Parent
From email@hidden Thu Jun 01 07:00:01 2000
Subject: Re: [SBB] Update on lard/peanut butter feeder behavior
--------
Yesterday a fledling Spotted Towhee (traveling alone) was trying over
and over to conquer "the feeder". He may become more adept than the
parents who occasionally fly up to grab a bite.
Ruth
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At 8:27 PM -0700 5/30/00, Ruth Troetschler wrote:
>Folks--
>
>Our feeder is still going strong.
>
>Chestnut-backed Chickadees are bringing 2-3 fledglings to be fed,
>White-breasted Nuthatches are there with 2 fledglings.
>
>The most interesting development, are the new skills shown by a
>California Thrasher who has now figured the whole thing out. It's
>comical to see him or her sitting on the suet feeder selecting
>divots with the long bill.
>
>So far, only the California Towhees are still gathering crumbs on
>the ground, though that's the major method of the Spotted Towhees as
>well.
>
>Mourning Doves and House Finches stick to grain and show no interest
>in this mixture.
>Ruth Troetschler
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Ruth Troetschler
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From email@hidden Thu Jun 01 08:30:35 2000
Subject: [SBB] CCFS access
--------
All:
This morning the access road to the southern entrance of CCFS was sign posted
no access and blocked off with barricades (completely at the E end and
partially at the W end. Are we still allowed to go in at this entrance? The
signs say it will be blocked off for over a month.
Nick Lethaby
Product Manager, ARC Cores Inc.
Tel: 408 360 2131
e-mail: Nick.Lethaby@arccores
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From email@hidden Thu Jun 01 14:03:46 2000
Subject: [SBB] Table Mountain
--------
All,
This morning Frank Vanslager and I went to Table Mountain to try for some
year birds. Unfortunately we did not see or hear the Pileated Woodpecker.
Lots of evidence on several dead snags that they've been there but it's hard
to tell how old some of the holes are. We also missed Pygmy Nuthatch. Our
only county year bird was a Cassin's Vireo. Lots of good stuff, all singing,
in the first half mile from Skyline including several Western Tanagers,
Purple Finches, Lazuli Bunting, Warbling Vireo, Hutton's Vireo, a Wilson's
Warbler, Orange-crowned Warblers and Black-throated Gray Warblers.
We then came home via Page Mill Road and verified that the adult male Indigo
Bunting is still singing it's heart out just uphill from the Los Trancos OSP
parking lot.
Take care,
Bob Reiling, 2:06 PM, 6/1/00
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From email@hidden Thu Jun 01 14:22:26 2000
Subject: [SBB] God(wit)lessness at CCFS
--------
On midday Tuesday I spent some time viewing the Hudsonian Godwit at
CCFS. Although I had enough to ID it, viewing was distant and not really
satisfying. (It never flew or flapped a wing. It did, while preening, show
me its tail pattern; there were visible structural differences and a few other
visible plumage differences from Marbled I'm assuming -- don't laugh -- that
the bill shape was enough to rule out a Black-Tailed Godwit.) It was present
than with about 50 Marbled Godwits.
So, I went back this morning for a better look. This time I only found
5 Marbled Godwits in the pond across from the trailers (and just 2 more at
the Waterbird pond), and no Hudsonian. Has it always been found here, or does
it (and the rest of the Godwits) sometimes move deeper into the WPCP?
Other birds in the godwit pond: a pair of Blue-Winged Teal, two Greater
Yellowlegs, and at least 8 Wilson's Phalaropes.
By the way (some of you may already know this): there's a Killdeer nesting
right on the roda at one of the prime viewing spots. CCFS folks (I guess) have
delineated the area with logs, so at least a car won't run over the eggs
(which Al Jaramillo pointed out to me on Tuesday). But the bird gets dis-
turbed if one approaches too closely even outside that area. This may be a
naive question, but how long is it safe to go without incubating? Anyway, it
is quite possible to fully see the pond from far enough along the road so as
not to cause a disturbance.
As for Nick's question about the entrance: I just went in the usual way
(don't tell anyone); I assumed it would be okay until actual construction
equipment appeared. Al J. told me on Tuesday that he'd be looking into the
question.
Al
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From email@hidden Thu Jun 01 21:35:52 2000
Subject: [SBB] Ongoing Yellow Warbler saga
--------
Howdy South-bay-birders,
The pair of YELLOW WARBLERS continue at my work site in the business park on
San Ignacio near Great Oaks and Bernal. Rarely have I gone in or out of the
building in the past few weeks without hearing one of them sing or chip.
They are accustomed to lots of people being around, and I've had the male
sing from as close as a few yards away--almost hurts my ears at that range!
Today I followed the male around for about half an hour. He repeatedly
returned to a low hedge next to the building, each time disappearing briefly
into the leaves close to the ground and then flying back out to sing and
forage. Not conclusive evidence of a nest, but I'm keeping an eye on them.
So are the cowbirds.
John Mariani
email@hidden
http://www.birdswest.com
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From email@hidden Fri Jun 02 08:24:14 2000
Subject: [SBB] on the list
--------
With many thanks for being included, please take me off your list for SBB sightings.
Jim Ernst
email@hidden
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Attachment
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From email@hidden Fri Jun 02 09:15:22 2000
Subject: [SBB] CCFS
--------
All:
I checked CCFS this morning. Only 4 Marbled Godwits. There were 7 Wilson's
Phalaropes (I assume the recent birds are 'fall' migrants), 2 Long-billed
Dowitchers, and 3 Bonaparte's Gulls. A nearby pond had many ducks including a
female Pintail with 7 young.
Nick Lethaby
Product Manager, ARC Cores Inc.
Tel: 408 360 2131
e-mail: Nick.Lethaby@arccores
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From email@hidden Fri Jun 02 18:27:57 2000
Subject: [SBB] Wilson's Phalaropes at Alviso
--------
Seven of 'em (four female, three male) right up by the shore at the EEC,
quite unconcerned by my presence. Unlike the avocets, which disapproved
strongly.
Also three very distant American White Pelicans and a couple of Black
Skimmers on the island in the middle of the lagoon. Would the Eared Grebes
have young by now? There were a couple of quite plain ones in the company of
breeding-plumaged birds.
Andy.
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From email@hidden Fri Jun 02 18:46:59 2000
Subject: [SBB] Re: Wilson's Phalaropes at Alviso
--------
Andy Gibb wrote:
> Seven of 'em (four female, three male) right up by the shore at the EEC,
> quite unconcerned by my presence. Unlike the avocets, which disapproved
> strongly.
Of course: the Avocets are breeding, and many have young already. They
see you as a threat, and it's best to stay back from areas in which they are
particularly aggressive. The Phalaropes are migrants.
> Also three very distant American White Pelicans and a couple of Black
> Skimmers on the island in the middle of the lagoon. Would the Eared Grebes
> have young by now? There were a couple of quite plain ones in the company of
> breeding-plumaged birds.
I know of no body of water in Santa Clara Co. called "the lagoon". Could you
elaborate? If you mean the salt pond by the EEC, I think that would be a
new location for Skimmers, so of considerable interest. As for Eared Grebes,
I think they've bred only very occasionally in Santa Clara, and even if they
did I think it would be much too early for full-grown young -- I'm sure Bill
Bousman can provide a more intelligent answer.
Cheers, Al Eisner
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From email@hidden Sat Jun 03 08:28:38 2000
Subject: [SBB] CCFS Access
--------
Any word on whether it is allowable to bypass the barricade?
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From email@hidden Sat Jun 03 12:21:01 2000
Subject: [SBB] CCFS 6/3/00
--------
Hi folks,
No Hudsonian Godwit at CCFS this morning, in fact the pond is drying up
and there were only 3 Marbled Godwits. 5-6 breeding-plumaged WILSON'S
PHALAROPE were in the pond opposite the banding trailer along with 4
BONAPARTE'S GULLs (only one of these was in breeding plumage).
We banded 2 BARN SWALLOWs and one CLIFF SWALLOW, uncommonly banded
species at CCFS, There were fledgling Barn Swallows on the utility lines
for the banding trailers over the overflow channel. Other netted species
included one hatch-year ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, one SWAINSON'S THRUSH,
one HOUSE SPARROW (rarely caught or seen at the station), and one WESTERN
SCRUB-JAY. In higher numbers and more common this time of year, 4 SONG
SPARROWs, 4 COMMON YELLOWTHROATs, 5 BUSHTITS.
One male BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD was in the revegetated area just south
of the trailers.
Les Chibana, Palo Alto, CA 94304
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From email@hidden Sat Jun 03 16:39:41 2000
Subject: [SBB] Summer Bird Count at Los Trancos Woods
--------
Nancy Teater and I spent three hours basically walking the Franciscan Loop
this morning. It's amazing how long a couple of miles can take when you're
seriously trying to id birds!
We started with the Indigo Bunting -- as obliging as ever. It even perched
on a telegraph wire more than half-way across Page Mill Road when we got
back, which I reckon technically puts it in Santa Clara County. We also got
a good view of its cousin, the Lazuli, later on.
We were accompanied everywhere by family parties of Chestnut-backed
Chickadees. Strangely we didn't get a single titmouse. One Brown Creeper
scurried briefly up a trunk and disappeared into thin air. Bushtits were
pretty scarce -- only a couple, but we heard plenty of Wrentits.
For me a couple of lifers were Black-throated Grey Warbler and Warbling
Vireo. However, we could certainly have done with a flycatcher and warbler
song expert. We missed out on a few birds that way.
One big surprise was a Mallard calling overhead and we were pretty short on
raptors -- just one Red-tailed Hawk.
So, big fun. We must do it again.
Andy.
PS. Because this may be important, I can confirm that the Black Skimmers
were in the "body of water" immediately to the north of the EEC at Alviso.
When you guys get a grid reference system and some decent maps, then I can
be more precise.
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From email@hidden Sun Jun 04 16:11:19 2000
Subject: [SBB] Indigo Bunting at Los Trancos- June 4, 2000
--------
June 4, 2000 - Afternoon
The Indigo Bunting was once again perched on the telegraph wires on Page
Mill Road at the parking lot at Los Trancos.
Calvin Lou
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From email@hidden Sun Jun 04 23:43:52 2000
Subject: [SBB] More sunday birding, MetroED summer birding class
--------
Howdy South-bay-birders,
Did some midday birding on Sunday, June 4th. In the riparian upstream from
Almaden Reservoir, between Hicks Road and Twin Creeks, there was still quite
a lot of bird activity in the late a.m. Birds there included 1 GREAT EGRET,
1 WOOD DUCK, COMMON MERGANSERS (female with 10 downy young on the creek at
O'Day's), BELTED KINGFISHER, OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER, WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE,
WARBLING VIREO, HOUSE WREN, WESTERN BLUEBIRD, YELLOW WARBLER, and BULLOCK'S
ORIOLE.
Along Branham, near Cherry Ave. in south San Jose, there was a COOPER'S
HAWK circling at noon.
In the afternoon Jolene Lange and I did a short hike into the Monte
Bello Open Space Preserve. We arrived at the Los Trancos OSP parking area at
about 2pm, and immediately upon stepping out of the truck saw the
much-reported INDIGO BUNTING, singing from the wires. It was still there
when we returned at about 4pm. From the parking area I also heard a LAZULI
BUNTING and GRASSHOPPER SPARROW singing across the road.
Walking into Monte Bello OSP, along the Stevens Creek Nature Trail we
had 2 BAND-TAILED PIGEONS, excellent looks at a singing GRASSHOPPER SPARROW,
and heard 2-3 LAZULI BUNTINGS. We then walked the Canyon Trail as far as the
junction with the Bella Vista Trail. Birds along this stretch included
ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, HUTTON'S VIREOS, 3 more LAZULI BUNTINGS, and a
CHIPPING SPARROW that practically landed at our feet. There was actually a
Coyote prowling near the coyote sign along the trail--how does the Open
Space District arrange these things? Considering that it was mid-afternoon
it was surprisingly cool, and the birding was excellent.
