From [[email protected]] Sat Nov 01 08:38:18 1997 Subject: High Tides @ Palo Alto These data were obtained from the Tide and Current Predictor link on: South Bay Birders Unlimited (SBBU) http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~kendric/birds/ I have only listed the data for high tides greater than 8.5 feet for November through February. Kendric --------------------------------- PALO ALTO YACHT HARBOR, CALIFORNIA November 1997 High Tide: Sat 1997-11-01 1:02 PM PST 8.51 feet High Tide: Sun 1997-11-02 1:44 PM PST 8.51 High Tide: Tue 1997-11-11 9:41 AM PST 8.62 High Tide: Wed 1997-11-12 10:26 AM PST 8.97 High Tide: Thu 1997-11-13 11:11 AM PST 9.22 High Tide: Fri 1997-11-14 11:56 AM PST 9.35 High Tide: Sat 1997-11-15 12:41 PM PST 9.33 High Tide: Sun 1997-11-16 1:26 PM PST 9.16 High Tide: Mon 1997-11-17 2:12 PM PST 8.86 High Tide: Thu 1997-11-27 10:27 AM PST 8.51 High Tide: Fri 1997-11-28 11:09 AM PST 8.71 High Tide: Sat 1997-11-29 11:51 AM PST 8.86 High Tide: Sun 1997-11-30 12:33 PM PST 8.92 December 1997 High Tide: Tue 1997-12-02 2:03 PM PST 8.78 High Tide: Wed 1997-12-03 2:51 PM PST 8.57 High Tide: Tue 1997-12-09 8:20 AM PST 8.72 High Tide: Wed 1997-12-10 9:10 AM PST 9.03 High Tide: Thu 1997-12-11 9:58 AM PST 9.28 High Tide: Fri 1997-12-12 10:44 AM PST 9.43 High Tide: Sat 1997-12-13 11:31 AM PST 9.46 High Tide: Tue 1997-12-16 1:46 PM PST 8.81 High Tide: Thu 1997-12-25 9:07 AM PST 8.51 High Tide: Fri 1997-12-26 9:53 AM PST 8.76 High Tide: Sat 1997-12-27 10:38 AM PST 8.98 High Tide: Sun 1997-12-28 11:24 AM PST 9.14 High Tide: Mon 1997-12-29 12:09 PM PST 9.22 High Tide: Tue 1997-12-30 12:55 PM PST 9.20 January 1998 High Tide: Thu 1998-01-01 2:31 PM PST 8.85 High Tide: Tue 1998-01-06 7:00 AM PST 8.64 High Tide: Wed 1998-01-07 7:52 AM PST 8.87 High Tide: Thu 1998-01-08 8:43 AM PST 9.07 High Tide: Fri 1998-01-09 9:34 AM PST 9.21 High Tide: Sat 1998-01-10 10:23 AM PST 9.28 High Tide: Sun 1998-01-11 11:11 AM PST 9.25 High Tide: Mon 1998-01-12 11:56 AM PST 9.13 High Tide: Tue 1998-01-13 12:40 PM PST 8.92 High Tide: Wed 1998-01-14 1:24 PM PST 8.64 High Tide: Fri 1998-01-23 8:33 AM PST 8.50 High Tide: Sat 1998-01-24 9:23 AM PST 8.75 High Tide: Sun 1998-01-25 10:12 AM PST 8.99 High Tide: Mon 1998-01-26 11:00 AM PST 9.19 High Tide: Tue 1998-01-27 11:48 AM PST 9.31 High Tide: Wed 1998-01-28 12:36 PM PST 9.31 High Tide: Thu 1998-01-29 1:25 PM PST 9.16 High Tide: Fri 1998-01-30 2:15 PM PST 8.84 February 1998 High Tide: Tue 1998-02-03 5:35 AM PST 8.61 High Tide: Wed 1998-02-04 6:27 AM PST 8.70 High Tide: Sat 1998-02-07 9:10 AM PST 8.81 High Tide: Mon 1998-02-09 10:51 AM PST 8.75 High Tide: Mon 1998-02-23 9:46 AM PST 8.69 High Tide: Tue 1998-02-24 10:38 AM PST 8.89 High Tide: Thu 1998-02-26 12:19 PM PST 9.01 High Tide: Fri 1998-02-27 1:10 PM PST 8.84 High Tide: Sat 1998-02-28 2:01 PM PST 8.51 ========================================================================== 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 Nov 01 12:11:27 1997 Subject: Re: Apparent LESSER-BLACK-BACKED GULL at Lake Cunningham Feighner, Mike wrote: > > The bird's feet were brownish pink with the upper portions being more > yellow. There were what appeared to be about 4-5 notches in the front > of each lower foot. Dare I ask what you mean by this? > It was the only gull on the lake that had an almost entirely dark bill. For those who may go looking for this bird, beware of first-winter Herring, Thayer's, and Western Gulls. All of these species may have mostly or entirely black bills, and there were first-winter Herring and Thayer's present at the lake this morning. The contrast between the black bill and the head (because the bill is black to the base, where the feathering is pure white) may be a good feature to look for, but looking for the black bill by itself may be misleading. > I don't have Grant's book on Gulls, but I did check Harrison's Seabird > book, and the picture of the first-winter LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL on > Plate 59 takes on a very close resemblance. I don't have an illustration of a "first-winter" LBBG in my edition of Harrison's (is there a different edition?). In case others go look for the bird, I don't want anyone to be misled as to its appearance. The bird's mantle and upperwings are not nearly as neat and contrasty (i.e., having much obvious contrast between pale and dark areas) as is depicted on either the "juvenile" or the "first-summer" individual on Plate 59. The upperparts are darker overall and have much more muted coloring, with less distinct light and dark areas, than on these illustrations. 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]] Sat Nov 01 17:59:48 1997 Subject: Alviso and Salt Pond A9 I had an adult Snow Goose flying around A9 this afternoon. I saw 3 Bitterns, a Short-eared Owl, a Merlin, and a Peregrine (eating a Stilt) out there. NO turnstones though. _____________________________________________________________ Nick Lethaby Pronghorn Consulting [[email protected]] 1112 N. Abbott Avenue Tel: (408) 941 0223 Milpitas, CA 95035 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 Nov 01 18:28:14 1997 Subject: Apparent LESSER-BLACK-BACKED GULL at Lake Cunningham All: >From 1 to 1:45 PM I viewed the apparent LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL at Lake Cunningham in San Jose. Apparently In arrived there after Steve Rottenborn's and Nick Letherby's departure. The gull was quite easy to find. It was not associating itself with any of the other gulls. As a matter of fact it spent the entire time I was there standing on the round black buoy about 100 yards to the north-east off the pier. The bird's feet were brownish pink with the upper portions being more yellow. There were what appeared to be about 4-5 notches in the front of each lower foot. The bird's eyes were not yet yellow, still rather yellowish brown. It was the only gull on the lake that had an almost entirely dark bill. Only the tip of the bill was pale. I did not notice the paleness at the base of the bill. The primaries were dark and extended beyond the tip of the tail when its wings were folded. There was light streaking over the crown and nape. The front of the face, throat, breast, belly, and undertail were white, although the breast did show some light streaking. The feathering around the eye was dark, and there seemed to be a light spot just below to the right of each eye. There was a light -brown "dimple mark" on each side of the face. The feathers covering the base of the primaries were light. Most the back and wing-coverts were light brown with some lighter outlining. I don't have Grant's book on Gulls, but I did check Harrison's Seabird book, and the picture of the first-winter LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL on Plate 59 takes on a very close resemblance. The gull did not take to flight while I was there. So, I did not notice any tail pattern. The bird did a lot of yawning though. ******************** Afterwards I headed for Charleston Slough where 9 of the original 14 BLACK SKIMMERs were still present below the first park bench. The "north" pond of the Palo Alto Flood Control Basin had 4 BLUE-WINGED TEAL (3 males, and one female), and at 5:09 PM yet another SHORT-EARED OWL flew out over the flood control basin. Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA, [[email protected]], 11/1/97, 6:21 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]] Sun Nov 02 11:31:56 1997 Subject: Re: The Lake Cunningham LBBG All: Saturday (1 Nov.), I returned to Lake Cunningham to take another look at the bird that Mike Rogers and I had tentatively identified as a first-winter LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL the previous day. I arrived at the lake at 09:15 and was somewhat surprised to find no one there looking for the bird. I quickly found it sitting on the water at the edge of a group of 200 gulls and enjoyed good looks at the bird until Nick Lethaby and his wife arrived. As soon as Nick saw it, he stated that the bird was not a first- winter individual, but rather that it was probably still in first-summer plumage. That is, it had not yet acquired second- winter plumage (either because it as an individual was late in molting or because it belonged to a taxon that normally molts late). On Friday, Mike Rogers and I had been confused as to this bird's age. The worn condition of the plumage and lack of any "juvenile"- type feathers in the upperparts suggested that the bird was not a hatching-year individual, but the nearly all-black bill (with only a hint of pale color at the base) and lack of any plain gray feathers in the mantle indicated that the bird was not yet in second-winter plumage. We did not consider that it might still be in first-summer plumage, as I at least thought that by 31 October the bird should have had at least some fresh second-winter feathering. Nick's conclusion that the bird is still in first-summer plumage makes a lot of sense, reconciling some characters more typical of a first- year bird (lack of any plain gray feathers on the mantle, black base to the bill, worn plumage) with those suggesting a second-year bird (pale tip to the bill, lightening eye). As we watched the bird, Nick and I discussed this bird's identification, trying to determine whether any of the bird's characters eliminated Lesser Black-backed Gull and discussing how the bird's characters eliminated other species. With the exception of its relatively short primary extension (relative to most LBBG), we could not think of any characters that did not fit LBBG, and we were reasonably certain that all regularly occurring North American species could be eliminated. However, several Palearctic species/subspecies may be more difficult to eliminate. After I've had a chance to look through the gull ID literature, I'll post a detailed description of the bird from my notes and discuss the identification of the bird vis-a-vis other similar taxa. 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 Nov 02 12:04:19 1997 Subject: Lapland Longspur I had a Lapland Longspur flying around calling about 600 yards E of the corral at Sierra Road Summit. Also usual Prairie Falcon, Rock Wren, Lark Sparrow, etc up here. _____________________________________________________________ Nick Lethaby Pronghorn Consulting [[email protected]] 1112 N. Abbott Avenue Tel: (408) 941 0223 Milpitas, CA 95035 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 Nov 02 12:07:38 1997 Subject: CCRS Today There were 3 Pectoral Sandpipers on the pond today, with a Ferruginous and Cooper's Hawk soaring overhead. The banders trapped a White-throated Sparrow today. On Friday, an apparent eastern race Fox Sparrow was banded by Diane although I have tried twice to see this bird and failed. _____________________________________________________________ Nick Lethaby Pronghorn Consulting [[email protected]] 1112 N. Abbott Avenue Tel: (408) 941 0223 Milpitas, CA 95035 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 Nov 02 12:11:10 1997 Subject: SCVAS Gull Field trip ALL: To my acute embarresment, I have discovered that I have double-booked myself for the upcoming SCVAS gull id field trip on Nov. 15 at Alviso/CCRS. I will be in Mexico. I will contact Audubon to see if we can rearrange/get a substitute leader but I'd appreciate if you can spread the word that prospective attendees should contact Audubon first to check if it's still on. Thanks, Nick _____________________________________________________________ Nick Lethaby Pronghorn Consulting [[email protected]] 1112 N. Abbott Avenue Tel: (408) 941 0223 Milpitas, CA 95035 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 Nov 02 12:18:29 1997 Subject: The Lake Cunningham LBBG I am strongly of the opinion that this bird is a first-summer bird. The pale eye, worn scapulars and coverts, pale tip to the bill, and amount of gray in the mantle/scaps all indicate this to me. Since first-summer birds are much paler bodied than first-winters, we need to careful about reading too much into the pale head and body. Having said this, I have a high degree of confidence that this bird is a LBB Gull, although it may be impossible to eliminate "Siberian Gull" of the race taimyrensis (sometimes regarded as a race of LBB Gull, or a race of Herring Gull, or a separate species!). The fact the bird is still in first-summer may be indicative of Siberian Gull but I will try to so more research over the next few weeks. _____________________________________________________________ Nick Lethaby Pronghorn Consulting [[email protected]] 1112 N. Abbott Avenue Tel: (408) 941 0223 Milpitas, CA 95035 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 Nov 03 05:39:54 1997 Subject: RE: Apparent LESSER-BLACK-BACKED GULL at Lake Cunningham Steve, South-Bay-Birders: Steve: You asked what I meant by "There were what appeared to be about 4-5 notches in the front of each lower foot." Yesterday, I returned to view the Cunningham LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL, and Joe Morlan asked me about the same thing. I replied to Joe that I was not aware of the scientific term of what I was trying to describe. Joe tells me that the marking I was trying to describe are referred to as "scotes". In regard to my statement: "It was the only gull on the lake that had an almost entirely dark bill.", I am aware that first-winter HERRING, THAYER's and WESTERTN GULLS too have all-bills, but the gull in question at the time of viewing was the only nearly all-dark billed gull on the lake. 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 Nov 03 06:00:48 1997 Subject: Lake Cunningham and Alviso Ponds All: Yesterday, I returned to Lake Cunningham to view the LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL a second time. Steve Rottenborn remarked in his earlier e-mail that he was surprised that s that no others had come to investigate this gull. On Saturday I had arrived about an hour after Steve's departure, and I too was surprised that no other birders were around. On Sunday there was only a small hand-full of us there. To be specific only five besides me: Joe Morlan, Mark Miller, Mike Mammoser, and another birder from San Francisco. Surely, such a rare bird as this reported to the Northern California Bird Box and reported to South-Bay-Birds should attract much more interest than this. After viewing the gull for some 45 minutes, I hiked around the entire lake stirring up 5 GREEN HERRONs along the way. >From the reeds behind Raging Waters I scared up a COMMON SNIPE. 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 Nov 03 06:10:44 1997 Subject: Alviso Ponds (cont) All: Sorry for the additional e-mail....sent off the original without finishing. Late yesterday I hiked out to Alviso Pond A-9 (7.29 miles round trip) hoping to find Nick Letherby's Snow Goose. I did not find the snow goose nor any turnstones, nor any good terns, but on the way out I did find two PEREGRINE FALCONS between Ponds A-13 and A-14, and along the north side of Pond A-9 I scarred up an AMERICAN BITTERN twice. 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 Nov 03 06:51:39 1997 Subject: Re: Alviso Ponds (cont) At 06:10 AM 11/3/97 -0800, Feighner, Mike wrote: >All: > >Sorry for the additional e-mail....sent off the original without >finishing. > >Late yesterday I hiked out to Alviso Pond A-9 (7.29 miles round trip) >hoping to find Nick Letherby's Snow Goose. I'm not sure this bird ever landed. I had it circling over the pond for some time and had good looks but I didn't follow it out of site. We may want to check any Canada Goose flocks in the area. _____________________________________________________________ Nick Lethaby Pronghorn Consulting [[email protected]] 1112 N. Abbott Avenue Tel: (408) 941 0223 Milpitas, CA 95035 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 Nov 03 10:28:15 1997 Subject: more on LBBG at Lake Cunningham Hi Everyone-- Joe Morlan and I spent over an hour watching the apparent LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL paddle around Lake Cunningham on Sunday. We commented on the rather flat-headed look of this bird, and the fact that its body seemed to be in 2nd year plumage but its mantle seemed to be in something earlier. We noted barring in the tertial crescents, hints of brown in the tips of all but the outermost primaries, and irregular barring in the wing coverts (some tracts were more extensively barred than others). Completely dark trailing edge to the wing, and extensive white in the rump and tail base were visible in flight. I remember Vega Gulls looking more pied in flight around this age due to white in the secondaries reaching the trailing edge. I haven't seen taimyrensis and heuglini at this age; I saw a few winter adults in Hong Kong this spring, and even they did not permit close study. 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]] Mon Nov 03 14:33:36 1997 Subject: birds On Saturday, 1 Nov 97, I went to Ed Levin Park, where I quickly found = the adult male YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER in the trees along = Calaveras Road just past the park entrance. I was able to show the bird = to the Audubon field trip group that was there. We saw a couple RED- BREASTED SAPSUCKERS and a PRAIRIE FALCON as well. A = soaring accipiter was debated, without resolution I believe. I then went up Calaveras Road along the reservoir, where I had a = soaring adult GOLDEN EAGLE, but nothing else unusual. I went to Alviso, where I walked the entire loop trail out of the marina. = On salt pond A15, a flock of foraging DOUBLE-CRESTED = CORMORANTS had a cloud of FORSTER'S TERNS and = BONAPARTE'S GULLS overhead. Both VIRGINIA RAILS and = SORAS were calling from the slough and marina. Out at A9, during the = peak of high tide, a large number of shorebirds were roosting on the exposed= pond bottom. I was able to find a RUDDY TURNSTONE near the north end of thi= s pond. There were also about 14 BROWN = PELICANS in the area. On Sunday, 2 Nov 97, I went to the Guadalupe River to check for = sparrows. All the usual ones were there, but nothing new. Along the = riparian I found that the MAGNOLIA WARBLER was still there, as = was a YELLOW and an ORANGE-CROWNED. = Then I went to Lake Cunningham and enjoyed a leisurely look at the = immature LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL (apparently), with Joe = Morlan, Mike Feighner, and Mark Miller. 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 Nov 04 09:42:01 1997 Subject: Guadalupe River at Montague This morning, while looking unsuccessfully for the Magnolia Warbler, I saw at least one Solitary Vireo (a Cassin's, but with a gray head and white throat), a Black-headed Grosbeak, and Yellow and Orange-crowned Warblers. _____________________________________________________________ Nick Lethaby Pronghorn Consulting [[email protected]] 1112 N. Abbott Avenue Tel: (408) 941 0223 Milpitas, CA 95035 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]] Tue Nov 04 11:14:10 1997 Subject: birds Yesterday, 3 Nov 97, at lunch time I had a HOUSE WREN along the Coyote Creek= trail south of Hellyer Ave. 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 Nov 05 09:28:43 1997 Subject: SBBU update (1) Larry Tunstall has updated the Bay Area Calendar for November 8-14 for SBBU. (2) Recent news about Merlie. (3) The High Tides at Palo Alto that I sent out by e-mail have now been posted on 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 Nov 05 09:32:43 1997 Subject: LBBG still around?? Does anyone know if the LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL is still around at Lake Cunningham in San Jose?? 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]] Wed Nov 05 12:22:54 1997 Subject: LBBG still around?? (fwd) > > > Does anyone know if the LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL is still around at > Lake Cunningham in San Jose?? > > Alan All: It was still there at 10 this morning. Perched on the round black disk south of the rocky island. I couldn't find the Magnolia Warbler south of Montague. And several of us couldn't find a Townsend's Solitaire on West Edith off Foothill Expressway. Yours, 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 Nov 05 12:56:08 1997 Subject: Tides Correction HIGH TIDES at Palo Alto. Mike Rogers has called to my attention that some dates were missing for December (1,14,15). Here is the new list. December 1997 Mon 1997-12-01 1:17 PM PST 8.90 Tue 1997-12-02 2:03 PM PST 8.78 Wed 1997-12-03 2:51 PM PST 8.57 Tue 1997-12-09 8:20 AM PST 8.72 Wed 1997-12-10 9:10 AM PST 9.03 Thu 1997-12-11 9:58 AM PST 9.28 Fri 1997-12-12 10:44 AM PST 9.43 Sat 1997-12-13 11:31 AM PST 9.46 Sun 1997-12-14 12:16 PM PST 9.36 Mon 1997-12-15 1:01 PM PST 9.14 Tue 1997-12-16 1:46 PM PST 8.81 Thu 1997-12-25 9:07 AM PST 8.51 Fri 1997-12-26 9:53 AM PST 8.76 Sat 1997-12-27 10:38 AM PST 8.98 Sun 1997-12-28 11:24 AM PST 9.14 Mon 1997-12-29 12:09 PM PST 9.22 Tue 1997-12-30 12:55 PM PST 9.20 Sorry for the trouble. Kendric ========================================================================== 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 Nov 05 12:56:16 1997 Subject: Lake Cunningham LBBG All, This morning Frank Vanslager and I saw the apparent first summer, second year, Lesser Black-backed Gull on the float on the center of the lake and later on the small island in the Northeast corner of the lake. It is recommended that birder's, even those who have already seen the LBBG this year (Alviso, Southern Cal. etc), see this uniquely marked gull. We also tried for but missed the Magnolia Warbler along the Guadalupe river South of Montague Expwy. Take care, Bob Reiling, 12:40 PM, 11/5/97 ========================================================================== 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 Nov 05 13:29:13 1997 Subject: Immature LBBG All, In my last post I should have said that the small island is in the Northwest c orner of the lake. Bob Reiling, 11/5/97 ========================================================================== 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 Nov 05 15:01:05 1997 Subject: LBBG, and others All An early afternoon check at 1:30PM today (11/5) confirmed that the LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL is still present at Cunningham Lake in San Jose. It was first swimming near the black "float" on the center of the lake, easily visible from the pier adjacent to the marina building. The gull then perched on the float and never left it for the next half hour. Also present were many CALIF GULLS and RING BILLED GULLS, as well as representatives of three grebes: PIED-BILLED; HORNED, and EARED. After watching the LBBG for about 20 minutes, it regurgitated what appeared to be a chicken bone (no doubt from someone's picnic lunch?) and proceeded to pick away at it. Thanks to all who responded to my earlier email asking about the LBBG! 