Parent
From email@hidden Sun Mar 01 12:11:30 1998
I would like my name and e-mail address removed for the time being.
Thank You,
JOE
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From email@hidden Sun Mar 01 18:02:36 1998
I spent a little time in the southern part of Santa Clara Co. today,
hoping to duplicate some of the success Steve Rottenborn had at the flooded
fields at the extreme southern end a few weeks ago. Alas, the fields are
now largely unflooded, so none of the Swans or other good stuff. Still, a
few birds worth noting from today:
Ducks at the Ogier Rd. ponds were dominated by Scaup (at least 250), with
at least 13 COMMON GOLDENEYEs and a pair of HOODED MERGANSERS. This was
around midday; a dog trainer there said there had been many more ducks
(dabblers, I gather) earlier in the day.
5 COMMON MERGANSERS in Coyote Creek at the end of Burnett Rd., Morgan Hill.
2 OSPREYs (no doubt the ones previously reported at several nearby locations)
at Parkway Lakes; they were sort of whistling to each other.
3 COMMON MOORHENs at the marsh by the entrance to the Coyote Ranch.
A bunch of TREE SWALLOWs were checking out nest sites (perhaps even building)
in the Euc's on Dunne Lane (east of San Felipe Lake).
Al Eisner
March 1, 1998
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From email@hidden Sun Mar 01 18:53:27 1998
On Sunday, 22 Feb 98, I went to Shoreline Lake to see if anything =
unusual had shown up. Frank Vanslager showed up (though I wouldn't =
say he was unusual) and together we scoped out the lake. Eleven =
BLACK SKIMMERS were foraging on the lake for a while, and a =
female RED-BREASTED MERGANSER was here as well. We could =
find no unusual scoters or any Barrow's Goldeneyes.
Moving on to the Palo Alto duck pond, the GREATER WHITE-
FRONTED GOOSE was still present. Among the gulls was a first-
winter THAYER'S and an unusual-looking first-winter MEW (I believe =
that this was the same bird Steve later reported - Kamchatka type?).
I ran into Al Eisner and Ron Thorn and we headed for Alviso to check =
out salt pond A12. Here we had 10 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS, =
including an adult male. The pond at Spreckles and Grand had 1 male =
EURASIAN WIGEON and the EURASIAN x AMERICAN WIGEON =
hybrid. A number of VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS were over the =
marsh.
On Saturday, 28 Feb 98, I went to Stevens Creek Park. I was hoping to =
find Orange-crowned Warblers singing on territory by now, but there =
wasn't a single one around. A RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER was at =
the Villa Maria picnic area. Breeding activity is starting to rise; with =
CALIFORNIA THRASHERS singing and HUTTON'S VIREOS paired =
up. Unusual was a PEREGRINE FALCON soaring over the ridge =
behind the picnic area. RED-SHOULDERED HAWKS were calling =
quite constantly from the creek, and I heard what sounded like a =
COOPER'S HAWK call briefly from along the creek just below the =
dam, where they have nested in the past. =
I went down to the Palo Alto flood control basin, where I found 7 =
BLUE-WINGED TEAL (5 males and 2 females). Most were in the =
vegetation near the pullout on the frontage road, but one pair was in =
Adobe Creek near the Forebay. I overtook Jennifer Matkin's field trip =
at the southeast corner of the Forebay, where the AMERICAN =
BITTERN was putting on a good show. Two SORAS were also =
scampering around here, and a GREEN HERON was frozen along the =
edge of the cattails. =
I moved on to the Los Gatos Creek Park ponds, where 2 COMMON =
LOONS and an adult male WHITE-WINGED SCOTER were found on =
the northern pond (I believe these were just recently reported by =
someone else). The Oka Ponds had 2 female HOODED =
MERGANSERS. Overhead were 4 NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED =
SWALLOWS and 2 WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS. =
On Sunday, 1 Mar 98, I made a quick stop at Fair Oaks Park, but failed =
to find the Palm Warbler. There was an ORANGE-CROWNED =
WARBLER here, though. =
At the Sunnyvale sewage ponds I found very few SURF SCOTERS on =
salt pond A4 (and no White-winged), but still hundreds of GREATER =
SCAUP. Of interest here was a pair of WESTERN GREBES =
performing courtship displays=21 Two birds, each carrying vegetation in =
their bills, swam towards each other, jerking their heads from side to =
side. As they came together, they turned side-by-side and then both =
raised up the front of their bodies in the water. they started swimming =
together side-by-side. They each dropped the vegetation they were =
carrying and began a bowing display, where each quickly turned its =
head and bent it down to its back, quickly bringing it back up and =
forward again. They seemed to do this almost in synchronization. They =
soon stopped, and I then left the area.
I went through Alviso, where I found 17 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS =
on salt pond A12, 1 male EURASIAN WIGEON and the hybrid =
EURASIAN x AMERICAN WIGEON at Spreckles and Grand.
At CCRS, I talked to Chris Otahol, who had seen 3 HOODED =
MERGANSERS on the sludge ponds on his way in that morning. TREE =
SWALLOWS had returned in force here, and I was able to pick out a =
BARN SWALLOW among them. The GREAT BLUE HERONS are =
occupying at least 7 nests in the willows at the =22delta=22.
I then went to Shady Oaks Park, where I found the EASTERN =
PHOEBE about 200 yards into the orchard.
Mike Mammoser
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From email@hidden Sun Mar 01 20:27:59 1998
Around 1 PM Sunday March 1, I was birding Charleston Slough. Walking in
from the San Antonio end, I noted Bufflehead in the pond on the left
(west) side of the dike across from the Mountain View Forbay. After
passing the "pump house" (no sign of nesting swallows) there were
numerous Greater Scaup in the Palo Alto flood control basin and 2
Green-winged Teal males. Further down the dike were Canvasbacks (both
sides). A Forster's Tern flew by. It was back lit and hard to see, but
was not in breeding plumage. 49 Marbled Godwits were roosting at the
end of the slough.
After passing the renovation sign and bearing left on the dike the
following were located in the Palo Alto flood control basin; one
Western Grebe, 29 Canada Geese (more flew in later) and 2 Red-breasted
Mergansers. On the bay side; one Surf Scoter, 2 Long-billed Curlews and
13 Black Skimmers. Down 1 from my count of 14 in November.
Ginny Becchine
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From email@hidden Sun Mar 01 22:22:17 1998
On Sat. Dan Froelich and I saw four Swallow species over the Palo Alto FCB
Several TREE and VIOLET-GREENs, some BARN, and one N. ROUGH-WINGED.
WHITE-THROATED SWIFTs were also active. This was around 4:00PM.
Then we went to Barron's Creek near Arastradero and Foothill Expy.
The pond adjacent to the Foothill Research Park was dry. However,
the pond downstream from that (near the dam and the bike path)
had water and had 4 imm. male and 3 female HOODED MERGANSERs. I think
this is the largest count that has been reported in the last 2-3 weeks.
The area was teeming with birds, and included NUTTAL's and DOWNY
WOOP.s, RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER, a single CEDAR WAXWING, SPOTTED TOWHEE,
CAL. THRASHER and a MERLIN with an unid. prey.
Today at around 10:00AM, there were 5-6 MEW GULLs at the end of
Nortech Parkway. Using Dan's scope I was finally able to see the
EURASIAN WIDGEON at the intersection of Spreckles and Grand, in the
flooded fields to the south. We actually saw two widgeons with red
heads and yellowish crowns. Only the heads were visible, so we could
not decide, which of these (if either) was the hybrid.
Scoping from the obs. deck outside EEC, we found yet another EURASIAN
WIDGEON in the marsh north of EEC.
A half-hour stop at Lake Cunningham did not yield the LBBG, but we
were rewarded by a single CLIFF SWALLOW. W-T SWIFTs were here too.
Vivek
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From email@hidden Mon Mar 02 08:49:45 1998
In a message dated 98-03-01 22:02:07 EST, Mike Mammoser wrote:
<< I overtook Jennifer Matkin's field trip at the southeast corner of the
Forebay, where the AMERICAN
BITTERN was putting on a good show. Two SORAS were also scampering around
here, and a GREEN HERON was frozen along the edge of the cattails. >>
That spot was definitely the highlight of the day, and many thanks to Mike for
spotting the first SORA. There was also a COMMON MOORHEN in the same place,
so we were able to see all of these great birds at once. We also heard a
VIRGINIA RAIL call in there. After that, most of the participants stuck
around late to go see one of Mike's male BLUE-WINGED TEAL, which was tucked in
with two CINNAMON TEAL well up Adobe Creek. A great ending to a fun trip.
We never did see the BLACK SKIMMERS, but there were so many other great birds
that it didn't seem to matter. We saw approximately 65 species in a four-
hour trip, and we spent a lot of time studying the grebes, ducks and
shorebirds carefully so we didn't cover too much territory. I did see my
first BARN SWALLOW of the year, looking fabulous, though I don't think anyone
else got much of a look at it. There also was an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER with
a very gray head near Shoreline Lake before the trip started.
I wanted to thank all of you who sent advice and tips on birding this area.
Thanks to all of you, the field trip was a great success and everyone seemed
to have a wonderful time. Of course, the gorgeous weather didn't hurt!
Thank you!
Jennifer
-------------------------
Jennifer Matkin
San Francisco, CA
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From email@hidden Mon Mar 02 09:59:08 1998
All,
On Saturday 2/28/98, Alma Kali and I stopped by Los Gatos Creek CP on
the way over the hill to Santa Cruz, where we hoped to refind the Rock
Sandpiper.
