From [[email protected]] Wed Sep 01 08:36:14 1999
Subject: [SBB] Calbird status
All:
I am trying to conform if calbird is still alive and well (and that I
somehow screwed up resubscribing when I changed computers) or whether there
is no traffic anymore on this site. If it is still active, I would
appreciate the latest subscription information.
Thanks, Nick
Nick Lethaby
Technical Marketing Manager
CoWare, Inc.
Tel: 408 845 7646
E-mail: [[email protected]]
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From [[email protected]] Wed Sep 01 08:51:52 1999
Subject: [SBB] Chickadee
We just had our first confirmed chestnut backed chickadee of the
season (actually, two). That's early for our yard, but the addition
of a niger feeder may have moved them in early. We had one in with
the bushtits working on a tree next door Monday, and have confirmed
at least two visiting the feeders.
location is central park, santa clara. We normally have a couple of
fall/winter chickadees here, but they haven't shown this early before.
--
Chuq Von Rospach (Hockey fan? )
Apple Mail List Gnome (mailto:[[email protected]])
Plaidworks Consulting (mailto:[[email protected]])
+
The Jedi that I admire most met up with Darth Maul and now he's toast...
(Weird Al Yankovic - The Saga Begins)
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From [[email protected]] Wed Sep 01 08:57:19 1999
Subject: [SBB] VASW, OSPR -Reply
Grant
I'm jealous, so you went to see Steve Winwood, eh??
I heard he was really good on Monday.
Oh, yeah, nice swifts too!!
regards
Alan W.
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From [[email protected]] Wed Sep 01 09:35:04 1999
Subject: [SBB] The Action
Folks:
On my bike commute this morning, 9/1/1999, there was a great deal of
bird activity on Salt Pond A1. I estimated 520 AM. WHITE PELICANS, which is
the high count so far this season. I didn't count the GREAT and SNOWY EGRETS,
but they both were around a hundred. Single BROWN PELICANS were on Charleston
Slough, Salt Pond A1, and Salt Pond A2W.
Bill
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From [[email protected]] Wed Sep 01 11:00:30 1999
Subject: [SBB] Busy feeders
Home from work, recuperating from an injury, I've had lots of time to
watch feeders the past month. The hummer feeders, in particular,
have been very busy and quite interesting.
We've had a busy time with Hooded Orioles. For awhile, we had 5
regular visitors, two adults, two juvenile males and one juvenile
female. We saw the young ones being taught -- by example -- to
use the feeders. Then we didn't see any for awhile. Recently, we've
had as many as 3 females at once, two juveniles. Again got a
chance to watch teaching. It seems likely that there was a second
brood. Haven't seen a male for more than a week now, so they may
have departed.
Jillions of hummers, all Annas. We have 2 feeders about 20 ft
apart, with no obstructions between. In the past, they have both
been "owned" by one dominant male, as is typical for feeders in
view of each other. This summer, the ownership is split. The owner
of the one farther from the house, close to large viburnum bushes,
watches and doesn't react to activities at the one next to the
house. It has no close-by shady, sheltered perch, so it's harder to
defend. There's aerial combat there about every 2 minutes all day.
The owner must go wandering or get fatigued occasionally,
because we have had 2 and even 3 feeding simultaneously at that
feeder a few times.
Hummers, orioles, chickadees. We've used a lot of sugar water
this summer. Also bumper crops of baby House Finches and
Lesser Goldfinches.
George Oetzel
Menlo Park (barely out of SC Co)
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From [[email protected]] Wed Sep 01 12:56:00 1999
Subject: [SBB] (mostly) Alviso birding
All:
On 20 Aug., Scott Terrill saw the female RUFF at State and Spreckles
in Alviso at 08:45. Much checking (of this pond, CCFS, and
Calabazas) since then has failed to produce the bird.
On 24 Aug., I had 71 GREATER (2 juv.) and 16 LESSER (1 juv.)
YELLOWLEGS. Fifteen VAUX'S SWIFTS were foraging in the area.
On 25 Aug., I visited Calabazas Marsh, seeing the ad. STILT
SANDPIPER, a SNOWY PLOVER (unusual here even though they nest
just across the slough in pond A8), and 5 ad. GREATER and 24
LESSER (15 juv.) YELLOWLEGS. At State and Spreckles I had 33
GREATER (9 juv.) and 3 ad. LESSER YELLOWLEGS; 20 VAUX'S SWIFTS
were foraging here, and 5 more were near our office.
On 26 Aug., another check of Calabazas Marsh produced the
ad. STILT SANDPIPER, a COMMON SNIPE, 7 ad. GREATER YELLOWLEGS,
39 LESSER YELLOWLEGS (30 juv.), and an ad. PEREGRINE FALCON.
State and Spreckles had 16 ad. GREATER and 7 LESSER (5 juv.)
YELLOWLEGS and 16 VAUX'S SWIFTS. A WILLOW FLYCATCHER was
near the banding trailer at CCFS, and a WESTERN KINGBIRD
was perched along the creek. The waterbird pond had 525
DOWITCHERS; all heard were Long-billed.
On 31 Aug., a quick check of the fennel patch at the Sunnyvale
WPCP produced only 4 ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS. Ten VAUX'S
SWIFTS foraged overhead, and an imm. PEREGRINE FALCON was
perched on a power pole. An ad. female HOODED ORIOLE was
feeding recently fledged young near our office.
Today (1 Sep.), along the Guadalupe River upstream from
Montague Expwy., I had 1 MACGILLIVRAY'S, 1 ORANGE-CROWNED,
and 3 WILSON'S WARBLERS; 2 WILLOW, 3 PACIFIC-SLOPE, and 1
ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS; 2 BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAKS; 1
WESTERN TANAGER; and 1 HOODED ORIOLE. A WESTERN WOOD-
PEWEE was near the old Agnews West facility. Two WHITE-
FACED IBIS, 90+ KILLDEER, and 40 CANADA GEESE were in the
irrigated fields west of Zanker Road and north of Hwy. 237.
An ad. STILT SANDPIPER at State and Spreckles could have
been the one previously present at Calabazas Marsh; it was
farther along in its molt into basic plumage (being entirely
basic below and having fewer alternate coverts) than when
I last saw the Calabazas bird, but I think they could be
the same bird. Also here were 98 GREATER (11 juv.) and
25 LESSER (16 juv.) YELLOWLEGS.
Steve Rottenborn
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From [[email protected]] Wed Sep 01 16:11:38 1999
Subject: [SBB] Suet Feeders
After years of failure with suet feeders I have finally had success
with a home-made mixture which I read, and was told about.
It consists of equal parts of suet, chuncky peanut butter, rolled
oats, cornmeal, and flour. I also added a few oil seeds. Other
goodies are also OK.
Melt the fats & stir in the dry ingredients. Cool in a loaf pan.
Cut into blocks of the correct size to fit a wire feeder.
White-breasted Nuthatches and Scrub Jays are coming so far. I hope
to attract the Nuttall's Woodpeckers, Chestnut-backed Chickadees, and
Plain Titmice that frequent my Los Altos yard year round, and
frequent my oil-seed feeder.
Ruth Troetschler
Ruth Troetschler
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From [[email protected]] Wed Sep 01 23:17:59 1999
Subject: [SBB] REKN
Last Saturday afternoon 8-28, while testing new camera gear at the far end
of Charleston Slough, I had a quick fly-by of three RED KNOTS, one in
alternate plumage. I did not have time to get a shot or even to get the
binos on them.
---------------------------------------------------------
Peter LaTourrette
Photo Gallery: http://www.stanford.edu/~petelat1/
Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society: http://www.scvas.org/
Western Field Ornithologists: http://www.wfo-cbrc.org/
Peninsula Open Space Trust: http://www.openspacetrust.org/
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From [[email protected]] Thu Sep 02 13:05:35 1999
Subject: [SBB] No White-faced Ibis or Stilt Sandpiper
All,
This morning (about 8:45 AM and 11:00 AM) Frank Vanslager and I birded the
plowed fields on both sides of Zanker Rd. near Hwy 237. We had lots of
Canada Geese, Egrets (mostly Great), Yellowlegs, 3-4 American Crows, 3-4
Turkey Vultures (on the ground), 2 Whimbrel (we originally thought they were
Long-billed Curlews) and a Marbled Godwit but no White-faced Ibis :-( We
then went to the ponds at State St and Spreckles Av where we had lots of
Yellowlegs (both), Least Sandpipers, a few Dowitchers, a poorly seen Wilson's
Phalarope, and a single Vaux's Swift but no Stilt Sandpiper :-( An adult
PEREGRINE FALCON was on one of the towers south of the bend in the entrance
road to the EEC. EEC it's self was dead with lots of Least Sandpipers (in
the channel), a few gulls, 2 Eared Grebes, 2 White-tailed Kites and a Willet.
We then rechecked the plowed fields and went to Calabazas Ponds. Our
biggest disappointment of the day. The largest portion of the North Pond
contained 5 Killdeer (no Dowitchers or Stilt Sandpiper). There was some
action on the west end of the pond (the usual unmentionables plus ?) but it
was to late to walk around the pond. Not much today but it still beats
working!
Take care,
Bob Reiling, 1:14 PM, 9/2/99
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From [[email protected]] Thu Sep 02 13:18:14 1999
Subject: [SBB] Sunnyvale WPCP birds
All:
Today (2 Sep.), an ad. OSPREY and 12 WOOD DUCKS were at the
Ogier Ponds. Another 14 WOOD DUCKS were along Coyote Creek
between the Ogier Ponds and Hwy. 101 upstream.
A check of the Sunnyvale WPCP produced a good collection of
semi-rarities. A basic/immature-type COMMON TERN and a juv.
BLACK TERN were on the levee between the two sewer ponds
(both occasionally foraging in the larger pond). The Common
Tern looked like most of the ones we saw in August (like a
first-year bird or basic second/adult), and again, I saw
no molt limits in the primaries. On the folded wing, as seen
from close range, the visible primaries looked quite fresh,
but most of the secondaries were very worn and tattered,
contrasting with a few fresh secondaries and with the
greater coverts. Exposed mud in the northeast corner of the
larger pond had many peeps, including a juv. SEMIPALMATED
SANDPIPER. Even more surprising was an adult RED PHALAROPE
in the same area, the only phalarope present. This bird was
in mostly basic plumage, but there were a few alternate feathers
on the hindneck and in the scapulars and upperwing coverts, as
well as several rusty-red alternate feathers along each flank
(forming nearly a complete row on each side). According to
Scott Terrill, several Red Phalaropes have been reported onshore
around Monterey Bay in the past few days due to strong onshore
winds, so maybe these winds were responsible for the presence
of the Sunnyvale bird. Rounding out this list was a vocal BANK
SWALLOW seen and heard foraging with numerous VIOLET-GREEN and
BARN SWALLOWS overhead. Other birds seen here included a juv.
SPOTTED SANDPIPER, 100+ FORSTER'S TERNS (the number roosting on
the levee grew from about 30 at 14:00 to 100 at 15:00), and 65
BROWN PELICANS (flying over; about 50 were juveniles).
A check of the fields along Zanker Road north of Hwy. 237
turned up 7 juv. PECTORAL SANDPIPERS, 2 LESSER and 11 GREATER
YELLOWLEGS, single MARBLED GODWIT and LONG-BILLED CURLEW, 5
WHIMBRELS, 3 each of WESTERN and LEAST SANDPIPERS, and 130
KILLDEER.
Good birding,
Steve Rottenborn
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From [[email protected]] Fri Sep 03 10:19:42 1999
Subject: [SBB] BLTE,COTE,AMGPL
All,
Yesterday 9/2/99 after work, I stopped by the Sunnyvale Water
Pollution Control Plant, hoping to refind Steve's Red Phalarope. I
failed in this effort, but the juvenile BLACK TERN was still present
on the parallel dikes separating the two ponds, along with three
basic-plumaged COMMON TERNS. All three terns had no dark markings in
the tertials at all, but had very fresh powdery blue-gray primaries,
with thin black lines along the feather shafts and subterminal dark
outlines near the edges. On two of the birds the visible inner
primaries were notably more worn, being blacker and lacking as much of
the powdery bloom.
Further out at the northeast corner of the big pond I could not refind
Steve's rare shorebirds, but I was treated to a juvenile AMERICAN
GOLDEN-PLOVER near the green vegetation on the more westerly of the
exposed muddy areas. This bird had fairly bright yellow flecking on
the crown, mantle, and scapulars, but the supercilium was broad and
white and the face and chest lacked any yellow tones, being soft gray
and white with the usual juvenile golden-plover pattern of streaked
upper chest and barred belly and flanks. The primaries formed a
notable black chunk extending well past the tertials to about 2/3 of a
bill length past the tail tip.
Didn't see the Bank Swallow, but there was at least one NORTHERN
ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW in the swallow flock here.
This morning 9/3/99 on the way into work, I made a quick check of
Steven's Creek north of the end of L'Avenida (to just north of the
high voltage power line crossing). Lots of new migrants were around,
with a conservative tally yielding 2 hatching-year WILLOW FLYCATCHERS
(together in the open area just north of the power line crossing), a
heard-only PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER, a worn HOUSE WREN (juvenile?),
three to four WARBLING VIREOS, 10 YELLOW WARBLERS (7 in view/earshot
at once!), and 3 WILSON'S WARBLERS. The female HOODED ORIOLE was
still present with at least one fledgling and CALIFORNIA TOWHEES were
feeding young. The adult GREEN HERON and an adult RED-SHOULDERED HAWK
were also around.
Mike Rogers
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From [[email protected]] Fri Sep 03 10:33:10 1999
Subject: [SBB] Late nesting White-tailed Kites
I learned just last evening that White-tailed Kites have been nesting in
a redwood tree on Janice Way just around the corner from my house in
Palo Alto. The adults might be the same pair, which nested nearby in
the spring, and had young in the nest in early June. The three young
are fledging. Early this morning the adults and two of them flew off
leaving just one immature for the neighbors to view in my scope.
Rosalie Lefkowitz
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From [[email protected]] Fri Sep 03 10:40:06 1999
Subject: [SBB] TGIF
If my "farm" is any indication, it's going to be good birding this Labor
Day weekend. I had BROWN CREEPER, NUTTALL'S & ACORN WOODPECKER, 3 HOODED
ORIOLES, CALIFORNIA THRASHER, lots of BUSHTITS, CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES,
OAK TITMOUSE, KINGFISHER etc. No Migrants though.
As I was walking along Bicknell (off Quito) to "my farm" (La Rinconada
Park) I heard a very annoyed RED-SHOULDERED HAWK. It was sitting atop a
tall cedar tree. As I watched it with my binocs, it swooped down over my
head - about 10 feet from me - and continued on to another tree. Continuing
to voice its discontentment. I've never had a hawk fly right at me before -
it's quite a rush!
In my backyard, the HOODED ORIOLES continue to empty my hummingbird feeder
daily. And i finally had 5 CALIFORNIA QUAIL - all juveniles - first time
i've had quail since I quit feeding June-July.
TGIF and enjoy Labor Day Weekend!
Gloria LeBlanc
Los Gatos (off Quito)
"We can't change the financial winds, but we can adjust the sails"
http://www.lgsia.com http://www.wallstreetgifts.com
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From [[email protected]] Fri Sep 03 12:23:09 1999
Subject: Fwd: [SBB] Suet Feeders
I am thrilled. "Our" Bewick's Wren in now coming to this feeder.
Ruth
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ruth Troetschler
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From [[email protected]] Fri Sep 03 13:04:28 1999
Subject: [SBB] Almaden/Vaux's Swifts
Yesterday evening (9/2) at least thirty VAUX'S SWIFTS were seen with mixed
swallow flocks near the intersection of Meridian Ave & Coleman Rd. As in
previous years, the swifts appeared to be moving along a corridor coming
from the south. In the early evenings these birds forage over the ponds
along Coleman Rd and the Water District at Almaden Expwy. I expect their
numbers will increase during the next month or so as they prepare for
migration, so I will report again when sizable numbers are noted.
Ann Verdi
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From [[email protected]] Sat Sep 04 08:31:13 1999
Subject: [SBB] [Fwd: [CALBIRD] Eucalyptus and birds]
This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
--------------2B237A894752
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Hello Fellow Birders:
http://www-stat.wharton.upenn.edu/~siler/CALB.html has not been updated
in ages. So, Kimball Garret's latest post will not be in there. Sorry
to those who regularly get posts through CALBIRD and to those who
subscribe to more than one local listserv. I feel that Kimball's post
is equally relevant to us here in the Bay Area. So, I am forwarding it
in its entirety. Certainly you have heard through the news media about
the insect pest that is affecting
(and in some cases decimating) eucalyptus trees in Southern and Northern
California. It is the Red Gum Psyllid, Glycaspis brimblecombei.
The larvae of these psyllids excrete a small conical "lerp" (made of
sticky, sugary "honeydew") that encapsulates the larva. An affected
eucalyptus is easy to spot because of the sticky lerps on the
leaves, a virtual "rain" of sticky honeydew from the tree, and,
ultimately, lots of dead leaves and even complete mortality.
See Kimball's post below for more details on this insect pest and its
impact on birds. See also
http://www.egroups.com/group/central_valley_birds/?isDecendingSort=0&searchStart=166&isThreaded=0&fetchForward=0&start=166
messages 160-163.
In the Bay Area I have noticed the Red Gum Psyllid in the eucalyptus
trees in my yard in Livermore several days before the news hit the
press. The grove of eucalyptus behind the Arco Gas Station in Livermore
in Alameda County at Stanley and Murrieta are dying as well as the grove
along I-680 in Fremont in Alameda County between Durham and Washington.
Just yesterday I noticed the Red Gum Psyllid in the eucalyptus trees at
the new south parking garage at the Valley Fair Shopping Center in Santa
Clara County.
I haven't had time to check the trees in San Francisco County (Golden
Gate Park and Stern Grove), San Mateo County (Crystal Springs
Reservoir), other areas of Santa Clara County like Stevens Creek County
Park and Saint Joseph’s Hill OSP, or the eucalyptus grove at Moon Glow
Dairy in Monterey County. These locations all contain large groves of
eucalyptus.
--
Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA, [[email protected]]
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To: [[email protected]]
From: "Kimball Garrett" <[[email protected]]>
Subject: [CALBIRD] Eucalyptus and birds
Date: Fri, 3 Sep 1999 12:14:57 -0700
Message-ID: <[[email protected]]>
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Reply-To: "Kimball Garrett" <[[email protected]]>
Calbird:
Most of you are aware of the extent to which birds in the coastal
regions of California exploit eucalyptus trees for nectar, particularly
in winter. Searching groves of flowering eucalyptus has become a
requisite modus operandi on Christmas Bird Counts, with the rewards
often being good counts of overwintering hummingbirds, orioles,
tanagers, grosbeaks, and wood-warblers. Given that eucalyptus are
among the dominant trees in many urban and suburban regions of
California, it is hard to imagine birding in the region before
(and after?) the establishment of these exotic trees.
You might have heard of a recent insect pest that is affecting
(and in some cases decimating) eucalyptus trees in southern
California. It is the Red Gum Psyllid, Glycaspis brimblecombei.
The larvae of these psyllids excrete a small conical "lerp" (made of
sticky, sugary "honeydew") that encapsulates the larva. An affected
eucalyptus is easy to spot because of the sticky lerps on the
leaves, a virtual "rain" of sticky honeydew from the tree, and,
ultimately, lots of dead leaves and even complete mortality.
Infestations grow fastest in the warmer months, and are
exacerbated by drought and other stresses. For example,
Elysian Park (near downtown Los Angeles, and so productive
last winter for orioles, tanagers, and warblers) has been
severely impacted, with hundreds of apparently dying
eucalyptus trees. Maintenance agencies will almost
certainly cut down affected trees rather than risk injury
to the public from falling branches, etc. Some eucalyptus
species are more susceptible to this pest than others;
impacted species include Red Gum Eucalyptus, sugar gum, blue
gum, and a few other.
For more information on this pest, see the Los Angeles County
Agricultural Commission's web site: http://acwm.co.la.ca.us
Where it gets interesting is that there are entire guilds of birds
in Australasia which exploit these lerps for food. Such feeding
habits are especially typical of honeyeaters and pardalotes.
I'm not suggesting that we import these birds, but it will be
very interesting to see if our native birds will exploit this
potentially abundant food source. So I urge all of you who bird
in a favorite park or other site with infested eucalyptus trees
to pay attention to this.
Furthermore, should this infestation result in widespread loss of
large numbers of "our" eucalyptus trees, then the ramifications
for overwintering hummingbirds, orioles, tanagers, and wood-warblers
are potentially severe (though one might view this as more of a
"readjustment" to pre-European conditions). These things are
hard to monitor, so birders this winter should pay close attention
to bird numbers in affected areas.
G'day,
Kimball Garrett
**********************************************************
Kimball L. Garrett
Ornithology Collections Manager
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90007 USA
213/763-3368 phone; 213/746-2999 FAX
[[email protected]]
**********************************************************
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From [[email protected]] Sat Sep 04 10:39:37 1999
Subject: [SBB] Alviso
This morning in Alviso, 25 birders on the weekly Backyard Bird Feeder bird
walk enjoyed two Peregrine Falcons on the towers along the road into the
EEC. Vaux's swifts were seen throughout the area, with the largest
concentration of about 30 birds over the palm trees at the intersection of
State and Spreckles. Some members of the group stopped for an injured Turkey
Vulture along Zanker Road, and hopefully there were able to take it to the
Wildlife Center.