MetroED will be offering another beginning bird class this summer,
starting on June 14th. The classes will be on Wednesday evenings, with
weekend field trips to local sites, Big Sur, and the Sierra Nevada. Those
who are interested can get more class info. at
http://home.att.net/~redknot/birdwatching_for_fun.htm, or register by
calling MetroED at 408-723-6553.
John Mariani
email@hidden
http://www.birdswest.com
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From email@hidden Mon Jun 05 06:53:41 2000
Subject: [SBB] Stevens Creek
--------
Yesterday morning I hit Stevens Creek Park early. An OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER
and a WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE were singing near the Ranger Station, a CASSIN'S
VIREO, a WILSON'S WARBLER, and 2 more WWPWs were singing at the
Costanoan/Canyon area, and at a pulloff alongside the upper reservoir were
singing WILSON'S and YELLOW WARBLERS, and a silent very bright
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER (orange crown nicely evident), plus a flyby CASPIAN
TERN. WARBLING VIREOS still singing at all three sites.
-- Tom Grey Stanford Law School email@hidden
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From email@hidden Mon Jun 05 13:13:06 2000
Subject: [SBB] Buntings, Los Trancos, June 3rd
--------
Penny and I got a chance to bird with Garth Harwood and friends for
the Palo-Alto SBC. What a treat! Garth's ability to distinguish
birds by ear is uncanny.
We also got to view the INDIGO BUNTING at Los Trancos. I spent some
time there trying to establish an area and activity pattern for that
bird. After having spent the morning observing "ear" birding, I was
also looking for an opportunity to engrave the Indigo's melodious
notes into my hearing memory. He obliged us with picture perfect
views for over 2 hours. In addition to him, we also got a chance to
do a side-by-side with an adult LAZULI BUNTING (always a treat).
About the same time, I caught several pretty good looks at what
appeared to me to be an adult female Indigo Bunting. I know that
these are very similar to Lazuli Bunting; however the wing bars were
barely discernable--and I believe that this is a field mark. But
these are new birds to me, and I certainly don't know them well
enough to say for sure. I also know that the Lazuli and Indigo will
hybridize...
Over a 2 hour period, I got 4 pretty good looks at her. Although
she did spend some time on the wire near where the male was
typically singing, she generally perched on the power lines about
70-80m east of the Santa Clara side of the road. She did not
visibly interact with either the male Indigo or Lazuli Bunting
during my observation period. She would go to ground and cover to
the north and east of her perch. I tried working my way into that
area, but was unable to anticipate her actions; and failed to get
close enough to do find out anything useful. I was hoping that if
some of the more skilled birders that participate in this list were
in that area, that they could keep an eye on that spot and hopefully
confirm or correct my sighting...
Dusty Bleher
Campbell, Ca.
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From email@hidden Mon Jun 05 14:57:13 2000
Subject: [SBB] Purple Martin, Loma Prieta
--------
All,
This morning Frank Vanslager and I went to where the power lines cross Loma
Prieta Rd, 4.6 miles after the stop sign on Highland Way. From the ridge
line north of the road we saw a single adult male Purple Martin flying up the
valley below us. The only other swallows seen all morning were Cliff
Swallows. Lots of the usual birds for this area; Blue-gray Gnatcatcher,
Bewick's Wren, Wrentit, Spotted Towhee, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Western
Wood-Pewee, Olive-sided Flycatcher, and Purple Finch but no Black-chinned or
Sage Sparrows :-( The Orange-crowned warbler was the only warbler species
seen (way down from a couple of weeks ago but then Mike Rogers wasn't along)
and the number of Lazuli Bunting (calling) was also drastically reduced. We
did see a number of female (as well as male) Black-headed Grosbeaks with one
female singing an unusual variation of their song just prior to flying across
the road. We also did not hear Mountain Quail near the upper saddle ;-( A
nice windy (so not buggy) and clear day for birding (great views also).
Take care,
Bob Reiling, 2:50 PM, 6/5/00
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From email@hidden Mon Jun 05 21:11:13 2000
Subject: [SBB] Probable Hudsonian godwit at Palo Alto Baylands
--------
A bird answering to the recent descriptions of HUDSONIAN GODWIT was at
the Palo Alto Baylands between 7 and 8:30 PM this evening (Monday, 6/5)
on the mud flats opposite the Sea Scout building. The overall appearance
was very much like a marbled godwit, with mottled dark barring and streaking
on a buffy background on the back, and some streaking on the neck and
upper breast. The bill was long, straight and bicolored, but
considerably shorter
than that of a marbled godwit. No marbleds were around for comparison,
but this bird spent much of the time associating with a willet, giving good
comparisons with that species. This bird was very similar in size to the
willet but longer-legged, smaller-headed and thinner-billed. It did
no flying, and only opened its wings very briefly two or three times,
revealing a prominent black and white underwing pattern.
I watched it for half an hour with binoculars from perhaps 80 yards, then
went home for my scope and called my sister, Lennie Stovel, who came to see
it also. We both scoped it from about 120 yards in good lighting, but it
never showed its tail pattern for the clincher I.D.
- Dick Stovel email@hidden
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From email@hidden Mon Jun 05 22:43:44 2000
Subject: [SBB] Grant Ranch
--------
At Grant Ranch on Saturday, there were many Lazuli Buntings and Bullock's
Orioles. In addition, I had Grasshopper Sparrow, a single Lawrence's
Goldfinch, Pacific-Slope Flycatcher, House Wren, Golden Eagle, Black-Headed
Grosbeak, Oak Titmouse feeding fledglings, Bullock's Oriole feeding young in
a nest. Also a Western Kingbird on a nest.
At Ulistac Natural Area in Santa Clara on Sunday, two Common Moorhen in the
pond at the north end, and a White-Throated Swift flying overhead.
Jan Hintermeister
Santa Clara, CA
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From email@hidden Wed Jun 07 04:42:12 2000
Subject: [SBB] [Fwd: Invitation to join northbaybirds]
--------
Hello Birders:
>From time to time birders have submitted e-mail reports from Marin
County with the side note that this was "outside the area". Well, there
is a new birding listserve just for that now. It's called
North-Bay-Birds and covers birding in Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Lake, and
Solono Counties. See below:
--
Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA, email@hidden
--------
Message
--------
Subject: Invitation to join northbaybirds
--------
Hello,
This is an invitation to join the northbaybirds group, an email group
that I moderate at eGroups, a free, easy-to-use email group service.
By joining this group, you'll be able to easily send messages to
fellow group members using just one email address. eGroups
also makes it easy to store photos and files, coordinate events
and more.
Here's my introductory message for you:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have set up a discussion group for birds in Sonoma, Marin, Napa, Lake, and Solano counties. The group will focos on sightings and distribution.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TO JOIN THIS GROUP, simply choose ONE of these 2 options:
1) REPLY to this email by clicking "reply" in your email program
-OR-
2) Go to our site at
http://www.egroups.com/invite/northbaybirds
and click the "JOIN" button
If you do not wish to join the northbaybirds group, just ignore
this invitation.
Regards,
Moderator, northbaybirds
SPECIAL NOTE FROM eGroups: Because eGroups values your privacy,
it is a violation of our service rules for moderators to add subscribers
to a group against their wishes. If you feel this has happened, please
notify us at email@hidden
From email@hidden Wed Jun 07 12:52:54 2000
Subject: [SBB] No godwits
--------
All,
This morning Frank Vanslager and I tried to find a godwit, any godwit but
preferably the Hudsonian Godwit. We failed to find any godwits at the Palo
Alto Yacht Harbor (nice looks at three Clapper Rails). We then tried the
eastern portion of Ravenswood (oops, that's out of the county) where we had
two Black Skimmers flying east along the shore but no godwits. Then on to
Ravenswood near the Dumbarton Bridge where we had an immature Peregrine
Falcon but no godwits. We thought, incorrectly, that the Stevens Creek
Mitigation Pond or surely Crittenden Marsh would have a godwit, unfortunately
a dowitcher with a bad or missing leg was our best find. Finally we went to
the Sunnyvale Water Treatment Facility where the only thing worth reporting
was two Burrowing Owls on the bank west of the parking area. It looks as if
the summer doldrums have hit the bay.
Take care,
Bob Reiling, 12:41 PM, 6/7/00
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From email@hidden Wed Jun 07 13:11:02 2000
Subject: [SBB] Charleston Slough...
--------
Took a walk along charleston last night, and it was very quiet.
Forster's terns, a pair of cinnamon teals, one ruddy duck, mallards.
Highlight of the evening was when two female mallards with large
clutches got too close to each other, the ducklings mingled, and the
two mom's had a big fight while trying to get the kids back into two
groups again... (did I say it was quiet?)
One thing I don't know if it's something to worry about or not.
Coming in from San Antonio, in one of the first ponds on the left
before you hit the pumping station (and the zillion swallow kids
learning to fly...), we saw a couple of weird beasts. Could have been
water snakes, Laurie thinks they were possibly pikes. they were
circling in the pond nearest the path, and the birds were giving them
wide berth.
In that pond, it seemed likely to us they were dumpoffs, and probably
shouldn't be there. Is this something that should be reported to
someone? If so, who? we weren't thrilled at the thought of pikes
getting loose in that area, if that's what they were.
--
Chuq Von Rospach - Plaidworks Consulting (mailto:email@hidden)
Apple Mail List Gnome (mailto:email@hidden)
And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar
and say 'Man, what are you doing here?'"
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From email@hidden Wed Jun 07 16:16:43 2000
Subject: [SBB] Almaden Lake
--------
Hello All
this morning (6/7/00) around 7:15 I stopped by Almaden Lake at
Coleman and Almaden Expressway in San Jose to check the heron/egret
colony. The SNOWY EGRETS and GREAT EGRETS were all very busy feeding
young, as well as the BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERONS. There is also at
least one pair of GREEN HERONS feeding young on the island there.
There were 2 family groups of CANADA GEESE, one group with young
still in yellow plumage, and one group with young in almost complete
"adult" plumage, but about half-size.
There was also an adult female COMMON MERGANSER with 6 tiny young in
tow. The young mergansers were swimming behind mom, copying her with
there heads under water, seemingly being trained to forage. A
recently fledged group of BULLOCK'S ORIOLES were hanging around the
trees near the restrooms on the east side of the lake.
Alan
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From email@hidden Wed Jun 07 16:41:05 2000
Subject: Re: [SBB] Charleston Slough...
--------
Chuq -
I asked Ginny Kaminski, the naturalist at Shoreline and she says they are
carp! If she has more info later, I will pass along.
Best,
Janet
Janet Tashjian Hanson
Executive Director
San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory
P.O. Box 247
Alviso, CA 95002
email@hidden
408/946-6548
-----Original Message-----
From: Chuq Von Rospach
To: email@hidden
Date: Wednesday, June 07, 2000 1:19 PM
Subject: [SBB] Charleston Slough...
>
>Took a walk along charleston last night, and it was very quiet.
>Forster's terns, a pair of cinnamon teals, one ruddy duck, mallards.
>Highlight of the evening was when two female mallards with large
>clutches got too close to each other, the ducklings mingled, and the
>two mom's had a big fight while trying to get the kids back into two
>groups again... (did I say it was quiet?)
>
>One thing I don't know if it's something to worry about or not.
>Coming in from San Antonio, in one of the first ponds on the left
>before you hit the pumping station (and the zillion swallow kids
>learning to fly...), we saw a couple of weird beasts. Could have been
>water snakes, Laurie thinks they were possibly pikes. they were
>circling in the pond nearest the path, and the birds were giving them
>wide berth.
>
>In that pond, it seemed likely to us they were dumpoffs, and probably
>shouldn't be there. Is this something that should be reported to
>someone? If so, who? we weren't thrilled at the thought of pikes
>getting loose in that area, if that's what they were.
>
>--
>Chuq Von Rospach - Plaidworks Consulting (mailto:email@hidden)
>Apple Mail List Gnome (mailto:email@hidden)
>
>And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar
>and say 'Man, what are you doing here?'"
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>
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From email@hidden Wed Jun 07 16:52:29 2000
Subject: Re: [SBB] Charleston Slough...