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]] Wed Nov 05 15:48:50 1997 Subject: Duck Days at SF Bay Refuge All, Duck Days are coming to the Alviso Environmental Education Center! I have been asked to forward to you a CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS on behalf of the Environmental Education Center of the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Guides are needed for one or more bird walks during this special event at the Refuge EEC. Your commitment could be as little as 1-2 hours of guiding, or more depending on your time & interest. The event is scheduled for SATURDAY FEBRUARY 7 and SUNDAY FEBRUARY 8 (hours 11-4 both days). Saturday's programs are focused on general adult-oriented activities, while Sunday's programs will have a family emphasis. If interested, please contact Christine Coy at the Refuge EEC at (408) 262-5513, or by e-mail at <[[email protected]]>. Thanks! --Garth Harwood, SCVAS Chapter Manager ========================================================================== 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 Nov 05 16:53:57 1997 Subject: things with wings Hi Everyone-- This afternoon I watched a PRAIRIE FALCON land on a high-voltage tower on Lockheed Martin property about 1/2 mile west of the Sunnyvale Sewage Treatment Plant. Water levels in the flood control ponds here are low, and are attractive to shorebirds, including KILLDEER, AMERICAN AVOCET, BLACK-NECKED STILT, GREATER YELLOWLEGS, LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER, and WESTERN SANDPIPER. On the levee road there were unusually high numbers of Pygmy Blue butterflies. 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]] Wed Nov 05 17:38:59 1997 Subject: YSFL, PEFA, MERL All, I also had no luck in refinding Steve's Townsend's Solitaire today 11/5/97, but that spot in Los Altos Hills was quite birdy. I managed to find 32 species, the highlights of which included an apparently pure female YELLOW-SHAFTED FLICKER (bright yellow wing linings and undertail, typical YSFL face pattern with prominent red nape spot) hanging out with an intergrade flicker (red linings but YSFL face pattern without much of a red nape spot) and a soaring immature PEREGRINE FALCON overhead. Other birds of interest included several oak woodland species such as CALIFORNIA QUAIL, ACORN WOODPECKER, HUTTON'S VIREO, CALIFORNIA THRASHER, OAK TITMOUSE etc. On the return I had a MERLIN flying low over El Camino Real at San Antonio Road. 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 Nov 06 07:28:41 1997 Subject: rngr All: This morning, 11/6/97, the RED-NECKED GREBE was in the northeast corner of 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]] Thu Nov 06 08:34:22 1997 Subject: Immature LBBG All, For some reason I did not recieve this post from yesterday, only my follow up post on the location of the small island. If this is a duplicate to you my apologies. This morning Frank Vanslager and I saw the apparent first summer, second year, Lesser Black-backed Gull on the float on the center of the lake and later on the small island in the Northwest corner of the lake. It is recommended that birder's, even those who have already seen the LBBG this year (Alviso, Southern Cal. etc.), see this uniquely marked gull. We also tried for but missed the Magnolia Warbler along the Guadalupe river South of Montague. Take care, Bob Reiling, 12:40 PM, 11/5/97 Bob Reiling, 11/6/97 ========================================================================== 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 Nov 06 12:15:28 1997 Subject: Sierra Rd I checked Sierra Rd again today without much success. However, Horned Lark numbers have increased dramatically with at least 70 there now. Despite careful checking, I could not locate any longspurs. Other birds included Golden Eagle, Prairie Falcon, 2 Rock Wrens, and 8 Lark Sparrows. I also quickly checked Calaveras Res from Marsh Rd hoping for a swan or Bald Eagle, but no luck there either. _____________________________________________________________ Nick Lethaby Pronghorn Consulting [[email protected]] 1112 N. Abbott Avenue Tel: (408) 941 0223 Milpitas, CA 95035 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 Nov 07 10:57:04 1997 Subject: Rock Sandpiper request Do we still have a reliable spot on the coast for Rock Sandpiper? I need to find out for a friend in Southern California (Brian Small). --Pete ----------------------------------------- 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]] Fri Nov 07 11:47:26 1997 Subject: Re: Rock Sandpiper request Peter LaTourrette wrote: > > Do we still have a reliable spot on the coast for Rock Sandpiper? I need to > find out for a friend in Southern California (Brian Small). > One's been reported recently at Glass Beach in the town of Mendocino. As to how reliable sightings are or even the current status, I can't say. 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]] Fri Nov 07 13:29:01 1997 Subject: EAPH, WTSP, WITU At lunch time today, 7 Nov 97, I found that the EASTERN PHOEBE has returned = to Shady Oaks Park in San Jose for, I believe, the fourth year. This bird was = about 200 yards into the orchard, straight back from the blue jungle gym at the s= outh end of the park. Also in the orchard was an immature WHITE-THROATED SPARROW= From [[email protected]] Fri Nov 07 13:49:26 1997 Subject: Re: Rock Sandpiper request Mark W. Eaton wrote: > > Peter LaTourrette wrote: > > > > Do we still have a reliable spot on the coast for Rock Sandpiper? I need to > > find out for a friend in Southern California (Brian Small). > > > > One's been reported recently at Glass Beach in the town of Mendocino. > As to how reliable sightings are or even the current status, I can't > say. > > 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]] Hello All: Glass Beach is in Fort Bragg, not in the town of Mendocino. The Fort Bragg area is a regular location for this species. Pt. George in Crescent City is also a good spot. Doug Shaw [[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 Nov 07 13:55:59 1997 Subject: EAPH, WTSP, WITU Aren't incompatibilities between mailers so annoying? At lunch time today, 7 Nov 97, I found that the EASTERN PHOEBE = has returned to Shady Oaks Park in San Jose for, I believe, the fourth = year. This bird was about 200 yards into the orchard, straight back from = the blue jungle gym at the south end of the park. Also in the orchard = was an immature WHITE-THROATED SPARROW. Perhaps more = surprising were the 6 WILD TURKEYS along the bike path across the = creek from the north end of the park. 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]] Fri Nov 07 16:19:02 1997 Subject: Re: Rock sandpiper request Pete wrote: > Do we still have a reliable spot on the coast for Rock Sandpiper? I need to > find out for a friend in Southern California (Brian Small). As of about 4 years ago there were two moderately "reliable" spots on the San Mateo coast. This probably represented the same 2-3 individuals returning for many years. However, about that time, one after another, they stopped coming back (died off?). While there have been one or two sightings in the last two winters in San Mateo, I know of no currently reliable spot south of the Fort Bragg area in Mendocino Co. Bodega Head apparently ceased being reliable quite a few years ago. Of course, maybe Brian Small can find one for the rest of us.... Regards, 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]] Sat Nov 08 16:27:09 1997 Subject: Birds This morning at Sierra Road Summit I saw 4 Rock Wrens, 2 Golden Eagles, a Sharp-shinned Hawk, and 40-50 Horned Larks. I also saw another Golden Eagle over 680 and Capitol Expressway. At Alviso, there was a Peregrine by A13. At Shoreline Lake the Red-necked Grebe was still present, and I had a Merlin and a Sharp-shinned Hawk nearby. There was a male Eurasian Wigeon on the forebay and the 14 skimmers on the salt pond. _____________________________________________________________ Nick Lethaby Pronghorn Consulting [[email protected]] 1112 N. Abbott Avenue Tel: (408) 941 0223 Milpitas, CA 95035 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 Nov 09 10:48:24 1997 Subject: last week's birds All: On 4 November, I spent a bit more time studying the LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL over lunch. While doing some work along the Guadalupe River I had 3 ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS near the San Jose Airport. While working on another job along Adobe Creek near West Edith Avenue in Los Altos Hills, I saw a TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE repeatedly sallying from a perch in the dead top of an otherwise live redwood just downstream from W. Edith. As Mike Rogers has already reported, there were quite a few birds in this area, including an imm. female BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER with 4 TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS and one WRENTIT (probably not unusual, I just don't see them in these residential areas very often). On 6 November, I again spent my lunch time at Lake Cunningham, where I got some pretty good video of the gull through my scope. I'd never tried this before, but it worked quite well, and allowed me to get some detailed, fairly sharp footage even while the bird was perched on the small island. I hope to post a detailed description of this bird along with a discussion of its likely identity (i.e., whether gulls other than Lesser Black-backed can be eliminated with confidence) soon, and I'd really be interested in hearing if anyone got good photos of the bird. Mike Rogers got some good ones and my video footage helps, but good photos of the wings (especially spread, even partially) would still be very helpful. This bird's apparent molt schedule is very unusual for a number of reasons, and the order in which it apparently is replacing or has replaced some of its feathers contradicts what is currently thought to be the norm for gulls. This makes it very difficult to age the bird (and some feather groups) properly, which may be essential for identification. On 7-8 November, I surveyed seabirds aboard a tug towing dredged materials from Richmond Harbor out to the Deep Ocean Disposal Site about 30 miles west of Southeast Farallon Island. Highlights included a FORK-TAILED STORM-PETREL and two LAYSAN ALBATROSS on 7 November and a very close WILSON'S STORM-PETREL on the 8th. Today (9 November), Heather, Rebecca and I took a walk at Shoreline Park. A flock of 40 AMERICAN PIPITS at the Shoreline Amphitheater overflow lot did not include anything more unusual. An adult male MERLIN was near Crittenden Marsh, and the imm. RED-NECKED GREBE was still near the boathouse on Shoreline Lake. A YELLOW WARBLER in olive trees along Homestead Road in Santa Clara was probably the one present at the same location last Sunday (Scott Terrill also had a late YELLOW WARBLER at Sunnyvale Baylands Park on 4 Nov.). 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 Nov 09 13:02:03 1997 Subject: LBBG, etc.. Hello All: Mike Feighner and I had the LBBG at Lake Cunningham on the beach on the west side, just south of the pier on Sat. at 1450 hr. The EAPH was at Shady Oaks Park in the same English Walnut tree as last season. The adult FEHA has returned to Morgan Hill at the intersection of Cocraine and Mission View on a telephone pole. The YBSA was at Ed Levin County Park in the south section in trees along Calaveras Road, specifically in the tree with a yellow directional sign pointing towards it. In Monterey county we had 2 AMDI at Pfeiffer State Park about 50 yards upstream of the bridge that is just above camp sites 192 & 195. The AMDI were quite active feeding and calling to one another. Doug Shaw [[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 Nov 10 05:51:19 1997 Subject: RE: Rock Sandpiper request Mark: Glass Beach is in Fort Bragg. Toby who is the regular reporter for the Fort Brag area would know more about its regularity. Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA, [[email protected]] ------ From: Mark W. Eaton Reply To: [[email protected]] Sent: Friday, November 7, 1997 12:47 PM To: Peter LaTourrette Cc: South Bay Bird List Subject: Re: Rock Sandpiper request Peter LaTourrette wrote: > > Do we still have a reliable spot on the coast for Rock Sandpiper? I need to > find out for a friend in Southern California (Brian Small). > One's been reported recently at Glass Beach in the town of Mendocino. As to how reliable sightings are or even the current status, I can't say. 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]] ========================================================================== 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 Nov 10 05:58:15 1997 Subject: RE: EAPH, WTSP, WITU Mike: I was there Sunday with Doug Shaw. The Eastern Phoebe was an easy find...as a matter of fact in the same English Walnut Tree where I had seen it last Marsh. Yes, it's back for the fourth season. Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA, [[email protected]] ---------- From: [[email protected]] Sent: Friday, November 7, 1997 2:29 PM To: [[email protected]] Subject: EAPH, WTSP, WITU At lunch time today, 7 Nov 97, I found that the EASTERN PHOEBE has returned to Shady Oaks Park in San Jose for, I believe, the fourth year. This bird was about 200 yards into the orchard, straight back from the blue jungle gym at the south end of the park. Also in the orchard was an immature WHITE-THROATED 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]] Mon Nov 10 06:23:21 1997 Subject: RE: LBBG, etc.. Doug and all: I would like to point out that for those of you who need to see a FERRUGINOUS HAWK in Santa Clara County, then the one in Morgan Hill near the intersection of Cochrane Road an d Mission View Drive is a rather reliable one. I believe it was back in November 1991 that I had first discovered this bird. Doug Shaw and I were driving back from Monterey County, when I asked Doug if he would like to see a FERRUGINOUS HAWK in Santa Clara County, and he said sure why not. There was no waiting around for the bird. As a matter of fact it was there waiting for us. As far as the YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER goes, it was in the exact same tree that Kathy Parker and I had it in back on January 6th. The directional sign is across the road and points right at the tree. This directional sign is for the traffic warning about the turn in the road ahead. Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA, [[email protected]] ---------- From: Douglas G. Shaw Reply To: [[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, November 9, 1997 2:02 PM To: [[email protected]] Subject: LBBG, etc.. The adult FEHA has returned to Morgan Hill at the intersection of Cocraine and Mission View on a telephone pole. The YBSA was at Ed Levin County Park in the south section in trees along Calaveras Road, specifically in the tree with a yellow directional sign pointing towards it. Doug Shaw [[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]] ========================================================================== 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 Nov 10 09:46:07 1997 Subject: Bittern at the Forebay I received a report of an American Bittern seen at 8:30 am in the Mtn. View (Coast Casey) Forebay on Sat. morn., 11/8/97. Marianne Dieckmann reported seeing it at the east end of the forebay which is on the Shoreline lake side. If you stand at the bench looking into the forebay, it was to the left at the base of the slope. 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 Nov 10 11:21:13 1997 Subject: YBSA, FEHA, OSPR All, Like many others, I too checked the Sierra Road summit on Saturday 11/8/97, but late in the evening. The HORNED LARK flock was away from the road and I had to be satisfied with a few fly-over birds. I did have 4 ROCK WRENS, but not much else of interest. Driving along Felter Road to Calaveras Reservoir I had 11 WILD TURKEYS across the road from the Covo Ranch, and passing Marsh Road I could see many ducks on the small pond towards Calaveras Road. I headed up Calaveras Road and scoped the pond from that side, finding 2 female/immature HOODED MERGANSERS among 51 BUFFLEHEAD (only 6 adult males). This group was a little removed from the many GREEN-WINGED TEAL, MALLARDS, NORTHERN PINTAILS, AMERICAN WIGEON, and single GADWALL on the south half of the pond. Scoping Calaveras Reservoir from the "second pullout" added a pair of hooting GREAT HORNED OWLS, but no unusual raptors or waterfowl. On Sunday 11/9/97 Mike Mammoser and I teamed up for a check of some areas in the south county. We started out at the western end of Bloomfield Road and spent about 2.5 hours covering the entire road to highway 152 and nearby Frazier Lake Road (to the San Benito county line). The western portion of the road had many sparrows, but only a single OAK TITMOUSE and DARK-EYED JUNCO seemed out of place along the valley floor here. Also had 5 CALIFORNIA QUAIL near the bridge over Llagas Creek. The fields east of Llagas Creek had mnay birds but no real rarities :(. There was a huge flock of several thousand blackbirds out in the middle of the fields but the birds were too far away to scope; the fringe birds we studied were all the usual species. Careful scoping turned up 190+ AMERICAN PIPITS, 74+ KILLDEER, and 16 HORNED LARKS. Despite keeping our ears open we heard no longspurs or Red-throated Pipits. Also of interest were 2 COMMON SNIPE and 2 female/immature MERLINS sitting and hunting in the fields. A quick check of San Felipe Lake turned up a WESTERN GREBE and a pair of BLACK SWANS. A pair of low-flying GOLDEN EAGLES cruised slowly over the hills on the Santa Clara County side of the road. We then headed to Canada Road, which was extremely dried out and had very few birds of any kind (not even many zonotrichia!). We did have another adult GOLDEN EAGLE here and at the one healthy stock pond we found we had a flock of 50 DARK-EYED JUNCOS and two LARK SPARROWS. Noting lots of sapsucker drillings at the "La Canada Ranch" entrance at 4165 La Canada Road we pulled over to check the trees here. Almost immediately a mid-sized woodpecker flew over our heads and landed. Mike quickly got on the bird and identified it as an adult male YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER, which then gave us excellent views while it slowly worked the main trunk slightly above eye level! This is the ninth county record of this species, with all except one record coming from the last four years and most pertaining to males! Along nearby Jamieson Road we had an adult RED-TAILED HAWK chasing an adult FERRUGINOUS HAWK. A few birdy areas between Jamieson Road and Gilroy Hot Springs Road produced 30+ RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS, 20+ HERMIT THRUSHES, 2 HUTTON'S VIREOS, 3 PURPLE FINCH, 1 HAIRY WOODPECKER, 1 FOX SPARROW, 9 WILD TURKEYS, and a "clean" flock of about 12 "MYRTLE" WARBLERS. The water level at Coyote Lake is way down, exposing a huge mud flat at the south end of the reservoir. There were lots of ducks and shorebirds here including what is probably a county record-count of COMMON SNIPE - at least 89 birds! Ducks included GWTE, MALL, PINT, CITE, SHOV, GADW, AMWI, 13 RING-NECKED DUCKS, several BUFFLEHEAD, and RUDDY DUCK. Shorebirds (besides Snipe) included KILL, BNST, GRYE, LESA, DUNL, and LBDOW. Also a few gulls here including an adult HERRING GULL and both PIED-BILLED and EARED GREBES. Next stop was the infamous "Goose Farm" on E. Middle Ave just east of highway 101 in Morgan Hill. Still in their pens were the 3 pairs of Canvasback and 4 adult White-fronted Geese (3 banded). Many Canada Geese were all over the area, including 14 "small" birds (apparently including both "Cackling" and "Aleutian", at least one capable of free flight) and 1 dark-breasted mid-sized bird (unbanded and with both hind toes). The entire SNOW GOOSE flock was easily visible this time (I think my count of 11 adults on 8/31/97 may have missed some hidden birds). It consisted of 13 adults (3 banded, 9 with right rear hind toes cut, 1 with a massively broken left leg and a big limp, and 1 that was unbanded and had both toes) and 1 immature (right hind toe cut, left wing broken). Since Mike Feighner had 14 SNGO here on 4/5/97, this seems to be the stable number here and the 21 birds he recorded on 1/19/97 and 22 on 2/23/97 may have included some wild birds. Wild birds here included 2+ COMMON SNIPE (for a day total of 93!) and many BLACKBIRDS, including TRICOLORED and BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD. On the way home we stopped off at the Ogier Ponds, where we had a male OSPREY perched atop a tall tree and then a half hour later flying southeast towards Anderson Reservoir, a male RING-NECKED DUCK, and 2 ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS feeding together. 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 Nov 10 11:31:38 1997 Subject: 160 after all All, Well, consistency does not guarantee accuracy. I finally got around to putting together the "official" spreadsheet for our 10/12/97 Big Day from all my field notes of that day and it turns out that we did have 160 species after all (despite not getting Barn Owl)! The list that we used during the day had both Herring Gull and Thayer's Gull numbered "68" and on the checklist I filled out that night as a check of our grand total I accidentally left off Hutton's Vireo, which was actually mentioned in the trip update! Thus even though both lists indicated 159, they were both wrong :(. So we did get our nice round number after all! And now our sponsors owe a few more pennies - just kidding :). 