Jack Cole
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
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From [[email protected]] Sat Sep 04 20:37:44 1999
Subject: [SBB] Sunnyvale WPCP/Spreckles-State/Zanker
All,
Today at 15:40 at the WPCP: a single Northern Rough-winged Swallow among
the small flock of Violet-greens; a Common Moorhen; eight American White
Pelicans; many Long-billed Dowitchers; I think one (possibly two) Common
Terns, showing an all black bill and nape, dark shoulder bar. Could see many
birds on the northeast mudflat, but had no scope and did not wish to disturb
the terns which were on the dike path.
In search of the Peregrine, White-faced Ibis, or Stilt Sandpiper, a check of
State/Spreckles at 17:30 found: many Least Sandpipers; two Western
Sandpipers; Greater Yellowlegs; a female American Kestrel (eating a snake).
At the entrance gate to the EEC: a White-tailed Kite overhead, chased by two
extremely vocal Killdeer. On the lawn at the Water Pollution Control
District HQ on Zanker Rd.: six Long-billed Curlews.
Note to Steve Rottenborn: Thanks for the directions! (Now, where are the
Calabezas and Ogier Ponds (until I get the book you suggested)?) My roadmap
doesn't use these names.
Good birding,
Michael Wienholt
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From [[email protected]] Sun Sep 05 11:36:07 1999
Subject: [SBB] Willow Flycatcher at EEC
Yesterday, 9/4, a pair of Willow Flycatchers was in the brush on the west shoulder
of the dike to the salt pond at the Alviso Environmental Ed Center. Also saw the
pair of Peregrine Falcons on the road in, and a surprise Black Headed Grosbeak
female in the EEC garden. The max count of Vaux's Swift was more than 40 at State
and Spreckels.
Charles Coston
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From [[email protected]] Sun Sep 05 13:57:34 1999
Subject: [SBB] Sunnyvale WPCP
All,
A return visit with scope to the WPCP today at 09:30 -12:30 failed to
relocate the Common Terns reported yesterday. Notable birds: one Bank and
one Northern Rough-winged Swallow among the growing mixed flock of
Violet-greens and Barns (met a fellow on the way out who said someone
reported a Purple Martin here as well); a female fall plumaged warbler; 4 x
Vaux Swift; 35 American White Pelicans; Loggerhead Shrike; Northern Pintail
x 4; 19 Red-necked Phalarope; at least a dozen Semipalmated Plover; a Purple
Finch; four Bonaparte's Gulls; good numbers of Least and Western Sandpipers;
also, a very contented Harbor Seal (?) lazily eating a large fish; a male
Kestrel eating a Barn Swallow; a brief look at a distant possible Caspian
Tern.
Good birding.
Michael Wienholt
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From [[email protected]] Sun Sep 05 16:09:05 1999
Subject: [SBB] Warblers near Calabazas Ponds
Sun. 9/5 AM
Toured Calabazas Pond area this morning. Pretty quiet, no Stilt
Sandpiper, not much at all. Did see some very big fish in the small
corner pond really churning up the water, have no idea what they are but
many fin sightings and at one point the all bolted out from the center as
if being chased by something.
We also saw some flycatchers along the slough just behind the ponds (away
from Hwy 237). Got a good look from up on the wooden 'bridge to nowhere'.
Not sure what they are.
Very much shape of a Black Pheobe, a bit taller dome on the head. Quite a
bit smaller than Black Phoebes seen next to them. Overal grayish looking
with a more yellowish cast to most of the belly area, except greyer still
just under the chin. Kind of like a Pacific Slope Flycatcher but not so
greenish and a tad bigger.
Any ideas? There was at least one and perhaps 2 pair of them in the area.
Lots of Common Yellowthroats, males and females in the reeds to the
Baylands side of the ponds.
Out by Sunnyvale WPCP was pleased at both Wilsons and Red-Necked
Phalaropes, an odd Raven find, and disappointed with only Forsters Terns
and Ring Billed Gulls - no other gulls there or at Calabazas Ponds.
Bummer.
Carrying a tripod on a bike is managable but there are tricks to make it
work. Was able to cover much more distance than I would have had time for
on foot.
-Chris
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From [[email protected]] Sun Sep 05 20:32:50 1999
Subject: [SBB] Crittendon Marsh and Almaden Lake Park
This afternoon at Crittendon Marsh, we had lots of White Pelicans (more
than I remember seeing on a single day), two Brown Pelicans, Snowy and
Great Egrets, Avocets, Long-billed Curlews, Greater Yellowlegs, Least
and Western Sandpipers, and Forster's Terns (but not the hoped for Least
Terns, again.) We also had a nice close look at a Northern Harrier.
This evening just before dusk at Almaden Lake Park, we had a single
probable Vaux's Swift. It wasn't a good enough look for me to count it
for my life list, but it was a small swift with no apparent white on
it. It was just over us and away before we could get a very good look
at it. Subsequent searching at the SCVWD pond and other stops along
Coleman Rd didn't result in any other swallows or swifts. We did have
two Green Herons, a Great Blue Heron, and a single Black Crowned Night
Heron at the SCVWD pond (along with the resident cormorants.)
Hugh McDevitt
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From [[email protected]] Sun Sep 05 22:42:19 1999
Subject: [SBB] 5 September Sunnyvale WPCP Birds
This afternoon, my friend Steve Gerstle from Seattle and I birded the Sunnyvale
WPCP ponds. While we didn't find any unusual swallows, we did manage to refind
the 2 COMMON TERNS amongst the tern flock on the levee. Slightly farther out
along the levee, there was a PECTORAL SANDPIPER nestled in the midst of a
good-sized flock of Dowitchers. Near the western edge of the mud flats
southwest of the 90 degree turn of the levee to the west (at the estuary), there
was an obvious bright juvenile SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER, seemingly preferring the
company of the few WESTERN SANDPIPERS that were present in the peep flock. A
PEREGRINE FALCON kept things lively and there were 15-20 RED-NECKED PHALAROPES
swimming just southwest of the aforementioned turn of the levee.
Mark
Sunnyvale WPCP
PEFA
2 COTE
PESA
SESA
15-20 RNPH
--
Mark Eaton 1524 36th Avenue
mailto:[[email protected]] San Francisco, CA, 94122-3123
http://www.best.com/~eaton http://goldengate.ca.audubon.org
"I tell you the more I think, the more I feel that there is nothing more
truly artistic than to love people."
- Vincent Van Gogh
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From [[email protected]] Sun Sep 05 23:18:36 1999
Subject: [SBB] Calero Reservoir, SCVAS trip to Monterey Co.
Howdy South-bay-birders,
Again visited Calero Reservoir on Sat, Aug 4. The water is rapidly
receding, but there is still good shorebird habitat at the east end of
the reservoir. There I had 4 SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS along with the more
usual shorebirds. The number of ducks there continues to grow, and on
Saturday included NORTHERN SHOVELER, NORTHERN PINTAIL, many CINNAMON
TEAL, and a large flock of AMERICAN WIGEON.
Today, Aug. 5, I led a SCVAS trip to Moss Landing. Highlights:
Moonglow Dairy - 5 AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS, 1 PEREGRINE FALCON, 1
BAIRD'S SANDPIPER, 1 PECTORAL SANDPIPER, 1 RED PHALAROPE, lots of
RED-NECKED PHALAROPES, and 1 BLACK TERN (at the third pond).
Carmel River Mouth - 1 CEDAR WAXWING (early?), 3 LESSER YELLOWLEGS,
1 PECTORAL SANDPIPER, and good numbers of western migrants, with a large
mixed flock about 100 yards down from the Hwy1 bridge, but no
Prothonotary Warbler, unfortunately.
On my way home I stopped at Struve Pond (west side of Hwy 1 just
north of Moss Landing). Along with the many RED-NECKED PHALAROPES on the
pond there were 2 WILSON'S PHALAROPES.
John Mariani
[[email protected]]
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 06 15:42:41 1999
Subject: [SBB] LBHE in Alviso
This morning, my wife Debbie and I walked out to pond A9 from the Alviso
Marina in hopes of spotting a Little Blue Heron. Previous reports had
seen the bird at the A10/A11 dike, so we were a little disappointed when
we didn't find anything there. However, we walked along A10, and Debbie
spotted a dark heron on the far dike that was obviously smaller than a
Great Blue. We got closer to the dike between A9 and A10 and got very
good looks at a single Little Blue Heron (a lifer!) mingling with a
flock of Long-billed Curlews, Marbled Godwits, and another Great Heron.
The other highlights of the morning were a spectacular air show by a
flock 50-60 White Pelicans flying over us. They changed directions en
masse several times, and it was so quiet that we could hear their wing
beats. We also had several large flocks of peeps fly close by--felt
like Dolby sound in a movie theater. There were lots of terns on the
way out, but we didn't see anything that was obviously different than
Caspian or Forster's. The walk out to the A9/A10 dike was a moderate
2-hour mixed walk/birding. It took us a little over an hour to make it
back at a fairly brisk walking pace.
Hugh McDevitt
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 06 18:33:49 1999
Subject: [SBB] Wilson's Warbler
Spent an hour at a bench at "my farm" (La Rinconada Park) at noon today.
Had a flock of perhaps 50 Wilson's Warblers...couldn't find anything but
Wilson's. Also had a WESTERN TANAGER, WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, SPOTTED
TOWHEE and an adult RED-TAILED HAWK sitting atop a tree on the La Rinconada
golf course a football field away. Altogether had 19 birds while sitting on
one bench....earned that birding while sitting time after hiking down the
sand bottom of the Carmel River yesterday with John Mariani....John's made
his report from yesterday but we all had an awesome day in the Monterey
area!
Still have HOODED ORIOLES at my feeder...also had a really weird
bird...looked like it was half Rock Pigeon and half Mourning Dove...have
only seen it once.
Gloria LeBlanc
Los Gatos off Quito
"We can't change the financial winds, but we can adjust the sails"
http://www.lgsia.com http://www.wallstreetgifts.com
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 06 18:57:26 1999
Subject: [SBB] Golden Eagle at Monte Bello/Black Mtn.
All,
At 16:00 today, spotted from the junction of the Indian Creek Trail at the
Backpacker Camp, a very large chocolate brown bird perched on the radio
tower at Black Mountain. With my 10x42's I could clearly see bright yellow
feet. I walked up the trail toward Black Mtn. approx. 2/10 mile to get a
better view and when I put the scope on it the bird flew down, showing a
broad wedged tail with grayish bands and uniformly dark underwings. I
sprinted up to the top of the rise and circled around the bald looking hi
and lo but unable to locate the bird.
At 16:45 on the trail back to the Monte Bello parking area from the camp,
the bird appeared soaring high overhead flying to the northwest. Scoped it
with a Red-tailed Hawk in the same visual field. It passed directly overhead
and then the bird disappeared. I see that this bird is listed as a "2" on
the County List, but I was surprised, having seen my other 3 Golden's in E.
Oregon, Idaho and SE Arizona.
Other birds: a very vocal Brown Creeper and a female Ruby-crowned Kinglet
devouring a caterpillar on the Skid Rd. Trail; two Band-tailed Pigeons on an
exposed perch on the Indian Creek Trail climbing up to the backpacker camp;
a bright male American Goldfinch just below the camp; Juncos at the radio
tower on Black Mountain; 2 juvenile and 2 adult Western Meadowlark and
Lesser Goldfinch on the returning trail, as well as excellent views of a
male Kestrel hunting the slope at a hover.
Good birding.
Michael Wienholt
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 06 21:40:18 1999
Subject: [SBB] Re: SCVAS trip, WHITE-WINGED TERN!
Hi Joe, South-bay-birders.
Wow! Yesterday at Moonglow we watched that tern for quite a while at a
considerable distance, and the possibility of White-winged Tern was
never discussed, although we found the bird puzzling. At a distance it's
paleness made me at first mistake it for a Forster's, but when I scoped
it I realized it was clearly something else (wrong pattern on head, bill
was
too short, had a dark carpal bar). In flight the dark leading edge to
the upperwing was Least Tern-like, but the bird was clearly too large,
and flight-style wrong for a Least. It also bothered me that there was
no dark smudge at the side of the breast, and that the dark cap was so
slight, but I let it slide. We were viewing it at a distance in harsh
light, and I assumed its upperparts were darker in reality than they
appeared to us (It's upperparts were gray, but not much darker than
those of a Sterna tern, the underwing pale with some dusky on the flight
feathers). After reviewing my field guides I realize I made the mistake
of not considering all possibilities! Very humbling. It's clear that the
bird I so confidently called a Black Tern was a White-winged. So to
those SCVAS members who were with me Sunday, we saw some very good birds
that day...we just didn't know how good!
P.S.--The bird was correctly identified today, and was still at the
third pond at Moonglow. If you go look for it PLEASE dark down near the
eucalyptus, not at the other spot--
John Mariani
[[email protected]]
Joseph Morlan wrote:
> On Sun, 05 Sep 1999 23:01:54 -0700, John Mariani <[[email protected]]>
> wrote:
>
> >1 BLACK TERN (at the third pond).
>
> John,
>
> Are you sure it wasn't the White-winged?
>
> --
> Joseph Morlan, Pacifica, CA 94044: [[email protected]]
> Fall Birding Classes begin Sept 7: http://fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~jmorlan/
> California Bird Records Committee: http://www.wfo-cbrc.org/cbrc/
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 06 21:57:21 1999
Subject: [SBB] Sunnyvale birds
Howdy South-bay-birders,
Today I spent some time birding in Sunnyvale. At the Calabazas Road
ponds I ran into Mike Mammoser. Only noteworthy bird there was a
PECTORAL SANDPIPER.
From there I went to the Sunnyvale Water Pollution Control Ponds.
There I saw 2 BROWN PELICANS. a steady passage of AM. WHITE PELICANS, 2
more PECTORAL SANDPIPERS, and 1 COMMON TERN with a flock of FORSTER'S.
The Common Tern was a juvenile with dark carpal bar, all-black bill,
white forehead and black band stretching from the eyes around the nape.
Legs were shorter, slimmer, and darker in color than those of nearby
Forster's. In flight it showed a relatively broad dusky trailing edge to
the underside of the flight feathers (I've got to be more careful about
tern I.D. after badly messing up on the White-winged Tern). There were
BARN, CLIFF, and VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS at the ponds today, but no sign
of the Bank Swallow and Purple Martin reported by Mike Mammoser--
John Mariani
[[email protected]]
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From [[email protected]] Tue Sep 07 09:19:18 1999
Subject: [SBB] Franklin's Gull (from Suddjian)
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Date: Mon, 06 Sep 1999 14:44:22 -0400 (EDT)
From: [[email protected]]
Subject: FRGU sighting
To: [[email protected]]
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Dear Bill,
It's been a while since we've corresponded. As you can see I'm now (finally)
on-line.
Yesterday (5 Sept 99) I observed two juv. Franklin's Gulls at the Palo Alto
Duck Pond. They were in the fray with the other gulls, ducks and geese
seeking handouts.
Best wishes,
David Suddjian
[[email protected]]
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From [[email protected]] Tue Sep 07 09:58:04 1999
Subject: [SBB] A1 Frenzy
Folks:
There was a feeding frenzy on Salt Pond A1 this morning, 9/7/1999, in
the arm that is next to the levee between the salt pond an the Mountain View
Forebay. The centerpiece was groups of AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS; I counted 665.
They were feeding silently in their cooperative fashion and were accompanied by
a cacophony of 1000 CALIFORNIA GULLS, working for scraps. Within the gull
flock were a few WESTERNS and RING-BILLS; I had fewer than 10 of each. Around
the periphery of the pelicans, where the pond becomes shallower, were 51 GREAT
EGRETS and, in shallower water still, were 62 SNOWY EGRETS. Although many
DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS (>50) were foraging in Charleston Slough, none
were working the A1 resource.
Closer to work, I heard a WRENTIT calling on Stevens Creek above
Crittenden Lane. Curiously, this species is fairly common in south county
streams with heavy overgrowth such as berry brambles, but not in the north
valley. This time of year, however, this normally sedentary species does
wander considerably.
Yesterday, 9/6/1999, I had little success with local specialties at the
Sunnyvale WPCP ponds or the Calabazas ponds. At the former I counted 102
SEMIPALMATED PLOVER and 26 RED-NECKED PHALAROPE but had no terns or unusal
shorebirds. At Calabazas the best bird was an adult PEREGRINE FALCON. I
also checked the Duck Pond for Suddjian's Franklin's Gulls without success,
but I did not check out the thousands of gulls floating on the high tide in
the estuary there.
Bill
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From [[email protected]] Tue Sep 07 10:15:26 1999
Subject: [SBB] Del Puerto Cyn 9/6
Hi Everyone--
To avoid the Labor Day traffic frenzy, I came home last night through Del
Puerto Canyon. Around 7:45PM at MP 19 and 18.5 in Stanislaus County (just 2
miles from the Santa Clara line), I flushed 2 POOR-WILLS from the road. At
each one, I stopped the car in the traffic lane and kept the headlights on.
They would land on the shoulder at the edge of my headlights, then flutter
through the beams to catch something. There was a Wild Boar snuffling
through the campground at Frank Raines Park, and a tarantula in the road at
MP 5 or so.
Mark Miller
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From [[email protected]] Tue Sep 07 10:18:09 1999
Subject: [SBB] weekend birds
All:
On Friday evening, I saw all 5 Common Terns at the Sunnyvale WPCP ponds,
along with the Black Tern, and single Pectoral and Spotted Sandpipers. I
saw one Common Tern that showed the molt limits resulting in a dark wedge
midway along the primaries.
Saturday, I birded the Alviso Salt ponds. Since the high tide left some mud
exposed, not all the shorebirds came in to roost on the saltponds. The most
interesting were 6 Red Knots and 4 Dunlins. There were 85 Vaux's Swifts in
Alviso.
Sunday morning, a check of CCRS turned up a number of migrants including 6+
Willow Flycatchers and a MacGillivray's Warbler, There appears to a
Peregrine roosting in the dead tree by the entrance gate. In the evening a
survey of a private area turned up 13 Pectoral and 2 Baird's Sandpipers.
Monday morning, I checked the east of side of Coyote Creek opposite CCRS.
I flushed a Grasshopper Sparrow 3 times but never got it to perch. There
were the usual common migrants. The flooded fields west of Zanker held 14
Pectoral Sandpipers and 9 Lesser Yellowlegs. Around my apartment, migrants
included a W. Wood-Pewee and 6 W. Tanagers.
At midday, I checked Crittenden Marsh. There were lots of peeps and
Semi-palmated Plovers using the pond as a high tide roost. Otherwise birds
were disappointingly similar to the previous weekend. The same single
Lesser Yellowlegs and Stilt Sandpiper were present. One new arrival was a
Pectoral Sandpiper.
A pretty humdrum weekend.
Nick
Nick Lethaby
Technical Marketing Manager
CoWare, Inc.
Tel: 408 845 7646
E-mail: [[email protected]]
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From [[email protected]] Tue Sep 07 12:01:42 1999
Subject: [SBB] Website Updated
SouthBay Birders,
The August archives for this list have been posted and may be browsed
at http://fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~jmorlan/southbay.htm
Also there are two new mystery birds (both shorebirds) for your
consideration this month and "answers" to the sandpiper and tern from
last month. There is already disagreement on this month's birds, so
please join in the discussion and help us figure it all out.
The photo gallery has new images of Shy Albatross and a video of
Short-tailed Albatross from California as well as many more recent
California rarities.
I redesigned the pages slightly, so they should be easier to navigate.
I also did a complete link verification for the whole site over the
weekend.
>From the main page go to "California Birding" and you'll see the links
for the mystery birds and the photo gallery at the top. The url is in
my signature.
Enjoy!
--
Joseph Morlan, Pacifica, CA 94044: [[email protected]]
Fall Birding Classes begin Sept 7: http://fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~jmorlan/
California Bird Records Committee: http://www.wfo-cbrc.org/cbrc/
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From [[email protected]] Tue Sep 07 12:51:01 1999
Subject: [SBB] Weekend birds
Sorry for the cross-posting, this report has sightings from
both counties.
On Saturday, 9/4/99, in banding efforts at CCFS, of the 23
birds handled, we had 13 "Western" Flycatchers and 2 Willow;
one each of these empids were recaptures. Mike Mammoser
stopped by and reported that he saw far more Willow
Flycatchers in the field than "Western".
On Sunday, 9/5/99, I checked the Bay Rd. end of Ravenswood
OSP, just north of the county line. Good numbers of
shorebirds were present. Of note were 31 RED-NECKED PHALAROPE
feeding very close to the trail on the north side of the
impoundment. I saw about a dozen RED KNOTS among the roosting
shorebirds, several with yet-to-be-molted reddish breasts.
A large number of BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS with summer plumage
were present, along with the MARBLED GODWITS, LONG-BILLED
CURLEWS, WILLETS, and DOWITCHERS. In the impoundment on the
north side of the OSP which is just south of the western end
of the Dumbarton Bridge, was a large roosting flock (about
10,000 birds) of similar composition. The Dowitchers heard
here were SHORT-BILLED.
The tide was in and there was no exposed mud in the Bay
during this time.