At the northernmost pond the adult male WHITE-WINGED SCOTER, the two
COMMON LOONS, and a hunting (one unsuccessful dive) male OSPREY put on
quite a show. Also here were 7 SURF SCOTERS, including a few splotchy
molting immature males (and one adult male as well). The OSPREY was
in fairly heavy molt, missing some feathers from the left wing near
the primary/secondary junction and regrowing 2-3 feathers in the tail.
In order to better guess at how many of these birds are around this
winter it would be helpful if observers would note sex (or extent and
pattern of the "necklace" of brown streaks) and any apparent molt.
A female-plumaged HOODED MERGANSER was on the nearby Oka Ponds and
about 5 NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS and 2+ WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS
were foraging overhead there.
...and the ROCK SANDPIPER was still in Santa Cruz, foraging with BLACK
TURNSTONES and SURFBIRDS opposite 1510 West Cliff Drive just east of
Swift St. A SEA OTTER was near here as well.
On Sunday 3/1/98, I made a quick stop at Lake Cunningham, hoping for
some Lesser Black-backed Gull action, which didn't happen.
Interesting gulls included a 3rd winter GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL,
4 HERRING GULLS of three ages, and a pale second-winter THAYER'S GULL
with secondaries bleached completely white. This bird had typical
dark primaries and tail band, but completely lacked any secondary bar
in flight (in fact the secondaries were the palest portion of the
wing!). Many of the coverts were also very pale but nicely marbled
with tan. An adult male SURF SCOTER was the most interesting duck and
a large swallow flock of about 75 birds included 2+ TREE,
8+ VIOLET-GREEN, 4+ NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED, 10+ CLIFF SWALLOWS, 5+ BARN
SWALLOWS, and about 10 WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS. These bird foraged
widely over the nearby suburbia and an accurate total count of each
species was impossible.
Mike Rogers
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From email@hidden Mon Mar 02 10:28:44 1998
All: I scoped Shoreline Lake Sunday afternoon about 4:15. There were many
(close to 100) Surf Scoters in the lake. There was one Black Scoter with
them, along the southern edge of the lake, about 50 yards west of the
peninsula that points out to the island. It looked like an immature male
(NGS) or a female (Peterson). Medium dark brown, with a contrasting beige
rectangular face/throat/neck patch. At that distance (though the light was
very good) I couldn't see specifics on the bill. After perhaps 10 minutes,
the bird flew north across the lake, showing the beige face/throat/neck
patch very clearly in my scope (20x). I lost it, and could not later find
it in the lake (despite extensive scoping), so I assume it continued north
toward the Bay.
The bird looked very different than a female Ruddy Duck (of which I saw only
one in the lake). Scoter-sized and shaped. No dark eye-line. No stiff
tail. And the beige patch was substantial, extended down the neck,
even-colored, and rectangular.
Yours, John Meyer
********************************************************************
John W. Meyer, Dept. of Sociology, Stanford U., Stanford, Cal. 94305
email@hidden (650) 723 1868
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From email@hidden Mon Mar 02 12:14:14 1998
Birders,
The February 1998 archive of the south-bay-birders mailing list is now
online.
Thanks in part to a contribution from Don DesJardin, this month's
photo quiz features a controversial bunting. Is it Indigo or Lazuli?
A disputed hawk is also available for your consideration. The
"answers" and voting results from last month's goldeneye quiz are now
available. Thanks to all who took the time to vote and share
opinions.
Your comments and suggestions are always welcome. The url is at
http://hills.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~jmorlan/. Just follow the "rare bird"
links.
--
Joseph Morlan SF Bay Area birding, Rarity photos, ID quizes.
380 Talbot Ave. #206 http://hills.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~jmorlan/
Pacifica, CA 94044 email@hidden
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From email@hidden Mon Mar 02 15:16:43 1998
MARCH 1 1998 SANTA CLARA COUNTY YEAR LIST UPDATE
Not much to add for the month of February, but migration should help
us soon!
Still need Oldsquaw, Short-eared Owl, and Sage Sparrow.
Mike
P.S. Some advice from Kendric:
[To make the columns line up, please copy this list to a word processor, and
change the font to a monospaced font (Monoco, Courier, etc.), and set the
right hand margin to 7.5 inches.]
________________________________________________________________________
Recent progress of the composite list:
202: 1/ 1/98 CANYON WREN
203: 2/ 8/98 KINGBIRD sp.
204: 2/21/98 PACIFIC LOON
205: 2/26/98 CLIFF SWALLOW
206: 3/ 1/98 BLACK SCOTER
Please send any additions, corrections, or comments to Mike
Rogers, email@hidden.
SANTA CLARA COUNTY YEAR LIST - 1998
SCR MMR MJM COMP SOURCE
377 178 159 158 206+ICGU
% OF COMPOSITE FOR 1998
% OF 377 (Iceland Gull not counted)
Red-throated Loon 2/16 2/ 8 2/ 8 SBT
Pacific Loon 2/21 SBT
Common Loon 2/ 8 2/11 2/14 1/ 2 AVe
Pied-billed Grebe 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob.
Horned Grebe 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob.
Red-necked Grebe 1/ 2 1/16 1/ 2 1/ 1 DJC
Eared Grebe 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob.
Western Grebe 1/ 2 2/11 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob.
Clark's Grebe 1/ 6 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH
Northern Fulmar
Sooty Shearwater
Ashy Storm-Petrel
Brown Booby
American White Pelican 1/ 2 1/16 1/ 2 1/ 1 DJC
Brown Pelican 1/ 6 2/ 8 1/ 4 JMa
Double-crested Cormorant 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob.
Brandt's Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
Magnificent Frigatebird
American Bittern 1/16 2/28 1/16 SCR
Least Bittern
Great Blue Heron 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob.
Great Egret 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob.
Snowy Egret 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob.
Little Blue Heron
Cattle Egret 1/ 2 1/ 2 SCR
Green Heron 1/ 6 2/11 2/13 1/ 1 DJC
Black-crowned Night-Heron 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH,DJC
White-faced Ibis
Fulvous Whistling-Duck
Tundra Swan 1/ 2 1/ 7 1/ 3 1/ 1 CKS,JML,DJC
Greater White-fronted Goose 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH
Snow Goose 1/ 2 1/ 3 1/ 2 SCR
Ross' Goose 2/ 8 1/19 1/16 1/16 MJM
Brant
Canada Goose 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob.
Wood Duck 1/18 1/ 1 AVe,CH
Green-winged Teal 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH,DJC
Mallard 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob.
Northern Pintail 1/ 6 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH,DJC
Garganey
Blue-winged Teal 1/ 6 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH
Cinnamon Teal 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH,DJC
Northern Shoveler 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH,DJC
Gadwall 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH,DJC
Eurasian Wigeon 1/26 2/24 1/ 2 1/ 2 MJM
American Wigeon 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH,DJC
Canvasback 1/ 6 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH,DJC
Redhead 1/ 6 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH
Ring-necked Duck 1/ 2 1/ 7 1/31 1/ 1 m.ob.
Tufted Duck 1/ 2 1/ 2 MJM
Greater Scaup 1/ 6 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH,DJC
Lesser Scaup 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH,DJC
Oldsquaw
Black Scoter 3/ 1 JMe
Surf Scoter 1/ 6 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH,DJC
White-winged Scoter 2/11 1/ 6 2/13 1/ 6 MMR
Common Goldeneye 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH,DJC
Barrow's Goldeneye 1/ 6 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 DJC
Bufflehead 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH,DJC
Hooded Merganser 1/ 4 2/28 2/28 1/ 1 AVe,CH,NLe
Common Merganser 1/ 2 1/ 7 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH,DJC
Red-breasted Merganser 1/16 2/11 1/ 2 1/ 2 MJM
Ruddy Duck 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob.
Turkey Vulture 1/ 1 1/ 4 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob.
California Condor
Osprey 1/19 1/18 1/17 JMa,JLa
White-tailed Kite 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 2 SCR,MJM
Bald Eagle 2/ 8 2/16 1/16 SGu
Northern Harrier 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 DJC
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1/ 2 1/19 1/ 2 SCR
Cooper's Hawk 1/ 2 1/ 6 2/22 1/ 1 AVe,CH,DJC
Northern Goshawk
Red-shouldered Hawk 1/ 2 1/16 1/ 3 1/ 1 DJC
Broad-winged Hawk
Swainson's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob.
Ferruginous Hawk 1/ 2 1/19 1/ 2 SCR
Rough-legged Hawk 1/ 3 1/ 3 SCR
Golden Eagle 1/ 6 1/ 7 1/17 1/ 1 DJC
American Kestrel 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob.
Merlin 1/ 9 2/ 9 1/ 3 1/ 2 fide CKS
Peregrine Falcon 1/ 6 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 DJC
Prairie Falcon 1/25 NLe
Ring-necked Pheasant 1/ 6 1/13 2/22 1/ 6 SCR
Wild Turkey 1/ 1 JMa
California Quail 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/18 1/ 1 SCR,DJC
Mountain Quail
Yellow Rail
Black Rail 1/12 1/12 2/ 8 1/ 9 VTi,RWR,FVs
Clapper Rail 1/12 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH,DJC
Virginia Rail 1/ 2 1/12 1/31 1/ 2 SCR
Sora 1/ 2 1/16 2/ 8 1/ 2 SCR
Common Moorhen 1/ 6 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH,DJC
American Coot 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob.
Sandhill Crane
Black-bellied Plover 1/ 6 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 DJC
Pacific Golden-Plover
American Golden-Plover
Snowy Plover
Semipalmated Plover 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 2 MJM
Killdeer 1/ 1 1/ 7 1/18 1/ 1 m.ob.