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 Nov 10 12:07:12 1997 Subject: Tule/Klamath 11/8-9/97 Trip Report The following is the trip report for the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory's field trip to Butte Valley, Klamath Basin, Tule Lake and Lava Beds NM on 8-9 Nov. 1997. Highlights include: American Bittern Tundra Swan Greater White-fronted Goose Snow Goose Ross' Goose Surf Scoter Hooded Merganser Bald Eagle Ferruginous Hawk Rough-legged Hawk Praire Falcon Merlin Sandhill Crane Williamson's Sapsucker Black-backed Woodpecker Pinyon Jay Clark's Nutcracker Mountain Bluebird Red Crossbill Our first birding stop was in the forests above Deer Lodge off Hwy 97 north of Weed. Upon getting out of our cars we were treated to an exceptional look at a BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER. Travelling up the Butte Valley we regularly observed ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS as well as numerous RED-TAILED HAWKS, including many "dark-phase" individuals. In AG fields at the corner of Meiss Lake Rd. and Hwy 97 we observed 3 FERRUGINOUS HAWKS, and a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK. Traveling along Meiss Lake Rd. toward Juanita Lake we observed PRAIRIE FALCON and GOLDEN EAGLE. At Juanita Lake, on a tip from a local birder (name??) we observed both male and female WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKERS at the campground. Lower Klamath was an unbelievable spectacle of ducks, geese and cranes. Here we observed overwhelming numbers of TUNDRA SWAN, GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, SNOW GOOSE, ROSS' GOOSE, CANADA GOOSE, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, MALLARD, NORTHERN PINTAIL, NORTHERN SHOVELER, GADWALL, AMERICAN WIGEON, CANVASBACK, BUFFLEHEAD, RUDDY DUCK, along with fewer numbers of, CINNAMON TEAL, REDHEAD, RING-NECKED DUCK, and LESSER SCAUP. SANDHILL CRANE were abundant in the fields just beyond the southern unit and put on quite a show as several hundred launched into the air and moved eastward along the hills. While the viewing of individuals was made difficult by their wariness (it is hunting season) the overall spectacle of tens of thousands of birds on these ponds more than made up for it (it is estimated that 3.4 million waterfowl are on Lower & Upper Klamath & Tule Lake). On numerous points through the trip we observed (and heard) large numbers of ducks and geese taking off and swirling over these ponds, an absolutely breathtaking sight. Our only ardeids were BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON, and GREAT BLUE HERON. Several BALD EAGLES and NORTHERN HARRIERS as well as a MERLIN were sighted here as well. Several species of shorebird were still present including BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, KILLDEER, LONG-BILLED CURLEW, DUNLIN, and LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER. Several HERRING GULLS were amongst the CAGU and RBGU. The next morning (11/9/97) we started out at the NWR Headquarters. The staff there was incredibly helpful and friendly and they maintain an excellent display as well as feeders. Highlights here include GOLDEN EAGLE, CALIFORNIA QUAIL, ROCK WREN, BEWICK'S WREN, GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW. On the way to the HQ several EMU were sighted, although not officially counted, as we decided that their appearance was likely human influenced : ), evidenced by the large chain-link fence which surrounded them (I doubt this sighting would get by the CRBC, especially with the lack of photo documentation). Tule Lake was again a spectacle of ducks, geese and swans. In addition to those species mentioned for Lower Klamath we also observed AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN, DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT, AMERICAN BITTERN, GREAT EGRET, SURF SCOTER, COMMON GOLDENEYE, HOODED MERGANSER, BONAPARTE'S GULL, and LINCOLN'S SPARROW. Our last destination for the trip was Lava Beds National Monument. We started off with a beautiful view of an GOLDEN EAGLE at 50 yards near Captain Jack's Stronghold, as well as MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD and a LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE. On the way to the visitor's center for lunch several members stopped for PINYON JAY. At the Visitor's center CEDAR WAXWINGS AND A TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE entertained us at lunch. Many participants wandered into Mushpot Cave to escape the wind and found a wonderful display about the geological features of caves. Our last stop was at the crater where we picked up PYGMY NUTHATCH, RED CROSSBILL and a CLARK'S NUTCRACKER which flew over just after we had lamented not seeing it as we went over the trip list. We totalled 102 species for the trip. Overall, we were told that it has been a mild fall so far, but with the approaching storms look for some of these waterfowl and the remaining cranes to begin moving through in the coming weeks. The next SFBBO field trip is to the Charizzo Plain Natural Area on February 20-22, 1998. Highlights of this trip will include the large concentration of raptors that overwinter here, and a visit to Soda Lake to observe the Sandhill Cranes. We are going to limit participation to 15. If you would like more information about this trip or would like to reserve a space please contact SFBBO. 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]] Mon Nov 10 13:18:41 1997 Subject: Sunday Birds Amy and I spent Sunday, 11/9 in southern Henry Coe SP. Highlights included 12 Wood Ducks in a stock pond in Hunting Hollow. We also had a Lewis's Woodpecker at the upper end of Grizzly Gulch and a Say's Pheobe near Wilson Ranch; both birds are rare in the park (except for the San Antonio valley portion of Coe where the woodpecker is a breeding species). Finally, we saw a male Hooded Merganser at Coit Lake, which is a first park record for the species. James Yurchenco ========================================================================== 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 Nov 10 14:59:36 1997 Subject: Cunningham Gull Last Friday when Ed Frost and I were enjoying the gull from our vantage point on the dock, we observed something quite disturbing. A lone birder in a green jacket and a cap with an "M" started throwing rocks at the bird from the far shore! Fortunately his aim and his arm were poor, but the gull got the message and swam to the middle of the lake and then took off and flew south over the parking lot and the far trees. The thought came to mind that we might have been the last to see the bird, but it returned a few minutes later. Hopefully this individual won't be throwing any more rocks at birds now that he has been caught in the act, and my guess is that he will hide the cap as well. Jack Cole ========================================================================== 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 Nov 10 19:35:13 1997 Subject: Re: Rock Sandpiper request Just a short follow-up to Mike Feighner's post: Toby refers to Dorothy Tobkin, who lives in Fort Bragg. Her phone number, (which she okayed me posting), is (707)-964-6216. She last saw a Rock Sandpiper approximately 5 days ago. She does not mind being called regarding any recent sightings or locations. FWIW, Rich Richard Kuehn, MD &/or Dean Schuler WindandSea Productions 2701 Sequoia Way 296 Buckeye Court Belmont, CA 94002-1451 The Sea Ranch, CA 95497 (650)-591-4380 (707)-785-3415 <[[email protected]]> ____ ( ' 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]] Mon Nov 10 23:27:13 1997 Subject: Re: Tule/Klamath 11/8-9/97 Trip Report At 03:07 PM 11/10/97 -0500, [[email protected]] wrote: >The following is the trip report for the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory's >field trip to Butte Valley, Klamath Basin, Tule Lake and Lava Beds NM on 8-9 >Nov. 1997. Highlights include: Tom did not mention, modestly, the excellent guiding provided by him and Gjon Hazard. They pulled out a number of difficult birds with aplomb, including the first bird of the trip -- Black-backed Woodpecker -- which we literally drove up to, got out of our cars, and had Gjon point out to us. Gjon's patient scanning also got us all the Surf Scoter, which is a great bird for Siskiyou County. Despite the sometimes chilly weather, it was a great weekend of birding. We also had a nice Mexican meal at Sergio's Dos in Klamath Falls, OR, for you Calbirders who venture across the border. Luke Cole San Francisco, 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 Nov 11 09:49:37 1997 Subject: Bay Birding Calendar Nov.15-21 Larry Tunstall has updated the Bay Area Calendar for November 15-21 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]] Tue Nov 11 12:03:50 1997 Subject: osprey I attended the Eve Case Discussion Group today. Great group, very informative. No wonder it's been around for 30 years! The hosts Pat and Jean Dubois have a great view of vasona. there was a white=throated sparrow feeding today and they'd seen an osprey perched on the island in vasona yesterday. gloria leblanc los gatos ========================================================================== 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 Nov 11 14:49:17 1997 Subject: birds On Saturday, 8 Nov 97, I went to the Palo Alto Baylands during the = morning high tide, hoping to find a Swamp Sparrow or something. I had = nothing unusual, but the usual suspects were on the mudflats at the = ebbing tide. These included WHIMBREL, SHORT-BILLED = DOWITCHER, BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, and LONG-BILLED = CURLEW. VIRGINIA RAIL, SORA, and CLAPPER RAIL were all = calling from the marsh. An immature COOPER'S HAWK was = overlooking the duck pond as the Audubon field trip group looked on. = I then went up Sierra Road, where I found about 75 HORNED LARKS, = without a longspur anywhere to be seen. Lots of SAVANNAH = SPARROWS here, a couple ROCK WRENS, a pair of adult GOLDEN = EAGLES, a PRAIRIE FALCON, and a SAY'S PHOEBE. = On Sunday, 9 Nov 97, I joined Mike Rogers for a tour of the south = county. To reiterate the highlights: we had a large number of = AMERICAN PIPITS and lesser HORNED LARKS along Bloomfield = Road and area, 2 MERLINS here as well, a pair of adult GOLDEN = EAGLES along hwy 152, an adult FERRUGINOUS HAWK along = Jamison Rd., an adult male YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER on = Canada Road, 9 WILD TURKEYS on Canada Road, a seeming record = 89 COMMON SNIPE at Coyote Reservoir, a male OSPREY and 2 = ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS at Ogier Ponds. Also, I believe = we had at least a dozen SAY'S PHOEBES throughout this area. 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 Nov 12 06:04:53 1997 Subject: Los Gatos White-throated Sparrow All: Yesterday, 11-11-97 after work, I headed over to Jean and Pat DuBois' place in Los Gatos to view the WHITE-THROATED SPARROW mentioned in Gloria LeBlanc's post yesterday. I spent between 30 and 45 minutes enjoying the DuBois' hospitality and the views over Vasona Lake while waiting for the WHITE-THROATED SPARROW to come to the feeders. Sure enough it did a performance. The adult sparrow was of the "Tan-Stripe" variety. Generally, it had a rather dirty looking appearance with yellow lores and a black malar stripe. Jean says there are actually two separate WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS, but they never seem to show up at the same time: one "White-Striped" and one "Tan Striped". Jean and Pat are on South-Bay-Birds. Thanks again to the DuBois. Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA, [[email protected]], 11//12/97, 5:57 AM ========================================================================== 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 Nov 12 10:04:06 1997 All, I took advantage of the government Veteran's Day holiday yesterday 11/11/97 to make a trip over Mt Hamilton. I was hampered by rain and not enough time to do everything as thoroughly as I would have liked, but had a few birds of interest nonetheless. While driving south on highway 101, I had a MERLIN fly low over the freeway in its highest gear just north of Lawrence Expressway - these birds can move! Smith's Creek Ranger Station was productive despite drizzle. A big flock of chickadees and kinglets foraging along the creek (first west of the bridge and then later on the east side) contained a BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER (apparently an adult female), at least one TOWNSEND'S WARBLER, 4 or 5 GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS (later in the conifers by the ranger station), and 2 HUTTON'S VIREOS. There could have actually been more GCKI, but they are hard to count accurately with so many RCKIs around and BROWN CREEPERS calling as well. These warblers are quite late, but they were outdone by a WINTER WREN that I finally got nice looks at along the creek after hearing it call. Later I had another WIWR calling further east, so there may have been two birds present! This bird is quite unusual in the Diablo Range. Other birds of interest included 9 PURPLE FINCH, the only ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD of the day, and 1 RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER plus 1 or 2 more sapsucker sp heard. Moving on over the summit in pouring rain I stopped at Isabel Creek, which was bone dry (as were virtually ALL the stock ponds along the route!). Several FOX SPARROWS, a PURPLE FINCH, and a overflying YELLOW-RUMPED WARBER (sounded like "MYRTLE") were all I could muster here. Another RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER was at milepost 11.52 before the San Antonio Valley. A stop at the "yellow gate" proved quite productive, with a single LEWIS' WOODPECKER, a female PHAINOPEPLA, another RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER (plus another sapsucker sp heard), a "SLATE-COLORED" JUNCO in with about 60+ "OREGON" JUNCOS and several sparrows, and a Coyote. A RED-SHOULDERED HAWK (probably one of Steve's pair) was at the Fred Gehri Bridge and at least 9 LARK SPARROWS were in the oaks just north of the road just past the bridge. Another big sparrow/junco flock north of the Mallinson Ranch contained 25+ SAVANNAH SPARROWS and an AMERICAN GOLDFINCH. Also here were a SAY'S PHOEBE and another LEWIS' WOODPECKER. Along Del Puerto Canyon Road, the first pond had only AMERICAN COOTS and a PIED-BILLED GREBE, but one further down the road had 6 AMERICAN WIGEON among 70+ MALLARDS, a GREATER YELLOWLEGS, and a GREAT BLUE HERON. The first cattle guard north of the junction was quiet but did have one flyover LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCH (only one of the day) as well as several LESSER GOLDFINCH. And finally, there was a MERLIN stirring up WESTERN BLUEBIRDS at the Biel Ranch not too far south of the Alameda County line. No solitaires or roadrunners for the county year list though :(. 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]] Wed Nov 12 10:15:16 1997 Subject: FWD:PBS Manu special South-bay-birders, I received this from Victor Emanuel Nature Tours, I thought some of you might be interested, I have no idea if the local station is airing it or what time it might be on, but just thought I would alert you to it. Fellow birders: "Manu, Peru's Hidden Rainforest" will be shown on PBS Wednesday evening, November 12, at 8:00 p.m. CST. This award winning film was made by Neal Williams and Mary Helsaple, whose first trip to South America was on a VENT tour to Brazil led by Ted Parker. Their film on Manu took first place at the recent Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival. ========================================================================== 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 Nov 12 12:15:21 1997 Subject: Re: FWD:PBS Manu special At 01:15 PM 11/12/97 -0500, you wrote: >South-bay-birders, > >I received this from Victor Emanuel Nature Tours, I thought some of you might >be interested, I have no idea if the local station is airing it or what time >it might be on, but just thought I would alert you to it. > >Fellow birders: > >"Manu, Peru's Hidden Rainforest" will be shown on PBS Wednesday evening, >November 12, at 8:00 p.m. CST. This award winning film was made by Neal >Williams and Mary Helsaple, whose first trip to South America was on a VENT >tour to Brazil led by Ted Parker. Their film on Manu took first place at the >recent Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival. I can't find it on this week's schedule (Bay Area), although I know I've seen it advertised. Has it already aired here? Does anyone know? ----------------------------------------- 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 Nov 12 13:13:00 1997 Subject: Manu on PBS All: A check of www.kqed.org showed that Manu is scheduled to be broadcast at 8:00 pm tonight. You should also check out the www.pbs.org/eden/manu site for a preview. 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]] Wed Nov 12 13:17:00 1997 Subject: Manu web site All: Oops. The web site is www.pbs.org/edens/manu 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]] Wed Nov 12 14:54:54 1997 Subject: SCVAS field trip (11/12/97) All, Today at Coyote Reservoir we had one ad Bald Eagle, 2-3 Golden Eagles (three sightings of 1, 2, 1), one ad Osprey, one ad Ferruginous Hawk (Roop Rd south of park entrance), one Spotted Sandpiper (upstream edge of dam), one Rock Wren (calling and seen on the upstream side of the dam), 6-8 Ring-necked Duck, and 10-12 Common Snipe (south end of lake under brush, the "island" near the dam previously referred to by Mike Rogers is now part of the shoreline). Take care, Bob Reiling, 2:40 PM, 11/12/97 ========================================================================== 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]] Wed Nov 12 21:44:54 1997 Subject: Manu -- Peru's Hidden Rainforest South Bay Birders -- For those of you who missed the above TV show on KQED (as I did), it will be repeated on Sunday, Nov 16, at 12 noon. Paul Armer ========================================================================== 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 Nov 12 23:25:04 1997 Subject: Re: Los Gatos WTSP Feighner, Mike wrote: > The adult sparrow was of the "Tan-Stripe" > variety. Generally, it had a rather dirty looking appearance with > yellow lores and a black malar stripe. Mike may well be correct in his assessment of the age and morph of this bird, but I wonder how this bird was identified as an adult tan-striped individual. Last winter Jennifer Matkin raised the issue of the difficulty of ageing supposed tan-striped WTSP. If memory serves, eye color might differ slightly between adults and first-year birds, but other differences are slight. According to Bent, juveniles usually molt into their first-winter plumage by September or October, so on the wintering grounds and in fall migration (when we see them), they look similar to adults but sometimes duller, occasionally with more vague brownish streaking on the underparts. In this first-basic plumage, the pale supercilium is usually "light tan" on all immatures, and only a small percentage of immatures (11 of 209 that Bent examined) have a white median crown stripe during winter, the rest having an "olive gray buff-tinged" median crown stripe. In spring, the immatures acquire their adult head patterns. Unfortunately, recent guides to sparrows (such as that by Rising) offer little more than Bent in terms of diagnostic characters that can be used to age these birds. Bent also says that although some white-striped adults retain the white head stripes during winter, most white-striped adults have a buffy tinge to these areas until new white feathers are acquired in spring. Other plumage characters may be of some help in determining whether an adult is white- or tan-striped. White-striped birds are "generally brighter colored and less streaked; they have more black on the lateral crown areas [rather than dark brown], less streaking on a wider and grayer chest band, less intense black on the malar markings of the white throat patch, and brighter yellow on the superciliary stripe." Of course, in applying these characters to a bird, one must first determine whether the bird is an adult or an immature (which may be difficult or impossible to do with 100% accuracy). If a bird has vague streaking on the underparts and tan crown stripes, it may be a tan-striped adult, a tan-striped imm., or a white-striped imm. Conclusions: if a bird has pure white head stripes and/or bright plumage with no streaking below, it is a white-striped bird. If a winter bird has tan or buff head stripes and is dull with some vague streaking below, it might be of either morph and could be either an adult or an immature. 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 Nov 13 09:05:26 1997 Subject: Pygmy Palm Swift Talk Hi all, I would like to invite you to a presentation on the CSULB expedition to the Maracaibo Basin of Venezuela to find the Pygmy Palm-Swift. It will be at the Sequoia Audubon Society meeting tonight (Thursday Nov. 13th) beginning at 7:30 at the San Mateo Garden Center at the corner of Alameda de Las Pulgas and Parkside Way. This presentation includes discussion and photos of the avifauna of the Venezuela's cloud forest, the Andes mountains and the plains of the Maracaibo Basin. Additionally it details the adventures of our crew in documenting the status and distribution of this little known species. Prior to this trip it was unknown whether this species was endangered, where this species nested, what its preferred habitat and range was, and whether or not it was the world's smallest swift. Our findings included the first documented nest, first body weight calculations, the determination of its habitat and expansion of its known range. Come hear tales from the tropics on this rainy night! 