From email@hidden Mon Feb 01 06:33:52 1999
Subject: [SBB] YSFL Records
Folks:
I record reports of YELLOW-SHAFTED FLICKERS in the county notebooks, but
most of the records include the words "undescribed" which means that the
observer did not state what characters were examined and which ones were
missed. Without a description it is not possible to determine whether the
bird is a pure bird or the more expected intergrade. Hybridization in these
birds is very interesting and well worth a study. My limited experience
suggests that on the hybrid gradient between YSFL and RSFL, that the yellow
wing and tail feathers occur quite early, that is, many intergrades have pure
yellow, but show whisker, nape, or crown coloration of RSFL.
Thanks to Steve, Mike Mammoser, and others for their useful reports on
both intergrade and pure birds.
Bill
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From email@hidden Mon Feb 01 07:17:33 1999
Subject: Re: [SBB] Yellow-shafted Flicker (invasion?)
John--
In early Janauary I'd reported seeing a yellow-shafted at La Rinconada Park
in Los Gatos, just off Quito - might have been this poor guy...Gloria LeBlanc
At 11:51 PM 1/31/99 -0800, you wrote:
>Howdy South-bay-birders,
>
>I'm passing on a message I got from Edward Rooks. A male Yellow-shafted
>Flicker was found dead (of causes unknown) in the yard of a friend of
>his who lives in Los Gatos off Quito. It was found on Tuesday, 26th
>January, and Edward has had the specimen in his freezer since the 30th.
>The carcass was outdoors for about 4 or 5 days, so it may not make the
>best skin.
> I wonder if there might not be some small-scale invasion of
>Yellow-shafted Flickers into our area this winter. Ann Verdi reported
>one from near the Coleman Road ponds in early December, and I saw
>females at 2 locations along Alamitos Creek in January. Are these
>numbers of Yellow-shafted Flickers unusual for Santa Clara County in
>winter?
>
>John Mariani
>email@hidden
>
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>
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From email@hidden Mon Feb 01 07:24:47 1999
Subject: Re: [SBB] Yellow-shafted Flicker (invasion?)
Steve--
I'm certainly not the birder that you are...the one I saw at La Rinconada I
noticed first when it was flying into a tree near where I was standing due
to the yellow in its wings...but once it landed near me I took out my
Peterson book to verify field markings...the one I was looking at had red
at the very back of the nape and its moutachial stripe was black, not
red....I was within 20 feet of it for quite awhile....Gloria LeBlanc
>
>If all the birds reported as Yellow-shafted Flickers in the South
>Bay this winter are pure YSFL, then this does seem like a lot.
>Are all of these birds being scrutinized closely to look for
>evidence of hybridization? In my experience, hybrids are much
>more common in the South Bay than pure Yellow-shafted Flickers.
>The head and face color, presence/amount of red on the nape, color
>of moustachial stripe as seen from close range (the red and black are
>often mixed on hybrids) should all be looked at carefully on such birds
>before they are called pure Yellow-shafted Flickers. I've seen a number
>of hybrids in the South Bay that showed all-yellow undersides to the flight
>feathers but that, upon closer inspection, showed hybrid characters around
>the head. I hope that other observers are taking this into account when
>reporting Yellow-shafteds.
>
>Steve Rottenborn
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From email@hidden Mon Feb 01 08:00:01 1999
Subject: [SBB] Almaden Birds/Jan 31
Here are some birds seen in the Almaden area on Sunday, Jan 31:
Calero Reservoir: At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the adult
BALD EAGLE and one COMMON LOON were still present at the west end of the
reservoir. At the eastern upper end an adult female OSPREY was seen perched
on a snag on the mudflats.
Almaden Lake: The three small geese, ROSS' GOOSE, imm SNOW GOOSE, and
minima CANADA GOOSE, were still around. This trio was associating with the
coot flock rather than their larger cousins, the resident Canada Goose
flock. Also seen on the reservoir were a pair of HOODED MERGANSERS and 29
COMMON MERGANSERS with six more seen upstream. I did not see the Red-necked
Grebe this time.
SCVWD Pond (nr Almaden Expy & Coleman Rd): An AMERICAN BITTERN flushed from
the cattails on the pond and flew over the levee to land in the cattails on
Guadalupe River. The GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL was still present.
Almaden Reservoir: 54 WOOD DUCKS seen this time.
And that's about it for now - Ann
Ann Verdi
AMD/CA Central Svc Scheduling
408-749-2199 or x42199
email@hidden
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From email@hidden Mon Feb 01 09:44:01 1999
Subject: Re: [SBB] Yellow-shafted Flicker (invasion?)
John,
I got a good look at a Yellow-Shafted Flicker out at the Wild Life Center on
January 22. The flicker had initially been brought into the center on Dec.
9. It did not get better, so they had to euthanize it. As a result, we
were able to get a REALLY close look. It had the red bar on the back of its
head, and a black stripe on the side of its head under the eye. It also had
the yellow coloring on the underside of its wings. We are pretty sure it
was a male.
I think it was originally found in Santa Clara.
Pat Curtis
-----Original Message-----
From: John Mariani
To: South Bay Birds ; Edward Rooks
Date: Sunday, January 31, 1999 11:54 PM
Subject: [SBB] Yellow-shafted Flicker (invasion?)
>Howdy South-bay-birders,
>
>I'm passing on a message I got from Edward Rooks. A male Yellow-shafted
>Flicker was found dead (of causes unknown) in the yard of a friend of
>his who lives in Los Gatos off Quito. It was found on Tuesday, 26th
>January, and Edward has had the specimen in his freezer since the 30th.
>The carcass was outdoors for about 4 or 5 days, so it may not make the
>best skin.
> I wonder if there might not be some small-scale invasion of
>Yellow-shafted Flickers into our area this winter. Ann Verdi reported
>one from near the Coleman Road ponds in early December, and I saw
>females at 2 locations along Alamitos Creek in January. Are these
>numbers of Yellow-shafted Flickers unusual for Santa Clara County in
>winter?
>
>John Mariani
>email@hidden
>
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From email@hidden Mon Feb 01 10:52:13 1999
Subject: [SBB] Saturday birds
Hi Everyone--
On Saturday, 1/30/99, I visited a number of continuing rarities. At Almaden
Lake Park, I saw the RED-NECKED GREBE, the SNOW GOOSE, the ROSS'S GOOSE, the
minima CANADA GOOSE, a RED-BREASTED MERGANSER, 10 or so COMMON MERGANSERS,
and a CALIFORNIA THRASHER (a second one was singing, but not visible). At
Shady Oaks Park, the EASTERN PHOEBE showed well (long scope views) in the
orchard about 100 yards south of the blue jungle-gym (a set of muddy wheel
ruts marks the area). At Lake Cunningham, the third-year LESSER BLACK-BACKED
GULL was paddling around by itself between the marina pier and the island.
It has developed a yellow tip to the bill, nearly adult wing coverts (just a
few dark brown feathers among the dark gray), pale yellow eyes, and a
lighter version of the ear smudge that it had last year. I did not see it
fly.
Mark Miller
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From email@hidden Mon Feb 01 10:52:59 1999
Subject: [SBB] FWD: Re[2]: Dead Banded Falcon
This may be of interest to Peninsula and South Bay Birders.
It was a response from the US Banding Lab about the carcass
of the banded Peregrine Falcon reported by Francis Toldi on
the Peninsula Bird list.
Les Chibana
Palo Alto, CA
email@hidden
--------------------------------------
Date: 2/1/99 7:35 AM
From: Mary_Gustafson
Hi All
This report was phoned in to our toll free band report line already,
thanks!
This PEREGRINE FALCON was banded as a flighted young-of-the year in Nov
1996 in
the same area where it was found dead. A certificate with the exact
banding
data is being sent to the person who reported the bird to our hotline,
1-800-327-BAND. Please let me know if any additional information is
needed.
Mary Gustafson
BBL Biologist
______________________________ Reply Separator ___________________________
______
Subject: RE: Dead Banded Falcon
Author: Les Chibana at NBS-Internet-Gateway
Date: 1/28/99 5:52 PM
REPLY RE: Dead Banded Falcon
Francis,
I am forwarding this to the Mary Gustafson at the US Bandling Lab.
Undoubtedly,
she will receive many copies of this as I noticed that you also posted
this to
Calbird.
Les Chibana email@hidden
Palo Alto, CA
Francis Toldi wrote:
>An alert staffer at the San Francisco Water Department just called me to
>say that a maintenance worker brought in a dead falcon with bands on its
>legs. The verbal description sounded like it is probably a Merlin. The
>bird was found near Ravenswood, East Palo Alto, CA.
>
>The right leg has a silver band that says "AV[obscured letters] band
>#220613272 Washington DC USA"
>
>The left leg has a larger black band with "6666" and below that "4444".
>
>Please e-mail--or better, call me--if you know who might be interested
>in this information and/or examining the bird.
>
>Thanks.
>
>Francis Toldi
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From email@hidden Mon Feb 01 11:24:51 1999
Subject: [SBB] ...Even more on Yel-shafted Flickers
Howdy South-bay-birders,
Thanks to all who responded to my initial question about the number of
Yellow-shafted Flickers this winter. From the descriptions given by Ann Verdi,
Gloria LeBlanc, and Edward Rooks it sounds like they had typical male
Yellow-shafts. The bird(s?) that I saw along Alamitos Creek were females.
Neither showed any moustachial stripe or red on the nape. They had plain grayish
heads and I didn't notice a crown patch. If the female Yellow-shafted is
supposed to have a red nape patch (I am not sure about this) then my sightings
may have been of hybrid(s), since that feature was definitely missing.
John Mariani
email@hidden
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From email@hidden Mon Feb 01 13:00:10 1999
Subject: [SBB] birds
On Sunday, 31 Jan 99, I went birding along the bay, starting at
Shoreline Lake. I only had 4 HORNED GREBES, down significantly from last
weekend. Seven BLACK SKIMMERS were on the island in Charleston Slough.
As I came along Terminal Blvd back towards my car, I noticed a pair of
CALIFORNIA TOWHEES along the fence. One was carrying a large
cricket-like insect in its bill. It disappeared with this item into the
heavy vegetation inside the fence, reappearing about 30 seconds later
and wiping its empty bill on the fence. I don't know if this constitutes
the earliest breeding record for this species, but it seemed
significant. I watched them continue to forage, but someone walked by
and flushed them into the vegetation before I could see any more food
carrying. Just after this, I noticed an AMERICAN BITTERN rise up quite
high from the forebay and fly to the other side of the cattails before
dropping down.
At the end of Matadero riparian I watched a pair of WHITE-TAILED KITES
engage in a food exchange. The male (presumably) was carrying a small
rodent (likely a vole) and the female flew up from behind and below,
flipping over on her back and taking the item from his talons. This is a
courtship ritual and at least some of this species should begin laying
eggs within a few weeks.
I went to the Baylands for the high tide, and spent my time looking for
unusual sparrows along the levees. I didn't have any luck with these,
but had 2 CLAPPER RAILS along the boardwalk and both VIRGINIA RAIL and
SORA back along the levees. A PEREGRINE FALCON was on one of the power
towers. I got back to the parking lot right at the peak of high tide
and, up to that point, no one had seen any Black Rails to my knowledge.
Mike Mammoser
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From email@hidden Mon Feb 01 13:47:22 1999
Subject: [SBB] County birds
All,
Today Frank Vanslager and I saw the ad Ross's Goose, im Snow goose and the
minima Canada Goose with a flock of transient CAGO (not the resident GAGO) in
Almaden Lake Park. (These birds were seen at around 12:30 PM and were not
there in the morning.) The 1st winter Red-necked Grebe was at the park both
times.
Things were fairly slow at Ogier Ponds but we did get three different
sightings of at least two American Bitterns. One AMBI was seen in a marshy
area about 100 yds short of a bridge which crosses Coyote Creek about 1.5
miles north of the entrance road to Ogier Ponds. Another was seen on the edge
of one of the middle ponds east of the road to the Model Airplane Field and
possibly the same bird was seen later in the pond immediately north of the
airfield (the second bird flew in that direction). We had a probable House
Wren in the creek and a pair of male Wood Ducks flew north up (down?) the
creek. An ad male Osprey was in the large bare tree south of the entrance to
Ogier Ponds and a Greater White-fronted Goose was in the pond north of the
entrance road. No Tundra Swans were seen :-( Most of the usual gull and duck
species were seen but in small numbers.