Mountain Plover
Black Oystercatcher
Black-necked Stilt 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH,DJC
American Avocet 1/ 6 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH,DJC
Greater Yellowlegs 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 DJC
Lesser Yellowlegs 1/ 6 1/ 6 SCR
Solitary Sandpiper
Willet 1/ 6 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH,DJC
Wandering Tattler
Spotted Sandpiper 2/ 8 2/16 1/ 1 AVe,CH
Whimbrel 1/ 6 1/ 6 2/ 8 1/ 4 CKS,JML
Long-billed Curlew 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH,DJC
Hudsonian Godwit
Bar-tailed Godwit
Marbled Godwit 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH,DJC
Ruddy Turnstone
Black Turnstone
Red Knot 1/ 6 1/ 6 SCR
Sanderling 1/ 6 1/ 6 MMR
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper 1/ 6 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH,DJC
Least Sandpiper 1/ 2 1/ 6 2/14 1/ 1 AVe,CH
White-rumped Sandpiper
Baird's Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
Dunlin 1/ 6 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH
Curlew Sandpiper
Stilt Sandpiper
Buff-breasted Sandpiper
Ruff
Short-billed Dowitcher 1/ 6 1/ 6 1/ 1 AVe,CH,DJC
Long-billed Dowitcher 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 2 SCR,MJM,AVe
Common Snipe 1/ 5 1/ 1 DJC
Wilson's Phalarope
Red-necked Phalarope
Red Phalarope 2/11 2/ 8 2/ 8 SBT
Pomarine Jaeger
Parasitic Jaeger
Long-tailed Jaeger
Laughing Gull
Franklin's Gull
Little Gull
Black-headed Gull
Bonaparte's Gull 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 DJC
Heermann's Gull
Mew Gull 1/ 2 1/19 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH,TGr
Ring-billed Gull 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob.
California Gull 1/ 1 1/ 4 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob.
Herring Gull 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH,DJC
Thayer's Gull 1/ 2 1/16 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH
??Iceland Gull 1/16 1/16 SBT,SCR,AJa,MH
Lesser Black-backed Gull 1/18 1/ 2 1/ 2 MJM
Western Gull 1/ 6 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH,DJC
Glaucous-winged Gull 1/ 6 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH,TGr
Glaucous Gull 1/ 6 2/24 1/ 6 SCR
Black-legged Kittiwake
Sabine's Gull
Caspian Tern
Elegant Tern
Common Tern
Arctic Tern
Forster's Tern 1/ 6 2/ 8 1/ 2 1/ 2 MJM
Least Tern
Black Tern
Black Skimmer 1/ 6 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH,DJC
Common Murre
Ancient Murrelet
Cassin's Auklet
Rock Dove 1/ 1 1/ 4 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob.
Band-tailed Pigeon 1/ 1 1/ 1 SCR
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove 1/ 1 1/ 4 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob.
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Greater Roadrunner
Barn Owl 1/ 9 1/ 9 MMR,RJe
Flammulated Owl
Western Screech-Owl 1/ 1 JMa
Great Horned Owl 1/14 1/ 1 DJC
Northern Pygmy-Owl 1/ 1 1/ 1 SCR,JMa
Burrowing Owl 1/ 5 1/20 1/ 2 1/ 1 DJC
Long-eared Owl
Short-eared Owl
Northern Saw-whet Owl 1/ 1 JMa
Lesser Nighthawk
Common Nighthawk
Common Poorwill
Black Swift
Chimney Swift
Vaux's Swift
White-throated Swift 1/18 1/21 2/22 1/ 8 RWR,FVs
Black-chinned Hummingbird
Anna's Hummingbird 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob.
Costa's Hummingbird
Calliope Hummingbird
Broad-tailed Hummingbird
Rufous Hummingbird
Allen's Hummingbird 1/25 AME
Belted Kingfisher 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/17 1/ 1 DJC
Lewis' Woodpecker 1/ 6 NLe,RWR,FVs
Acorn Woodpecker 1/ 1 1/ 6 2/28 1/ 1 SCR,JMa,DJC
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1/ 2 1/ 1 CKS,JML
Red-naped Sapsucker 1/ 6 1/ 6 MMR
Red-breasted Sapsucker 1/ 2 1/ 7 1/17 1/ 1 m.ob.
Williamson's Sapsucker
Nuttall's Woodpecker 1/ 2 1/ 7 1/ 3 1/ 2 m.ob.
Downy Woodpecker 1/ 1 1/ 3 1/ 1 SCR,CKS,JML
Hairy Woodpecker 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/ 3 1/ 1 SCR,JMa,DJC
Northern Flicker 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob.
Pileated Woodpecker
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Western Wood-Pewee
Willow Flycatcher
Least Flycatcher
Hammond's Flycatcher
Dusky Flycatcher
Gray Flycatcher
Pacific-slope Flycatcher 1/ 4 CCRS
Black Phoebe 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob.
Eastern Phoebe 1/ 2 3/ 1 1/ 2 SCR
Say's Phoebe 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/18 1/ 2 SCR
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Tropical Kingbird
Cassin's Kingbird
kingbird sp. 2/ 8 AGu
Western Kingbird
Eastern Kingbird
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Horned Lark 1/25 AME
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow 1/18 1/19 3/ 1 1/17 LCh
Violet-green Swallow 2/ 5 1/19 2/22 1/18 JDa
Nor. Rough-winged Swallow 2/ 8 2/25 2/28 2/ 8 SCR
Bank Swallow
Cliff Swallow 3/ 1 2/26 TRy
Barn Swallow 1/ 2 1/19 3/ 1 1/ 2 SCR
Steller's Jay 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/17 1/ 1 m.ob.
Western Scrub-Jay 1/ 1 1/ 4 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob.
Clark's Nutcracker
Black-billed Magpie
Yellow-billed Magpie 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob.
American Crow 1/ 1 1/ 4 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob.
Common Raven 1/ 1 1/ 5 2/13 1/ 1 m.ob.
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 1/ 1 1/16 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob.
Oak Titmouse 1/ 3 1/ 6 1/ 3 1/ 1 CKS,JML,DJC
Bushtit 1/ 1 1/ 4 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob.
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1/ 1 JMa
White-breasted Nuthatch 1/ 3 1/ 6 1/13 1/ 1 DJC
Pygmy Nuthatch 1/ 1 1/ 1 SCR,JMa
Brown Creeper 1/ 1 1/17 1/ 1 m.ob.
Rock Wren 1/19 1/13 1/13 MJM
Canyon Wren 1/ 1 JSa,HGe
Bewick's Wren 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob.
House Wren
Winter Wren 1/ 1 1/ 1 SCR
Marsh Wren 1/12 1/12 1/ 2 1/ 2 MJM
American Dipper
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1/ 2 1/ 2 SCR
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob.
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1/ 5 CJC
Western Bluebird 1/ 2 1/ 6 2/16 1/ 1 DJC
Mountain Bluebird 1/17 JLu
Townsend's Solitaire
Swainson's Thrush
Hermit Thrush 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/13 1/ 1 SCR,JMa
American Robin 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/13 1/ 1 m.ob.
Varied Thrush 1/ 1 1/ 1 SCR
Wrentit 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/17 1/ 1 SCR,JMa,DJC
Northern Mockingbird 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob.
Sage Thrasher
Brown Thrasher
California Thrasher 1/ 1 1/ 6 2/28 1/ 1 SCR
Red-throated Pipit
American Pipit 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 DJC
Bohemian Waxwing
Cedar Waxwing 1/ 2 1/14 1/ 1 JMa
Phainopepla 1/ 6 NLe,RWR,FVs
Northern Shrike
Loggerhead Shrike 1/ 1 1/19 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob.
European Starling 1/ 1 1/ 4 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob.
Bell's Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Cassin's Vireo
Plumbeous Vireo
Hutton's Vireo 1/ 1 1/19 1/ 3 1/ 1 SCR,JMa
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Tennessee Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler 1/ 4 1/24 3/ 1 1/ 4 SCR,CCRS
Nashville Warbler
Virginia's Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler 1/ 4 1/ 4 SCR
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob.
Black-throated Gray Warbler 1/ 9 SBT
Townsend's Warbler 1/ 1 1/ 1 SCR,JMa,DJC
Hermit Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Prairie Warbler 1/ 4 1/17 1/ 4 SCR
Palm Warbler 1/ 4 1/13 1/ 4 SCR,HLR
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-and-White Warbler
American Redstart
Prothonotary Warbler
Worm-eating Warbler
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Kentucky Warbler
Connecticut Warbler
MacGillivray's Warbler
Common Yellowthroat 1/ 4 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 2 MJM
Hooded Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Yellow-breasted Chat
Summer Tanager
Scarlet Tanager
Western Tanager 1/23 RWR
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Black-headed Grosbeak
Blue Grosbeak
Lazuli Bunting
Indigo Bunting
Dickcissel
Green-tailed Towhee
Spotted Towhee 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/ 3 1/ 1 SCR,JMa,DJC
California Towhee 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/13 1/ 1 m.ob.
Rufous-crowned Sparrow 1/ 2 1/ 2 SCR
American Tree Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Clay-colored Sparrow
Brewer's Sparrow
Black-chinned Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Lark Sparrow 1/19 1/ 4 1/ 4 MJM
Black-throated Sparrow
Sage Sparrow
Lark Bunting
Savannah Sparrow 1/ 2 1/12 1/ 4 1/ 1 DJC
Grasshopper Sparrow
Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow 1/ 9 fide AME
Fox Sparrow 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob.
Song Sparrow 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob.
Lincoln's Sparrow 1/ 2 1/13 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH
Swamp Sparrow 1/ 2 1/ 2 SCR
White-throated Sparrow 1/15 AJb
Golden-crowned Sparrow 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob.
White-crowned Sparrow 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob.
Harris' Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/ 3 1/ 1 m.ob.