--------
Northern Pike eh? Big Lunkers, Eh? I'll get my rod and reel, eh. ( Apolgies to
our Canadian birders).
PS isn't that the fish that the Fish and Game poisoned Davis Lake for?
Chuq Von Rospach wrote:
> Laurie thinks they were possibly pikes. they were
> circling in the pond nearest the path, and the birds were giving them
> wide berth.
>
> --
> Chuq Von Rospach - Plaidworks Consulting (mailto:email@hidden)
> Apple Mail List Gnome (mailto:email@hidden)
>
> And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar
> and say 'Man, what are you doing here?'"
> -++**==--++**==--++**==--++**==--++**==--++**==--++**==
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--
Paul L. Noble
"Screechowl"
email@hidden
^ ^
@ @
( v )
( )
/ \
m m
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From email@hidden Wed Jun 07 16:56:07 2000
Subject: Re: [SBB] Charleston Slough...
--------
At 4:52 PM -0700 6/7/2000, Screech wrote:
>Northern Pike eh? Big Lunkers, Eh? I'll get my rod and reel, eh. ( Apolgies to
>our Canadian birders).
>
>PS isn't that the fish that the Fish and Game poisoned Davis Lake for?
Yup. that's why we were worried! but evidently, they're carp, and known.
--
Chuq Von Rospach - Plaidworks Consulting (mailto:email@hidden)
Apple Mail List Gnome (mailto:email@hidden)
And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar
and say 'Man, what are you doing here?'"
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From email@hidden Wed Jun 07 17:28:08 2000
Subject: RE: [SBB] Charleston Slough...
--------
To all,
I got a call from Ginny at Shoreline wanting to know what these huge fish
were and they are Carp. This happens every year about this time and we
would like to get rid of them but this takes a lot of person power.
These fish are non-native and very destructive to waterfowl habitat, they
destroy aquatic plants and roil the water which also kills of silt-sensitive
fish and numerous aquatic invertebrates. They were introduced to California
from Germany in 1872 to be raised for food. They can grow up to 80 pounds
and live for over 40 years. If you can reach them, take them with our
blessings.
Deborah Bartens
Naturalist-Palo Alto
-----Original Message-----
From: Chuq Von Rospach [mailto:email@hidden]
Sent: Wednesday, June 07, 2000 1:18 PM
To: email@hidden
Subject: [SBB] Charleston Slough...
Took a walk along charleston last night, and it was very quiet.
Forster's terns, a pair of cinnamon teals, one ruddy duck, mallards.
Highlight of the evening was when two female mallards with large
clutches got too close to each other, the ducklings mingled, and the
two mom's had a big fight while trying to get the kids back into two
groups again... (did I say it was quiet?)
One thing I don't know if it's something to worry about or not.
Coming in from San Antonio, in one of the first ponds on the left
before you hit the pumping station (and the zillion swallow kids
learning to fly...), we saw a couple of weird beasts. Could have been
water snakes, Laurie thinks they were possibly pikes. they were
circling in the pond nearest the path, and the birds were giving them
wide berth.
In that pond, it seemed likely to us they were dumpoffs, and probably
shouldn't be there. Is this something that should be reported to
someone? If so, who? we weren't thrilled at the thought of pikes
getting loose in that area, if that's what they were.
--
Chuq Von Rospach - Plaidworks Consulting (mailto:email@hidden)
Apple Mail List Gnome (mailto:email@hidden)
And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar
and say 'Man, what are you doing here?'"
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From email@hidden Thu Jun 08 10:14:55 2000
--------
Folks:
Yesterday, 6/7/2000, I checked San Felipe Lake and San Felipe Road. On
the lake I counted at least six nests of GREAT BLUE HERON with the young
nearly fully grown. Although there were both adult and imm. DOUBLE-CRESTED
CORMORANTS around, none still remained in their nests.
Along San Felipe Road, between Hwy 152 and Pacheco Creek I saw a pair of
CASSIN'S KINGBIRDS at a nest in the 2nd of the large eucalypti north from the
creek. The nest is about 40 feet up on the south side (slightly west of
south), about 15 feet in from the tip. It is in an area of thick leaf growth
and it was only by looking directly up that I could see some of the nest
material. However, during 15 minutes, I saw 3 to 4 nest exchanges (eight
o'clock in the morning). I did not note food being carried by the adults, so
I'm not certain that there are young in the nest. This is an area where these
birds have nested, more or less regularly, since 1997. Just to the south, in
the 1st eucalyptus, is a WESTERN KINGBIRD nest. This nest is readily visible
at the end of a pruned limb on the north side of the tree, about 20 feet up.
This morning, 6/8/2000, I saw a male and female GREEN-WINGED TEAL on
Adobe Creek in the Palo Alto FCB. The male was courting the female. There
are few nest records for the county, so keep an eye out. A female/imm. HOODED
MERGANSER was in the channel west of the Stevens Creek Tidal Marsh. There are
only a handful of summer records for this merganser.
Bill
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From email@hidden Thu Jun 08 10:38:50 2000
Subject: Re: [SBB] Charleston Slough...
--------
I once watched a Great Blue Heron at Adobe Creek take about 10 minutes
to swallow a very large fish that I assumed to be a carp. I estimated the
size to be about 11 in. long by 2 in. wide by 6 in. tall/deep. I've never
been able to estimate fish weight by size, so I won't try. It was blue-
gray in color. I don't know how the heron managed to get that girth past
its mouth (but isn't that always the case?).
Les Chibana
On Wednesday, June 7, 2000, Bartens, Deborah wrote:
>To all,
>I got a call from Ginny at Shoreline wanting to know what these huge fish
>were and they are Carp. This happens every year about this time and we
>would like to get rid of them but this takes a lot of person power.
>These fish are non-native and very destructive to waterfowl habitat, they
>destroy aquatic plants and roil the water which also kills of silt-sensitive
>fish and numerous aquatic invertebrates. They were introduced to California
>from Germany in 1872 to be raised for food. They can grow up to 80 pounds
>and live for over 40 years. If you can reach them, take them with our
>blessings.
>Deborah Bartens
>Naturalist-Palo Alto
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From email@hidden Thu Jun 08 22:24:19 2000
Subject: [SBB] Fw: {EBB} new listserv announcement and clarification
--------
Doug Shaw, Santa Rosa, CA email@hidden
----- Original Message -----
From: Barred_Owl
To:
Sent: Thursday, June 08, 2000 9:45 PM
Subject: {EBB} new listserv announcement and clarification
> There seems to be some confusion on the new listserv for northbay birds.
> Mike Feighner did me a favor by promoting the listserv. I am the moderator
> of the group, not Mike. I am posting the directions again below for anyone
> that may be interested.
> I have formed a new discussion group on sightings and distribution of
> birds in Sonoma, Marin, Napa, Solano, and Lake Counties. The listserv is
> called " northbaybirds " [NBB]. To subscribe send an e-mail to:
> email@hidden
>
>
> Doug Shaw, Santa Rosa, CA email@hidden
>
>
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From email@hidden Fri Jun 09 12:18:30 2000
Subject: [SBB] Fledglings and juvies
--------
Seen recently around our home on Skyline Blvd.:
Juvenal-plumaged Bandtailed Pigeons
Juvenal-plumaged Dark-eyed Juncos
4 - 6 California Quail puffballs with attentive parents
- the male CAQU chases away Steller's Jays but doesn't bother
the gray squirrels that are within foot of their chicks
Our pair of nesting Black Phoebes must have fledged their young.
They've stopped taking food to the nest.
We still have a male and 2 female (prob.) Allen's Hummingbirds
coming to our feeders. The male is the dominant bird right now.
He was also checking out our vine honeysuckle buds for any blooms.
I wouldn't be surprised if these are breeders, but I haven't seen
any indications other than their presence.
Les
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From email@hidden Fri Jun 09 13:25:46 2000
Subject: [SBB] Odd combo
--------
After being gone for most of a month on business, I viewed the birds in my
backyard quite intently yesterday.
While a couple of CALIFORNIA QUAIL and some young OREGON JUNCOS, were
nibbling under my tree, about 30 feet away on my hill a large hawk landed.
It walked around like a chicken going in and out of bushes - twas a
RED-SHOULDERED adult.
Then a pair of MALLARDS arrived. He, sadly, was not a thoroughbred. He
watched while she ate a large quantity of Dr. Geis. I do not have a pool.
There seem to be a larger than normal number of ANNA's. The BAND-TAILED
population has dropped to 30 something.
Gloria LeBlanc
"We can't change the financial winds, but we can adjust the sails"
http://www.lgsia.com http://www.wallstreetgifts.com
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From email@hidden Fri Jun 09 13:32:57 2000
Subject: [SBB] Oak Meadow/Vasona Field Trip tomorrow
--------
I wrote a Letter to the Editor of the Los Gatos Weekly and told her to
"deep 10" the letter or use it. She chose to use it. It ran in this weeks
paper. In the letter, I thank the LG Park Commission for distributing the
"Birds of La Rinconada" and I also mention that I am heading an Audubon
field trip tomorrow at Oak Meadow/Vasona. (Saturday, 8 AM)
A column in the Los Gatos Weekly entitled "The Prowler" also highlighted
the field trip at Oak Meadow/Vasona and tells everyone how they can become
a member of the Santa Clara Valley Audubon including a phone number.
Dale Bryant, the editor of the Los Gatos Weekly, is a friend. If you know
her or anyone else associated with the paper, please pass on your thanks
for giving SCVAS such a nice "pitch."
The purpose of the trip tomorrow is to help create a bird list that LG
Parks can hand out for Oak Meadow/Vasona Parks.
Gloria LeBlanc
"We can't change the financial winds, but we can adjust the sails"
http://www.lgsia.com http://www.wallstreetgifts.com
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From email@hidden Fri Jun 09 14:08:48 2000
Subject: [SBB] Shoreline/Forebay area
--------
I just took a quick, short stroll around the Mtn. View (Coast Casey)
Forebay, 6/9/00. Nothing extra-special seen. There was a full-sized
juvenal-plumaged Pied-billed Grebe on Shoreline Lake near the Forebay.
2-3 American Goldfinches fed in the weeds. The pumphouse is bursting
with fledging Cliff Swallows. There were several fledging Barn
Swallows along the channel on the northside of the path from the
parking area to the pumphouse. A small flight of American White
Pelicans flew from over pond A1 toward Shoreline Lake.
No Black Skimmers seen near the Forebay.
Les Chibana, Palo Alto, CA email@hidden
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From email@hidden Fri Jun 09 15:05:40 2000
Subject: [SBB] Some good county birds
--------
All,
This morning Frank Vanslager and I went to the top of Sierra Rd. (near the
corral on the right side of the road) where we saw a Rock Wren and Horned
Larks (both county year birds for us). We also saw at least three singing
Grasshopper Sparrows (one bathed near us, 7-8 feet away, and showed us the
hard to see yellow shoulder mark). The yellow shoulder (actually the wrist?)
mark is depicted and commented on in Peterson's Western Field Guide but is
not shown or commented on in the new NGS Field Guide. Even Rising's Sparrows
of the United States and Canada fails to mentioned the shoulder mark (the
drawings do show it). In a discussion of the history of the GRSP Rising
notes that Audubon referred to the bird as the 'Yellow-winged Bunting' .
Other species seen included an adult Golden Eagle, White-throated Swift,
Lazuli Bunting, Western Bluebird, Yellow-billed Magpie, Ash-throated
Flycatcher and Western Kingbird.
Take care,
Bob Reiling, 3:09 PM, 6/9/00
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From email@hidden Fri Jun 09 15:45:08 2000
Subject: [SBB] S.C. Bird List as of 5/31/00
--------
Eleven birds were added for a total of 252.
Pacific Loon 5/7/00
White-faced Ibis 5/26/00
Mountain Quail 5/18/00
Hudsonian Godwit 5/26/00
Wilson's Phalarope 5/12/00
Red-necked Phalarope 5/6/00
Black Swift 5/10/00
Purple Martin 5/10/00
Black-chinned Sparrow 5/6/00
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 5/13/00
Indigo Bunting 5/24/00
The complete results can be viewed on:
South Bay Birders Unlimited (SBBU)
http://www.stanford.edu/~kendric/birds/
-----------------------------------------
Kendric C. Smith, Ph.D.