Take care,
Bob Reiling, 1:44 PM, 2/1/99
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From email@hidden Mon Feb 01 14:33:03 1999
Subject: [SBB] RE: Birding teacher
REPLY RE: Birding teacher
If anyone is interested in doing this and has questions about
what's involved, feel free to get in touch with me. =
Les Chibana
email@hidden
day phone: 650-966-8000
night phone: 650-949-4335
Deborah_BARTENS wrote:
>To all,
>I just received a call from the Palo Alto Adult Education
>department and they are looking for someone in this area
>who might be interested in teaching BEGINNING Birdwatching.
>They have quite a demand from people just starting out in
>this hobby and don't feel like they are quite ready for the
>extremely popular classes offered by Les Chibana.
>
>If you or anyone you know might be interested, please
>call Alison, with the Adult Ed. department - 650-306-0332.
>
>Deborah Bartens
>Palo Alto Baylands
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From email@hidden Mon Feb 01 15:15:06 1999
Subject: [SBB] RED JUNGLEFOWL in Almaden
On Saturday 1/30, I saw a male RED JUNGLEFOWL (_Gallus gallus_)
by the roadside near the dam at Almaden Reservoir.
Has anyone seen this bird there before?
Is it a recent escapee and is there only one individual ?
Just over a month ago, I saw several of these in the wild in
Jim Corbett NP in northern India. That's part of their native
range.
Vivek Tiwari
email@hidden
PS: Also saw a pair of very vocal RED-SHOULDERED HAWKS. They
were very aggressive towards a dark-phase RED-TAILED HAWK.
A few WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS flying above the ridge.
Guadalupe Reservoir had 25 RING-NECKED DUCKS.
Today I saw the BLACK-THROATED BLUE warbler.
Thanks to Trudi Burney for her kind hospitality towards all us birders -
showing up at her doors in the mornings!
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From email@hidden Mon Feb 01 17:06:33 1999
Subject: [SBB] McClellan Park Red-shouldered Hawks etc.
All,
No fewer than five Red-shouldered Hawks have been sparring around McClellan
Ranch Park today (typically only one is noticeable). There seen to be two
distinct pairs and an outlier that remains far away from the others. I
suspect territorial boundary-setting is in progress, but who knows? The
birds in one of the pairs were sitting inches from one another in the top
of one sycamore tree after another, between bouts of brief, aggressive
interactions with the second, more consistently airborne pair.
Chestnut-backed Chickadees were poking into nestboxes here today, a couple
of days after the Oak Titmice started in on that.
--Garth Harwood
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From email@hidden Tue Feb 02 13:24:20 1999
Subject: [SBB] Cedar Waxwings
I apologize for not saving the email from whoever it was that wanted to
find some Cedar Waxwings....I have a large flock of them in my yard at this
moment....Gloria LeBlanc
http://www.lgsia.com http://www.wallstreetgifts.com
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From email@hidden Tue Feb 02 15:20:35 1999
Subject: [SBB] Weekend birds
During the late afternoon on Friday, 1/29/99, I stopped at Almaden Lake
to photograph the nice selection of geese. John Mariani was right; when I
returned to the geese with my camera gear, a couple of kids were throwing
rocks at them! Curiously, the SNOW, ROSS'S, and CACKLING GEESE had
separated from the rest of the large CANADA GEESE and were swimming together in
the lake. Also present were the RED-NECKED GREBE, a female RING-NECKED DUCK,
and a group of beautiful COMMON MERGANSERS.
On Saturday and Sunday, 1/30/99 and 1/31/99, I led two class field trips
around the Los Banos area. Both days featured some great raptor and geese
experiences. A dark and a light morph FERRUGINOUS HAWK were found foraging
and interacting with each other (often in the same binocular view) near
the end of Combs Rd. which runs south from Sandy Mush Rd. about 2 miles
west of Hwy 59.
The geese flock at the east end of Merced NWR along Sandy Mush Rd. was
comprised primarily of ROSS'S GEESE. No blue morphs were found. One or two
of the CANADA GEESE present were of the ALEUTIAN (leucopareia) race. Most
of the other CAGO were of the CACKLING (minima) race. Several of these
small CAGO had thin, white, partial collars in the front of the neck with
darker bellies than the Aleutian; I assume that these were more likely
minima(?). SANDHILL CRANES milled about next to the geese.
In the Refuge on Saturday, Mich Ninokata spotted a BALD EAGLE carrying
what appeared to be a duck out in the middle of the auto tour route. Later,
this eagle spooked up the geese flock with a flyover, just as we came
around to the flock on the tour route. The eagle wreaked havoc with the geese
on Sunday also.
A pair of GREAT HORNED OWLS on a nest in a lone tree in the eastern part
of the tour. A sizeable blackbird flock in this area contained mostly
TRICOLORED BLACKBIRDS with at least 10 female and 1st winter male
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS. One ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER was seen near the observation
platform at the entrance. RED-TAILED HAWKS were nest-building in two
locations near the observation deck.
The Merced Refuge is in the middle of an upgrade with the tour slightly
re-routed on the second half. It appears that a trail is being installed on
the east side. A work crew seemed to be putting in culverts, many of
which were lying about the refuge.
A BURROWING OWL was spotted by a sharp-eyed Caroline Nabeta along Sandy
Mush Rd. west of the Merced Refuge.
WHITE-FACED IBIS were seen only in groups of three or less in scattered
areas on both days. TREE SWALLOWS were soaring about in small numbers in
several spots.
RING-NECKED DUCKS were present in large numbers at San Luis NWR from the
observation platform on the Tule Elk loop. Two FORSTER'S TERNS were seen
along the loop.
RED-TAILED HAWKS (RTHA) were seen in dark, rufous and several "standard"
color morphs on both days. On Saturday at San Luis NWR, while looking for
the recently reported Swainson's Hawks, we saw a very light buteo near the
restrooms at the entrance. This individual had a light supercillium, a
white chin, and a faint belly streaking. The light undertail appeared
faintly banded without a terminal band. It didn't fall into any ID cleanly. When
we got into a better position on the auto loop, we found the bird. This
time it flew several times, revealing the underwing pattern of an immature
RTHA complete with patagial marks.
Les
==========================================
Les Chibana, Palo Alto email@hidden
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From email@hidden Tue Feb 02 15:27:49 1999
Subject: [SBB] Band-Tailed Pigeon
On the grid that Bill Bousman did Band-tailed Pigeons are constant in our
valley. However, for my backyard that is not true. For many months I have
about 30 of them eating the safflower seeds. I did not see one in either
December or January. Today I have one. And it is a sad guy. He can't
close his beak, it's open a good half an inch. It appears as if he eats
using his tongue although he's tried every feeder I have, so he may not be
succeeding too well...Gloria
Your PFO (Personal Financial Officer)
http://www.lgsia.com http://www.wallstreetgifts.com
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From email@hidden Tue Feb 02 15:45:21 1999
Subject: [SBB] More Yellow-shafted flickers
Hi South-Bay Birders
With all the interest in yellow-shafted flickers in the So. Bay, I am
sending this VERY late report. On Jan 1st, David and I had a
yellow-shafted flicker at Shoreline Lake. The bird was in the trees to
the east of the boat house. It was yellow on underside of wing and tail
with no red. There was a red cresent on the nape and no moustache.
Sorry for not reporting it earlier.
Merry
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From email@hidden Wed Feb 03 00:45:51 1999
Subject: [SBB] New Coe records
This is a belated report (I have been in Japan for the past week). On 1/=
23/99, Amy and I spent a wet day at Henry Coe State Park. A couple of =
birds were of particular interest. At Coit Lake, the first park record =
Marsh Wren we found last March has be joined by at least one other bird. =
Both were chattering in the reeds at the north end of the lake.
Also seen at Coit was a first park record Sora.
James Yurchenco
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From email@hidden Wed Feb 03 11:04:43 1999
Subject: [SBB] Great Backyard Bird Count
Hey,
Don't forget! The 2nd Annual Great Backyard Bird Count will be taking place
February 19-22. A joint project of the Cornell Lab or Ornithology and
National Audubon (with sponsorship from Wild Birds Unlimited and Ford), the
GBBC is asking everyone in North America to count the birds they see at
their feeders, parks, and other areas. You then log onto the BirdSource web
site at and report your sightings. Lots of
other great info their, too, including last year's findings from every
state state and province.
Reports will be mapped at the web site within hours of your sending them to
us. This data will be used to make year-by-year comparisons of bird
distributions and population fluctuations. Combined with data from Project
FeederWatch, Christmas Bird Counts, Breeding Bird Survey and other
studies, BirdSource is already proving very useful, thanks to all of you
who participate in our projects.
If any of you are reporters (or have such connections), I can email you our
press release upon request.
Also, if you wouldn't mind 15 minutes of fame, I'm looking for birders
across the continent who are participating and wouldn't mind being
contacted by the press for interviews. I'd need your name, town and state,
phone number, and proximity to nearest large city.
Please count for the birds -- for fun and conservation. Join us for the
Great Backyard Bird Count!
(Please forward this note to any appropriate listservs, etc.)
Allison Wells
Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Rd.
Ithaca, NY 14850
(607) 254-2475
email@hidden
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From email@hidden Wed Feb 03 11:13:03 1999
Subject: [SBB] Barn Owl box
All:
I was contacted by Bill Schreeder, a manager at the BFI Newby Island
Landfill. He has a Barn Owl in one of his buildings and had purchased some
owl boxes to put up. He was wondering whether it was best to put the box
outside or inside the building. He has concerns about dust if the box is
inside the building. If any of you have experience with Barn Owlnest boxes,
I can forward your advice to Bill.
Nick
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From email@hidden Wed Feb 03 17:09:16 1999
Subject: [SBB] HOME at Stevens Cr. Res.
Hi all,
I observed two male and two female HOODED MERGANSERS at Stevens Creek
Reservoir yesterday evening (2/2/99). They were at the west end near
the dead trees, viewable from the picnic area.
Tom Ryan
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From email@hidden Thu Feb 04 01:42:29 1999
Subject: [SBB]Ring-necked Pheasant
Yesterday, Feb. 3, a RING-NECKED PHEASANT landed on the back fence of my
very suburban back yard in Sunnyvale. I have never seen this species in
this neighborhood before. I don't live in one of the areas with
semi-tame pheasants. Still, it could be an escapee from someone's
yard. If not, this bird had reached a most unusual habitat. He flew
off after only a few minutes.
Rosalie Strait
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From email@hidden Thu Feb 04 10:02:30 1999
Subject: [SBB] Black-throated Blue Warbler
Dori Rhodes and I finally got up to see the Black-throated Blue Warbler in
Trudi Burney's yard this morning. He showed up as soon as we arrived. As
we were leaving, a very large flock of American Robins came through.
Pat Curtis
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From email@hidden Thu Feb 04 15:11:15 1999
Subject: [SBB] White-throated Sparrow
All,
At noon today Frank Vanslager and I saw the WTSP which has been on the
Stanford campus since the Christmas Bird Count. The bird was with a small
flock Golden-crowned Sparrows near heavy cover behind the Mausoleum across the
path north of the Cactus Garden. The bird was last seen in the Cactus Garden.
The bird still has fine streaking on the lower breast and belly. The yellow
in the lores was not obvious to me (at 22x) but was seen by Frank with his
superior scope (at 50x). There were several good birds in this area but there
was not much elsewhere.
Earlier we had gone to Lake Cunningham Park (I guess that the Lesser Black-
backed Gull is never seen in the morning?), Alviso (almost no birds at all!)
and the Sunnyvale Water Treatment Facility (almost no ducks on either pond!).
Salt Pond A4 had some Ruddy Ducks, Western & Clark's Grebes, a Red-breasted
Merganser and a very dark Surf Scoter (it had no white wing bar and had some
white behind the eye and on the base of the bill).
Take care,
Bob Reiling, 3:07 PM, 2/4/99
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From email@hidden Thu Feb 04 18:18:30 1999
Subject: [SBB] Calero Reservoir & Almaden Lake
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Howdy South-bay-birders,
I visited Calero Reservoir on my lunch break today. I had just set
up my scope when out of nowhere an adult GOLDEN EAGLE swooped right past
me in pursuit of some nearby coots. It was unsuccessful with the coots,
and I later saw it soaring over the hills with a second adult bird. An
OSPREY was sitting on the reservoir's east shore.