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]] Thu Nov 13 10:25:09 1997 Subject: WTSP I reported the White-throated Sparrow that I saw at Shady Oaks Park as = an immature; more specifically a first-winter bird. Despite whatever = difficulties there may be in ageing these birds, I feel that this assessment= = was good. = This bird had a tan supercilium with no real noticeable yellow in the = lores. It had a dark malar stripe through the white throat, though it = wasn't a real solid black, and the throat itself wasn't outlined with a thin= = black border. The bird was fairly heavily streaked across the breast and = down the flanks, all the way to the undertail coverts. It was also duller = in the head pattern. I didn't note the median crown stripe color, but the = lateral crown stripes were a duller brown than what I would expect on = an adult. These stripes also seemed to be edged or tipped pale, giving = the stripes something of a =22broken=22 or mottled look to them. As for = illustrations: the book =22Sparrows and Buntings=22 by Curson et al shows a = = first-winter bird that closely resembles the one I saw at Shady Oaks. 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]] Thu Nov 13 12:28:50 1997 Subject: San Jose gull - LBBG? (long) All: This message details the plumage of an immature gull in San Jose, California that is apparently a Lesser Black-backed Gull (hereafter LBBG), and discusses the elimination of this bird (and LBBG in general) from similar Palearctic forms. While such an identification would be considered fairly straightforward on the East Coast, forms such as taimyrensis (and possibly heuglini and others) might occur as vagrants to the West Coast (and possibly elsewhere in North America), and these forms may be very similar to LBBG. In fact, it is not clear that these other forms have been eliminated in the case of any of the eight or so previously accepted records of LBBG in California (all adults). Also, the molt schedule, and apparently the molt sequence of some feather groups, of the San Jose bird are unusual. Therefore, I would very much appreciate comments on the identification of this gull. I hope to post photos of this bird to the web in the near future, which will hopefully facilitate discussion of this bird¹s identity. On 30 October, Mike Rogers and I were birding at Lake Cunningham in east San Jose when I spotted a medium-sized gull with a mostly white head, neck and breast contrasting with a black bill and dark brownish upperparts. The initial impression I got was of an immature LBBG, and I jokingly said to Mike, "Hey, look at the Lesser Black- backed Gull". At the time I was merely joking, but upon taking a second look at the bird, we were unable to "fit" the characters we were seeing with any regularly occurring North American species. Mike ran to get his scope, and we enjoyed excellent looks at the bird in direct comparison with Ring-billed Gulls (hereafter RBGU) and California Gulls (CAGU), both sitting on the water and in flight. The bird is still present as of this writing (13 Nov.), and I have observed it on a number of other occasions, getting close looks at the bird in direct comparison to RBGU, CAGU, and Herring Gulls (HEGU), both standing and sitting in the water. DESCRIPTION In terms of overall size, the bird is slightly longer than most CAGU (although about the same size as some) but quite a bit bulkier, with a heavier body, thicker neck, and larger head than a CAGU. When sitting on the water, this bird often looks very similar in size and shape to nearby CAGU, but when standing on rocks it clearly has a larger, more rounded body. When standing, the breast is broadly rounded and the posterior end is held more or less parallel to the ground, whereas on the more slender CAGU, the breast is not as "full" and the posterior end is pointed down at an angle. Compared directly to a first-winter HEGU on one occasion, it was slightly smaller overall but seemed slightly stockier than the HEGU. The bill is shorter than that of a HEGU, appearing the same length as the bills of some CAGU (and even shorter than on some CAGU), but it is much deeper (both actually and relative to length) than the bills of the CAGU and only slightly less deep (if less deep at all) than the bill of the HEGU. The culmen is straight on its proximal half or more, but just beyond its midpoint it begins to curve downward gradually toward the tip, so that the distal portion of the culmen is broadly rounded. The lower edge of the lower mandible is quite straight over most of its length, curving down only slightly just proximal to the apex of the gonydeal angle before ascending at a shallow angle up to the tip. Therefore, the bill is only enlarged slightly at the gonys. The length of the culmen appears approximately three times (or slightly less) than the depth of the bill at the gonydeal angle, attesting to the overall short, deep appearance of the bill. The bill appears all-black at a distance. At close range, a small amount of pale pinkish-horn coloring is visible at the base of the lower mandible (some observers have seen a tiny bit of pale coloring at the base of the upper mandible at the gape), and there is a small amount of pale horn color at the very tip of the bill. This coloring is limited to a thin strip right along the culmen at the tip of the bill and to a small amount at the very tip of the lower mandible. The legs appear proportionately longer than those of Ring-billed or California Gull, and longer than I recall on most other LBBG I have seen. The toes and webbing are a fairly bright medium-pink, this color becoming duller and paler farther up the tarsi to the ankles. The ankles are pale pinkish, but above the ankles this color fades further to a pale grayish color with a slight yellowish tinge. The forehead is very shallow, sloping gradually from the base of the bill to the mid-crown, where the head becomes more rounded; the highest point on the crown appears to be approximately midway between the eyes and the nape. The back of the head is not perfectly rounded but is not noticeably angular or "squared-off". On the folded wing, three primaries (7th, 8th, and 9th, plus the regrowing 10th) extend beyond the longest tertial, and the tip of the tail falls midway between the seventh and eighth primaries. In terms of the extension of the primaries beyond the tertials and tail tip, the bird currently appears similar to California Gulls (although p10 is still growing). Overall, the bird appears bright whitish on the head, neck, and underparts, contrasting strongly with medium-dark grayish-brown upperparts and with the black bill. The feathering around the base of the bill, on most of the lores, and on the forehead, lower cheeks, chin, and throat is white and mostly unmarked (although there are a very few tiny dark streaks on the anterior lores and forehead). Fine, vague dark dusky streaking appears on the crown just above the eyes and extends posteriorly on the crown in a fairly uniform manner back to the nape. This streaking is moderately dense, but because the streaks are so fine, the crown still appears mostly white. Contrasting with the white anterior loral area, there is a dark sooty smudge in front of the eye that curves back both above and below the eye. Behind the eye there is a dark dusky postocular stripe that consists of very dense, fine streaks and extends almost to the posterior edge of the auricular region (becoming somewhat paler posteriorly). This postocular stripe is not quite as dark nor as uniformly sooty as the spot in front of the eye, but from a distance this stripe occasionally appears almost uniform (the fine streaking was most easily seen at close range). Below the eye and the postocular area, the dark streaking is more dense than on the crown, lower face, and neck, forming a vague dark patch under and behind (and just including) the eye. This fine streaking becomes more sparse posteriorly, and there is a vague pale stripe (formed by the sparseness of streaking) extending diagonally from the sides of the lower throat up toward the nape; this pale stripe isolates a small, rounded patch of streaks at the lower posterior corners of the auriculars, separating this small dark auricular spot from the dark area around the eye. Overall, the well streaked crown and sides of the head, contrasting with the unmarked white foreface and forehead, gives the bird a vaguely hooded appearance. A pale area on the nape (pale due to sparseness of streaking) separates the dark streaking on the crown from streaking on the hindneck. The dark streaking becomes broader, somewhat more sharply defined, and darker on the hindneck and sides of the neck than the streaking on the head, so that the sides of the neck and the hindneck are darker overall than the head. The foreneck is white with scattered well defined dark brown streaks down the sides of the foreneck onto the sides of the breast. Slightly narrower and much more sparsely dispersed streaking is present on the midline of the foreneck as well. The sides and flanks are much paler than the mantle and wings but are darker than the rest of the pure white breast and the midline of the belly; the feathers of the sides and flanks have large, dingy, medium-pale dusky-brown smudges with scattered dark brown bars or spots. The vent and most of the undertail coverts are pure white, although there are a few blackish bars and spots on the tips of the lateral and (especially) the distal-most undertail coverts. Most of the mantle feathers and scapulars are a dull, dingy, moderately dark brownish color with medium-dark gray undertones over most of their surface. Some of these feathers, especially the scapulars, also have vague darker (brownish-gray) or paler (buff) internal or terminal markings. However, these markings are very vague and diffuse on most of these feathers, contrasting little with the overall dark gray-brown tones. All of the feathers matching the above description appear somewhat worn and "washed out", although not overly faded. Two of the innermost scapulars are colored quite differently from the others and appear quite fresh (probably being recently acquired feathers of the second-winter plumage). One scapular in one of the upper rows is plain gray except for slightly paler buff-gray edging near the tip; this gray is darker than on the mantles of adult CAGU and appears indistinguishable from that of a LBBG of the race graellsii. The lowermost posterior scapular has a dark gray (darker than the plain gray feather) interior with extensive white at the tip. The rump and uppertail coverts appear mostly pure white with only a few small blackish spots or bars in the interior of this white rump patch and more black spotting/barring on the posterior-most uppertail coverts. Overall, this rump patch contrasts very strongly with the darker gray-brown mantle and with the blackish tail. The rectrices are mostly black, darker and more blackish than the dark brown tails of the first-winter CAGU and HEGU, with a narrow white terminal band and, on a few feathers, some subterminal pale spotting. The bases of all the rectrices have very small white spots and some white vermiculation, this white spotting becoming limited distally, although a few white spots are present on some of the rectrices out beyond the midpoint of these feathers. This white is most extensive on the outer rectrices and becomes progressively more limited toward the central rectrices, but even the central pair have some white spotting visible beyond the tips of the uppertail coverts. Overall, the amount of white in the tail appears more limited than on some LBBG but definitely more extensive than that present on a first-winter smithsonianus HEGU. The rectrices appear fresh, and are neither worn nor faded. The upperwing is quite worn. The marginal, lesser, and median coverts have dark brown (though slightly faded) interiors and broad, very worn, dingy off-white fringes. The innermost three greater coverts on the left wing and two inner greater coverts on the right wing have extensive brown (again, dark though somewhat faded) bases but quite a bit of paler mottling distally. The innermost greater upper-secondary covert on the right wing was not visible during early observations, but on 13 Nov. I could see that this regrowing feather was about 2/3 the length of the others; this feather is fresher than the other coverts and had more of a gray tinge to the brownish interior. The rest of the greater coverts are mostly dark brown with little or no paler mottling except at the very tips. On the spread wing, these greater coverts appear as a broad dark brown bar that is at least as dark as (if not darker than) the secondaries. It appears as though the uppermost 1-2 tertials on the left side are missing. On the right side, these uppermost two tertials are still present (as of 13 November) but extremely worn. On the uppermost (smallest) tertial, the dark brown base and dark barbs extending distally from the dark bases along the shaft are still present, but there is only a hint of the pale edging that was apparently present near the tip of this feather (these pale barbs having mostly worn away). The next innermost tertial on the right side is also quite worn; this feather has a dark brown base and whitish tip with a dark shaft streak extending into the white and connecting with a blackish subterminal bar. The next tertial on both sides (larger than the upper two) is colored similarly, being mostly dark brown but with broad whitish tip (the white extending posteriorly for some distance along both edges) having two dark brownish-black transverse bars connected by a dark shaft streak. The remaining tertials, which are the same size as the large tertial just described, have been difficult to scrutinize, but they appear to be mostly dark brown with broad white tips. These outer tertials all appear to be fresher (less worn) than the inner two tertials present on the right side. The outer portion of the upperwing appears quite uniformly dark. The primaries and primary coverts are dark blackish-brown, almost black, and they appear neither faded nor noticeably worn. Each primary has a very narrow pale fringe or spot at the tip; these small "spots" are very small and buff colored on the outermost primaries but become somewhat larger and paler (more whitish) on the inner primaries. The greater primary coverts also have pale apical spots that are moderately conspicuous on the spread wing, these spots being perhaps whiter than on the underlying primaries. The primaries are uniformly dark; the inner primaries appear slightly paler than the outer primaries in some photos of the bird, but the wing lacks an obvious paler inner primary window. The secondaries are uniformly dark brown (possibly slightly paler than the primaries) with moderately broad pale buff tips. The underwing appears dark and quite uniform. The undersides of the primaries and secondaries appear dark and sooty with a slight paler "bloom" visible when the bird banks in direct sunlight. Again, the inner primaries appear slightly paler than the outer primaries in some photos, although this was not apparent in the field, and both the underwing and upperwing appeared uniformly dark in the field. On one photo, a single secondary about midway out on the "arm" appears somewhat paler and more brownish than the other secondaries and the primaries, and there appears to be a gap next to this feather due to a missing secondary. The axillaries and all the underwing coverts are dark sooty-brown, not appearing noticeably paler nor darker than the rest of the underwing. The pale bases to a few of the secondaries are visible in one photo due to the absence of several greater under-secondary coverts on this wing. MOLT When first discovered, the two uppermost tertials and one or two median secondary coverts on the left side were missing, as were several greater under-secondary coverts and one secondary on the left wing. The 10th (outermost) primary on each wing is being regrown, being approximately 1/2-2/3 its full length. On 13 November, a new greater covert was visible on the right wing that had not been visible during earlier observations, and additional gaps in the row of median upper-secondary coverts on each wing were visible. AGE It appears that none of the feathers of the mantle and the scapulars are juvenal-type feathers (which would have dark brown interiors with neat pale fringes). Rather, I would guess that most of these feathers are fairly worn first-winter or first- summer feathers. The exceptions are a relatively fresh scapular that is mostly medium-dark gray, as expected of a second-winter feather (the darker lower scapular with a whitish tip may also be a fresh second-winter feather), and one fresh greater upper-secondary covert. All the rest of the upperwing coverts are apparently very worn first-year feathers. Therefore, it would appear that most of this bird¹s body feathering and secondary coverts are typical of the first- summer plumage. The eye color (paler than on a first-winter bird), pale tip to the bill, overall whitish head, neck, and underparts with only limited dark markings on the white rump and undertail coverts, worn condition of the upperparts feathering, and flight feather molt indicate that this bird is not a very advanced first-winter bird. Similarly, the mostly black bill, worn nature of the upperparts feathering, and patterning of the back and scapulars (with only one mostly-gray "adult-type" feathering) indicates that this bird is not completely in second-winter plumage. The plumage that best matches the overall appearance of this bird's upperparts is first-summer. However, graellsii and intermedius LBBG typically have finished their first complete molt into second-winter plumage by mid-fall, November or December at the latest, so if this is a graellsii LBBG, then its upperparts molt is somewhat retarded. Regardless of which species/form this bird represents or how retarded the molt of its upperparts feathering may be, this bird¹s molt sequence is very strange. The primaries and primary coverts, the rectrices, and the outer three tertials on each side appear fresh and dark on this bird, not worn and faded as I would expect if these were first-year feathers like those of the upperparts. The 10th primary, which is being regrown on each wing and which is therefore fresh, is not noticeably darker nor less worn than the rest of the primaries. According to Dwight (1925), Grant (1986), and others, the regrowth of the 10th primary occurs at or near the end of the complete molt, after most of the body feathering has been molted. Therefore, this bird's molt sequence is very unusual. Although it may seem that I've belabored the point of this bird's age and molt sequence, establishing the age of this bird and its individual feather groups is important in identifying this bird. For example, if the rectrices are first-year (i.e., retained juvenal) feathers, then the pattern and amount of white on them help to eliminate several species. However, if the rectrices are recently acquired second- winter feathers (which in many species may have more white at the base than first-winter feathers), then the amount of white at the base may not eliminate these other species. COMPARISON OF THIS BIRD'S CHARACTERS WITH THOSE OF LBBG Characters shown by this bird that are typical of (though not in all cases diagnostic for) a first-summer graellsii include: (1) Mostly black bill. (2) Little "swelling" of the bill at the gonydeal angle. (3) Short, deep bill. (4) Dark patch around eye. (5) Unstreaked white forehead, giving "hooded" appearance to streaked head. (6) Sparse but well-defined streaks (with no brown smudges or mottling) on neck and breast. (7) Predominantly white head, neck, and underparts contrasting with dark mantle. (8) Overall fairly uniform dark mantle with dark sooty-gray tones to the brownish first-winter/first-summer scapulars. (9) Moderately dark gray color to the single apparent second- winter scapular; this color was virtually identical in comparison to the mantle color of adult California Gulls to the mantle color of an adult graelsii LBBG present simultaneously nearby. (10) Dark brown greater coverts with pale markings restricted primarily to the innermost coverts. (11) Dark brown outer wing, including dark inner primaries. (12) Rump/uppertail coverts white with sparse dark markings, contrasting with dark mantle and tail. (13) Tail with very broad black subterminal band and white mottling at the bases of all rectrices. Two characters seem somewhat unusual for a first-summer graellsii. First, as discussed previously, the molt of the first-year body feathering is apparently late for graellsii. Second, the bird's long-legged appearance seems somewhat unusual for LBBG (although the legs are not extremely long). If the bird is a LBBG, then the timing of the flight feather molt is consistent with graelsii or intermedius, while the retarded replacement of the mantle, scapulars, and secondary coverts may better fit nominate fuscus. The long-legged appearance may also better match nominate fuscus than the other two races. However, the extension of three primaries beyond the tip of the tail (once the 10th has grown in), color of the single gray second-winter scapular, deep bill, and relatively large size for a LBBG (approximately the same size or perhaps slightly larger than the adult graellsii present nearby) suggest that this bird is graellsii. Intermedius is rather rare on the East Coast of North America, and nominate fuscus has apparently not been recorded with certainty in North America. Given the range and migratory routes of nominate fuscus, as well as its small population size, this race of LBBG is an unlikely candidate for vagrancy to California. COMPARISON OF THIS BIRD'S CHARACTERS WITH THOSE OF OTHER SPECIES Most gull species/forms are obviously eliminated by the characters described above, so only those that are similar (at least superficially) to LBBG are discussed below. Great Black-backed Gull is generally larger and has a larger bill, more strongly contrasting pale and dark areas on the