Les
==========================================
Les Chibana, Palo Alto [[email protected]]
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From [[email protected]] Tue Sep 07 12:54:11 1999
Subject: Re: [SBB] WPCP - Carpal Bars on Terns
Vivek Tiwari wrote:
>
> 1) Does a distinct black carpal bar automatically rule out Forster's?
Yes. Juvenile Forster's can show some darker markings on the marginal/
lesser coverts, but they are indistinct and do not form a distinct blackish
bar. Juv. (and basic adult?) Arctic Terns can show a variably blackish/
distinct carpal bar, so characteristics of the carpal bar would not be
very helpful to distinguish Common and Arctic terns.
>
> 2) If so, and assuming that all 4 were COMMON TERNS, does the red on the base
> of the bill indicate a 1st fall bird, while all black bills indicate basic
> adult plumage?
No. I think that any age could show color at the base of the bill.
I've seen birds that were obviously non-juveniles this fall that had
all-black bills, some with red at the base, and some with fleshy-orange
(almost brownish) at the base. The age of "first-fall" (i.e., juvenile)
birds should be obvious by conspicuous paler edging to the feathers of
the upperparts and dark markings in the tertials (and probably some
scapulars).
As we've been reporting so far this fall, ageing these non-juvenile,
basic-type birds has been a challenge, and I don't think we've come
to any strong conclusions. I saw a basic-type Common Tern in Alviso
today showing obvious primary molt, and I suspect that it was likely
an adult as a result, but I'm not sure. If anyone sees a definite
juvenile Common Tern, please let us know (I guess John Mariani had
the first of the fall) so we can keep track of numbers of individuals
out there.
Steve Rottenborn
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From [[email protected]] Tue Sep 07 14:03:59 1999
Subject: [SBB] birds
On Saturday, 4 Sep 99, I started the day at CCFS to look for landbird
migrants. An immature COOPER'S HAWK fled the riparian as I set out. I
found a nice group of migrants consisting of 8 WILLOW FLYCATCHERS, 4
"WESTERN" FLYCATCHERS, 7 YELLOW WARBLERS, 3 HOUSE WRENS, and a WARBLING
VIREO. I also had 2 WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS overhead with the swallows.
Stopping along Zanker, I found 4 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS in the field to the
west.
A stop at State and Spreckles in Alviso produced the adult STILT
SANDPIPER and at least 5 LESSER YELLOWLEGS.
At the EEC I found another WILLOW FLYCATCHER.
On Sunday, 5 Sep 99, I went to the Sunnyvale sewage ponds, ostensibly to
check out the northeast corner of the pond. I never got there. While
looking through swallows on the wires just short of the radar station, I
noticed an immature PURPLE MARTIN sitting amongst them. It was a good
50% larger than the other swallows, and sat preening on the wire or
flitting about for quite some time. Also, this martin was banded, having
an aluminum USF&W band on the left leg and a yellow color band with the
number 426 on the right leg (yes, I was close enough to scope that out).
Later while looking at a juvenile VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW (there were very
many of these around), a juvenile BANK SWALLOW landed right next to it
in my scope view. I studied this bird for a long time before noticing
that another BANK SWALLOW was sitting on the wire just above it.
On the levee separating the two ponds there wasn't much evidence of
terns, but a flock of about 130 BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS was interesting.
On the way back to the car I had 3 immature GREEN HERONS.
On Monday, 6 Sep 99, I went to the Guadalupe River, which was pretty
dead except for a couple of "WESTERN" FLYCATCHERS, a YELLOW WARBLER, and
an imm/fem BULLOCK'S ORIOLE.
At CCFS things were a little better with 4 WILLOW FLYCATCHERS, 6
PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHERS, a WESTERN TANAGER, 2 YELLOW WARBLERS, 2
WESTERN WOOD-PEWEES, a HOUSE WREN, and a WARBLING VIREO. Three
WHITE-TAILED KITES in the area included a juvenile.
An immature PEREGRINE FALCON was soaring over Arzino Ranch, while State
and Spreckles produced only yellowlegs.
At Calabazas Marsh I ran into John Mariani, who picked out a PECTORAL
SANDPIPER as the only bird of note.
Mike Mammoser
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From [[email protected]] Tue Sep 07 18:16:21 1999
Subject: [SBB] WPCP - Carpal Bars on Terns
On Sunday - around 6:00PM, I saw 4 terns with distinct black carpal bars at
the Sunnyvale WPCP. These were with the flock of terns and gulls on the dike
between the two large ponds.
All 4 had solid, sooty napes. 3 had all black bills. 1 had red on the base of
the bill. This bird had uniform pale upperparts.
2 of the birds with the all black bills had slightly greyish wings and one of
them had distinctly lighter tips on the median coverts.
Questions:
1) Does a distinct black carpal bar automatically rule out Forster's?
2) If so, and assuming that all 4 were COMMON TERNS, does the red on the base
of the bill indicate a 1st fall bird, while all black bills indicate basic
adult plumage?
All 4 birds seemed to have contrasty (darker) primary tips in flight and when
sitting. I couldn't see the leg color and don't know much about bill and body
shape differences to decide on the id otherwise.
Thanks,
Vivek Tiwari
[[email protected]]
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From [[email protected]] Wed Sep 08 10:17:48 1999
Subject: [SBB] L'Avenida
All,
I made another quick check of Stevens Creek north of L'Avenida today
9/8/99 on the way in to work. Pretty much the same assortment of
birds hanging around there, including 15+ YELLOW WARBLERS, 3 to 4
WARBLING VIREOS, 2 WILSON'S WARBLERS, 2 to 3 WILLOW FLYCATCHERS,
1 COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, and the family of HOODED ORIOLES (there are
definitely two fledglings, still with prominent gape flanges and
incompletely grown tails). I heard what sounded like Bill's WRENTIT
up towards the lone eucalyptus near the Crittenden Road bridge, but
couldn't find it when I got up there. A singing male TRICOLORED
BLACKBIRD among a small flock of BREWER'S BLACKBIRDS atop a high
voltage tower was unusual for here.
Mike Rogers
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From [[email protected]] Wed Sep 08 13:36:21 1999
Subject: [SBB] more Common Terns
All:
On 3 Sep., I saw 2 ad. PEREGRINE FALCONS and a WILLOW FLYCATCHER
at the Stevens Creek tidal mitigation area near Crittenden
Marsh, and heard at least 2 ELEGANT TERNS calling over the salt
ponds north of Crittenden.
On 7 Sep., I had 1 COMMON, 150+ FORSTER'S, and 20 CASPIAN
TERNS, 30 BROWN PELICANS, and 100 DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS
foraging in salt pond A-12 (the one just north of the Alviso
marina). The Common Tern had a dark wedge on p7 or 8
indicating molt limits, but the inner primaries (proximal
to this dark wedge) were fairly short, so the bird was in
active molt, unlike most of the COTE we've been seeing.
Otherwise, the bird looked like those we've been seeing.
A juv. SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER (fairly brownish, not as gray
as my Sunnyvale WPCP bird) was with Westerns and Leasts at
the south end of the impoundment along the west side of the
RR tracks north of the Alviso marina. At State & Spreckles,
I saw the ad. STILT SANDPIPER, 54 GREATER and only 4 LESSER
YELLOWLEGS.
Today (8 Sep.), I had a WILLOW FLYCATCHER and an ad.
PEREGRINE FALCON at the Alviso EEC, and at State &
Spreckles, there were 60 VAUX'S SWIFTS and a molting
imm. WILSON'S PHALAROPE (Scott Terrill and I later saw
the ad. STILT SANDPIPER here). At the Sunnyvale WPCP, I
watched terns along the levees between the two ponds from
15:15 to 16:15. I saw at least 8 COMMON TERNS, with up to
7 present simultaneously, and given the turnover in birds
here, there may have been more than 8. One was a juvenile,
faded but still having obvious pale edging on the feathers
of the upperparts and dark subterminal markings in the
tertials, lower/inner scapulars, and inner greater coverts.
Interestingly (and most disconcerting), the secondaries of
this juvenile, seen well in flight, were not particularly
dark, and the secondary bar was therefore not very
conspicuous. Also, the tips of the secondaries were
extensively white (so that the bird appeared superficially
Arctic-like). Still, the bases of the secondaries were
slightly darker than the greater coverts, the secondaries
were not as extensively white as an Arctic should have,
and the bird's size and shape were typical of a Common.
The more I look at these terns, the more I realize how
variable they are (and how generalizations such as those
found even in the most up-to-date guides can be misleading).
The other seven were all basic-type birds like those we've
been seeing regularly here. Of these seven, only one was
in active molt, with p9 short on each wing and p10 obviously
very old, brown, and worn. Two others showed molt limits
(contrast between darker/older and paler/younger primaries),
while four did not.
Only 4 Common and 45 Forster's Terns were present when I
arrived at 15:15, all 8 Commons had appeared (and 7 were
present simultaneously) and 80 Forster's were present at
about 16:00, and birds had begun to leave by 16:15.
Steve Rottenborn
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From [[email protected]] Thu Sep 09 11:38:22 1999
Subject: [SBB] Charleston Slough
At Charleston Slough tonight there were two PECTORAL SANDPIPERS on the
south side of the old pump house. They were feeding with a small group
of Least Sandpipers and two Greater Yellowlegs. On the other side of the
trail, on "Skimmer Island" there was a single first winter male
RING-NECKED DUCK and a few AMERICAN WIGEONS.
Matthew Dodder
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From [[email protected]] Fri Sep 10 10:13:40 1999
Subject: [SBB] Baylands
All,
This morning 9/10/99 before work I checked the Palo Alto
Baylands for migrants. Not many around. The fennel patch
near the ranger's residence had a YELLOW WARBLER among
several COMMON YELLOWTHROATS and the nearby trees at the
rangers residence had a YELLOW WARBLER and a "WESTERN"
FLYCATCHER.
The trees at the end of Embarcadero Way were only a little
better, with 5 YELLOW WARBLERS, 1 ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER,
and 2 VAUX'S SWIFTS overhead.
Mike Rogers
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From [[email protected]] Fri Sep 10 11:21:40 1999
Subject: [SBB] Pectoral Sandpipers
This morning at Charleston Slough there were still two PECTORAL
SANDPIPERS on the south side of the pump house feeding with a small
group
of Least Sandpipers. The pump was working while I watched and it pretty
much drained out this area, leaving mud flats for now, but could be
dried up soon. So I don't know how long these sandpipers will stay
around?
The pumping action created a bonanza on the other side for egrets and
herons. I saw about 100 in a mixed flock of greater, snowy, and great
blue within a tight area all fishing along the banks. Some were
displaying their plumes and running off subordinates, maybe because they
were so close together? A pretty sight.
Mike Clark
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From [[email protected]] Fri Sep 10 11:46:36 1999
Subject: [SBB] OVENBIRD
All:
In my previous message, I forgot to mention a BANK
SWALLOW at the Sunnyvale WPCP and a juv. PECTORAL
SANDPIPER at State and Spreckles in Alviso on 8 Sep.
Yesterday (9 Sep.), a check of the Palo Alto Baylands
area produced only an imm. male SELASPHORUS hummingbird
in the fennel patch and 7 YELLOW WARBLERS at the Palo
Alto WPCP. The north pond of the Flood Control Basin
had an ad. STILT SANDPIPER. Like the Alviso bird, this
one had entirely basic upperparts except for a few
upperwing coverts and several outer primaries; this
bird appeared to have more retained old primaries than
the Alviso bird currently does. Also, the FCB bird had
a few blackish splotches on the underparts retained from
alternate plumage. Three female/imm.-type BLUE-WINGED
TEAL were also here. The other ad. STILT SANDPIPER
was at State and Spreckles (seen by m.ob. in early
afternoon), along with a juv. PECTORAL SANDPIPER
picked out by Bob Reiling. An ad. PEREGRINE FALCON
was along the EEC entrance road. At CCFS, I had
8 PACIFIC-SLOPE and 2 WILLOW FLYCATCHERS, 2 HOUSE
WRENS, and 5 YELLOW WARBLERS near the trailers.
This morning (10 Sep.), I birded the Guadalupe River
between Montague Expwy. and Trimble Road. The
highlight was an OVENBIRD about midway between the
two roads. I marked a line across the levee on the
east side of the river about 50 meters downstream
from a "Replanting Project" interpretive sign; the
Ovenbird was in and around a walnut tree in the
riparian corridor, even with this line. It responded
well to pishing by approaching and staying close to
me, but it never called. Also here were 25 WESTERN
TANAGERS, 15 YELLOW and 5 WILSON'S WARBLERS, 1 WILLOW
and 5 PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHERS, 1 WESTERN WOOD-
PEWEE, 3 BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAKS, 7 HOODED ORIOLES,
1 WARBLING VIREO, 1 imm./female LAZULI BUNTINGS, and
1 SHARP-SHINNED and 3 COOPER'S HAWKS.
Good birding,
Steve Rottenborn
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From [[email protected]] Fri Sep 10 12:32:47 1999
Subject: [SBB] Charleston Slough/Pump House
Folks:
On nomenclature, Charleston Slough does not have a "pump house."
It has an old concrete structure at its south end that has now been
torn down and there is a pump next to it which connects with Shoreline
Lake. The pump house across the path from this point drains the
Mountain View Forebay into Adobe Creek (which is part of the Palo
Alto Flood Control Basin). Charleston Slough has a muted tidal flow
but probably has salinity typical of the South Bay. Mountain View
Forebay is largely fresh water from storm drains.
Bill
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From [[email protected]] Fri Sep 10 13:36:40 1999
Subject: [SBB] Ogier Ponds
All,
Things were very slow at Ogier Ponds this morning. The water level is very
low in some of the ponds and the creek inlet is becoming overgrown. We did
see a couple dozen Wood Ducks (of all ages), a couple Ruddy Ducks, two female
Ring-necked Ducks and one eclipse male American Wigeon (in addition to the
usual Gadwalls and Mallards). There were no shorebirds (a Killdeer was
heard). Small passerines seemed to be either going somewhere else or hiding
from the wind (or us) and although a few of the "usual suspects" were seen
quantity and quality were way down. I did get a quick look at a yellow
warbler that may well have been one (a YEWA) but it quickly disappeared into
a wind blown tree. A couple Red-tailed Hawks, a pair of American Kestrels
and a White-tailed Kite were seen. Finally, just as we were leaving Frank
got a long distance look at an Osprey (unknown sex and age) which was flying
north of the ponds. All in all, today was very poor birding when compared to
this time last year.
Take care,
Bob Reiling, 1:33 PM, 9/10/99
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From [[email protected]] Fri Sep 10 13:54:23 1999
Subject: [SBB] Re: Ovenbird
All:
Scott Terrill called to say that he saw the Ovenbird at
about 13:00 at the aforementioned walnut tree. The
bird did not respond well to pishing (although that
apparently brought the bird into view), but it did
respond well to, and began calling repeatedly in
response to, Scott's imitation of an Eastern Screech-
Owl.
Steve Rottenborn
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From [[email protected]] Fri Sep 10 16:25:03 1999
Subject: [SBB] Calero Reservoir birds
Howdy Sout-bay-birders,
Yesterday afternoon I visited the east end of Calero Reservoir.
Highlights included 4 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS along the shores and at least
1 male TRICOLORED BLACKBIRD in a large blackbird flock there.
Today I revisited the east end of the reservoir. There were still at
least 4 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS there, and I also saw 2 GOLDEN EAGLES (1
ad., 1 imm.). The immature eagle flew very close to where I was
standing, making an unsuccessful assault on the duck flocks. Lots of
ducks are there now, including many AMERICAN WIGEON, N. PINTAIL,
CINNAMON and GREENWINGED TEAL, GADWALL, etc. Along the levee near the
stables there was a flock of 16 WILD TURKEYS, and along the creek inflow
I had close looks at a pair of CALIFORNIA THRASHERS. The east end of the
reservoir is really loaded with birds right now, and is a place to keep
an eye on.
Walked part of the Alamitos Creek Trail downstream from Leland High
School today. Migrants were sparse, as usual--only found 1 YELLOW
WARBLER and a few PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHERS and WESTERN TANAGERS. Of
course there were most of the usual residents--RED-SHOULDERED HAWKS,
BELTED KINGFISHER, etc.
I've scheduled a new birding class with MetroED for this fall,
beginning Sept. 23 and extending to Oct. 28. The course consists of six
evening meetings and several Saturday field trips. If anyone is
interested, more information about the class and how to register can be
found at the following web page:
http://home.pacbell.net/redknot/class.html
John Mariani
[[email protected]]
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From [[email protected]] Sat Sep 11 11:02:06 1999
Subject: [SBB] Nutmeg Mannikins
The Backyard Bird Feeder group walked this morning along the Los Alamitos
Creek Trail north from the parking lot on Camden Ave. Highlights included
three female COMMON MERGANSERS, two singing CALIFORNIA THRASHERS, two
WILSON's and YELLOW WARBLERS, and three NUTMET MANNIKINS aka spotted munias
or ricebirds.
Jack Cole
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From [[email protected]] Sat Sep 11 15:37:34 1999
Subject: [SBB] American Bittern and Sora
All,
This morning when we arrived at Ogier Ponds for the SCVAS field trip the
entrance was locked and was not opened until about 8:30 AM. (I guess if the
model airplane hobbyists don't want to fly it never gets opened?) In the
meantime a couple of fishermen with a canoe went into the first pond south of
the entrance and flushed every visible duck in the pond, including
approximately a dozen Wood Ducks in the far southwestern corner of the pond.
Later a family throwing a stick into the pond for their pet dog to retrieve
managed to flush a remaining pair of WODU from reeds on the North side of the
pond. Generally birding was better than Friday, a Golden Eagle came down,
quite low, from the ridgeline to a point just south of the model airplane
field providing good viewing before finally gaining height. We had
Red-tailed Hawks, White-tailed kites, a couple of accipiters (one each
probable Cooper's Hawk and Sharp-shinned Hawk) and a pair of American
Kestrels decorated various Cottonwood branches in the area. There was a
marked improvement in the variety of passerines seen (the wind was not as bad
as yesterday but it was still slim pickings). We had a calling California
Thrasher, fair looks at a Yellow Warbler, good looks at a female Nuttal's
Woodpecker, Lesser Goldfinches, a Western Meadowlark and Belted Kingfishers
(along with some of the "usual suspects"). We had excellent views of one
Green Heron but the best birds were in the pond nearest the model airplane
field. As we walked along the southern edge of this pond an American Bittern
flushed from the reeds and flew to the eastern edge of the ponds giving us
excellent views of it's back, black wingtips and yellow-green feet as it
flew. A Sora was found in the southeastern corner of this pond shortly
thereafter (one had been calling earlier). We "dipped" on the Osprey,
Ring-necked Ducks, a Ruddy Duck and Caspian Terns seen Friday. Finally one
question remains, "Is Coors Light the beer of choice for fisherman?" Their
blue and white (is it silver?) cardboard containers, empty cans and bottles
decorate many selected sites around the two largest ponds where man has beat
back the wilderness and developed the area for his enjoyment.
Take care,
Bob Reiling, 3:35 PM, 9/11/99
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From [[email protected]] Sat Sep 11 16:50:25 1999
Subject: [SBB] COTE
This afternoon at 2:30 PM there were no terns along the central levee or
adjacent levee between the two Sunnyvale WPCP ponds. At 3:30, there were
four COMMON TERNS there among over 50 Forster's terns. Other birds of note
included four Bonaparte's gulls and 35 Red-necked Phalaropes.
Jack Cole
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From [[email protected]] Sun Sep 12 22:22:19 1999
Subject: [SBB] NOPO at Hidden Villa
All,
While accompanying group of trainee naturalists at Hidden Villa in Los Altos
(a nonprofit organic farm and nature preserve where I am now working as an
environmental educator), I encountered a Northern Pygmy-owl at close range
along the Pipeline Trail at about 2PM yesterday (Sat. 9/11/99). The bird flew
in to land on an oak branch about 12 ft above the trail and calmly observed
us for approximately 10 minutes before we moved on. It was silent throughout
the encounter.
--Garth Harwood
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 13 09:10:53 1999
Subject: [SBB] Sooty Shearwaters
Hello all;
On Sunday I found myself at the Monterey Bay Aquarium facility. While
spending a few moments outside on their patio, we were treated to the sight
of 100's of thousands of birds flying along in a ribbon that stretched
across our line of sight from the shore around Sand City, to out of sight
towards the west. They were many miles away. While they didn't fly like
them, they looked like starlings. But because of the distance (and only
having 7X35 binocs handy) I was unable to tell much about them--other then
there were lots of them.
A few hours later, we spotted the shoreward end of the line as we were
passing through Sand City. We found a place to stop and set up the scope.
Due to: bad sun angle, wind vibrations, distance (about 1,000 yards),
constant motion of the birds, etc..., viewing was poor. *But*, given a
number of pretty good glimpse's at them, I'm fairly sure they were Sooty
Shearwaters. Beaks & legs appeared to be dark. The distance (not to
mention my old eyes) kept those little nose knobs near the top of their beak
a mystery. I *thought* I could make them out from time-to-time. But I
never got a sure hard confirm on them...
What was so riveting was the shear numbers of birds. From the aquarium, the
ribbon of birds seemed to touch the water, and run from shore, to out to sea
(and out of sight). As they wheeled and turned, the light would reflect
collectively, and the ribbon seemed to undulate and sway with a hidden beat.