There was a COMMON LOON on the water near the boat ramp. On the
reservoir I also saw 60+ EARED GREBES, about 20 COMMON GOLDENEYES, and
several BONAPARTE'S GULLS.
On my way home this evening I stopped by Almaden Lake. The
RED-NECKED GREBE, ROSS'S GOOSE, SNOW GOOSE, and minima CANADA GOOSE were
still there, and at dusk a flock of COMMON MERGANSERS gathered for a
feeding frenzy at the inflow to the lake--I counted 24.
John Mariani
email@hidden
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Howdy South-bay-birders,
I visited Calero Reservoir on my lunch break today.
I had just set up my scope when out of nowhere an adult GOLDEN EAGLE swooped
right past me in pursuit of some nearby coots. It was unsuccessful
with the coots, and I later saw it soaring over the hills with a second
adult bird. An OSPREY was sitting on the reservoir's east shore.
There was a COMMON LOON on the water near the boat
ramp. On the reservoir I also saw 60+ EARED GREBES, about 20 COMMON GOLDENEYES,
and several BONAPARTE'S GULLS.
On my way home this evening I stopped by Almaden
Lake. The RED-NECKED GREBE, ROSS'S GOOSE, SNOW GOOSE, and minima CANADA
GOOSE were still there, and at dusk a flock of COMMON MERGANSERS gathered
for a feeding frenzy at the inflow to the lake--I counted 24.
John Mariani
email@hidden
--------------25DE7FF4B7CC78B1C14F7AE9--
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From email@hidden Thu Feb 04 21:15:22 1999
Subject: [SBB] Ross's Goose
Birders,
The Ross's Goose was back at the CCRS waterbird pond today. As far as I
can tell, this is the first Ross's Goose to be seen in the CCRS 'birding
area'. There are two White-tailed Kites displaying outside the trailers
daily. Hope they nest!
Alvaro
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@hidden
Helm guide to the New World Blackbirds, Birding in Chile and more, at:
http://www.sirius.com/~alvaro
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From email@hidden Sun Feb 07 14:24:53 1999
Subject: [SBB] Bald Eagles
Explored south county a little bit yesterday going to 3 places I've never
been to before. At Anderson Lake could not find the 3 special geese. At
Anderson had lots of Wood Ducks. At Caleros had a Green-winged Teal and 2
Bald Eagles. One was an immature, other an adult. They were cavorting
together in the air some, also sitting in a tree. How beautiful!
added a new bird to my backyard list when I saw a Coopers Hawk sitting on
the wire eyeing the feeding frenzy that is occuring - i'm guessing due to
the weather - at by backyard feeders.
Gloria LeBlanc
Los Gatos near Quito
Your PFO (Personal Financial Officer)
http://www.lgsia.com http://www.wallstreetgifts.com
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From email@hidden Sun Feb 07 15:17:15 1999
Subject: [SBB] PANOCHE highlights
It was a great BIG-day in Panoche Valley today! Jesse Conklin and I set
out early from Palo Alto so we could begin our day in San Luis and
Merced. There we conducted a whirl-wind survey. Many good species, but
no real suprises. We arrived at Little Panoche Road around 10. I'm not
clear on the exact location unfortunately, but at the large dry wash
area on the north side of the road we saw the winter LARK BUNTING for
several minutes as it sat on the fence or perched near the road. It was
clearly marked, and very easy to pick out among the dozens of smaller
White-crowned, Golden-crowned, VESPER, Savannah and Song Sparrows. In
the same location, in a large hole in the dried mud wall opposite the
road, we got a great look at a sleeping BARN OWL. We heard, although did
not see, ROCK WREN below the level of the road. Elsewhere along the
road, as expected, LARK SPARROWS were in abundance.
Turning onto Panoche Road and driving north we found one of the four
FERRUGINOUS HAWKS of the day. It was sitting in a large field just north
of the intersection with Little Panoche. Continuing north to milepost
20.85 we found RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW and PHAINOPEPLA. By this time is
was beginning to rain and we didn't expect much else, but at milepost 19
the LEWIS' WOODPECKER cooperated nicely and we got wonderful views of it
for several minutes as it posed for photographs.
Another nice species for our "big day" was CASSIN'S KINGBIRD which was
in downtown Hollister! We actually passed the bird the first time,
deciding it was probably nothing... We were tired, it was drizzling and
we were lost. Upon thinking better about what we had done, we turned
around and went back. Heading south out of town, just before the corner
of HWY 25 and Union St was the bird, sitting exactly where we had left
it several minutes earlier! As with all of our best birds of the day, it
allowed us to approach closely and admire it from front, side and back.
We ended our day in Moss Landing and Elkhorn Slough. It was getting
pretty dark, so not much luck. Still, a wonderful day, with two lifers
for us!
Matthew Dodder
email@hidden
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From email@hidden Sun Feb 07 15:31:37 1999
Subject: [SBB] MERLIN in Menlo Park
I neglected to mention this yesterday.
On my dayly lunch-hour walk I go birding near my office in Menlo Park.
San Francisquito Creek has often produced good species. This week I had
SNOWY EGRET in the creek at the corner of Univeristy Drive and Creek
Drive. Since August that is only the first Snowy I've seen in "Graphic
LAB Checklist" area. There was also a very dark, nearly "black" MERLIN
atop a dead snag on the Menlo Park side of the creek. The area abounds
with TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS and GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS. There are also
RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKERS, and once recently a YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER.
If anyone is curious about what you can see during a lunch hour in Menlo
Park, this is not a bad place to start.
These are only of local interest, I know. But I thought the Merlin worth
mentioning.
Matthew Dodder
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From email@hidden Sun Feb 07 17:16:48 1999
Subject: [SBB] LOONs, EAGLEs at Calreo Res.
Sunday 2/7 at Calero Reservoir, 12-2PM:
There were 6 COMMON LOONs near the boat ramp. Five were in a tight group
while the 6th was further off. Later a couple of jet skiiers disturbed
the eastern half of the lake and the birds moved towards the western shore.
Also near the boat ramp, a flock of about 25 AMERICAN PIPITs.
Several BUFFLEHEADs near the boat ramp.
Later I walked towards the west end over the spillway. A lone adult
BALD EAGLE was perched on a tree on the northern shore. As it got windier
the bird flew across the lake to a tree on the other side.
As rain picked up, 2 GOLDEN EAGLEs took off from the south shore.
One went into a dive, crossed the lake, flew in front of me at eye-level,
spooked a WHITE-TAILED KITE off a tree, and then scattered a group of
C. GOLDENEYEs and CANVASBACKs. Then it flew back to the south shore to
join the other bird. I was thoroughly drenched by now, so did not go any
further. There was a SAY's PHOEBE near the spillway.
Vivek Tiwari
email@hidden
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From email@hidden Mon Feb 08 07:58:52 1999
Subject: [SBB] Menlo birds
At times yesterday AM in the rain, there were more than 100 birds
visible on the bare branches near our feeders. At different times,
one or another species would dominate the feeders. The biggest
flock was Pine Siskins, numbering at least 70 and up from just 3 or
4 a few weeks ago. House Finches, about 45, Lesser Goldfinches,
18, and American Goldfinches, just 2. We also had the usual run of
chickadees, titmice, and MODOs, but they don't show up with the
big flocks.
On an afternoon walk, the Sharon Park Golf Course pond had 4
Bufflehead, 2 Gadwall, and a lone Common Merganser, in addition
to the usual Mallards and Coots. Along the shallower pond in the
park, a busy tree large flock of Robins and Cedar Waxwings
attracted our attention. The surprise bird of the walk, in the same
tree, was a Red Breasted Sapsucker.
A Great Horned Owl has been calling every evening for the past
month or so. If there's a nest, we're pretty sure which clump of
trees it must be in. We spent some time searching and found a
candidate nest, but we couldn't verify that it is occupied. We'll keep
checking.
----------------
George Oetzel
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From email@hidden Mon Feb 08 08:48:25 1999
Subject: [SBB] Weekend Birds
Here are a few more birds of local interest seen on this soggy weekend.
On Saturday, Feb 6, Caralisa Hughes and I saw a ROSS' GOOSE in the New
Chicago Marsh at the Alviso EEC.
On Sunday, Feb 7, the LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL was in the northwest parking
lot at Lake Cunningham.
Also on Sunday, Feb 7, in addition to birds already reported from
Almaden/Calero - the RED-NECKED GREBE was still present at Lake Almaden;
however, the three little geese (ROSS', imm SNOW, and minima CANADA) were
seen in a different location. This time they were found with the flock of
larger local Canada Geese in an open field off Almaden Expwy between Hwy 85
and Chynoweth. And finally, thirty WOOD DUCKS were at Almaden Reservoir.
Ann
Ann Verdi
AMD/CA Central Svc Scheduling
408-749-2199 or x42199
email@hidden
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From email@hidden Mon Feb 08 13:39:02 1999
Subject: [SBB] Weekend birding
All,
Saturday morning, 2/6/99, I helped with a zonotrichia study at the
CCRS. We captured a WHITE-THROATED SPARROW among the numerous WHITE-
and GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROWS.
On Sunday, 2/7/99, I scouted Panoche Valley area with Caroline Nabeta,
Mich Ninokata, Harriet Gerson, and Maria and John Meyer for an
upcoming series of fieldtrips.
At Paicines Res. we saw two adult BALD EAGLES (BAEA) and a third bird
that appeared to be an immature BAEA. Its whole head was lighter that
its dark brown back rather than just the nape as an a Golden Eagle.
But it's belly was the same color as the lighter head... basic I?
These birds were in the trees at the northwest end of the res. Also
of note, dozens of COMMON MERGANSERS (possibly the most numerous duck
present), over a dozen each of RING-NECKED DUCKS, REDHEAD, and
CANVASBACK. A distant BLACK-NECKED STILT near the eagle trees
appeared to have juvenal plumage, but it was rainy and far, so I
don't think it was a juvenile.
A check of Cienega Rd. at the south end of the reservoir did not
produce any CASSIN'S KINGBIRD (CAKI), but a last check along Hwy 25
did find 1-2 CAKI on and near the flagpole at the black gated
residence which is near the reservoir viewing turnout. It was/they
were calling during flycatching forays.
Two groups of WILD TURKEYS, consisting of 9 and 6 males, were seen
between 10 and 15 miles from Paicines foraging on grassy slopes in
open oak woodlands. Near MP 19.0, we dipped on Lewis' Woodpecker.
PHAINOPEPLA popped out of the oak-woodwork wherever the mistletoe
was thick in the deciduous oaks. A GOLDEN EAGLE soared along the
ridgetop to the north.
In the broad valley area, we had about 8-9 FERRUGINOUS HAWK
sightings, 2-3 of those were probably repeat views. All were light
morphs. Beauties! One MERLIN was seen on a utility pole between
Little Panoche Rd. and the New Idria Rd. along Panoche Rd. 18+
MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS were actively working a dirt field north of
Panoche Rd. at New Idria Rd. Another CAKI was seen (probably the
bird previously reported on the Monterey list) and several VESPER
SPARROWS allowed long scope study at this location. As we were
running low on time, we passed on looking for the Lark Buntings
at the Silver Creek Ranch.
We made cursory checks along Little Panoche Rd. for Mtn. Plover,
but nothing was obvious as it darkened and began to rain. We drove
slowly through Shotgun Pass but didn't stop, so we saw few birds.
Nothing was seen at the corral near the Fresno County line, but
then, we had owls on the brain. We stopped at Mercy Hot Springs
and, after a bit of searching, Harriet noticed an owl staring back
at her through the tamarisk needles. We think we saw two different
LONG-EARED OWLS (LEOW) here. (I heard a report that 3 LEOW were
seen during the previous week.) We did not see any of the Barn Owls.
Alas, by this time, it was near dark with more ominous clouds
overhead, so we decided against checking the BLM road and headed
home.
Les
==========================================
Les Chibana, Palo Alto email@hidden
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From email@hidden Mon Feb 08 15:35:12 1999
Subject: [SBB] HOME
On my walk along Coyote Creek south of Hellyer at lunch time today, 8
Feb 99, I had a pair of HOODED MERGANSERS on the creek.
