al ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Sun Dec 07 12:38:39 1997 Subject: weekend birds All, Yesterday 12/6/97, I met Mike Mammoser at 4:30am for some owling at Monte Bello OSP. We failed to find a Long-eared Owl, but did have 2 NORTHERN PYGMY-OWLS, 3 GREAT HORNED OWLS, and 5 to 6 WESTERN SCREECH-OWLS. After dawn there was no sign of any Pileated Woodpecker, but we did have about 20 PURPLE FINCH heading south (migrants?). Also had some thrush flocks heading south that may have also been migrants, including AMERICAN ROBIN, VARIED THRUSH, and 2 CEDAR WAXWINGS. Other birds of interest included a female NORTHERN HARRIER near the pond (which contained at least one VIRGINIA RAIL), 40+ BAND-TAILED PIGEONS, 1 SAPSUCKER SP. heard, 65 COMMON RAVENS streaming towards the bay in several groups, several PYGMY NUTHATCHES, 5 HUTTON'S VIREOS and at least one TOWNSEND'S WARBLER. At 8:30am we left and headed for the San Antonio Valley, reaching the Mt. Hamilton summit at about 10:30am. We spent from then until 4:50pm covering San Antonio Valley Road, Del Puerto Road, and Mines Road to the Alameda County line, battling light rain and fog for some of the time. We did manage to locate the area's specialties, including 3 LEWIS'S WOODPECKERS (at, and south of, the yellow gate), 3 PHAINOPEPLAS (a male and a heard bird at the old nest site a mile or so south of the yellow gate and another male just north of the fire station near the junction), a single SAGE SPARROW along Del Puerto Road east of the first pond, and an adult PRAIRIE FALCON sitting on a post north of the Mallinson Ranch. Also had a single perched GOLDEN EAGLE along Del Puerto Road, a COMMON SNIPE well east of the Arnold Ranch, 1 RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER while descending Mt. Hamilton, a single LINCOLN'S SPARROW in the wet area across from the Digger Pine Ranch, and a PURPLE FINCH overhead east of the Arnold Ranch. A GREAT HORNED OWL perched on a telephone pole at milepost 13.5 in Alameda County finished off the day. Highlight of the trip, though, was probably pishing up 93+ FOX SPARROWS at various chamise fields throughout the route. Most of these birds appeared to be of the race "altivagans", which is probably not surprising since this race supposedly prefers hard arid chaparral in winter in California. The NGS illustration of this race matches these birds fairly well, except they seemed to show more gray in the face (clearer gray supercilium and more gray around the auriculars). Figure 40a of Plate 15 in Rising does show this greater extent of gray, but the colors appear a bit dark. The red tail and rump of these birds is quite noticeable as the in-flight illustration in Rising suggests. We did, however, have two birds (one while descending Mt Hamilton before reaching Isabel Creek, the other near the Sage Sparrow along Del Puerto Road) that appeared to be possibly of the race "schistacea", with all gray heads, napes, and backs. These birds still had yellow lower mandibles (like the Rising illustration, but contrary to NGS) and although quite different from the other birds, could perhaps be the same race, as we also had two birds that were somewhat intermediate (perhaps this is why these races are both in the "Slate-colored" Fox Sparrow group). The gray of the head and back was not quite as pale as that shown in the NGS guide and probably not quite as extensive on the scapulars. The Rising illustration is a good match, although perhaps being a bit dark as with "altivagans". The illustrations in Byers, Curson, and Olsson appear quite misleading, with "altivagans" appearing too red (like the eastern forms) and schistacea not gray enough on the back. This morning 12/7/97 before the deluge I checked the Palo Alto Flood Control Basin for Mike Mammoser's Swamp Sparrow. While heading out along the Matadero Riparian I had a single VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW fly over, and while searching for the SWSP there were up to 6 VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS overhead at once during most of the time. I flushed up an AMERICAN BITTERN and enjoyed watching an adult PEREGRINE FALCON hunt over the FCB before finally hearing and getting a glimpse of a SWAMP SPARROW. Mike Mammoser, having seen my car parked, came out to join me while I was trying to refind the SWSP and commented that the habitat was so good that there were probably multiple Swamp Sparrows present. Shortly after this two SWAMP SPARROWS started calling from the reed edge and we watched both birds foraging simultaneously. I showed Mike the VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS foraging over the FCB and more careful counting revealed at least 11 birds at this point. We decided to make a quick check of the Palo Alto Baylands and headed back to our cars. While walking back along Matadero Creek I got nice looks at a HUTTON'S VIREO, which seemed out of place here. At the duck pond the LAUGHING GULL was still swimming around, along with 2 BONAPARTE'S GULLS and the immature GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE. Mike Rogers ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Mon Dec 08 04:47:09 1997 Subject: Saturday birds All, Spent some time Saturday morning at the Palo Alto Duck Pond and the bay across the street from the duck pond Saturday morning. Had good views of the LAUGHING GULL as well as the flock of over 250 BONAPARTE'S GULLS. The shorebirds were going wild as the mud became exposed by the receding tide. Amongst the thousands of shorebirds were seven basic plumaged RED KNOTs which seemed a bit unusual. They were in a flock rather close to my viewing spot immediately across from the entrance to the duck pond. At about 9:30, a RED-THROATED LOON (identified by size, color, and bill shape) flew in from the bay and over my viewing area and then angled north about 1/4 further west and continued north (returning to San Mateo county?). All in all, a fun place for shorebird viewing which included 14 species of shorebirds, SHARP-SHINNED and COOPER'S HAWKS, and many CANVASBACK. Also had a few CLAPPER RAILs playing in the grasses before the tide receded. Happy birding.......... Jim Danzenbaker San Jose, CA 408-264-7582 (408-ANI-SKUA) [[email protected]] ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Mon Dec 08 18:03:37 1997 Subject: Swamp Sparrow, American Bittern, and White-fronted Goose All: Today after work I thought I'd make another go at the Swamp Sparrow. I parked at Terminal and San Antonio and walked to the Palo Alto Flood Control Basin from there wearing my fishing boots. I walked along the gravel road between the animal clinic counting only 6 Redhead on the North Pond. I spent considerable time working the reeds around the north-west end of the North Pond. At one point the boots were almost not high enough....finally I was able to come across one of the two Swamp Sparrows seen by Mike Rogers and Mike Mammoser yesterday foraging through the reeds. I also flushed up an American Bittern near the old man-hole cover. There were no swallows around. None of the 15 Black Skimmers were around. Shoreline Lake had two Brown Pelicans and only two Surf Scoters. I was hoping the bad weather would have brought in a White-winged Scoter or a Black Scoter. The Palo Alto Duck Pond had the immature White-fronted Goose, but the Laughing Gull was not present. Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA, [[email protected]] ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Tue Dec 09 10:45:56 1997 Subject: Blue-Winged Teal at FCB Don't know if this would be considered interesting - There were a couple of BLUE-WINGED TEAL in the Palo Alto Flood Control Basin on Sunday. Near the parking lot south of the animal center on the Frontage Rd. Vivek Tiwari [[email protected]] ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Tue Dec 09 12:23:25 1997 Subject: PAFCB All, A quick check of the Palo Alto Flood Control Basin this morning failed to turn up the reported Clay-colored Sparrow, but there were still 7 BLUE-WINGED TEAL (4 males, 3 females all paired with males - 1 pair courting), 12 REDHEADS, and a SORA swimming across a channel. Mike ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Tue Dec 09 13:50:33 1997 Subject: Thornton area, Los Banos This weekend, a group from my birding class toured the Thornton Area (Woodbridge, Blossom, Staten Island Roads), Oak Grove Park (NW corner of Stockton), and the Los Banos area (Santa Fe Grade [SFG], Sandymush, Combs, and Lone Tree Roads, Merced Nat'l Wildlife Refuge [MNWR], and Volta Pond) The weather was birdable with intermittent rain both days until just after noon on Sunday when the rain finally overwhelmed us. Saturday in the Thornton area and SFG, we had warm temps; Sunday near Los Banos it turned very cold. The high levels of rain have provided many pockets of water and may have spread the distribution of birds. Some impressions from our short time in these limited areas: > There was a higher concentration of SANDHILL CRANES in the Thorton area than in the Los Banos area. > Small groups of TUNDRA SWAN were found along Woodbridge Rd., and a small group were seen in Volta Pond on Henry Miller Rd. The previous Sunday, there were several hundred along Woodbridge Rd. > Very few duck species were in evidence, highest numbers were of NORTHERN PINTAILS and NORTHERN SHOVELERS. An active hunting season may explain a lack of ducks along SFG. Highlights of the trip: > Less than 50 SANDHILL CRANES seen in the Merced NWR (MNWR) vicinity, a very low number; a few thousand in Thornton area > Under 20 TUNDRA SWAN at Woodbridge Rd. > Good views of a PRAIRIE FALCON along Woodbridge Rd. > 100's of WHITE-FACED IBIS along Santa Fe Grade in groups averaging 20-25 birds > 5 AMERICAN BITTERN along Santa Fe Grade; 3 on the auto tour at MNWR > Large flock of predominantly TRICOLORED BLACKBIRDS along Combs Rd. east of MNWR > A LESSER and GREATER YELLOWLEGS foraging together at MNWR > Over 1 dozen COMMON SNIPE in a flock at MNWR > Several thousand SNOW GOOSE with 3-4 blue morphs at MNWR > Approx. 12 CATTLE EGRET with IBIS and SNOWY EGRETS along Gun Club Rd., west of Santa Fe Grade > MARBLED GODWIT, VIOLET-GREEN and CLIFF SWALLOWS at MNWR > Medium-sized tern sp. (Forster's?) along Santa Fe Grade > A partial albino AMERICAN COOT at Volta Pond The species total was 93. The complete list will be posted soon on the SBBU site: http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~kendric/birds/ Oak Grove Regional Park is a developed park in the middle of a nice grove of Valley Oak. We saw most of the passerine species here. In the past I've seen many Varied Thrush here, but this weekend the most notable birds were a foraging flock of CANADA GOOSE and the numerous YELLOW-BILLED MAGPIE. Les ============================================== Les Chibana, Mountain View, CA [[email protected]] ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Tue Dec 09 15:35:56 1997 Subject: Merlin Hi Everyone-- As I write, there's a MERLIN sitting in the sweetgum tree outside my window at Lockheed Martin (B/107), oblivious to passers-by walking beneath it. There have been Merlins wintering in this area before, but I'm not sure if this is a returnee or not. Mark ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Tue Dec 09 16:53:09 1997 Subject: more PAFCB All, Another check of the frontage road area of the PAFCB at mid-day again produced no unusual sparrows, but the number of BLUE-WINGED TEAL was up, with 9 males present at once in the North Pond. Also the number of REDHEAD increased slightly to 15 (10 males & 5 females). Mike Rogers 12/9/97 ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Tue Dec 09 16:53:25 1997 Subject: Bay Calendar & Merlie Larry Tunstall has updated the Bay Area Calendar for December 13-19 for SBBU. and Additional sightings of Merlie the Merlin. Kendric South Bay Birders Unlimited (SBBU) http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~kendric/birds/ ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Wed Dec 10 11:22:31 1997 Subject: Request for Merlin Sightings To All: Since our Merlin doesn't stay on his tree near our house all the time (see Merlie's Home Page on SBBU), he must go elsewhere, but WHERE? When you see a Merlin in the Stanford, Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Menlo Park area, would you please send an e-mail to me describing the bird (if possible), i.e., light or dark gray, or brownish, and the nearest cross streets or other landmark that I can find on a map so that I can put a mark on a map. Many thanks, Kendric Smith [[email protected]] South Bay Birders Unlimited (SBBU) http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~kendric/birds/ ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Wed Dec 10 13:17:46 1997 Subject: Question on High Tides for Friday Hi All, Can someone confirm high tide at Palo Alto on Friday, December 12th. It looks like 10:44 am, is this correct???? Thanks to everyone who passed on information on Bonaparte's gulls. The Franklin's Gull developed a breathing problem and is not ready to go as of yet. Karen To: SOUTH-BAY-BIRDS@LISTS ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Wed Dec 10 14:02:46 1997 Subject: Re: Question on High Tides for Friday Yes, high tide at Baylands Friday/12th is 10:44 at a whopping 9.43. Saturday/13th at 11:31 is virtually the same height, 9.46. Sunday/14th (12:16, height 9.36) is almost as high. With the current high pressure and so fair weather, pray for calm air, not west winds. Todd Newberry Santa Cruz ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Wed Dec 10 18:22:46 1997 Subject: Early nest-site selection? All, Today, 12/10/97, I observed Chestnut-backed Chickadees repeatedly entering nestboxes at my orchard in Pescadero. Later, at the SCVAS office, a pair of Oak Titmice spent several minutes at a nestbox just outside my office window. One of the pair entered the box and emerged thirty seconds later with a wood shaving (we are now sprinkling some shavings in the bottom of nestboxes intended for smaller birds as this seems to be agreeable to them.) Isn't this early for this kind of behavior? --Garth Harwood ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Wed Dec 10 19:39:17 1997 Subject: Yesterday at CCRS Birders: During a morning survey of the CCRS Waterbird Pond yesterday I saw the adult Lesser Black-backed Gull in the gull flock. Eventually a raptor went over and flushed the gulls and I was able to follow the Lesser Black-back with my scope right into the middle of the dump, this was at about 11am. A Peregrine Falcon went over the pond at 1000h. I have been in Chile for a while and missed a lot of the neat gull finds. Would someone be willing to let me know how one gets to the place where the possible immature Lesser Black-backed Gull is? By the way, are there any pictures of this bird on the internet anywhere? Regards, Al. Alvaro Jaramillo Half Moon Bay, California [[email protected]] Helm guide to the New World Blackbirds, Birding in Chile and more, at: http://www.sirius.com/~alvaro ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Thu Dec 11 08:48:28 1997 Subject: Re: Yesterday at CCRS At 07:39 PM 12/10/97 -0800, Alvaro Jaramillo wrote: >Birders: > >During a morning survey of the CCRS Waterbird Pond yesterday I saw the >adult Lesser Black-backed Gull in the gull flock. Eventually a raptor went >over and flushed the gulls and I was able to follow the Lesser Black-back >with my scope right into the middle of the dump, this was at about 11am. A >Peregrine Falcon went over the pond at 1000h. > >I have been in Chile for a while and missed a lot of the neat gull finds. >Would someone be willing to let me know how one gets to the place where the >possible immature Lesser Black-backed Gull is? Go down 680, exit on Capitol Expressway (NOT Avenue). GO left on Tully. The entrance to Cunningham Lake is on your left. By the way, are there any >pictures of this bird on the internet anywhere? > >Regards, > >Al. > > > >Alvaro Jaramillo >Half Moon Bay, >California > >[[email protected]] > >Helm guide to the New World Blackbirds, Birding in Chile and more, at: > >http://www.sirius.com/~alvaro >========================================================================== >This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list >server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the >message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] > > _____________________________________________________________ Nick Lethaby Elanix, Inc [[email protected]] 1112 N. Abbott Avenue Tel: (408) 941 0223 Milpitas, CA 95035 Fax: (408) 941 0984 U.S.A. ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Fri Dec 12 14:19:34 1997 Subject: Ogier Ponds, Red-necked Grebe All, Today Frank Vanslager and I had the following birds at Ogier Ponds; Ferruginous Hawk (1, are they all over the place?), Peregrine Falcon (1), Osprey (1), Merlin (a female), ad Cooper's Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk (2), Red- tailed hawks, American Kestrels, Northern Harrier (2-3), White-tailed Kites, Ring-necked Duck (7), Common Merganser (1 male and 3 females), Mew Gull (4), Spotted Sandpiper (1) and a Red-necked Grebe (3rd one in the county this winter?). 53 species and we only had four species of gulls and did not see a Rock Dove, a Savannah Sparrow, a Golden-crowned Sparrow, a Yellow-rumped Warbler or a Swamp Sparrow :-{( (a sad mustached birder). A surprise was a Downey Woodpecker feeding in a three foot high bush. Take care, Bob Reiling, 2:10 PM, 12/12/97 ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Fri Dec 12 15:06:58 1997 Subject: Alviso trail This morning I walked out on saltponds to check Triangle marsh on the high tide. I also spent a little time at the SE corner of A14. Generally results were disappointing, with NO Short-eared Owls and only a single Bittern. After a lot of pishing I eventually had good looks at a Swamp Sparrow. There was a Sanderling on the flooded impoundment about 0.5 of a mile N of the parking lot. There were 8 more on A14, along with a Ruddy Turnstone. There were also a pair of Redheads here. A Merlin flew above the track on the way out. _____________________________________________________________ Nick Lethaby Elanix, Inc [[email protected]] 1112 N. Abbott Avenue Tel: (408) 941 0223 Milpitas, CA 95035 Fax: (408) 941 0984 U.S.A. ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Fri Dec 12 15:41:44 1997 Subject: Alviso info correction I ment A9, not A14, of course. _____________________________________________________________ Nick Lethaby Elanix, Inc [[email protected]] 1112 N. Abbott Avenue Tel: (408) 941 0223 Milpitas, CA 95035 Fax: (408) 941 0984 U.S.A. ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Sat Dec 13 02:32:29 1997 Subject: SharpTail Sparrow ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Sat Dec 13 08:02:30 1997 Subject: GWGU and San Benito Co. Hi everyone - Al DeMartini, Debi Shearwater and I spent the week birding in San Benito and adjacent counties. We did briefly make it into Santa Clara County on Monday (12/8) to check out a nice flock of gulls along Bloomfield Road east of Frazier Lake Road, painfully close to the county line. Among the California, Ring-billed, Mew, Herring, and Thayer's gulls were at least two GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULLS. I don't know what the status of this species is in this part of Santa Clara County, but there are very few records just over the line in San Benito. I'm not sure if San Benito birds are supposed to be discussed on South-Bay-Birds, but I'll give some of the highlights from the week. There's nothing else from Santa Clara, so hit delete if you like. The only interesting gulls we could find at San Felipe Lake were 1-2 THAYER'S GULLS. Other interesting birds from Monday included a flock of 24 TUNDRA SWANS and a HORNED GREBE, visible from Shore Road west of Lover's Lane. Good numbers of TREE SWALLOWS (at least one flock of 80-100) were overhead. Of particular note was a mostly-albino EUROPEAN STARLING, which was almost all white except for some beige streaking on the head. 28-30 HOODED MERGANSERS on Anzar Lake was undoubtedly a high count for the county. At dusk, a SHORT-EARED OWL was along Santa Ana Road east of Hollister. We spent most of Tuesday (12/9) in the Panoche Valley area. Paicines Reservoir had two adult BALD EAGLES, a male REDHEAD, a female WOOD DUCK, and a ROSS'S GOOSE. A LARK BUNTING was with Savannah Sparrows on Panoche Road, just past the first bridge east of New Idria road. We checked all of the Mountain Plover spots with no success. We also checked Peachtree Valley (Monterey County) and various known spots in Kings County over the next two days for Mountain Plovers without seeing any sign of them - they sure are tough! Thursday (12/11) we checked Paicines again. The Ross's Goose, Bald Eagles, and Wood Duck were nowhere to be seen, but there were five AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS and 50 WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS among other things. On the way home Friday morning (12/12) in Santa Cruz County, I had an OSPREY on a telephone pole along Hwy 1 near Four-Mile State Beach. Bert McKee [[email protected]] ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Sat Dec 13 10:46:30 1997 Subject: Re: Ferruginous Hawk At 2:19 PM 12/12/97, RREILING2 wrote: >Today Frank Vanslager and I had the following birds at Ogier Ponds; >Ferruginous Hawk (1, are they all over the place?) Today, 12/13/97, around 9:30AM Frank Vanslager and I saw a Ferruginous Hawk in a tree along the Guadalupe on the East bank, near Taylor St. Perhaps they are "all over the place". ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Sat Dec 13 12:43:25 1997 Subject: Ano Nuevo While mentoring a new docent at Ano Nuevo, I happened to see in the distance what appeared to be a NORTHERN HARRIER carrying some sort of prey item. With binoculars, and as the bird drew closer, it was apparent that it was actually an OSPREY carrying a still struggling fish in it talons! As it flew by it was close enough to make out the fish species as a SURFPERCH(possibly a RUBBERLIP SEAPERCH!) -Bob ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Sat Dec 13 14:15:14 1997 Subject: Saturday birds I went to Ed Levin Park and on to Calaveras Reservoir this morning. No luck - no sapsuckers, no eagles. On up to the Sierra Rd summit where things were better - despite no raptors seen at all in about an hour up there! But I did see 2 ROCK WRENS, and 1 LARK SPARROW, as well as a flock of 25 HORNED LARKS, another of 15 SAVANNAH SPARROWS, and 2 SAY'S PHOEBES. In Alviso, a adult GOLDEN EAGLE was on one of the pylons along the road into the EEC. -- Tom Grey Stanford CA [[email protected]] ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Sun Dec 14 15:11:31 1997 Subject: Re: LBB Gull Tail Pattern Nick Lethaby wrote: > > Last Saturday, I saw the Cunningham Lake Lesser Black back Gull in flight > for the first time. My impression is that the tail is still extensively > dark, with visible white confined to the sides of the base of the tail. This > suggests that this bird has not yet begun molting its tail into > second-winter. Any other thoughts on this? Most of the white is at the base of the tail, predominantly on the outermost rectrices. However, there is white on all the tail feathers, and small amounts of white spotting or vermiculation are present well beyond the midpoint of even some of the inner feathers. Initially I thought that the white in the tail was very limited, but I eventually got very good views of the tail as the bird preened, and I got some video that shows the white in the tail in detail. Overall, the amount of white in the tail is more limited than that shown by some first- winter LBBG that I've seen in photos, but given the fresh appearance of these feathers (mostly black, not faded or brownish at all), I think they're probably new second-year feathers. Steve Rottenborn ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Sun Dec 14 15:41:50 1997 Subject: Saturday Birding PA & H.M. Bay (Oldsquaw) Dear South-bay-birders, Saturday, 13 December 1997 was rewarding for a LARGE number of birders at the Palo Alto Baylands at "Rail Corner". There were 140+ birders at the corner and on the boardwalk at one point, with another 30 or so searching the levees for Sharp-tailed Sparrow. Both the BLACK RAILS and NELSON'S SHARP-TAILED SPARROW were reported, although, personally I remained toward the back of the crowd and did not see the Black Rails (I saw them last month when the spot was not quite as crowded). I believe that as many as three BLACK RAILS were observed. The NELSON'S SHARP-TAILED SPARROW was observed briefly on one of the white PVC pipes near the airport where the levee trail became flooded. I missed that one too! The observers at the "Rail Corner" were rewarded during the wait for the rails by a MERLIN which nearly caught a blackbird directly above the crowd. A PEREGRINE FALCON made a brief appearance on one of the power towers. A SORA was observed on an exposed board out in the marsh, it was flashing its white undertail coverts. Both CLAPPER RAIL and VIRGINIA RAIL were seen from the levee trail. Numerous NORTHERN HARRIERS and BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS were observed foraging on the hapless smaller inhabitants of the marsh. Most of the birders at the corner stayed behind the logs, but a few were quickly scolded by the crowd and the rangers when they went in to the limited habitat on the other side of those logs. For those visiting this site, please remember to stay behind those logs. Departing for less crowded surroundings, Gjon Hazard and I went to Princeton Harbor at Half Moon Bay. We observed a beautiful male OLDSQUAW in the waters and on the beach north of the launch ramp. Unfortunately this bird appeared sick, it sat on the beach and seemed to be getting blown around when swimming. Also in the waters near the launch ramp were RED-THROATED LOON, PACIFIC LOON, COMMON LOON, PIED-BILLED GREBE, EARED GREBE, HORNED GREBE, CLARK'S GREBE & WESTERN GREBE, COMMON GOLDENEYE; on the beach DUNLIN, SANDERLING and a GREAT BLUE HERON were foraging at low tide; BELTED KINGFISHER and BLACK OYSTERCATCHER were observed on the jetty. Just west of the shoreline restraunts there was a gull flock, with one HEERMAN'S GULL, MEW GULLS, CALIFORNIA GULLS, HERRING GULLS, THAYER'S GULLS, WESTERN GULLS, and GLAUCOUS- WINGED GULLS. We also checked for the Dusky Flycatcher at the end of Grand View Rd, but did not see it, although it was extremely windy and we could have easily just missed it. Although windy, the coast was spectacular as usual. We totaled 103 species on the day. Good birding! Tom ******************************************** Tom Ryan San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory P.O. Box 247 1290 Hope St. Alviso, CA 95002 (408) 946-6548 (408) 946-9279 fax [[email protected]] "While in my own estimation my chief profession is ignorance, yet I sign my passport applications and my jury evasions as Ornithologist." - William Beebe ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Sun Dec 14 21:57:19 1997 Subject: LBB Gull Tail Pattern Last Saturday, I saw the Cunningham Lake Lesser Black back Gull in flight for the first time. My impression is that the tail is still extensively dark, with visible white confined to the sides of the base of the tail. This suggests that this bird has not yet begun molting its tail into second-winter. Any other thoughts on this? _____________________________________________________________ Nick Lethaby Elanix, Inc [[email protected]] 1112 N. Abbott Avenue Tel: (408) 941 0223 Milpitas, CA 95035 Fax: (408) 941 0984 U.S.A. ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Mon Dec 15 10:52:04 1997 Subject: Baylands All: Maria and I went out to the Baylands for high tide, Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday we saw all four rails: Virginia and Clapper along the levee, half-dozen Clappers along the boardwalk, a Sora on a board at some distance from the Rail Corner, and a Black Rail at the corner (a good many more were seen flying in). On Sunday, we saw two more Black Rails scurrying along below the logs at the corner (and again more were seen by others, flying in). No Sharp-Tailed Sparrows, but a lot of Common Yellowthroats, both days. It seemed on both days that with very high tides Black Rails fly in to the corner considerably before the high point (e.g., an hour before). On both days, we followed Steve Rottenborn's advice and went out to the launching pier to the East, scoping across the harbor entrance to the base of the power tower on the other side. Many Clapper Rails were visible, and many Soras (Maria counted 14 on Sunday). We did not see the Laughing Gull at the Duck Pond. John Meyer ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Mon Dec 15 12:48:06 1997 Subject: birds I birded this weekend at the Palo Alto Baylands, taking advantage of = the high tides to look for rails and such. On Saturday, 13 Dec 97, I = started at the Emily Rentzel Wetlands, looking for any unusual = sparrows. I was unable to find anything out of the ordinary, so I went = back to the marsh behind the maintenance yard. No Swamp Sparrows = made any appearances this time, but I heard a SORA calling from the = marsh and flushed up an AMERICAN BITTERN at the north end of the = North Pond. I then went to the Baylands, first checking the Duck Pond = for the Laughing Gull, which I couldn't find. I spent the entire high tide = time at the =22rail corner=22. I missed the fly-in, but eventually got quick= = looks at 3 BLACK RAILS after the peak of the high tide. While here, = an immature or female MERLIN tried to take a bird right over our = heads. We could hear the wind whistling through its wings as it dove. = An adult PEREGRINE FALCON also made an appearance. Later, an = immature COOPER'S HAWK got things stirred up at the Duck Pond. = Guy McCaskie was here this day, and reported a BLACK RAIL from = the area of the outflow channel, as well as a SHARP-TAILED = SPARROW. On Sunday, 14 Dec 97, I went to the Baylands again, arriving about 2.5 = hours before the peak of the tide. The Duck Pond was still missing the = Laughing Gull, but the immature GREATER WHITE-FRONTED = GOOSE was still hanging with the domestics. I ran into Rob and Rita = Colwell, Rosalie Lefkowitz, and their friend Tom. We all walked out to = the outflow channel to look for sparrows and things. A PEREGRINE = FALCON was perched in the distance on a power tower. As we neared = the outflow channel, the open area of water between the levee and the = cordgrass contained a EURASIAN GREEN-WINGED TEAL. Rosalie = spotted a SWAMP SPARROW here, and later we all got excellent = views of this bird as it foraged in the open along the trail. I got a few = brief glimpses of a SHARP-TAILED SPARROW, but it was definitely = not being very cooperative. I believe that Rob and Rita also got a = glimpse of this bird. One VIRGINIA RAIL flew across the path at one = point, and we heard many of these, as well as SORAS and CLAPPER = RAILS, during the time out there. After the peak of high tide, we = headed back, amid reports of excellent views of Black Rails at the = =22corner=22. When I got there, there were very few people remaining, and I = = took up a spot on the log near a good area. It didn't take long for me to = get excellent looks at 2 BLACK RAILS moving through a good-sized = opening, at one point both of them passing each other going in the = opposite direction. = Mike Mammoser ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Mon Dec 15 15:24:30 1997 Subject: RNGR, ANHU X COHU, etc. All: Today (15 Dec.), at the EEC in Alviso, the apparent hybrid male ANNA'S X COSTA'S HUMMINGBIRD, the "RED" FOX SPARROW, and the YELLOW WARBLER were still present near the EEC building. The hummingbird most frequently perched on a short live oak just to the north of the building; twice it gave a series of its unusual "hybrid" dive-bombing displays to an adult male Anna's. The "Red" Fox Sparrow is quite dull, and therefore probably zaboria, but it still has a largely gray head, streaked gray and rufous back, rufous wings and tail brighter than those of "Sooty" Fox Sparrows, and rusty markings on the underparts. In New Chicago Marsh, visible from the EEC, I saw a male EURASIAN WIGEON and a female BLUE-WINGED TEAL. One LESSER YELLOWLEGS was in the flooded field at the end of Nortech Parkway. At Lake Cunningham, I was unable to find the Lesser Black-backed Gull despite the presence of large numbers of other gulls (all California and Ring-billed except for a single Thayer's). However, there were two RED-NECKED GREBES on the lake. Unfortunately, one of these RNGR, as well as a Pied-billed Grebe, had monofilament line trailing from its bill, while the other RNGR had line wrapped around its left foot. In the creek on the north side of Raging Waters here (which I believe is Silver Creek), a SWAMP SPARROW, and AMERICAN BITTERN, 2 VIRGINIA RAILS, and 12 SORAS were in the cattails. I didn't cover this portion of the creek very thoroughly, so there are probably more of all these species present there. Good birding, Steve Rottenborn ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Mon Dec 15 16:51:19 1997 Subject: Mines Rd., Panoche CBCs ? I cannot figure out from the list of CBCs just posted as to whether Mines Rd./Del Puerto Canyon and Panoche Valley are covered by CBCs or not. If they are, I would be grateful for more info. Thanks, Vivek Tiwari [[email protected]] ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Mon Dec 15 17:04:13 1997 Subject: FOX SPARROW sub-species (& hunters) I saw an interesting FOX SPARROW at the Sunnyvale water pollution control ponds yesterday. It was a uniform grey on the head and back. Wings and tail were rusty. The streaks on the breast were large and rounded, more like spots and were very rusty, and converged into a big spot in the center of the breast. The bill was light in color and there was a faint whitish eye ring. It did not fit any of the races of the FOX SPARROW shown in Peterson's or the Nat-Geo guides. In fact the colors on the head and the back match those of the "Large-billed California race", while the streaking on the breast was similar in pattern and color to that of the "Eastern form" shown in Petersons. Curious as to what the common race of this bird is in this area? Also if it tends to be a (common?) winter migrant or resident? Thanks, Vivek Tiwari [[email protected]] PS: I did not venture far towards the ponds since I could hear gunfire. Also saw a couple of hunters on bicycles, carrying guns and dead ducks. Where does the shooting take place and on what days? Did not see any warning signs about the presence of hunters. ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Mon Dec 15 18:29:43 1997 Subject: Re: FOX SPARROW sub-species (& hunters) At 05:04 PM 12/15/97 -0800, you wrote: > >I saw an interesting FOX SPARROW at the Sunnyvale water pollution control ponds >yesterday. It was a uniform grey on the head and back. Wings and tail were >rusty. The streaks on the breast were large and rounded, more like spots and >were very rusty, and converged into a big spot in the center of the breast. >The bill was light in color and there was a faint whitish eye ring. > >It did not fit any of the races of the FOX SPARROW shown in Peterson's >or the Nat-Geo guides. In fact the colors on the head and the back match >those of the "Large-billed California race", while the streaking on the >breast was similar in pattern and color to that of the "Eastern form" >shown in Petersons. > >Curious as to what the common race of this bird is in this area? >Also if it tends to be a (common?) winter migrant or resident? The common form throughout the Bay Area is the coastal or "Sooty" Fox Sparrow. This designation actually involves several different subspecies, identification beyond the Sooty subspecies group is an exercise in futility in my experience. Your Sunnyvale bird does seem odd, it doesn't really fit any of the typical forms. The key feature to notice on the "Eastern" (also known as "Rusty") Fox Sparrow is that it is rusty and has a streaked back, your solidly coloured back excludes this form as a possibility. The "Slate-colored" and "Thick-billed" Fox Sparrows are solidly grey on the head and back, but they should have dark brown to blackish streaking on the underparts. The "Thick-billed" Fox Sparrow is easily identified by its really big beak, which tends to be greyish on the lower mandible instead of yellow or orange. Maybe you saw the altivagans form of "Slate-colored" Fox Sparrow which mixes features typical of "Slate-colored" with features of the "Eastern" Fox Sparrow. I am really unclear as to whae an altivagans Fox Sparrow actually looks like, so I can't help out with that. Do look at Rising and Beadle's Sparrows of NA and Canada guide for more information. Cheers. Al Alvaro Jaramillo Half Moon Bay, California [[email protected]] Helm guide to the New World Blackbirds, Birding in Chile and more, at: http://www.sirius.com/~alvaro ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Tue Dec 16 15:18:21 1997 Subject: Re: Possible Kamchatka Gull? Alvaro Jaramillo wrote: > > I recall that Steve Rottenborn > took photos of a similar looking bird at the Palo Alto Duck Pond last year, > perhaps this is the same bird. He was able to get some good photos and I > think that they suggest that his bird was not a Kamchatka Gull (is that > right Steve?). Perhaps I am jumping the gun calling this bird a possible > Kamchatka, but hey I have never seen anything quite like this. Ring-billed > x Mew Gull?? Let's not go there yet, yuk. This bird sounds identical to the one I photographed at that location last winter (it spent the entire winter there), and it may be the same bird. I initially thought last year's bird might be a Kamchatka Gull for the same reasons Al noted in his message, and until I got my photos back, I also thought that the amount of black in the primaries was too great for brachyrhynchus. The key difference (in terms of primary pattern) between kamtschatschensis and brachyrhynchus is that the white tongue between the black primary tip and gray primary base (present on both species on p5-7) is also present on p8 on brachyrhynchus, whereas on kamtschatschensis p8 is extensively black, having much more black on the distal portion of the feather than brachyrhynchus and lacking the white tongue. The bird I photographed last year had perhaps a bit more black at the tip of p8 than many brachyrhynchus do, but this black was not as extensive as on kamtschatschensis, and p8 clearly had a white tongue between the black at the tip and gray at the base. However, the photos also show why the bird appeared to have more black on the outer primaries than a typical brachyrhynchus. The white mirror on p9 was quite small, much smaller than on most brachyrhynchus, so that there was more black proximal to this white mirror than is typical. This gave the overall effect of extensive black in the p8-9 area. Having said this, it is possible that Al's bird really is a Kamchatka Gull, so I'd urge other birders to look for it (I know I will). Steve Rottenborn Santa Clara, CA [[email protected]] ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Tue Dec 16 18:21:14 1997 Subject: Possible Kamchatka Gull? Birders: Today while looking for the Laughing Gull at the Palo Alto Baylands Duck Pond in Santa Clara County, CA I saw a bird which could be an adult Kamchatka (Larus canus kamtschatschensis) "Mew" Gull (I never did find the Laughing Gull). I have no experience with Kamchatka Gull so if anyone has any comments on the ID criteria, do let me know. I don't have a copy of the Hong Kong Bird Report article on the group. Species present for comparison: Ring-billed Gull, California Gull, Western Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Glaucous-winged x Western Gull hybrids. Age: Adult Winter = Definitive Basic plumage. Size/Structure: At a distance it looked quite similar to a Ring-billed Gull, looking more "Mew" gull like up close. In fact, on a first scan from the other side of the pond I overlooked this bird as a Ring-billed Gull. It was slightly smaller than most of the Ring-billed Gulls in the flock, but equal in size to some of the Ring-billed Gulls present. Its bill was long for a brachyrhynchos Mew Gull, looking the same length as many of the bills of nearby Ring-billed Gulls (direct comparison). The main difference was that the bill of the possible Kamchatka Gull was thinner, not as deep as that of a Ring-billed Gull. In many ways the structure was intermediate between a Ring-billed Gull (RBGU) and a brachyrhynchus Mew Gull, having a flatter crown than Mew, but rounder head than RBGU. It also looked to have legs almost as long as those of RBGU, appearing to have a longer tibia than a typical brachyrynchus Mew Gull. The gull was long winged, the tip of P6 lined up with the end of the tail and 6 primaries were visible beyond the tertials (P5 partially hidden by the tertials and P10 fully hidden by P9). The wing extension past the tail looked to be approximately 6-8 cm. Soft Parts: The bill was greenish-yellow with an obvious blackish ring and a brighter yellow tip beyond the ring. The ring on the bill was paler and narrower that that of a Ring-billed Gull but darker than "dusky", closer to near-black or "blackish" and noticeable from quite a distance. The section of the ring on the upper mandible was slightly narrower than the section on the lower mandible. The legs were greenish-yellow. The eye was pale, appearing greyish-yellow, but paler in full sunlight. Nevertheless it never looked clear yellow as in a Ring-billed Gull. The orbital ring was dark red, darker red than that of a Ring-billed Gull's orbital ring and was only visible when I was very close to the bird. Body: The mantle was grey, noticeably darker than that of a Ring-billed Gull and possibly comparable to that of a brachyrhynchus MEGU, of which none were present for a direct comparison. There was an obvious white tertial crescent, wider than that of nearby RBGU. The scapular crescent was not obvious. The underparts and tail were white. The head and neck were white with a great deal of dusky markings. These were distributed much like on a brachyrhynchus MEGU, being heavy on the nape, neck sides, breast sides and immediately before the eye. The dusky markings tended to be blurry, rather than crisp in quality and on the center of the breast they were bars rather than streaks. The streaking on the crown and auriculars was much more crisp than that of the rest of the head and neck/breast, and not as dense as in those areas. Primaries: A total of 6 primaries had black. The outer two (P10 and P9) showed two large white mirrors. At least P5 and P6 had white 'tongues' separating the black primary tips from the grey of the primary bases. I could not see, one way or another, if these 'tongues' extended further out towards the wing tips than P6. When it flew it appeared to have a substantial amount of black on the wingtips, and it appeared that the mirrors did not line up with the white line produced by the white 'tongues' on the primaries. However, the two times it flew it went directly away from me, not allowing for a detailed look at the primary pattern. Overall the wing pattern looks good for Kamchatka based on Tove's BIRDING article, but that is overall, not in detail. The details are not available since I couldn't see them and until they can be confirmed to be good for Kamchatka (i.e. lots of black on P8), then it may be best to keep the ID of this bird as very tentative. As well, I noticed that on the underside of P10 there was at least 1cm of black extending beyond the white mirror, that's between the white mirror and the tip of the primary. I estimated that the mirror itself (on P10) was twice as long as the length of this black tip, so perhaps 2 cm., give or take. The mirror on P9 was distinctly smaller than the one on P10, and from above the mirror on P9 showed a black central shaft streak. The mirrors looked slightly smaller than those of a typical brachyrhynchus MEGU, but without direct comparison. These features were observed as the bird preened, unfortunately it did not open the wing fully in order to get a good look at P8 etc. The underwing was not observed. Why is this bird not a brachyrhynchus MEGU? Perhaps it is, but if so then its a mighty weird one. - has a bold blackish ring on the bill. - has pale eyes, greyish-yellow. - the bill looks too long. - the bird looks too big and long-legged. - The head is blockier than I am used to, but certainly within what is possible for MEGU. - the wingtips appear to have too much black, but see above, details are not certain. After the observation I went out around my place (Half Moon Bay, San Mateo Co, CA) to find some typical brachyrhynchus MEGU to study. Overall, their structure appeared much more petite than the possible Kamchatka, with a proportionately tiny bill. Of course none had a bold ring on the bill or pale eyes. I noticed that the tibia of brachyrhynchus appeared shorter than those of the possible Kamchatka, which did not appear to be that much shorter-legged than a Ring-billed Gull. Finally, on all of the brachyrhynchos MEGU observed, the underside of the P10 showed the black tip distal to the mirror to be small, roughly only 1/3 the length of the mirror. I don't know if this is of any significance. On the wing, the brachyrhynchos MEGU appeared to have much more white than the possible Kamchatka, with the white line of 'tongues' lining up with the two white mirrors. I did not have a camera with me as mine is out of commission, but if any local birder/photographers has a minute please give this bird a try and do get some photos. Perhaps a good photo will be the only way to figure out what this bird was. I made a drawing as I looked at the bird and took notes, but that is not the same as a photo. I recall that Steve Rottenborn took photos of a similar looking bird at the Palo Alto Duck Pond last year, perhaps this is the same bird. He was able to get some good photos and I think that they suggest that his bird was not a Kamchatka Gull (is that right Steve?). Perhaps I am jumping the gun calling this bird a possible Kamchatka, but hey I have never seen anything quite like this. Ring-billed x Mew Gull?? Let's not go there yet, yuk. Thanks in advance for any help/comments/suggestions. Cheers. Alvaro Jaramillo Half Moon Bay, California [[email protected]] Helm guide to the New World Blackbirds, Birding in Chile and more, at: http://www.sirius.com/~alvaro ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Wed Dec 17 08:01:40 1997 Subject: RNDU All: This morning, 12/17/97, there was a male RING-NECKED DUCK in with some female scaup on Adobe Creek. Bill ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Wed Dec 17 08:14:16 1997 Subject: Re: Possible Kamchatka Gull? Tom Ryan and I had this bird briefly on Saturday 13 Dec. I thought it a curious looking Mew, but not being familiar with Kamchatka Gulls I left it go at that. There ALWAYS seems to be SO more to learn... isn't it grand? Cheers, -Gj ---------------------------- Gjon C. Hazard --------------------------- Department of Wildlife [[email protected]] Humboldt State University Voice: (707) 826-3435 Arcata, California 95521 USA http://www.humboldt.edu/~gch3 ===================================V=================================== ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Wed Dec 17 13:03:12 1997 Subject: BYWA,PAWA All, Well, with Xmas counts coming up (count week for San Jose starts tomorrow) I decided to check some spots that were good last year. At Bowers Park in Santa Clara I had 4 species of warbler, including a male BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER, 2-3 TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS, and a single ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER. These birds were all at the southern corner of the park along the creek. Also here were 13 pairs of MALLARDS and a foraging adult SHARP-SHINNED HAWK. Stopping at Fair Oaks Park in Sunnyvale I immediately found the PALM WARBLER (back for its third winter!) foraging on the ground along the open portion of creek behind the park. Now maybe I should find a Yellowthroat for a 6 warbler day in December! Mike Rogers 12/17/97 ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Wed Dec 17 15:22:02 1997 Subject: Re: BYWA,PAWA >Stopping at Fair Oaks Park in Sunnyvale I immediately found the >PALM WARBLER (back for its third winter!) foraging on the ground >along the open portion of creek behind the park. Where is Fair Oaks park exactly?? > >Now maybe I should find a Yellowthroat for a 6 warbler day in >December! > >Mike Rogers >12/17/97 >========================================================================== >This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list >server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the >message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] > > _____________________________________________________________ Nick Lethaby Elanix, Inc [[email protected]] 1112 N. Abbott Avenue Tel: (408) 941 0223 Milpitas, CA 95035 Fax: (408) 941 0984 U.S.A. ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Wed Dec 17 15:34:30 1997 Subject: Re: Fair Oaks Park Thanks for the info. At 03:24 PM 12/17/97 -0800, Christopher Salander wrote: > > As Fair Oaks goes south from 101, it splits into >two streets, Fair Oaks (west) and Wolfe (east). Right >at the split, on the east side of the Fair Oaks - Wolfe Ave., >is Fair Oaks Park. It is shaped like a quarter circle, >with the creek on the eastern, or straight, edge. >This is north of El Camino Real. > > - Chris Salander > > _____________________________________________________________ Nick Lethaby Elanix, Inc [[email protected]] 1112 N. Abbott Avenue Tel: (408) 941 0223 Milpitas, CA 95035 Fax: (408) 941 0984 U.S.A. ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Wed Dec 17 15:44:07 1997 Subject: Fair Oaks Park Hi Everyone-- To reach Fair Oaks Park, take the Fair Oaks Avenue exit south from highway 101 in Sunnyvale. When Fair Oaks Avenue and Wolfe Road split (about 1 mile), follow Wolfe Road and turn left immediately into the park (if you should end up on Fair Oaks, turn left on Maude Avenue and follow it to the end in the park). The Palm Warbler likes the area around the drainage culvert at the east end of the park, and it sometimes feeds in adjacent eucalyptus trees. Mark Miller PS: Thanks Mike! ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Thu Dec 18 13:00:30 1997 Subject: Lockheed Burowing Owl All: One of the two Burrowing Owls I reported at Lockeheed some time ago has returned to the same hole inside the fence near the Stop sign near 1st Avenue and J Street. Also, the area inside Lockheed Property bordering on Moffet Field is being filled in with mud and cattails from another area. I just don't know what is going on. Mike Feighner ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Thu Dec 18 13:11:30 1997 Subject: Fair Oaks Park Palm Warbler All, Today Frank Vanslager and I saw the Palm Warbler on the east side of Fair Oaks Park near (evergreens, bushes) and in the cement culvert. Is this bird rushing the seasons by acting very territorial (toward YRWA) and by having a chestnut fore-crown? We also saw two ad Golden Eagles (together) over the southern edge of Hidden Villa Ranch. Take care, Bob Reiling, 12:57 PM, 12/18/97 ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Thu Dec 18 16:56:17 1997 Subject: Bay Calendar and New URLs Larry Tunstall has updated the Bay Area Calendar for December 20-January = 2 for=0ASBBU.=0A=0AThanks to Mike Feighner, I have added some new Birding= Web Sites on SBBU. He=0Ahas a nice picture (Belcher=92s (Band-tailed) G= ull) on the site entitled "Joe=0AMorlan" .=0A=0ABest Wishes For the Holid= ay Season.=0A=0AKendric=0ASouth Bay Birders Unlimited (SBBU)=0Ahttp://www= -leland.stanford.edu/~kendric/birds/=0A=0A ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Fri Dec 19 13:17:19 1997 Subject: Rough-legged Hawk All: On Wednesday (17 Dec.), I checked Hidden Lake Park in Milpitas for unusual gulls. I was pleasantly surprised to find decent numbers of THAYER'S GULLS of all ages here: 2 adults (1 very pale-eyed but not quite as pale as that of a Herring Gull), 1 third-winter, 7 second-winter, and 6 first-winter; very obliging, lots of photo opportunities here. On Thursday (18 Dec.), Scott Terrill and I checked the Lick Mill open space area along the lower Guadalupe River. This area had surprisingly few birds, with 12 DARK-EYED JUNCOS (a rather high count on the valley floor near the bay; seen only by Scott) being the only highlight. A check of Agnews West Campus nearby produced a flock of 10 more juncos and tons of sparrows but nothing unusual. Today (19 Dec.), I was heading out of the office to conduct a Burrowing Owl survey when, driving through the intersection of State and Spreckles in Alviso, I spotted a light-morph ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK hover-foraging over New Chicago Marsh. From 11:45 to 12:15, I watched this bird foraging over the marsh and eventually perched on a post NE of the Alviso marina (as seen from Scott's office!). The bird then slowly moved off to the NE and I was not able to refind it, although it may hang around. After work, I went to Fair Oaks Park, where John and Maria Meyer showed me the PALM WARBLER and let me get excellent looks at this very cooperative bird through their scope. This bird is unusual in that most of its crown is chestnut (somewhat duller than on an alternate-plumaged bird) and it has a small patch of bright yellow feathers on the center of the breast (very bright but visible only with close views). These characters are typically not present on "Western" Palm Warblers in winter (although the bird is obviously not a "Yellow" Palm Warbler). I'd be interested to hear from birders who have seen this bird in the past two winters whether it showed chestnut on the crown last winter or the year before. Good luck on the CBC's -- I'm off to Virginia until the 27th. Steve Rottenborn ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Fri Dec 19 13:18:52 1997 Subject: Santa Cruz and Monterey birds We just spent 4 days at Moss Landing (Monterey Dunes). Monday - walked to north side of Salinas Riv at sunset (river has broken through) - very close-up views of 6 RED PHALAROPES. Tues - to Neary's Lagoon, Santa Cruz, where I came upon Frank Vanslager & Bob Reiling, Todd Newberry & Rick Fournier. We hung around all morning, at end of which Rick spotted the DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHER down the slope visible through the gap in the German ivy on the chain link fence. Good views were had by all. No Lucy's Warbler. Weds - early am into south side of Elkhorn Slough via the little dirt road off Hwy 1 nearly opposite Struve Rd - flock of 19 SNOW GEESE near the parking lot, also there when I checked again Thurs am - plus a single RING-NECKED DUCK on Packard's duck pond. Note, hunters have been barred from using this access - hooray! However the road in is so muddy my 4WD kicked in, also true at Moonglow Dairy. Later am, to Jack's Peak. No luck on Williamson's Sapsucker, but this wonderful spot still very rewarding. East parking lot, single HERMIT WARBLER in with the of Townsend's - also 2 BROWN CREEPERS with the usual PYGMY NUTCHATCHES - also a RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER, a HAIRY WOODPECKER. West Parking lot - usual wonderful views of bathing birds at midday near the water tank - nothing unusual, but varied and fun to watch. (I took my semi-birding spouse for a picnic there - highly recommended.) Thurs - To fresh water pond south of Salinas River mouth - (walk in from end of Del Monte Ave). 1 male EURASIAN WIGEON in with many AMWIs; 1 SHORT-EARED OWL duelling with 2 Harriers over the marsh; 1 partly albino AMERICAN COOT (looks like someone dumped a cup of white paint over its head and back), 8 BRANT. Steve Rovell - the call-in feature on the Monterey RBA update number doesn't seem to be working right - I tried to call in on Weds but couldn't. -- Tom Grey Stanford CA [[email protected]] ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Fri Dec 19 13:20:14 1997 Subject: Tanagers This morning there were still two Western Tanagers -- one male, one female- type -- in the flowering eucalyptus trees on the northwest corner of Palo Alto Ave. and Middlefield Road. Although the following is likely hallucinatory, I will nonetheless mention it to stimulate further observation: on just one of my views of a Tanager in these trees, the bird appeared to be a bit more orangy below (could have been due to lighting) and I could not detect wing- bars (could have been due to an odd angle). The only Tanager calls I heard were Western, and then only for two brief periods in over an hour. I saw each of the Western's on 3 to 4 occasions during this time. Note that we are in count period for the Palo Alto CBC. Also today in the circle, in San Mateo County, there was a male Blue-Winged Teal with three Cinnamon's in the slough near the entrance to Bayfront Park (Menlo Park). Al Eisner ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Fri Dec 19 13:24:06 1997 Subject: Glaucous Gull in Milpitas Today, Mike Rogers, Al Jaramillo, and I spent about three hours birding the dump at Newby Island. Generally we estimated about 12,000 gulls there, with another 4,000+ just over the border in ALameda. The only notable bird was an adult Glaucous Gull. _____________________________________________________________ Nick Lethaby Elanix, Inc [[email protected]] 1112 N. Abbott Avenue Tel: (408) 941 0223 Milpitas, CA 95035 Fax: (408) 941 0984 U.S.A. ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Fri Dec 19 13:42:30 1997 Subject: Snowy Plovers All: Just came back from the viewing platform a the NW corner of the Calabasas Ponds from where I viewed two Snowy Plovers. This is the same place where I discovered the Common Murre in late August, and the light was much better this time for viewing. I believe this is Pond A-8. Someone, please correct this if this is wrong. Mike Feighner, [[email protected]] ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Mon Dec 22 06:19:16 1997 Subject: Christmas Bird Count All: On Saturday, December 20th, I birded around the EEC hoping to find Steve Rottenborn's Rough-legged Hawk, a bird that has thus far escaped me in Santa Clara County...no luck again. I did find an adult Golden Eagle and a Peregrine Falcon along the access road, and a Merlin flew over the New Chicago Marsh. There only about two Fox Sparrows (no Red) and no sign of the Yellow Warbler. Yesterday, I counted along the east side of Calaveras Reservoir. There was no rain, but the winds were high. There were very few birds...and few of each. It seems the really good birds were in other count areas. The results were about the same as last year. I birded parts of two sections alone. You could count the birds on your fingers. There was one adult Bald Eagle that flew by on my left. If I hadn't looked at that moment, I would have missed it. In the future more needs to be done to attract good birders to the Christmas Bird Count. This year the Calaveras Section had on the average 1.6 (_one_point_six) birders per section. The one year I led the count there, we had 4 birders in each section. Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA, [[email protected]] ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Mon Dec 22 12:38:57 1997 Subject: Rough-legged Hawk All, On yesterday's San Jose CBC, I worked with Harriet Gerson, covering the Berryessa Hills section. This area is bounded by Calaveras Rd, the south side of Ed Levin Park, and Felter Rd. on the north; Sierra Rd. on the southeast; and Piedmont Rd. on the southwest. It's a triangular area with the junction of Felter and Sierra Rds. on the east. I covered the perimeter of this area. The best sighting on this route was of a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK at the Sierra Rd. summit just before noon. The white area in the upper primaries indicated that this was an immature bird. First views of the bird was a fleeting look as it cruised low and out of sight after showing white flecking in the face and the upperwing patch. About 15-20 minutes later it reappeared soaring in high circles until it cruised out of sight to the north along the ridge. During this second sighting, the white base of the tail and broad dark subterminal band was seen through a scope. John Meyer was able to see the thin white terminal tail band. I never got a good view of the underside of the bird. Also enjoying the sighting was Maria Meyer, Mich Ninokata and Caroline Nabeta. Also seen in this location was a PRAIRIE FALCON in the Alum Rock section to the south. Another PRAIRIE FALCON was seen over Ed Levin Park at about 1:30p, flying west. It was seen again by Harriet Gerson, Gail Cheeseman, and Shirley Gordon covering the western ridgetop reaches of the Park, and again by our group, now including Kathleen Lee, on the Piedmont Rd. side of the foothills. We also had sightings of 2-3 adult GOLDEN EAGLES over the Park. The pond in the south section of the park had a pair of RING-NECKED DUCKS. For those interested in other birds seen at the Sierra Rd. summit, there were many LARK SPARROWS, HORNED LARKS and WESTERN MEADOWLARKS present along with a few SAVANNAH SPARROWS. We looked for but did not find any American Pipit, longspurs or Burrowing Owl. Winds were very strong and steady in this area and it was brutally cold! We spent a lot of time looking for the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker at Ed Levin Park but were unsuccessful. If you find this bird either today or tomorrow, or if you saw it on Friday or Saturday, 12/19-20, let me know! Les ============================================== Les Chibana, Mountain View, CA [[email protected]] ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Mon Dec 22 13:35:34 1997 Subject: Harlan's Hawk All: On the San Jose CBC, I was covering the Alviso section. On the way to the dinner, I stopped at Guadaloupe Creek at Trimble road. On my way out at 5:00 pm, I was crossing Trimble when a hawk flushed from the willow trees. In the twilight I could make out that the body was all chocolate brown, with the tail being white with a dark band. It had flashes of white in the underwing as it was flapping but I could not ascertain the exact pattern. This tail pattern reminded me of the HARLAN'S HAWK that wintered here last year. I rechecked the area over lunch today (12/22) and refound the bird perched in a willow on the west bank. It was in the third tree back looking south from the gate at a distance of about 50 yards. The bird did not move in the fifteen minutes I watched it (12:45 to 1:00 pm), but the undertail pattern I could see in the scope was pale with a darker area near the tip. Steve Miller ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Mon Dec 22 13:53:52 1997 Subject: Monterey County birds Hi Birders - Today I birded a few places here close to home in Monterey County. I started off at the freshwater pond on the south side of the Salinas River Wildlife Area because a colleague of mine said he saw a LEAST GREBE there yesterday. He described it to me down to the golden-yellow color of the iris and thin bill. It sounded like a LEAST GREBE so I went to look. I didn't see one, and I kind of expected that. However, I did see a nice assortment of ducks and geese, including 7 BRANT, lots of RUDDY DUCKS and AMERICAN WIGEON, several MALLARDS, BUFFLEHEAD, NORTHERN PINTAIL, NORTHERN SHOVELER, GADWALL and CANVASBACK, one COMMON GOLDENEYE, one SCAUP sp., one SURF SCOTER and the partially albinistic AMERICAN COOT. The only grebes there were about 3 EARED GREBES and several WESTERN GREBES. I did not see a EURASIAN WIGEON. If anyone birds this area, check all the grebes! Who knows? Maybe there WAS a LEAST GREBE. As I was leaving, I looked up just in time to see three TUNDRA SWANS fly by as if leaving the area (toward Salinas [sewage ponds?]), but they eventually circled and flew back. They seemed to have come from the north side of the river mouth which I had not been birding. I believe that is where they returned to. On my drive home, I saw a GOLDEN EAGLE sitting on a fence post along Del Monte Avenue between Highway 1 and the City of Marina. Upon arriving home, I called the hotline (375-2577) once more to see if it had been updated, and it was. A TUNDRA SWAN (most probably the one seen on the Big Sur CBC yesterday) was in the lagoon at the mouth of the Big Sur River. I decided to go chase it and the LEWIS' WOODPECKER that was seen on the CBC as well. Once I got down to Big Sur, I turned up the Old Coast Road (the dirt road opposite the entrance to Andrew Molera State Park) and drove up until I could see the entire Big Sur River Mouth lagoon. Scoping the lagoon, the TUNDRA SWAN was easily visible. I then drove down to the Big Sur Ornithology Lab (BSOL), and started my short hike up toward East Molera Ridge to look for the LEWIS' WOODPECKER. There is a trail that leads east from the BSOL area and goes under Highway 1. It then enters an oak forest and climbs steeply for a while. Once out of the oak forest, there is a double power pole that the LEWIS' WOODPECKER was seen on. The bird was there when I got there. The entire hike took me about 15 minutes round trip. One last note. Yesterday after the Big Sur CBC, I had a little extra time after finishing my area, so I drove up to Pacific Grove and birded Short Street. The eucalyptus there has been cut way back and is barely flowering. However, at the intersection of Short and Chestnut Streets with a flock of other Zonotrichias I saw 2 "white-striped" WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS. They popped up with the others in the backyard of the yellow house with the fruit trees (pears or apples) when I pished. ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Mon Dec 22 23:36:26 1997 Subject: Parrots All-- This afternoon a little after 3:00 I was driving south on Miramonte Avenue in Mountain View. I was startled to see parrots in a tree in front of the new office building on the east side of the street just north of its intersection with Castro Street. I screeched to a stop, backed up and grabbed my binoculars. There were 15 large _Aratingas_ stripping the (unknown) tree of what appeared to be a small dark fruit. The birds were gorgeous in the afternoon sunlight and very active. Twice they all flew, calling raucously, only to return to the tree for more fruit. The third time they flew, they did not return, probably because there was hardly any fruit left. They all appeared to be the same size and shape when flying. Studied individually, they showed widely varying amounts of red on the forehead, crown, face and sides of neck. Some showed no red on the forehead but still had flecks of red on the sides of the neck. I assume that most, or perhaps all, of these were Mitred Parakeets. --Peter ----------------------------------------- Peter LaTourrette Birds of Jasper Ridge: http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~petelat1/ Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society: http://www.scvas.org/ ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Tue Dec 23 08:09:46 1997 Subject: Alameda CBC - Coyote Hills Happy Holidays everyone, While you're at Hayward picking up the Tropical Kingbird, I would recommend dropping by Coyote Hills. On our CBC route on Sunday (12/21/97) covered southern Coyote Hills, Ideal Marsh to the north side of the refuge HQ, the group as a whole saw 107 species (at last count) we picked up a few notable ones. At Ideal marsh we observed a male MERLIN and a pair of PEREGRINE FALCONS hunting. On the way back to Coyote Hills, on one of the easternmost dredge spoil islands adjacent to the road we observed a lone GREATER WHITE FRONTED GOOSE in amongst a group of CANADA GEESE. In the flooded fields just past the Coyote Hills fee both were 4 COMMON SNIPE feeding right at the edge of the road. Just outside and south of the road to Coyote Hills (I forget the name) on Paseo Padre there is a trailer with the horses & cows and several hundred starlings & blackbirds, in amonst the others was at least one TRI- COLORED BLACKBIRD. However, the bird of the day was spotted by Joan Mancini, an adult ROUGH LEGGED HAWK, seen right over the outer parking lot and the rocky outcropping, this bird moved east over the marsh toward Paseo Padre. Good birding & Happy Holidays, Tom Ryan ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Tue Dec 23 13:00:20 1997 Subject: birds On Saturday, 20 Dec 97, I joined Mike Rogers for a bike ride out the = Alviso Slough Trail. The tide was already on the ebb, and we rode = quickly and directly out to A9, hoping to catch the shorebirds while = they were still roosting up. Unfortunately, A9 had much more water in = it than when I was previously out there and the shorebird concentrations = weren't there. We did have a single SANDERLING fly in and land = within 20 yards of us, but nothing else unusual could be found. = After returning, we both then went to New Chicago Marsh/Arzino = Ranch to look for Rough-legged Hawk, which eluded us. We did have = an adult PEREGRINE FALCON at the entrance to the EEC. Mike had = to leave and I quickly checked the EEC, where an immature = COOPER'S HAWK was keeping things quiet. I returned to the Alviso = Marina to scope out a large flock if gulls that was gathered in the = impoundment north of the marina. Here I found Nick Lethaby already = checking them out. This flock consisted mainly of CALIFORNIA and = HERRING GULLS, with a few THAYER'S thrown in. We both then = went to the EEC to check on the unusual birds there. We saw the = strange hummingbird with the elongated gorget corners. Although the = gorget shape looked a lot like a Costa's, we both thought the color was = typical of Anna's. The female type YELLOW WARBLER was also = present. = On Sunday, 21 Dec 97, I worked the Calaveras section for the San Jose = CBC, with Allen and Eileen Royer and their daughter Joanna, and their = friend Jim and his stepdaughter Beth. Our first stop was at the dam, = which produced ROCK WREN and RUFOUS-CROWNED = SPARROW. The best thing here, though, was the 6 grebe species, = including a RED-NECKED GREBE. We had the usual species as we = moved down the reservoir and then up Arroyo Hondo. In the arroyo we = had a SPOTTED SANDPIPER, 8 WOOD DUCKS, and 2 adult = GOLDEN EAGLES. On the way back I stopped at Ed Levin Park to = look for the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. However, I had no luck even = though I spent an hour and a half, some of it with Mike Rogers. We = ended up missing this bird for the count. On Monday, 22 Dec 97, I did the Palo Alto CBC, working the area = around the Dumbarton Bridge. At Dumbarton Point, on the east side of = the bridge, I had 3 SANDERLINGS right at the foot of the fishing pier. = The wind was blowing fiercely and this may have kept the bird numbers = down. I didn't see a lot of ducks on the bay or the surrounding salt = ponds, except for BUFFLEHEADS. Later, in the pond behind the = Ravenswood power station, I came across a phalarope. I initially called = it a Red-necked because it lacked any pale color in the bill, but, after = talking with Mike Rogers and checking references, I'm convinced it = was a RED PHALAROPE. Finishing up at Bayfront Park, I saw the 2 = male BLUE-WINGED TEAL that Jack Cole had found there earlier. A = BROWN PELICAN was flying out near the bay here. Afterwards, I = stopped at the Palo Alto flood control basin to look for Swamp = Sparrow, but an hour and a half of searching proved futile. = Mike Mammoser ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Wed Dec 24 13:03:02 1997 DECEMBER 24 1997 SANTA CLARA COUNTY YEAR LIST UPDATE Thanks to two new species from the San Jose and Palo Alto Christmas Bird Counts we have reached an new all-time high for the number of species recorded in Santa Clara County during a single calendar year! And there are still 7 days to go. Kevin McKereghan's Clay-colored Sparrow 150 yards north of the Emily Renzel Wetlands pullout (not the FCB as he stated on the Bird Box) was our 11th and latest county record. The next species was Steve's Rough-legged Hawk, followed by another over the Sierra Rd Summit two days later (another probable RLHA was seen over the outer Palo Alto Flood Control Basin on 12/19, the same day Steve had his bird, by Frank Vanslager). The five TUNDRA SWANS flying north west of the Alviso Marina on the San Jose Count tied our previous high and the BLACK SCOTER on the Palo Alto count gives us a record 304 species. This is the 6th county record and farthest south in the bay that this bird has been found (off the mouth of Guadalupe Slough north of Salt Pond A3N). Possible targets and areas to find them include: Brandt's Cormorant - bayside areas White-winged Scoter - Shoreline Lake, the bay off Palo Alto jaegers - bayside areas Little and Black-headed Gulls - wherever there are Bonaparte's Gulls Red-naped Sapsucker - look for wells and check every sapsucker! Mountain Bluebird - Sierra, Felter and Calaveras Rds, San Antonio Valley Sage Thrasher - bayside areas Black-and-white Warbler - riparian areas Northern Waterthrush - Matadero, EEC Alviso, Guadalupe River Chestnut-collared Longspur - Sierra Rd summit (but none last winter) Mike P.S. Some advice from Kendric: [To make the columns line up, please copy this list to a word processor, and change the font to a monospaced font (Monoco, Courier, etc.), and set the right hand margin to 7.5 inches.] ________________________________________________________________________ Recent progress of the composite list: 301: 12/ 8/97 CLAY-COLORED SPARROW 302: 12/19/97 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK 303: 12/21/97 TUNDRA SWAN 304: 12/22/97 BLACK SCOTER Please send any additions, corrections, or comments to Mike Rogers, [[email protected]]. SANTA CLARA COUNTY YEAR LIST - 1997 RWR AME WGB MMR MJM KLP MLF SCR CKS COMP SOURCE 377 274 273 232 265 265 186 304 % OF COMPOSITE FOR 1997 % OF 377 1988 TOTALS 136 1989 TOTALS 183 1990 TOTALS 199 1991 TOTALS 214 209 1992 TOTALS 216 234 234 215 278 1993 TOTALS 228 254 250 235 279 295 1994 TOTALS 204 240 245 271 265 194 291 303 1995 TOTALS 201 220 170 257 242 165 262 185 293 1996 TOTALS 203 219 258 253 218 251 195 296 Red-throated Loon 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 6 1/ 3 1/14 1/ 1 MMR Pacific Loon 1/ 1 1/ 9 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/11 1/ 1 m.ob. Common Loon 1/ 8 1/ 9 1/ 6 1/ 3 1/14 1/11 1/ 3 MLF Pied-billed Grebe 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Horned Grebe 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/11 1/ 1 m.ob. Red-necked Grebe 10/22 10/22 10/22 11/ 9 10/22 10/22 RCC Eared Grebe 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Western Grebe 1/ 1 1/11 1/ 2 1/10 1/ 1 2/ 1 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Clark's Grebe 1/ 9 1/11 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 1 1/ 9 1/ 1 SCR Northern Fulmar Sooty Shearwater Ashy Storm-Petrel Brown Booby American White Pelican 1/23 4/26 1/ 1 1/27 1/ 1 7/13 1/ 1 SCR,KLP Brown Pelican 1/ 1 6/15 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Double-crested Cormorant 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Brandt's Cormorant Pelagic Cormorant 11/ 9 PJM Magnificent Frigatebird American Bittern 3/13 3/ 8 3/19 3/13 4/ 3 1/10 NLe Least Bittern Great Blue Heron 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 m.ob. Great Egret 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Snowy Egret 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Little Blue Heron 6/ 9 6/15 7/29 6/ 7 6/ 7 MLF,AME Cattle Egret 1/ 8 1/18 1/23 1/ 4 1/14 2/20 1/ 4 MLF Green Heron 1/ 8 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/11 1/ 1 3/23 1/ 1 SCR,KLP Black-crowned Night-Heron 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 8 1/ 1 m.ob. White-faced Ibis 9/ 5 9/ 5 9/ 5 9/ 5 9/ 4 AJa Fulvous Whistling-Duck Tundra Swan 12/21 DM,GH,TGr Greater White-fronted Goose 1/ 8 1/ 8 1/11 1/ 9 1/14 1/ 8 1/ 8 m.ob. Snow Goose 1/ 8 1/ 8 1/ 7 1/ 7 KLP Ross' Goose 1/ 2 1/ 8 1/ 2 1/ 4 1/14 1/ 2 MMR,KLP Brant Canada Goose 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 m.ob. Wood Duck 1/ 5 1/ 3 1/11 1/11 5/11 2/ 1 1/ 3 MJM,WGB Green-winged Teal 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 2 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Mallard 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 1 m.ob. Northern Pintail 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 9 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Garganey Blue-winged Teal 1/ 9 1/18 1/ 9 1/ 9 1/ 1 2/ 9 1/ 1 SCR Cinnamon Teal 1/ 8 1/ 5 1/ 2 1/ 3 1/ 1 2/ 9 1/ 1 SCR Northern Shoveler 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Gadwall 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 9 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Eurasian Wigeon 1/13 1/19 1/14 1/27 10/12 1/11 1/ 4 DMu American Wigeon 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 2 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Canvasback 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 2 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Redhead 1/ 9 1/ 5 1/ 9 1/ 9 2/ 6 2/ 9 1/ 4 DMu Ring-necked Duck 1/ 5 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/11 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 SCR,KLP Tufted Duck 1/13 1/18 2/ 2 1/24 1/ 1 1/ 1 SCR Greater Scaup 1/10 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 9 1/ 1 SCR,KLP Lesser Scaup 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Oldsquaw 2/13 2/14 2/13 2/13 2/15 2/13 LCh Black Scoter 12/22 12/22 MMR,AK Surf Scoter 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 2/ 9 1/ 1 m.ob. White-winged Scoter Common Goldeneye 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Barrow's Goldeneye 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Bufflehead 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Hooded Merganser 9/24 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 11/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 1 KLP Common Merganser 1/ 3 3/ 1 1/ 6 1/11 1/ 1 2/ 1 1/ 1 SCR Red-breasted Merganser 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 2 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 8 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Ruddy Duck 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Turkey Vulture 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 SCR,KLP California Condor Osprey 4/ 3 3/ 1 2/ 8 3/ 3 1/10 1/10 SCR White-tailed Kite 1/ 5 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 SCR,KLP Bald Eagle 1/13 1/ 3 1/ 7 1/11 1/ 1 1/ 1 SCR Northern Harrier 1/ 6 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 SCR,KLP Sharp-shinned Hawk 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/11 1/17 1/12 3/ 9 1/ 1 MMR Cooper's Hawk 1/10 2/12 1/ 7 1/ 4 1/12 2/16 1/ 3 WGB Northern Goshawk Red-shouldered Hawk 1/ 1 1/11 1/ 2 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/30 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Broad-winged Hawk Swainson's Hawk 2/ 8 2/ 8 MJM Red-tailed Hawk 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 9 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/ 1 m.ob. Ferruginous Hawk 1/13 1/ 3 1/14 1/19 11/ 3 1/ 3 MJM Rough-legged Hawk 12/19 12/19 SCR Golden Eagle 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/14 1/19 1/ 1 1/11 1/ 1 SCR American Kestrel 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 4 1/ 1 m.ob. Merlin 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 3 10/ 4 1/ 4 1/ 1 MMR Peregrine Falcon 1/ 5 1/ 5 1/ 2 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/ 8 1/ 1 SCR Prairie Falcon 1/23 1/ 3 1/ 1 9/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 1 SCR,KLP Ring-necked Pheasant 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/23 1/ 4 1/14 1/ 1 MMR Wild Turkey 3/ 5 3/ 9 4/ 5 7/20 3/ 9 1/26 LCh et al. California Quail 1/ 3 1/ 3 3/20 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/19 1/ 1 SCR Mountain Quail 5/ 7 5/ 4 5/13 3/21 1/12 LAY Yellow Rail Black Rail 1/ 8 1/ 8 1/ 9 1/ 9 2/ 8 1/ 8 m.ob. Clapper Rail 1/ 8 1/ 8 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 1 1/ 9 1/ 1 SCR Virginia Rail 1/ 1 1/ 8 1/ 7 1/ 4 1/14 1/ 1 MMR Sora 1/ 8 1/ 8 1/ 7 1/ 6 1/10 11/29 1/ 6 MLF Common Moorhen 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 m.ob. American Coot 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob. Sandhill Crane 10/12 RLi Black-bellied Plover 1/14 1/19 1/ 2 1/19 1/ 1 10/13 1/ 1 SCR Pacific Golden-Plover 7/30 8/ 4 7/27 DNo,JAb American Golden-Plover 7/27 PJM Golden-Plover sp 7/24 Snowy Plover 5/12 4/ 6 12/19 8/13 4/ 6 MJM Semipalmated Plover 1/14 4/12 1/ 2 7/21 1/ 1 7/21 1/ 1 SCR Killdeer 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 2 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/ 7 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Mountain Plover Black Oystercatcher Black-necked Stilt 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. American Avocet 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Greater Yellowlegs 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Lesser Yellowlegs 7/ 7 3/ 8 1/ 2 1/17 3/26 1/26 1/ 2 KLP Solitary Sandpiper 4/27 4/21 4/21 SCR Willet 1/ 8 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 SCR,KLP Wandering Tattler 9/14 PJM Spotted Sandpiper 4/23 3/ 9 5/ 8 5/13 1/10 1/ 3 AV Whimbrel 3/16 2/23 3/19 7/ 8 1/21 7/21 1/21 SCR Long-billed Curlew 1/ 1 1/11 1/ 2 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/26 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Hudsonian Godwit Bar-tailed Godwit Marbled Godwit 1/14 1/ 5 1/ 2 1/19 1/ 1 3/29 1/ 1 SCR Ruddy Turnstone 10/30 11/ 1 7/24 7/21 4/17 4/17 SCR Black Turnstone 10/30 8/17 10/27 8/17 MJM Red Knot 9/24 4/26 4/30 10/12 4/26 MJM Sanderling 1/14 8/17 1/ 7 1/17 1/ 1 1/ 1 SCR Semipalmated Sandpiper 5/12 7/ 6 8/13 7/ 8 7/ 6 5/12 MMR Western Sandpiper 1/13 1/19 1/ 2 1/17 1/ 1 1/ 8 1/ 1 SCR Least Sandpiper 1/13 1/11 1/ 2 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 SCR White-rumped Sandpiper 9/ 4 9/ 4 9/ 4 9/ 4 9/ 4 9/ 3 NLe Baird's Sandpiper 8/12 8/16 8/13 8/13 8/12 4/13 AJa Pectoral Sandpiper 9/ 2 8/29 9/ 2 8/31 9/ 2 7/30 AJa Sharp-tailed Sandpiper 10/ 4 10/ 4 10/ 5 10/ 4 10/ 4 10/ 3 NLe Dunlin 1/13 1/ 5 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 SCR Curlew Sandpiper 7/23 7/25 7/24 7/24 4/17 4/17 SCR Stilt Sandpiper 8/27 8/24 8/22 8/24 8/28 8/20 