Later, as we were having lunch, we could again watch them. But this time
they were heading back towards the shore (near Sand City).
For those of you who've never been to the Monterey Aquarium, you should go.
It's truly magnificent, and worth every penny of entrance fee. Best of all,
in their aviary, you can see Avocets, Red and Red-necked Phalaropes,
Killdeer, and others from less than an arm's length away... Neat place!
Dusty Bleher
Campbell, Ca.
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 13 09:57:06 1999
Subject: [SBB] Pectoral Sandpipers
All,
On Saturday morning (presumably) the same 2 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS were seen
(by a number of people) in the Mt. View Forebay next to the dirt trail that
parallels Terminal Ave. No other unusual sightings on a quiet morning.
Nick Yatsko
-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Clark [mailto:[[email protected]]]
Sent: Friday, September 10, 1999 11:22 AM
To: South Bay Birds
Subject: [SBB] Pectoral Sandpipers
This morning at Charleston Slough there were still two PECTORAL
SANDPIPERS on the south side of the pump house feeding with a small
group
of Least Sandpipers. The pump was working while I watched and it pretty
much drained out this area, leaving mud flats for now, but could be
dried up soon. So I don't know how long these sandpipers will stay
around?
The pumping action created a bonanza on the other side for egrets and
herons. I saw about 100 in a mixed flock of greater, snowy, and great
blue within a tight area all fishing along the banks. Some were
displaying their plumes and running off subordinates, maybe because they
were so close together? A pretty sight.
Mike Clark
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 13 10:09:01 1999
Subject: [SBB] Weekend birds
All:
After missing both the White-winged Tern and Yellow-throated Vireo on
Wednesday and the Guadalupe River Ovenbird on Friday, I thought my luck had
to change this weekend. It didn't!
On Saturday morning, I briefly checked the east side of CCRS but saw
virtually nothing. There were about 20 Pectoral Sandpipers in the flooded
fields at Zanker and 237. In the afternoon, I visited Ravenswood OSP to
check the high tide roost. Lots of birds, but 10 Red Knots were the only
birds of even mild interest. A quick check of the south pond of the Palo
Alto FCB revealed 37 Greater Yellowlegs and a Pectoral Sandpiper.
Sunday morning I checked CCRS again, this time on the normal west side.
When I arrived, the banders had trapped what appeared to be a Dusky
Flycatcher. It was extremely worn, barely showing a bit of an eyering
behind the eye, but showed a narrow bill with a hint of a dusky tip to the
lower mandible. The wing-tail ratio looked much better for a Dusky than a
Hammond's. This would be a county bird although I'd like Al J. to check the
photos and measurements first. I also saw about a dozen Yellow Warblers and
a W. Wood-Pewee. The imm Peregrine was still around.
I checked Crittenden Marsh at the high tide but this was almost totally
dead apart from roosting W. Sandpipers that contained a juv. Sanderling.
Virtually no yellowlegs and NO dowitichers (I presume these had all moved
to the Palo Alto FCB since SR saw the Stilt Sandpiper there).
I then checked the CCRS waterbird pond in the evening. The incredible
decline of this spot was summed up by the complete lack of any dowitchers
(an unwelcome first for fall migration) and yellowlegs. The water level is
very low. Fortunately, there were 2-300 roosting peeps (unusual this fall).
These included a Semi-palmated Sandpiper, although the flock flew off
before I could check it really well to eliminate other rarer stints. I then
checked out the salt pond N of the mudflat W. of the shorebird pond. A juv
Golden Plover sp. flew by calling (very probably an American based on the
white supercilium and lack of yellow on the head and neck). After 20
minutes I finally relocated it way out in the middle of the pond only for
it to immediately fly before I could put the scope on it. A bad ending to a
bad weekend. Time to head to the coast.
Nick Lethaby
Technical Marketing Manager
CoWare, Inc.
Tel: 408 845 7646
E-mail: [[email protected]]
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 13 10:35:01 1999
Subject: [SBB] HWY 280
Driving home from San Francisco yesterday, I was treated to 2 adult
GOLDEN EAGLES flying together between the Stanford Dish and 280. I never
get tired of eagles so I pulled over to the side and observed them for a
few minutes as they flew directly overhead and moved slowly toward the
coastal hills. Amazingly, there was a moment when the traffic was thin
enough that I could hear their great wings flap overhead... A nice way
to end a non-birding day.
Matthew Dodder
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 13 12:17:02 1999
Subject: [SBB] Weekend Bird walks
Apologies for any duplicates from the cross-posting. These
reports are from San Mateo County, at the edge of Santa Clara
County.
I led two bird walks for the Midpeninsula Open Space District
this weekend. Here are the highlights.
Saturday, 9/11/99, Ravenswood OSP, at the end of Bay Rd., East Palo Alto,
9:00a to 12:00n:
a MERLIN, powered out to the eucalypts by the Palo Alto
Boatworks, then headed north toward the Dumbarton Bridge;
100's of BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS, many still retaining summer
plumage; only 1 RED KNOT seen, but others were probably
present as I saw about a dozen last weekend; 10 RED-NECKED PHALAROPE
foraging at very close range at the north end of the impoundment; 3
WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS among many BARN and
VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS. The shorebird flock was primarily
composed of LONG-BILLED CURLEW, MARBLED GODWIT, and WILLET,
as it did last week. 45 species total.
Leps: West Coast Lady (on 9/5/99), an unkn. Blue, and an
unkn. medium-sized one (I can't find my field guide!)
Sunday, 9/12/99, Long Ridge OSP, Skyline Blvd. including a corner of
Santa Cruz County:
3 male WILD TURKEY near Ward Pond; 2 "WESTERN" FLYCATCHERS,
one calling in Pacific-slope-manner, the other was silent;
HUTTON'S, CASSIN'S (heard-only), and WARBLING VIREOS. A
WESTERN TANAGER was heard and a sighting of a possible
YELLOW WARBLER added to the short list of migrants. We
encountered two mixed flocks of foraging passerines, but
nothing unusual was seen in these. About 25-plus species
total.
Leps: Calif. Sisters, West Coast Lady, Calif. Ringlets, an
unkn. Fritillary, an unkn. Blue, and maybe a Swallowtail.
Also, on Monday, 9/6/99, we had 2 BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAKS
stopping briefly in our yard on Skyline Blvd., on the western
margin of SCL.
Les
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Les Chibana, Palo Alto [[email protected]]
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 13 12:32:11 1999
Subject: [SBB] MGWA, STiltSA, PRFA
All,
On Friday evening 9/10/99 (about 6:30pm) I checked Steve's walnut tree
along the Guadalupe River above Montague for the Ovenbird. There was
a well-beaten path to the spot, but the bird was apprently pished out
and didn't show itself. There were a HOODED ORIOLE and a WILLOW
FLYCATCHER here though. A quick check of State and Spreckles in
Alviso afterwards turned up the basic adult STILT SANDPIPER among
22 LESSER YELLOWLEGS.
On Saturday morning 9/11/99, I started out at 7:15am once again at
the Ovenbird spot. After again failing to locate this bird, I headed
north along the river to Montague in the overflow channel and then
began birding my way south along the creek. I reached the Ovenbird
spot again just after 9:00am, but still no Ovenbird. I continued
working my way south to about 2/3 of the way to Trimble Road, then
came back and checked the Ovenbird spot at 10:15 - still no luck. In
general the area was surprisingly low on birds given the time of year,
but there were a few migrants around nonetheless, including 2 WILLOW
FLYCATCHERS, 2 "WESTERN" FLYCATCHERS, 1 SWAINSON'S THRUSH, 4 WARBLING
VIREOS, 2 ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS, 5 YELLOW WARBLERS, 1 fem/imm
MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER, 3 WILSON'S WARBLERS, 9 WESTERN TANAGERS, and
up to 3 BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAKS. Also of interest were a roosting BARN
OWL and a LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE.
Afterwards I again checked State and Spreckles in Alviso, refinding
the basic adult STILT SANDPIPER and a juvenile PECTORAL SANDPIPER,
again with many LESSER YELLOWLEGS. At least 35 VAUX'S SWIFTS were
foraging low overhead here, some vocalizing. A single CLIFF SWALLOW
remained among the many BARN and VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS. An adult
PRAIRIE FALCON was hunting along Zanker Road nearby and was later seen
again with Mike Mammoser near the CCFS trailers - the waterbird pond
was a bust. As noted by Nick Lethaby, the water level is quite low.
Mike Rogers
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 13 13:09:24 1999
Subject: [SBB] Jasper Ridge Bird Survey
Hi all,
Sunday morning Chip Haven, Ron Arps, and I did our monthly point
count survey on Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve. This was our first time
in this point count area. There are four areas of the preserve that have
been designated, each with 7 points at which we do our surveys. A group
covers an area for four months, then the groups rotate to another area.
Eventually we will all have learned and birded every point on the preserve,
and we will be "off cycle" by the time we rotate back to our starting area.
This should help to reduce observer bias over time.
In any case, we were doing the "grassland" portion of the preserve
this time, and hence we had very low bird counts, as birds tend to be
patchily distributed and in quite low numbers throughout the grassland. Our
"best birds" were an American Kestrel that flushed from an isolated tree
adjacent to one of the points, and a Grasshopper Sparrow that we identified
after the point count was over. The sparrow had flown into our circle in
one of the pure grassland habitats (Serpentine) and dropped into or near a
bunch grass. We hadn't been able to id the bird as it arrived and had to
wait until the count time was over, before trying to chase it down. As I
knew that Steve Rottenborn had previously had Grasshopper Sparrows during
the Fall in past years on Jasper Ridge, we made an effort to get good looks
at it. This bird seemed to retain some juvenile plumage with streaks down
its breast. Over the course of getting looks at this bird, we also flushed
out at least two more sparrows which may also have been Grasshopper Sparrows
but we didn't get enough of a look to be sure. Nonetheless, finding this
species on the Ridge is quite nice. It would be interesting to know if
these birds are dispersing from somewhere like Montebello, as there are no
breeding records for the Ridge (or even any singing birds in Spring, as far
as I know).
Otherwise, the day was nice enough, but few birds were seen in our
counts. Typical species included Lesser Goldfinch, Scrub Jay, Anna's
Hummingbird, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Oak Titmouse, Wrentit, California
Thrasher, Acorn Woodpecker, Bewick's Wren, etc. Most of these birds were
heard beyond the count circle and therefore didn't get included in the
survey results. On one grassland point we didn't have any species in the
seven minutes (which is fairly typical here). Our other "good" bird was a
Black Phoebe, heard at an open woodland point (Blue Oaks mostly) and
confirmed within the circle after the end of the count. This bird is
unusual on top of the Ridge, but regular along the various waterways and
around buildings. That's all for this month. Cheers,
Richard
[[email protected]]
Warning: Compaq Computers has a policy of monitoring email sent and received
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 13 13:21:19 1999
Subject: [SBB] Stevens Creek
Folks:
I did Mike's Stevens Creek route this morning, 9/13/1999, covering the
creek from just below L'Avenida down to the lone eucalyptus above Critteden.
Things were much the same as Mike has reported in the last two weeks. I had
six YELLOW WARBLERS and some of them were not settling down for the day, but
moving on. A variety of missed chips.
I found the female HOODED ORIOLE at the eucaplytus with two
dependent young. The more demanding one was fed a couple of times. Where the
power lines cross I had a family of LESSER GOLDFINCHES with one juvenile still
begging for food but being given only air by the adult as far as I could tell.
Mid-September is late for both species for dependent young.
Bill
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 13 13:32:24 1999
Subject: [SBB] birds
On Saturday, 11 Sep 99, I went to CCFS to look for migrants, finding
some of the usual suspects. I had 2 WILLOW FLYCATCHERS, 4 PACIFIC-SLOPE
FLYCATCHERS, 3 YELLOW WARBLERS, a HOUSE WREN, and a WESTERN TANAGER.
Mike and I watched a PRAIRIE FALCON fly by over the sludge ponds and I
later had 2 VAUX'S SWIFTS overhead with the swallows.
Later I had the adult STILT SANDPIPER at State and Spreckles, and
Calabazas Marsh had 2 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS.
On Sunday, 12 Sep 99, I went to the Palo Alto Baylands, where the fennel
patch was relatively quiet. At the WPCP, bird activity was low as well,
but I did manage to watch an immature female HERMIT WARBLER for about an
hour.
Mike Mammoser
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 13 13:42:01 1999
Subject: [SBB] RE: Jasper Ridge Bird Survey
REPLY RE: Jasper Ridge Bird Survey
Jeffers, Richard G wrote:
>Hi all,
> Sunday morning Chip Haven, Ron Arps, and I did our monthly point
>count survey on Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve.
[snip]
>Grasshopper Sparrows
>but we didn't get enough of a look to be sure. Nonetheless, finding
this
>species on the Ridge is quite nice. It would be interesting to know if
>these birds are dispersing from somewhere like Montebello, as there are
no
>breeding records for the Ridge (or even any singing birds in Spring, as
far
>as I know).
Were there any sightings of Grasshopper Sparrows at Monte Bello OSP this
year? I recall reports from Russian Ridge and several other locations, but
not from Monte Bello.
Les
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 13 14:48:44 1999
Subject: [SBB] WTKI
A WHITE-TAILED KITE was still sitting on a nest at CCFS on Saturday, as
if incubating eggs. If eggs are still unhatched at this point, we could
be looking at a mid-October or later fledging date.
Mike Mammoser
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 13 15:05:44 1999
Subject: [SBB] VIRGINIA'S WARBLER
All,
Today at mid-day Steve Rottenborn found a VIRGINIA'S WARBLER
at the Palo Alto Baylands fennel patch. I refound the bird
between 1:47 and 1:57 at the west end of the patch near the
ranger's residence, but lost it when it flew into the residence
trees. It is a real skulker, staying at mid-height in the
fennel and gleening slowly and unobtrusively. It is also a
very dull bird. It does, however, call occasionally, which
helps to locate it and follow it once found.
Mike Rogers
9/13/99
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 13 15:28:15 1999
Subject: [SBB] Virginia's Warbler
All:
This morning (13 Sep.), I saw two STILT SANDPIPERS at State
and Spreckles in Alviso. One was the adult that has been
regular there lately, and the other was a juv. with a great
deal of basic feathering in the back and scapulars. On 7
Sep. I saw a juv. Stilt Sandpiper on private property in
Alviso, but that bird did not have any basic feathering.
Given the short interval between these two sightings and
the significant difference in plumage (2/3 or more of the
back feathers and scapulars of today's bird were basic),
I'd guess that they are different individuals. Forty or
more VAUX'S SWIFTS were over our office in Alviso.
At the Palo Alto Baylands, a check of the fennel patch
initially produced no migrants, and if the VIRGINIA'S
WARBLER had not begun calling, there is no way I would
have found it. However, I followed the call to this
dull hatching-year bird and watched it for about a minute
at 12:50 before going to the phone to alert others.
>From 13:00 to 13:10 or so I followed it around the fennel
patch trying to photograph it, never seeing it well but
hearing it call almost constantly. It then became quiet,
calling only a few times for Mike Rogers and me from
13:20 to 13:35. I returned later to find Mike Mammoser
watching the bird, and I got very good looks again from
16:45 to 16:50 or so. This was a county bird for me, and
is, I believe, the second county record.
The VIWA was about the same size and shape as a Yellow
Warbler (though none were present for direct comparison).
It was very dull and gray overall, being more or less
uniformly medium gray all over the head, neck, and back,
with just a faint hint of brownish in these areas (this
brown tinge really apparent only in sunlight). The
upperwing coverts, secondaries, tertials, and rectrices
had dark gray/charcoal centers with very broad gray edging,
producing an overall medium grayish wing and uppertail
surface. The only outstanding feature of the head was a
moderately broad, well defined, round grayish-white orbital
ring. Unlike the illustration of the immature female in
NGS, the lores were the same medium gray as the rest of
the head. The eye was black, and the bill appeared blackish
overall (though I did not study it carefully, I did not note
any paler color on the bill). The chin and throat were only
slightly paler than the sides of the head, and there was no
strong demarcation between these areas. The breast was
gray like the throat, and despite good views in both light
and shadow, I saw no yellow on the breast at all. In direct
sunlight, the breast appeared to have a slight pale brownish
or buffy cast, although this was not conspicuous and the
underparts appeared gray overall. The gray of the breast
became slightly paler posteriorly (on the belly). The
undertail coverts were moderately bright yellow, while
the rump and uppertail coverts were a somewhat darker, more
greenish-yellow color. The legs and feet appeared dark
brownish-black. The bird pumped its tail frequently.
The call was not the hard, loud, metallic "chink" or "tink"
I had expected, but instead was only a moderately loud,
slightly less metallic "tink" or "twink" with more internal
noise than I expected, sometimes sounding like "tzink".
At times the bird gave a louder, more typical metallic
"tink" call, and perhaps the dense fennel in which the
bird foraged made its call sound strange at times. When
I initially found the bird, it was by itself, but when I
watched it later with Mike Mammoser it seemed to be
associating closely with a flock of Bushtits.
In the north pond of the Palo Alto Flood Control Basin,
Mike Mammoser and I had 65 GREATER YELLOWLEGS (no Lessers)
and a juv. PECTORAL SANDPIPER.
Steve Rottenborn
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 13 16:12:41 1999
Subject: [SBB] County List Update
Bill Bousman has updated the County List as of August 31.
The total is 270 with 6 new birds:
White-faced Ibis, Swainson's Hawk, Red Knot, Baird's Sandpiper, Ruff,
Common Tern
The list is posted on:
South Bay Birders Unlimited (SBBU)
http://www.stanford.edu/~kendric/birds/
Kendric
-----------------------------------------
Kendric C. Smith, Ph.D.
927 Mears Court
Stanford, CA 94305-1041
(650) 493-7210 (voice or fax)
[[email protected]]
http://www.stanford.edu/~kendric/
------------------------------------------
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 13 17:28:45 1999
Subject: [SBB] late HOOR
A tardy report to say that I still had a single female HOODED ORIOLE
in my back yard in San Jose on September 7th.
I have never seen HOODED ORIOLES stay this late before!
Alan W.
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 13 18:19:58 1999
Subject: [SBB] Monday birds
This afternoon I made some brief stops by the bay. At Mountain View
Forebay there were 3 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS. A PEREGRINE FALCON was seen
flying over the Palo Alto Flood Control Basin, and 1 LESSER YELLOWLEGS
was with Greaters next to the Palo Alto Baylands Interpretive Center.
Unaware that a Virginia's Warbler had been found I checked that same
fennel patch and the trees around the residence with nary a migrant to
be found. Congrats Steve for finding another great bird!:
Nothing out of the ordinary at the SCVWD Pond except for 1 SPOTTED
SANDPIPER.
My beginning birding class starts 9/23. For more information go to:
http://home.pacbell.net/redknot/class.html
John Mariani
[[email protected]]
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 13 19:20:19 1999
Subject: [SBB] Ruby-crowned Query
> THIS MESSAGE IS IN MIME FORMAT. Since your mail reader does not understand
this format, some or all of this message may not be legible.
--MS_Mac_OE_3020095219_6230181_MIME_Part
Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit
Bill,
Thanks for your message and sorry I did not respond sooner.
I called the Ruby-crowned Kinglet based on the small size; thin,
warbler-type bill; and broader eye-ring. The wingbars were wider than a
Hutton's Vireo, to my eye. The bird was extremely active, like all kinglets
I've seen.
In my field notes, I noted the paler breast and more distinct eye-ring,
which gave me the "feeling" it was female, although these may not be
considered diagnostic of a female vs. male, particularly in the absence of
the ruby crown, which i did not see. For these reasons, I wish to retract
designating the bird as female, but based on the other field markings will
maintain the species as Ruby-crowned Kinglet rather than Hutton's Vireo.
Michael
--MS_Mac_OE_3020095219_6230181_MIME_Part
Content-type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable
Ruby-crowned Query
Bill,
Thanks for your message and sorry I did not respond sooner.
I called the Ruby-crowned Kinglet based on the small size; thin, warbler-ty=
pe bill; and broader eye-ring. The wingbars were wider than a Hutton's Vireo=
, to my eye. The bird was extremely active, like all kinglets I've seen.
In my field notes, I noted the paler breast and more distinct eye-ring, whi=
ch gave me the "feeling" it was female, although these may not be =
considered diagnostic of a female vs. male, particularly in the absence of t=
he ruby crown, which i did not see. For these reasons, I wish to retract =
designating the bird as female, but based on the other field markings wi=
ll maintain the species as Ruby-crowned Kinglet rather than Hutton's Vireo.<=
BR>
Michael
--MS_Mac_OE_3020095219_6230181_MIME_Part--
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 13 22:07:18 1999
Subject: Re: [SBB] VIRGINIA'S WARBLER
South-Bay-Birders:
Arrived at the Fennel Patch at the Palo Alto Baylands at 4:50 PM shortly
followed by Dick Stovell and Bob Juhl and Mike Mammoser. Mike Mammoser
had seen the Virginia;s Warbler in the Fennel Patch at 4:30 PM...I
missed it by 20 minutes. I followed the bushtit flock around for almost
two hours without luck.