Mike Mammoser
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From email@hidden Mon Feb 08 16:27:35 1999
Subject: [SBB] past few weeks' birds
All:
A few belated reports:
15 Jan. -- 2 OSPREYS at Parkway Lakes (with Dan Singer).
20 Jan. -- 1 male SELASPHORUS Hummingbird at Stanford Arboretum;
wing-whir heard repeatedly high in eucalyptus but bird not seen.
21 Jan. -- 1 SPOTTED SANDPIPER along San Francisquito Creek just
upstream from Hwy. 101 (in both counties); surveys along S.F.
Creek (in Santa Clara Co.) upstream from El Camino Real in Palo
Alto produced 3 PINE SISKINS and 1 TOWNSEND'S WARBLER. The
medium-small dark CANADA GOOSE and the ROSS'S GOOSE were at
Arzino Ranch.
22 Jan. -- 1 female/imm. MERLIN at Spreckles and Grand in Alviso,
medium-small dark CAGO still at Arzino Ranch. Two FERRUGINOUS
HAWKS (1 imm. seen with Scott Terrill plus 1 ad.) near Bailey
and Santa Teresa in south San Jose. One OSPREY and 1 fem.
COMMON MERGANSER at Ogier Ponds.
28 Jan. -- 1 male COMMON MERGANSER at Ogier Ponds, 2 OSPREYS at
Parkway Lakes. At Almaden Lake, I saw the ROSS'S GOOSE and
2 SNOW GEESE (1 ad., 1 imm.).
30 Jan. -- 1 first/second-winter (distant) GLAUCOUS GULL in
Alviso (spotted by Mike Mammoser); 2 female/imm. MERLINS in
Alviso; 1 ROSS'S GOOSE and 1 medium-small CANADA GOOSE still
at Arzino Ranch; 1 lg. female MERLIN and 1 ad. PEREGRINE
FALCON at Hidden Lake Park in Milpitas.
1 Feb. -- San Francisquito Creek upstream from El Camino Real
(Santa Clara Co. side): 1 WHITE-THROATED SPARROW, 2 GOLDEN-
CROWNED KINGLETS, 14 TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS. Ad. "KAMCHATKA"-
like MEW GULL at Palo Alto Baylands duck pond.
2 Feb. -- 1 LAPLAND LONGSPUR on private property in northeast
San Jose (alfalfa field on valley floor) with 60 AMERICAN
PIPITS; no Horned Larks at all in this flock.
4 Feb. -- 1 female/imm. (very drab) CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPUR,
1 LAPLAND LONGSPUR in the field mentioned on 2 Feb. with
100+ AMERICAN PIPITS. Unfortunately, this area is not open
to the public, and the birds are not visible from the
surrounding roads except in flight. If something changes
that would allow others to see these birds, I'll put the word
out. One ad. GOLDEN EAGLE at Arzino Ranch, 2 OSPREYS at Parkway
Lakes.
Cheers,
Steve Rottenborn
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From email@hidden Tue Feb 09 11:42:55 1999
Subject: [SBB] South-bay-bird archive updated
South-Bay-Birders,
I have updated the archive of South-bay-birds messages to include the
January 1999 messages.
Other updates this month include new images of the Gray
Silky-flycatcher in the mountains of Southern California. Curious
readers may see for themselves the extent of cage-wear on the tail. :)
I also added a description and speculation on the Salton Sea mystery
gull, photos by Mike Rogers with details on the Greater Pewee at Brock
Ranch, and descriptions of Yellow-throated Vireo and Worm-eating
Warbler in Orange County and Pine Warbler and Dusky-capped Flycatcher
in Long Beach.
Other additions this month include "answers" and new sapsucker photos
for the January mystery page. The February mystery page offers a
hummingbird and a warbler. What do you think they are?
In cooperation with the Trumpeter Swan Society, we have put up a new
page which tracks all Trumpeter Swan sightings in California. This
entry includes much useful identification material contributed by Rod
Hug.
Ruth Sullivan has contributed outstanding new photos of the Sky Lark
and Rustic Bunting in Washington State. The racial identification of
the Sky Larks remains an intriguing question.
And Don Roberson has updated most of the birding statistics on the
county web pages.
The site is at: http://fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~jmorlan/
Also the California Bird Records Committee site has been updated this
month to reflect new membership and bylaw changes enacted at the
January meeting. The CBRC photo gallery has new images of White
Wagtails and Swallow-tailed Gull.
The CBRC site is at: http://www.wfo-cbrc.org/cbrc/
Enjoy!
--
Joseph Morlan, Pacifica, CA 94044: email@hidden
SF Spring Birding Classes - Feb 9: http://fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~jmorlan/
California Bird Records Committee: http://www.wfo-cbrc.org/cbrc/
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From email@hidden Tue Feb 09 12:26:15 1999
Subject: [SBB] Stanford local
I checked Lagunita during a break in the rain this morning. Water entering
via the inflow channel, as well as by run-off from the hill, and the water
is at Big Puddle or Lagunita-ita level.
Notable were 8 WOOD DUCKS (along with a couple hundred Mallards and a few
Bufflehead) and 2 MEW GULLS (in amidst ~50 Californias and a few
Ring-bills).
-- Tom Grey Stanford CA email@hidden
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From email@hidden Tue Feb 09 12:54:02 1999
Subject: [SBB] Peregrine Falcon
All,
This morning at about 10:00, a PEREGRINE FALCON was on the utility tower
where the Common Ravens have nested in the past few years, 1/8 mi. from
Mtn. View Forebay, at the north end of San Antonio Rd. Could probably be the
individual, or one of the individuals, that has been seen on the Elwell
Ct. tower (only two towers away).
A week ago, a pair of COMMON RAVENS were visiting the nest site, doing a
lot of vocalization.
Les
==========================================
Les Chibana, Palo Alto email@hidden
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From email@hidden Tue Feb 09 15:18:34 1999
Subject: [SBB] Re: Peregrine Falcon
Les wrote:
> This morning at about 10:00, a PEREGRINE FALCON was on the utility tower
> where the Common Ravens have nested in the past few years, 1/8 mi. from
> Mtn. View Forebay, at the north end of San Antonio Rd. Could probably be the
> individual, or one of the individuals, that has been seen on the Elwell
> Ct. tower (only two towers away).
>
> A week ago, a pair of COMMON RAVENS were visiting the nest site, doing a
> lot of vocalization.
Two years ago, a pair of Peregrines built a nest on a tower at Bair Island
(San Mateo Co.), but the nest was taken over by Ravens. A Peregrine was seen
at least investigating again the following year, but again the actual nesting
was done by Ravens. It will be interesting to see what happens at your site.
Al
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From email@hidden Wed Feb 10 08:45:26 1999
Subject: [SBB] Stanford (cont.)
I checked mini-Lagunita this morning, and it turns out to be just a big
rain puddle - Stanford isn't pumping in any water yet. There were 18 WOOD
DUCKS, 12 RING-NECKED DUCKS, and 2 MEW GULLS. A small flock of AMERICAN
PIPITS continues on the dry part of the lakebed.
-- Tom Grey Stanford CA email@hidden
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From email@hidden Wed Feb 10 18:51:45 1999
Subject: [SBB] Calero Reservoir birds
Howdy South-bay-birders,
While commuting this morning I saw a pair of COMMON RAVENS along Santa
Teresa Blvd. near Bailey--the first ravens I've ever seen in this area.
Later, on my lunch break I visited Calero Reservoir. There I saw an
adult GOLDEN EAGLE soaring in the distance, and another birder, John
Arnold, pointed out the adult BALD EAGLE, which was in an oak up the
west side of the reservoir. Other birds seen there included 1 COMMON
LOON, lots of COMMON GOLDENEYES, and AMERICAN PIPITS. On another recent
visit I saw a partially albino EARED GREBE at Calero--it was mostly
white on the body.
John Mariani
email@hidden
http://home.pacbell.net/redknot/index.htm
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From email@hidden Thu Feb 11 07:57:02 1999
Subject: [SBB] Eastern Phoebe and Coyote Creek
All,
Yesterday morning (2/10/99) during the SCVAS field trip to Shady Oaks Park
(and Coyote Creek) the Eastern Phoebe was well seen by all. The bird was in
the northeastern most tree in the orchard (the orchard tree closest to the
bridge over Coyote Creek). Emily Curtis immediately found the bird as we
crossed over the bridge as I was preparing to initiate a search for it. The
EAPH was a life bird for 2-3 of the birders and helped to made up for a
general lack of birds in the area. An abundance of Red-shoulderd Hawks with
excellent views of them perched and interacting with a Red-tailed Hawk as well
as a bright warm sun also helped to make the trip a success. Other notable
birds included a Lincoln's Sparrow, seen by one, a Hermit Thrush and a Fox
Sparrow, seen by a few, a Red-breasted Sapsucker, seen by most, Nuttall's and
Downy Woodpeckers, seen by all, and three Golden Eagles seen at a great
distance (but without total agreement as to the ID).
At the end of the trip we quickly went upstream from the parking area where
the best birds were Wood Ducks and where we also found out that the first dam
had either been removed or destroyed. The level controls and the fish ladder
are still there but the dam is gone. Someone said that they thought that the
dam had been removed because it prevented or inhibited upstream migration of
fish. I can't help but wonder what effect the lower water level in this part
of the creek will have on breeding water birds?
Take care,
Bob Reiling, 7:56 AM, 2/11/99
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From email@hidden Thu Feb 11 11:33:58 1999
Subject: [SBB] Re: Peregrine Falcon
On Tue, 9 Feb 1999 email@hidden wrote:
> Les wrote:
> > This morning at about 10:00, a PEREGRINE FALCON was on the utility tower
> > where the Common Ravens have nested in the past few years, 1/8 mi. from
> > Mtn. View Forebay, at the north end of San Antonio Rd. Could probably be the
> > individual, or one of the individuals, that has been seen on the Elwell
> > Ct. tower (only two towers away).
> >
Yesterday (2/10), at approximately 4:40 p.m., three of us spotted a
PEREGRINE FALCON consuming a meal at the top of a utility pole. The pole
was the third one in from the northernmost corner of NASA's fence, just
south of Crittenden Marsh.
-Jennifer
Jennifer Dungan | MS 242-4
CSU - Monterey Bay | NASA Ames Research Center
Tel: 650-604-3618 FAX: 650-604-4680 | Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000
email: email@hidden | USA
URL: http://geo.arc.nasa.gov |
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From email@hidden Thu Feb 11 20:23:23 1999
Subject: [SBB] Kites
I have discovered a pair of White Tailed Kites on my almost daily morning
walk to the top of St. Joseph's Hill above Novitiate Park, in Los Gatos. I
first spotted them about ten days ago when I saw one, successfully, fighting
off a Common Raven -- the first Raven I have seen there in the two-plus
years I have been walking there. During the "attack", the other Kite was
sitting in a tree top, below. I have seen one Kite in the same tree every
time I have walked there. This morning I discovered the other one when I
walked to see behind the grove of Oak and Manzanita where it perches. It's
mate was lower down, back into the grove. This morning, the one on the
higher perch was eating something it held down on the branch with its feet,
and calling between bites!