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 Fri Jun 09 16:53:20 2000
Subject: [SBB] Indigo Bunting still at Los Trancos (no message)
--------
------------------------------------------------------
Peter LaTourrette
Bird Photography: http://www.birdphotography.com/
Bird Photo Gallery: http://www.stanford.edu/~petelat1/
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From email@hidden Sat Jun 10 10:06:03 2000
Subject: [SBB] Archive updated through May.
--------
South Bay Birders,
I have updated the South Bay Birders Online message archive through
May 200. You can browse past messages at:
http://fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~jmorlan/southbay.htm
Also I have posted details on the Bermuda Petrel seen off North
Carolina on 2 June at:
http://fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~jmorlan/bepe.htm
You may wish to ponder this month's mystery birds at:
http://fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~jmorlan/mysteries.htm
and there is an account of a singing Blue-headed Vireo from Orange
County last month at:
http://fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~jmorlan/descriptions.htm
Enjoy!
--
Remove NOSPAM if replying by email.
California Birding pages: http://fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~jmorlan/
--
Joseph Morlan, Pacifica, CA 94044: mailto:email@hidden
Fall Birding Classes begin Sept 5: http://fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~jmorlan/
California Bird Records Committee: http://www.wfo-cbrc.org/cbrc/
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From email@hidden Sat Jun 10 11:40:17 2000
Subject: Re: [SBB] Some good county birds/Sierra Rd. summit
--------
At 06:05 PM 6/9/00 EDT, email@hidden wrote:
>All,
>
>This morning Frank Vanslager and I went to the top of Sierra Rd. (near the
>corral on the right side of the road) where we saw a Rock Wren and Horned
>Larks (both county year birds for us). We also saw at least three singing
>Grasshopper Sparrows (one bathed near us, 7-8 feet away, and showed us the
>hard to see yellow shoulder mark).
I went there this morning and saw the above birds plus Lark Sparrow, but
nothing at 7-8 feet :-(
A San Jose Police officer stopped by and told me that some of that land is
being donated to the city for use as an open space park. There will be a
20-car parking area on the south side of the summit and hiking trails from
there. He didn't know if land on the north side of the road would be part
of it. Sounds pretty neat to me--does anyone know more about it?
--Pete
------------------------------------------------------
Peter LaTourrette
Bird Photography: http://www.birdphotography.com/
Bird Photo Gallery: http://www.stanford.edu/~petelat1/
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From email@hidden Sat Jun 10 15:09:48 2000
Subject: [SBB] CCFS 6/10/00
--------
Banding efforts at CCFS processed 30 birds today. Only 6 different
species were handled. It was a big day for CLIFF SWALLOWs with 17
banded and several of these in breeding condition; we also banded
two TREE SWALLOWs, one recent fledgling and one adult male. Swallows
are really neat, close up!
Swallows seem to be caught infrequently at CCFS but when they are,
they can be caught in high numbers. The other bander recalled finding
34 Cliffies in the nets on one run a few years back!
Other species were the regulars: a Downy Woodpecker, a Chestnut-backed
Chickadee, several Common Yellowthroats, and Song Sparrows.
Two summer-plumaged DOWITCHERs and 3 BONAPARTE GULLs were present on
the settling ponds opposite the banding trailers. Nick Lethaby stopped
by and opined that the dowitchers were likely 1st summer birds. The
gulls were also present last weekend. The Killdeer eggs by the banding
trailer disappeared last Saturday sometime after we finished banding.
I saw a pair of ravens cruise by slowly before I left last Saturday.
The Killdeer that had been incubating had departed the nest, apparently,
to not call attention to the nest location. I guess the strategy didn't
work as when another bander stopped back later that day, she discovered
that the nest was empty.
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From email@hidden Sat Jun 10 19:56:34 2000
Subject: [SBB] Birds at Alum Rock Park
--------
Howdy South-bay-birders,
Today (Sat., June 10) we had a post-class field trip to Alum Rock Park.
Birds were plentiful, as was evidence of breeding activity. We saw recently
fledged BLACK PHOEBES, AMERICAN ROBINS, and BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAKS, and
nesting ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS, HOUSE WRENS, and STARLINGS. The highlight
was a juvenile AMERICAN DIPPER found upstream from the last parking area
(near the old mineral springs). It allowed us to watch it for a long time,
and was still resting on the rocks there when walked by again later. It had
a mottled pale gray breast, white tips to its primaries, and mostly white
underwing coverts.
We walked the road down to the Rustic Lands Picnic Area, then returned
via the North Rim Trail. Birds included a COMMON MERGANSER, BAND-TAILED
PIGEONS, WESTERN WOOD-PEWEES, WARBLING VIREOS, BROWN CREEPER, CALIFORNIA
THRASHER, several RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROWS, a LAZULI BUNTING, HOODED ORIOLE
(in palms above North Rim Trail), and BULLOCK'S ORIOLES. No Golden Eagle, no
Canyon Wren. Best mammals: a BOBCAT at the Rustic Lands parking area, and a
BLACK-TAILED DEER with cute fawn near YSI.
I haven't visited YSI in a long time, and it may be common knowledge,
but it came as news to me: they have an excellent collection of bird mounts
there. Lots of waterfowl, raptor, gamebird, rail, shorebird, alcid, and owl
specimens are on exhibit (including the only Eskimo Curlew most of us will
ever see).
John Mariani
email@hidden
http://www.birdswest.com
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From email@hidden Sun Jun 11 14:04:10 2000
Subject: [SBB] Montebello Ridge/Los Trancos
--------
We spotted the INIDIGO BUNTING on Saturday morning within three minutes of
arriving up at Los Trancos. We walked a small loop around Montebello Ridge
and got some good looks at the GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS and LAZULI BUNTINGS. At
the pond near Russian Ridge, we saw the BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER. Down
at Yerba Buena Nursery, we saw ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS and WILSONS WARBLERS,
but only heard MACGILLIVARY'S WARBLER. It was a great morning!
Pat Curtis
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From email@hidden Sun Jun 11 14:32:51 2000
Subject: [SBB] Thank You SBB!!!
--------
Decided to try for a couple of county birds this AM with the help of SBB.
Decided on a Horned Lark and Indigo Bunting.
Drove up Sierra Road, pulled off by corral, and there 4 fence posts in
front of me was a Horned Lark singing its heart out. OK, did that.
Drove up Page Mill Road per SBB instructions, into parking lot, got out of
car and looked up at wire...BINGO!...Indigo Bunting, also singing.
So, got two birds, 5 seconds spent per bird to locate....but took more time
to enjoy.
Gloria LeBlanc
"We can't change the financial winds, but we can adjust the sails"
http://www.lgsia.com http://www.wallstreetgifts.com
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From email@hidden Sun Jun 11 14:40:40 2000
Subject: [SBB] SCVAS field trip/Oak Meadow/Vasona
--------
Yesterday, Saturday, a composite list of 54 species was seen at Oak
Meadow/Vasona. Frank Vanslager found a PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER for us.
Most enjoyment was from the large number of BULLOCK'S ORIOLES. It's like a
free trip to the tropics when we see these magnificantly colored birds in
our own backyard.
Birds seen included: OSPREY, HAIRY-ACORN-DOWNY & NUTTALL'S WOODPECKERS,
GREAT BLUE-GREEN-BLACKCROWNED HERONS, FORSTER'S TERN, VIOLET
GREEN-BARN-CLIFF-NORTHERN ROUGH WINGED SWALLOWS, VAUX SWIFT, ETC.
Gloria LeBlanc
"We can't change the financial winds, but we can adjust the sails"
http://www.lgsia.com http://www.wallstreetgifts.com
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From email@hidden Sun Jun 11 15:38:54 2000
Subject: [SBB] Re: Page Mill Indigo Bunting
--------
On May 27, Les Chibana wrote:
> I led a bird walk for the Open Space District at Monte Bello today,
> 5/27/00. The INDIGO BUNTING over at the Los Trancos OSP parking lot
> was being well-viewed when we started out. Its rounds takes it into San
> Mateo County.
First, with respect to the location [those impatient with nitpicking will
want to skip this]: the AAA Palo Alto map plainly shows that both the
Los Trancos parking lot and the full width of Page Mill Road beside it are
in San Mateo County -- it is ambiguous from this map whether any of the
Montebello parking lot is in Santa Clara Co. On the other hand, the Mindego
Hill topo map (at least the last one I have) shows the county line passing
on the north side of the road, thus either through or more likely north of
the Los Trancos parking lot. Does anyone know the actual truth? (The
Mid-Peninsula Open Space District maps take the safe path, and do not show
the county line at all.] I finally got up to see the Indigo Bunting this
afternoon. Its favorite spot was on the wires just north of the Los
Trancos lot. I concluded from the AAA map that this location, as well as all
other spots where I saw it, were in San Mateo Co. But the topo map makes it
at least ambiguous.... Help! [Maybe if I go back the bird will range widely
enough to cover both counties unambiguously, but it didn't while I was there.]
Second, with respect to plumage. In my scope views, I felt that the tertials,
primaries, and uppertail had predominantly brown color (the primaries entirely
so). Wouldn't this make it a sub-adult bird? There also appeared to be a
few grayish feathers on the mid-back. Also, the lower back and rump appeared
to be a less deep blue ("azure"?? - at any rate, more toward a Lazuli's color)
than the head, upper back, and underparts. The NGS guide shows this sort of
color on younger birds, but I don't know how accurate it is. Any comments?
Cheers, Al
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From email@hidden Sun Jun 11 16:48:05 2000
Subject: [SBB] Pt. Reyes - Y.B. Loon, B&W Warbler
--------
Yesterday (June 10th), Dan Froehlich and I saw the BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER
that Dan had found on the 9th. It was still singing, foraging and occasionally
would fly onto the wooden fence.
We also found a (the?) YELLOW-BILLED LOON at the lighthouse, off the visitor
center. It was at a distance in the open water, but allowed good scope views.
A COMMON LOON was conveniently about for comparison, and at one point, even
a PACIFIC LOON came close.
Vivek Tiwari
email@hidden
>------- Forwarded Message
>N. California RBA June 9th
>
>Today, June 9th, at Point Reyes, a YELLOW-BILLED LOON was off the
>Drake's Bay side of Chimney Rock. This is likely the same bird seen
>off the lighthouse earlier this week. (GM) A male BLACK-AND-WHITE
>WARBLER was in trees at the Spaletta Ranch. (DF)
>------- End of Forwarded Message
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From email@hidden Sun Jun 11 18:59:58 2000
Subject: [SBB] dowitchers at CCFS
--------
At 03:09 PM 6/10/00 -0700, Les Chibana wrote:
>Two summer-plumaged DOWITCHERs and 3 BONAPARTE GULLs were present on
>the settling ponds opposite the banding trailers. Nick Lethaby stopped
>by and opined that the dowitchers were likely 1st summer birds. The
>gulls were also present last weekend. The Killdeer eggs by the banding
>trailer disappeared last Saturday sometime after we finished banding.
>I saw a pair of ravens cruise by slowly before I left last Saturday.
>The Killdeer that had been incubating had departed the nest, apparently,
>to not call attention to the nest location. I guess the strategy didn't
>work as when another bander stopped back later that day, she discovered
>that the nest was empty.
>
I don't know if these are the same dowitchers which I saw on Friday but
there were two and one was a lot brighter than the other. My thoughts were
that the bright bird, which had an injured leg, was an adult. The dull bird
looked like a first summer bird. What was interesting is that the bright
bird appeared to be a Short-billed Dowitcher based on plumage features
(lack of white tips to scapulars, more spotting below, white vent etc.). I
could not identify the dull bird, but based on structure (both birds were
on the small-billed end of the spectruum) I would guess that it was also a
Short-billed Dowitcher. Unfortunately, I did not hear the birds call.
There were also 2 female and one male Wilson's Phalaropes. The females kept
chasing each other, with one of them "defending" the male and driving away
the second female. This is breeding behaviour, which surprised me.