I checked the trees around the residence. In case you were wondering
what the Red Gum Psyllid looks like, check out these trees when you look
for the Virginia's Warbler. These trees are fully infested. One tree
is nearly dead, and one is not far behind. I didn't notice any extra
bird activity in these trees.
--
Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA, [[email protected]]
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From [[email protected]] Tue Sep 14 12:06:03 1999
Subject: [SBB] VIWA
Yesterday, 13 Sep 99, I arrived at the Palo Alto Baylands at about
4:30pm and immediately had the VIRGINIA'S WARBLER in a flock of
BUSHTITS. The bird disappeared into the fennel just as Steve Rottenborn
showed up. We refound the bird and watched it from quite close range for
the next 10 minutes or so.
The most distinctive things about this bird were the bold white eye-ring
and the yellow undertail coverts. Otherwise the bird was rather dull;
medium gray above and paler below. I didn't see the uppertail coverts.
Like Steve, I couldn't see any yellow in the breast.
After birding other areas, I returned to the fennel patch to find a
number of birders present (Mike Feighner, Dick Stovel, Bob Juhl and his
wife). We searched for about an hour without any luck. At one point I
heard a couple metallic chip notes that sounded somewhat like a
California Towhee, but was unable to track down the bird that made them.
I suppose it's possible it could have been the Virginia's.
Mike Mammoser
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From [[email protected]] Tue Sep 14 12:10:21 1999
Subject: RE: [SBB] Ruby-crowned Query
REPLY RE: [SBB] Ruby-crowned Query
Michael,
One field mark that often works for me to help distinguish between these species is the character of the wingbars. On Hutton's Vireo (HUVI), the upper wingbar is usually more pronounced than on the Ruby-crowned Kinglet (RCKI). Often the RCKI will only show a very small portion of the upper wingbar. On HUVI, the feather edging between the two wingbars is dark, giving it a darker blackish appearance than the area between the two wingbars. On RCKI, the feather edging below the predominant lower wingbar is dark, giving it the appearance of a dark wingbar below 2nd wingbar. The feather edging above the dominant wingbar is chartreuse.
Does anyone who looks for this fieldmark feel that it is not reliable?
Another good mark is that the footpads of RCKI are yellowish-orange,
and HUVI are grayish. This is easier to see than you might think.
Regarding the activity of the bird, I've always heard/read that this should not be a primary reason for ID between these species. There are
hyperactive HUVI and hypoactive RCKI.
My two bits,
Les Chibana
Palo Alto, CA [[email protected]]
Michael Wienholt wrote:
>Ruby-crowned Query Bill,
>
> Thanks for your message and sorry I did not respond sooner.
>
> I called the Ruby-crowned Kinglet based on the small size; thin, >warbler-type bill; and broader eye-ring. The wingbars were wider than a Hutton's Vireo, to >my eye. The bird was extremely active, like all kinglets I've seen.
>
> In my field notes, I noted the paler breast and more distinct eye-ring, >which gave me the "feeling" it was female, although these may not be considered >diagnostic of a female vs. male, particularly in the absence of the ruby crown, >which i did not see. For these reasons, I wish to retract designating the bird as >female, but based on the other field markings will maintain the species as >Ruby-crowned Kinglet rather than Hutton's Vireo.
>
> Michael
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From [[email protected]] Tue Sep 14 12:20:40 1999
Subject: RE: [SBB] Ruby-crowned Query
REPLY RE: [SBB] Ruby-crowned Query
Geez, I thought I proofed this...
Les Chibana wrote:
>Michael,
>
>One field mark that often works for me to help distinguish between these >species is the character of the wingbars. On Hutton's Vireo (HUVI), the upper >wingbar is usually more pronounced than on the Ruby-crowned Kinglet (RCKI). Often the >RCKI will only show a very small portion of the upper wingbar. On HUVI, the >feather edging between the two wingbars is dark, giving it a darker blackish >appearance than the area between the two wingbars. On RCKI, the feather edging below the
This last part should have read,
"On HUVI, the feather edging between the two wingbars is dark, giving it a darker blackish appearance between the two wingbars."
Sorry for the extra posting.
>predominant lower wingbar is dark, giving it the appearance of a dark >wingbar below 2nd wingbar. The feather edging above the dominant wingbar is chartreuse. >Does anyone who looks for this fieldmark feel that it is not reliable?
>
>Another good mark is that the footpads of RCKI are yellowish-orange,
>and HUVI are grayish. This is easier to see than you might think.
>
>Regarding the activity of the bird, I've always heard/read that this should >not be a primary reason for ID between these species. There are
>hyperactive HUVI and hypoactive RCKI.
>
>My two bits,
>
>Les Chibana
>Palo Alto, CA [[email protected]]
>
>Michael Wienholt wrote:
>>Ruby-crowned Query Bill,
>>
>> Thanks for your message and sorry I did not respond sooner.
>>
>> I called the Ruby-crowned Kinglet based on the small size; thin, >>warbler-type bill; and broader eye-ring. The wingbars were wider than a Hutton's Vireo, >to >my eye. The bird was extremely active, like all kinglets I've seen.
>>
>> In my field notes, I noted the paler breast and more distinct eye-ring, >>which gave me the "feeling" it was female, although these may not be considered >>diagnostic of a female vs. male, particularly in the absence of the ruby crown, >>which i did not see. For these reasons, I wish to retract designating the bird as >>female, but based on the other field markings will maintain the species as >>Ruby-crowned Kinglet rather than Hutton's Vireo.
>>
>> Michael
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From [[email protected]] Tue Sep 14 12:23:52 1999
Subject: RE: [SBB] Ruby-crowned Query
At 12:10 PM 9/14/99 -0700, you wrote:
> REPLY RE: [SBB] Ruby-crowned Query
>Michael,
>
>One field mark that often works for me to help distinguish between these
species is the character of the wingbars. On Hutton's Vireo (HUVI), the
upper wingbar is usually more pronounced than on the Ruby-crowned Kinglet
(RCKI). Often the RCKI will only show a very small portion of the upper
wingbar. On HUVI, the feather edging between the two wingbars is dark,
giving it a darker blackish appearance than the area between the two
wingbars. On RCKI, the feather edging below the predominant lower wingbar
is dark, giving it the appearance of a dark wingbar below 2nd wingbar. The
feather edging above the dominant wingbar is chartreuse.
>Does anyone who looks for this fieldmark feel that it is not reliable?
>
>Another good mark is that the footpads of RCKI are yellowish-orange,
>and HUVI are grayish. This is easier to see than you might think.
>
Thanks to Les for posting these useful notes.
I would also point out that Ruby-crowned Kinglets have black legs (tarsi
and tibiae) while on the Hutton's Vireo the legs are dark blue-grey as is
the case in many vireos. This colour of blue-grey legs is rare in our
passerines, also found in the orioles and to a lesser extent on
Chestnut-backed Chickadees.
Things you learn while banding!
cheers,
Al
Alvaro Jaramillo "It was almost a pity, to see the sun
Half Moon Bay, shining constantly over so useless a country"
California Darwin, regarding the Atacama desert.
[[email protected]]
Helm guide to the New World Blackbirds, Birding in Chile and more, at:
http://www.sirius.com/~alvaro
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From [[email protected]] Tue Sep 14 13:42:57 1999
Subject: [SBB] New county list & PA birds
All:
While missing the VIWA at Palo Alto this lunch time, I decided to start the
Santa Clara County NOTlist. This year, I currently have NOT listed
Ovenbird, BW Warbler, Dickcissel, BB Sandpiper, and Virginia's Warbler. The
rules are simple. Only birds that have a dotted line status or rarer in
Bill Bousman's list can be counted (Willow Flycatcher is excluded as it
should have a better status and I may list other species). You have to look
for the bird for at least 30 minutes either on a day it was seen or the day
after. The only exception to this is if you are out of town, in which case
you can try on your first free day, provided it is not certain the bird has
gone. You can count multiple missed attempts to see a bird, but you lose
all of these once you add the species to your county list. Attempts to see
a bird must be at least 4 hours apart.
I did have quite good views of a Swainson's Thrush at PA Baylands and a bad
look at Yellow Warbler. Plenty of Bushtits. I didn't check the mudflats,
although the duck pond had nothing.
Nick
Nick Lethaby
Technical Marketing Manager
CoWare, Inc.
Tel: 408 845 7646
E-mail: [[email protected]]
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From [[email protected]] Tue Sep 14 15:25:37 1999
Subject: [SBB] Virginia's Warbler
All,
This afternoon, about 1:30 PM, I had a quick upper rear view of what may have
been the VIWA recently found by Steve Rottenborn. The bird was in the fennel
patch with Bushtits. The problem is that since I did not see the eye-ring or
the front of the bird I don't believe that I can rule out an immature Common
Yellowthroat. We were unable to re-find the bird.
Take care,
Bob Reiling, 3:35 PM, 9/14/99
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From [[email protected]] Tue Sep 14 20:54:43 1999
Subject: [SBB] Late HOORs
We also have had late Hooded Orioles this year. We saw our last
male on 8/23, but continued to see females and juveniles later. The
last seen was quite grey, presumably juvenile, on 9/6. both Marti
and I thought we heard one on 9/9, but we didn't see it. The call
could have been just after leaving the feeder, which has been
common behavior. (But the juv are usually quiet)
------------------------
George Oetzel
Menlo Park, CA
650.854.2385
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From [[email protected]] Wed Sep 15 15:45:10 1999
Subject: [SBB] FWD: {EBB} RE:DCCO
This was posted to East Bay Birds. I thought it might be of interest to
SBB.
Les
--------------------------------------
Date: 9/15/99 2:54 PM
From: Mjrauz
Hi Birders,
I'm new to the list and studying Double-crested Cormorants on the
bridges.
Thought you might be interested in the results of this year's data. There
were 794 nests on the San Francisco Bay Oakland Bridge in '99. In 1990,
there were 465 nests.
Also looks like a colony developed at Lake Merritt two years ago; it held
12
nests this year. I'm interested in any observations of large
concentrations
of corms at the reserviors or any other local nesting colonies aside from
Richmond Bridge and San Mateo tower colonies. Let me know.
Thanks and good birding,
Mark Rauzon, Box 4423, Berkeley, CA 94602, [[email protected]]
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From [[email protected]] Wed Sep 15 18:05:04 1999
Subject: [SBB] Calero birds
This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
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charset="iso-8859-1"
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Howdy South-bay-birders,
Late this afternoon I made a shorebird stop at Calero Reservoir. Birds =
at the receding east end of the reservoir included 3 PECTORAL =
SANDPIPERS, 2 WESTERN SANDPIPERS, a few LEAST SANDPIPERS, 2 GREATER =
YELLOWLEGS, about 30 BLACK-NECKED STILTS, and lots of KILLDEER.
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Howdy =
South-bay-birders,
Late this afternoon I =
made a=20
shorebird stop at Calero Reservoir. Birds at the receding east end of =
the=20
reservoir included 3 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS, 2 WESTERN SANDPIPERS, a few =
LEAST=20
SANDPIPERS, 2 GREATER YELLOWLEGS, about 30 BLACK-NECKED STILTS, and lots =
of=20
KILLDEER.
------=_NextPart_000_001F_01BEFFA4.D63883E0--
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From [[email protected]] Wed Sep 15 20:40:12 1999
Subject: [SBB] birds
Hi all,
Hi birders,
Yesterday I had to go to the Zanker Road Landfill, where I saw 2 Loggerhead
Shrikes perched on a wire. On my way back, still on Zanker Road I saw 8
Turkey Vultures in a disked field, perched on the ground in not more than a
10 ft by 10 ft area. Some were periodically raising and lowering their wings
(like Mocking birds do).
Today Rosalie Lefkowitz and I observed a juvenile Redtailed Hawk on one of
the towers near the launching dock in the Palo Alto Baylands
devouring a bird or rodent.
Near the harbour master's cottage I observed a Black Phoebe. In the psyllid
infested Eucalyptus trees I watched hundreds of young Black birds feasting
on the psyllids.
______________________________________________________
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From [[email protected]] Wed Sep 15 21:26:35 1999
Subject: [SBB] Hooded Oriole, etc
I had my Hooded Orioles at my backyard feeder on Sept 8 - then left town on
business and the orioles moved South while I was gone. Saw none today.
My normal morning walk through "my farm" (La Rinconada Park) was quite
productive this a.m. (I didn't stop to bird, just kept on walking.) I had
KINGFISHER, BROWN CREEPER, WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, both JAYS, CALIF
THRASHER, both TOWHEES, both ACORN & NUTTALLS are quite plentiful, "yellow"
WARBLER'S (species undetermined), BUSHTITS, etc. ROBINS are normal at "my
farm" but never seem to come to my yard. I had 6 MOCKINGBIRDS actively
interacting with each other.
Had a meeting this morning with SCVWD and Town of Los Gatos people
regarding falling down bridge at La Rinconada Park--it will be fixed
soon!!! If anyone needs a great contact at SCVWD, let me know. He found a
1974 building permit for us!
In my backyard the CALIFORNIA QUAIL are now regular eaters. But, they are
uninterested (as is every other species) in my cracked corn. Other birds
eating are ho-hum.
Gloria LeBlanc
Los Gatos off Quito
"We can't change the financial winds, but we can adjust the sails"
http://www.lgsia.com http://www.wallstreetgifts.com
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From [[email protected]] Fri Sep 17 14:31:18 1999
Subject: [SBB] Mt. View Shorebirds
There was still at least one PECTORAL SANDPIPER and one SEMIPALMATED
SANDPIPER this morning at 9:30 in the Coastal Casey (Mt. View) Forebay.
Jack Cole
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From [[email protected]] Fri Sep 17 17:20:43 1999
Subject: [SBB] [open-space] Council Sets Goal of 1:1 mitigation for Loss of Owl
Habitat.
Don't know if this is outside the scope of SBB.
But seems relevant to birds and Santa Clara city residents.
Vivek Tiwari
[[email protected]]
- -----Original Message-----
From: Paul G. Barnett [mailto:[[email protected]]]
Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 1999 11:56 AM
To: [[email protected]]
Subject: [open-space] Council Sets Goal of 1:1 mitigation for Loss of
Owl Habitat.
Last night, in a meeting that stretched into the early morning hours, the
Santa Clara City Council voted 7-0 to adopt a resolution that sets a goal
of mitigating the loss of burrowing owl habitat with an acre of protected
habitat for every acre of land that is developed. This increased the
mitigation area from 58.5 acres to 103 acres.
The motion was put forward by Councilman John McLemore and seconded by
Patricia Mahan. Lisa Gilmore was unsucessful at defering the decision to a
city committee that will consider local effort to mitigate loss of
burrowing owl habitat. Mahan, McLemore and Councilwoman Aldyth Parle
strongly supported the motion; council member Rod Diridon expressed
misgivings about the possible cost of expanding the mitigation effort. In
the end, both Diridon and Gilmore voted for the motion when McLemore
amended it to include wording that the city will consider financial and
evironmental needs of the community in seeking to reach the goal.
Language in the resolution was proposed to the council by Craig Breon,
local government advocate of the Santa Clara Audubon Society. Jan
Hintermeiter, Aurelia Winsemius, Becca Freye, Linda O'Maley, and Paul
Barnett testified in favor of the acre per acre mitigation plan. Speakers
stressed the needed for greater protection for owls, the need for Santa
Clara to set a good precedent for other developers, and the concern that
mitigation based on a count of owls gives unscrupulous developers an
incentive to destroy owls before biologists can conduct a census.
The Council had received 46 letters on the issue the previous week,
including 29 letters from fifth graders at the Katherine Hughes School.
The issue did not come before the council until after midnight.
Recommendations to implement the resolution will be left up to a city
committee that will be chaired by Councilman McLemore. The composition of
the committee is not set, but is to include "stakeholders," such as the
Department of Fish and Game and environmental advocates. The committee is
slated to return recommendations to the council by February of the coming
year. Among the items on its agenda are efforts to create pocket
environments for owls.
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------
MyPoints-Free Rewards When You're Online.
Start with up to 150 Points for joining!
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From [[email protected]] Fri Sep 17 18:26:26 1999
Subject: [SBB] Some Almaden Valley birds
This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
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charset="iso-8859-1"
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Howdy South-bay-birders,
Today I took a walked along Alamitos Creek downstream from Graystone =
Lane. As usual, migrants were sparse, but there were a few small =
surprises. Near excercise station #5 I heard a MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER =
chipping in the willows. As I tried to get a better look at it I was =
distracted by the soft "whit" call of a WILLOW FLYCATCHER, which I later =
watched flycatching over the stream. These are regular migrants within =
the county, but this is the first time I've seen either down here. More =
expected was a WILSON'S WARBLER just upstream from the picnic area. =
Farther downstream I heard a YELLOW WARBLER high in a tree, and looked =
up just in time to see a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK fly in after it. The warbler =
didn't call again after that, so it might have become dinner.
While walking along the creek I also saw my first local LINCOLN'S =
(2) and WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS of the season. There was 1 NUTMEG =
MANNIKIN just upstream from Almaden Lake, and later I had a flock of 7 =
in trees near the Almaden Library on Camden Avenue--they seem to be on =
the increase.
=20
John Mariani
[[email protected]]
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charset="iso-8859-1"
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Howdy =
South-bay-birders,
Today I took a walked =
along Alamitos=20
Creek downstream from Graystone Lane. As usual, migrants were sparse, =
but there=20
were a few small surprises. Near excercise station #5 I=20
heard a MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER chipping in the willows. As I =
tried to=20
get a better look at it I was distracted by the soft "whit" call of=20
a WILLOW FLYCATCHER, which I later watched flycatching over =
the=20
stream. These are regular migrants within the county, but this is =
the first=20
time I've seen either down here. More expected was a WILSON'S =
WARBLER just=20
upstream from the picnic area. Farther downstream I heard a YELLOW =
WARBLER high=20
in a tree, and looked up just in time to see a SHARP-SHINNED =
HAWK fly=20
in after it. The warbler didn't call again after that, so it might have =
become=20
dinner.
=
While walking=20
along the creek I also saw my first local LINCOLN'S (2)=20
and WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS of the season. There was 1 NUTMEG =
MANNIKIN=20
just upstream from Almaden Lake, and later I had a flock of 7 in =
trees near=20
the Almaden Library on Camden Avenue--they seem to be on the=20
increase.
=
John Mariani
[[email protected]] <=
/BODY>
------=_NextPart_000_0014_01BF013A.26DB4B20--
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From [[email protected]] Sat Sep 18 11:29:26 1999
Subject: [SBB] FRGU
Sorry for the late report, or the possibly that this bird may have already
been reported. I learned this morning from Doug Campbell that an adult
non-breeding FRANKLIN'S GULL was seen and well described by him and some
other birders at approximately 6:30 PM on Tuesday 9-15-99 in the Palo Alto
Duck Pond. We could not find it this morning, nor could I refind the
pectoral or semipalmated sandpipers in the Mt. View Forebay.
Note to Nick Lethaby and others who have not yet seen or ventured to Moss
Landing for the White-winged black tern. I saw the bird for five minutes at
2:30 PM on Wednesday. From discussions with others, it invariably flies to
the pond below Moonglow Dairy in the afternoon during or after high tide,
and then flies off up the slough. The best way to see this bird is to arrive
at the site before lunch, bring plenty of food and get comfortable, as it
may be as late as 6:30 PM before the bird arrives. Complete directions and
latest sightings are being updated frequently on the Monterey Bay Rare Bird
Alert.
Jack Cole
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From [[email protected]] Sat Sep 18 12:54:17 1999
Subject: [SBB] Calabazas Ponds
--=====_93768445741=_
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
This morning (9/18) at the Calabazas Ponds I saw 4 juvenile PECTORAL
SANDPIPERS
on the side of the pond near the "bridge". Also of interest to me were a
hunting BARN OWL
and some VIOLET GREEN SWALLOWS. I got a great scope view of a female
NORTHERN HARRIER.
--=====_93768445741=_
Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii"
This morning (9/18) at the Calabazas
Ponds I saw 4 juvenile PECTORAL SANDPIPERS
on the side of the pond near the
"bridge". Also of interest to me were a hunting BARN OWL
and some VIOLET GREEN SWALLOWS. I got
a great scope view of a female NORTHERN HARRIER.
--=====_93768445741=_--
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From [[email protected]] Sat Sep 18 12:56:32 1999
Subject: [SBB] Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher in Pescadero
Birders:
The report just in from Ron Thorn who saw this bird at about noon or
earlier.
In Pescadero go to Water Lane.
At the ranger station you will see some outhouses, there is a trail here
that goes along the right side of a grove of Eucalyptus and down into the
creek. You will need to walk upstream in the creek for about 2 - 3 bends.
The trees will thin out and you will see a pump (white?) beside the creek.
The bird is there. It may also be visible from water lane, looking upstream
to where the trees thin out. However, you will need a scope, luck and for
the bird to sit up high in order to do this.
Adam (Winer), could you send me your telephone number, I have an old one
for you.
Good luck.
Alvaro Jaramillo "An open mind is a virtue.
Half Moon Bay, But not so open that your
California brain falls out" - Carl Sagan
[[email protected]]
Helm guide to the New World Blackbirds, Birding in Chile, at:
http://www.sirius.com/~alvaro
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From [[email protected]] Sat Sep 18 18:24:32 1999
Subject: [SBB] Lark Bunting
Sat at 3.00 I found an imm Lark Bunting on the E. side of Zanker about 100
yards N of 237. It was sitting on the fence.