Sylvia White
Los Gatos
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From email@hidden Thu Feb 11 22:34:47 1999
Subject: [SBB] Almaden Lake Park, odd pale gull
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Howdy South-bay-birders,
Today I visited Almaden Lake Park at lunchtime. The SNOW GOOSE and
ROSS'S GOOSE were still there, but I didn't see the minima CANADA GOOSE
with them. There was also a HORNED GREBE. The early afternoon seems to
be the best time for large numbers of gulls there. As usual there were
HERRING and THAYERS, but one first winter bird struck me as unusual. It
was about the size of a nearby California Gull or Thayer's, very pale in
plumage, with light gray mottling, entirely black bill, black eyes, dark
pink legs, but what was really different were the primaries, which were
distinctly whitish (at least whiter than the rest of the wing). Possible
Iceland Gull? I am not good enough at gulls to feel secure in making any
ID, but it was an interesting bird--
John Mariani
email@hidden
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Howdy South-bay-birders,
Today I visited Almaden Lake Park at lunchtime. The SNOW GOOSE and ROSS'S
GOOSE were still there, but I didn't see the minima CANADA GOOSE
with them. There was also a HORNED GREBE. The early afternoon seems to
be the best time for large numbers of gulls there. As usual there were
HERRING and THAYERS, but one first winter bird struck me as unusual. It
was about the size of a nearby California Gull or Thayer's, very pale in
plumage, with light gray mottling, entirely black bill, black eyes, dark
pink legs, but what was really different were the primaries, which were
distinctly whitish (at least whiter than the rest of the wing). Possible
Iceland Gull? I am not good enough at gulls to feel secure in making any
ID, but it was an interesting bird--
John Mariani
email@hidden
--------------14B4E2C320857AD4359CA5DE--
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From email@hidden Fri Feb 12 07:16:27 1999
Subject: [SBB] BWTE and stuff
Folks:
This morning, 2/12/1999, on my bike commute I saw a pair of BLUE-WINGED
TEAL in the North Pond of the Palo Alto FCB. Five BLACK SKIMMERS were in
Charleston Slough, which I guess is the typical number since early January. A
female RED-BREASTED MERGANSER was in Shoreline Lake. Lots of American Robins
moving though and I started counting them as I cycled along the levee on
Stevens Creek above Crittenden. My tally was moving past 30 when a marvelous
adult male _suckleyi_ MERLIN came whizzing through--no breakfast for him
though.
Some of the willows on Stevens Creek are leafing out and the catkins are
in flower. The primary herbivore this morning was Golden-crowned Sparrow, a
dozen maybe.
Bill
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From email@hidden Fri Feb 12 09:42:33 1999
Subject: [SBB] Stanford (2/11)
Yesterday morning (Feb. 11) I checked the area near the Stanford Mausoleum.
I was unable to turn up any sparrow flock at all; just hordes of Robins acting
like sparrows. I did see a California Thrasher, and, most interesting, heard
a Winter Wren calling extensively from the ground cover adjacent to the
Mausoleum.
Al
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From email@hidden Fri Feb 12 10:58:01 1999
Subject: [SBB] Bird song starting
The Pine Siskins, Lesser Goldfinches, and Dark-eyed Juncos have been
singing wonderful choruses in the mornings at home (Skyline Blvd.). Not
necessarily a harbinger of spring, but perhaps the lengthening days and few days
of sun are pushing some hormones.
Bill mentioned lots of robins this morning, which reminded me that
yesterday morning, there were about a dozen robins near one of the entryways to
my office (Mtn. View near the Forebay).
Les
==========================================
Les Chibana, Palo Alto email@hidden
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From email@hidden Fri Feb 12 11:48:24 1999
Subject: [SBB] American Goldfinches
South Bay Birders:
We are beginning to see good numbers of AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES and LESSER
GOLDFINCHES at niger thistle feeders. I've heard from two people in
Saratoga who suddenly report action at their feeders, one in Willow Glen,
one in Campbell, one in San Jose, and YES, at my feeder too! The AMERICAN
GOLDFINCHES still have their winter plummage but look as though their
starting to turn a little brighter.
Pat Curtis
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From email@hidden Fri Feb 12 14:46:15 1999
Subject: [SBB] Lesser Black-backed Gull
All,
Shortly before noon today Frank Vanslager, two other birders and I saw the 3rd
winter LBBG at Lake Cunningham Park. The bird was first found in the lake
while it was trying to swallow some large, inorganic looking object. It did
finally swallow the object showing large, painful looking lumps in it's throat
for several minutes. The gull finally flew to the grassy area just north of
the lake and east of the parking lot. At this point the swallowed object was
no longer in it's throat. (Was it in it's crop?) The crop had seemed quite
large before the object was swallowed!
The mantle and wings of the LBBG are much darker (and browner) than that of
adjacent adult California Gulls. Most of the time it also looked larger than
the CAGUs. When in the water the front of the LBBG seemed to sit lower and
the tail higher. The primaries were black with medium to dark gray tips (no
windows). The tips of the secondaries and scapulars were white forming a
white trailing edge to the wing from the body to the black primaries. The
rest of the body was white with dark streaking on the head and neck and with a
good sized dark area around and behind the eye. There was also some dark
streaking (or smudging) on the upper breast. The under part of the tail was a
light gray. The upper tail was white with black spots, of increasing size
toward the edge of the tail, on the outer three feathers on each side of the
tail. The eye was a light yellow (even lighter than on Herring Gulls?). The
bill is black with a pale yellow tip. The proximal portion of the bill has
ivory spots with the base of the lower mandible having a good sized ivory
spot. Lighter (brownish black) areas are also apparent along the top of the
bill especially around the nostril. The legs are a light grayish pink. All
in all a very interesting bird to see at such close proximity.
Take care,
Bob Reiling, 2:27 PM, 2/12/99
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From email@hidden Fri Feb 12 18:32:43 1999
Subject: [SBB] Where Aleutian Canada Geese?
A couple of weeks ago, somebody gave detailed directions near Los Banos,
regarding the presence of Aleutian Canada Geese.
Would you (or anyone else) please repeat those directions, or forward me the
original email. Sharon and I want to see them over the weekend, on our way
down to (or back from) visiting relatives about an hour south of Fresno, near
Porterville.
I'll be able to pick up email away from home.
Thanks for your help.
Bob Lutman
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From email@hidden Fri Feb 12 22:02:41 1999
Subject: [SBB] Iceland Gull.
Birders,
Today there was a first winter bird we believe to be an Iceland Gull in
the pond directly opposite the CCRS trailers. It later flew closer to hwy
237 to the second pond in from the gate. This bird was very pale, showing
no tail band, no noticeable secondary bar, largely whitish primaries, small
size, small bill etc. Beware that later on in the day Mike Mammoser found
another potential Iceland Gull, of the same age, but this bird had
primaries slightly darker than the tertials and a darker tail. To be
conservative, this second bird may be best considered an extremely pale
Thayer's Gull, but in reality it could very well be within what is
acceptable for Iceland Gull. Earlier on there was a second winter Glaucous
Gull at CCRS.
Other birds seen around include a Ross's Goose at the Waterbird Pond, and
that bird was there two days ago as well. In addition, the waterbird pond
held a Long-billed Dowitcher in full alternate (breeding) plumage. This is
highly unusual and may be the same bird that Steve Rottenborn saw in
November.
Finally, I will warn that access to CCRS will be temporarily discontinued.
I will send the list a more detailed message later on regarding the state
and changes which will be ocurring soon at CCRS. At this point access is
still possible, this may change in the near future but I do not know
exactly when. Once I have all the details, I will post a message. For now,
enjoy and good luck with the birds.
Regards,
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@hidden
Helm guide to the New World Blackbirds, Birding in Chile and more, at:
http://www.sirius.com/~alvaro
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From email@hidden Sat Feb 13 10:04:00 1999
Subject: [SBB] VATH @ Stevens Creek near Hwy 101
This morning (2/13/99, 7:30-8:00 am), there was a female VARIED THRUSH
along Stevens Creek trail just south of Hwy 101 near the pedestrian gate
(the one closed when there's flooding). Several Hermit thrushes and lots of
American Robins as well.
Also seen in the same vicinity was a TOWNSEND'S WARBLER -- these have been
pretty regular along here in the eucalyptus and pine trees the last several
weeks.
-- Bill Cabot
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From email@hidden Sat Feb 13 22:18:46 1999
Subject: [SBB] Iceland Gull.
Birders,
As there is noone banding or working at CCRS this weekend, the gate is
closed. I apologize, particularly for those that attempted to visit today
and found that they could not enter. Unless someone shows up to do some
work tomorrow and opens the gate, assume that the gate will be closed.
Apologies,
Al
Alvaro Jaramillo Wildlife Biologist
Half Moon Bay, Coyote Creek Riparian Station
California P.O. Box 1027
Alviso, CA 95002
email@hidden
Birds of Chile, New World Blackbirds at : http://www.sirius.com/~alvaro
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From email@hidden Sun Feb 14 14:38:03 1999
Subject: [SBB] Ruddy Shelduck
The previous week and last week I saw a very tame RUDDY SHELDUCK at
Cupertino Memorial Park (across from De Anza College), who let me walk
around it observing its charactertics very closely (it seemed to be waiting
for a handout).
I am a new birder and could not identify it until I dropped by the SVAS
office, where a volunteer (whose name I have forgotten) helped me find the
bird in the National Geographic Society "Field Guide to Birds of North
America" Second Edition (page 90).
Evidently this is a Afro-Eurasian species and probably has escaped from a
zoo or a private collection. Are they at all common?
-Jonathan Hays
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From email@hidden Mon Feb 15 12:13:51 1999
Subject: [SBB] Weekend birding
On Saturday, 2/13/99, I led a class field trip to Ed Levin County Park in
the Milpitas foothills and Coyote Hills Regional Park, bayside in
Fremont.
Ed Levin highlights:
- Male Ring-necked Duck at Sandy Wool Lake.
- Male Selasphorus hummingbird (prob. Allen's) at Spring Valley group
picnic area parking lot. This individual showed a mostly green back with no
rufous flecking. However, we were viewing it on a perch about 30 ft. up in
a eucalyptus and we didn't have a full view of the back.
- 1 clearly Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker at the Elm picnic area. This
was a male with a bold red chevron on the nape, brown face, gray crown,
black moustache, very yellow underwing, undertail, and upper flight feather
shafts.
- 2 male intergrade Northern Flicker. These had red nape chevrons, gray
faces, brown crowns, one had a black moustache the other red, orange-red
underwings and undertail.
- 3 Yellow-billed Magpie nests under construction around the Spring
Valley area.
Coyote Hills highlights:
- One Sora, heard only, in the marsh.
- One female Merlin on a snag north of the visitor's center, later flying
over the marsh with mouse-sized prey in talons. (Two years ago, we found
a female Merlin in the same location. Possible returnee?).
- Winter Wren in Hoot Hollow.
- 2 Varied Thrush in Hoot Hollow.
Tree Swallows were present in small numbers in both locations. American
Robins: There were about 100 at the Elm picnic area at Ed Levin; around
30-40 at Coyote Hills in the Hoot Hollow area. Northern Flickers: approx.
8-10 sightings at the south part of Ed Levin, another 8-10 in the Elm picnic
area; and 8-10 at Coyote Hills.
Also, we had some Western Bluebirds at the Palo Alto High School parking
lot.
Also, if anyone is considering a new scope in the higher price range, two
of our participants had a new 82mm Kowa scope with fluorite coated lenses
and the 20-60X eyepiece. I have to say that this setup is incredible! The
zoom retained most of the image resolution up to 60X! We enjoyed many
sharp, frame-filling views of the birds through this combination at full
zoom. (I wish that Kowa was providing me with promotional consideration for
including this note!)
Les
==========================================
Les Chibana, Palo Alto email@hidden
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From email@hidden Mon Feb 15 12:53:16 1999
Subject: [SBB] Almaden Birds/seen/not seen
Here are some birds seen in the Almaden area on Saturday, Feb 13.
At Calero Reservoir, three COMMON LOONS were seen. Two were near the boat
launching dock and the third was farther out in the reservoir. Two TREE
SWALLOWS were seen over the reservoir. Although the waterfowl is beginning
to disperse, there was still a good variety of duck species seen, including
Green-winged Teal, Mallard, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Ring-necked Duck,
Lesser Scaup, Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Common Merganser, and lots of
Ruddy Ducks. I did not see the Bald Eagle this time.
At Almaden Lake, the RED-NECKED GREBE was still present, and a CLARK'S GREBE
was seen as well. The two small geese (ROSS'S and imm SNOW GOOSE) were seen
at noon time. Earlier in the day (8:00 am), I saw these two geese with the
local Canada Goose flock at DeAnza Park off Meridian between Kooser &
Blossom Hill across the street from Mervyn's, so it appears these small
geese are making the rounds throughout the Almaden area with the locals.
The minima Canada Goose, which has been hanging around with them, was not
seen. As for gulls, I counter 268 HERRING GULLS and at least six THAYER'S
GULLS.
At Almaden Reservoir, twenty WOOD DUCKS were seen.