Two Marbled Godwits were all that remained of our wonderful spring for
godwits.
cheers,
Al
Alvaro Jaramillo
Senior Biologist
San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory
P.O. Box 247
Alviso, CA 95002
(408)-946-6548
http://www.sfbbo.org/
Home of the California Fall Challenge!!
email@hidden
Birds of Chile and
New World Blackbirds at : http://www.sirius.com/~alvaro
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From email@hidden Sun Jun 11 20:36:02 2000
Subject: [SBB] Indigo Bunting status
--------
I am strictly an immediate birder, but I was in St. Louis last weekend and
saw many INDIGO BUNTINGS. I also saw "ours" this afternoon In St. Louis I
saw mostly adult, but did see about 3 that were similar to "ours". My
assumption in St. Louis was that the 3 were not yet in adult plumage.
BTW St Louis is the only place in the US that I have birded that was
"birdier" than the Bay Area. August A. Busch Memorial Park of 7000 acres
was awesome.
Gloria LeBlanc
"We can't change the financial winds, but we can adjust the sails"
http://www.lgsia.com http://www.wallstreetgifts.com
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From email@hidden Sun Jun 11 21:18:14 2000
Subject: Re: [SBB] Re: Page Mill Indigo Bunting
--------
Al and South-Bay-Birders:
see below.....
email@hidden wrote:
> On May 27, Les Chibana wrote:
>
> > I led a bird walk for the Open Space District at Monte Bello today,
> > 5/27/00. The INDIGO BUNTING over at the Los Trancos OSP parking lot
> > was being well-viewed when we started out. Its rounds takes it into San
> > Mateo County.
>
> First, with respect to the location [those impatient with nitpicking will
> want to skip this]: the AAA Palo Alto map plainly shows that both the
> Los Trancos parking lot and the full width of Page Mill Road beside it are
> in San Mateo County -- it is ambiguous from this map whether any of the
> Montebello parking lot is in Santa Clara Co. On the other hand, the Mindego
> Hill topo map (at least the last one I have) shows the county line passing
> on the north side of the road, thus either through or more likely north of
> the Los Trancos parking lot. Does anyone know the actual truth? (The
> Mid-Peninsula Open Space District maps take the safe path, and do not show
> the county line at all.] I finally got up to see the Indigo Bunting this
> afternoon. Its favorite spot was on the wires just north of the Los
> Trancos lot. I concluded from the AAA map that this location, as well as all
> other spots where I saw it, were in San Mateo Co. But the topo map makes it
> at least ambiguous.... Help! [Maybe if I go back the bird will range widely
> enough to cover both counties unambiguously, but it didn't while I was there.]
Earlier Les Chibana checked the USGS map right after the initial sighting and
determined that this area was in fact within Santa Clara County. For once we get
a male Indigo Bunting in Santa Clara County and not another repeated one within
San Mateo County. My Thomas Guide shows part of the county line along Los Trancos
Creek. The gate to Monte Bello Road is well within Santa Clara County. Some
distance later the road bends right into San Mateo County, passing later for short
time again back into Santa Clara County and then back into San Mateo County.
Unlike along I-8 where the highway passes back and forth of the Imperial/San Diego
County line, you will see no county line signs here. I was under the impression
all along with Les's supporting USGS Map that Los Trancos Parking Lot was within
Santa Clara County.
--
Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA, email@hidden
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From email@hidden Mon Jun 12 06:37:10 2000
Subject: [SBB] Ovenbird in Milpitas
--------
Howdy South-bay-birders,
Just received message that early this morning Jim Danzenbaker heard an
OVENBIRD singing in Milpitas. It was in trees lining the road at the S.E.
corner of Yosemite Dr. and Milpitas Boulevard (this is about 3 long blocks
south of where Milpitas Blvd crosses Calaveras, between Calaveras and
Montague), If you go look for it watch out for traffic which moves fast
through there. The bird was still singing when he was last there.
John Mariani
email@hidden
http://www.birdswest.com
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From email@hidden Mon Jun 12 07:58:27 2000
Subject: [SBB] 3 swift week
--------
Hi all,
I guess I cheated a little, I observed Vaux's Swifts at the "covered
bridge" park and at the Railroad Station in Felton, Santa Cruz Co on
Saturday, June 10, 2000.
Within Santa Clara Co., on Friday, June 9, 2000, I observed White-throated
Swifts at Page Mill & 280 and Arastadero & 280. On Wed., June 7, 2000. I
observed a lone Black Swift on private property along Coyote Creek near
where Hwy 101 and 85 converge. It was seen foraging in a mixed flock with
White-throated Swifts, N. Rough-winged Swallows, Cliff Swallows and a Barn
Swallow over the creek.
Sorry for the delay, I haven't been at my computer in a few days.
Good birding,
Tom Ryan
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From email@hidden Mon Jun 12 08:11:37 2000
Subject: [SBB] Sierra Rd instructions
--------
All,
>From I-680 in East San Jose take Berryessa Rd. toward the hills (northeast),
turn left at the first light (Capitol), after two blocks turn right on Sierra
Rd. Follow Sierra Rd to where it tops the hill just past the corral on the
right side of the road. Bird the area down to just past the corral, then
walk the road to northeast (the other direction) for the next half mile or
so, we then drive the road stopping at obvious wide spots until Sierra Rd.
becomes Felter Rd. (There are also a couple good spots to bird driving up
the hill, near some Eucalyptus trees and near a pond.) Expect cold and windy
conditions at the top of the hill even on nice days in the valley. A scope
would be highly desirable for checking out the distant rocks, fence lines and
trees.
Take care and good luck,
Bob Reiling, 8:05 AM, 6/12/00
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From email@hidden Mon Jun 12 09:09:25 2000
Subject: [SBB] Cliff Swallows on Hamilton
--------
Hi,
I've seen swallows, probably Cliff, soaring over Hamilton Ave. in Palo Alto
for the past two weeks, both early morning and late afternoon.
This is the first time I've seen them here and wonder if this is a
particularly good swallow year and if they're expanding their range beyond
the Baylands, which I'm fairly close to. I'm on the part of Hamilton near
Channing and Embarcadero. Some friends who live on Garland Ave. said
they've seen a few also.
Nancy Teater
--
Nancy R. Teater Hamilton Communications phone: +1 650 321 0252
email@hidden http://web.hamilton.com fax: +1 650 327 4660
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From email@hidden Mon Jun 12 09:29:28 2000
Subject: Re: [SBB] Cliff Swallows on Hamilton
--------
Swallows and swifts have been abundant for years along Hamilton in
downtown Palo Alto. The swifts nest under the roof tiles of several of
the old buildings. Watching them fly full speed into the tiny roof
opening is one of the high points of my lunch hour. Swallows here are
mostly violet green. The local winter Peregrine left his perch on the
high rise a few months ago and the hawk migration is over for a few
months.
Dick Carlson
--
Richard C. Carlson
Chairman, Spectrum Economics
Palo Alto, CA
email@hidden
650-324-2701
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From email@hidden Mon Jun 12 10:07:14 2000
Subject: [SBB] Re: Page Mill Indigo Bunting
--------
Mike Feighner wrote:
> Earlier Les Chibana checked the USGS map right after the initial sighting and
> determined that this area was in fact within Santa Clara County. For once we get
> a male Indigo Bunting in Santa Clara County and not another repeated one within
> San Mateo County. My Thomas Guide shows part of the county line along Los Trancos
> Creek. The gate to Monte Bello Road is well within Santa Clara County. Some
> distance later the road bends right into San Mateo County, passing later for short
> time again back into Santa Clara County and then back into San Mateo County.
> Unlike along I-8 where the highway passes back and forth of the Imperial/San Diego
> County line, you will see no county line signs here. I was under the impression
> all along with Les's supporting USGS Map that Los Trancos Parking Lot was within
> Santa Clara County.
I noted that I was referring to the topo map, and also the AAA map, and that
they disagreed. Since a county line is not topography, I see no particular
reason why the topo map should be considered the authoritative source. Your
information about the Thomas guide (as a third source) map be helpful if we
do a side-by-side comparison to the other two....
Al
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From email@hidden Mon Jun 12 10:29:33 2000
Subject: [SBB] Re: Page Mill Indigo Bunting
--------
I wrote earlier:
> I noted that I was referring to the topo map, and also the AAA map, and that
> they disagreed. Since a county line is not topography, I see no particular
> reason why the topo map should be considered the authoritative source. Your
> information about the Thomas guide (as a third source) map be helpful if we
> do a side-by-side comparison to the other two....
Of course, I wrote the above before receiving Bill's detailed explanation,
for which thanks.
Any comments re. the plumage portion of my original mail?
Al
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From email@hidden Mon Jun 12 11:03:51 2000
--------
Folks:
This morning, 6/12/2000, the female HOODED MERGANSER that I saw last
week near the Stevens Creek Tidal Marsh was in the Mountain View Forebay.
I'll offer some comments on the Indigo Bunting and the county borders
for anyone who is sufficiently inane to read on. Mapping brings up the
realities of errors in data and how they propagate. The original surveys that
defined San Francisco and Santa Clara counties (yes, Virginia, there was no
San Mateo until 1858), may or may not be archived somewhere. Those surveys
had errors in them and were provided to the folks who made maps. They, in
turn, made registration errors when they etched the early plates for the maps
and subsequent maps probably used the earlier maps (rather than survey data)
for the new maps, each with a new technology in the printing process. These
errors have built up to the level that it is doubtful that any of these
features that are not associated clearly with geomorphological characters,
i.e. streams, hill crests, etc, have errors of 50 to 100 m. And this is
just for the USGS maps. When you add in commercial maps, where they will also
purposely create errors for copyright protection, then the error band
increases significantly. The current GPS systems are providing accuracies now
of 10 m, but the GPS can only tell where you are with respect to an earth
reference. It does nothing about resurrecting the surveyor's archives of the
1850s.
So, if you keep the county records what do you do? First, you follow
the USGS, as the sole authority in mapping. If you look at the Mindego Hill
quad (as many of you have), you will note that there are no parking lots on
Page Mill Road, no power line, no readily available reference. My best guess,
looking at the contours, is that the county line is very close to the northern
side of the Los Trancos OSP parking lot. The wires, so beloved of the Indigo
Bunting, are in San Mateo County to the northeast, but appear to move into
Santa Clara County 10-30 m before they reach Page Mill Road. The first report
of this bird had it on the wires south of Page Mill Road which is in Santa
Clara County. However, most observers see the bird more regularly in San Mateo
County.
If anyone has been foolish enough to read this far then I'll recount
that a few years ago there was a guy in Australia who certified bird lists for
birders for a nominal fee, I think he charged five cents a bird. Thus, if you
were concerned whether you had seen a bird in Santa Clara County as opposed to
San Mateo County, or California as opposed to Nevada, or Mexico as opposed to
the US, you just mailed him your list and your check and he would certify
whatever you wanted. It may seem unbelievable, but he made a lot of money.
Or maybe that's just an urban myth. Anyone want to set up a local certifying
agency?
Bill
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From email@hidden Mon Jun 12 12:52:39 2000
Subject: RE: [SBB] Cliff Swallows on Hamilton
--------
Nancy & others,
Cliff Swallows are nesting on numerous bridges throughout the county from
the bay to the Pajaro River. I have been documenting locations while
working on various projects. It seems that maybe 1 in every 4-5 bridges has
at least a few pairs. I have seen groups as small as 8 on a small
structure. There are also swifts and N. Rough-winged Swallows nesting in
the drain holes. It might be interesting to start to keep track of the
locations of some of these bridge nesting species. Their breeding habitat
seems to be increasing within the county.
Tom
> ----------
> From: Nancy Teater[SMTP:email@hidden]
> Sent: Monday, June 12, 2000 9:09 AM
> To: email@hidden
> Subject: [SBB] Cliff Swallows on Hamilton
>
> Hi,
> I've seen swallows, probably Cliff, soaring over Hamilton Ave. in Palo
> Alto
> for the past two weeks, both early morning and late afternoon.