upperparts, more extensive white barring on the greater coverts, and much more white on the tail than the San Jose bird has. Western and Yellow- footed Gulls are much larger and have broader wings and larger bills with a more prominent gonydeal angle. I'm not sure that a Western Gull would show the pale yellowish tinge to the legs that this bird [barely] shows. In first-year plumages, Western Gulls have all-dark tails, so Western Gull is easily eliminated if the rectrices of the San Jose bird are first-year feathers. Also, I have not seen Western Gulls of any age that have the pattern of streaking on the head and neck that is found on this bird and that is typical of LBBG and several other Palearctic species. Yellow- footed Gulls molt early, and even in first-summer plumage they usually show more pure dark gray-black feathers in the upperparts than the single "second-winter type" scapular on this bird; by November, a second-year Yellow-footed Gull should show many more of these dark gray-black feathers in the mantle than the San Jose bird. Slaty-backed Gull is a larger, stockier bird with a larger bill than the Lake Cunningham bird. If this bird were a Slaty-backed, I would also expect the gray second-winter scapular to be noticeably darker, the inner primaries to be paler relative to the outer primaries, the retained first-winter mantle feathers and scapulars to be more bleached and faded, and the legs to be brighter pink (or at least to be pinkish throughout rather than pale gray or pale yellowish). Similarly, most Kelp Gulls are larger and stockier, with deeper and more massive bills than this bird. The definitive mantle color of Kelp Gull is much darker and more blackish than on the single second-winter scapular on this bird. Herring Gull (including argentatus, argenteus, smithsonianus, and vegae) can be eliminated by several characters. The San Jose bird lacked the pale inner primaries shown by all these forms, and the shade of the single gray second-winter scapular (as well as the gray tones to the first-winter/summer scapulars) was darker than would be present on any of these forms. Also, the small size, short, deep, mostly black bill, and lack of pale barring/mottling on most of the greater coverts help to eliminate Herring Gulls. According to Shirihai (1996), Armenian Gull (Larus armenicus) has "extensively barred" greater coverts, a "more or less obvious" pale inner primary window, and a narrower black subterminal band than LBBG; I would not expect an Armenian Gull to reach California on its own power, but this form seems to be eliminated nevertheless. I think that most Yellow-legged Gulls can also be eliminated. Both michahellis and nominate cachinnans molt earlier than graellsii (and would be even more retarded than graellsii if they retained mostly first-summer feathering in November), and both species appear more "adult-like" in any given immature plumage than LBBG. Both races should show more pale gray in the mantle (as immatures) than the San Jose bird shows, and the definitive mantle color would probably be noticeably paler than the gray on the single second-winter scapular of the Lake Cunningham bird. According to Garner (1997), "Most Lesser Black-backs have dark sooty-brown or grey-brown first-winter scapulars, giving a generally grey-brown 'muddy' appearance; in contrast, both Herring and michahellis have paler scapulars." Garner also states that michahellis have "pale greyish" or "whitish-grey" scapulars with contrasting black bars or anchors in their first-winter plumage, rather than the sooty-brown of the San Jose bird. First-summer nominate cachinnans usually show more gray in the mantle than the San Jose bird, often having mostly-gray lower scapulars. The San Jose bird had only one mostly-gray scapular, and this feather was darker than would be present on a Yellow-legged Gull. These Yellow-legged Gulls also have more white at the base of the tail (with more well-defined black barring on the white tail base) than this bird. Michahellis may show a pale inner primary window on the underwing, while nominate cachinnans should show at least a vague pale inner primary window from both above and below (and should show paler underwing coverts, axillaries, and paler undersides to all the primaries than the San Jose bird); the San Jose bird had dark inner primaries and mostly dark underwings. Eliminating Yellow-legged Gulls of the race atlantis may be more difficult. According to Garner (1997), first-summer atlantis may be very similar to LBBG, and Garner gives no characters to distinguish immature atlantis from LBBG. The definitive mantle color of atlantis is darker than on other Yellow-legged Gulls and may approach that of graellsii (and therefore appear similar to the color on the single gray second-winter scapular). Because atlantis has apparently occurred in North America (in Quebec), it is important to eliminate this form. Therefore, I'd appreciate any information on the identification of immature atlantis (specifically with regard to distinguishing atlantis from LBBG) that anyone might offer. Barabensis, linked at times by various authors with cachinnans, armenicus, and heuglini/taimyrensis, is described by Garner (1997) as "a small, compact form with a very well-rounded head (including a steep forehead, unlike most nominate cachinnans), a noticeably small (sometimes very thin) bill, and a rather light body" that "recalls Common or Iceland Gull at times", a description not at all consistent with the San Jose bird. Garner also states that these birds have short legs and that even the stockier barabensis- types usually show a "straight, deep, flat chest profile" rather than the more round-chested look of this bird. I have not been able to find much information helpful in comparing this bird to a mongolicus Yellow-legged Gull. However, the one photo of the juvenile mongolicus in flight in Grant (1986) shows a bird with much more white at the base of the tail and a paler inner primary window than the Lake Cunningham bird; in these respects, this mongolicus more closely resembles nominate cachinnans than it resembles either the Lake Cunningham bird or a typical graellsii LBBG. Also, Kennerley et al. (1994) state that the definitive mantle color of mongolicus is similar to that of birulai (paler than CAGU), which would be paler than the second- winter scapular on this bird. Still, I¹d appreciate any further information on mongolicus (e.g., mantle and scapular pattern of first-summer birds, variation in the amount of white at the base of the tail). Nominate "Heuglin's Gull" (hereinafter "heuglini"), is described by Shirihai (1996) as being larger and having a large, "powerful" bill with a prominent gonydeal angle, a description not consistent with the Lake Cunningham gull; however, there is overlap in mensural characters between heuglini and graellsii. First- winter/summer heuglini is also described as having coarsely and contrastingly patterned upperparts, with dark internal markings on the scapulars contrasting with paler margins, unlike the more uniform, sooty upperparts of this bird. The inner primary window may be more conspicuous on heuglini than on graellsii (Grant 1986, Shirihai 1996); the inner primaries of the Lake Cunningham bird appear slightly paler than the outer primaries only in a few photos, appearing uniformly dark in the field. According to Shirihai (1996), adult heuglini complete the post-breeding molt "during Sep./Oct. to Feb./Mar. (though increasingly later the younger the age of the bird", and "this arctic species' extremely retarded winter moult is often of use as a diagnostic character". Acknowledging the variability in timing of molt within species, it seems that the flight feather molt of the Lake Cunningham bird is more advanced than would be expected of heuglini, but that the retarded molt of the feathers of the upperparts may be consistent with heuglini. Like the Lake Cunningham bird, heuglini is described as being long-legged (Grant 1986). Taimyrensis is described as being more similar to heuglini than to vegae by Shirihai (1996) and is described by Grant (1986) as being similar to heuglini in "size, structure, and plumage". However, due to the apparent variability of taimyrensis, this may be an oversimplification, and I have been unable to find any detailed descriptions of the range of variation in either heuglini or taimyrensis that would allow a good comparison with the Lake Cunningham bird. Birulai has a paler mantle than taimyrensis, being more similar to michahellis or nominate argentatus and paler than CAGU (Kennerley et al. 1994), and thus should be noticeably paler than the single second-winter scapular present on this bird. Nevertheless, I've been unable to find a good description of immature birulai. If the descriptions of the pattern and coloration of the upperparts and pale inner primary window of heuglini (and thus presumably taimyrensis and birulai) are accurate, then I suspect that the Lake Cunningham bird is not one of these forms. However, because I am not familiar with taimyrensis and birulai (and the range of variation in immatures of these two forms), I would not rule out any of these forms at this time. CONCLUSIONS In summary, I think that this bird is entering into its second winter, and apparently many or most of the primaries, secondaries, rectrices, and some tertials are second-winter feathers while most of the mantle feathers, scapulars, and upper- and under-secondary coverts are retained first-year feathers. This bird¹s characters probably match LBBG, most likely graellsii, better than any other form, and although I would never confidently identify a bird based on probability, I think that this bird is most likely a LBBG. However, based on the information I have at hand, I can not eliminate the possibility that this is an atlantis Yellow-legged Gull or a taimyrensis or birulai "Heuglin's Gull". In addition, I suspect that the information I have is not sufficiently detailed to eliminate nominate heuglini, and variation within some of the taxa that I have supposedly "eliminated" may be great enough that these taxa are still contenders for this bird¹s identity. I would be grateful for any information that anyone can provide on this bird¹s identity. Hopefully photos will be posted before long. Thanks in advance, 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]] Thu Nov 13 17:55:55 1997 Subject: Sat 11/15 Gull Trip cancelled All, Nick Lethaby is out of the area and won't be able to lead this Saturday's gull trip (scheduled for 1 PM at the Alviso marina). The trip is officially cancelled, but we'd appreciate your help spreading the word as we have no means other than this list to get the word out between issues of the Avocet. A "greeter" will be present to meet anyone who doesn't get the word in time, and informal birding is always a possibility, of course. Thanks for your help - we regret any inconvenience this may cause. --Garth Harwood, SCVAS Chapter Manager ========================================================================== 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 Nov 14 12:57:41 1997 Subject: LMMS PEREGRINE FALCON All: Today here at LMMS at 11:20 AM at 3rd Street and H Street a PEREGRINE FALCON circled overhead. Two loud COMMON RAVENs shouted their discontent, and the FALCON made a turn toward the Lockheed Ponds. Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA, [[email protected]], 11/14/97, 12:51 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]] Fri Nov 14 13:31:59 1997 Subject: birds I went to the Ogier Ponds at lunch time today, 14 Nov 97, to look for = Swamp Sparrow. Seems like there's lots of good habitat for these birds, = but I couldn't find any. The male OSPREY was still there, on the same = perch where Mike and I found it last Sunday. 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]] Fri Nov 14 14:17:02 1997 Subject: birding TV series request for information Our company produces ALL BIRD TV, a half-hour weekly television series about birds and birding for the Discovery Channel's new nature channel, Animal Planet. We are researching possible story ideas and locations for one of our programs. We would be grateful for any assistance you could give us. Specifically, we would like to know which bird species would be present in Redwood forest habitats during the first week of December, and which of the Redwood forests provide the best birding opportunities. Please respond to my e-mail address: [[email protected]] We welcome your input. Thank you for your time and help with our program. Sincerely, Laura Russell Associate Producer ALL BIRD TV ========================================================================== 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 Nov 14 14:30:55 1997 Subject: high tide at Palo Alto All, I made a quick stop at the Palo Alto Baylands after the peak of the high tide today and found many birders already in attendance. The water level was quite high (helped by the rain) but apparently not as high as yesterday according to those present then. The BLACK RAILS were apparently quite numerous today, with five having been seen before I arrived. I headed out with Steve to check for sparrows past the interpretive center and we were treated to good views of a single NELSON'S SHARP-TAILED SPARROW as it sat atop the vegetation for a minute. It then flew to the dike we had walked out on, but flew back shortly thereafter. Also present were an adult PEREGRINE FALCON on a tower by the interpretive center, an adult PEREGRINE FALCON on the Elwell Court tower and a female/imm MERLIN perched over the duck pond. 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]] Fri Nov 14 15:40:50 1997 Subject: Shoreline Lake After a visit to the Palo Alto Baylands (see Mike Rogers' report - however, I missed the Sparrow), I made a brief stop at Mountainview Shoreline Lake this afternoon: Red-Necked Grebe (near north end) Brown Pelican - 1 Common Goldeneye - about 24 Barrow's Goldeneye - at least 3 (2 adult M, 1 F) Red-Breasted Merganser - 1 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]] Sat Nov 15 13:18:02 1997 Subject: Baylands Today (11-15) at the Palo Alto Baylands parking lot corner, in the space of about five minutes beginning shortly after noon, four BLACK RAILS flew in to the vegatation in front of the logs. All the rails, plus a VIRGINIA RAIL, flew along the same path, which was subsequently dubbed the "railroad". While waiting for the rails, Mike Mammoser spotted a SHORT-EARED OWL straight out along the shoreline. The PEREGRINE FALCON was still on the tower, where yesterday it was observed eating a Clapper rail. (Endangered species eating endangered species). Jack Cole ========================================================================== 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 Nov 16 13:53:16 1997 Subject: Re: Baylands From: [[email protected]] (John A Cole) Date: Sat, 15 Nov 1997 16:18:02 EST Sender: [[email protected]] Precedence: bulk Status: R Today (11-15) at the Palo Alto Baylands parking lot corner, in the space of about five minutes beginning shortly after noon, four BLACK RAILS flew in to the vegatation in front of the logs. All the rails, plus a VIRGINIA RAIL, flew along the same path, which was subsequently dubbed the "railroad". While waiting for the rails, Mike Mammoser spotted a SHORT-EARED OWL straight out along the shoreline. The PEREGRINE FALCON was still on the tower, where yesterday it was observed eating a Clapper rail. (Endangered species eating endangered species). Jack Cole By 12:30 atleast 3 other BLACK RAILS were seen. One of these was the highlight of the day. I saw a small bird fly in from near the electrical tower and drop into the water. Then it started to swim and was very low in the water - just the head and a little bit of the neck was above water. It was an odd scene. I pointed it out to some folks who got the scope on it and we watched the BLACK RAIL swim slowly in open water for almost about a minute or so! Then it reaced some vegetation and proceeded to sit there in the open for 10-15 minutes. Everyone had mind-bending looks at it thru scopes, as it preened, streched its wings etc! This was even better than the BLACK RAIL/GREAT BLUE HERON chase that I saw at the Baylands last year. A SNOWY EGRET flushed a BLACK RAIL and then proceeded to hunt and swallow a non-native (floor ?) mouse. A quick stop at the Mt. View Forebay yielded an adult GOLDEN EAGLE that Adam Winer and I had great looks at through a scope. Also at the Shoreline Lake were several BARROW's GOLDENEYEs. Vivek ========================================================================== 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 Nov 17 07:03:35 1997 Subject: Lake Cunningham LBBG All, On Sat. 11/15 the Lake Cunningham Park Lesser Black-backed Gull was in the picnic area to the right (southeast) of the Marina. Bob Reiling, 6:55 AM, 11/17/97 ========================================================================== 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]] Mon Nov 17 11:00:57 1997 Subject: birds On Saturday, 15 Nov 97, I went to the Palo Alto Baylands for the high = tide extravaganza. Arriving fairly early, I went out the levee towards the = airport to look for sparrows. I tried hard to get a Swamp Sparrow out = along the outflow channel, but had no luck, finding only a wayward = Harbor Seal all the way up the channel near the lagoon. While out there, = I had a flyby MERLIN (immature or female) and an adult PEREGRINE = FALCON. Many rails were calling from the marsh, including = VIRGINIA RAILS, SORAS, and even CLAPPER RAILS. I worked my = way back to the parking lot just prior to the peak of high tide and took = up a post at the corner. While waiting there, a SHORT-EARED OWL = flew over the marsh and landed out of sight along the bay edge. The = water looked to be quite low as the peak time approached, but it surged = quite suddenly in a short period of time. This produced a quick rush of = 4 BLACK RAILS into the edge cover, 2 by land and 2 by air. A = VIRGINIA RAIL also joined them. I then left to go back out and look = for sparrows along the outflow channel. I was unable to find either = Swamp or Sharp-tailed Sparrows this day, but I got some killer views of = a VIRGINIA RAIL that was roosting up along the edge of the airport = levee. 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 Nov 17 18:08:33 1997 Subject: Carrizo Plain/Morro Bay Field Trip Carrizo Plain/Morro Bay Field Trip Date: 20-22 February 1998 Cost: $35 members/$50 non-members (includes membership) Leaders: Tom Ryan & Gjon Hazard This unique region is the winter home of more than 200 species of birds. The central coast allows access to avifauna that overwinters in California's inland AND coastal regions. We will begin our adventures at the Carrizo Plain, a remnant of the valley grassland ecosystem with its many unique plant communities which have survived or been re-introduced to this special area. We will search the grasslands and scrub for Vesper Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, and Sage Sparrow. We will visit Soda Lake, one of the largest undisturbed alkali wetlands in the state, winter home to many species of waterfowl and a flock of Sandhill Cranes. This area is also a prime wintering area for Raptors, we will be on the watch for Rough-legged Hawk, Ferruginous Hawk, Golden Eagle, Merlin, and Prairie Falcon. This is also a good area to see Mountain Plover. We will keep watch for northern rarities which are sometimes found in this area during winter such as Northern Shrike and Lewis' Woodpecker. Sunday we will spend the morning in the Morro Bay area looking for seabirds, shorebirds and waterfowl. We will begin at the lagoon looking for loons, Brant, scoters, and rarities such as Eurasian Wigeon. Then we will travel to Montana del Oro State Park and search the rocky shoreline for Wandering Tattler, turnstones, Surfbird, and Black Oystercatcher. Our goal is to provide the beginning birder with an excellent introduction to many of California's unique birds and the habitats in which to find them. We hope to provide the experienced birder with an excellent opportunity to view sometimes difficult to find species. We hope to provide all participants with an enjoyable, friendly birding experience, tales of adventure and new friends. For an itinerary, checklist, maps, and registration materials contact Tom Ryan at SFBBO P.O. Box 247 Alviso, CA 95002 (408) 946 6548 phone (408) 946 9279 fax [[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 Nov 18 04:22:47 1997 Subject: ABA-April Convention I will be attending the ABA April 20-26 convention in McAllen Tx. I would like to know if any other south birder is planning on attending and are you willing to share a room at the Hoilday Inn Civic Center?? RichCimino 510-461-1224. ========================================================================== 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 Nov 18 09:16:53 1997 Subject: Bay Calendar & Merlie Larry Tunstall has updated the Bay Area Calendar for November 22 - 28 for SBBU. Also, the latest sightings of Merlie are listed. 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]] Tue Nov 18 10:53:37 1997 Subject: RNGR and others All: On this morning's bike commute, 11/18/97, I watched the RED-NECKED GREBE among the docks at the boathouse on Shoreline Lake displace a female RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. A PEREGRINE FALCON was on the Elwell Court tower and I counted 11 BLACK SKIMMERS flying between Charleston Slough and Salt Pond A1. 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]] Tue Nov 18 15:34:10 1997 Subject: Short-eared Owl in Alviso South Bay Birders, Sorry I forgot to send this yesterday, but a SHORT-EARED OWL flew past the bird observatory's office near the Alviso Marina on 17 November (Monday). The bird was over the slough channel heading toward the marina at roughly 3pm (during the high tide period, boats were actually moving up and down the slough!). 