Lapland Longspur
Chestnut-collared Longspur
Bobolink
Red-winged Blackbird 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 AVe,CH,DJC
Tricolored Blackbird 1/ 2 1/14 1/ 2 SCR
Western Meadowlark 1/ 2 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 DJC
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird 1/ 1 1/ 4 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob.
Great-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird 1/ 2 1/16 1/18 1/ 1 AVe,CH,DJC
Hooded Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
Bullock's Oriole
Scott's Oriole
Purple Finch 1/ 1 2/28 1/ 1 SCR
Cassin's Finch
House Finch 1/ 1 1/ 6 1/ 2 1/ 1 m.ob.
Red Crossbill
Pine Siskin 1/18 1/ 9 TGr
Lesser Goldfinch 1/ 1 1/13 1/ 4 1/ 1 m.ob.
Lawrence's Goldfinch 1/ 6 NLe,RWR,FVs
American Goldfinch 1/ 1 1/ 7 1/20 1/ 1 m.ob.
Evening Grosbeak
House Sparrow 1/ 2 1/ 6 2/22 1/ 1 CKS,JML,DJC
Observer codes: m.ob.-many observers,AGu-Arnel Guanlao,AJa-Al
Jaramillo,AJb-Alberta Jasberg,AME-Al Eisner,AVe-Ann Verdi, CCRS-Coyote
Creek Riparian Station,CH-Caralisa Hughes,CJC-Chuck Coston,CKS-Chris
Salander,DJC-Don & Jill Crawford, FVs-Frank Vanslager,GLB-Gloria
LeBlanc,HGe-Harriet Gerson,HLR-Heather Rottenborn, JDa-Jim
Danzenbaker,JLa-Jolene Lange,JLu-John Luther,JMa-John Mariani,JMe-John
Meyer, JML-Jeanne Leavitt,JSa-June Santoro,KLP-Kathy Parker, MH-Matt
Heindel,MJM-Mike Mammoser,MLF-Mike Feighner,MMR-Mike Rogers,NLe-Nick
Lethaby, RJe-Richard Jeffers,RCo-Rita Colwell,RLe-Rosalie
Lefkowitz,RWR-Bob Reiling,SBT-Scott Terrill,SCR-Steve
Rottenborn,SGu-Stephan Gunn,TGr-Tom Grey, TRy-Tom Ryan, VTi-Vivek
Tiwari,WGB-Bill Bousman
SANTA CLARA COUNTY YEAR LIST HISTORY
1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 HIGH
COMP 278 295 303 293 296 305 305
SCR 279 291 262 251 268 291
MJM 234 250 265 242 253 276 276
MMR 214 234 254 271 257 258 275 275
MLF 136 183 199 209 215 235 194 165 218 265 265
WGB 216 228 245 170 245
AME 240 220 219 231 240
KLP 232 232
RWR 204 201 203 228 228
TGr 189 211 211
CKS 185 195 186 195
GLB 190 190
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From email@hidden Tue Mar 03 08:31:36 1998
All:
On my bike commute this morning, 3/3/98, I found a BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER
along Stevens Creek about halfway between L'Avenida and Crittenden. This may
be an early migrant or the bird Chuck Coston found earlier in the winter.
Lower down on the creek was a single GREEN HERON, looking quite naked along
the muddy banks where cattails once grew.
Shoreline Lake is still full of GREATER SCAUP, SURF SCOTERS, and at
least one female RED-BREASTED MERGANSER.
Bill
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From email@hidden Tue Mar 03 09:27:41 1998
All,
Yesterday evening from 5:45pm to 6:15pm I checked Shoreline Lake
for ducks. Many SURF SCOTERS were flying into the lake to roost
and by the time I left there were 240+ SURF SCOTERS there. I
picked out the immature male BLACK SCOTER fairly quickly as the
bird slept in the northeastern part of the lake. By walking around
there and getting closer I was eventually afforded nice close views.
The bill has no "knob" yet, but there is a flesh-colored line where
the base of the "knob" will be. Also, there is much dusky mottling
under the chin and onto the sides of the lower cheeks, as well as
black barring on the chest (and some side) feathers. Thus I believe
that this is the same bird that John Meyer had the day before.
Also on the lake were 2 fem/imm RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS and several
EARED and HORNED GREBES, a few of which were well on their way to
alternate plumage.
Mike Rogers
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From email@hidden Tue Mar 03 13:26:47 1998
Oops, forgot to mention that the scoter threesome was rounded out
by 3 female/immature WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS that flew into the lake
at 6:00pm. Not surprisingly, they became more difficult to pick
out once they landed, but also allowed close views in the northeast
corner of the lake.
Mike Rogers
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From email@hidden Wed Mar 04 07:21:10 1998
Folks:
Don Roberson and Rita Caratello saw a CASSIN'S KINGBIRD on
Sunday, 3/1/98, along Hwy 152 SE of Road G7 in a large eucalyptus.
It's not clear to me how near this is to last year's nest trees,
but it seems close. He notes that this is a typical arrival date
for Monterey birds.
Bill
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From email@hidden Wed Mar 04 08:53:38 1998
1. Larry Tunstall has updated the Bay Area Calendar for March 7-13.
2. Mike Rogers has updated the 1998 Santa Clara County Year List (#202-#206).
3. Mike Feighner's 1997 California Big Year List is Posted (403 species)
under Misc. Trip Lists.
4. I have added the DIRECT URL for Joe Morlan's "Santa Clara Birders'
Mailing List Archive" (see under "Santa Clara ...").
5. Have you tried out the bird identification test on "The Virtual Birder" URL?
Kendric
South Bay Birders Unlimited (SBBU)
http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~kendric/birds/
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From email@hidden Wed Mar 04 15:55:46 1998
All,
I tried again at lunch for the Lake Cunningham 2nd-winter LESSER
BLACK-BACKED GULL and this time was successful, finding the bird
swimming just east of the island. It later flew to the flooded fields
to the north (Rolling Hills Picnic Area) to eat dead fish with several
other gulls, allowing for some nice photos. The bird has changed
quite a bit since October 31st, as others have noted. The back is now
predominantly gray and the primaries are fully grown. The bright
yellow eye really stands out against a very dark "black eye" formed by
heavy smudging and streaking in this area. The bill base was still
pretty dark, with only a hint of flesh tones at the base of the lower
mandible. The tip to the tail is whiter, with especially broad white
tips to one or two feathers just left of center. The CLIFF SWALLOWS
are already nesting under the eaves of the building at the base of the
pier.
A quick check of nearby Shady Oaks Park quickly turned up the EASTERN
PHOEBE, less than 100 yards south of the park about halfway between
the street and the blue jungle gym.
Mike Rogers
3/4/98
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From email@hidden Thu Mar 05 12:39:42 1998
All:
On 2 March, the imm. GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE was still at Hellyer
Park. The pair of OSPREYS were at Parkway Lakes, the male calling
incessantly. We ought to keep an eye on this pair, as they should
begin nest-building soon if they're going to breed here. An imm.
GOLDEN EAGLE, an imm. male COMMON GOLDENEYE, and 4 GREATER SCAUP were
aso here.
On 4 March, two pairs of AMERICAN CROWS were building nests in fan
palms along Blossom Hill Road in south San Jose, and a crow from a
third pair was carrying nesting material. Along Silver Creek Valley
Road, I had three male ALLEN'S HUMMINGBIRDS, a pair of ad. GOLDEN
EAGLES, and a pair of PRAIRIE FALCONS. On pond A-12 in Alviso, Scott
and I counted 12 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS (including one ad. male); a
female was in the small marsh between the marina and the railroad
tracks (visible from Scott's office!).
Today (5 March), I had another pair of AMERICAN CROWS building a nest
in a fan palm along Monterey Highway in south San Jose. The pair of
OSPREYS were still at Parkway Lakes. This afternoon, I had a RED-
NECKED GREBE in New Chicago Marsh right at the corner of Gold St. and
Elizabeth St. in Alviso; the bird had some black on the head and a hint
of rust on the neck, but it was still mostly in basic plumage. The
bird was not present in the morning, and I was unable to refind it
15 minutes later. I don't think that it was the same bird that
Scott and I saw previously at pond A-12, as we've covered the area
pretty well over the past few weeks without seeing it.
Steve Rottenborn
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From email@hidden Thu Mar 05 17:14:47 1998
Hi SBBers -
I had the (rainy) day off and decided to bird my way north starting at
the south end of Hwy. G8. Uvas Reservoir was dead, only a few MALLARDS
there. Calero Reservoir was a little better with OSPREY, BONAPARTE'S
GULLS, COMMON GOLDENEYE, and other assorted regulars. At Almaden
Reservoir, all I could find were 4 WOOD DUCKS (2 pairs) and several
MALLARDS. Nothing unusual was at Almaden Lake Park despite the large
numbers of gulls there. I then tried for the PALM WARBLER at Fair Oaks
Park, but no luck there! I also checked Shoreline Lake for the scoters,
but the only scoters there were SURF SCOTERS. On my way back home in
Monterey County, I saw an immature GOLDEN EAGLE along Highway 101 near
the place where you can pay to fish. I checked it pretty thoroughly to
make sure it wasn't a BALD EAGLE, which is what I would have expected
near a bocy of water like that. So, that's why we call it the rainy day
blues! Nothing exciting.
Steve Rovell
email@hidden
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From email@hidden Fri Mar 06 12:39:28 1998
All,
This morning Frank Vanslager and I saw a male Osprey flying from Santa Cruz
County into Santa Clara County near where the paving ends on Loma Prieta Rd.
We also had a Spotted Sandpiper near the boat launch area of Lexington
Reservoir. Two male and one female Common Merganser , 12-14 Eared Grebes as
well as approximately six Western/Clark's grebes were in the reservoir with
the "usual suspects".