>
> This is the first time I've seen them here and wonder if this is a
> particularly good swallow year and if they're expanding their range beyond
>
> the Baylands, which I'm fairly close to. I'm on the part of Hamilton near
> Channing and Embarcadero. Some friends who live on Garland Ave. said
> they've seen a few also.
>
> Nancy Teater
> --
> Nancy R. Teater Hamilton Communications phone: +1 650 321 0252
> email@hidden http://web.hamilton.com fax: +1 650 327 4660
>
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> email@hidden
>
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From email@hidden Mon Jun 12 12:58:02 2000
Subject: Re: [SBB] Re: Page Mill Indigo Bunting
--------
After reading Al's note, I reviewed the slides I shot of this bird.
I had a few shots straight-on of the back. The topmost tertial, #3,
(sometimes referred to as secondary #9) was very blue on the inner
web. The outer web and the other two tertials were blackish, not at
all brownish. I could not detect any brownish in the uppertail, or
primaries. Is there perhaps more than one male Indigo Bunting here?
That shouldn't be too surprising.
When I photographed this bird, I had great afternoon light behind
me, at about 6:30 - 7:30 pm on 5/27/00. Now, one might correctly
argue that low afternoon sun warms up colors. But I think that since
the bird in question is all blue (which means it derives its plumage
color by a cellular feather structure rather than from pigments) the
color that I saw and photographed may not have been substantively
affected by low-angled sunlight.
I did note in my original post that the lower back and rump seemed
close to Lazuli in color instead of the darker indigo color. I
believe Eric Feuss noted that this bird seemed well within the range
of color for an Indigo. I don't know of Eric's experience with this
species. I do know that I don't see very many of these birds and
don't know if this is normal for the individuals appearing in the
west. I recall reading that western Indigos used to be more readily
considered hybrids with Laz. Currently, I believe, most western
Indigo sightings are considered "pure". Maybe we'll discover that
the manifestation of the hybridization of these two species has
become more subtle...
Les
On Sunday, June 11, 2000, email@hidden wrote:
[snip]
>
>Second, with respect to plumage. In my scope views, I felt that the tertials,
>primaries, and uppertail had predominantly brown color (the primaries entirely
>so). Wouldn't this make it a sub-adult bird? There also appeared to be a
>few grayish feathers on the mid-back. Also, the lower back and rump appeared
>to be a less deep blue ("azure"?? - at any rate, more toward a Lazuli's color)
>than the head, upper back, and underparts. The NGS guide shows this sort of
>color on younger birds, but I don't know how accurate it is.
>Any comments?
>
> Cheers, Al
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From email@hidden Mon Jun 12 13:08:48 2000
Subject: [SBB] Re: 3 swift week
--------
I think Tom meant Stevens Creek for the Black Swift sighting. I thought
I saw a Black Swift fly by the CCFS banding trailers on Sat., 6/10/00,
which IS near Coyote Creek. But I didn't get the right views of the bird
to be certain. There was a White-throated Swift present with the numerous
swallows.
Les
On Monday, June 12, 2000, Tom Ryan wrote:
>Hi all,
>
>I guess I cheated a little, I observed Vaux's Swifts at the "covered
>bridge" park and at the Railroad Station in Felton, Santa Cruz Co on
>Saturday, June 10, 2000.
>
>Within Santa Clara Co., on Friday, June 9, 2000, I observed White-throated
>Swifts at Page Mill & 280 and Arastadero & 280. On Wed., June 7, 2000. I
>observed a lone Black Swift on private property along Coyote Creek near
>where Hwy 101 and 85 converge. It was seen foraging in a mixed flock with
>White-throated Swifts, N. Rough-winged Swallows, Cliff Swallows and a Barn
>Swallow over the creek.
>
>Sorry for the delay, I haven't been at my computer in a few
>days.
>
>Good birding,
>Tom Ryan
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From email@hidden Mon Jun 12 13:33:15 2000
Subject: Re: [SBB] Re: Page Mill Indigo Bunting
--------
Nitpickers,
My computer program Streets and Trips 2000 roughly agrees with my 1989 Thomas
Guide. It says that 1.1 miles from Skyline Blvd the county line crosses to
the north side of Page Mill Rd, the line then closely follows the north side
of the road for 0.3 miles where it crosses the road, continues a bit further
to the south and returns to cross Page Mill Rd, for the last time, 0.2 miles
further on.
It is my opinion that the county line roughly follows the ridgeline and
therefore crosses the road uphill of the two power poles (of Indigo Bunting
fame, putting them in Santa Clara County), it then crosses back near the
entrance to the Monte Bello OSP parking lot to take in the ridge to the
southeast of the parking lot (of Grasshopper Sparrow fame, placing those to
the road side of the ridge in San Mateo County), the county line then crosses
the road below where cars park beneath the large evergreens (about two-thirds
the distance from the Monte Bello OSP parking lot entrance to where the road
makes a fairly sharp turn from the east to the north (if going downhill). If
anyone (Les?) actually measures the distance please let us know.
Take care,
Bob Reiling, 1:24 PM, 6/12/00
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From email@hidden Mon Jun 12 13:53:49 2000
Subject: [SBB] Re: 3 swift week
--------
Boy, what a Mtn. View mindset I have! I forgot, that 101 and 85 meet
again in the south valley.
Les
On Monday, June 12, 2000, Tom Ryan wrote:
>No, Coyote Creek, 85 & 101 meet up again down there.
>
>> ----------
>> From: Les Chibana[SMTP:email@hidden]
>> Reply To: Les Chibana
>> Sent: Monday, June 12, 2000 1:08 PM
>> To: email@hidden; Tom Ryan
>> Subject: Re: 3 swift week
>>
>> I think Tom meant Stevens Creek for the Black Swift sighting. I thought
>> I saw a Black Swift fly by the CCFS banding trailers on Sat., 6/10/00,
>> which IS near Coyote Creek. But I didn't get the right views of the bird
>> to be certain. There was a White-throated Swift present with the numerous
>> swallows.
>>
>> Les
>>
>> On Monday, June 12, 2000, Tom Ryan wrote:
>> >Hi all,
>> >
>> >I guess I cheated a little, I observed Vaux's Swifts at the "covered
>> >bridge" park and at the Railroad Station in Felton, Santa Cruz Co on
>> >Saturday, June 10, 2000.
>> >
>> >Within Santa Clara Co., on Friday, June 9, 2000, I observed
>> White-throated
>> >Swifts at Page Mill & 280 and Arastadero & 280. On Wed., June 7, 2000.
>> I
>> >observed a lone Black Swift on private property along Coyote Creek near
>> >where Hwy 101 and 85 converge. It was seen foraging in a mixed flock
>> with
>> >White-throated Swifts, N. Rough-winged Swallows, Cliff Swallows and a
>> Barn
>> >Swallow over the creek.
>> >
>> >Sorry for the delay, I haven't been at my computer in a few
>> >days.
>> >
>> >Good birding,
>> >Tom Ryan
>>
>>
>
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From email@hidden Mon Jun 12 14:53:51 2000
Subject: Re: [SBB] Re: Page Mill Indigo Bunting
--------
I'm glad that I don't keep a county list! [I barely keep track of a
life list.] For the sake of county record keepers (not listers), I
do know that the bird has ranged north far enough to be in San Mateo
County, and has also been on the south side of the road for a Santa
Clara presence (if you only accept the road as the boundary). If the
bird shows any sign of breeding activity, maybe then I'll join an
effort to "county" it's nest.
Les
On Monday, June 12, 2000, email@hidden wrote:
>Nitpickers,
>
>My computer program Streets and Trips 2000 roughly agrees with my 1989 Thomas
>Guide. It says that 1.1 miles from Skyline Blvd the county line crosses to
>the north side of Page Mill Rd, the line then closely follows the north side
>of the road for 0.3 miles where it crosses the road, continues a bit further
>to the south and returns to cross Page Mill Rd, for the last time, 0.2 miles
>further on.
>
>It is my opinion that the county line roughly follows the ridgeline and
>therefore crosses the road uphill of the two power poles (of Indigo Bunting
>fame, putting them in Santa Clara County), it then crosses back near the
>entrance to the Monte Bello OSP parking lot to take in the ridge to the
>southeast of the parking lot (of Grasshopper Sparrow fame, placing those to
>the road side of the ridge in San Mateo County), the county line then crosses
>the road below where cars park beneath the large evergreens (about two-thirds
>the distance from the Monte Bello OSP parking lot entrance to where the road
>makes a fairly sharp turn from the east to the north (if going downhill). If
>anyone (Les?) actually measures the distance please let us
>know.
>
>Take care,
>Bob Reiling, 1:24 PM, 6/12/00
>
>
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>
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From email@hidden Mon Jun 12 15:00:24 2000
Subject: [SBB] Indigo Bunting
--------
All,
Finding the controversy regarding age and county location too
irresistible to pass on, I finally headed up to check on the
oft-reported male INDIGO BUNTING. I arrived at the Los Trancos
Parking Area at 11:39am and immediately heard the bird singing to the
north (it's song was typical of Indigo Bunting in that several phrases
were doubled, which is not as typical of Lazuli Bunting). Walking to
the north I found the bird singing from the top of a small brushy tree
well into San Mateo County. At 11:45am it flew to the telephone wire
near the parking lot, providing excellent scope-viewing. It is my
opinion (see below) that this location is still in San Mateo County.
At 11:53am it flew to the south across the road to a Coyote bush atop
a small hill - this spot was well within Santa Clara County.
I will check Pyle tonight, but I believe that the bird is a worn and
somewhat faded adult male, rather than a SY (second-year) bird. The
outer edges of the tertials are deep blue (especially the uppermost
pair), all the secondary coverts are completely blue, the secondaries
themselves have blue edgings, the primary coverts (usually hidden)
also had blue, and the tail feathers were edged in blue as well.
Admittedly the "black portions" of the tertials, flight feathers, and
tail were quite a dull brown, especially at the tips, but it does not
seem unlikely too me that a worn and faded adult bird could look like
this at this time of year (especially one that sings so much in the
California sunshine!).
Regarding the county the bird is in, I measured the distance from the
Canyon Trail to Alpine Road and came up with 1.0 miles, which agrees
with the USGS topo; the distance to the Los Trancos OSP parking lot
from the Canyon Trail was 0.25 miles. This places the Los Trancos
parking area right where the county line (as drawn on the USGS map)
runs north of the road and agrees with the topo relief lines, which
show an initial sharp rise from the Canyon trail turnoff, followed by
a shallower rise to a relatively flat spot at the parking area.
According to the USGS map, the county line runs between about 50 feet
and 130 feet north of the centerline of Page Mill Road here. My best
guess locates the parking lot where this distance is about 80 feet,
which seems to me to be just inside the telephone lines.
County lines often do follow ridge lines as Bob Reiling noted, but in
this area examination of the USGS topo shows this to clearly not be
the case, with the county boundary not riding the high points of the
contours. It is interesting to note that as far as road maintenance
is concerned San Mateo County seems to have claimed the whole thing,
with a red "San Mateo County" sign at the Canyon Trail turnoff and an
"end San Mateo County" sign at Alpine Road.
Also had a singing GRASSHOPPER SPARROW south of the road in Santa
Clara County, as well as a couple LAZULI BUNTINGS.
Mike Rogers
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From email@hidden Mon Jun 12 17:56:46 2000
Subject: [SBB] Indigo Bunting
--------
Finally made it up to Los Trancos this afternoon ( hate that road) and saw
the INDIGO BUNTING> It was originally on the telephone wires just uphill of
the parking lot. As I walked up the trail under the wires to try and get a
closer look, it very cooperatively flew across the street to the wires on
the Montebello OSP side. Kathy Parker
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From email@hidden Mon Jun 12 21:09:55 2000
Subject: [SBB] Baby Northern Pygmy-Owl, birding class, etc.
--------
Howdy South-bay-birders,
This morning I tried for the Ovenbird but was too late--there was
roadwork going on there and a heavy volume of traffic. Jim reported the bird
to me at around 6:30am, so I guess you have to get up early.
This evening I visited some areas near New Almaden. At Almaden Reservoir
there was a single WESTERN GREBE, unusual for the locality and time of year.