NLe Buff-breasted Sandpiper 9/ 2 9/ 6 9/ 1 9/ 1 AJa Ruff 9/ 4 10/ 4 10/ 5 9/ 4 6/29 6/29 SCR Short-billed Dowitcher 3/16 3/23 1/ 2 3/22 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 SCR Long-billed Dowitcher 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 2 1/ 3 1/ 1 2/ 9 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Common Snipe 1/ 8 3/ 2 3/ 3 11/ 2 1/ 1 1/ 1 SCR Wilson's Phalarope 6/25 6/15 7/29 6/17 5/10 9/ 4 4/22 AJa Red-necked Phalarope 4/ 1 7/ 4 7/29 7/28 4/20 9/ 4 4/ 1 MMR Red Phalarope 10/20 RCo,RLe Pomarine Jaeger Parasitic Jaeger Long-tailed Jaeger Laughing Gull 11/30 11/30 11/30 11/30 11/29 TGr Franklin's Gull 4/13 MDa,LDa Little Gull Black-headed Gull Bonaparte's Gull 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 2 1/16 1/ 1 1/26 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Heermann's Gull 10/17 10/17 SCR Mew Gull 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/26 1/ 1 m.ob. Ring-billed Gull 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 2 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. California Gull 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 3/ 1 1/ 1 m.ob. Herring Gull 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/26 1/ 1 m.ob. Thayer's Gull 1/ 1 1/11 1/11 1/10 1/ 1 3/ 1 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Lesser Black-backed Gull 1/ 1 10/11 10/26 1/14 1/ 1 MMR Western Gull 1/14 1/ 5 1/23 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 SCR Glaucous-winged Gull 1/ 6 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 8 1/ 1 SCR,KLP Glaucous Gull 2/10 1/11 3/ 5 1/17 1/11 m.ob. Black-legged Kittiwake Sabine's Gull 10/ 8 10/ 7 10/ 8 10/ 8 10/ 7 10/10 10/ 7 SCR Caspian Tern 3/ 6 4/26 8/30 4/ 5 3/ 6 7/13 3/ 6 SCR,MMR Elegant Tern 10/18 10/17 10/ 2 PJM Common Tern 10/26 10/17 10/17 SCR Arctic Tern Forster's Tern 1/ 1 1/11 1/ 7 1/10 1/ 1 3/29 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Least Tern 7/21 7/ 6 7/29 7/21 7/24 7/21 7/ 6 MJM,PJM Black Tern 10/ 8 NLe,RWR Black Skimmer 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 9 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Common Murre 8/29 8/29 8/29 8/29 MLF Ancient Murrelet Cassin's Auklet Rock Dove 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 2 1/ 1 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob. Band-tailed Pigeon 1/ 3 1/ 3 3/ 3 3/ 8 2/13 5/11 1/ 3 MMR,MJM White-winged Dove Mourning Dove 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 1 m.ob. Yellow-billed Cuckoo Greater Roadrunner 5/17 5/17 1/ 3 WGB Barn Owl 3/16 2/23 1/ 7 1/ 6 1/ 6 6/ 7 1/ 4 RWR,FVS Flammulated Owl Western Screech-Owl 2/15 1/19 3/21 7/20 1/19 MJM Great Horned Owl 2/15 1/19 1/ 7 2/23 1/ 3 WGB Northern Pygmy-Owl 2/15 1/19 3/ 8 10/12 1/19 MJM Burrowing Owl 1/ 1 1/18 1/ 9 1/10 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Long-eared Owl 1/ 6 5/11 1/ 3 GBi Short-eared Owl 1/ 9 3/ 8 1/ 9 1/19 1/ 8 SSt Northern Saw-whet Owl 2/15 1/19 1/ 1 10/12 1/ 1 MLF,JMa Lesser Nighthawk Common Nighthawk 6/12 SBT Nighthawk sp. 7/18 Common Poorwill 5/ 7 4/27 3/21 3/21 MLF Black Swift 5/24 5/24 MJM Chimney Swift 9/19 9/19 SCR,SBT Vaux's Swift 4/17 4/27 4/ 8 5/10 6/23 7/16 4/ 8 KLP White-throated Swift 1/ 5 1/11 1/ 4 1/ 4 1/ 6 2/16 1/ 3 MtHamCBC Black-chinned Hummingbird 4/22 4/12 8/11 4/ 3 5/14 4/ 3 NLe Anna's Hummingbird 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 1 m.ob. Costa's Hummingbird 7/18 7/19 7/18 7/18 DCr Calliope Hummingbird 5/ 6 5/ 6 SCR Broad-tailed Hummingbird Rufous Hummingbird 3/15 3/29 4/ 1 4/ 3 2/22 TGr Allen's Hummingbird 1/13 2/15 1/23 1/21 3/23 2/16 1/13 MMR Belted Kingfisher 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 1 2/13 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Lewis' Woodpecker 1/ 3 1/ 3 3/ 1 5/17 1/ 3 m.ob. Acorn Woodpecker 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 7 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/19 1/ 1 SCR Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1/ 5 1/11 1/ 2 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/ 1 SCR Red-naped Sapsucker Red-breasted Sapsucker 1/ 3 1/11 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/ 1 3/22 1/ 1 SCR,KLP Williamson's Sapsucker Nuttall's Woodpecker 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/ 1 m.ob. Downy Woodpecker 1/ 1 1/11 1/ 4 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/ 8 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Hairy Woodpecker 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 4 1/ 1 2/23 2/15 1/ 1 MLF,JMa Northern Flicker 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/ 1 m.ob. Pileated Woodpecker 5/31 m.ob. Olive-sided Flycatcher 5/ 6 5/ 3 5/ 6 5/ 4 5/ 8 4/20 4/17 JMa Western Wood-Pewee 4/17 4/19 5/ 6 5/ 4 4/20 4/20 4/16 JMa,AV Willow Flycatcher 8/30 9/ 1 9/ 1 8/31 5/27 5/18 LCh Least Flycatcher 9/10 CCRS Hammond's Flycatcher 4/12 4/25 4/12 MMR Dusky Flycatcher Gray Flycatcher 5/ 6 5/ 6 SCR Pacific-slope Flycatcher 3/29 2/17 4/ 2 3/ 5 3/23 3/30 2/17 MJM Black Phoebe 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 1 m.ob. Eastern Phoebe 3/ 2 3/ 2 3/ 5 3/ 3 3/ 2 MJM,MMR Say's Phoebe 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 7 1/ 9 1/ 1 1/ 8 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Ash-throated Flycatcher 3/16 4/ 5 5/ 6 4/30 4/ 8 2/ 5 1/23 MNi,CNa Tropical Kingbird 10/10 10/10 10/ 5 DSt Cassin's Kingbird 4/13 4/13 4/17 5/ 4 5/ 2 4/13 MMR,MJM Western Kingbird 4/ 3 4/13 4/17 4/ 5 4/ 3 4/ 5 3/30 NLe,LAY Eastern Kingbird Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Horned Lark 1/10 1/19 1/29 1/ 4 5/13 1/ 4 MLF Purple Martin 5/ 6 5/ 3 5/ 7 5/10 4/20 3/23 FVs Tree Swallow 2/28 2/23 3/ 5 2/28 3/ 2 1/ 3 WGB Violet-green Swallow 2/28 2/23 5/ 6 3/ 6 1/ 1 3/ 9 1/ 1 SCR Nor. Rough-winged Swallow 2/27 3/ 9 3/ 5 3/ 5 3/13 3/22 2/27 MMR Bank Swallow 9/29 7/ 6 4/?? LTe Cliff Swallow 3/ 6 3/ 8 3/19 2/28 3/ 2 3/22 2/28 MLF Barn Swallow 3/12 2/28 3/ 5 3/10 3/ 2 3/23 2/24 AJa Steller's Jay 1/ 3 1/19 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/19 1/ 1 m.ob. Western Scrub-Jay 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/11 1/ 1 m.ob. Clark's Nutcracker Black-billed Magpie Yellow-billed Magpie 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 2 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/ 1 SCR American Crow 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 2 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 1 m.ob. Common Raven 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 2 1/ 2 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 SCR Chestnut-backed Chickadee 1/ 1 1/11 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Oak Titmouse 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/19 1/ 1 SCR,KLP Bushtit 1/ 1 1/11 1/ 1 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob. Red-breasted Nuthatch 1/10 1/11 1/ 1 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/ 4 1/ 1 SCR,KLP White-breasted Nuthatch 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 7 1/ 4 1/ 1 2/15 1/ 1 SCR Pygmy Nuthatch 2/17 2/16 1/ 1 10/12 1/ 1 MLF,JMa Brown Creeper 1/ 3 1/19 3/20 1/ 1 1/10 1/ 3 1/ 1 MLF,JMa Rock Wren 1/10 1/ 3 1/29 1/ 4 5/13 1/ 3 MJM Canyon Wren 1/10 2/ 9 3/20 1/19 1/ 1 3/22 1/ 1 SCR Bewick's Wren 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 1 2/ 5 1/ 1 m.ob. House Wren 3/15 3/16 3/20 3/15 1/ 1 3/22 1/ 1 SCR Winter Wren 2/17 1/19 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 1 m.ob. Marsh Wren 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 7 1/ 9 1/ 1 1/ 9 1/ 1 SCR,MMR American Dipper 3/ 2 3/ 1 3/19 3/ 4 1/30 CFi Golden-crowned Kinglet 1/ 3 2/15 1/ 1 1/19 1/ 1 2/ 5 1/ 1 SCR,KLP Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 m.ob. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 3/29 3/23 5/ 6 3/29 4/13 5/11 1/17 AJa Western Bluebird 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 2 1/ 4 1/ 1 2/15 1/ 1 SCR Mountain Bluebird Townsend's Solitaire 11/ 4 1/ 3 GCh,HGe Swainson's Thrush 5/ 1 5/ 4 4/17 5/10 5/ 8 4/17 KLP Hermit Thrush 1/ 1 1/11 1/ 2 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 8 1/ 1 m.ob. American Robin 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Varied Thrush 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 7 1/ 1 1/ 1 2/15 1/ 1 m.ob. Wrentit 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/23 1/ 1 1/ 1 2/15 1/ 1 m.ob. Northern Mockingbird 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob. Sage Thrasher Brown Thrasher California Thrasher 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/14 1/ 4 1/ 1 2/15 1/ 1 SCR Red-throated Pipit American Pipit 1/ 5 1/ 3 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/11 1/ 1 SCR Bohemian Waxwing Cedar Waxwing 1/ 3 2/17 1/23 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 SCR Phainopepla 6/10 5/18 5/31 5/17 1/ 3 DSc Northern Shrike Loggerhead Shrike 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 2 1/ 9 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 SCR,MMR European Starling 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 1 m.ob. Bell's Vireo 5/14 5/13 5/13 5/13 SCR Blue-headed Vireo Cassin's Vireo 3/16 4/ 6 5/13 5/ 4 4/12 1/ 6 KNe Plumbeous Vireo Hutton's Vireo 2/15 2/16 3/ 1 4/ 8 1/19 1/ 1 JMa Warbling Vireo 3/29 3/15 5/ 6 3/22 4/ 8 4/ 6 3/12 AME Red-eyed Vireo Tennessee Warbler Orange-crowned Warbler 2/12 1/25 5/ 6 3/ 8 1/ 1 4/ 6 1/ 1 SCR Nashville Warbler 4/24 4/ 5 5/ 4 5/12 4/ 5 MJM Virginia's Warbler Northern Parula Yellow Warbler 1/ 8 4/12 5/ 6 4/ 5 1/12 9/13 1/ 8 MMR Chestnut-sided Warbler Magnolia Warbler 10/26 10/25 10/26 10/25 10/25 MJM,SCR Black-throated Blue Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Black-throated Gray Warbler 4/12 3/30 5/13 4/ 5 5/17 3/30 MJM Townsend's Warbler 1/ 5 1/19 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/10 1/11 1/ 1 MLF,JMa Hermit Warbler 3/15 4/25 1/ 4 3/15 2/ 7 1/ 3 1/ 3 CKS Black-throated Green Warbler 9/28 AJa Blackburnian Warbler Prairie Warbler 11/22 11/21 11/23 11/21 11/21 SCR Palm Warbler 1/ 5 1/11 1/ 4 1/ 3 12/19 1/ 3 1/ 3 MLF,CKS Blackpoll Warbler Black-and-White Warbler American Redstart 8/ 8 8/16 8/11 8/12 8/ 7 8/ 7 SCR Prothonotary Warbler Worm-eating Warbler Ovenbird 9/23 CCRS Northern Waterthrush Kentucky Warbler Connecticut Warbler MacGillivray's Warbler 5/11 5/11 5/11 MMR,MJM Common Yellowthroat 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 1 1/ 8 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Hooded Warbler 1/ 6 1/11 1/11 1/11 1/ 1 1/ 1 SCR Wilson's Warbler 3/16 3/23 8/11 3/29 4/ 3 4/ 6 3/16 MMR,TJo Yellow-breasted Chat 5/10 5/18 5/18 5/13 4/13 DLS Summer Tanager 1/16 3/ 2 1/14 2/23 1/24 1/14 KLP Scarlet Tanager Western Tanager 4/24 4/25 5/ 6 5/ 7 5/ 8 9/ 3 4/20 AV Rose-breasted Grosbeak Black-headed Grosbeak 4/ 3 4/ 5 4/17 3/21 4/ 3 9/ 5 1/ 8 RCO Blue Grosbeak 4/20 4/22 5/ 5 4/30 5/ 6 4/27 4/20 MMR Lazuli Bunting 4/13 4/13 5/ 5 4/30 4/20 4/27 1/19 MMi Indigo Bunting Dickcissel Green-tailed Towhee 10/ 7 10/ 7 10/ 5 BHa Spotted Towhee 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/19 1/ 1 SCR California Towhee 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob. Rufous-crowned Sparrow 4/10 2/ 9 3/20 3/22 5/ 6 4/27 1/ 3 MtHamCBC American Tree Sparrow Chipping Sparrow 4/12 4/13 5/13 5/11 5/17 4/12 MMR Clay-colored Sparrow 12/ 8 KMc Brewer's Sparrow 9/28 10/12 9/28 MMR Black-chinned Sparrow 5/ 6 5/10 5/10 5/17 5/ 6 MMR Vesper Sparrow 10/ 5 CCRS,NLe Lark Sparrow 1/10 1/ 3 1/ 7 1/19 5/13 1/ 3 MJM Black-throated Sparrow Sage Sparrow 1/ 3 4/19 5/17 5/17 1/ 3 m.ob. Lark Bunting Savannah Sparrow 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 7 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/26 1/ 1 SCR Grasshopper Sparrow 4/10 4/20 4/16 5/ 4 4/13 4/10 MMR Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow 1/ 8 1/ 8 1/ 9 1/ 9 11/14 2/ 9 1/ 8 m.ob. Fox Sparrow 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/11 1/11 1/ 1 1/ 8 1/ 1 m.ob. Song Sparrow 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 2 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Lincoln's Sparrow 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 9 1/11 1/ 1 2/ 5 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Swamp Sparrow 12/ 7 11/27 12/ 8 12/15 11/27 MJM White-throated Sparrow 10/12 11/ 7 4/17 11/11 1/16 1/ 6 KNe Golden-crowned Sparrow 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. White-crowned Sparrow 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Harris' Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Lapland Longspur 11/ 2 NLe Chestnut-collared Longspur Bobolink 9/ 1 9/ 1 MJM Red-winged Blackbird 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/26 1/ 1 m.ob. Tricolored Blackbird 1/ 2 2/22 1/ 2 1/28 1/ 1 1/ 1 SCR Western Meadowlark 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. Yellow-headed Blackbird 4/13 4/13 5/ 7 5/ 4 4/11 4/11 SCR Brewer's Blackbird 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 2 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 MMR,SCR Great-tailed Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird 1/ 1 2/20 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/ 1 5/ 8 1/ 1 m.ob. Hooded Oriole 3/27 3/29 4/16 3/27 4/10 4/ 5 3/19 PLN Baltimore Oriole 10/21 10/17 10/21 10/21 10/18 10/17 MJM Bullock's Oriole 3/15 3/15 3/20 2/23 3/26 4/20 2/23 MLF Scott's Oriole Purple Finch 1/16 1/ 3 1/29 1/ 1 2/13 3/22 1/ 1 MLF,JMa Cassin's Finch 4/12 4/ 5 3/ 2 SBT House Finch 1/ 1 1/ 5 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 1 1/ 1 m.ob. Red Crossbill 4/10 3/ 8 3/27 1/ 1 2/16 1/ 1 SCR Pine Siskin 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/15 1/ 1 1/ 1 2/16 1/ 1 m.ob. Lesser Goldfinch 1/ 3 1/ 3 1/ 7 1/11 1/ 1 1/19 1/ 1 SCR Lawrence's Goldfinch 4/ 3 4/13 4/ 5 4/ 3 1/ 3 WGB American Goldfinch 1/ 1 2/17 1/ 2 1/ 4 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/ 1 SCR,MMR Evening Grosbeak 1/ 1 1/ 1 SCR House Sparrow 1/ 1 1/18 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob. ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Wed Dec 24 15:14:39 1997 Subject: San Jose and Palo Alto CBC birds On Sunday, Garth Harwood and I backed up Dave McIntyre covering the Gold Street part of Alviso, and the southern part of the Sunnyvale bayfront. On the (closed) Cargill pond that is just over the hill from Gold street, we had 3 SNOWY PLOVERS (perhaps those seen earlier by Mike Feighner from Calabazas Ponds), 3 SANDERLINGS, a flyover by 5 TUNDRA SWANS, and a flyover by a probable GLAUCOUS GULL (I counted it for my own day list on the basis of the translucent primaries). On the Sunnyvale salt pond that is right behind the sewage treatment plant, we had a BROWN PELICAN and a EURASIAN WIGEON. On Monday, I backed up Al Eisner covering Los Trancos Rd, the Palo Alto Golf Club, Felt Lake, and Arastradero Preserve, on the Palo Alto count. We had PINE SISKINS at the Golf Club; and at Felt Lake 4 HOODED MERGANSERS, a MERLIN, a GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, and a RED-NECKED GREBE. Al heard a WESTERN SCREECH OWL at Los Trancos Rd before dawn. But I thought our most noteworthy achievement was managing not to see a single White-crowned Sparrow while birding all day in landbird habitat. -- Tom Grey Stanford CA [[email protected]] ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Thu Dec 25 13:21:00 1997 Subject: Townsend's Warbler While birding in Stevens Creek Park on Christmas afternoon, I found one Townsend's Warbler. The bird was in a deciduous tree along the creek side of the Chestnut Picnic Area. I had great views for a couple of minutes before the bird dropped into the undergrowth. I was unable to find it again. ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Thu Dec 25 21:28:54 1997 Subject: Gull Count at Newby Island Landfill On Dec 19, in support of the San Jose Christmas Bird Count, Mike Rogers, Al Jaramillo, and myself visited the Newby Island Landfill, Santa Clara County, to count the gull population there. We spent about 3 hours checking the gulls and other birds on the dump. We estimated the total gull population to be about 12,000 birds on or flying around the dump itself. In addition, another 3,000+ could be seen on a nearby intertidal area in S. Fremont. Still more gulls were in the distance towards Alviso. It seems likely that the total gull population in the Alviso/Milpitas area is close to 20,000 birds. It should of course be stressed that these estimates are very rough. We made no effort to estimate species composition of the birds off the dump and they are not included in any of our totals. The most surprising feature was the relatively low numbers of California Gulls. Experience at Alviso and CCRS had led me to believe that this would be the commonest gull using the dump. However, in reality Herring Gulls were the dominant species. Clearly many of the California Gulls roosting and bathing in Alviso are feeding elsewhere. Apart from the gulls, the only other species of note was a flock of Tricolored Blackbirds. The totals for each gull species were estimated as follows: Herring Gull - 9,000 Thayer's Gull - 300 Glaucous-winged Gull - 300 Western Gull - 200 (including one adult wymani) California Gull - 2,000 Glaucous Gull - 1 adult Ring-billed Gull - 3 This is a huge concentration of Herring Gulls. To my knowledge it may be the largest on the west coast. Certainly, it is much larger than any others in N. California, OR, or WA. Furthermore, there were undoubtedly a few thousand more in the general area. Other Species: Tri-colored Blackbird - 300 Bi-colored Blackbird - 50 Starling - 300 Raven - 25 Red-tailed Hawk - 10 Turkey Vulture - 5 Nick Lethaby _____________________________________________________________ Nick Lethaby Elanix, Inc [[email protected]] 1112 N. Abbott Avenue Tel: (408) 941 0223 Milpitas, CA 95035 Fax: (408) 941 0984 U.S.A. ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Fri Dec 26 08:51:58 1997 Subject: pygmy owl The NORTHERN PYGMY OWL seen Sunday on the CBC at Alum Rock Park is still there December 26. Take the road into Alum Rock Park to the very end and park in parking lot. Cross the bridge towards YSI. There are two paths to your right. The path closest to the creek has whitewash (owl droppings!) about 70 feet from the bridge. Look for owl there. On Sunday we saw it in a bare tree at 7:15 a.m. and could view it from 360 degrees as it watched us look at it. Very cooperative. Today there were a dozen jays mobbing it. Gloria LeBlanc ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Sat Dec 27 20:24:24 1997 Subject: S.C.Co.Year List Update Mike Rogers has updated the 1997 SANTA CLARA COUNTY YEAR LIST as of December 1. 301: 12/ 8/97 CLAY-COLORED SPARROW 302: 12/19/97 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK 303: 12/21/97 TUNDRA SWAN 304: 12/22/97 BLACK SCOTER Also, more Merlin sightings (Merlie). Kendric South Bay Birders Unlimited (SBBU) http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~kendric/birds/ ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Sun Dec 28 14:27:56 1997 Subject: weekend birds Yesterday, saw a female/immature MERLIN near the Stanford Mausoleum. Today, did a Last Chance checkup at spots where I might see birds for the year county list, as follows: Ed Levin Park - no Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (but 2 RING-NECKED DUCKS); Calaveras Reservoir - no Bald Eagle; Lake Cunningham - no Lesser Black-backed Gull (but 2 REDHEADS); Shady Oaks Park - yes! the EASTERN PHOEBE, right where last reported by John Meyer, near the gray Volkswagen hood; Fair Oaks Park - no Palm Warbler; San Francisquito creek at Middlefield - no Western Tanager. One out of six, but hey, it was a beautiful morning, and a pleasure to be out and around. Year county: 211. -- Tom Grey Stanford CA [[email protected]] ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Sun Dec 28 18:05:02 1997 Subject: Y-S Flicker Today I saw a Yellow-shafted Flicker along the Guadalupe River south of Montague (about half a mile south). Best other bird was an Orange-crowned Warbler. _____________________________________________________________ Nick Lethaby Elanix, Inc [[email protected]] 1112 N. Abbott Avenue Tel: (408) 941 0223 Milpitas, CA 95035 Fax: (408) 941 0984 U.S.A. ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Sun Dec 28 20:35:48 1997 Subject: sjmn "sunday homes" section of sjmn today had nice article on "how to attract birds to your back yard" with discussion of the bluebird box program. picture shown was a BLUE JAY! gloria le blanc ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Mon Dec 29 09:40:47 1997 All, On Friday 12/19/97, after enjoying the GLAUCOUS GULL at the Newby Island Landfill (Count Week bird!), I stopped by the EEC in Alviso and got nice looks at the YELLOW WARBLER (Count Week bird) and the hybrid COSTA'S x ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD (Count Week hybrid-photographed). Early Saturday morning 12/20/97 I did some scouting of the Alviso Salt Ponds with Mike Mammoser. We made it out to A9 and back on bikes in just over two hours. As Mike has noted, shorebird habitat in A9 is gone, so I realized I would need to get shorebirds for the San Jose count (the next day) along Coyote Creek as the tide receded. Right at the start we had a female SURF SCOTER (Count Week bird) in Salt Pond A12 behind the Marina. Probably the same bird later flew into (and out of again) Salt Pond A15. An immature PEREGRINE FALCON flew over Salt Pond A12, 2 SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS were along A14, and a SANDERLING foraged close at the northwest corner of A14 (and two more shorebirds probably of this species flew over A10 and A11 later). As Mike has noted, a quick check of Arzino Ranch produced an adult PEREGRINE FALCON. The drive back home across Highway 237 added a MERLIN perched on a light post near the Calabazas Ponds. Late in the day I made a quick check of Shoreline Lake for windswept vagrants and came up with 7 SURF SCOTERS (more than our resident three birds) and 3 BARROW'S GOLDENEYES (2 adult males, 1 female). Scoping back over Charleston Slough I had all 15 BLACK SKIMMERS. On the San Jose count on Sunday 12/21/97 I again started out early at Alviso. My primary job was to check gulls for Glaucous and Lesser Black-backed (I failed to find either) and to make sure that the count did not miss Greater Scaup and Black-bellied Plover this year by getting out to A10 and Coyote Creek (I did manage to do this at least). I met two Alviso parties and both were counting all gulls as "gull sp", so I decided to try and get better estimates for each species. During my 4-hour tour I tallied 18,487 gulls with 14,400 HERRING, 2,000 "sp" (probably mostly Herring, but this cushion allows for more Thayer's and weird stuff that I could not pick out on distant dikes), 1,907 CALIFORNIA, 97 GLAUCOUS-WINGED, 40 WESTERN, 25 RING-BILLED, 12 BONAPARTE'S, 4 THAYER'S, and 2 MEW. There were lots of ducks on A11 (including 980 NORTHERN PINTAIL), A10, and perhaps ten thousand or more on A9. The count circle only includes the easternmost quarter of A10, but that was sufficient to get 114 GREATER SCAUP (and 2 LESSER) out of the 800 or so scaup on this pond). Only the extreme southeast corner of A9 is in the count circle, but there were two SANDERLING feeding right there! along with 760 more NORTHERN PINTAIL (thousands further out). The best birds, however, were 12 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE in 3 groups. A pair of adults appeared at 9:08am and after circling around a bit headed off to the east. After 5 minutes of viewing through the scope they appeared to be close to Calaveras Reservoir. Another pair of adults came out of the north at 9:37am and, after circling for ten minutes, landed in A9 among the PINTAILS. Finally, at 10:10am, I heard more birds calling and looked up to see 8 more WFGO (6 adults and 2 immatures) heading to the north high overhead. Twenty minutes later, the 5 Tundra Swans seen by David Macintyre, Garth Harwood, and Tom Grey must have done the same thing - but since they didn't call I missed them :(. Arriving at the northeast corner of A9 I began running back to the Marina via Triangle Marsh, flushing up the count's only AMERICAN BITTERN just inside the count circle at the northwest corner of A15. Back at the Marina I heard feeble brief notes from at least one VIRGINIA RAIL. An hour spent searching the Guadalupe River near Highway 880 failed to turn up the Prairie Warbler, but 2 female-plumaged COMMON MERGANSERS were a nice find. Checking the San Jose Airport from the west side netted an immature FERRUGINOUS HAWK. The Lesser Black-backed Gull was not at Lake Cunningham, although reported earlier in the day, but the 2 RED-NECKED GREBES were in the northwest corner and allowed close approach for decent photos. Six WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS (up to 25 according to Bob Roadcap) were overhead, 14 AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS were near the island, a first-winter THAYER'S GULL was on the lawn, a GREEN HERON was in the reeds, and a SORA called once from Silver Creek despite the wind. At Ed Levin Park I ran into Mike Mammoser and we failed to find the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. There were 6 male RING-NECKED DUCKS on Sandy Wool Lake and another pair on the ranger station pond. Calaveras Reservoir held no unusual waterfowl at the south end and the wind at the Sierra Road summit was incredible - only managed a few SAVANNAH SPARROWS. At 4:00am on Monday 12/22/97 I met Dave Lewis for owling along Skyline for the Palo Alto CBC. The wind was strong and we were not optimistic, but the usual spot north of Skylonda was surprisingly calm and produced 2 SAW-WHET OWLS, one right near the road. The wind was worse along Alpine Road, but we did add a WESTERN SCREECH-OWL there. The wind was still strong at Monte Bello, but thanks to some slightly more sheltered spots we added another SAW-WHET OWL, 6 WESTERN SCREECH-OWLS (including one well-seen in the flashlight beam out in the open), and a distant NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL. On to the Palo Alto Baylands after dawn, I failed to elicit a response from a Black Rail but did see the immature GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE at the duck pond. Two SORAS and a VIRGINIA RAIL responded in the Moutain View Forebay, all to the others species calls. A quick peek at Shoreline Lake turned up an adult male BARROW'S GOLDENEYE and the SKIMMER flock was present in Charleston Slough. Dave Lewis began his coverage of Shoreline Park and Alma Kali joined me to cover Sunnyvale and the eastern half of Moffett Field. In order to reach A3N at high tide we skipped the Sunnyvale pond and headed out to A3W and A3N. An immature PEREGRINE FALCON was perched on a tower behind the old landfill. Pond A3W had 16 RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS, 10 BROWN PELICANS (4 adults), our only REDHEAD of the day (a male), and 32 FORSTER'S TERNS. The water level in A3N is too high for many shorebirds, although we did have one big tight flock of MARBLED GODWITS, AMERICAN AVOCETS, and WILLETS there. Many other shorebirds were already foraging along the bay edge here. Driving off the dikes via Crittenden Lane we headed to the San Francisquito Creek Delta, where we joined John and Maria Meyer and picked out 2 SANDERLING, 3 RED KNOTS, 1 RUDDY TURNSTONE, and a WHIMBREL among the regulars. Three SORAS called from the marsh on the way out. Returning to Moffett Field, a SORA and a COMMON SNIPE flushed from the near edge of the Emily Renzel Wetlands and two male BLUE-WINGED TEAL were in the North Pond of the PAFCB. The Moffett Golf Course had big TRICOLORED/RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD flocks with no cowbirds among them (the only BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS we had all day were 12 birds outside the count circle near the entrance to the Sunnyvale ponds) and no rare geese. A single BURROWING OWL and three WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS were the best we could muster, and were probably not worth the visit given that we lost another half-hour when I locked the car with the keys in the ignition :(. Back to Sunnyvale things picked up. Among 1,100 CANVASBACK, 320 RUDDY DUCKS, and 66 LESSER SCAUP, the 2 adult male TUFTED DUCKS were still at the northwest corner of the main Sunnyvale Pond (first reported to the Bird Box by James Walsh on 11/29/97 and not again since). Salt Pond B2 had thousands of NORTHERN SHOVELER and RUDDY DUCKS and three SANDERLING foraging on the islands. Driving north to the bay edge we were greeted by at least 15,000 ducks (mostly scaup). I started scoping the near birds and immediately came across an adult male BLACK SCOTER with a raging orange knob on the bill. Between 4:23pm and 4:51pm this bird swam around the red buoy number 4 and the green buoy number 3 off the mouth of Guadalupe Slough. Further scoping turned up no other unusual ducks, but I only saw a small fraction of what was out there. Across the bay a flock of 4,000+ MARBLED GODWITS took off, about half of which were in the count circle. After 5pm a flock of about 1,500 gulls came to roost in A3N. Most were HERRING, but I managed to find 32 THAYER'S, including both 1st-winter and adult birds. An adult PEREGRINE FALCON watched from the tower nearby as we drove off after sunset. On Tuesday 12/23/97 I took a mid-day trip to Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve with Richard Jeffers in the hope of refinding the Rusty Blackbird. Although the area was still filled with AMERICAN ROBINS, CEDAR WAXWINGS, and other birds, we could not find the blackbird in the heavy underbrush. Of course, if it moved away from the path area it would be nearly impossible to find. We did have a WINTER WREN and a VARIED THRUSH back in this corner of the preserve, as well as a GREEN HERON, a pair of HOODED MERGANSERS, and 5 female-plumaged COMMON MERGANSERS on Searsville Lake. The pair of adult GOLDEN EAGLES was soaring over the preserve entrance road before we left. A quick check of the North Pond of the Palo Alto Flood Control Basin on 12/24/97 failed to turn up count week American Bittern or Swamp Sparrow, but a pair of BLUE-WINGED TEAL and 30 REDHEAD (16 males and 14 females) were present. Also there was an adult male SHARP-SHINNED HAWK near the Animal Shelter and an adult PEREGRINE FALCON perched out in the Flood Control Basin. Mike Rogers ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Mon Dec 29 12:26:59 1997 Subject: Birds Most of my birding has been pretty ineffective lately. On Saturday, I missed the Pygmy Owl at ALum ROck Park (no sign of Dippers either). The best sighting was a Bobcat. On Sunday, I checked the Guadalupe River and Sierra Summit. Highlights were a Yellow-shafted at the Guadalupe River. Sierra Summit was pretty quiet apart from 60 Lark Sparrows. Today I birded the mouth of Steven's Creek hoping for the Black Scoter. Lots of scaup, Canvasback etc and at least 4 Surf Scoters. I ran into Mike Mammoser and then immediately noticed a flock of large white birds had materialised in the bay. These turned out to be 22 Snow Geese. Other birds of interest included 2 male Eurasian Wigeon, 1 Horned Grebe, and 4-5 Clark's Grebes. _____________________________________________________________ Nick Lethaby Elanix, Inc [[email protected]] 1112 N. Abbott Avenue Tel: (408) 941 0223 Milpitas, CA 95035 Fax: (408) 941 0984 U.S.A. ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Mon Dec 29 14:39:06 1997 Subject: Pygmy Owl All: Maria and I tried for the Pygmy Owl at Alum Rock, Sunday morning. Several other birders were there too. No luck. John Meyer ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Tue Dec 30 03:20:54 1997 Subject: Black Scoter, Oldsquaws All: This morning (30 Dec.), I saw a SHORT-EARED OWL and a male EURASIAN GREEN-WINGED TEAL at the PAFCB at dawn, along the edge of the landfill at Byxbee Park. Scoping from the mouth of the Palo Alto yacht harbor, I estimated (counting first by 100's, then by 1000's) more than 80,000 ducks, mostly scaup but including several thousand SURF SCOTERS and lesser numbers of other species, in the bay. Luckily, most were in Santa Clara County waters, though I could only scrutinize a small percentage (maybe 15-20% or fewer), as the majority of the birds were farther east/southeast toward Mountain View and Sunnyvale. Most of the birds off the yacht harbor mouth were in Santa Clara County rather than on the Alameda County side or in San Mateo County. While I was scoping, a flock of 6 birds, including one female/imm. OLDSQUAW and 1 female BLACK SCOTER with 4 SURF SCOTERS flew in from the northwest and landed not far off the tip of Hook's Isle; these birds remained for about 15 minutes before all taking off together and heading to the NW into San Mateo County (and they kept going NW). Continued scoping produced an adult male BLACK SCOTER and 2 more female-type OLDSQUAWS among the thousands of ducks, all of these in Santa Clara County. Given the difficulty of scrutinizing even the closest ducks and the vast number that I could not study, I'm sure the number of such "rarities" that were in that flock would boggle the mind. Too bad I couldn't pick out any White-winged Scoters for the county's year list. Fortunately, the haze was not too bad this morning, but when the birds are farther out and the haze is bad, it is next to impossible to identify most of these birds. Nevertheless, I'd encourage others to spend some time looking through these flocks; who knows what might show up! Steve Rottenborn ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Tue Dec 30 10:23:44 1997 Subject: Monterey Peninsula CBC Hi Birders - The Monterey Peninsula Christmas Bird Count was held yesterday in beautiful weather. Although we didn't break any records (personal or otherwise), we did have some interesting birds, and one that has never occured on our count before. We also had several visiting birders, most notably Scott Seltman from Kansas, James Restivo from Connecticut and John Sterling from Washington D.C. About 48 birders helped to count 176 species (unofficially). Highlights included: TUFTED PUFFIN - You see! All you needed to do was answer my plea for help on the pelagic trip and you would have seen it! ROSS' GOOSE - several SNOW GOOSE - two GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE - two HOODED MERGANSER - seven COMMON MERGANSER -three PRAIRIE FALCON - very good considering we have very little grasslands inn our count cirlce MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER - one in the Point Joe area of Pebble Beach PLUMBEOUS VIREO - first count record, on 19th Street just south of Sinex in Pacific Grove in the pines on the west side of the street near eucalyptus. TOWNSEND'S/HERMIT WARBLER HYBRID - on Companion Way near 17-Mile Drive in Pacific Grove in the bottlebrush Comments: The Yellow-billed Loon was not relocated, however, Tufted Puffin is a much better bird on this particular count. Good birds for count week were two Greater Roadrunners in the ex-Fort Ord area. It was a good goose year. Other lesser winter rarities included: Palm Warbler Nashville Warbler Black-throated Gray Warbler Bullock's Oriole Violet-green Swallow All typical owls were seen/heard. Most were in Robinson Canyon except those marked with an * Barn* Western Screech Great Horned Northern Pygmy* Northern Saw-whet Spotted Burrowing* Big misses were: Lesser Scaup Cassin's Auklet Golden Eagle Hard to get birds on this count are: 1. almost all ducks. we missed Pintail, Shoveler, both scaup, Harlequin we saw very few of the other species. 2. shorebirds - we missed Long-billed Dowitcher! Considering the numbers of species in these two groups of birds, we had a very respectable total. Maybe we could influence some of you from abroad to help us out next year in this endeavor.......to find shorebirds and ducks! Until next year, Steve Rovell [[email protected]] compiler, Monterey Peninsula CBC Steve Rovell [[email protected]] Marina, CA Monterey Co. ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Tue Dec 30 17:10:49 1997 Subject: A good day. Birders: I had a good day today as I conducted two surveys at CCRS. First of all during my point counts I saw an immature male COMMON MERGANSER flying over the water pollution control plant (WPCP) which then headed upstream along Coyote Creek. There was also a PRAIRIE FALCON hunting over WPCP. The big surprise was seeing a 'WESTERN' FLYCATCHER foraging along net 9385. This bird was giving the high 'tsiip' contact call. I could not make sure that the bird was banded, but almost surely this is the same bird which was banded about two weeks ago. Later on while conducting a separate survey of the waterbird pond I saw the adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL in the large flock of roosting gulls. Also present were 425 HERRING GULLS but only 21 THAYER'S GULLS. I will have to see what the numbers look like later on in the season, but it appears that there is a distict increase in the numbers of THAYER'S GULLS at CCRS (or the entire South Bay?) late in the winter. An EARED GREBE was an unusual species for the waterbird pond. Finally, yesterday while jogging along the coastside trail in Half Moon Bay, I saw a pair of small white geese flying over the mouth of Pilarcitos Creek. I am quite certain that these were ROSS'S GEESE. One of these birds called giving a quick yappy call, I will have to check if this matches a ROSS'S GOOSE call. I did not have my binoculars with me unfortunately. Regards, Al. Alvaro Jaramillo Half Moon Bay, California [[email protected]] Helm guide to the New World Blackbirds, Birding in Chile and more, at: http://www.sirius.com/~alvaro ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Tue Dec 30 21:05:08 1997 Subject: Ted Chandik Trip Ted's trip to Sacramento and Colusa NWR, December 13-14, 1997 has been posted on SBBU. HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Kendric South Bay Birders Unlimited (SBBU) http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~kendric/birds/ ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Wed Dec 31 08:01:23 1997 Subject: San Antonio Valley (Mt. Hamilton CBC) ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Wed Dec 31 08:01:43 1997 Subject: San Antonio Valley (Mt. Hamilton CBC) All: Yesterday, 12/30/97, I took a ramble in San Antonio Valley as a part of the Mt. Hamilton CBC. It was clear before dawn and quite warm on top of Mt. Hamilton but owling from the summit to San Antonio Valley was relatively unproductive with 11 GREAT HORNED OWLS and no screechies. In the valley, water in the open was clear of ice, but water under shade was frozen from the cold days of the previous week. I walked south from the San Antone Ranch (Bar 71 or Stoddard Ranch), basically paralleling the road and found the usual birds in the valley oak and blue oak woodlands. South of the ranch I heard a RED-SHOULDERED HAWK near a stock pond west of the road (after my walk I checked this pond and found the hawk there in the afternoon). Stock ponds are always a grab bag, and this year the big winner were BUFFLEHEAD, with a few MALLARD, AM. WIGEON, and RING-NECKED DUCKS. South of the "yellow gate" in open woodland with mostly valley oaks I found three LEWIS' WOODPECKERS and two male PHAINOPEPLA. These would all have been visible from the road, either south or north of M.P. 16. Eventually, I turned east and walked up Ivy Spring Canyon to climb a ridge and dropped down the other side to San Antonio Creek. The oak woodlands change here to "chamisal"--chaparral dominated by chamise. There was little in the way of seed set on the chamise and, as I worked the chamisal patches, I found mostly FOX SPARROWS. All the Fox Sparrows I saw well seemed very similar to the 'Sooty' form I see at my feeder. A few had some gray on the auriculars and face, but this blended to brown on the crown, nape, and back. Favorite spots for sage sparrow again and again yielded only ghost memories of year's past. The frost at dawn had yielded now to a pleasant day and shirt-sleeved weather. Just over the ridge I finally had a SAGE SPARROW jump up for my viewing pleasure. They seemed very scarce this year, but maybe that had more to do with the cruising SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS that were working the chaparral. Coming down San Antonio Creek I finally ran into my first NUTTALL'S WOODPECKER of the day and for, the first time, I could think of the possibility of a seven-woodpecker day. Plentiful on my walk so far had been ACORN WOODPECKER, HAIRY WOODPECKER, AND NORTHERN FLICKER, and I had also seen one RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER and the three LEWIS' WOODPECKERS mentioned earlier. DOWNY WOODPECKER is, in the valley, the tough one. For my return to the ranch I took a route on terraces on the east side of the valley. In the oak woodlands here I found my first GOLDEN EAGLE of the day, an adult soaring and being harrassed by the local COMMON RAVENS. A female/immature MERLIN was working a MOURNING DOVE flock, driving them from the oaks and pursuing them a bit and then returning to drive more out of the trees. This was fun to watch (for me) and I guess if you keep doing this long enough one of the doves will make a mistake and become dinner, but today the Merlin was not successful. I found three more LEWIS' WOODPECKERS and another male PHAINOPEPLA on the terraces here before I returned to the ranch. After filling out my count form I saw a LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE next to the road. I then stopped by the Stoddard house to leave a note about a dead calf and on my return to the car I had a male DOWNWY WOODPECKER working in the oaks along the creek here--a seven-woodpecker day! I then drove north to San Antone Jct. for a bit of recreational birding. There was another male PHAINOPEPLA here (where Mike Rogers had one in early November, I believe) and, viewing a distant flock of goldfinches, I could see at least three male LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCHES clearly. I went back to my car for the scope, but the flock didn't wait. Bill ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Wed Dec 31 08:44:25 1997 Subject: Mt. Hamilton CBC/Long-eared Owl South Bay Birders, Yesterday Bob Richmond, Jimm Edgar and I birded Mines Rd. from 1/4 mile south of the Ala/S. Clara south to the junction and then 6 miles down Del Puerto Canyon Rd. We also briefly checked the Mallison Ranch just south of the junction. The weather was amazing with an inversion layer that brought temps to at least 70 by 11 am. I never thought I would be overdressed for a Mt. Hamilton count. Anyway, here are the highlights. Long-eared Owl/ One calling at 6 am at mile 27. First bird of the day, it was calling when we opened the car doors! This is very close to the spot in Ala. where Bob confirmed them nesting a few years ago. At mile 25.4 we had 2 N. Pygmy Owls calling at 6:40. Also in this mile and a half were at least 3 Great Horns and a Screech. The following birds were counted on Mines Rd.: Hairy Woodpecker (8), House Wren (1 at Digger Pine Ranch, same spot as last 2 years), Canyon Wren (1), Townsend's Solitaire (1 and possibly 2 at mile 22. These birds were well up the hillside to the east where there are lots of manzanitas so be patient), Phainopepla (1 male 1/2 mi. north of the junction and a pair at the junction), Fox Sparrow (39 minimum, almost all of them in chamise patches and all detected looking/sounding like our normal race) and Lawrence's Goldfinch (21 spread out all over). At the Mallison Ranch we birded just long enough to get Tricolored BB and Cowbird. There was also a Prairie Falcon and a kettle of 30 Ravens. On Del Puerto Canyon Rd. at approximately mile 19 we had at least 3 Canyon Wrens. Also here was a Steller's Jay that seemed very out-of-place in very sparse Gray Pine Woodland and a probable Winter Wren. It sounded to me like a WInter Wren but it refused to ever run it's calls into the usual series of 2 or 3 so Bob and Jimm were skeptical. A Pygmy Owl flew in to our imitations (intended to provoke the Wren) and perched on a dead snag within 10 yards, staying until we finally left. All birds mentioned on Del Puerto Canyon Rd. were in Stanislaus Co. A Happy New Year to everyone Steve Glover ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Wed Dec 31 09:20:09 1997 Subject: Re: Mt. Hamilton CBC/Long-eared Owl Steve: >Long-eared Owl/ One calling at 6 am at mile 27. Is this in Santa Clara County? Do you mean mile 27 on Mines Rd in Santa Clara County? >Townsend's Solitaire (1 and possibly 2 at mile 22. These birds were well up >the hillside to the east where there are lots of manzanitas so be patient), Is this in Santa Clara county too? Thanks, Nick Lethaby _____________________________________________________________ Nick Lethaby Elanix, Inc [[email protected]] 1112 N. Abbott Avenue Tel: (408) 941 0223 Milpitas, CA 95035 Fax: (408) 941 0984 U.S.A. ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Wed Dec 31 11:23:37 1997 Subject: Gavilan Hawk? Does anyone know which species might have been known as the "Gavilan Hawk" to people living in the South County/San Benito area many years ago? ----------------------------------------- Peter LaTourrette Birds of Jasper Ridge: http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~petelat1/ Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society: http://www.scvas.org/ ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Wed Dec 31 11:41:50 1997 Subject: Re: Gavilan Hawk? At 11:23 AM 12/31/97 -0800, Peter LaTourrette wrote: >Does anyone know which species might have been known as the "Gavilan Hawk" >to people living in the South County/San Benito area many years ago? > Peter, Here is a guess. Gavilan is a Spanish word and it tends to refer to Accipiters and Harriers. I am not certain of this but I think that in its original meaning (in Spain) it referred to the Sparrow Hawk. In Latin America it is used for many long-tailed hawks, including Crane Hawks, harriers and the like. Buzzards tend to be called 'Aguila' 'Aguilillo' or 'Aguilucho'. My guess is that it refers to Sharp-shinned/Cooper's Hawk, with an off chance of Northern Harrier. I hope this narrows the options. Al. Alvaro Jaramillo Half Moon Bay, California [[email protected]] Helm guide to the New World Blackbirds, Birding in Chile and more, at: http://www.sirius.com/~alvaro ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Wed Dec 31 15:20:45 1997 Subject: Long-eared Owl Nick, All birds mentioned were in Santa Clara County except the few Del Puerto Canyon birds mentioned at the end. I may have confused some by calling this Mines Rd., forgetting that it is only Mines Rd. in Alameda Co. and becomes San Antonio Valley Rd. in Santa Clara Co. We found no labled mileposts but the mile number was painted in the middle of the road. Mile 27 (where the Long- eared Owl was) is in Santa Clara County by about a mile or so. The miles drop as you head toward the junction with Del Puerto Canyon. Therefore, the Townsend's Solitaire (at milepost 22) was about 6 miles south of the Ala. Co. line. I believe that mile 22 should be about 2 miles north of the junction and mile 27 should be about 7 miles north although these are approximate. I hope this makes more sense. Steve Glover [[email protected]] ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Wed Dec 31 15:49:05 1997 Subject: Black Scoter and other rarities Today I made another attempt to check the diving duck flocks on the bay. Not much was visible from the Palo Alto Baylands so I headed out to the mouth of Stevens Creek, where I found Mike Mammoser. Quite a few flocks of Surf Scoters were flying by, perhaps 200 birds in total, with some landing on the water. Eventually I picked out a female Black Scoter flying by in one of the flocks, which obligingly landed right in front of this. This was Mike's 275 county bird of the year. Earlier in the day he'd seen the Red-naped Sapsucker at Arnold Ranch and 2 Townsend's Solitaires at the summit of Mount Hamilton to overtake Mike Rogers! _____________________________________________________________ Nick Lethaby Elanix, Inc [[email protected]] 1112 N. Abbott Avenue Tel: (408) 941 0223 Milpitas, CA 95035 Fax: (408) 941 0984 U.S.A. ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Wed Dec 31 16:39:51 1997 Subject: Bay Calendar Update Larry Tunstall has updated the Bay Area Calendar for January 3-9 for SBBU. Kendric South Bay Birders Unlimited (SBBU) http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~kendric/birds/ ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]] From [[email protected]] Wed Dec 31 16:45:39 1997 Subject: Re: Long-eared Owl On Wed, 31 Dec 1997, Sgloverccc wrote: > Nick, > All birds mentioned were in Santa Clara County except the few Del Puerto > Canyon birds mentioned at the end. I may have confused some by calling this > Mines Rd., forgetting that it is only Mines Rd. in Alameda Co. and becomes San > Antonio Valley Rd. in Santa Clara Co. To the best of my knowledge, Mines Road only becomes San Antonio Valley Road south of "San Antonio Junction" - the 3-way intersection of Mines Road, San Antonio Valley Road, and Del Puerto Canyon Road. Mines Road has portions in both Alameda and Santa Clara counties, with overlapping mileage marker ranges from each. It's therefore highly appreciated for all Mines Road reports to attach a county name to each mileage marker. Cheers, Adam Winer [[email protected]] San Mateo, CA ========================================================================== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to [[email protected]]