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]] Wed Nov 19 18:34:20 1997 NOVEMBER 19 1997 SANTA CLARA COUNTY YEAR LIST UPDATE Well, the pace has slowed considerably - and we still need four species to reach 300 for the year. In past years very few new species have been added during December, despite intense Christmas Count coverage, so it will take work to find four new species by year's end. 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 Swamp Sparrow - Palo Alto Baylands, Ogier Ponds, etc. 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: 295: 10/25/97 MAGNOLIA WARBLER 296: 11/ 2/97 LAPLAND LONGSPUR 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 376 270 270 232 261 260 185 296 % OF COMPOSITE FOR 1997 % OF 376 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 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 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 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 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 Nov 19 18:39:53 1997 Subject: Sierra Road All, I made a quick lunchtime check of Sierra Road today 11/19/97. West of the pond west of the summit I had 8+ LARK SPARROWS and 5 WESTERN BLUEBIRDS. The summit itself had 35 HORNED LARKS and many SAVANNAH SPARROWS - also lots of WESTERN MEADOWLARKS flipping cow pies and 3 ROCK WRENS. Only had one flyover AMERICAN PIPIT. Returning via Felter Road I had 14 WILD TURKEYS at the Covo Ranch along Felter Road and at least one more LARK SPARROW with a big AMERICAN GOLDFINCH flock just west of the Marsh Road turnoff. No CCLO or MOBL brought in by the weather :(. Has anyone been checking Shoreline Lake after these rains?? Mike Rogers 11/19/97 ========================================================================== 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 Nov 19 23:28:27 1997 Subject: Oiled Birds at Pillar Point Three oiled Murres and one oiled Western Grebe were found on the beach at Pillar point this morning. The oil was thick and tarry. All four birds were coated on about half of the belly and one wing. This was on a section of sandy beach about 200 yards long. More search was not done due to other commitments. I have heard of recent oiled birds near Anu Nuevo, and am concerned that the problem may be more widespread. This is a lot of birds for 200 yards. Should there be a more general bulletin? Does anyone else have similar finds? Replys to Charles Coston, address [[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 Nov 20 11:31:31 1997 Subject: Re: Oiled Birds at Pillar Point Dear South-bay-birders, In response to Charles' posting on the oiled birds. If you encounter oiled birds on the beach you should contact the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary if you are at or north of Ano Nuevo. Their office phone number is (415) 561 6622. If it is south of Ano Nuevo, contact the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary at (408) 647 4201. If you encounter live oiled birds contact International Bird Rescue at (510) 841 9086. Please also post it to the listserv, I will forward the messages. It is very important that you do not touch the birds or the oil. The oil is considered a hazardous substance. You want to note the number of live/dead birds, exact location & time, and whether their is oil or tarballs (globs of oily material) on the beach. 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]] ========================================================================== 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 Nov 20 12:00:29 1997 Subject: SEOW in Alviso Dear South-bay-birders, I just saw a Short-eared Owl again near the Marina in Alviso, flying up the slough channel at 11:45 am on 11/20/97. Thats twice in the last week! Tom ========================================================================== 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 Nov 20 12:38:07 1997 Subject: Ogier Ponds All, Today Frank Vanslager and I had an Osprey at the Model Airplane Park (eating a large fish) a Peregrine Falcon (on the tall towers north of the park), many Ring-necked Ducks, American Widgeon, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, female Scaup (sp?), Bufflehead, etc. and one female Common Merganser. We had several Lincoln's Sparrows but no Swamp Sparrows. Take care, Bob Reiling, 12:37 PM, 11/20/97 ========================================================================== 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 Nov 20 13:51:32 1997 Subject: past week's birding All: Last Friday (14 Nov.), the immature LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL was still at Lake Cunningham; 3 GREEN HERONS and 1 female RING-NECKED DUCK were also here. I went to the Palo Baylands at high tide, but rather than going to the Black Rail corner, I went to the parking lot near the yacht harbor mouth to see what the egrets and herons were feeding on at high tide. As the water rose, I could see a growing "herd" of rails under the boardwalk across the harbor; at peak tide, there were 14 VIRGINIA RAILS and 4 SORAS huddled together here. During 1.25 hours here, I saw a Great Blue Heron eat a huge rat, a single Great Egret take two medium-small and two very small mammals, three different Snowy Egrets take very small mammals (one of which was kleptoparasitized by a Ring-billed Gull), and three Ring-billed Gulls take very small mammals. A total of 12 CLAPPER RAILS were near the harbor mouth, with at least 5 more nearer to the visitors center. I then walked out toward the outfall channel, where Mike Rogers and I got great looks at a NELSON'S SHARP-TAILED SPARROW. That evening, the adult male MERLIN was on its usual perch near the Alviso Marina. On Saturday (15 Nov.), a huge flock of gulls foraging on a playfield next to our apartment included 1200 CALIFORNIA, 6 RING-BILLED, 3 MEW, 145 HERRING, and 75 THAYER'S GULLS. Also here was a gull that was the same size, shape, and overall coloration as a medium- sized adult Thayer's except that the dark portions of the primaries were pale gray, similar to the shade present on a typical Glaucous- winged Gull. The bird's small size, small bill, and slender, long- winged shape indicate that it was not a Glaucous-winged Gull or a pale-winged Herring x Glaucous Gull. Unfortunately, the bird flew away to the north after only two minutes' observation (giving me excellent views of the gray in the primaries in flight). The gray looked a bit more extensive than I'd expect on a Kumlien's Gull but not by much; could this have been a Thayer's-Kumlien's hybrid/intergrade/variant? Later Saturday morning, a female/imm. MERLIN was on Gold Street In Alviso, and two PEREGRINE FALCONS (1 adult, 1 imm.) were on Grand Blvd. While conducting bird surveys near the Tri-Cities Landfill in Fremont, I saw a VESPER SPARROW on the landfill itself. Wednesday (19 Nov.), I visited the EEC in Alviso over lunch. Two gulls in the salt pond closest to the EEC building jumped out as being unusual. The first was a typical adult WESTERN GULL (typical primary pattern, medium-brown eye) with very dense, ropy dusky streaking on the head and neck like that of a Herring or Slaty- backed Gull. I had thought (hoped!) that such markings would not be found on Western Gulls, as this ropy head streaking is typical of Slaty-backed. Now that I've seen it on an otherwise typical Western, there goes another Slaty-backed field mark that's not diagnostic! Several other WEGU had fairly dense dark head markings as well, but on these other birds these dark markings had the crossbar shape associated with Glaucous-winged Gulls (and they therefore may have been hybrids). The second unusual gull was ostensibly an adult GLAUCOUS GULL. This bird had the typical Glaucous Gull wing pattern, with very broad white tips to the secondaries and primaries, so broad that no gray was visible on the folded wing at all. When the bird made short flights, I could clearly see that there was no gray at all on the very broad, pure white primary tips. The bird was about the size of a large Herring Gull, rather small for a Glaucous Gull but consistent with some definite Glaucous Gulls that I've seen here in California (probably of the small western race barrovianus). Its bill was shaped like that of a Glaucous Gull, being moderately deep but straight, with little swelling at the gonys. The bird had quite a bit of brownish, ropy, Herring-Gull-like head and neck streaking. As much as this bird resembled a Glaucous Gull, it had two unusual features. First, its mantle was darker than on adjacent Herring Gulls, almost as dark as the mantles of adult Glaucous-winged Gulls right next to it. Second, the eyes were slightly darker than those of the adult Herring Gulls nearby, also being more grayish rather than pale yellow. I know that this bird had Glaucous Gull genes, and maybe it was just an unusual Glaucous, but the darker mantle and eyes might indicate the influence of Glaucous-winged Gull genes as well (i.e., a hybrid). Today (20 Nov.), Scott Terrill and I visited the EEC to look for these gulls. Although we didn't find them, we did see a "RED" FOX SPARROW along the path between the EEC building and the salt pond. Most interesting (and frustrating!) was a very unusual Calypte hummingbird. This adult male had a gorget that was conspicuously elongated at the lower corners; although I've seen some Anna's with somewhat elongated gorgets, this bird's gorget was shaped almost exactly like that of a Costa's Hummingbird, and the lowermost, longest feathers flared out from the head like those on a Costa's. When seen in direct sunlight, the gorget was reddish, the same color as that of an Anna's. However, when the bird turned its head slightly, the gorget showed the same purplish or lavender color as a male Costa's. Again, I've seen variation in gorget color depending on the angle of the light in Anna's, but I've never seen one show the same color as a Costa's. This bird's underparts were those of an Anna's, and its body was not compact and hunchbacked like a Costa's, but it was a small bird. The overall size and the length of the small, slightly decurved bill were approximately intermediate between that of Anna's and Costa's. Finally, it repeatedly gave a flight display/call that was intermediate between Anna's and Costa's. The bird would rise to a great height and dive-bomb its target (which we could not see) before rising again in a very tall oval and diving again. During the bottom 1/3-1/2 of its descent and continuing on the lower 1/3 or so of the ascent, the bird gave a wheezy, descending trill with a quality very much like that of a male Costa's and unlike that of an Anna's. The call was much longer than the "pop" of an Anna's as well but not as long nor as loud as that of a male Costa's. We did not hear the bird give any call notes, unfortunately. Both Scott and I agreed that the fact that this bird showed characters of both species (gorget shape typical of Costa's, several characters typical of Anna's) as well as several intermediate characters (size, gorget color, flight display), it was probably a hybrid Anna's x Costa's. 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 Nov 20 15:58:50 1997 Subject: birds I went to Ogier Ponds at lunch time today, 20 Nov 97, again looking for = Swamp Sparrow. Again they eluded me. I did have a SORA calling, and = a single male TRICOLORED BLACKBIRD flew out of the cattails. = Near the entrance from Monterey Hwy an ORANGE-CROWNED = WARBLER was foraging. The OSPREY was still perched on the same = tree as before. After leaving, I had another OSPREY at Parkway Lakes = on Metcalf. 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]] Thu Nov 20 19:39:22 1997 Subject: New additions to SBBU Ted Chandik's trip list for Bodega Bay,Harbor,Head, Sonoma County, CA, November 16, 1997 Mike Rogers has updated the 1997 SANTA CLARA COUNTY YEAR LIST as of November 19, with suggestions about where to look for rarities. 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]] Fri Nov 21 13:33:43 1997 Subject: PRWA All, Steve Rottenborn just reported a PRAIRIE WARBLER along the Guadalupe River = near hwy 880. Take hwy 87 south to Hedding and turn right, going to Ruff and tur= ning right again. Park along Ruff and find a trasil along the river just behind = an employment building. Take the trail downstream about 1/4 mile and look for = the bird just past hwy 880. 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]] Fri Nov 21 16:11:51 1997 Subject: Shady Oaks Park Sorry to be a nuisance but I have to lead a field trip for Mt. Diablo Aud. Soc. tomorrow and I would appreciate it if someone could post the directions to Shady Oaks Park. We will also be visiting Charleston Sl., Palo Alto Baylands and maybe Ed Levin. If we see anything besides rain I will let everyone know. Thanks. 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]] Fri Nov 21 17:46:22 1997 Subject: El Dorado county I am new to this list and greatly enjoy getting your messages I have a request About five years ago there were two articles published in The Gull put out by the GGAS which described birding spots in El Dorado County Would anyone happen to have copies of these Thanks ========================================================================== 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 Nov 21 21:49:23 1997 Subject: Re: past week's birding I saw this bird a few weeks ago and was equally puzzled. I wrote it off as an odd Anna's or possible hybrid. I personally find Anna's/Costa's to sometimes a difficult separation. >Most interesting (and frustrating!) was a very unusual Calypte >hummingbird. This adult male had a gorget that was conspicuously >elongated at the lower corners; although I've seen some Anna's >with somewhat elongated gorgets, this bird's gorget was shaped >almost exactly like that of a Costa's Hummingbird, and the lowermost, >longest feathers flared out from the head like those on a Costa's. >When seen in direct sunlight, the gorget was reddish, the same color >as that of an Anna's. However, when the bird turned its head slightly, >the gorget showed the same purplish or lavender color as a male >Costa's. Again, I've seen variation in gorget color depending on >the angle of the light in Anna's, but I've never seen one show the >same color as a Costa's. This bird's underparts were those of an >Anna's, and its body was not compact and hunchbacked like a Costa's, >but it was a small bird. The overall size and the length of the >small, slightly decurved bill were approximately intermediate >between that of Anna's and Costa's. Finally, it repeatedly gave a >flight display/call that was intermediate between Anna's and Costa's. >The bird would rise to a great height and dive-bomb its target >(which we could not see) before rising again in a very tall oval and >diving again. During the bottom 1/3-1/2 of its descent and continuing >on the lower 1/3 or so of the ascent, the bird gave a wheezy, descending >trill with a quality very much like that of a male Costa's and unlike >that of an Anna's. The call was much longer than the "pop" of an Anna's >as well but not as long nor as loud as that of a male Costa's. We >did not hear the bird give any call notes, unfortunately. Both Scott >and I agreed that the fact that this bird showed characters of both >species (gorget shape typical of Costa's, several characters typical of >Anna's) as well as several intermediate characters (size, gorget color, >flight display), it was probably a hybrid Anna's x Costa's. > >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]] > > _____________________________________________________________ Nick Lethaby Pronghorn Consulting [[email protected]] 1112 N. Abbott Avenue Tel: (408) 941 0223 Milpitas, CA 95035 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 Nov 22 10:04:06 1997 Subject: PRWA All, The PRAIRIE WARBLER was still present just north of the I-880 bridge over the Guadalupe River at the southeast corner of the San Jose Airport at 7:40am this morning. The bird was in the vegetation low on the west bank and in the lower branches of the trees on the same side. Also had a MERLIN here. Good luck! 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]] Sat Nov 22 11:19:16 1997 Subject: Prairie Warbler I had the good luck to run into Nick Lethaby, and we saw the PRAIRIE WARBLER around 9 this morning near the second palm tree on the east side downstream (north) from the 880 bridge. The bird flew back and forth across the river. We also had a flyover by a FERRUGINOUS HAWK, which was my 200th bird seen in the county this year. -- 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]] Sat Nov 22 11:29:24 1997 Subject: Re: PRWA and other birds Tom Gray and I saw the Prairie Warbler about 200 yards N. of the 880 bridge by the second Palm tree at about 9:30. We also had an adult Ferruginous Hawk fly over. I then checked the Guadalupe river at Montague. I had a White-throated Sparrow 100 yards N. of tbe eucaplyptus tree. About 200 yards S. of the eucalyptus tree, I heard what appeared to be an Ash-throated Flycatcher calling several times. _____________________________________________________________ Nick Lethaby Pronghorn Consulting [[email protected]] 1112 N. Abbott Avenue Tel: (408) 941 0223 Milpitas, CA 95035 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 Nov 22 16:06:39 1997 Subject: Charleston Sl./Baylands This morning at Charleston Sl. we saw 12 Black Skimmers, a Lesser Yellowlegs, and a late Barn Swallow. At Shoreline Lake we saw the Red-necked Grebe and 3 male Barrow's Goldeneyes. At Palo Alto Baylands there was an imm Greater White-fronted Goose in the slough across the road from the duck pond. We were unable to find the Lesser Black-backed Gull at Lake Cunningham at about 2:00. 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]] Sat Nov 22 18:35:02 1997 Subject: 25 Hooded Mergansers in Los Gatos Creek County Park This afternoon there were about 15 male and 10 female HOODED MEGANSERS in the Oka Percolation Pond that is just east of the footbridge connecting the Oka Ponds with the Campbell Percolation Ponds in Los Gatos Creek County Park. In addition there were about 10 RING-NECKED DUCKS on this same pond. Jeff Finger > From: [[email protected]] > Date: Mon, 03 Feb 1997 12:28:51 -0800 (PST) > I've heard from both Al Eisner and Ann Verdi on the percolation pond > names at Los Gatos Creek County Park. Al cites the central San Jose AAA map > while Ann uses names based on common usage. Both agree that the set of ponds > northwest of Los Gatos Creek are the "Campbell Percolation Ponds" and the ones > southeast of the creek, connected by a footbridge, are the "Oka Percolation > Ponds." In the future I will report birds using the appropriate pond names > or, if birds are using both sets of ponds (or observers do not mention the > appropriate ponds) I will state that observations were at the "Los Gatos Creek > County Park percolation ponds." ========================================================================== 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 Nov 23 09:59:48 1997 Subject: Re: PRWA and Band Codes Dr. Michael M. Rogers wrote: > > All, > > The PRAIRIE WARBLER was still present just north of the I-880 > bridge over the Guadalupe River at the southeast corner of the > San Jose Airport at 7:40am this morning. The bird was in the > vegetation low on the west bank and in the lower branches of > the trees on the same side. Also had a MERLIN here. > > Good luck! > > 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]] Mike: I believe PRWA is not correct for Prairie Warbler. According to my birding database software it should be PRAW. I have used PRWA in the past, but it can be confusing because of Prothontary Warbler. PRAW = Prairie Warbler PROW = Prothontary Warbler Doug Shaw [[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 Nov 23 13:45:40 1997 Subject: Prairie Warbler All: On Friday (21 Nov.), I visited the EEC in Alviso over lunch, hoping to photograph the unusual hummingbird that Scott and I had seen the previous day (incidentally, Nick Lethaby has been seeing this bird for several weeks). I got photos and more excellent looks at the bird, and I'm pretty sure that it's a hybrid ANNA'S X COSTA'S. It matches almost perfectly the descriptions of presumed hybrid ANHU X COHU in Wells, Bradley, and Baptista's 1978 paper in the Auk (95:537-549), including the intermediate dive displays. Like the apparent hybrids described in that article, the bird sings a typical Anna's Hummingbird song. Also at the EEC were the "RED" FOX SPARROW, 2-3 SPOTTED TOWHEES (at least one male and one female; I've never seen this species at the EEC before, and they're uncommon to rare at CCRS), and the YELLOW WARBLER. Scott Terrill also reported that the YEWA at the Sunnyvale Baylands was present as recently as 19 Nov. Later on Friday afternoon, I was mapping vegetation along the Guadalupe River below I-880. A group of sparrows, Bushtits, and other birds were foraging on the east side of the river just above 880 when I glimpsed a yellowish bird with white outer tail feathers fly across the river and land in dense herbaceous vegetation on the east side below me. Expecting a goldfinch, I was quite surprised when a PRAIRIE WARBLER hopped up to the top of the vegetation. In my mind, this species was long overdue in the county, so it was good to finally find one. I watched this bird for only 30 seconds before running to a phone, but I later got long, excellent, very close views of it. The bird was a fairly small, slender warbler, noticeably smaller than a Yellow-rumped Warbler. The crown, hindneck, and back were medium brownish-olive, the hindneck possibly being slighly paler and more grayish than the crown and back (but not noticeably different). The back was not perfectly uniformly colored, but even at very close range I was unable to detect any definite streaking or any color different from the rest of the brownish- olive back. The rump was similar in color to the back but somewhat paler. The outer two tail feathers were extensively white, the rest being blackish. This white was very easy to see, as the bird was constantly twitching, bobbing, and flicking its tail, often partially spreading the tail as it did so. The white in the tail was also conspicuous in flight when the bird was landing. The underparts were virtually all yellow, this yellow being brightest on the breast and most of the belly but fading to a dull, pale yellow on the throat and chin and an even paler yellow on the vent and undertail coverts. On the sides of the face, the yellow from the throat met a fairly well defined medium gray stripe curving from the lores down under the auriculars. Between this stripe and the eye, there was a pale buff-yellow or grayish-yellow crescent (below the eye). There was a vague, very narrow yellowish stripe above the eye which extended only a short distance behind the eye; the lores and foreface were wet and "gummy", so it was difficult to determine whether this pale stripe extended onto or above the lores. There was a short, dark gray postocular stripe that was darker than the rest of the face, contrasting with the pale crescent below the eye and the pale stripe above the eye, but this postocular extended only a short distance behind the eye. The rest of the auricular region was a medium gray which became more olive posteriorly, blending into grayish-olive on the sides of the neck and dull brownish- olive on the hindneck. There were two rows of vague, moderately broad streaks on the sides and flanks which faded from fairly well defined blackish streaks on the sides to more vague and dusky or dusky-olive posteriorly. Just above the uppermost streaks, there was a small patch of gray near the side of the lower throat. The wing was mostly a dark dusky brown, the median and greater upper-secondary coverts having moderately narrow pale olive or olive-yellow tips forming two vague wing bars; the tertials and secondaries were narrowly edged in dull, pale brown or gray-brown. The only other bird of interest that I saw while mapping vegetation downstream from 880 on Saturday was a Song Sparrow of the very rusty race morphna. 