WESTERN WOOD-PEWEES were calling upstream from the reservoir.
Walked the trail from Mt. Umunhum Road to Bald Mountain at about 7pm.
Birds everywhere! A male BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER was near the start of
the trail, and there was lots of singing going on--the sounds of CALIFORNIA
THRASHERS, WRENTITS, PURPLE FINCHES, and SPOTTED TOWHEES were all around.
Saw plenty of recently fledged DARK-EYED JUNCOS on the path, but I couldn't
turn any into Sage Sparrows. Other birds there included ASH-THROATED
FLYCATCHER, BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS. Flowers were
blooming everywhere, especially orange monkey flower, and ANNA'S
HUMMINGBIRDS were unusually numerous.
I made a very fortunate stop at the New Almaden entrance to Almaden
Quicksilver County Park, where a hiker told me he had just seen a "little
owl." I followed his directions a short distance up the trail, and took the
second narrow unofficial trail on the left, which leads into a wooded gully.
Sure enough, within 50 feet I found a newly fledged NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL
sitting in the middle of the pathl! It allowed me to get within a few feet
of it, snapping its bill, fluttering its wings, and twittering when I got
too close. Head was gray, breast was solid brown with brown streaks on the
belly. Showed some white barring on its flight feathers and tail. It didn't
appear to be hurt, and I figured it must have just fledged. Of course I
didn't have my camera with me!
There is still space in MetroED's summer birding class, which begins
this Wednesday (14 June). We will doing field trips in and out of Santa
Clara County, including an owling trip and a Sierra Nevada weekend. There is
still time to register by calling MetroED at 408-723-6553. For more
info.check out the class web page at
http://home.att.net/~redknot/birdwatching_for_fun.htm.
John Mariani
email@hidden
http://www.birdswest.com
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From email@hidden Mon Jun 12 21:35:11 2000
Subject: [SBB] Page Mill Road and County lines
--------
South-Bay_Birders:
After 2:00 PM I headed out for a return trip to Los Trancos OSP to
settle my curiosity and independent of Mike Rogers notes which I did not
see until just now.
As I pulled into the Los Trancos Parking lot two birders (who just
joined SBB in the past 48 hours) were standing there as the Indigo
Bunting flew from the Montelbello side of the road over their heads and
my car and landed on the telephone wire closest to Montebello OSP.
Sometime passed before the Indigo Bunting returned to the Montebello
side of the road and then chased a male Lazuli Bunting back a forth over
both sides of Page Mill Road.
After today's discussion I will assume the portion of the Los Trancos
parking lot furthest away from Page Mill Road is in San Mateo County.
This places the wires then in San Mateo County.
Driving up Page Mill Road from I-280 I watched my compass on my
dashboard while I swerved around the curves. For the most-part Page
Mill Road Road runs in a north-south direction with some deviation at
some of the curves. As I parked my car in the Los Trancos Parking lot
(parallel to the telephone wires), I noted the compass showed "West"
giving this small portion of Page Mill Road a west-east direction
putting Los Trancos parking lot north of the road.
As I was drivng up the hill I noted some new interesting landmarks that
I had never noticed before. These are the red markers noted by Mike
Rogers. Following up on Bob Reilling earlier e-mail, I drove up to
Skyline Blvd (leaving the Indigo Bunting singing on its favorite
wire). At Skyline I turned around and noted my odometer.
A) 0.6 mile from Skyline Blvd there is a red SM marker sign at the left
side of the road at 6000 Page Mill Road; at the left side of the road
there is a white marker: 0.41 SM Co. From here to the entrance to the
Los Trancos Parking lot it is 0.3 mile; on the right (Montebello) side
of the road there is a white marker: SC 0.0. After another 0.2 mile
you will see brown and yellow marker MB03 (dirt trail into Montebello);
at the right side of the road there is a white marker SC 0.2.... just a
few feet further there is a Palo Alto City limit sign. On the right
side of the road facing the opposite direction there is a red sign SM Co
with an up arrow signifying San Mateo County from here...... for a
visual landmark this is where there is a row of large pines along the
side of the road. This is confusing, but it supports what both Bill
Bousman and Mike Rogers have said earlier.
--
Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA, email@hidden
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From email@hidden Mon Jun 12 22:04:01 2000
Subject: [SBB] Is there a Digest version of this list?
--------
Douglas W. Aguillard
San Diego, CA.
email@hidden
"The Birds & Butterflies of San Diego County"
http://sdbirds.basiclink.com
SoCal Field Guides- Personal Bird Guide
http://sdbirds.basiclink.com/socal_field_guides.htm
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From email@hidden Tue Jun 13 09:26:15 2000
Subject: Re: [SBB] Re: Page Mill Indigo Bunting
--------
ALL:
Looking at my Thomas Bros map, I felt comfortable that the Los Tracos parking
lot is in Santa Clara county since this map shows the county boundary going N
of the road around here.
Nick Lethaby
Product Manager, ARC Cores Inc.
Tel: 408 360 2131
e-mail: Nick.Lethaby@arccores
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From email@hidden Tue Jun 13 11:08:48 2000
Subject: Re: [SBB] Page Mill Road and County lines
--------
Sorry that this discussion seems to be drifting off list topic.
The county and city designations in this area are very confusing.
E.g., I live across Skyline Blvd. from Long Ridge Open Space
Preserve in Santa Clara Co. AND within the City of Palo Alto.
You may have noticed signs along Skyline in this area for the
City of PA. The San Mateo-Santa Clara Co. line runs in proximity
with Skyline Blvd. in this area also, but not necessarily down
the middle of the road. It jogs to the east side of Skyline and
runs through the kitchen of one of the dwellings on my neighbor's
property. You can probably prepare lunch and get birds for both
counties here!
At the south end of Long Ridge OSP, you enter Santa Cruz Co. on
the west side of Skyline. Think of the possibilities here!
Another male Indigo Bunting was reported this spring in Long
Ridge (perhaps the same one I found last year). This bird is in
San Mateo Co. I haven't been able to look for this bird yet.
Then there's the Windy Hill bird(s?) and the Pescadero area
female.
So, what is it about San Mateo Co. that's so appealing to this
species? :-)
Les
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From email@hidden Tue Jun 13 11:22:47 2000
Subject: [SBB] Weekend birds and butterflies
--------
All:
I made a quick trip to CCFS on Saturday but saw little. On Sunday, prodded by
Bob Reiling's sightings, I went up to Sierra Summit and had gret looks at
Grasshopper Sparrows. I saw three birds really well and had in flight views of
another 2-4 birds. Also a Lark Sparrow, 6 Rock Wrens, Horned Lark and Western
Kingbirds.
Later that day I check CCFS EAST of the creek where the previous year I had
noticed an abundance of alkali mallow. I quickly found the hoped for Small
Checkered Skipper here, seeing 3 as well as 3 Common Checkered Skippers. I
also had repeated Fritillary sightings with 2 together on several occasions.
Had good looks at the upperside of one, but the books aren't much help on
distinguishing these. Based on the flight periods described in the Butterflies
of S. Cal for Crowned and Callippe, which are the two fritillaries that are
widespread in the Bay Area, these may be Callippes.
Does anyone know of professors at Stanford or San Jose State who have expert
local knowledge of the butterfly populations?
Nick Lethaby
Product Manager, ARC Cores Inc.
Tel: 408 360 2131
e-mail: Nick.Lethaby@arccores
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From email@hidden Tue Jun 13 14:13:20 2000
Subject: [SBB] Black Phoebe
--------
Bob, Was it you who wanted the SJSU Black Phoebe thesis? If not, please disregard
this message. If so, let me know; I have some good news.
Tina Peterson
>
>
>
>
>
> erves a larger community. In
> addition to the original purpose of the informal network the reports to the
> network were also used to provide records for the Santa Clara County
> notebooks and that information was used in turn as source material for the
> column "Field Notes" in _The Avocet_, the newsletter of the Santa Clara Valley
> Audubon Society, and as a basis for the quarterly submission of Santa Clara
> County records to the Regional Editors of _Field Notes._
>
> I will continue to use the records provided to this mailing list for the
> purposes mentioned above. I offer the following comments to describe how this
> information is normally used.
>
> 1. A record is considered complete if it includes the bird(s) seen, the
> numbers observed, the location of the observation, the date, and the
> observer(s). I will use records that are second hand if I am familiar with
> both the observer and the person passing on the record. In this case I
> annotate the record with _fide_ which is the accepted way of noting that a
> record has not been directly obtained, but has been provided by the _fide_
> source. I rarely use third hand records out of concern with the mischief that
> occurs during information transmittal as the number of pathways increase.
>
> 2. I am selective in which records I enter in the county notebooks. For the
> more common birds I may record a report of a particularly large number of
> birds or an unusual plumage. For uncommon birds, or those that I feel are
> marginally rare, I may record all observations, although I rarely provide
> these in _The Avocet_. These records are particularly useful for clarifying
> the temporal distribution of birds that are not permanently resident in the
> county. I attempt to record all species that are listed as rare
> on the current Santa Clara County Checklist. For common non-resident species I
> attempt to record the first arrival and last departure dates.
>
> 3. I write the "Field Notes" column ten months a year and it is nominally due
> on the first of the month. I usually try to draft the column at the end of
> the month and then fit the last few records in before I deliver it to the
> SCVAS office.
>
> 4. Four times a year I provide a "quarterly" summary of records for _Field
> Notes._ There are currently three Regional Editors and they each get a copy
> of my summary although they split the species up between them. Currently, I
> send electronic versions to Don Roberson, Dan Singer, and Steve Rottenborn.
> If you would like a copy of this quarterly summary and your mailer is able to
> handle Word 6.0 attachments then send me a request at
> email@hidden.
>
> 5. I entered all county records in the notebooks by hand up until the summer
> of 1993 when I started writing the records to Word files on a quarterly basis.
> I intend, eventually, to create a data base based on literal string recognition
> and I've designed my data entry structure accordingly. But at this time the
> computerized aspect is a simple computerized echo of hand-entry.
>
> 6. It is not always obvious to people providing records to this mailing list
> when they should provide additional details on a record or even if they should
> provide the record at all. There is no simple answer to this other than
> experience. A useful example to consider is stimulated by the detailed
> plumage description that Mike Rogers provided for a December 1996 Ash-throated
> Flycatcher. This species is a fairly common resident in the county, arriving
> in early April and leaving by the end of August. First and last records
> within that range are of interest as are very early or late birds. Wintering
> birds are so rare in the county that a detailed description is necessary. In
> part this is not just because of the rarity, but also to exclude other
> _Myiarchus_ that may just as likely be here at that season.
>
> 7. When a rarity turns up and this information is passed on many people obtain
> the opportunity to see the bird. The very quantity of people seeing the
> rarity tends to encourage sloppiness in people's records after the initial
> observation. If the bird is missed for a week and then found a mile away is it
> the same bird? We may be able to answer these questions if people are careful
> to age and sex each rarity they see (if possible) and note any unusual
> characteristics. Rarities frequently come in clumps and these descriptions
> are useful. Please include these in your posts for the real rarities--it will
> help all of us.
>
> The South-Bay-Birds Mailing List provides many of us immediate
> information on the occurrence of rare birds as well as the vicarious pleasure
> of birding and discovery. That this mailing list has worked so well is a
> tribute to its many faithful contributors and, perhaps, to the mailing list
> rules that we've implemented. There is some arbitrariness, however, in these
> rules and I invite anyone to communicate directly with me, at
> email@hidden, if they would like to discuss any of these issues.
>
> Bill
> 4 January 1999
> ==========================================================================
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--
Christina A. Peterson
Science Librarian
San Jose State University
California
email@hidden
408-924-2727 (voicemail)
408-924-2701 (fax)
Visit the Library without Walls!
http://library.sjsu.edu/staff/peterson/peterson.htm
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From email@hidden Tue Jun 13 21:18:32 2000
Subject: [SBB] Urban warblers nest, raise monster
--------
Howdy South-bay-birders,
Today I confirmed that the business park YELLOW WARBLERS (BPYW's for
those fond of letter codes) have indeed nested. The female was seen plunking
food into the mouth of her baby....which as expected turned out to be a
cowbird. The newly fledged bird dwarfed its adoptive parent. Guess this
proves that on at least one freak occasion this riparian obligate didn't
feel so obligated, and that nothing good can come from breeding out of
habitat.