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From [[email protected]] Sun Sep 19 05:18:28 1999
Subject: [SBB] PALO ALTO FRANKLIN'S GULL
All,
While leading a small group to the Palo Alto Duckpond and Yacht Club
area we had a first-winter FRANKLIN'S GULL among the many Ring-billed
Gulls and Mallards in the Pond. The bird appeared a little larger than a
Boneparte's Gull with a very different, more evenly dark back. The
primaries were dark and there were no windows or any large white areas
visible. The secondaries were also dark. The mid-back and secondary
coverts were somewhat lighter, but still quite dark. The rump and tail
were light except for a narrow black terminal band. The extensive dark
areas below and behind the eye were well defined, but perhaps not as
sharply as some illustrations show and clearly not like Laughing. There
was a faintly dark wash between the nape and lower neck. The black bill
was also shorter and more delicate LAGU. There were white crescents
visible above and below the rear portion of the eye. We observed the
bird for several minutes and got very close looks at it while it took
handouts from nearby people. I know FRGU has been seen in the area a few
weeks ago, but it eluded me on previous visits. I would imagine this was
the same bird, and probably spends time in the muddy areas just across
the street near the Sea Scouts building.
Matthew Dodder
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From [[email protected]] Sun Sep 19 11:20:10 1999
Subject: [SBB] Additions to FRGU post
All,
I forgot to mention that the Franklin's Gull DID have dark above the eye
as well as behind and below. Also, though there were no white windows on
the wings, there were very small white "dots" on the extreme tips of the
primaries. The forehead was primarily white with some very tiny spots.
The throat and chest were all white.
Upon visiting the pond again this afternoon the FRGU was not found, but
there were many gulls in the air making observation a little more
difficult than the nearly bird-in-hand encounter this morning.
In the area there is still a male WOOD DUCK, and a female CANVASBACK.
Matthew Dodder
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From [[email protected]] Sun Sep 19 16:28:55 1999
Subject: [SBB] Painted Bunting - Carmel River
Hi Birders -
This afternoon, around 2:30, I spotted a female-type PAINTED BUNTING just
upstream from the green pipe on the Carmel River in Monterey County. The
bird was bathing in a small pool on the south side of the riverbed about
30 to 40 meters upstream from the pipe. At least two other birders saw
that the bird was green, and one other saw the bill.
Steve Rovell
[[email protected]]
[[email protected]]
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 20 08:21:39 1999
Subject: [SBB] More Almaden Birds
Hello Everyone,
Here are some more birds seen in the Almaden area on Sunday, Sept 19.
Almaden Reservoir: eight WOOD DUCKS, one GREEN HERON, one GREAT EGRET, one
SNOWY EGRET
Calero Reservoir: Two juvenile PECTORAL SANDPIPERS still present at the
upper end. Other shorebirds included one SPOTTED SANDPIPER, five GREATER
YELLOWLEGS, four LEAST SANDPIPERS, 15+ BLACK-NECKED STILTS, plus Killdeer.
Arriving wintering ducks included AMERICAN WIGEON, N. PINTAIL, GADWALL,
GREEN-WINGED TEAL, N. SHOVELER. Other birds included 20 FORSTER'S TERNS
(basic-plumaged), four CASPIAN TERNS, three CANADA GEESE, four GREAT BLUE
HERONS, and lots of SNOWY & GREAT EGRETS (at least 20 of each). Nine WILD
TURKEYS were seen in the hillside horse pasture.
Almaden Lake: three COMMON MERGANSERS and one CASPIAN TERN
Guadalupe Channel behind Water District Pond (at Almaden Expwy & Coleman
Rd): My first WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW of the season (an imm), and a LINCOLN'S
SPARROW seen further upstream. And to add to Almaden exotica, an ORANGE
BISHOP was seen in the cattails and smartweed. Only warblers seen were
three YELLOW WARBLERS.
In the early evening a mixed flock of swifts and swallows was seen over the
vicinity of Meridian and Coleman. At least 60 VAUX'S SWIFTS were seen in
the mix with lesser number of swallows (appearing to be Violet-green).
That's it for now - Ann
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 20 09:42:46 1999
Subject: [SBB] Merlin in Palo Alto
A small falcon flying over my house in midtown Palo Alto Saturday was
probably a merlin, but an early diner on my telephone pole this morning
(9/20) was definitely a female and/or immature MERLIN. The prey was an
unidentified house finch sized bird.
Merlin sightings are fairly common in my area in the winter, and I
don't ususally report them, but this is my first this season.
- Dick
[[email protected]]
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 20 10:31:28 1999
Subject: [SBB] birds
On Saturday, 18 Sep 99, I went on the Audubon field trip to Pt. Reyes.
Though it's outside the area of interest for this list, I thought I'd
mention that it was the best day I ever had at the Point. I saw 17
species of warbler in a single day; amazing for the state of California.
On Sunday, 19 Sep 99, I stopped at CCFS for a quick look around. Nothing
much happening, but I did confirm that the WHITE-TAILED KITES are
feeding young on the nest. There were at least two young birds, and they
looked to be maybe a week old or so.
In my backyard, the hummingbird feeder is dominated by this one male,
and it was interesting yesterday to see him actually chasing bees away
from it.
Mike Mammoser
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 20 11:01:06 1999
Subject: Re: [SBB] birds
On Mon, 20 Sep 1999, Mike Mammoser wrote:
> On Saturday, 18 Sep 99, I went on the Audubon field trip to Pt. Reyes.
> Though it's outside the area of interest for this list, I thought I'd
> mention that it was the best day I ever had at the Point. I saw 17
> species of warbler in a single day; amazing for the state of California.
Wow! I happened to be in New York City this weekend, and joined some of
the regulars (led by Marty, who will be known to any of you who have
birded there) for a Sunday morning bird walk to the best spots around
Central Park: the Castle, the Ramble, Strawberry Fields, Cherry Hill, etc.
It was a beautiful day, windless, in the heart of fall migration, and
shortly after a big storm, and all agreed it was quite birdy. Well, I saw
a total of 13 warbler species, and counted myself to have been
pretty nicely Eastern-warbler-ized!
-- Tom Grey Stanford CA [[email protected]]
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 20 12:19:31 1999
Subject: [SBB] Hummers & bees
Mike Mammoser's comment about a hummer chasing away bees
is interesting because I have often witnessed the opposite at our
hummer feeders. The hummers seem to be surprisingly intimidated
by bees. If a bee is feeding, hummers will often hover or perch
nearby until the bee leaves, or sometimes they will go to another
feeder flower. If the bee comes around to their chosen flower, they
will leave. Indeed, it has often seemed as if the bees actively chase
the hummers away.
I've seen hummers attempt to dislodge a chickadee, but I've never
seen one succeed. They do sometimes simultaneously occupy
different flowers on the same feeder, however. Like the bees, the
chickadees often visit several flowers on the same feeder, so they
will sometimes chase away a hummer in the process.
Until the orioles left the area recently, they always had first choice,
of course. I did see two orioles on opposite sides of the same
feeder a number of times.
================================
George Oetzel Menlo Park, CA
<[[email protected]]>
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 20 13:14:49 1999
Subject: [SBB] warblers
Since some people have asked what the warbler species were at Point
Reyes on Saturday, I'll post a list here.
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
Hermit Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Common Yellowthroat (at Shoreline on the way home)
American Redstart
Blackpoll Warbler
Mourning Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Northern Waterthrush
Surprisingly, Steve Miller was also at the Point that day and added
Prairie and MacGillivray's for a total of 19 for him.
Mike Mammoser
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 20 13:35:18 1999
Subject: [SBB] Least Flycatcher, etc.
All:
On 14 Sep., while sitting at my desk in Alviso, I heard a call
outside the window that sounded like a Chimney Swift. I raced
outside but was not able to find a CHSW, and the bird never
called again. There have been large numbers of Vaux's Swifts
around Alviso, and I (and others) have been looking unsuccessfully
for a Chimney Swift in this flock for weeks. I don't want to "call"
this bird based on the single snatch of calling (lower, louder,
drier, less squeaky or "tinkly" than the calls of VASW), but I
think the bird probably was a Chimney. My first two LINCOLN'S
SPARROWS of the year were with 3 YELLOW WARBLERS near the Alviso
marina. At State and Spreckles in Alviso, I counted 17 GREATER
and 24 LESSER YELLOWLEGS at noon, but at 17:00 I had 68 GREATERS
and 41 LESSERS, along with the two STILT SANDPIPER (the same ad.
and juv. that have been here for a while).
On 15 Sep., a check of the Sunnyvale WPCP fennel patch and nearby
Sunnyvale Baylands Park produced only 3 YELLOW WARBLERS, 2 WILSON'S
WARBLERS, 1 PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER, and 1 LINCOLN SPARROW,
indicating that very few migrants were around. Five minutes
after viewing the ad. and juv. STILT SANDPIPER at State and
Spreckles in Alviso, I saw another ad. STILT SANDPIPER in the
Calabazas Ponds (as scoped from the shoulder of the 237 onramp).
If the Calabazas Ponds bird was not either of the adults seen
previously at the Palo Alto Flood Control Basin or in Crittenden
Marsh, it would be the sixth Stilt Sandpiper for the county this
fall. The Guadalupe River from Montague Expwy. upstream to the
Dickcissel spot produced 7 WILSON'S WARBLERS, 4 PACIFIC-SLOPE
FLYCATCHERS, and single WARBLING VIREO, HOODED ORIOLE, and HOUSE
WREN, confirming the paucity of migrants (NO Yellow Warblers
here!). An imm. LARK SPARROW was just below Montague.
On 16 Sep., the Alviso EEC had a TOWNSEND'S WARBLER, 2 ORANGE-
CROWNED WARBLERS, 3 WARBLING VIREOS, and 2 WILLOW FLYCATCHERS.
The ad. and juv. STILT SANDPIPERS were at State and Spreckles.
On 17 Sep., the ad. and juv. STILT SANDPIPERS and 2 juv.
PECTORAL SANDPIPERS were at State and Spreckles. Two
SAY'S PHOEBES were at Arzino Ranch nearby. A check of the EEC
turned up none of the migrants present the previous day.
At the Sunnyvale WPCP, two basic COMMON TERNS (one had
uniform, and not particularly pale, primaries with no
obvious molt limits; the other retained four older, darker
outer primaries contrasting with paler, fresher inner
primaries (the outermost of these new inner primaries was
being regrown) were with 25 FORSTER'S. Also here were
a juv. PECTORAL SANDPIPER, 40 RED-NECKED PHALAROPES,
and 800+ AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS (most flying over).
Later in the evening, an OSPREY flew over our apt. in
Santa Clara, heading high to the SW.
This morning (20 Sep.), I had a LEAST FLYCATCHER at CCFS. I
saw the bird from about 08:03 to 08:13 near net lane 9730 (one
of the southernmost net lanes). The bird ranged within a 40-50
meter area from this net lane south, always at the riparian/
overflow channel edge or just inside the riparian corridor.
Dave Johnston refound the bird at about 10:00 about 75 meters
south of lane 9730 and reported very close, long, good views.
The bird was very cooperative, and I watched it for 10 minutes
from distances of 15-40 meters, mostly less than 30 meters.
During this time, it often sat still for up to 30-45 seconds at
a time on conspicuous perches, occasionally within cottonwoods
having few leaves. It once sat in the open for 10 seconds with a
Pacific-slope Flycatcher less than a meter away. When I first
found the bird, it was loosely associated with 8 Bushtits, 2
Chestnut-backed Chickadees, 2 Yellow Warblers, and 2 Pacific-
slope Flycatchers. Dave Johnston found the bird by locating the
flock of Bushtits and Yellow Warblers; the Least Flycatcher was
right in with them.
While I watched it, the Least Flycatcher called three times in a
space of about 10 seconds just after chasing a Pac-slope. The
"wit" call seemed slightly flatter, clearer, more emphatic, and
less "liquid" than the similar call of a Willow Flycatcher.
My immediate impression upon seeing this bird was that it was
small and gray with a full, round white eyering. The bird was
smaller than the PSFL present (and I had been looking closely
at more than 10 other PSFL before seeing this bird), with a
more rounded head. Although some guides state that LEFL can
look large-headed (in part because of the small bill), the rounded
crown of this bird imparted more of a small-headed appearance,
even though the bill was quite small. The shortness of the bill,
compared to that of a PSFL, was most noticeable when seen from
the side, but was also apparent from below. The lower mandible
was all pale yellow below except for a slight dusky tinge right
near the tip. The bill was proportionately shorter, and possibly
slightly broader (though I could not be sure of this) than that
of a PSFL; the edges were moderately convex. The legs and feet
were blackish, and the bird was unbanded. The head and back were
brownish-gray, becoming slightly darker on the head. The orbital
ring was neat, full and even throughout (not disappearing above
the eye as on a PSFL), and round (not tapering behind the eye); it
seemed a more pure white than those of the PSFL, standing out on
the head more. The upperparts were grayer than the more greenish/
brownish upperparts of the PSFL, with just a very slight brownish-
olive tinge. The underparts were also duller, colder, and grayer
overall than those of the PSFL. The chin and throat were whitish,
contrasting with the dark head and face, and with a grayish "vest"
on the breast, sides, and flanks. There was a slight wash of
yellow on the midline of the lower belly, but this was barely
evident. The tail seemed slightly shorter proportional to body
size and shape than that of the PSFL, while the primary projection
(beyond the tertials) was short, similar to that of the PSFL.
The upperwing coverts, tertials, and remiges looked darker and
more black than those of the PSFL, with more contrasting, paler
buff-yellow edging.
Also at CCFS this morning (from the trailers south to lane 9730)
were 18 PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHERS, 2 WARBLING VIREOS, 8 HOUSE
WRENS, 1 WINTER WREN, 1 WESTERN TANAGER, 2 WILSON'S WARBLERS,
20 YELLOW WARBLERS, 3 ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS, 1 FOX SPARROW,
2 GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROWS, 2 WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS, AND
7 LINCOLN'S SPARROWS. A female RUFOUS/ALLEN'S HUMMINGBIRD was
at the Alviso EEC, and the ad. and juv. STILT SANDPIPERS were
still at State and Spreckles. A WILLOW FLYCATCHER and 3 YELLOW
WARBLERS were along Silver Creek near Lake Cunningham in eastern
San Jose. I looked for Nick's Lark Bunting but did not see it.
A few sightings from others:
According to Scott Terrill, Jeff Seay (a biologist from our Fresno
office) was the first to have the juv. STILT SANDPIPER at State
and Spreckles, finding it with the adult on 12 Sep. (the day before
I thought I'd discovered it). Jeff also had a juv. BAIRD'S SANDPIPER
and 25 PECTORAL SANDPIPER in the Zanker Rd. fields that day.
On 6 Sep., Dave Johnston had a SAY'S PHOEBE and 2 CALIFORNIA QUAIL
(the latter now rare on the northern valley floor) at the former
Agnews West facility in Santa Clara.
Good birding,
Steve Rottenborn
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 20 16:25:17 1999
Subject: [SBB] FRGU Palo Alto
As of 6:30 pm Monday night the FRANKLIN'S GULL was still in the mudflats
across from the street from the Palo Alto Duck Pond. Jesse Conklin and I
observed it for about half an hour as it flew back and forth from the
pond. We were able to get quite close as it accepted handout from people
on the ranger residence side of the pond.
Matthew Dodder
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 20 20:50:08 1999
Subject: Re: [SBB] Hummers & bees
George Oetzel wrote:
>
> Mike Mammoser's comment about a hummer chasing away bees
> is interesting because I have often witnessed the opposite at our
> hummer feeders. The hummers seem to be surprisingly intimidated
> by bees. If a bee is feeding, hummers will often hover or perch
> nearby until the bee leaves, or sometimes they will go to another
> feeder flower. If the bee comes around to their chosen flower, they
> will leave. Indeed, it has often seemed as if the bees actively chase
> the hummers away.
>
> I've seen hummers attempt to dislodge a chickadee, but I've never
> seen one succeed. They do sometimes simultaneously occupy
> different flowers on the same feeder, however. Like the bees, the
> chickadees often visit several flowers on the same feeder, so they
> will sometimes chase away a hummer in the process.
>
> Until the orioles left the area recently, they always had first choice,
> of course. I did see two orioles on opposite sides of the same
> feeder a number of times.
>
> ================================
> George Oetzel Menlo Park, CA
> <[[email protected]]>
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/////////////savemono///////////
This is odd. This weekend I noticed my three Anna's chasing the bees
from the feeders plastic yellow flowers. I was delighted to see a Big
Male take action in what appeared to be nipping at a stubborn bee that
did not want to leave.
They did leave and the three hummmer's came to take over.
Rich Cimino
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From [[email protected]] Tue Sep 21 08:07:11 1999
Subject: Re: [SBB] Hummers & bees
> This is odd. This weekend I noticed my three Anna's chasing the bees
> from the feeders plastic yellow flowers. I was delighted to see a Big
> Male take action in what appeared to be nipping at a stubborn bee that
> did not want to leave.
> They did leave and the three hummmer's came to take over.
> Rich Cimino
Perhaps we have different kinds of bees? It has struck me as odd
also, but I've had a lot of time to watch over the past couple of
months. I can't say that I've never seen a hummer chase a bee, but
I've seen many cases where the hummers were clearly intimidated
by them.
----------------
George Oetzel <[[email protected]]>
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From [[email protected]] Tue Sep 21 08:07:25 1999
Subject: [SBB] Vireo?
I have been studying my Nat'l Geo. Bird Book this morning trying to
identify a bird I saw yesterday in Guadalupe Oak Grove Park. I had assumed
it was a Hutton's Vireo, but now I'm not at all sure. The most distinctive
characteristice was a complete and outstanding white eye ring as is shown
in the Solitary Vireo. Is this a possibility? I do not recall seeing the
white area over the bill. It was low in a tree near where a White-breasted
Nuthatch and pale form of Junco were feeding.
Barbara in Almaden
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From [[email protected]] Tue Sep 21 09:49:16 1999
Subject: [SBB] Northern Parula details
All:
Early this morning (21 Sep.) at the Palo Alto Baylands, I had a
MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER in shrubs around the harbormaster's
residence and 4 YELLOW WARBLERS in the fennel patch. Trees
around the Palo Alto Water Quality Control Plant had 32 YELLOW
WARBLERS, 6 "AUDUBON'S" YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS (my first of the
fall), 3 WILSON'S WARBLERS, 1 PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER, and
1 FOX SPARROW.
I then went to Coyote Creek in Milpitas, where I had a survey
to conduct downstream from Montague Expwy. I parked at the end
of Sycamore Drive, behind the LSI Logic building at 1501 McCarthy
Blvd. As soon as I stepped out of the car at about 08:40, I
heard lots of Yellow Warblers calling from the eucalyptus trees
edging the rear of the parking lot (along the Coyote Creek levee),
but when I raised my binoculars, the first bird I saw was a
NORTHERN PARULA! This was a county bird for me, and only the
fourth (?) county record. I watched it foraging in a eucalyptus
about 30-35 meters away, under overcast skies, for about three
minutes. Pishing then brought the bird closer, and I watched it
for two more minutes from a distance of only 15 meters, getting
excellent looks. After making some phone calls I had trouble
relocating the bird, but at about 09:25 I refound it all the way
at the north end of this row of eucalyptus trees, in the extreme
NW corner of the LSI Logic parking lot. I watched it for another
two minutes or so from 40 meters before running back to my truck
for the scope. However, the Yellow Warblers and Western Tanagers
it was foraging with were flying all over the place (among the
eucs and between the eucs and the adjacent riparian vegetation),
and I was not able to relocate the bird.
The Northern Parula was noticeably smaller in every respect
than a Yellow Warbler, with a thin bill and a conspicuously
short tail. To me, the entire crown, sides of the head and
face, hindneck, upper back, sides of the back, and rump
appeared a fairly colorful gray-blue. I did not see any
greenish feather tips on the head or hindneck as immature and
many fall adult Northern Parulas typically show (according to
Dunn and Garrett's guide to warblers). Rather, the triangular
patch of green (broadest anteriorly, tapering posteriorly)
in the center of the back stood out neatly on the otherwise
gray-blue upperparts. Broad white arcs above and below the
eye were prominent. The loral pattern was difficult to discern,
but generally the lores looked mostly gray-blue like the rest
of the face, with a very narrow pale whitish-yellow supraloral
stripe and perhaps a vague, very limited paler area right at
the base of the bill (in the anteriormost portion of the lores).
I did not note the bill color. The overall pattern of the
upperwing was gray-blue like the majority of the upperparts
with two very broad, well defined white wing bars. The
upperwing coverts, tertials, and secondaries were broadly
edged in gray-blue; I did not see any greenish tones on the
wing at all, as should be present on a hatching-year bird.
I did not note the specific color of the uppertail surface,
but from below, the outer rectrices (the only ones visible
from below on the folded tail) appeared extensively white
with broad blackish patches at the distal "corners".
The chin and throat were a moderately bright yellow, becoming
slightly paler in a very narrow strip right on either side of
the throat, which was neatly demarcated from the gray-blue of
the head in the malar area. On the extreme upper breast, there
was a vague, smudgy band of black with smudgy yellow intermixed.