And that's about it for now - Ann
Ann Verdi
AMD/CA Central Svc Scheduling
408-749-2199 or x42199
email@hidden
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From email@hidden Mon Feb 15 14:41:03 1999
Subject: [SBB] birds
On Friday afternoon, 12 Feb 99, I stopped by CCRS and had a good look at
the apparent Kumlien's ICELAND GULL; even finding a second bird that Al
thought might be borderline.
On Saturday, 13 Feb 99, I went out to Alviso to look for gulls. There
wasn't anything unusual, but I did find 219 MEW GULLS at Arzino Ranch,
along with the ROSS' GOOSE. Three BURROWING OWLS were along Nortech
Pkwy.
At the Sunnyvale Baylands Park I found a male BLUE-WINGED TEAL.
I then went to Stevens Creek Park and drove up Stevens Canyon Road past
the intersection with Mt. Eden Road. When I pulled off between the
second and third bridges, I found a pair of AMERICAN DIPPERS along the
creek. Also, 7 RING-NECKED DUCKS were at the reservoir.
On Sunday, 14 Feb 99, I went to Shoreline Lake, where I had a male
BARROW'S GOLDENEYE and a RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. A EURASIAN WIGEON was
in the flood control basin and 6 BLACK SKIMMERS were in Charleston
Slough.
At Crittenden Marsh I had a female MERLIN perched on a power tower and a
TREE SWALLOW over the marsh.
On Monday, 15 Feb 99, I went to the south county and checked Bloomfield
Ave. The fields here had many AMERICAN PIPITS, SAVANNAH SPARROWS,
KILLDEER, LEAST SANDPIPERS, and 2 COMMON SNIPE. Six TREE SWALLOWS were
foraging overhead.
On San Felipe Road, 2 pairs of TREE SWALLOWS seemed to be checking out
the eucalyptus trees that had hosted the Cassin's Kingbirds.
At San Felipe Lake, 20 white geese were too distant for details, but
were probably ROSS' based on size. At least 4 GREAT BLUE HERONS were
standing on nests. Fifteen swallows were over the lake; probably Trees,
but I didn't have good enough light to be certain.
Mike Mammoser
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From email@hidden Mon Feb 15 15:03:55 1999
Subject: [SBB] CCRS birds
All,
Today Frank Vanslager and I saw an essentially all white first winter Glaucous
Gull in the Coyote Creek outflow pond/mudflat which is west the Waterbird Pond
and south of the Newby Island dump. A second, large light buffy colored gull
with white wingtips was seen to fly into the salt pond to the southwest
(another possible Glaucous Gull?). We also had the Ross's Goose in the
Waterbird Pond and a male Ring-necked Pheasant on the road nearby. We also
had a pair of Blue-winged Teal at Sunnyvale Baylands Park, in the weeds to the
right (south) of the observation platform (not the pier).
An unusual medium sized gull at CCRS today was an overall light buffy color
with darker buffy spots overall. The wing was a shade lighter than the body
with very pale wingtips. When viewed from the side the upper tail appeared to
be essentially all white. The lower tail was more the color of the body with
the lower aft portion of the body being a somewhat darker buff color. The
legs were pink (more pink than a nearby imm CAGU). The bill was black with
some pinkish highlights on the proximal end. The bill was about the same size
(length and depth) as the bill on Thayer's gulls (smaller all around than on
CAGU). The eye was dark with very little smudging around the eye. The gull
was larger than adjacent CAGUs and smaller than adjacent HEGUs (about the same
size as nearby Thayer's Gulls). The head was somewhat round but not so round
as the head of Mew Gulls.
Take care,
Bob Reiling, 2:25 PM, 2/15/99
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From email@hidden Tue Feb 16 10:53:12 1999
Subject: [SBB] Backyard report
The American Goldfinches are really beginning to get their breeding
plummage. The Juncos are flittering around the yard in pursuit of each
other with the whites on their tails flashing. The White-throated Sparrow
is absolutely gorgeous as he sits at the end of a twig with his eyes to the
stars, showing his throat. His white is as white as any Tide commercial. He
tends to not interact with the other birds. My White-crowned sparrows have
left me but still have lots of Golden-crowned. A pair of Purple Finches are
frequent visitors. I must feed 50 house finches. Tried a bag of the $5.99
bird seed from Costco. Wellllll, it's got sooooo much filler in it that
it's a pain...to have to every day throw away so much leftover. The other
bird seed is eaten to the last seed. With 14 feeders and being an
analytical person I can tell you what MY birds prefer...Costco it
isn't....gloria leblanc
Your PFO (Personal Financial Officer)
http://www.lgsia.com http://www.wallstreetgifts.com
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From email@hidden Tue Feb 16 11:27:21 1999
Subject: [SBB] Pileated Woodpecker
I have lived up near intersection of 84 and 35 (Skylonda area) for past 10
years, amidst redwoods, madrone, tanoak woodland at around 2000'. 2 new
interesting things happening:
1. for first time, we have Red-shouldered Hawks in vicinity. Are they
expanding their range?
2. Paul Noble was up at the house this weekend, (lucky for me, otherwise I
would still be wondering what that call was!) and spotted a Pileated
Woodpecker, a tiny dot on a far douglas fir snag but no doubt about it. First
time for my "yard" list and very exciting. Now that call is burned into my
memory, and I'm anxious for repeat.
Janet Hanson
SFBBO
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From email@hidden Tue Feb 16 11:36:28 1999
Subject: [SBB] Panoche & Paicines & Beyond
Jeanne and I had a marvelous two day trip through
Paicines and Panoche Valleys and part of the Central
Valley. Weather was great, cold and gray or partly
cloudy, but no rain or fog.
We saw most of what was reported last week, but
no Fe Hawks, Owls, or Bunting. Different, additional
birds seen included: A pair of MERLINs at the south
entrance to Shotgun Pass, a SAGE THRASHER in the
middle of Shotgun Pass, at an asphalt turnout. A
PRAIRIE FALCON over Little Panoche Reservoir, and
a ROCK WREN on the inside face of the dam (south end).
SAY'S PHOEBE and LARK SPARROW were common.
The center of Los Banos WMA is closed to vehicles,
but the outer edge was good for AMERICAN BITTERN and
WHITE-FACED IBIS. Merced NWR was excellent, as were
the fields across the road, for huge numbers of
SNOW GOOSE and SANDHILL CRANES, and modest numbers
of WHITE-FACED IBIS and WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE. A
plowed field on Hwy 140 just east of Gustine held
about 30 CATTLE EGRETS.
- Chris Salander
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From email@hidden Wed Feb 17 04:29:51 1999
Subject: [SBB] Just another day in the Almaden Valley...
Howdy birders,
Tuesday, in spite of the storm, I did some birding near home (south San
Jose). My first stop was Almaden Lake Park, where I hoped to see the
Clark's Grebe found by Ann Verdi on Saturday. I didn't see the Clark's,
nor did I see the Red-necked Grebe, but I did find a first winter
GLAUCOUS GULL at the inflow to the lake, with a flock of mostly HERRING
GULLS. This was a different bird from the one I saw here in December.
There were also several adult THAYER'S GULLS, and God knows how many
immatures. I again saw an odd white gull about the size of a small
Herring Gull. It had a black bill, black eyes, and white wings and tail
with very pale gray mottling (no band on the tail). Possible Iceland
Gull? Its plumage was almost as white as that of the nearby Glaucous
Gull, although it was a much smaller bird. The gulls come and go, and
the flocks tend to disperse by mid-afternoon. Around noon seems to be
the best time to study them. The usual COMMON MERGANSERS and COMMON
MOORHENS were also there.
At the Santa Clara Valley Water District Pond there was a MERLIN
perched atop one of the sycamores, and a single TREE SWALLOW flew by. It
was raining pretty hard by the time I reached Calero Reservoir, but I
did see a COMMON LOON near the boat ramp there.
I've made some changes to my birding web pages, adding new links and
photos. I've posted a new page with recent Alamitos Creek/Almaden Lake
bird photos and text. You can it find at:
http://home.pacbell.net/redknot
Or directly by going to:
http://home.pacbell.net/redknot/alamitoscreek.html
I've also added some new photos to my owling page:
http://home.pacbell.net/redknot/owling.html
John Mariani
email@hidden
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From email@hidden Wed Feb 17 12:39:35 1999
Subject: [SBB] Sage Sparrow
Sorry if you get this twice. I have placed 2 photos of a Sage Sparrow that
was found along Davis Rd. in eastern Stanislaus County in a rolling
hills/grassland habitat. I will try to have them scanned at a higher
resolution later. I would like commentary on which subspecies you think it
might be. Unfortunately, you can't see the malar stripe.
http://www2.ainet.com/sas
Follow the photos link.
Jim
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From email@hidden Wed Feb 17 14:33:05 1999
Subject: [SBB] Iceland Gull
All,
Steve Rottenborn asked me to post that he had the Kumlien's Iceland
Gull again today at CCRS. It was in the second pond on the left as
you drive in, between 1:30 and 1:50 and still present when he left.
Mike Rogers
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From email@hidden Wed Feb 17 15:13:58 1999
Subject: Re: [SBB] Iceland Gull
At 02:33 PM 2/17/99 -0800, Dr. Michael M. Rogers wrote:
>
>All,
>
>Steve Rottenborn asked me to post that he had the Kumlien's Iceland
>Gull again today at CCRS. It was in the second pond on the left as
>you drive in, between 1:30 and 1:50 and still present when he left.
>
All:
I am working at home today, so can't assure that the gate will be open
today. I assume it is and that it will be closed at 6 pm or so. If in
doubt, check in at the trailers. I will be in at CCRS on Friday and will
make sure the gate is open for those who may want to come in then. Weekend
access may be more tricky as I do not think anyone will be in.
Sorry for the inconvenience to CCRS members.
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@hidden
Helm guide to the New World Blackbirds, Birding in Chile and more, at:
http://www.sirius.com/~alvaro
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From email@hidden Wed Feb 17 16:01:48 1999
Subject: [SBB] CC Longspur, Iceland Gull
All:
On 10 Feb., Scott Terrill, Mike Rogers, and I saw the immature/
female-type CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPUR on private property in
northeastern San Jose. No sign of the Lapland. The med.-small
CANADA GOOSE was still at Arzino Ranch.
On 11 Feb., the ROSS'S GOOSE and the med.-small CANADA GOOSE were
still at Arzino Ranch.
On 12 Feb., the third-winter LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL was at
Lake Cunningham. I received a call from Al Jaramillo about
a small second-winter GLAUCOUS GULL at CCRS and arrived in time
to look at the bird for 10 seconds or so before it flew off.
As we were looking through the gulls remaining in the WPCP
ponds visible from the CCRS office, we found a very pale
Thayer's Gull and joked about being glad that it was not a
bit paler, as we would then have to write it up for submission
to the CBRC as an Iceland Gull. Shortly thereafter, I saw a very
pale gull fly in, and upon looking at it through the scope I saw
that it was clearly in the realm of "KUMLIEN'S" ICELAND GULL. Al
and I took notes on the gull at our leisure, and fortunately the
bird has been cooperative enough to hang around for others to see.
Regardless of whether or not this bird is ultimately accepted by
the CBRC, it is a very interesting bird, and I'd urge anyone who
sees it to submit details to the Committee. I personally think
that it is a pretty typical (not even "dark-end") Kumlien's. With
BOGU, MEGU, RBGU, CAGU, THGU, HEGU, and GWGU, I saw 10 gull species
in the county that day (missing Western!). Single MERLINS were
along Great America Parkway near Highway 101 and along Montague
Expwy. near Lafayette.
On 16 Feb., two different MERLINS were in the Stanford arboretum.
On 17 Feb., I again saw the KUMLIEN'S ICELAND GULL near CCRS,
in the second WPCP pond on the left as you drive in toward the
trailers.
Steve Rottenborn
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From email@hidden Wed Feb 17 16:04:57 1999
Subject: [SBB] Bald Eagle, Am. Dipper
All:
On 12 Feb., Scott Terrill saw a first-year BALD EAGLE flying
high over Coyote Creek at Highway 237, heading toward the bay.
On 15 Feb., David Johnston had an AMERICAN DIPPER along
Saratoga Creek in his backyard near "downtown" Saratoga.