At the east end of Calero Reservoir this evening there were a few TREE
SWALLOWS flying over the creek inflow, and 3 GUINEA FOWL were loose near the
stables there (another exotic for the Almaden Valley list). A WESTERN
KINGBIRD was flying back and forth across Camden Avenue where it crosses
Alamitos Creek.
John Mariani
email@hidden
http://www.birdswest.com
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From email@hidden Tue Jun 13 21:33:16 2000
Subject: [SBB] Bayland walk
--------
All,
I walked from Charleston Slough to Byxbee Park with a friend Sunday and
ended up near the Matero Creek mouth. We had great looks at 2 GREEN
HERON near the SPCA on frontage road and an adult PEREGRINE FALCON
circling over the Charleston Slough pumphouse! A flock of no less than
60 AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS soared overhead near the Byxbee damn.
Matthew Dodder
http://www.birdguy.net/index.html
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From email@hidden Wed Jun 14 07:47:03 2000
Subject: [SBB] Another Amusing Jay Story
--------
To All,
The recent postings about clever jays and such reminds me of an
incident many years ago. We were skiing with friends in Aspen and had
stopped for lunch on the mountain. We were seated indoors next to a
large window that looked out on a deck with other tables and people. We
watched this scene unfold before us.
A man walked outside past our window with a tray of food - one dish was
a bowl of cottage cheese with a large maraschino cherry on top. He
stopped in front of our window. When he turned his head away to see
where the rest of his party were seated, a gray jay swooped in, and on
the fly picked off the maraschino cherry and flew off, unseen by the
man. All this happened in a matter of a few seconds. When he turned
his attention back to his food, he realized the cherry was gone - there
was no one within 10 feet of him. He just stood there, staring at his
cottage cheese with the most dumbfounded look on his face. We roared.
Jim
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From email@hidden Wed Jun 14 12:13:10 2000
Subject: [SBB] Crows
--------
Here's an odd question. I have customer who walks a certain route every day
here in Los Gatos. Over the past few months a crow has been "harrassing"
her. She says that it follows her for about four blocks and is now swooping
by her shoulder getting within three or four feet of her head. She stopped
wearing anything shiney (like earrings and jewelry) thinking this might be
what is attracting its attention. I thought maybe she was getting too near
its nest but it has been going on too long for that to be the case. She
doesn't know how to interpret the bird's behavior. Should she be afraid or
is it just being friendly? Any suggestions?
Pat Curtis
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From email@hidden Wed Jun 14 12:46:46 2000
Subject: Re: [SBB] Crows
--------
This is purely a guess:
It's possible that the crow correlates a bad experience with a person
at that location and is reacting to all people who pass. Or, if she
seems to be the only one getting this reaction, it could be that she
resembles someone else who may have been involved in an incident with
the crow.
I have noticed a similar behavior by the ravens that nest on the tower
across the street from my office near the Mtn. View forebay over the
years. They will harrass people who have picked up the carcass of one
of their fledgling's or who have come too close to one of their downed
young. They seem to be able to recognize specific people. I haven't
noticed if they remember people from the previous year. Or, maybe they
just don't hold a grudge that long. :-)
Corvids are considered very intelligent (by human standards, of course)
and have demonstrated remarkable memories.
Les Chibana, Palo Alto, CA email@hidden
On Wednesday, June 14, 2000, Pat Curtis wrote:
>Here's an odd question. I have customer who walks a certain route every day
>here in Los Gatos. Over the past few months a crow has been "harrassing"
>her. She says that it follows her for about four blocks and is now swooping
>by her shoulder getting within three or four feet of her head. She stopped
>wearing anything shiney (like earrings and jewelry) thinking this might be
>what is attracting its attention. I thought maybe she was getting too near
>its nest but it has been going on too long for that to be the case. She
>doesn't know how to interpret the bird's behavior. Should she be afraid or
>is it just being friendly? Any suggestions?
>
>Pat Curtis
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From email@hidden Wed Jun 14 13:07:36 2000
Subject: Re: [SBB] Crows
--------
Reply to: Re: [SBB] Crows
Vis crows recognizing individuals. There was an article in the Point Reyes Bird Observatory newsletter a few years ago about research and observations concerning the ability of Western Gulls nesting on the Farallones to distinguish and remember individual human faces. It seems that they could and several experiments verified this. If gulls can do it, it should be a cinch for corvids.
James Yurchenco
Les Chibana wrote:
>This is purely a guess: >It's possible that the crow correlates a bad experience with a person >at that location and is reacting to all people who pass. Or, if she >seems to be the only one getting this reaction, it could be that she >resembles someone else who may have been involved in an incident with >the crow.
>
>I have noticed a similar behavior by the ravens that nest on the tower >across the street from my office near the Mtn. View forebay over the >years. They will harrass people who have picked up the carcass of one >of their fledgling's or who have come too close to one of their downed >young. They seem to be able to recognize specific people. I haven't >noticed if they remember people from the previous year. Or, maybe they >just don't hold a grudge that long. :-)
>
>Corvids are considered very intelligent (by human standards, of course)
>and have demonstrated remarkable memories.
>
>Les Chibana, Palo Alto, CA email@hidden
>
>On Wednesday, June 14, 2000, Pat Curtis wrote:
>>Here's an odd question. I have customer who walks a certain route every day
>>here in Los Gatos. Over the past few months a crow has been "harrassing"
>>her. She says that it follows her for about four blocks and is now swooping
>>by her shoulder getting within three or four feet of her head. She stopped
>>wearing anything shiney (like earrings and jewelry) thinking this might be
>>what is attracting its attention. I thought maybe she was getting too near
>>its nest but it has been going on too long for that to be the case. She
>>doesn't know how to interpret the bird's behavior. Should she be afraid or
>>is it just being friendly? Any suggestions?
>>
>>Pat Curtis
>
>
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>
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> Subject: Re: [SBB] Crows
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From email@hidden Wed Jun 14 13:22:26 2000
Subject: Re: [SBB] Crows
--------
At 12:46 PM -0700 6/14/2000, Les Chibana wrote:
>This is purely a guess:
>Corvids are considered very intelligent (by human standards, of course)
>and have demonstrated remarkable memories.
Tell me about it. Growing up more years ago than I want to admit, we
had a cat that once made the mistake of catching a fledging bluejay.
the cat spent the next four summers lawn furniture, because the pair
of jays returned every summer to nest, and every time the cat went
outside, they dedicated their spare time to strafing the cat. They
didn't annoy anyone else in the back yard, the dogs, or any other cat
that wandered through, just this cat.
FWIW, I had a fun jay happening over the weekend. I was out arguing
with the weeds in the backyard when suddenly there was a commotion in
a kumquat tree a couple of yards down. Out of the tree flew a bluejay
screaming bloody murder. Out of the tree chasing the jay were three
orioles (one adult, two older, fledged juvies), screaming bloody
murder. they chased the jay two back yards and then turned back. The
Jay ended up on a wire in the back yard facing ours, and stood there
about ten seconds acting highly agitated, and then took off, strafed
the finches on our feeder, and flew off over the house.
The Jay clearly was trying to rob a nest and got caught, since I know
there was a nest in that tree (it's one of two trees that orioles
always nest in around us). but what really amused me was that after
it'd been chased off, it had to do *something* to prove its
dominance, so it took it out on some smaller, uninvolved birds on the
way out.
Our backyard is right on a boundary between jay territory and
mockingbird territory, which makes breeding season interesting. When
we first moved in, it was 100% mockingbirds, but over the last couple
of years, the jays have been enroaching. right now, the jays usually
control the area during the winter, but once the mockingbirds get
ready to nest, they gang up and drive the jays away. Some days the
yard's looked like West Side Story, but it's clear the mockingbirds
are losing this continuing turf war, and in another three or four
years, probably won't be in our yard at all (which is a mixed
blessing, because one of the females insists on singing all night,
and is *loud* -- but jays are simply the JD's of the backyard set,
and I get tired of them replanting the birdseed in all my containers.
If I wanted sunflowers on my patio, I'd plant them there! grin)
--
Chuq Von Rospach - Plaidworks Consulting (mailto:email@hidden)
Apple Mail List Gnome (mailto:email@hidden)
And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar
and say 'Man, what are you doing here?'"
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From email@hidden Wed Jun 14 13:24:10 2000
Subject: [SBB] Indigo Bunting between power poles & county lines
--------
All,
Following the SCVAS field trip today Frank Vanslager and I used Page Mill Rd
on our way home because of repair work on Hwy 9. When we saw the Indigo
Bunting it became apparent to me that there are two pairs of power poles
(three poles in total) that the bird has been seen perched between. When we
saw it today it was perched between the two widely spaced poles, both located
on the north side of Page Mill Rd and west of the Los Trancos OSP parking
lot. In my opinion this is in San Mateo County. When first found (also
during a Wednesday SCVAS field trip) the bird was between the two closely
spaced power poles (with one pole on each side of Page Mill Road) and was
basically located over the center line in Page Mill Rd. In my opinion this
location is well within Santa Clara County.
Take care,
Bob Reiling, 1:25 PM, 6/14/00
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From email@hidden Wed Jun 14 13:37:21 2000
Subject: Re: [SBB] Crows
--------
All:
I recall that Alfred Hitchcock documented similar behavior some decades ago.
Nick Lethaby
Product Manager, ARC Cores Inc.
Tel: 408 360 2131
e-mail: Nick.Lethaby@arccores
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From email@hidden Wed Jun 14 13:43:00 2000
Subject: [SBB] Re: Butterflies
--------
All:
I discovered that there is a south bay butterfly count on June 25. If anyone
wants to help out or wants to get to know more about butterflies down here, it
should be worth attending. Details are below.
Nick Lethaby
Product Manager, ARC Cores Inc.
Tel: 408 360 2131
e-mail: Nick.Lethaby@arccores
----- Forwarded by Nick Lethaby/ARC on 06/14/00 01:39 PM -----
SJSteiner@aol
.com To: email@hidden
cc:
06/14/00 Subject: Re: Butterflies
01:36 PM
Dear Nick,
Thanks for the offer. I would appreciate some help in recruiting counters
for the June 25 count. Here is the detailed information:
The group will convene at 10:00 a.m. in the Visitor Center at San Francisco
Bay National Wildlife Refuge for a short (15-min.) slide show to help with
identification during the day. We will break up into groups and go to either
the HQ area at the Refuge, or to the large willow grove at Coyote Hills
Regional Park. Following these morning counts, we will reconvene at the
Visitor Center for a bag lunch. Then, we will head for Coyote Creek Riparian
Station, and then on to the Environmental Education Center at the Refuge on
Grand Blvd. in Alviso.
My telephone number, in case anyone wants to discuss details of the count, is
510/523-1604.
Thanks again. I can send you data from Coyote Creek if you wish.
- John
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From email@hidden Wed Jun 14 14:41:21 2000
Subject: Re: [SBB] Crows
--------
Addressing Nick's comment:
You wouldn't have happened to purchase a couple of lovebirds recently, would you?
;)
Screech.
Pat Curtis wrote:
> Here's an odd question. I have customer who walks a certain route every day
> here in Los Gatos. Over the past few months a crow has been "harrassing"
> her. She says that it follows her for about four blocks and is now swooping
> by her shoulder getting within three or four feet of her head. She stopped
> wearing anything shiney (like earrings and jewelry) thinking this might be
> what is attracting its attention. I thought maybe she was getting too near
> its nest but it has been going on too long for that to be the case. She
> doesn't know how to interpret the bird's behavior. Should she be afraid or
> is it just being friendly? Any suggestions?
>
> Pat Curtis
>
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> message body of "unsubscribe south-bay-birds" to email@hidden
--
Paul L. Noble
"Screechowl"
email@hidden
^ ^
@ @
( v )
( )
/ \
m m
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This