Below this band was a similarly smudgy band of chestnut (again,
mixed with yellow) that was perhaps slightly broader than the
black band. A very vague, very narrow strip of yellow separated
the black and chestnut bands, although it was so narrow that it
was barely evident. Below the chestnut band, the breast was
bright yellow down to the extreme lower breast, this yellow
perhaps extending a bit farther posteriorly on the sides than
on the midline of the breast. The rest of the underparts (belly,
flanks, vent, and undertail coverts) were a clean, unmarked white
except for two very small patches of dull chestnut (slightly duller
than the chestnut breast band) on the upper flanks just below the
lower corners of the yellow breast.
The bird called repeatedly, giving a chip note very similar to that
of a Yellow Warbler but richer, fuller, and somewhat louder than any
of the calls I had heard Yellow Warblers give earlier in the day.
Based on the presence of the black and chestnut bands on the breast
and chestnut patches on the upper flanks, I think this bird was a
male. It was definitely not an imm. female. Ageing it is more
difficult. I looked for and did not see any green on the crown,
hindneck, or upperwing, which should have been present if this were
a hatching-year bird. However, the bird did not seem as bright
overall to me as a male I saw in Santa Barbara last winter, being
slightly duller bluish above, duller yellow on the throat, and
with more yellow "veiling" the breast bands. Also, the photo of
the "first fall" bird on p. 203 of Dunn and Garrett's book shows
a bird with barely a hint of green on the crown and hindneck and
no conspicuous green in the wings, so perhaps some immatures can
lack any obvious green in these areas.
Also present along this portion of Coyote Creek were 25+ YELLOW
WARBLERS, 15+ WESTERN TANAGERS, 3 WILSON'S WARBLERS, 1 ORANGE-
CROWNED WARBLER, 1 WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE, and 2 PACIFIC-SLOPE
FLYCATCHERS.
We've had a strange (but great!) assortment of rare passerines
in the county this fall. We've had our second county record of
Virginia's Warbler, fourth Lark Bunting and Northern Parula,
plus really good birds like Dusky Flycatcher, Least Flycatcher,
and Ovenbird. However, despite the large number of more regularly
occurring rarities (American Redstart, Northern Waterthrush, and
Tennessee, Chestnut-sided, and Blackpoll warblers) that have been
seen on the coast lately, we haven't gotten any of these species.
We haven't even had a Nashville Warbler in the county this fall!
I'm certainly not complaining, and I'm sure we'll get some of
these more expected species, but this strikes me as unusual.
Good birding,
Steve Rottenborn
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From [[email protected]] Tue Sep 21 09:55:25 1999
Subject: Re: [SBB] Hummers & bees
REPLY Re: [SBB] Hummers & bees
South-Bay-Bees
Are you seeing honey bees, yellowjackets, something else, or all?
We have a small, but persistent, group of yellowjackets in our area.
The hummers still seem to get some time at the feeders.
Les
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From [[email protected]] Tue Sep 21 11:57:55 1999
Subject: [SBB] hummers vs. bees
SB Birders---
Regarding the commentary about hummers vs. bees: Just yesterday,
I watched the male Anna's who dominates our front yard hummingbird
feeder battle for at least 4-5 minutes with a yellowjacket over
feeder access. I had never seen this behavior last for more than a
few seconds, but this was a persistent skirmish, as neither creature
would give in, and the possibility of sharing the feeder seemed
unacceptable. Finally, the bee took off and the Anna's settled down
for a lengthy feeding.
To: [[email protected]]
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From [[email protected]] Tue Sep 21 13:19:28 1999
Subject: Re: [SBB] Hummers & bees
We get honey bees, yellowjackets and big black bumblebees in our backyard.
The Anna's typically compete with the honey bees and yellowjackets at the
feeders. The honey bees are less persistent than the yellowjackets. I've
never seen the black ones at the feeders. The most dramatic competition is
between various Anna's protecting "their" feeder from each other!
Clysta
----------
>From: Les Chibana <[[email protected]]>
>To: "south-bay-birds" <[[email protected]]>
>Subject: Re: [SBB] Hummers & bees
>Date: Tue, Sep 21, 1999, 9:55 AM
>
> REPLY Re: [SBB] Hummers & bees
>South-Bay-Bees
>
>Are you seeing honey bees, yellowjackets, something else, or all?
>We have a small, but persistent, group of yellowjackets in our area.
>The hummers still seem to get some time at the feeders.
>
>Les
>
>
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>
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From [[email protected]] Tue Sep 21 14:52:06 1999
Subject: [SBB] Northern Parula in Milpitas
All:
This morning I found a Northern Parula along the east side
of Coyote Creek in Milpitas. I first saw it at about
08:40, then refound it briefly at 09:25. Mike Rogers,
Mike Mammoser, and I looked later but could not refind
it, but the bird could still be around. To reach this
spot, take McCarthy Blvd. south from Hwy. 237 and turn
right on Sycamore Drive (or take McCarthy north from
Montague Expwy. and turn left on Sycamore). Sycamore
Drive dead-ends at the Coyote Creek levee. Park here
and look for the parula in the row of eucalyptus between
the levee and the edge of the parking lot behind 1501
McCarthy Blvd. (LSI Logic). I first saw the bird in
the eucs. right at the end of Sycamore, but later saw
it at the north end of this row of eucs. Lots of Yellow
Warblers and Western Tanagers moving around the area.
Good luck,
Steve Rottenborn
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From [[email protected]] Tue Sep 21 16:22:36 1999
Subject: [SBB] LEFL,CHSP
All,
As Nick Lethaby has noted, he and I managed to refind the LEAST
FLYCATCHER at CCFS this morning. We started out at net 9730 at
7:15am, but only had "WESTERN" FLYCATCHERS and a few warblers here.
Next we worked our way north to the eucalyptus by the trailers (which
had 2+ BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAKS and 2+ WESTERN TANAGERS) and then back
along the new revegetation area by the dike. Nearly back to the cars,
while stopping to view the first and only WARBLING VIREO of the
morning, we heard the "whit" call of an empidonax flycatcher. Not
having found any Willow Flycatchers all morning, our hopes were high
that this might be the Least Flycatcher (the difference in call note
was too subtle for my ear to differentiate). I got a quick glimpse of
the back half of the bird and noted prominent pale tertial edgings on
fairly dark blackish brown wings (a mark good for Least Flycatcher).
However, despite the bird's continuous calling we could not see the
face to confirm the presence of an eye-ring. After following the call
around for several minutes without getting binoculars on the bird we
lost it. Fortunately, after a few minutes it began calling again and
we finally managed decent unobstructed views of the bird while it
foraged from the upper branches of the young cottonwoods here.
The LEAST FLYCATCHER was a small, short-tailed empid (smaller than
nearby "WESTERN" FLYCATCHERS) and appeared quite gray. The head
appeared somewhat large (probably because of the short bill) and was
gray with a complete white eyering of roughly uniform thickness. The
back was a similar gray, but had some olive tones. The wings, as
noted above, were a dark blackish brown and the wing bars and tertial
edgings contrasted strongly with them. The wing bars were whitish
with some buff tones that appeared to be nonuniformly distributed
across the feather tips. The tertial edgings appeared more of a
yellowish white. The primary projection was short (well seen when the
bird drooped its wing once). The bill was short, recalling a
Hammond's Flycatcher, but was broader (being slightly convex-sided
rather than straight-sided). The lower mandible was orange with a
dusky tip, although the exact extent of the dusky could not be
determined (the bill often appeared all dark when the bird was viewed
against the sky). The throat was whitish, while the breast was pale
gray (not as dark a gray as is typical of Hammond's and Dusky
Flycatchers). The belly had a pale yellowish wash, and this extended
faintly up the midline of the underparts to the lower breast. Wing
and tail flicking were the typical rapid motions of most empids, not
the slow tail-dipping of a Gray Flycatcher. The bird appeared
somewhat worn, although not nearly to the extent shown for the "worn
fall adult" portrayed in the 3rd edition NGS guide.
As Nick noted, we also had a SPIZELLA SPARROW that defied
identification. I first noted this bird flying to the wire that
connects to the trailers. After calling to Nick, we followed the bird
as it flew to the brush around the eucalyptus north of the trailers.
We had brief but decent views after it came out and foraged on the
path here, but it soon flew to the riparian corrider and disappeared.
This bird was mangy and disheveled and was fairly heavily streaked,
including streaks at the sides of the breast suggestive of remnants of
juvenile plumage. The bird lacked the central crown stripe of a
Clay-colored Sparrow, lacked the eye-ring of a Brewer's Sparrow, and
lacked the rusty tones in the crown and the gray wash on the breast
shown by many Chipping Sparrows. It was impossible to tell whether
the feathers in the lores were dark or just messed up. No gray rump
was visible when the bird flew away, but I often have difficulty
seeing this mark, especially on young Chipping Sparrows (the rump is
brown in juveniles).
Other birds seen at CCFS included 22 "WESTERN" FLYCATCHERS, 16 YELLOW
WARBLERS, 4+ WILSON'S WARBLERS, 2 ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS, 10 COMMON
YELLOWTHROATS, and 8 HOUSE WRENS. Notable early returning winter
birds included a RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER, and 2 HERMIT THRUSHES, along
with several ZONOTRICHIA, all identified being WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS.
Nick also had a WINTER WREN along the creek.
As Steve noted, a lunch-time check of the eucalyptus trees at the end
of Sycamore Drive failed to turn up the Northern Parula among the many
WESTERN TANAGERS and YELLOW WARBLERS, despite help from Steve and Mike
Mammoser. However, I did find a CHIPPING SPARROW here and was able to
study it for 6 minutes on the path below the dike. This bird was
typical in all respects (even revealed its gray rump when perched in a
nearby eucalyptus). Wish the CCFS bird had been this cooperative!
Mike Rogers
9/21/99
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From [[email protected]] Tue Sep 21 16:41:25 1999
Subject: [SBB] Baird's & Pectoral Sandpipers at Calero Res.
This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
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charset="iso-8859-1"
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Howdy South-bay-birders,
Stopped by Calero Reservoir this afternoon. Shorebird habitat at the =
east end of the reservoir continues to expand, with new islands and =
shallows emerging. Best bird there was a juvenile BAIRD'S SANDPIPER, =
providing a first record for the Almaden Valley area (at least as far as =
I know). The other highlight was an AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN, which =
although common up the bay is seldom found down here (another local =
first for me). There also continues to be 3 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS there. =
Other shorebirds included 7 LEAST SANDPIPERS, several GREATER =
YELLOWLEGS, and the usual droves of BLACK-NECKED STILTS and KILLDEER. =
Among the large (and growing) number of ducks there were AMERICAN =
WIGEON, CINNAMON and GREEN-WINGED TEAL, NORTHERN PINTAIL, MALLARD, and =
GADWALL. A flock of WILD TURKEYS was again along the levee at the inflow =
to the reservoir.=20
John Mariani
[[email protected]]
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charset="iso-8859-1"
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Howdy =
South-bay-birders,
Stopped by Calero =
Reservoir this=20
afternoon. Shorebird habitat at the east end of the reservoir continues =
to=20
expand, with new islands and shallows emerging. Best bird there was a =
juvenile=20
BAIRD'S SANDPIPER, providing a first record for the Almaden Valley area =
(at=20
least as far as I know). The other highlight was an AMERICAN WHITE =
PELICAN,=20
which although common up the bay is seldom found down here =
(another=20
local first for me). There also continues to be 3 PECTORAL =
SANDPIPERS=20
there. Other shorebirds included 7 LEAST SANDPIPERS, several GREATER =
YELLOWLEGS,=20
and the usual droves of BLACK-NECKED STILTS and KILLDEER. Among the =
large (and=20
growing) number of ducks there were AMERICAN WIGEON, CINNAMON and=20
GREEN-WINGED TEAL, NORTHERN PINTAIL, MALLARD, and GADWALL. A flock =
of WILD=20
TURKEYS was again along the levee at the inflow to the reservoir. =
John Mariani
[[email protected]] <=
/BODY>
------=_NextPart_000_000F_01BF0450.24DB2660--
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From [[email protected]] Tue Sep 21 21:08:15 1999
Subject: [SBB] HMB Birds.
Birders:
Today in Half Moon Bay I was able to see a few birds while on my way to
run errands and while walking the dogs. Always pays to have your binoculars
with you! At Princeton Harbour there was an AMERICAN AVOCET (uncommon here)
as well as a group of 8 or so FORSTER'S TERNS and two COMMON TERNS. This is
an unusually high number of small terns for the Harbour, and my first
Commons there. The FORSTERS TERNS may have been family groups since there
were adults and juveniles mixed in and the juveniles appeared to be
following the adults. Only a couple of ELEGANT TERNS were around, it has
been a poor showing for that species here this year, almost surely due to
the cold water. In the morning I saw a CHIPPING SPARROW by the ranger's
house in Venice Beach. I am cross posting this to South-Bay Birds since
there were also CHIPPING SPARROWS noted in Santa Clara County today.
Perhaps there was a push of them through our region?
good birding,
Al
Alvaro Jaramillo
Senior Biologist
San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory
P.O. Box 247
Alviso, CA 95002
(408)-946-6548
http://www.sfbbo.org/
Home of the California Fall Challenge!!
[[email protected]]
Birds of Chile and
New World Blackbirds at : http://www.sirius.com/~alvaro
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From [[email protected]] Wed Sep 22 13:59:02 1999
Subject: [SBB] Franklin's Gull
All,
Today John Meier, Frank Vanslager and I saw the 1st winter FRGU in the
northern edge of the Palo Alto Duck Pond. At about noon, after having spent
45 minutes to an hour searching the Yacht Harbor mud flats and the pond, John
pointed out that the bird was about 20 feet away and swimming toward us. The
bird was clearly looking for a handout and had little fear of us (Frank was
able to get to within about 10 feet of the bird, standing on the edge of the
pond, before it would start to walk away). When we eventually walked away
the bird flew to an area in front of us. When we continued walking it flew
to the Yacht Harbor and landed in shallow water by a couple of small islands
near the parking area. When a couple of ducks left the bird took over a very
small exposed mud flat and proceeded to drive off two Ring-billed Gulls who
tried to share the island.
Of course, we got killer looks. We made special note of the tail with it's
white edged subterminal black band. The blackish-brown primaries had four
very small, white windows. The mostly gray mantle contained a couple light
brown feathers and the back of the head had a narrow "ponytail" extending
from the hood. I saw no evidence of red in the black bill or legs.
Take care,
Bob Reiling, 2:11 PM, 9/22/99
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From [[email protected]] Wed Sep 22 20:11:32 1999
Subject: Re: [SBB] Hummers & bees
George Oetzel wrote:
>
> > This is odd. This weekend I noticed my three Anna's chasing the bees
> > from the feeders plastic yellow flowers. I was delighted to see a Big
> > Male take action in what appeared to be nipping at a stubborn bee that
> > did not want to leave.
> > They did leave and the three hummmer's came to take over.
> > Rich Cimino
>
> Perhaps we have different kinds of bees? It has struck me as odd
> also, but I've had a lot of time to watch over the past couple of
> months. I can't say that I've never seen a hummer chase a bee, but
> I've seen many cases where the hummers were clearly intimidated
> by them.
>
> ----------------
> George Oetzel <[[email protected]]>
///////////RSC=SAVEMONO//////////////
Well for lack of a scientific(I'm sure I'll be corrected on this!)name
they are the sweat bee family we are all fimilar with. The pesty yellow
bee which hangs around our camp sites.
By the way this is the first time these bees have ever appeared in my
yard.
I have lived here in this home for 22 years.
I have been watching the feeder more often since this thread started
and the number of bees is half = 4 each now.
Do sweat bees migrate?
Feed back please.
Rich Cimino
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From [[email protected]] Wed Sep 22 23:14:51 1999
Subject: [SBB] Good raptor sightings.
Birders:
Today while conducting surveys at CCFS I spotted a low flying dark morph
juvenile SWAINSON'S HAWK over the waterbird pond. The bird flew north
towards Milpitas, keeping to the south and east of the dump. The bird was
extremely dark. This coupled with the dihedral made it appear like a small
Turkey Vulture. The undertail coverts were pale buff, and there was a pale
rump band. Otherwise this bird was all blackish. The structure and
crispness made me think it was a juvenile, as these are longer tailed and
longer winged than adults. Minutes after I had lost this bird in the scope
a juvenile BALD EAGLE flew over, following Coyote Creek downstream towards
the north. I had time to snap two poor photos of this bird as it went by.
These were my first for these two species at CCFS, very nice of them to
happen back to back like that! Banding today did not turn up any Least
Flycatcher, but we did have a couple of SWAINSON'S THRUSHES which are much
less common in the fall than in the spring. We also caught HERMIT THRUSHES,
GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW and PUGET-SOUND WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS so these
birds are beginning their movement into our area.
Along with the two above mentioned raptors, other species I noted today
in the Alviso/CCFS area included: RED-TAILED HAWK, RED-SHOULDERED HAWK,
COOPER'S HAWK, AMERICAN KESTREL, WHITE-TAILED KITE, TURKEY VULTURE and
NORTHERN HARRIER for a nice set of diurnal raptors.
cheers,
Al
Alvaro Jaramillo "An open mind is a virtue.
Half Moon Bay, But not so open that your
California brain falls out" - Carl Sagan
[[email protected]]
Helm guide to the New World Blackbirds, Birding in Chile, at:
http://www.sirius.com/~alvaro
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From [[email protected]] Thu Sep 23 08:48:24 1999
Subject: [SBB] L'Avenida
All,
This morning 9/23/99 on the way into work, I stopped by Stevens Creek
north of L'Avenida again. Highlight was an OSPREY soaring low to the
northeast as I was leaving at 8:17am (heavy necklace suggesting a
female?). Also some western migrants around, including 12 YELLOW
WARBLERS, 6+ "WESTERN" FLYCATCHERS, 2 WESTERN TANAGERS, 2 WILSON'S
WARBLERS, and 2 ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS (1 gray-headed bird). Early
returning winter birds included a LINCOLN'S SPARROW and a flyover
YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER.
Mike Rogers
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From [[email protected]] Thu Sep 23 10:03:12 1999
Subject: [SBB] A1 Feeding Frenzy
Folks:
On my bike commute this morning, 9/23/1999, I saw another feeding frenzy
on Salt Pond A1 in Mountain View. This one was well out in the pond and I
estimated 800-1600 AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS and 1500-3000 CALIFORNIA GULLS. I
counted 13 BROWN PELICANS in the feeding flocks.
Bill
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From [[email protected]] Thu Sep 23 12:33:03 1999
Subject: [SBB] Some CCFS birds
All,
This morning Frank Vanslager and I spent a couple hours at CCFS trying to
find the Least Flycatcher. I fairly quickly found a very short-billed Empid
on the western edge of the riparian corridor about 100 yds upstream of net
9730. Unfortunately, I just as quickly lost the bird and we were
subsequently unable to relocate it. Earlier we had up to three Townsend's
Warblers and I had distant views of a primarily yellow faced warbler which I
pursued but was also unable to relocate for a positive ID. Lots of
White-crowned Sparrows in revegetation area.
Take care,
Bob Reiling, 12:40 PM, 9/23/99
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From [[email protected]] Thu Sep 23 14:21:37 1999
Subject: [SBB] Fall Migrants
Today, after the sun broke through the clouds, I
made a quick check of a row of Eucalyptus trees west
of Coyote Creek north of Montague. The line runs
perpendicular to the creek -- an old farm windbreak.
There was a loosely associated group of three YELLOW
WARBLERs, one very green WESTERN TANAGER, and one
ORANGE_CROWNED WARBLER (no gray yet).
- Chris
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From [[email protected]] Thu Sep 23 16:28:35 1999
Subject: [SBB] Second Least Flycatcher
All:
This afternoon at CCFS, I saw a LEAST FLYCATCHER at the
south end of the reveg. area along the levee road south
of the trailers. This was NOT the same bird I saw along
the creek nearby the other day, as its lower mandible
was extensively dusky, and it seemed to differ slightly
in a number of other ways (which I'll describe later).
Still, the bird was clearly a Least Flycatcher, and it
is likely the one that Mike Rogers and Nick Lethaby
found the other day. It called frequently during the
14:30-14:55 observation.
The bird was just north of the Transect G net lane,
which is the southernmost net lane in this reveg.
area. There are several patches of tall, dense coyote
brush interspersed with more open areas. The LEFL
hung out in these more open areas, often perching
on conspicuous perches.
Unfortunately, access to CCFS is still restricted,
although hopefully access issues can be resolved
eventually.
Good birding,
Steve Rottenborn
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From [[email protected]] Thu Sep 23 22:16:21 1999
Subject: [SBB] South county birds
Hello All,
News of sightings from the far southern edge of Santa Clara County:
There is a large fallow field on the north side of Bloomfield Ave. just east
of Sheldon Ave (south of Gilroy). There on 9/19/99 I observed a surprising 42
WHITE-TAILED KITES foraging and perching at about 9 a.m. In the same field
today (9/23/99) at 3 p.m. I observed only 9 WHITE-TAILED KITES, but there was
also one SHORT-EARED OWL flying around over the field. Kites chased it a few
times.