Take care,
Bob Reiling, 12:19 AM, 3/6/98
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From email@hidden Fri Mar 06 16:19:59 1998
Hello All
Today (3/6/98) a check at the northeast corner of Shoreline Lake
(near the little pier) revealed a good number of both HORNED GREBES
as well as EARED GREBES, with a couple of PIED-BILLED GREBES as well.
There were 8 to 12 each of both EARED and HORNED, with some well on
the way to Alternate plumage, as previously reported.
Also, the north pond of the Palo Alto flood control basin turned up
3 pairs of BLUE-WINGED TEAL in addition to 8 to 10 GREEN-WINGED TEAL,
along with the usual suspects.
Alan
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From email@hidden Fri Mar 06 17:18:55 1998
A pair of RED-TAILED HAWKS is building a nest on a power tower across Hellye=
r
Ave from where I work. =
Mike Mammoser
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From email@hidden Sat Mar 07 13:27:16 1998
While birding in some Doug Fir forest in the Santa Cruz mountains today, I
pished up a couple of Fos Sparrows. One was a typical member of the Pacific
NW/W Alaska groups (I'll call it a Sooty Fox Sparrow for the rest of the
this message), which constitute the great majority of wintering Fox
Sparrows in this area. The other was quite different.
Compared to the Sooty Fox Sparrow, this bird was clearly less stocky and
smaller-headed and billed. I was unable to see yellow on the lower
mandible, even though it was obvious on the Sooty Fox Sparrow. However, to
some extent this may be due to the much smaller bill size of the odd bird.
This bird showed a fairly well-defined gray supercilium, which is
rarely/never shown by Sooty Fox Sparrow. The ear-coverts were reddish
brown. The breast was streaked reddish-brown. The streaks formed
well-defined lines and were not scattered randomly. In contrast the Sooty
Fox Sparrow showed an almost solidly dark brown upper breast with heavy
random spotting further down (this pattern is typical).
On the upperparts, short dark streaks could clearly be seen in the mantle
and the tertials and upper greater coverts were obviously dark centered,
much more so than the Sooty Fox Sparrow, which also lacked streaking on the
mantle. Both sparrows were most obviously reddish brown on the tail/rump
area. The odd Fox Sparrow was not dramatically brighter red than the Sooty
Fox Sparrow (my recollection is that E Coast Fox Sparrows are brighter red
than this bird).
Looking at Olson's book, this bird seems to clearly be either an altivagens
or a zaboria. Any idea which?
Nick Lethaby
Director of Strategic Partnerships
Elanix, Inc.
Tel: 408 941 0223
Fax: 408 941 0984
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From email@hidden Sat Mar 07 20:14:37 1998
Jean and I spent a good 20 minutes scoping a very white gull on the mud
bank of the Salinas River just upstream of the bridge past the marina.
It was standing on one foot and preening. This bird was WHITE except the
breast showed quite a bit of grayish-brown -almost as if it was lightly
oiled. There was some gray spotting on the upper part of the mantle and
the scapulars and lesser coverts appeared to have some pale dark
spotting. The wing tips and the tail were white. The wing tips protruded
beyond the tail but from our angle (head on at about 45 deg to line of
sight) they didn't appear to protrude very far past the tail. The bill
had a shallow (near 180 deg) gonidial angle and was all black. The eye
appeared to be brown. Legs were pink or on the pink side of
flesh-colored. The left foot or leg appeared to be injured as the bird
held it up at all times and the foot hung limply and at an odd angle. It
was close by a second-year California and fairly close to a flock of
Ring-billeds. Its size was somewhat larger than the California and the
Ring-bills. A Glaucous-winged x Western flew over and was clearly much
larger. Neither Jean nor I have ever seen an Iceland Gull (L.
glaucoides) but a first winter Iceland is the nearest thing to it in our
books. We never saw it fly. After we ate lunch it was still in the same
location.
The Moss landing harbor area was full of Surf Scoters although we saw a
few White-winged Scoters fly in.
We saw 8-9 Pelagic Cormorants and several dozen Double-crested as we
motored along the Pacific Grove shoreline.
Lou Young
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From email@hidden Sun Mar 08 10:52:56 1998
All:
a Short Eared owl was at Mountain View's Shoreline Park on
Saturday from 9 to 12 a.m. out on the dike near the new tidal gates. We
had excellent views as he flew along the dike showing off his dark wrist
marks and floopy flight pattern.
--
Richard Carlson
Palo Alto, California
email@hidden
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From email@hidden Mon Mar 09 09:49:29 1998
Yesterday, Sunday, March 8, Jeanne Leavitt
and I saw an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER on the canyon
trail above Belgatos Park, S. of Blossom Hill Rd.
on Belgatos Rd. The bird was about 2/3 of the way
up the trail, looking for food. It was mostly
in breeding/summer plummage, except for the eye,
which had a partial yellow ring rather than a
line above it. The trail is very muddy
along the creek -- boots recommended.
- Chris Salander
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From email@hidden Mon Mar 09 12:08:20 1998
Hello all:
On Sunday 3/7, I did a short trip to Merced NWR and stopped at some south
county sites along the way. At San Felipe Lake, the GREAT BLUE HERONS were
adding sticks to their nests, AMERICAN COOTS were also starting nest
construction. Dunne Lane was quiet except for TREE SWALLOWS checking out
holes in the eucalyptus - no kingbirds, as was Bloomfield Rd. (route G7). I
did see a BARN SWALLOW on the Santa Clara county side of the Pajaro River on
Bloomfield.
Steve Miller
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From email@hidden Mon Mar 09 14:12:48 1998
On 3/8, scouting for herons, Joan and I had a pair of TURKEYS fly across
Chesbro lake just above the dam. Are they seen often in that area?
cjcoston
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From email@hidden Mon Mar 09 14:29:08 1998
All:
Today (9 March), I checked Shoreline Lake for the Black Scoter but
had to settle for an adult male BARROW'S GOLDENEYE. Scott Terrill
later checked the lake and had a basic-plumaged RED-NECKED GREBE
near the boathouse.
This evening, I saw 15 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS (including one adult
male) still on salt pond A-12 in Alviso. A dead female-type
(headless) WHITE-WINGED SCOTER was near the Alviso marina.
Steve Rottenborn
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From email@hidden Mon Mar 09 14:41:15 1998
On Saturday, 7 Mar 98, I went to the coast, starting at West Cliff Drive =
in Santa Cruz. I failed to find the Rock Sandpiper, though I did get =
good looks at a couple of BRANT that were feeding on the mossy =
rocks. It was interesting to see ROCK DOVES actually using the cliff =
face here.
Ocean scoping wasn't very good, but at Pigeon Point I did get very nice =
views of a winter-plumaged adult BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE =
sitting on the rock. At Pescadero Beach an immature Kittiwake =
provided even better looks.
On Sunday, 8 Mar 98, I joined Steve Rottenborn at the Sunnyvale =
sewage ponds. Steve found an interesting gull on the levee, but our =
hopes of studying it were dashed when a maintenance truck came by =
and flushed it away. The bird may have been the size of a Herring Gull =
(or a little smaller), with a less massive bill than Western Gull. It had a =
=
mantle approaching the darkness of Western Gull, and had a very pale =
eye. Steve initially thought it looked like a Lesser Black-backed, but the =
bird had pink legs and feet. Steve watched it when it flew, and said that =
the wing tip pattern looked like Western Gull. It remains something of =
a mystery, unless Steve was able to dig something up in research. Other =
than that, we had an adult male MERLIN on a power tower, and a pair =
of WESTERN GREBES was again performing courtship displays in =
salt pond A4. One of these grebes had more of an orangey colored bill =
than the other, and we wondered whether it may have been a hybrid.
At Sunnyvale Baylands Park we had a pair of EURASIAN WIGEON, =
with the female looking quite distinctive compared to nearby =
AMERICAN WIGEON. A pair of BLUE-WINGED TEAL was also =
here, and we flushed up a COMMON SNIPE.
At Shoreline Lake, it took us some minutes to pick out the BLACK =
SCOTER, but we finally found it. It did have a yellowish line on both =
sides of the bill along, what would have been on a male bird the base of, =
the knob. However, I was unable to see any swelling in this area that =
would indicate a young male, and in all other respects this bird looked =
like a female. ?? The RED-BREASTED MERGANSER was still on the =
lake as well. The AMERICAN BITTERN was in the southeast corner =
of the Forebay, and 4 BLUE-WINGED TEAL (including 3 males) were =
in the Palo Alto flood control basin. =
We ran into Les Chibana at Charleston Slough leading a group on a Big =
Duck Day. Since Steve had to leave, I decided (inspired by Les' quest) =
to spend the afternoon chasing waterfowl species, to see what I could =
come up with.
I went to the Palo Alto Baylands, where I found the immature =
GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE at the duck pond, and the =
male WOOD DUCK that Les' group had seen on the estuary. I then =
went to Alviso, where I had 6 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS on salt =
pond A12. A stop at the Los Gatos Creek Park produced the 2 =
COMMON LOONS and adult male WHITE-WINGED SCOTER that =
have been on the northern pond, and the 2 female HOODED =
MERGANSERS on the Oka ponds.
I then drove to the goose farm off of Tennant in the south county, where =
I found that the 8 ROSS' GEESE were still present. Good looks at 2 of =
them grazing in the enclosure showed them not to be toe-cut, banded, or =
pinioned. A count of SNOW GEESE turned up 21. Recent counts of =
captive birds here this winter indicate that some of these should be free-
flying birds, so I added them to the list based on that logic. The 11 birds=
=
I was able to study well all showed signs of captivity though.