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 Nov 23 14:34:23 1997 Subject: Re: PRWA and Band Codes Doug Shaw wrote: > Mike: > I believe PRWA is not correct for Prairie Warbler. According to my > birding database software it should be PRAW. = > > I have used PRWA in the past, but it can be confusing because of > Prothontary Warbler. > > PRAW =3D Prairie Warbler > PROW =3D Prothontary Warbler > > Doug Shaw I think Doug's database software is just using one of a number of possibl= e variations for these codes, although the two he gives are also the Bird Banding Lab's versions. The 1987 "Identification Guide to North American Passerines" by Pyle, et al uses: PRWA =3D Prairie Warbler PTWA =3D Prothontary Warbler I really think it's far clearer to use the full name of the species, in t= he first reference at least, for those of us (even present and former bander= s) who don't remember all the codes. 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]] Sun Nov 23 17:15:32 1997 Subject: Prairie Warbler still along Guadalupe River All: I got a very late start looking for the Prairie Warbler discovered by Steve Rottenborn on November 20th as I was on an extended Pelagic Trip out of Bodega Bay on Friday and another birding trip to Del Norte County on Saturday. When I arrived at about 9:30 AM (11/23/97), another birder whose name I do not remember said that he had seen the Prairie Warbler at 9 AM but had not seen it since. Al Eisner was looking for the Prairie Warbler a little further downriver from me, and Bert McKee and another birder were on the opposite side looking. For a while Al and I were looking together until we decided to check separate areas. We tried that for a while until we swapped areas. At about 10 AM I discovered the Prairie Warbler on the opposite side of the river just below the date palm described earlier by Tom Gray. The bird was unobscured in some white-flowering vegetation just behind some green cattails. While viewing the bird for some two minutes, I shouted to Al who under the background noise from the airport could not hear my calls. I then walked back toward Al to inform him of the bird's location. At this point the bird disappeared, and I could not refind the bird during the next 30 minutes. Hopefully, Al can relate his success story later. Hopefully, the Prairie Warbler will stay longer for me to see. I would only add to the earlier directions that those wishing to see the Prairie Warbler and driving up from either I-880 or from north-bound US 101, take the First Street exit to Hedding Street as only south-bound traffic on US 101 has access to Highway 87. Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA, [[email protected]], 11/23/97, 5:08 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]] Sun Nov 23 17:25:54 1997 Subject: Re: Prairie Warbler Mike Feighner wrote: > When I arrived at about 9:30 AM (11/23/97), another birder whose name I > do not remember said that he had seen the Prairie Warbler at 9 AM but > had not seen it since. Al Eisner was looking for the Prairie Warbler a > little further downriver from me, and Bert McKee and another birder were > on the opposite side looking. For a while Al and I were looking > together until we decided to check separate areas. We tried that for a > while until we swapped areas. At about 10 AM I discovered the Prairie > Warbler on the opposite side of the river just below the date palm > described earlier by Tom Gray. The bird was unobscured in some > white-flowering vegetation just behind some green cattails. While > viewing the bird for some two minutes, I shouted to Al who under the > background noise from the airport could not hear my calls. I then > walked back toward Al to inform him of the bird's location. At this > point the bird disappeared, and I could not refind the bird during the > next 30 minutes. Hopefully, Al can relate his success story later. > Hopefully, the Prairie Warbler will stay longer for me to see. I thought the time of Mike's sighting was more like 10:15. In any case, I refound the bird at about 11:05, and got some excellent looks after it flew over to my (southwest) side of the river. It sometimes entirely concealed itself in the low vegetation, perhaps explaining the long gaps between sightings. When I saw it it was about 2/3 of the way to the palm referred to above. Cheers, 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 Nov 23 17:39:32 1997 Subject: RE: Prairie Warbler Al: Glad you finally got the bird...yes, 10:15 AM is correct. Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA, [[email protected]] ---------- From: [[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, November 23, 1997 5:25 PM To: [[email protected]] Subject: Re: Prairie Warbler Mike Feighner wrote: > When I arrived at about 9:30 AM (11/23/97), another birder whose name I > do not remember said that he had seen the Prairie Warbler at 9 AM but > had not seen it since. Al Eisner was looking for the Prairie Warbler a > little further downriver from me, and Bert McKee and another birder were > on the opposite side looking. For a while Al and I were looking > together until we decided to check separate areas. We tried that for a > while until we swapped areas. At about 10 AM I discovered the Prairie > Warbler on the opposite side of the river just below the date palm > described earlier by Tom Gray. The bird was unobscured in some > white-flowering vegetation just behind some green cattails. While > viewing the bird for some two minutes, I shouted to Al who under the > background noise from the airport could not hear my calls. I then > walked back toward Al to inform him of the bird's location. At this > point the bird disappeared, and I could not refind the bird during the > next 30 minutes. Hopefully, Al can relate his success story later. > Hopefully, the Prairie Warbler will stay longer for me to see. I thought the time of Mike's sighting was more like 10:15. In any case, I refound the bird at about 11:05, and got some excellent looks after it flew over to my (southwest) side of the river. It sometimes entirely concealed itself in the low vegetation, perhaps explaining the long gaps between sightings. When I saw it it was about 2/3 of the way to the palm referred to above. Cheers, 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]] ========================================================================== 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 Nov 24 02:00:40 1997 Subject: Alviso Yesterday (23 Nov.) I went to Alviso to look for the interesting Calypte that was being seen at the Environmental Education Center. A nice adult GOLDEN EAGLE flew right over the road near the junction of Nortech and 1st (sorry, Al, I couldn't miss that one). I spent quite a while looking for the hummingbird and the Red Fox Sparrow at the EEC without success. I'd appreciate hearing about it if anyone sees the hummingbird again. The YELLOW WARBLER was chipping insanely along the dike where the Fox Sparrow had been seen. 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]] Mon Nov 24 09:13:04 1997 Subject: 3 Ferruginous Hawks All: This afternoon (24 Nov.), Scott Terrill and I looked for the Prairie Warbler without success. While here, however, I saw a "kettle" consisting of 3 FERRUGINOUS HAWKS (1 ad., 2 imm.) and 6 RED-TAILED HAWKS over the airport, with several more Red-taileds scattered around (probably more than 10 present). This morning, Scott saw a TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE flying low over Hwy. 17 in Los Gatos. 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 Nov 24 09:44:34 1997 Subject: banded Willet at Baylands On Saturday 11/22 we had a banded Willet in the channel across from the duck pond at the Palo Alto Baylands. It had a red band on the tibia of each leg. Does anyone know where they are banding Willets? 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]] Mon Nov 24 11:03:37 1997 Subject: Banded Bird info (fwd) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- This (below) is the information that I received with a similar question. Be sure to include your name & address, date & time of siting, location, species name, leg-band combinations (include the leg (the bird's right or left), what color is above/below the other (if more than one), and whether it is above or below the "knee"), and any other information that may be helpful. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 9 Dec 1996 14:51:27 -0700 From: Mary Gustafson <[[email protected]]> New world birds can be reported as follows: Color marked shorebirds can be reported directly to Cheri Gratto-Trevor of the Pan American Shorebird program: [[email protected]] All other birds should be reported directly to me at: [[email protected]] OR [[email protected]] Mary Gustafson --------------------- Or you can do it the old-fashioned way: Bird Banding Laboratory 12100 Beech Forest Road Laurel Maryland 20708 There is also a phone number (toll free!) 1-800-327-BAND So, whatever suits your fancy, there's a way to get the info to them. 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]] Mon Nov 24 11:56:07 1997 Subject: birds On Friday, 21 Nov 97, I made a lunch time check of the marsh along = Coyote Creek at the end of Silicon Valley Blvd. I had the usual sparrow = suspects; such as SONG, LINCOLN'S, and FOX, but couldn't dig out a = Swamp. After returning to work, I got a call from Steve Rottenborn, = asking me to put out an email message about the Prairie Warbler. I then = hustled down to the Guadalupe River while Steve was still there, and = we both watched the PRAIRIE WARBLER for a short period. On Saturday, 22 Nov 97, I went back to the Guadalupe River to look = again at the PRAIRIE WARBLER, getting some good views from short = distances. I then checked the river between Montague and Trimble. It = was pretty slow along the riparian, with the usual KINGLETS, = THRUSHES, and YELLOW-RUMPEDS. A COMMON SNIPE = flushed from the overflow channel, and a couple of TRICOLORED = BLACKBIRDS were in with the RED-WINGEDS. South of Trimble I = flushed up an AMERICAN BITTERN and had a couple = LOGGERHEAD SHRIKES. = I drove up to the summit of Sierra Road, where I had a flock of over = 100 HORNED LARKS. A couple of LARK SPARROWS and many = SAVANNAHS were also present. Back down the road at Ed Levin = Park, the YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER was still present. On Sunday, 23 Nov 97, I went to the Palo Alto Baylands, where I = walked out the levee to the airport, looking for sparrows. It was unusual = to see a COMMON MOORHEN on the salt water of the outflow = channel. SORAS and VIRGINIA RAILS called from the marsh, and the = adult PEREGRINE FALCON was on the power tower near the = interpretive center. However, the unusual sparrows eluded me again. Down the road, a number of REDHEADS were on the north pond of = the flood control basin, though I didn't actually count them. The RED- NECKED GREBE was still on Shoreline Lake, along with 4 other = grebe species (all that was needed for a 6-grebe site was a Clark's). = There were 14 BLACK SKIMMERS on Charleston Slough. 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 Nov 24 12:33:49 1997 Subject: banded Willet at Baylands Steve, Here are a couple of replies Phyllis Browning and I received in response = to queries about a banded Willet Phyllis saw in the summer of 1996. 1) All reports of color banded birds (and bird bands, for that matter!)= should be directed to [[email protected]]. Please include the DATE, LOCATIO= N (miles and direction from a near town), BAND NUMBER or COLOR CODE, a= nd the NAME and STREET ADDRESS of the person who found the bird AND you= r name and address if you aren't the person that found it. I know EVERYONE who has been color marking Willet legally. But without the= complete information, I can't send it on to the bander to be sure. Mary Gustafson Biologist, Auxiliary Marking Bird Banding Laboratory Laurel, MD and 2) From: David Mehlman <[[email protected]]> Subject: Re: Banded Willet = To Phyllis Browning, c/o Rosalie Lefkowitz & Bird Banders: The Willet reported from Santa Clara County, CA, with Yellow-Aluminum-Yellow on the left leg was banded by National Biological Service Personnel at the Summer Lake Wildlife Area, Lake County, Oregon as an L-U. It was captured by hand while still a chic= k on the area. There were four different birds with YAY on the left le= g, so it was probably banded earlier this month, possibly in late June. I would appreciate knowing any additional details on this bird and obviously the bands on the right leg would be very helpful to know. = If this message could be forwarded to PHyllis (if she's not on the bird banding list), I'd appreicate that too. For what its worth, we've banded other willets at other sites in southern Oregon and northern California with a variety of combinations and we have also color banded many american avocets at the same sites. Thanks for posting the message and you can reach me at the address below. -Dave Mehlman =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D David Mehlman Forest & Rangeland Ecosystem voice: (541) 750-7495 Science Center fax: (541) 758-7761 3200 SW Jefferson Way e-mail: [[email protected]] Corvallis, OR 97331 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D 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 Nov 24 13:27:47 1997 Subject: Re: birds >I drove up to the summit of Sierra Road, where I had a flock of over 100 HORNED LARKS. A couple of LARK SPARROWS and many SAVANNAHS were also present. Back down the road at Ed Levin Park, the YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER was still present. > Interestingly, I was at the same site Satarday morning ae well and I had only about 10-15 Horned Larks but 50 Lark Sparrows. The fluctuations in numbers keep me hoping that a good longspur will show eventually. I had two Golden Eagles on the pylons (English word for the metal towers that support power lines) about half a mile or so E. of the corral. _____________________________________________________________ Nick Lethaby Pronghorn Consulting [[email protected]] 1112 N. Abbott Avenue Tel: (408) 941 0223 Milpitas, CA 95035 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 Nov 24 13:30:11 1997 Subject: Re: birds Back down the road at Ed Levin Park, the YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER was still present. > Mike: Is it possible to park near the sapsucker site for free somewhere? Nick _____________________________________________________________ Nick Lethaby Pronghorn Consulting [[email protected]] 1112 N. Abbott Avenue Tel: (408) 941 0223 Milpitas, CA 95035 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 Nov 24 14:58:49 1997 Subject: PRWA All, At 10:30 AM this morning, 11/24/97, I saw the Prairie Warbler on the northeast bank of the Guadalupe River fly from the ground up into the second Pepper tree west of the of the Date? Palm. I then lost the bird while trying to get other birder's to see it. The bird subsequently flew past me on the southwest side of the river, around a tree and out of sight. Both sightings were definitive but short and unsatisfying looks at the bird. Although I think that Jack Cole subsequently saw the bird on northeast side of the river neither I or any of the other five birder's there saw the bird again as of 12:30 PM when I left. Goog luck and take care, Bob Reiling, 2:58 PM, 11/24/97 ========================================================================== 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 Nov 25 06:04:20 1997 Subject: Lake Cunningham Lesser Black-backed Gull Update All: Yesterday, November 24th, Steve Bailey called into the Northern California Bird Box to report his sighting of the Lesser Black-backed Gull at Lake Cunningham in San Jose and offers several points on why he feels that the bird in question is a 2nd-winter Lesser Black-backed Gull. For those of you interested in hearing those details can call the bird box at (415) 681-7422. These important details were not included in the recently transcribed e-mail version. Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA, [[email protected]], 11/25/97, 5:57 AM ========================================================================== 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 Nov 25 11:10:09 1997 Subject: Re: Lake Cunningham Lesser Black-backed Gull Update On Tue, 25 Nov 1997, Feighner, Mike wrote: > Yesterday, November 24th, Steve Bailey called into the Northern > California Bird Box to report his sighting of the Lesser Black-backed > Gull at Lake Cunningham in San Jose and offers several points on why he > feels that the bird in question is a 2nd-winter Lesser Black-backed > Gull. For those of you interested in hearing those details can call the > bird box at > (415) 681-7422. These important details were not included in the > recently transcribed e-mail version. I ommitted those details intentionally. First, I was in a _major_ hurry at the time. Second, I've never felt that RBA transcripts are the appropriate forum for ID debates. Of course, I'm willing/obligated to note when there are differences of opinion about the ID of a bird. But giving the full reasoning behind those opinions seems overkill given the role of the transcript. 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]] From [[email protected]] Tue Nov 25 12:49:26 1997 Subject: Re: Lake Cunningham Lesser Black-backed Gull Update All: For what it's worth, I don't think that Steve Bailey is correct in stating that the feathers of the upperparts are all second-basic feathers. The median and lesser upper-secondary coverts and several tertials are extremely worn, and I simply do not believe that these are recently acquired feathers. I agree with Bailey's assessment of the fresh primaries and rectrices, pale eye, pale tip to the bill, etc. ruling out a first-year bird, but I (and others) have been saying this for a while. We all agree on the bird's age (it's in its second fall), so Bailey is also incorrect in saying that the bird has been "mis-aged". As for what plumage it's wearing, I think the bird is in transition, probably from first-alternate to second-basic, and it can't be pigeon-holed as all "second-basic" at this time. I'll try to talk to Bailey to see why he thinks this. 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 Nov 25 14:22:08 1997 Subject: RE: Lake Cunningham Lesser Black-backed Gull Update Adam: I totally agree, and I was surprised origianally to hear the discussion over the bird box. I referred to the missing lines in the transcript only because Steve Bailey is not online unfortunately. I made a mention of this only so those interested could hear Steve Bailey's opinion. Whether those who listen will agree or not is another matter. Mike Feighner ---------- From: Adam Winer Sent: Tuesday, November 25, 1997 11:10 AM To: Feighner, Mike Cc: 'South Bay Birders' Subject: Re: Lake Cunningham Lesser Black-backed Gull Update On Tue, 25 Nov 1997, Feighner, Mike wrote: > Yesterday, November 24th, Steve Bailey called into the Northern > California Bird Box to report his sighting of the Lesser Black-backed > Gull at Lake Cunningham in San Jose and offers several points on why he > feels that the bird in question is a 2nd-winter Lesser Black-backed > Gull. For those of you interested in hearing those details can call the > bird box at > (415) 681-7422. These important details were not included in the > recently transcribed e-mail version. I ommitted those details intentionally. First, I was in a _major_ hurry at the time. Second, I've never felt that RBA transcripts are the appropriate forum for ID debates. Of course, I'm willing/obligated to note when there are differences of opinion about the ID of a bird. But giving the full reasoning behind those opinions seems overkill given the role of the transcript. 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]] From [[email protected]] Wed Nov 26 14:53:23 1997 Subject: SBBU Update Larry Tunstall has updated the Bay Area Calendar for Nov. 28 - Dec. 5 for SBBU. Also, more Merlie sightings. 