Also today there were an immature FERRUGINOUS HAWK standing in the field to
the southeast of Bloomfield Ave. x Frazier Lake Rd, and a MERLIN flew over
there, too. An immature AMERICAN REDSTART was in the riparian along the west
side of Llagas Creek ~100 meters downstream of Bloomfield Ave. An adult
PRAIRIE FALCON was soaring around the large rocky peak which is on the south
side of Highway 152 just east of Bell Station (roughly mid-way between Casa
de Fruita and the eastern county line).
By the way, does anyone ever look at the birds in the new ponds along Pacheco
Creek located along Hwy 152, east of Casa de Fruita? The eastern most pond
always has lots of waterbirds. I believe these ponds were created as
mitigation for the work on the highway several years ago. Does anyone know of
any access, other than stopping along the highway?
David Suddjian, Capitola
[[email protected]]
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From [[email protected]] Fri Sep 24 09:32:23 1999
Subject: [SBB] LEFL
After hearing Steve's report of the continuing presence of a LEAST
FLYCATCHER at CCFS, I headed over there after work yesterday, 23 Sep 99.
I searched the area around transect G, hearing a couple "whit" calls,
but finding nothing. I continued searching the reveg area for some time,
and finally found the Least Flycatcher just north of the transect. It
started calling persistently and working its way north through the reveg
area. It finally settled in just on the north side of transect C at the
overflow channel end of the net (I believe it may have settled in for
the night here). I watched it in the waning light for at least 10
minutes from as close as 20 feet. It continued flycatching until I left.
Though I had no direct comparisons, this empid looked small. It had a
short bill with some amount of duskiness on the lower mandible, more
towards the tip. The bill also looked to be a little narrower than what
I would expect on a "western". It had a thin, complete eyering, possibly
a little thicker in front of the eye. The upperparts were a uniform
brownish-olive. I didn't notice any contrast between the head and back.
The wings were contrastingly darker than the upperparts, with quite bold
wing bars and tertial edgings. The wing bars looked buffy, indicating a
juvenile. The underparts were fairly plain grayish, with just a hint of
a darker breast patch. The primary extension was short. The tail looked
moderately long, though I'm not sure how much of this was just an effect
of the short wings, and was pumped almost continuously while the bird
was perched.
As a bonus, while searching for this bird I had a NASHVILLE WARBLER in
with YELLOWS and ORANGE-CROWNEDS.
Mike Mammoser
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From [[email protected]] Fri Sep 24 12:59:39 1999
Subject: [SBB] STSA and PESA Still Present
This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand
this format, some or all of this message may not be legible.
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Hello all:
As of last night (9/23) at 7:00 PM, the STILT SANDPIPER was still present at
State and Spreckels and there were 8-10 PECTORAL SANPIPERS in the flooded
portions of the fields off Zanker just north of 237.
Steve Miller
--Boundary_(ID_ohlRCqyBalFUeeu0yn2diQ)
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From [[email protected]] Fri Sep 24 14:22:50 1999
Subject: [SBB] FRGU
All,
Following Bob Reiling's report of the Franklin's Gull being
cooperative at noon during high tide, I checked the Palo Alto
duck pond today at 1:30pm after grabbing a sandwich. Sure
enough, the first-winter FRANKLIN'S GULL was right at the
east end of the pond taking handouts and providing killer
photo opportunities, often being too close for my 500mm lens!
Mike Rogers
9/24/99
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From [[email protected]] Fri Sep 24 14:55:49 1999
Subject: [SBB] More on the STSA last night
This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand
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Hello all:
The STILT SANPIPER appeared to be the adult. The color of the lower chest
was a pale gray grading to white in the throat. There were no discernible
edgings in the wings. The flank markings were prominent.
Steve Miller
--Boundary_(ID_hTA39eb9hOmRCxk/VVRDdA)
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From [[email protected]] Fri Sep 24 18:24:23 1999
Subject: [SBB] Palo Alto arrivals, etc.
I checked the area near Embarcadero Way in Palo Alto a couple of times
this week, but landbird migrants seemed very scarce -- mainly just a few
Yellow Warblers. I've also stopped at the Baylands, with similar results.
Today I had my first Lincoln's Sparrow and bayside White-Crowneds of the
season; on Tuesday (during a failed attempt to see the Franklin's Gull, which
I did see on Wednesday) I had 2 or 3 Yellow-Rumped Warblers at the Baylands.
That's about it.
Al
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From [[email protected]] Sat Sep 25 00:07:21 1999
Subject: [SBB] Red-shouldered Hawks in Santa Clara
After work on Friday, I had three adult Red-Shouldered Hawks in north Santa
Clara. Two were on the Agnew's property at Hope and Lafayette; one on the
tall barrel-like structure near Lafayette where BUOW often sit, the other on
the fence adjoining the new luxury apartment development. This field has
been recently mowed. I left this area and drove toward the Guadalupe River
where I had a third adult in a tree in Santa Clara's new Ulistac Natural
Area at Lick Mill and Hope. Also had a male and female Western Tanager on
the north end of this area near Tasman.
Jan Hintermeister
Santa Clara, CA
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From [[email protected]] Sat Sep 25 11:33:39 1999
Subject: Re: [SBB] Hummers & bees
> > ----------------
> > George Oetzel <[[email protected]]>
>///////////RSC=SAVEMONO//////////////
> >Well for lack of a scientific(I'm sure I'll be corrected on this!)name
>they are the sweat bee family we are all fimilar with. The pesty yellow
>bee which hangs around our camp sites. By the way this is the first
>time these bees have ever appeared in my yard.
Sweat bees (which are very small, and not yellow) are
attracted to sweat, not hummingbird feeders. Honeybees,
yellowjackets and other nectar-loving insects may be attracted to
these feeders. You probably have yellowjackets (wasps) coming to
your feeders.
>Do sweat bees migrate?
> Neither sweat bees or yellowjackets migrate. Adults of both
>groups live less than one year in our climate. Yellowjacket
>colonies will die out over the winter.
>Feed back please.
>Rich Cimino
>
>
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Ruth Troetschler
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From [[email protected]] Sat Sep 25 13:53:01 1999
Subject: [SBB] CCFS banding and birds
Just a note about the birds in the CCFS area, noticed during
this morning's banding effort. Access is very limited at this
time. You may find some of the birds further upstream (south)
along Coyote Creek.
LINCOLN SPARROWS have been on the increase lately, accounting
for 3 of the 11 bandings today. WESTERN FLYCATCHERS are still
passing through in significant numbers. One ORANGE-CROWNED
WARBLER was banded today as was an immature Pugetensis
WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW.
One Audubon's YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER was seen in the new revegetated area.
Nick Lethaby stopped by and mentioned that there were some PECTORAL
SANDPIPERS (PESA) in the drying pond by the trailers. I checked after banding
and found 10 PESA. The pair of WHITE-TAILED KITES were very vocal this
morning guarding the nest area and hunting. I was able to see one juv. in the
nest in the casuarina.
I looked for by did not find the Least Flycatcher.
Les
==========================================
Les Chibana, Palo Alto [[email protected]]
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From [[email protected]] Sat Sep 25 14:06:25 1999
Subject: [SBB] Owls
By the way, WESTERN SCREECH-OWLS have been calling in the evenings up
along Skyline Blvd. I heard some this morning
at about 5:00a. They were doing a variation instead of
their typical trill. They were also doing their barking
call.
We've been hearing the soft screech of young GREAT HORNED
OWLS around the house (skyline Blvd.) up until about 1.5
weeks ago.
Coyotes have been frequently yipping, and the bats are still
roosting on the house after a warm night.
Les
==========================================
Les Chibana, Palo Alto [[email protected]]
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From [[email protected]] Sat Sep 25 17:14:13 1999
Subject: [SBB] More shorebirds at Calero Reservoir
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------=_NextPart_000_0011_01BF0779.636A2080
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charset="iso-8859-1"
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Howdy South-bay-birders,
Today was a banner day for shorebirds at Calero Reservoir, with the =
highest numbers I've ever seen there. Shorebirds at the east end of the =
reservoir included 1 COMMON SNIPE, 5+ GREATER YELLOWLEGS, 5 DUNLIN, 1 =
SPOTTED SANDPIPER, 4+ LEAST SANDPIPERS, 1 PECTORAL SANDPIPER, 41 =
BLACK-NECKED STILTS, and 70+ KILLDEER. Not only were there lots of =
shorebirds, but also many geese, ducks, egrets, herons, etc., plus there =
was still 1 AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN, lots of FORSTER'S and several =
CASPIAN TERNS, and along the hills near the boat ramp I saw an adult =
GOLDEN EAGLE.
John Mariani
[[email protected]]
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charset="iso-8859-1"
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Howdy =
South-bay-birders,
Today was a banner day =
for shorebirds=20
at Calero Reservoir, with the highest numbers I've ever seen there. =
Shorebirds=20
at the east end of the reservoir included 1 COMMON SNIPE, 5+ GREATER =
YELLOWLEGS,=20
5 DUNLIN, 1 SPOTTED SANDPIPER, 4+ LEAST SANDPIPERS, 1 PECTORAL =
SANDPIPER, 41=20
BLACK-NECKED STILTS, and 70+ KILLDEER. Not only were there lots of =
shorebirds,=20
but also many geese, ducks, egrets, herons, etc., plus there was still 1 =
AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN, lots of FORSTER'S and several CASPIAN =
TERNS, and=20
along the hills near the boat ramp I saw an adult GOLDEN =
EAGLE.
John Mariani
[[email protected]] <=
/BODY>
------=_NextPart_000_0011_01BF0779.636A2080--
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From [[email protected]] Sun Sep 26 17:53:21 1999
Subject: [SBB] Stilt and Pectoral Sandpiper
The cooperative adult STILT SANDPIPER and a juvenile PECTORAL SANDPIPER
were at State and Spreckels this morning about 7:30, along with a good
number of LESSER YELLOWLEGS. A PEREGRINE FALCON was on a pylon along by
the road into the EEC.
-- Tom Grey Stanford CA [[email protected]]
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From [[email protected]] Sun Sep 26 17:55:05 1999
Subject: [SBB] Hawk Hill
I went on Don Schmoldt's SCV Audubon field trip Saturday to Hawk Hill.
Perhaps, some of you are as naive as I was about what this trip was all
about. The weather was gorgeous. Between 9 and noon we'd seen about 500
hawks - the vast majority were Sharpies. We had about 30 Broad-winged, 3
Osprey, 2 Merlin, plus Coopers, Red-Tail, Red-Shouldered, 6 Kestril, 1
Harrier. The afternoon brought more hawks - the highlight was a first year
BALD EAGLE - which according to those counting was the first one seen at
Hawk Hill in any September.
The most interesting non-hawk viewing was that of a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher
that for awhile acted as if it was a hummingbird - hovering without forward
motion as it flew toward us.
I'm sure many of you know all about Hawk Hill, but for those of you like
me. I learned that for the past 13 years that volunteers have counted hawks
on Hawk Hill from September through November. On Saturday the volunteers
were split into 4 teams - East, North, etc. They called their siteings to
the recorder who was in the middle. Even though Don was terrific with all
his knowledge on hawks, you could go any day and verify what you were
seeing by listening to what the counters were reporting to the recorder.
Thank you, Don, for sharing your expertise with us and congratulations on
your approaching marriage to Sally next month. It appears as if you've each
found a soul mate.
It was very Brigadoonish watching San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge
come in and out of the fog. Our skies were blue all day :-)
Another incredible birding experience....
Gloria LeBlanc
"We can't change the financial winds, but we can adjust the sails"
http://www.lgsia.com http://www.wallstreetgifts.com
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 27 07:32:01 1999
Subject: [SBB] Calero - Add On
Some more sightings at the upper end of Calero Reservoir on Sunday, Sept 26,
to add to John's posting for Saturday.
Some additions for the fall season: one WESTERN GREBE, two LONG-BILLED
DOWITCHERS, and two RING-NECKED DUCKS. One juvenile PECTORAL SANDPIPER
still present on Sunday. Close to 200 AMERICAN WIGEONS are now present,
along with lesser numbers of Green-winged Teal, Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler,
N. Pintail, and Gadwall. Six CASPIAN TERNS seen including one begging
juvenile. And finally, twelve WILD TURKEYS were making themselves at home
in a horse corral.
Ann
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 27 10:47:46 1999
Subject: [SBB] Sycamore Dr
All,
On Saturday morning 9/25/99 I spent another 1.5 hours working the
eucalyptus trees along Coyote Creek at the end of Sycamore Drive.
Bird numbers, although not quite as high as previously, were still
impressive. I tallied 13+ WESTERN TANAGERS, 19+ YELLOW WARBLERS,
7 YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, 2 ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS, 6+ DARK-EYED
JUNCOS, and at least one BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK among the birds
foraging in the eucalyptus. Also had my first Santa Clara County
RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET of the Fall there as well. A flock of 5 CEDAR
WAXWINGS flew along nearby Coyote Creek.
Mike Rogers
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 27 14:51:11 1999
Subject: [SBB] Peregrine Falcon
All,
This morning there was an immature Peregrine Falcon near the southern
entrance to the CCFS. The water level at the Waterbird Pond has been raised
but the water level and the bird count are both still low.
Take care,
Bob Reiling, 3:03 PM, 9/27/99
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From [[email protected]] Mon Sep 27 19:14:43 1999
Subject: [SBB] Franklin's Gull, etc.
Howdy South-bay-birders,
At about noon today I stopped by the Palo Alto Duck Pond. The FRANKLIN'S
GULL was still there. It was with the large gull flock on the pond, but
later on I saw it fly off over the old yacht basin and disappear. Nearby I
saw a MERLIN out on the mud devouring some unfortunate, and watched an adult
COOPER'S HAWK make an unsuccessful sneak attack on the resident Rock Doves.
Late this afternoon I checked the east end of Calero Reservoir. There
was still 1 PECTORAL SANDPIPER, and one of Ann's LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS was
still there. But the best bird there, considering the locality, was a
first-year WESTERN GULL. This is the first non-winter record we've had down
here, and all other Almaden Valley sightings have been at Almaden Lake.
John Mariani
[[email protected]]
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From [[email protected]] Tue Sep 28 11:21:54 1999
Subject: [SBB] White-crowned sparrow
First birds I encountered when I entered "my farm" (La Rinconada Park) this
morning was a male and female mature White-crowned Sparrow. Lots of
warblers, which I hope to check out later today.
Got home and I had my first White-crowned Sparrows in my backyard.....so
the returning date of White-crowneds in my neighborhood is September 28
this year. My last sighting had been April 26.
gloria leblanc
los gatos off quito
"We can't change the financial winds, but we can adjust the sails"
http://www.lgsia.com http://www.wallstreetgifts.com
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From [[email protected]] Tue Sep 28 11:21:54 1999
Subject: [SBB] White-crowned sparrow
First birds I encountered when I entered "my farm" (La Rinconada Park) this
morning was a male and female mature White-crowned Sparrow. Lots of
warblers, which I hope to check out later today.
Got home and I had my first White-crowned Sparrows in my backyard.....so
the returning date of White-crowneds in my neighborhood is September 28
this year. My last sighting had been April 26.
gloria leblanc
los gatos off quito
"We can't change the financial winds, but we can adjust the sails"
http://www.lgsia.com http://www.wallstreetgifts.com
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From [[email protected]] Tue Sep 28 11:21:54 1999
Subject: [SBB] White-crowned sparrow
First birds I encountered when I entered "my farm" (La Rinconada Park) this
morning was a male and female mature White-crowned Sparrow. Lots of
warblers, which I hope to check out later today.
Got home and I had my first White-crowned Sparrows in my backyard.....so
the returning date of White-crowneds in my neighborhood is September 28
this year. My last sighting had been April 26.
gloria leblanc
los gatos off quito
"We can't change the financial winds, but we can adjust the sails"
http://www.lgsia.com http://www.wallstreetgifts.com
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From [[email protected]] Tue Sep 28 14:19:26 1999
Subject: [SBB] Virginia Warbler?
I saw 2 birds this morning at "my farm" (La Rinconada Park) that I wanted
to confirm before posting...but I've just talked to Bob Reiling who feels
I'd be better serving you all by posting ASAP.
The first "possible" was a Chipping Sparrow. It was right next to the 2
White-crowned Sparrows that I saw. Rufuos stripe down the very middle of
its head, smaller than White-crowned. When I saw it, I immediately said to
myself Chipping Sparrow.
The second "possible" was a Virginia Warbler. Understand that I was on my
morning walk, did have my binocs, but no bird book and nothing to write on.
I tried to remember as much of the markings as I could and then looked at
my bird book when I returned home. I've never seen a Virginia. This is
what I saw. Definate eye ring. Bright yellow throat extending down slightly
onto breast. Yellow rump. No streaking that I saw. Ivory on lower breast.
That's all I saw that I remembered. I went back at noon with book and
binocs and didn't see ONE bird where these two had been. :-( Did see an
immature Red-tail atop a tree up the hill and a cat.
I also had an orange-crowned and a yellow-rump along the asphalt path. The
Kingfisher continues to be there. Yesterday I had a White-breasted
Nuthatch. The Acorn Woodpeckers seem to nest in the houses across the
street from the park and you always see them flying back and forth.
I hope what I'm posting is actually what I say--which was why I hesitated
before posting. Any other questions, just ask me.
Where I saw both birds was right next to Smith Creek. Smith Creek enters
the park off Bicknell in Los Gatos. (Bicknell is off of Quito) This is how
I always enter and leave the park area. I saw the sparrows within 20 feet
of my entry. The warbler I saw further down closer to the falling down
bridge. But, also near the creek. This entry way is actually owned by
SCVWD. La Rinconada Park officially starts at the bridge. Coming from the
other way off Wedgewood (Lark, R on Winchester, L on Wimbleton, L on
Wedgewood, L at tennis court onto Granada.) The path is in the trees with 3
bridges crossing it. However, where I saw the birds, the closest entry
would be to park next to the gate of SCVWD in a dirt area, this is where
Granada curves and heads up hill. The area between where you park is on the
same side of Smith Creek as how I enter the park.
Good birding!
Gloria LeBlanc
Los Gatos off Quito
"We can't change the financial winds, but we can adjust the sails"
http://www.lgsia.com http://www.wallstreetgifts.com
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From [[email protected]] Tue Sep 28 14:21:27 1999
Subject: [SBB] Golden-crowned Sparrow
Just got the first Golden-crowned Sparrow in my backyard. Last seen first
week of May.
Gloria LeBlanc
Los Gatos off Quito
"We can't change the financial winds, but we can adjust the sails"
http://www.lgsia.com http://www.wallstreetgifts.com
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From [[email protected]] Tue Sep 28 14:25:08 1999
Subject: [SBB] White-crowned Sparrow
I apologize for my ID of the White-crowned Sparrows I saw this morning at
"my farm". I saw one immature and one adult. In my backyard I have only
seen adult so far today.
gloria leblanc
"We can't change the financial winds, but we can adjust the sails"
http://www.lgsia.com http://www.wallstreetgifts.com
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From [[email protected]] Tue Sep 28 18:10:01 1999
Subject: [SBB] Returning migrants
Howdy South-bay-birders,
Today I spotted 13 WILD TURKEYS resting in a shady spot on the lawn at my
parent's house on Henwood Road. Later, along Camden Avenue between Almaden
Expr. and Graystone Lane I saw an OSPREY circling.
I walked part of the Alamitos Creek Trail downstream from Graystone
Lane, and there I had my first RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER for this fall, and
also my first fall GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW (guess they just arrived, since
Gloria LeBlanc had her first for fall today). Stopped by Almaden Reservoir,
where a SNOWY EGRET continues to hang out. A WHITE-TAILED KITE flying over
the hills by the reservoir was the first I've ever seen there. Also had
returning GOLDEN-CROWNED, WHITE-CROWNED, and LINCOLN'S SPARROWS there. A FOX
SPARROW in chaparral of the nearby mountains was my first for this fall--
John Mariani
[[email protected]]
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From [[email protected]] Wed Sep 29 14:39:35 1999
Subject: [SBB] La Rinconada Park, No Virginia's Warbler or Chipping Sparrow
All,
This morning Gloria LeBlanc, Frank Vanslager and I birded La Rinconada Park.
We concentrated our efforts on an area on the southern edge of the park and
just east of a fenced-in "reservoir" where Gloria had seen the VIWA and CHSP
yesterday. This area of the park has the widest open space area including
the fenced-in "reservoir" on the hill to the west and a grassy lightly wooded
hillside on the east. A small creek (Smith Creek) and path are run between
these two areas and along the east side of the "reservoir". Bushes are
strategically located on the eastern edge of the southern two-thirds of the
creek and trees are along the west side of the trail. A fairly large mixed
flock of sparrows was located along the creek on the southern edge of this
area. We followed (chased?) this group of sparrows to the northern limit of
the bushes where most flew across the path into the "reservoir" and out of
sight. The flock included White-crowned Sparrows, Golden-crowned Sparrows
(first of the fall for Frank and me), at least three Song Sparrows and one
probably two Lincoln's Sparrows (also a first of the fall for me). We would
easy to miss the CHSP if it was there what with the large number of small
sparrows and the amount of available cover. The only warblers we saw were a
couple of Yellow-rumped Warblers high in a eucalyptus tree well inside the
fenced-in area. Some other birds included Belted Kingfishers, White-breasted
Nuthatches, Bewick's Wren, Band-tailed Pigeons, Lesser Goldfinches, both
jays, and Mallards,
Take care,
Bob Reiling, 2:48 PM, 9/29/99
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