A tour of the south county reservoirs produced 2 COMMON =
MERGANSERS on Chesbro and 28 WOOD DUCKS on Uvas. I then =
drove all the way back to the Palo Alto flood control basin and scoured =
it for a Redhead, but came up empty. So I drove to Arastradero and =
found a flock of 115 RING-NECKED DUCKS on Felt Lake. Returning =
to Shoreline Lake, I scoured it for a Barrow's Goldeneye, failing that as =
well. So I finished the day scoping the bay from the mouth of the Palo =
Alto estuary, hoping for a last minute Oldsquaw. My final tally of =
waterfowl was 27 species. The big misses were Redhead and Barrow's =
Goldeneye.
Mike Mammoser
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From email@hidden Mon Mar 09 14:56:25 1998
All,
Saturday, 3/7/98, I heard the full song and saw a male VARIED THRUSH in
my yard. Earlier in the week had heard only one drawn out note from the
song. I also had a singing BROWN CREEPER last week. This comes from the
western border of Santa Clara County along Skyine Blvd. at about 2200 ft.
elevation. Starting on a new yard list in a new yard sure is a lot of fun!
Sunday, 3/8/98, I led my class on a "Duck Blitz" to find as many ducks as
possible locally. We managed to stop at 5 of a planned 11 locations and
found 21 duck species and 2 geese. The highlight ducks: BLACK SCOTER
(female) on pond A1, WOOD DUCK at Palo Alto Baylands, and a EURASIAN WIGEON at
Sunnyvale Baylands Park. We also found a female RED-BREASTED MERGANSER near
the turnout in the PA Flood Control Basin (PAFCB), 3 male/1 female
BLUE-WINGED TEAL also in the PAFCB, BARROW'S GOLDENEYE on Shoreline Lake, and
HOODED MERGANSERS at Oka Ponds. We also found the imm. GREATER-WHITE FRONTED
GOOSE at the PA Baylands.
Of the duck species seen recently in the South Bay, we missed
White-winged Scoter, Common Merganser, and Ring-necked Duck.
The Black Scoter was with a large raft of SURF SCOTERS, scaup sp., and
RUDDY DUCKS about halfway across pond A1. Frank said that the group was much
closer to the Shoreline Park side of the pond when he first found it. It
was dark brown overall with a clearly demarcated, un-mottled, off-white
cheek and foreneck. I could not see any bill detail at that distance; also,
it slept with its bill tucked in most of my viewing time.
The male Wood Duck was found at high tide along the shore of the body of
water that lies between Bixby Park and the Sea Scout bldg. It was very
near the first parking area after the gates to PA Baylands. A very odd
location for a woody.
The Eurasian Wigeon was seen to the north from the curved viewing
structure east of the ballfields.
We also saw the AMERICAN BITTERN at Mtn. View Forebay. We did not see the
BLACK SKIMMERS in the Charleston Slough vicinity in the morning, but I
found 13 of them roosting on the exposed mud very near the Sea Scout bldg.
at PA Baylands in the afternoon.
Thanks to Mike Mammoser and Steve Rottenborn for telling us that they saw
a Black Scoter on Shoreline Lake that later flew out in the direction of
pond A1. Thanks to Frank Vanslager for telling us about the bird that we
saw and for his Questar. Thanks also to Mike Mammoser for telling us about
the Eurasian Wigeon at Sunnyvale Baylands Park.
Les
==========================================
Les Chibana, Mountain View email@hidden
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From email@hidden Mon Mar 09 15:25:30 1998
All,
Today 3/9/98, while crossing highway 237 to visit the CCRS library I was
treated to an OSPREY soaring low off to the north just before crossing
the Guadalupe River in Alviso.
Saturday 3/7/98 the wintering ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER was again along
Montecito Ave in Mountain View.
Mike Rogers
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From email@hidden Mon Mar 09 15:56:16 1998
While walking along the Coyote Creek trail at lunch time today, I had a coup=
le
of singing ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS.
Mike Mammoser
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From email@hidden Mon Mar 09 16:58:49 1998
Hi Birders -
I was informed today of a TUFTED DUCK seen today near King City on
private property. Last time there was a TUDU in Monterey County it was
in the very same location. Might be a returning bird. However, the last
one was there for only 1 day. If anyone wants information on the bird (I
can't tell you where it is, but I can tell you who to contact) e-mail me.
Steve Rovell
email@hidden
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From email@hidden Tue Mar 10 10:06:36 1998
All,
Steve has been researching just what it takes to separate immature
male and female Black Scoters and it may not be easy. I called the
Shoreline Lake Black Scoter an immature male because
1) There was a line of fleshy yellow developing where the front part
of the base of the yellow knob would be on a male.
2) There was some dusky mottling under the chin that extended onto the
lower cheek. This was mainly visible from head-on. From the side it
could disappear and look just like a "scrunched" up neck.
3) There was some black barring on the chest and flanks, again perhaps
only visible from head-on and at close range.
The NGS "first-winter male" obviously has much more of a yellow knob,
but the black barring is an excellent match and the duskiness below
the eye looks very much like that on the chin and upper neck of the
Shoreline Lake bird.
Others have called the bird a female because these marks are all hard
to see at a distance and there is no obvious black mottling in the
back or elsewhere that should perhaps be expected of an immature male
at this time of year. Although keep in mind that an immature male
Black Scoter at Shoreline Lake in mid-May! of 1991, although having a
yellow knob, showed only partial black/dusky molting on the face even
two months later!
Steve has found that female Black Scoters can have yellow "at the
base" of the bill, but it is unclear whether they can show the
Shoreline Lake bird's pattern. Also Madge & Burn's Waterfowl shows
female BLSC with some dark (black?) scalloping on the chest. Thus
perhaps more work needs to be done to definitively sex this bird.
This in mind, I headed back to Shoreline Lake yesterday evening
3/9/98. Unfortunately I was unable to get there until 6:10pm and
didn't find the BLACK SCOTER until 6:23pm, by which time it was pretty
dark. Also the bird was near the island and by viewing from the
Terminal Ave end of the lake the distances were much greater than my
previous observation. Thus I could see nothing new, although I could
confirm the duskiness under the chin.
A female-plumaged RED-BREASTED MERGANSER was on the lake as well.
This morning 3/10/98 I found an AMERICAN CROW nest along Shoreline Ave
near Middlefield Rd. Seems like they're breeding in force this year!
Mike Rogers
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From email@hidden Tue Mar 10 11:40:33 1998
REPLY RE: Black Scoter sex
All, =
No, nothing kinky here.... at least, to us birders...
I'm glad Mike Rogers posted the note about the sex determination
of the Black Scoter sightings; I was expecting to see some discussion
about this. I've been poring through different guides, also, and decided =
that my report of the weekend sightings should have said "female-type" =
Black Scoter, as it was much too distant for me to make any definite =
statement about its sex. Frank Vanslager may want to weigh in with =
his opinion as he got a closer look at the bird in pond A1 with his =
Questar =
while it was preening. I saw it raise its head once as it spent most of =
my viewing time sleeping.
A COMMON RAVEN was back at the power pylon near Mtn. View Forebay,
apparently continuing with the nest building that seemed to stop for a =
week or two. This tower is located across the street from 2685 Marine
Way. =
Les
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From email@hidden Wed Mar 11 18:29:55 1998
On Tuesday, 10 Mar 98, I went for a walk along the Coyote Creek trail at
lunch time. The immature GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE was still at
Hellyer Park. Two pairs of WOOD DUCKS were on the creek just outside of
work. NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS were checking out the holes in the
hwy 101 overpass of the creek.
Also, last Sunday as I came by Calero Reservoir, I checked the power
towers. As I mentioned previously, the Golden Eagle nest that had been
there for a number of years has fallen apart. However, on the next tower
over I noticed a metal plate attached to the top. On this plate was a
mass of sticks, and there may be a chance that the eagles are building a
new nest here.
Mike Mammoser
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From email@hidden Thu Mar 12 08:16:02 1998
All,
On the Wednesday SCVAS field trip an adult Bald Eagle was in a tree across
from the boat launch area of Colero Reservoir. This bird was best seen from
the Ranger residence east of the boat launch facility. We also had a huge
flock of Cliff Swallows, the first that I had seen this year. (Last Sunday my
wife and I had a flock of 7-8 Barn Swallows, also first of the year, near the
bridge over Adobe Creek at HWY 101.)
Take care,
Bob Reiling, 7:45 AM, 3/12/98
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From email@hidden Thu Mar 12 11:42:47 1998
All:
On my bike commute this morning, 3/12/98, I saw an adult male BARROW'S
GOLDENEYE and two female RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS in Shoreline Lake. I
estimated 210+ SURF SCOTERS in the lake as well and scaup species remain
abundant in the salt ponds and impoundments next to the Palo Alto and Mountain
View bike trails.
Bill
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From email@hidden Thu Mar 12 17:06:25 1998
This didn't seem to go out on the first try. Apologies for duplicates if
it did. L
All,
I got home at about 10:30 last night to hear some Western Screech-Owls
calling around the house; one apparent WESO gave a few staccato "cluck"
sounds at one point. Mary heard a Northern Saw-whet Owl calling at about 9:15p
out back. Great Horned Owls took over the song duties later. This is in
the northeastern corner of Santa Clara County off Skyline Blvd.
We also caught and moved a mouse outdoors. As far a we could tell, it
looked like a Pinyon Mouse (Peromyscus truei), but we didn't bother to
measure it to be sure. It had large ears, eyes, a long tail and a bit of a tuft
at the tip of the tail.
Les
==========================================
Les Chibana, Mountain View email@hidden
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From email@hidden Thu Mar 12 17:41:00 1998
To everyone,
The Black Skimmers have been seen frequently on the island
in the newly restored marsh at the Palo Alto Baylands. They
are exhibiting a behavior that many of us have never seen,
sort of a sideways scraping motion. Does anyone have
information on this type of behavior in these birds?