Steve Rottenborn
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From email@hidden Wed Feb 17 16:06:57 1999
Subject: [SBB] Iceland Gull, Ross's Goose
All:
At the fourth attempt, I finally caught up with the first-winter Iceland
Gull today - fairly obvious bird. There are plenty of other gulls on the
sewage ponds, but no sign of a Glaucous there or in the areas by the dump.
The Ross's Goose remains at the waterbird pond.
The ICGU has much paler wingtips than the Thayer's Gulls. These basically
appear buffy-brown in the center with broad white fringes. T The tertials
are essentially creamy with a narrow darkbar about a third of the way along
the feather. The greater coverts are also largely creamy with a single dark
bar running down through them. The other coverts also had a fair percentage
of white in them. The amount of white gave a very different impression to
the normal chequered look of Thayer's. The tail looked pretty much pale on
the sitting bird (obviously dark on Thayer's). When it preened, the tail
could be seen to have a lot more pale on the sides and tip than a Thayers,
with the center of the tail appearing a little darker. This effect may have
just been because the center tail feathers were more bunched together. The
bird flapped its wings once and showed even buffy-cream flight feathers
with no darker secondary bar or outer primaries as shown by Thayer's.
Structurally, it appeared similar to smallish Thayer's, with a fairly small
bill and long primary projection. It was clearly smaller than almost all
the Herring Gulls present and similar in size to several nearby Thayer's.
The bill was dark with a dark pinkish suffusion on the basal two-thirds.
Nick
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From email@hidden Wed Feb 17 16:07:19 1999
Subject: [SBB] CCRS happenings.
Birders:
As I promised I will give you a quick rundown on the changes ocurring at
CCRS. The station began as an offshoot of the San Francisco Bay Bird
Observatory over a decade ago, and was primarily a bird banding site for
many years. This is what the birders know CCRS for, yet the organization
grew and eventually became heavily involved in stream research such as the
Community Creekwatch and Streamkeepers to give examples. There was an
educational component, and a large involvement in watershed science here in
the south bay. We had a great deal of input into the Watershed Management
Initiative in Santa Clara County, and the protocols we developed in
streamkeepers and creekwatch are being used throughout the state to monitor
creeks by volunteers. Overall, we have been very successful in these
projects, they have had a large impact. On the other hand, CCRS has been in
financial trouble for some time now. Its complex understanding exactly why
this was so, and I won't get into details as I probably don't know them
all, but the economic situation became worse recently. Many contracts came
to an end, and key personnel left the station, which prompted a difficult
decision for our board. The decision was to close down the watershed
programs, and the GIS (Geographical Information System) work. The avian
research program will not be shut down, but will become part of the San
Francisco Bay Bird Observatory. In essence, CCRS is going back to its
roots, to its parent organization and going back to birds as its primary
focus. While outwardly it may seem that CCRS is 'shutting down', the
reality is much more positive than this. No argument, its a shame that the
watershed program has to close down, particularly given the positive impact
it had on local policies and conservation, yet in my opinion the
unification of the bird research programs of CCRS and SFBBO is great. This
will provide critical mass for the creation of a strong research program.
We will be able to go in directions which were not necessarily available to
us working as separate entities. SFBBO is extremely excited about our long
term banding data, and the continuation of banding at CCRS. Currently, the
banding data is being worked up as part of several studies. For example, I
am working on a 10 year summary of what has occurred to the bird community
at CCRS in the last decade. As I work through the results I shall be
informing you about them. In addition, Brett Sandercock, of UC Berkley, and
I are working on a paper comparing survival rates of four species of
sparrows that winter at CCRS. There is other ongoing work on Common
Yellowthroats, as well as a brand new program to study habitat use along
urban creeks in San Jose. We will be needing birders to help us census this
summer and fall as part of this project, do let me know if you are
interested.
There are details still to be sorted out in this change, as you can
imagine. Some of the trailers may move from the levee eventually. While the
changeover occurs, the combination to the gate will change and access will
be much more restricted than it has been in the past. It is our hope that
this will be temporary.
If you are exited about the opportunity that the merger of CCRS with SFBBO
creates with respect to understanding the movements and conservation of
birds in the South Bay. I urge you to join SFBBO as a member. This is
particularly important in this time of change. Please contact me for
details, or surf in to:
http://www.sfbbo.org/
I will keep people updated on these events. There will be a members meeting
soon, when I have the date and time I shall let people know.
take care and good birding,
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@hidden
Helm guide to the New World Blackbirds, Birding in Chile and more, at:
http://www.sirius.com/~alvaro
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From email@hidden Wed Feb 17 18:24:51 1999
Subject: [SBB] Oka/Campbell ponds on Monday
Sorry this is a bit late. My wife and I visited said ponds on 2/15, where in
spite of the heavy traffic we found most of the usual species. Of note were a
pair of Hooded Mergansers in the creek, an escaped small Parrot (green and noisy,
as it flew in the distance), the American Bittern, and to our surprise a lovely
male Purple Finch (showed to us by John Fletcher).
Charles Coston
______________________________________________________________________
Join YnnMail at http://www.ynnmail.com and get your free secure e-mail
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From email@hidden Wed Feb 17 18:59:49 1999
Subject: [SBB] Stanford stuff
One of my students told me that a large white bird making unearthly
screechings had been seen regularly evenings around the Law School, so I
just went down to look and indeed a BARN OWL was perched right on the Law
School building at about 6:30 pm; it was not screeching, but rather giving
out a series of very loud staccato clicks with a hiss in the background, a
sound that I hadn't heard before.
I checked the Big Puddle (Lagunita) at midday to see if the new rain had
added any new birds; the Lake still is only partly filled, and only with
rainwater. Along with the usual Mallards, Bufflehead, and California Gulls
were 15 RING-NECKED DUCKS and at least 12 MEW GULLS. The flock of AMERICAN
PIPITS was still on the dry part of the lake bed.
-- Tom Grey Stanford CA email@hidden
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From email@hidden Wed Feb 17 19:13:26 1999
Subject: [SBB] Bird Lists on a PalmIII
I recently bought a PalmIII palm computer (of course the week after I
bought it the price dropped $50), mostly to store my life list info
(exported to text format from a database program), my ABA list (I put a "*"
in front of the birds seen), and a list of the bander's 4-letter codes for
birds. I found this information very useful and convenient (i.e.,
searchable) during last weekend's trip to the Salton Sea Bird Festival [if
anyone wants my impressions (good ones) on the 3rd annual festival, give me
a call at 650-493-7210].
Anyway, I had to do a lot of editing of the ABA list and the 4-letter code
list (already on SBBU) to compact them to fit on the small screen of the
PalmIII. To save you time if you want to do this, I have posted these
modified pages with how-to directions on the SBBU Home Page as "Bird
Documents for PalmIII".
South Bay Birders Unlimited (SBBU)
http://www.stanford.edu/~kendric/birds/
Kendric
-----------------------------------------
Dr. Kendric C. Smith
927 Mears Court
Stanford, CA 94305-1041
(650) 493-7210 (voice or fax)
email@hidden
http://www.stanford.edu/~kendric/
------------------------------------------
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From email@hidden Wed Feb 17 19:58:28 1999
Subject: Re: [SBB] Stanford stuff
I have seen a pair of BARN OWLS fly into a palm tree near the Oval and it
seemed like they were nesting in there since one flew in and disappeared
and the other disappeared into the palm after staring at me for a minute or
so. This happened around 2:30AM. I have also seen one fly over the Rains
dorms at night.
At 06:59 PM 2/17/99 -0800, Tom Grey wrote:
>One of my students told me that a large white bird making unearthly
>screechings had been seen regularly evenings around the Law School, so I
>just went down to look and indeed a BARN OWL was perched right on the Law
>School building at about 6:30 pm; it was not screeching, but rather giving
>out a series of very loud staccato clicks with a hiss in the background, a
>sound that I hadn't heard before.
>
Cagan H. Sekercioglu
Center for Conservation Biology
Department of Biological Sciences
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305
Tel: 650-723-3237
Fax: 650-723-5920
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From email@hidden Wed Feb 17 21:50:28 1999
Subject: Re: [SBB] Iceland Gull, Ross's Goose
South-Bay-Birders, Nick:
I took a trip to the CCRS this afternoon as well. It took me an hour to
get from Mathilda in Sunnyvale to the turn-off off of Highway 237 to the
CCRS, only about 6 miles! No other birders were around. I eventually
came across the Kumlien's-type Iceland Gull on the 2nd pond on the left
past the entrance coming in from the south. I viewed the gull from 4:30
to 5:00 PM. The gull was probably still around although the Red-tailed
Hawk flew in over-head scaring up the flock. While I had the gull in
view in the scope, I hoped the driver in the red car would stop but just
hurried quickly out toward the exit. Without duplicating Nick's
detailed description, I must say that the gull Nick describes is likely
the same gull I saw. The gull was preening in the middle of the
mud-flat on the east side of the pond facing west. It seemed to have
little to do with the other gulls around it. I have come across a
couple web sites with gull photographs. The first one has pictures of
Kumlien's-type Iceland Gulls (I think figure 2 is the most
interesting). The 2nd web site I am including for comparison; it's a
Thayer's Gull compliments of Monte Taylor.
http://www.best.com/~petrel/Angus.KUGU.html
http://www.tsuru-bird.net/gulls/gull_thayers_juv1.jpg
--
Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA, email@hidden
Nick Lethaby wrote:
>
> All:
>
> At the fourth attempt, I finally caught up with the first-winter Iceland
> Gull today - fairly obvious bird. There are plenty of other gulls on the
> sewage ponds, but no sign of a Glaucous there or in the areas by the dump.
> The Ross's Goose remains at the waterbird pond.
>
> The ICGU has much paler wingtips than the Thayer's Gulls. These basically
> appear buffy-brown in the center with broad white fringes. The tertials
> are essentially creamy with a narrow darkbar about a third of the way along
> the feather. The greater coverts are also largely creamy with a single dark
> bar running down through them. The other coverts also had a fair percentage
> of white in them. The amount of white gave a very different impression to
> the normal chequered look of Thayer's. The tail looked pretty much pale on
> the sitting bird (obviously dark on Thayer's). When it preened, the tail
> could be seen to have a lot more pale on the sides and tip than a Thayers,
> with the center of the tail appearing a little darker. This effect may have
> just been because the center tail feathers were more bunched together. The
> bird flapped its wings once and showed even buffy-cream flight feathers
> with no darker secondary bar or outer primaries as shown by Thayer's.
> Structurally, it appeared similar to smallish Thayer's, with a fairly small
> bill and long primary projection. It was clearly smaller than almost all
> the Herring Gulls present and similar in size to several nearby Thayer's.
> The bill was dark with a dark pinkish suffusion on the basal two-thirds.
>
> Nick
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From email@hidden Wed Feb 17 22:31:14 1999
Subject: [SBB] Glaucous Gull
Howdy South-bay-birders,
Early this afternoon I again saw a first winter GLAUCOUS GULL at Almaden
Lake Park. There were a total of 7 gull species, including MEW (1),
plenty of THAYER'S, and GLAUCOUS-WINGED. The smaller whitish gull was
not seen. The imm. SNOW GOOSE and ROSS'S GOOSE were with the gulls on
the island near the creek inflow.
The lake seems to be a stop for gulls enroute to/from the Guadalupe
landfill, and numbers decrease through the afternoon--
John Mariani
email@hidden
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From email@hidden Thu Feb 18 07:45:04 1999
Subject: [SBB] Calero/Chesbro Reservoirs
Late report from Monday, 15 Feb
At Calero, I saw the previously reported adult BALD EAGLE perched on an oak
tree at the west end of the reservoir. A GOLDEN EAGLE hunted the ridge line
with WHITE-TAILED KITES in the area. Two COMMON LOONS were along the east
side of the reservoir with a CLARK'S GREBE. A dozen LEAST SANDPIPERS
foraged at the water's edge.
At the Calero Park HQ, two RED-SHOULDERED HAWKS soared overhead and two
CALIFORNIA THRASHERS were along the road leading to the horse ranch. A
LINCOLN'S SPARROW was along the levee leading out to the reservoir.
At Chesbro, good numbers of WOOD DUCKS (24), COMMON MERGANSERS (50), and
BONAPARTE'S GULLS continue. Two GOLDEN EAGLES soared overhead with an
accipiter, probable COOPER'S HAWK. An OSPREY flew over the reservoir to the
south. A SPOTTED SANDPIPER was on the short opposite the restaurant. I
saw a COYOTE near the west shore and two WESTERN BLUEBIRDS on a fence line
just south of the reservoir.