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 Nov 26 17:14:46 1997 Subject: bayside All, I made a quick check of some bayside spots for storm-driven rarities this afternoon 11/26/97. Starting at the Palo Alto Baylands, I had 270 BONAPARTE'S GULLS and 30 SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS in the old yacht harbor. The immature GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE was with the domestics in the parking lot at the east end of the duck pond. Out at the yacht harbor mouth, and adult PEREGRINE FALCON was atop a "pylon" and 3 WHIMBREL were taking advantage of the receding tide to forage at the bay edge. There were thousands of scaup in the middle of the bay, but not much close in. I had 19 SURF SCOTERS (17 flying north in two groups and two swimming closer in). A quick scan of the Palo Alto Flood Control Basin turned up exactly 30 REDHEAD and 3+ NORTHERN HARRIERS. Scoping Shoreline Lake from the Forebay end resulted in 3 adult male BARROW'S GOLDENEYES and several FORSTER'S TERNS, including a few being harassed by a single BONAPARTE'S GULL. A lone adult BROWN PELICAN was also foraging in the lake. Scoping Charleston Slough from the rise northwest of the lake turned up 6 BLACK SKIMMERS. 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]] Thu Nov 27 15:38:20 1997 Subject: Membership Roll I have not published the list for a long time. Happy Turkey Day to all. Jeff >>>> who south-bay-birds Members of list 'south-bay-birds': <[[email protected]]> # Bill Bousman <[[email protected]]> # Mike Rogers <[[email protected]]> # Al Eisner <[[email protected]]> # Karen Hoyt <[[email protected]]> # Grant Hoyt <[[email protected]]> # Dick Stovel <[[email protected]]> # Richard Jeffers <[[email protected]]> # Chris Salander <[[email protected]]> # Nick Yatsko <[[email protected]]> # Les Chibana <[[email protected]]> # Rosalie Lefkowitz <[[email protected]]> # Susan Stout <[[email protected]]> # Tom Grey <[[email protected]]> # Dick Strubbe <[[email protected]]> # Rob And Rita Colwell <[[email protected]]> # Linda Lloyd <[[email protected]]> # Clysta Seney <[[email protected]]> # Jeff Finger <[[email protected]]> # Maryann Danielson <[[email protected]]> # Claire Wolf <[[email protected]]> # Alan Walther <[[email protected]]> # Ann Stone <[[email protected]]> # John Meyer <[[email protected]]> # David Powell <[[email protected]]> # Jim Danzenbaker <[[email protected]]> # Scott Young (home) <[[email protected]]> #Kathy Parker <[[email protected]]> # Tim Johnson <[[email protected]]> # Larry Mendoza <[[email protected]]> # Dave Drake <[[email protected]]> # Susan Hunt <[[email protected]]> # Gloria LeBlanc <[[email protected]]> # Bruce Barrett <[[email protected]]> # Paul Stevens <[[email protected]]> # Adam Winer <[[email protected]]> # (Grant Hoyt - shared) <[[email protected]]> # Julie Bryson <[[email protected]]> # Nancy Girvin <[[email protected]]> # Christine Wolfe <[[email protected]]> ! Mary Kenney <[[email protected]]> ! James Yurchenco <[[email protected]]> ! SF Bay Bird Observatory <[[email protected]]> ! Ann Verdi <[[email protected]]> ! Bob Reiling <[[email protected]]> ! Mike Mammoser <[[email protected]]> ! Dick Carlson <[[email protected]]> ! Stephen Long <[[email protected]]> ! Peter LaTourrette <[[email protected]]> ! Irene Beardsley <[[email protected]]> ! Kendric Smith <[[email protected]]> ! Marilyn Smith <[[email protected]]> ! Kay Hays <[[email protected]]> ! The Armers <[[email protected]]> ! Chip Haven <[[email protected]]> ! john sterling <[[email protected]]> ! Leda Beth Gray <[[email protected]]> ! Ted Dolton <[[email protected]]> ! Vivek Tiwari <[[email protected]]> ! Bert McKee <[[email protected]]> ! J.R. HullyJR <[[email protected]]> ! Virginia Reynolds <[[email protected]]> ! Bob Juhl <[[email protected]]> ! Scott Young <[[email protected]]> ! Joseph Morlan <[[email protected]]> ! Julie Stephenson <[[email protected]]> ! Tom Ryan <[[email protected]]> ! John Mariani <[[email protected]]> ! Sue Overholser <[[email protected]]> ! Ken Schmahl <[[email protected]]> ! Nick Lethaby <[[email protected]]> ! Scott Spencer <[[email protected]]> ! Rob Franklin <[[email protected]]> ! H. T. Harvey & Associates <[[email protected]]> ! Nancy Teater <[[email protected]]> ! Rick Herder <[[email protected]]> ! Richard Kuehn / Dean Schuler <[[email protected]]> ! Ed Frost <[[email protected]]> ! Eileen Jennis-Sauppe <[[email protected]]> ! Steve Rovell <[[email protected]]> ! Mike Feighner <[[email protected]]> ! Calvin Lou <[[email protected]]> ! Kathleen Lee <[[email protected]]> ! Willilam A. Moser <[[email protected]]> ! Don Crawford <[[email protected]]> ! Maria Meyer <[[email protected]]> ! Jason Plater <[[email protected]]> ! Phyllis Browning <[[email protected]]> ! "Mary Burke" <[[email protected]]> ! Mark Miller <[[email protected]]> ! Peter Freihofer <[[email protected]]> ! Phil Dean <[[email protected]]> ! Linda McGuire <[[email protected]]> ! Jean M. F. Dubois <[[email protected]]> ! Brian Rice <[[email protected]]> ! Janet and Hal Van Zoeren <[[email protected]]> ! Todd Newberry <[[email protected]]> ! Alvaro Jaramillo <[[email protected]]> ! Bruce Barrett (home) <[[email protected]]> ! Rosalind HaLevi <[[email protected]]> ! Penelope Bowen <[[email protected]]> ! "Lennie Stovel" <[[email protected]]> ! John C. Robinson <[[email protected]]> ! Jack Cole <[[email protected]]> ! Bob Brandriff <[[email protected]]> ! Joan Bose <[[email protected]]> ! June Santoro <[[email protected]]> ! Don Starks <[[email protected]]> ! Steve Shunk <[[email protected]]> ! Barbara Costa <[[email protected]]> ! Steve Miller <[[email protected]]> ! Lois Goldfrank <[[email protected]]> ! Wally Goldfrank <[[email protected]]> ! Doug Shaw <[[email protected]]> ! Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society <[[email protected]]> ! Daniel Stoebel <[[email protected]]> ! Doug Hubbard <[[email protected]]> ! Ted Chandik <[[email protected]]> ! David B. Lewis <[[email protected]]> ! Gjon C. Hazard <[[email protected]]> ! Luke Cole <[[email protected]]> ! Jennifer Matkin <[[email protected]]> ! Lorien Belton <[[email protected]]> ! Steve Rottenborn <[[email protected]]> ! allan wofchuckmy <[[email protected]]> ! Ken Popper <[[email protected]]> ! David C. Weber <[[email protected]]> ! Viki and Steve Baker <[[email protected]]> ! Barbara Harkleroad <[[email protected]]> ! Michael Wald <[[email protected]]> ! Gina Sheridan <[[email protected]]> ! Marc Fenner <[[email protected]]> ! Steve Glover <[[email protected]]> ! "Cimino, Rich" <[[email protected]]> ! Rosalie and Robert Strait <[[email protected]]> ! Mark W. Eaton <[[email protected]]> ! Frank Vanslager <[[email protected]]> ! Charles Coston <[[email protected]]> ! Brooke Miller <[[email protected]]> ! Bruce E. Webb <[[email protected]]> ! Bob Hirt <[[email protected]]> ! Dan Froehlich ========================================================================== 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 Nov 28 07:55:02 1997 Subject: RNGR (still) All: On my bike commute this morning, 11/28/97, the RED-NECKED GREBE was still on Shoreline Lake, not far from the boathouse. I also had a MERLIN along the Stevens Creek ditch. 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]] Fri Nov 28 12:48:33 1997 Subject: Sierra Rd/Calaveras Res. I checked these sites today and saw little. I heard a Rock Wren at Sierra summit. I saw am immature Golden Eagle at Calaveras Res, but no Bald Eagles. Highlight was a Bobcat stalking pigeons. _____________________________________________________________ Nick Lethaby Pronghorn Consulting [[email protected]] 1112 N. Abbott Avenue Tel: (408) 941 0223 Milpitas, CA 95035 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 Nov 28 14:09:22 1997 Subject: Ring-necked Duck, Northern Red Bishop This morning, 11/28, there was a male Ring-Necked Duck in a group of four Lesser Scaup in outer Adobe Creek, behind the P. A. Flood Control Basin. And, for the third winter in a row, a male Northern Red Bishop, still sporting its orange-red feathers in the rump and tail, has appeared in my backyard in south Palo Alto. These birds have always come here in the last week of November. Phyllis Browning ========================================================================== 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 Nov 29 11:31:46 1997 Subject: Charleston Slough/Shoreline Lake I saw the Red-necked Grebe and 4 Barrow's Goldeneyes (2 ad males, 1 ad. female, 1 imm. female) at Shoreline Lake. On Charleston Slough, there ware 2 male Eurasian Wigeon. _____________________________________________________________ Nick Lethaby Pronghorn Consulting [[email protected]] 1112 N. Abbott Avenue Tel: (408) 941 0223 Milpitas, CA 95035 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 Nov 29 11:35:14 1997 Subject: San Mateo law During the middle of a college football game last night, BayTV News flashed up something about a new law in San Mateo that makes feeding/disturbing wild birds punishable with a $500 fine or a year in jail. Can anyone confirm what exactly this law is and who is behind it? _____________________________________________________________ Nick Lethaby Pronghorn Consulting [[email protected]] 1112 N. Abbott Avenue Tel: (408) 941 0223 Milpitas, CA 95035 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 Nov 29 16:41:05 1997 Subject: LAUGHING GULL??? Not bloody likely, you well may say. Here's my best description of the gull I saw at the Palo Alto Duck Pond around 2 pm today, Saturday. I first noticed a small to medium gull with a strongly hooked all-black bill, much larger than I am used to seeing on a Bonaparte's. It did not appear strikingly smaller than the many nearby Ring-bills; there were no Bonaparte's in the pond for comparison. Where I am used to seeing the Bonaparte's small distinct gray spot well behind the eye, there was a large gray patch that widened out from immediately behind the eye and faded out at the nape. The gull swam near the shore, and I noticed substantial gray wash on the breast forming a vague band all the way across. The mantle was all medium gray, with some brown in the wings. The gull took flight while I watched it, revealing black legs and feet, and a complete dark band on the tail. After the bird flew the first time, I consulted my guidebook, and after some hasty reading (which told me this was a first winter bird, and got me thinking it was probably a Franklin's) I was able to relocate the bird briefly. The two features of Franklin's Gull I looked for were the definite edge to the half-hood at the nape, and the strong eye-crescents. Though I looked hard and tried to manufacture both, I could not make out either. I looked again at the bill, and was particularly struck by its size and the strong downward hook. The bird flew a second time, and I noted extensive black on the underside of the outer part of the wings, appearing to be the entire underprimaries. I looked for but did not see white outer tail feathers. I went back to the guidebook for a further consult, and when I looked up this time the bird was gone. I searched all around the pond, the slough behind, and the yacht harbor area for the next hour and a half but could not relocate it. I realize this was very unlikely to be a first-winter Laughing Gull - and probably was a first-winter Franklin's with some unusual features. But the absence of the half-hood, and the relatively large strongly-hooked bill really were very clear to me, and I was able to look again and confirm them after checking the field guide. I saw the bird for a total of maybe three minutes, losing it a couple of times and relocating it as it flew and landed. I am not experienced at distinguishing Franklin's from Laughing Gull, and had to pick up the field marks on the go while I was trying to observe the bird, so I wouldn't claim a definite ID on this bird. I hope someone else gets to see it! -- 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]] Sat Nov 29 17:48:05 1997 Subject: Laughing gull??? Hi all, In my experience with gulls one of the things that really catches my eye about Laughing Gulls is their relatively long legs. If you get a good look and compare it with other gulls nearby (especially those with which it may be confused), then you can really tell that it has long legs. In my classes all of my photos show the long legs (when standing, of course). Take a look next time. Don Don Starks [[email protected]] 2592 Briarwood Drive San Jose, CA, 95125-5014 408-266-2969(H) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Transmitted via Virtual Valley LiveWire Modem: 408.999.0966 (FirstClass, VT-100) http://www.virtualvalley.com/vvcn ========================================================================== 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 Nov 29 17:48:05 1997 Subject: Laughing gull??? Hi all, In my experience with gulls one of the things that really catches my eye about Laughing Gulls is their relatively long legs. If you get a good look and compare it with other gulls nearby (especially those with which it may be confused), then you can really tell that it has long legs. In my classes all of my photos show the long legs (when standing, of course). Take a look next time. Don Don Starks [[email protected]] 2592 Briarwood Drive San Jose, CA, 95125-5014 408-266-2969(H) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Transmitted via Virtual Valley LiveWire Modem: 408.999.0966 (FirstClass, VT-100) http://www.virtualvalley.com/vvcn ========================================================================== 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 Nov 30 04:50:48 1997 Subject: Laughing Gull??? -Addendum The head marking on the bird I saw was a distinct ear covert patch, very much like photo #152 in Grant, _Gulls_. -- 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 Nov 30 08:55:13 1997 Subject: weekend highlights All: Wednesday morning (26 Nov.), I had to take Rebecca to day care in Palo Alto, so I stopped by the Palo Alto Baylands to check the duck pond. I was surprised to find that the tide was very high owing to the previous evening's storm. From the sailing station at the mouth of the yacht harbor, I could see 16 VIRGINIA RAILS and 29 SORAS along the NW edge of Hook's Isle across the channel. Twenty-eight of the Soras had bright yellow bills, black faces, and gray on the sides of the head and neck like adults, but one immature still had a dull yellowish-green bill and all-juvenal feathering on the head and neck. Whereas all the Virginia Rails were huddled together under the PG&E boardwalk, most of the Soras were scattered around the marsh, foraging out in the open. A COMMON LOON (basic adult) in the bay at the yacht harbor mouth was only the second I've ever seen on the bay in Santa Clara County, and a female RING-NECKED DUCK with some scaup here was somewhat unusual on tidal water. Because the tide was so high, I checked "the corner" for BLACK RAILS, immediately finding 4 of them (plus two VIRGINIA RAILS) at the edge of the marsh. These birds were very cooperative, providing excellent unobstructed views. A Baylands Naturalist, Deborah Barton (spelling?), was the only other person present to see these birds. The imm. GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE was at the duck pond. I then checked Shoreline Lake to see if any storm-blown birds were present, but the RED-NECKED GREBE and 5 BARROW'S GOLDENEYES (3 ad. males, 2 females) were the only interesting birds present. Later on Wednesday, Scott Terrill and I did a little birding around Alviso. At the EEC, we had the YELLOW WARBLER but were unable to find the probable hybrid ANHU X COHU. An unusual gull (well, one of the unusual gulls) in the salt pond near the EEC building had very frosty upperparts, most of the mantle feathers and upper-secondary coverts being extensively (even mostly) white with much dark mottling and vermiculation. Overall, the feathers of the upperparts had much more white than on any typical immature Western, Glaucous-winged, Herring, or Thayer's Gull, but there was enough dark coloration on the upperparts that the bird was clearly not a Glaucous Gull. The bird was as large as a medium-sized Western Gull and was apparently in second-winter plumage; despite its dark eye and nearly all-black bill, the head and underparts were very whitish. The bird's upperparts actually looked very much like those of the second-winter Slaty-backed Gull in photo #501 in Grant (but with even more white), but the tertials, primaries, and tail were pale like those of a Western X Glaucous- winged Gull hybrid, probably not dark enough for a Slaty-backed. Whatever the bird was, both Scott and I agreed that we had never seen anything like it before (again, other than in photos of Slaty-backed Gulls we'd seen). We had another unusual gull at the end of Nortech Parkway in Alviso. This adult bird was the same size and proportions as a medium to large Thayer's Gull but had pale gray instead of black on the primaries. We were not able to determine whether it was an extremely small, long- winged Glaucous-winged Gull or possibly something in the Thayer's-Kumlien's "group". Sunday morning (30 Nov.), I birded along Coyote Creek from Montague Expwy. upstream nearly to Brokaw Road. The highlights here were a NASHVILLE WARBLER (probably of the western race, as it frequently bobbed its tail) about 1/4-mile above Montague and a female WESTERN TANAGER about 1/3-mile upstream. Eight ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS here will probably overwinter, as I had even higher numbers at this location last winter. None of these were the gray-headed immature celata or orestera that I often see in South Bay riparian habitats in fall and winter. Otherwise, birding here was pretty slow -- no White-throats with the 60 WHITE-CROWNED and 140 GOLDEN- CROWNED SPARROWS, and only 12 LINCOLN'S and 7 FOX SPARROWS. After hearing from Mike Mammoser that the LAUGHING GULL had been refound in Palo Alto, I headed there with Rebecca and easily located the bird in the duck pond -- very cooperative bird! The imm. GREATER-WHITE FRONTED GOOSE was also present. 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 Nov 30 09:37:25 1997 Subject: 1997 Santa Clara Co. records All: Thanks much to Tom Grey for finding the Laughing Gull, and more importantly, for reporting it to the RBA and to South-Bay-Birds quickly despite his concerns as to its identity. It's always better to report a bird, even if one is not 100% sure of its identity, than to let a good bird go unreported. In this case, however, it sounds as though Tom was pretty convinced from the start that this was a LAGU. Great job! I've commented to several other birders lately about the high number of birders who have "contributed" significant county records this year by finding rarities. So far in 1997, we've recorded the first county records of White-rumped Sandpiper, Common Nighthawk, and Prairie Warbler, the second county records of Curlew Sandpiper, Laughing Gull, Lesser Black- backed Gull, Chimney Swift, Bell's Vireo, Magnolia Warbler, and Black- throated Green Warbler, and the third county records of Chimney Swift, Tropical Kingbird, and Curlew Sandpiper (pending "determination" by the CBRC as to whether the 1996 and 1997 Crittenden birds are likely to be different individuals). The birds involved in these 13 records were discovered by nine different people! In addition, a number of other birders found good birds this year, helping the county's composite year list reach 300 for only the second time. Let's keep up the interest and effort! 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 Nov 30 10:48:45 1997 Subject: Laughing Gull This morning Mike Mammoser, Mike Feigner, Ann Verdi, and I saw the Laughing Gull at the duck pond at Palo Alto Baylands. It comes and goes. The bird appears to be in largely first-winter plumage (e.g brown greater coverts, complete tail-band) except for the tertials and lesser/median coverts which are gray. More evidence of how gulls don't always follow normal plumage sequences. Thanks to Tom Gray for finding this. _____________________________________________________________ Nick Lethaby Pronghorn Consulting [[email protected]] 1112 N. Abbott Avenue Tel: (408) 941 0223 Milpitas, CA 95035 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 Nov 30 13:22:12 1997 Subject: long-weekend birds On Thurs I went early (pre-turkey) to Shoreline Lake where (in addition to a pair of the usual BARROW'S GOLDENEYE) I saw a GREEN HERON in the outflow channel into the Forebay, and in company with Frank Vanslager a COMMON LOON on the lake. No Red-necked Grebe. This morning I drove over to Santa Cruz early and was rewarded with a view of the ROCK SANDPIPER at the lighthouse about 7:45. Great views from twenty feet for about half an hour of this life bird for me. Then back to the Duck Pond, where I was delighted to find the gull of yesterday was back, and confirmation from various experts in attendance that it was indeed a LAUGHING GULL, the second county record, with a first winter tail band, but some of the wing feathering (see Nick Lethaby's post) suggesting second winter. Great close-up views of the bird, with Mike Rogers flinging bread crumbs to get it airborne, and firing photos. This gave us views of the outermost tail feathers, which had dark centers at the tips entirely surrounded by white. -- 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 Nov 30 14:13:30 1997 Subject: Laughing Gull at Palo Alto Baylands Duck Pond, Santa Clara County All: 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]] Sun Nov 30 17:04:28 1997 Subject: PRWA and LBBG Hi Birders - This morning, John Hunter, Gjon Hazard, Rick Fournier and I saw the LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL at Lake Cunningham. It was pretty much by itself sitting on the water, although there were hundreds of gulls sitting on the water not too far away. It flew away while we were there. Also present was a RED-NECKED GREBE. Gjon Hazard mentioned that he saw the PRAIRIE WARBLER along the Guadalupe River before looking for the gull, so John Hunter and I went to look for it. It didn't take long to find it. John spotted it across the river in a deciduous tree (I don't know what kind), fairly close to the overpass. That's all. Steve Rovell [[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]]