I'm trying to keep a record of the Black Skimmers in the Palo Alto
Baylands, I would appreciate any input.
Thank you,
Deborah Bartens
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From email@hidden Fri Mar 13 07:15:37 1998
On Thu., 12 march, Deborah Bartens wrote:
> The Black Skimmers have been seen frequently on the island
> in the newly restored marsh at the Palo Alto Baylands. They
> are exhibiting a behavior that many of us have never seen,
> sort of a sideways scraping motion. Does anyone have
> information on this type of behavior in these birds?
> I'm trying to keep a record of the Black Skimmers in the Palo Alto
> Baylands, I would appreciate any input.
There were 13 on the island during the noon hour yesterday, March 12,
when the tide was quite high. There were also numerous gulls and
avocets on the island.
----------------
George Oetzel
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From email@hidden Fri Mar 13 08:33:28 1998
>>The Black Skimmers have been seen frequently on the island
>> in the newly restored marsh at the Palo Alto Baylands. They
>> are exhibiting a behavior that many of us have never seen,
>> sort of a sideways scraping motion.
Where is this newly restored marsh? Skimmers and terns usually nest
by making a scrape in the sand with their bodies.
--
Joseph Morlan SF Bay Area birding, Rarity photos, ID quizes.
380 Talbot Ave. #206 http://hills.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~jmorlan/
Pacifica, CA 94044 email@hidden
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From email@hidden Fri Mar 13 12:08:53 1998
> From: email@hidden (Joseph Morlan)
> Where is this newly restored marsh? Skimmers and terns usually nest
> by making a scrape in the sand with their bodies.
I'll write this as if you were a stranger to the area. Sorry if I
include things you already know.
Baylands is at the end of Embarcadero Rd (E from 101). Go past the
airport, L at the stop sign, and proceed to water's edgewhere there
is a parking lot on the right & the Lucy Evans Nature Center bldg on
the left. As you enter the parking lot, the restored marsh is on your
R. There are 2 islands, a hilly one right close, and a low one past
the end of the parking lot. The Skimmers were on the low one.
If you park and walk along the continuing road a bit, there's an
observation bench well placed for looking at the island. Better view
than I've seen in their other favorite place near San Antonio Rd. But
still had all 13 birds in one field of view of 10X bins.
We've had increasing numbers each winter for several years, but no
nests yet, as far as I've heard.
----------------
George Oetzel
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From email@hidden Fri Mar 13 13:05:02 1998
REPLY RE: Owls
If you didn't catch it and it matters to you, we're in the northWESTern =
corner of the county. =
I wrote:
>All,
>
>I got home at about 10:30 last night to hear some Western Screech-Owls
>calling around the house; one apparent WESO gave a few staccato "cluck"
>sounds at one point. Mary heard a Northern Saw-whet Owl calling at about =
9:15p
>out back. Great Horned Owls took over the song duties later. This is in
>the northeastern corner of Santa Clara County off Skyline Blvd.
>
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
Les Chibana, Mountain View email@hidden
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From email@hidden Fri Mar 13 15:10:46 1998
email@hidden wrote:
> We've had increasing numbers each winter for several years, but no
> nests yet, as far as I've heard.
> ----------------
> George Oetzel
We've had several successful nesting attempts in the south bay in recent
years. In Santa Clara County, birds were fledged from a nest in a
private salt pond near Moffett Field one year, and a very public and
avidly watched nesting attempt fledged two young from a small island in
a salt pond at the border of Shoreline Park a couple years ago. Alameda
County has also had successful nesting attempts in recent years at
Hayward Regional Shoreline.
Mike Mammoser
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From email@hidden Fri Mar 13 16:02:26 1998
Larry Tunstall has updated the Bay Area Calendar for March 14-20
Kendric
South Bay Birders Unlimited (SBBU)
http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~kendric/birds/
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From email@hidden Sat Mar 14 10:40:44 1998
Friday evening( 5:30-630PM low tide) the Black Skimmers( 13) were on
the mud flats in front of the Yacht Harbor Building. Also on Friday a
Wood Duck, male, was walking and foraging on the mud flats Northeast
of the Skimmers.( approximately 20 -30 yards)The flight feathers
appeared to be resting somewhat asymmetrically on the back,
with the feathers on the birds left side appearing lighter in color. It
made no attempt to fly and was fairly approachable. Perhaps this was
the same bird we saw on Les Chibana's field trip last Sunday.
Would this bird be moulting or injured?
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From email@hidden Sat Mar 14 17:03:33 1998
Hi South-bay-birders,
This morning Jolene and I walked the footpath along Alamitos Creek from
the parking area on Camden Avenue near Graystone down to Almaden Lake
Park. Looks like it's still too early for most migrant songbirds. Did
see numerous VIOLET-GREEN and N. ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS, and a SCRUB JAY
that was carrying nesting material, so spring is partially here. Heard
RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS singing many times along the trail. OAK
TITMOUSES/MICE and CALIFORNIA THRASHERS were also singing, with one of
the latter doing his raspy bit on a limb right beside the path. If there
are any photographers out there who want close-ups of COMMON MERGANSERS,
we saw plenty of both sexes along the creek, and they seem pretty
accustomed to the human traffic. At Almaden Lake there was 1 COMMON
MOORHEN with the coots. Heard but did not see a SELASPHORUS type hummer
on our way back. Also on the way back watched a GREAT EGRET wolfing down
a Western Fence Lizard. Good birding--
John Mariani
email@hidden
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From email@hidden Sat Mar 14 18:42:19 1998
On Sat. March 14, Cliff Swallows were seen at the northwest corner of
Gold St.and Highway 237. They historically nested under the bridge at
the end of this seasonal marsh. There were about 25 flying under the
bridge and back out again. The water is quite high and there was not
much room under the bridge. Does anyone know if they nested under this
bridge last year?
Side note. Though this marsh will be preserved, the illegally filled
area that lies between it and the Guadalupe Slough, will soon be
developed.
Ginny
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From email@hidden Sun Mar 15 15:41:10 1998
All:
Today (15 March), Heather, Rebecca, and I went to Ed Levin C.P., where
we ran into Mike Mammoser near the ranger's residence. We eventually
saw 4 male ALLEN'S HUMMINGBIRDS, 2 GOLDEN EAGLES (1 ad., 1 subadult),
2 RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKERS, and the male hybrid flicker that has been
here for several consecutive winters.
After Mike left, I found a very unusual duck in the pond here. The bird
was apparently mated to a female MALLARD, as it and the female fed and
rested together for more than two hours, during which time this male
chased a number of male Mallards away from the female. I suspect that
it was a hybrid between Mallard and either Northern Pintail or Gadwall,
but I was not able to determine what the non-Mallard parent species was.
The bird was approximately the same size and shape as a typical male
Mallard but was possibly somewhat smaller-headed and thinner-necked.
The head was somewhat more rounded and had a slightly steeper crown
than a typical male Mallard, and the bill was narrower (as seen from
above) and less deep (especially at the base) than that of a typical
male Mallard. The legs and feet were bright yellow (like those of a
Gadwall, not orange like those of a Mallard). The bill was extensively
black along the culmen (from the base to the black nail) and along the
very lower edge of the bill near the tip; the sides of the bill were
gray, except for a narrow black line right at the base of the bill.
The bill pattern was superficially similar to that of a male pintail,
but the black on the culmen was not as well defined (having more
irregular edges) as on a pintail, and there was no blue tinge to the
gray on the sides of the bill.
The head feathering was mostly green on the posterior half of the head.
There was some green feathering on the anterior portion of the head on
the lower head and near the eye, but most of the cheeks, chin, foreface,
and forehead were a warm buff-brown with dark dusky spots or short streaks.
This portion of the head actually looked most similar to a female
Eurasian Wigeon (!), and given that this bird was a male, I honestly don't
know how such a pattern would be derived. There was no white on the neck
(as would be shown by a Mallard or pintail) at all. The breast had warm
cinnamon-brown and black barring but also had extensive dark rusty brown
like a male Mallard. I was not able to determine exactly how this
patterning produced the overall Mallard-like breast pattern, but these
feathers were clearly not typical of a Mallard's. The sides of the breast,
the sides, and flanks were grayish overall, being finely vermiculated with
black and gray-white. This vermiculation was not as fine as that of a
male Mallard (which has extremely narrow dark barring in these areas),
being more similar to a male Gadwall or pintail; these areas were
slightly darker overall than on a male Mallard. This vermiculation also
extended onto the sides of the breast, feathers that would normally be
dark chestnut-brown on a pure male Mallard. The back and scapulars
were also vermiculated with black and gray/brown, being slightly more
brown than the flanks. The feathers of the upper back were vermiculated
(unlike the plain dark brown feathers of a male Mallard, and there was
no dark "stripe" on the edges of the back/scapulars as on a male Mallard,
so the upperparts, sides, and flanks, were more uniformly colored than
on a male Mallard. There were no distinctively colored longer scapulars
as would be present on a pure Gadwall or pintail. The extreme rear flanks
had a narrow row of white feathers next to the black under-/uppertail
coverts. All but the innermost pair of tail feathers were pale grayish
(almost white) with broad white edging. The innermost pair of rectrices
were all-black and pointed and stuck out 1.5-2 inches beyond the tip of
the other (white) rectrices. In this respect the tail looked like a
miniature version of a pintail's tail, but I'm not sure that this
indicates that it is definitely a pintail hybrid. These central tail
feathers were probably no longer than those of a pure male Mallard, but
those of a Mallard are curled so that they do not stick out beyond the
rest of that tail as they did on this bird. The long tertials were
plain, pale gray like those of a typical male Mallard.