Jan Hintermeister
Santa Clara, CA
email@hidden
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From email@hidden Thu Feb 18 08:32:11 1999
Subject: [SBB] Stanford white-throated sparrow(s)
I have seen the white throated sparrow near the Stanford Mausoleum
several times in the past few weeks including yesterday, 17 Feb.
On 25 Jan, I was about 75% sure that there were two WTSP there;
yesterday, my certainty rose to about 95%. All my sightings
(except for the initial sighting near the Weeping Angel on the
Christmas Count) have been at the large clump of shrubbery near
the paved path southwest of the Mausoleum about 1 PM.
Dick Stovel email@hidden
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From email@hidden Thu Feb 18 10:48:51 1999
Subject: [SBB] Iceland Gull 12 Feb 1999
All,
For those looking for the Iceland Gull I thought I would post
my description of the bird. This may help in locating the gull
we are talking about.
I developed the photos and they are indeed distant, although
many of the noted field marks are visible. I plan on getting
enlargements made and we'll see if that helps.
Good luck if you look for this bird!
Mike Rogers
---------------------------------------------------------------
Kumlien's Iceland Gull - Larus glaucoides kumlieni
12 February 1999, 2:24pm to 3:13pm
San Jose-Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant, as viewed from CCRS
Santa Clara County
After receiving a telephone call from Steve Rottenborn about an
apparent Kumlien's Iceland Gull at CCRS (Coyote Creek Riparian
Station) I headed over there to attempt to refind the bird, which
Steve indicated had been last seen in the southernmost water pollution
control plant pond along (west of) the CCRS levee. After arriving, I
quickly scanned the southernmost pond without finding the bird.
However, there were many gulls in the next pond to the north and I was
soon able to locate the bird with binoculars here at 2:24pm. After
watching the bird and taking a few distant photographs, the gulls all
flushed and circled briefly before landing again in the same pond at
2:41pm. Rather than try to refind the bird, I decided to head to the
CCRS trailer and borrow Al Jaramillo's scope. Upon returning to the
pond I noted that Mike Mammoser was scoping the southernmost pond. He
soon joined me and at 2:58pm I relocated the Iceland Gull. We both
studied the bird in scopes until it flew off over the dike and across
Coyote Creek to the southeast at 3:13pm. Visibility was good, with
the sun off to our left and the bird perhaps just under a hundred
yards off the dike.
These ponds had several hundred roosting and bathing gulls in them,
with a high percentage of them being Thayer's Gulls, including several
very pale individuals (others species noted included Herring,
California, Ring-billed, and Mew). The Iceland Gull was similar in
size and build to these Thayer's Gulls, being perhaps on the small end
with a somewhat smaller bill and more rounded head, although certainly
not unusually so in comparison to some female Thayer's Gulls (thus not
an extreme short-billed, round-headed Iceland Gull). Overall this
bird differed from the pale Thayer's Gulls in being largely chalk
white on the exposed primaries, with a largely white base color to the
tertials, greater secondary coverts, and outer portion of the
uppertail. In flight the exposed portions of the secondaries were
also seen to be very white, appearing even paler than the rest of the
upperwing, including the adjacent pale greater coverts. The limited
amount of darker (pale tan) color in the primaries was no darker than
the general coloration of the upperparts.
Overall the head and body of the bird were a fairly uniform smudgy
brownish-gray. There was a slight paling from the smokey tan belly to
the slightly whiter chest and on occasion the nape appeared slightly
whiter as well, although this may have been due to exposed feather
bases when the feathers were ruffled by wind or raised by the bird.
The upper auriculars appeared slightly darker than the rest of the
face, giving the impression of a darker area behind the eye. The chin
was slightly whiter than the rest of the face. The crown was streaked
with narrow diffuse streaks of pale brown and appeared less "smudgy"
than the underparts.
The bill appeared fairly typical of a female Thayer's Gull, with no
significant widening at the gonys. It was proportionately deeper than
those of the nearby California Gulls, and may have been absolutely
(rather than just proportionately) shorter in length. The bill
appeared entirely dark (black), although it is unlikely that any faint
pink hues could have been noted under these conditions. The eye was
dark and the legs were a fairly average pink.
The markings on the coverts created a crisp marbled pattern. The
whiter base color of these feathers resulted in this pattern being
reminiscent of the marbling on a Glaucous Gull, with chalk white
feather regions contrasting crisply with tan or brown feather
markings; these feathers did not have the the washed out look of, for
example, most Glaucous-winged Gulls. The greater coverts were more
extensively white than the median and lesser coverts. All the
tertials showed very broad chalk white tips, forming a broad white
band from the base of the exposed primaries to the lower back.
Additionally, the base color of the proximal portions of the tertials
was also white, not pale tan as on most pale Thayer's Gulls. This was
the case not just for the uppermost tertial, but also for those
partially hidden by this uppermost feather. There were a few dark
(brown/tan) markings near the centerline of uppermost tertial, with
the darkest being a subterminal crescent adjacent to the broad white
terminal band (see attached field sketch). The scapulars also were
largely white, with very broad white tips.
The primaries forming the folded wing tip appeared very white and
quite long (extending well beyond the tail). Parts of four primaries
were normally visible beyond the tertials, with the tips of p9 and p10
(outermost two primaries) not being distinguishable at this distance
(or p10 was completely hidden by p9). When preening, the bird
occasionally pulled the tertials away from the folded wing tip and
additional primary tips could be seen. The uppermost primary normally
extending beyond the tertials (p6?) appeared chalk white on both
feather webs and this covered a significant fraction of the base of
the exposed wing tip. The remaining visible primaries were also
largely white but showed thin edges of pale tan (near the feather
shaft?) and faint pale tan markings near their tips. This tan color
was more visible when viewed from near head-on and was strongest below
the tertials on the folded wing (away from the wing tip). In flight
the primaries showed broad white tips that seemed to continue down the
trailing edge of the wing into the very pale secondaries, which, as
noted above, appeared paler than the rest of the upperwing surface,
being white with just a few dark markings. The amount of white in the
wing tip was notably greater than on any of the pale Thayer's Gulls
and the limited dark visible in the primaries was no darker than the
rest of the upperwing.
While the bird was standing, the underside of the rear wing tip
(primaries) was noted to be unmarked white. In addition, when the
bird was extensively preening much of the underwing was visible and
this too appeared to be an unmarked soft white. This was confirmed
when the bird was flapping while standing and when it was in flight.
In flight from below the primaries and secondaries appeared
translucent and unmarked.
The tail was seen well during preening. The basal third of the
uppertail appeared to be pale tan, whereas the outermost two-thirds
was essentially white with just a few dark (brown/tan) markings near
the tip (see sketch). The undertail appeared white but may have been
very pale tan, as this area was in shadow. Both the uppertail and
undertail coverts were obviously barred with brown on white. The
white bars were quite broad and made this character much more obvious
than on any of the Thayer's Gulls present. Also, these bars seemed
more coherent than on most Thayer's Gulls, running continuously across
the entire rump and undertail, rather than simply across individual
feathers. These barred feathers were readily visible when the bird
was preening (wings pulled away to expose the uppertail) and when the
bird dipped its head and lifted its tail (exposing the undertail).
It seems possible to find gulls with almost any plumage combination in
the spectrum from Thayer's Gull to Iceland Gull, and birds that would
likely be called dark Iceland Gulls back east may best be considered
possible intergrades out here. Despite this, this bird is not on the
dark end for kumlieni. In fact, it is quite a pale bird. The
combination of the white base color to the tertials, the largely white
primaries with limited dark markings no darker than the rest of the
upperwing, secondaries paler than the pale greater secondary coverts,
and the largely white tail would seem to eliminate any of the Thayer's
Gull-like traits that have been observed in more intermediate birds.
It thus seems that if any California gull can be called an Iceland
Gull that this bird would fall into that category.
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From email@hidden Thu Feb 18 12:33:22 1999
Subject: [SBB] Thursday's birds at CCRS
This morning at CCRS Rosalie Lefkowitz and I saw what was very likely
the Kumlein's Iceland Gull in the pond directly across from the office
trailer at about 10:30. It was an extremely pale gull with pale wing
tips, dark eye, all dark bill. There also was a Merlin perched on the
power pole next to the banding trailer. We banded an immature
White-throated Sparrow, different bird than the one reported by Les
Chibana earlier this month.
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From email@hidden Fri Feb 19 00:38:05 1999
Subject: [SBB] Almaden Lake Park
Howdy South-bay-birders,
On Thursday I saw several adult THAYER'S GULLS and 1-2 MEW GULLS at the
inflow to Almaden Lake. Also a MARSH WREN was heard singing in a small
patch of cattails there. An OSPREY was perched atop a sycamore at the
SCVWD Pond.
John Mariani
email@hidden
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From email@hidden Fri Feb 19 06:52:19 1999
Subject: [SBB] Great Backyard Bird Count going on now!
Hey, California birders--
A reminder that the 2nd Annual Great Backyard Bird Count is taking place
right now, through Monday, Feb 22. We at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and
National Audubon are asking everyone across the continent to count the
highest number of birds they see at one time (on each of the days they
participate) in their backyards, local parks and other areas. The reports
are submitted online at The site is
already getting a lot of hits, and you can see even now where reports are
coming in from. On the results page, we've got a graph of number of hits
per hour, and we're keeping a regularly updated list of the most
frequesntly reported birds. Currently (10 am.), it's
1. Mourning Dove 19
2. American Crow 17
3. Northern Cardinal 17
4. Blue Jay 15
5. Dark-eyed Junco (form?) 15
6. Tufted Titmouse 15
7. Downy Woodpecker 13
8. House Sparrow 12
9. Black-capped Chickadee 11
10. House Finch 10
For fun, we're also inviting everyone to vote for their "favorite" bird.
Right now, it's
1. Black-capped Chickadee
2. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
3. Northern Cardinal
4. Eastern Bluebird
5. Pileated Woodpecker
Please add your bird sightings to the ever-growing BirdSource database,
which is already yielding some interesting finds. With all the birds and
birders in CA, we're hoping for a strong turn-out from your state. And the
Great Backyard Bird Count is also fun! So please count for the birds, and
visit the web site often for the latest updates!
Allison Wells
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Ithaca, NY
email@hidden
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From email@hidden Fri Feb 19 14:58:52 1999
Subject: [SBB] Calero Reservoir, strange icterid behavior
Howdy South-bay-birders,
Got a message from Hugh McDevitt that this morning that he saw 5-6
VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS at the Calero Reservoir boat launch. Our first
spring sighting? I was there in the early afternoon, and although I
didn't see the swallows, I did see 3 COMMON LOONS, 1 ad. GOLDEN EAGLE, 7
BONAPARTE'S GULLS, a HERRING GULL, and 1 FORSTER'S TERN near the boat
launch. At the east end of the reservoir there was a large duck
flock--mostly RUDDY DUCKS, RING-NECKED DUCKS, and LESSER SCAUP, but
there were a few (3+) GREATER SCAUP in with them.
At the boat launch I noticed some very strange behavior between a
male BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD and female RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD--maybe someone
out there can explain what I saw. The male cowbird was following the
female blackbird (actually sort of pursuing her). He would bow his head
submissively and hold it up against the breast of the female, who didn't
seem especially interested, and usually walked away from him.
Occsionally she would peck or nibble at his lowered head, which didn't
seem to bother him. My guess is that he was trying to get rid of
parasites...or could this be some sort of misguided courtship ritual?
Drove by Almaden Lake Park. The imm. SNOW GOOSE and ROSS'S GOOSE
were still there. The gull flock there was pretty small at noon--
John Mariani
email@hidden
http://home.pacbell.net/redknot/index.htm
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From email@hidden Fri Feb 19 15:54:23 1999
Subject: [SBB] Iceland Gull
All,
Hoping to get better photos of our Iceland Gull, I headed back to CCRS
early this afternoon to check the gull roost in the drying ponds. I
quickly refound the Kumlien's Iceland Gull sleeping in the second pond
on the left and it was on the first mud bar, quite a bit closer than
last time! Not only that, but I had my 2x converter with me and thus
was shooting with a 1000mm le