The bird's only vocalizations (that I heard) were low and soft "chatter"
like that of a male Mallard. Unfortunately, I was unable to see the
spread wing well during the two hours I watched it. A view of the
spread wing would probably clinch the ID, so I'll try to refind the
bird in the next few days and photograph it.
Acknowledging the amazing variation in different "forms" of the Mallard,
I think this was a hybrid. Despite the wigeon-like face, I don't think
it was a wigeon hybrid. Several features were good for a Mallard X
Northern Pintail (most notably the bill pattern). However, the bird
was certainly not as pintail-like as the hybrid at the Moffett Field
golf course several years ago, the bill pattern did differ from that of
a pintail, and the yellow feet are not consistent with a Mallard X
Northern Pintail. The yellow feet and overall pattern of the back,
flanks, and sides suggest Mallard X Gadwall, but it is hard to ignore
the pintail-like bill pattern. So, without seeing the wings, I don't
want to conclusively call this bird anything but an "apparent Mallard
hybrid" at this point.
If anyone sees this bird and has an opinion on its identity, please
share it. The bird was very approachable, feeding at the edge of the
pond, occasionally within a few feet of me; if it hangs around, it
should be easy to refind.
Steve Rottenborn
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From email@hidden Mon Mar 16 07:34:53 1998
This AM, while getting myself ready to bicycle to work, I noticed the
high-pitched sounds of Cedar Waxwings. There was a tightly clustered
flock of 26 high in the neighbors' oak tree, along with 2 American
Robins and the inevitable few House Finches.
My wife came out and spotted a few more in another nearby tree, but
didn't count them.
================================
George Oetzel Menlo Park, CA
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From email@hidden Mon Mar 16 11:33:02 1998
All,
I led two trips for my birding class to Panoche Valley this weekend. The
weather was beautiful and the area was lush! We entered from I-5, as Hwy
25 is closed south of Tres Pinos and Panoche Road is closed between
Paicines and Little Panoche Road. Word from the Panoche Inn is that a temporary
road is expected to be completed in two weeks to bypass the problem areas
along Panoche Rd. (new habitat to see?).
Highlights were two LARK BUNTINGS see on both days along Panoche Rd. at
Silver Creek Ranch, about 5.3 miles east of Little Panoche Rd. GREATER
ROADRUNNERS seemed to be in abundance: 3 seen on Sat. and 5 seen on Sun. The 5
on Sun. were found along Little Panoche Rd. between a point approx. 3 mi.
west of I-5 and the Detention Dam. VESPER SPARROWS were seen frequently
along all roads. On Sat, a PRAIRIE FALCON was seen in Panoche Valley and an
OSPREY was seen 2 miles east of the Detention Dam. A BURROWING OWL was
seen in an area south of the BLM access road from a mile up the access road
on Sat.; two owls were at the burrow on Sun.
WESTERN KINGBIRDS were plentiful on Sat., fewer on Sun. LOGGERHEAD
SHRIKES were abundant on both days. GOLDEN EAGLE sightings were scarce, with one
on Sat. and two on Sun. We could not locate any Mountain Plovers,
Ferruginous Hawks, or Mountain Bluebirds. We may have been late in the season for
these species.
Les
==========================================
Les Chibana, Mountain View email@hidden
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From email@hidden Mon Mar 16 14:33:38 1998
On Sunday, 15 Mar 98, I went out to Stevens Creek Park, where breeding activ=
ity
included a BEWICK'S WREN carrying nesting material. Even some nonbreeding w=
inter
birds are gearing up, such as singing RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS and TOWNSEND'S
WARBLERS. At Pichetti Ranch, above Stevens Creek Park, breeding activity
included drumming by a male NORTHERN FLICKER, copulation by a pair of AMERI=
CAN
KESTRELS, and singing by PURPLE FINCH and CALIFORNIA THRASHER. =
I then went to Ed Levin Park, where I eventually met Steve, Heather, and Re=
becca
Rottenborn. Steve and I managed to see a few male ALLEN'S HUMMINGBIRDS, an =
adult
and immature GOLDEN EAGLE, and 2 RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKERS. YELLOW-BILLED MAG=
PIES
were carrying nesting material.
Up on the summit of Sierra Road, I had another adult GOLDEN EAGLE, singing
HORNED LARKS, WESTERN MEADOWLARKS, SAVANNAH and LARK SPARROWS.
Mike Mammoser
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From email@hidden Mon Mar 16 14:56:59 1998
I went out along the Coyote Creek trail at lunch. The water is still
running high, fast, and muddy. However, there was a pair of WOOD DUCKS
and a pair of COMMON MERGANSERS out there. A WHITE-TAILED KITE was
chasing a RED-SHOULDERED HAWK. Disturbing was the profusion of german
ivy growing in this important riparian corridor.
Mike Mammoser
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From email@hidden Mon Mar 16 23:26:20 1998
All:
Yesterday (16 March), I checked Ed Levin County Park for the Mallard
hybrid. It was not on the pond in the park, but I relocated it on
the wet golf course across the road, where it was foraging with
Mallards and Canada Geese only 100 m from the golf course office.
At the golf course office, I asked permission to photograph the bird
and was escorted out to see the bird. I took a few photos and
eventually flushed it back to the Ed Levin pond, where it was again
very cooperative.
In flight, the green speculum points to the bird's NORTHERN PINTAIL
heritage, and I'm comfortable calling this a MALLARD X NORTHERN
PINTAIL; nothing on the wing pattern was a good match for Gadwall.
Nevertheless, the unusual coloration of the foreface/head,
strangely scalloped breast, yellow-tinged legs (more orange than I
had thought yesterday, but still more yellow than those of a typical
Mallard), and bill pattern are unusual. These characters are neither
typical of either parent species nor intermediate between the two.
Also at Ed Levin yesterday were a male RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD, a WESTERN
KINGBIRD, 3 ALLEN'S HUMMINGBIRDS, and 2 RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKERS.
Conducting surveys in the Silver Creek hills between Hellyer Ave. and
Silver Creek in south San Jose yesterday, I saw 3 WILD TURKEYS (1m,
2f), a migrant ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, nest-building COMMON MOORHENS,
and 20+ RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROWS.
Steve Rottenborn
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From email@hidden Tue Mar 17 08:29:18 1998
Hi All,
Pete LaTourrette and I did our monthly survey on Jasper Ridge on
Saturday. We ended the day with 43 species (a decent total).
Highlights included some remaining wintering birds (2 Cedar Waxwings, 1
Fox Sparrow, 5 Golden-crowned Sparrows, 1 Hermit Thrush) and signs of
breeding activity. A pair of Cooper's Hawks were engaged in a nuptial
display flight and later one of them seemed to be vocal and disinclined
to leave an area where they may have bred in the past. We had about 15
singing Orange-crowned Warblers, so they have arrived in force. I was
up on the Ridge on the previous Saturday as well (March 7) and heard
only 2 singing OCWA on that day. One week made a big difference. Other
birds of interest were 1 heard-only Selasphorus hummingbird and around 7
Violet-Green Swallows. Cheers,
Richard
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From email@hidden Tue Mar 17 10:27:24 1998
Lots of Additions to SBBU:
1. Updated list of 4-letter bird banding codes, and related URLs.
2. List of threatened or endangered birds.
3. New Yard List (Los Gatos)
4. New Misc. Bird List (Livermore Yard List)
5. New Bay Birding Calendar (March 21-27)
6. New Birding Web Site URLs
(e.g., California Flowers for when the birds take their naps;
Santa Clara Valley info on floods, earthquakes, environment)
Kendric
South Bay Birders Unlimited (SBBU)
http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~kendric/birds/
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From email@hidden Tue Mar 17 11:31:47 1998
All: Maria and I saw a Black-Legged Kittiwake resting on the shore at the
base of Fisherman"s Wharf, in Monterey, yesterday after noon. Perhaps 5 yards
below the sidewalk coming from the parking lot. Winter plumage adult. In
the water on the other side of the Wharf was an Ancient Murrelet, seen at
very close range: I don't know how common that is. Yours, John Meyer
********************************************************************
John W. Meyer, Dept. of Sociology, Stanford U., Stanford, Cal. 94305
email@hidden (650) 723 1868
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From email@hidden Tue Mar 17 12:33:18 1998
South Bayers:
I was driving to Santa Cruz this morning, and stopped en route at Los
Gatos Creek County Park. There were a number of interesting birds, all in
the northernmost of the large ponds:
Common Loon - 2 [I'm pretty sure one was an immature; the other was
a possible adult. I'll have to check references at
home to see if my view was adequate to tell.]
Horned Grebe - 1 or 2
Surf Scoter - 3
White-Winged Scoter - 1 male [the plumage appeared to be full adult, except
the flanks were not as solidly dark as I'd expect]
In addition, there was an adult Green Heron along the channel leading out to
Dell Street.
Notice I didn't name the pond, because I'm now confused about this. We
previously agreed these were the Campbell ponds, and that's what the AAA map
used to say. However, the latest version of that map which I have refers to
them as the Camden ponds (with the ponds east of the creek still called the
Oka ponds). Taxonomy is much simpler!
Cheers, Al Eisner
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From email@hidden Tue Mar 17 22:40:48 1998
All:
As Mike Mammoser wrote previously, I saw the Black Scoter at=20
Shoreline Lake last Sunday (8 March). I saw the bird fairly well and=20
looked for black feathering that might indicate an immature male, but=20
I saw none. The crown and hindneck were very dark sooty brown,=20
darker and more sooty than the brown back, sides and flanks, and=20
contrasting strongly with the pale gray face and sides of the neck. =20
The only dark splotches I saw on the sides and back turned out to be=20
wet feathers, as these splotches disappeared when the bird preened=20
and shook; there was some vague paler barring on the sides and=20
flanks. I missed the gray markings on the chin and dark barring on=20
the chest seen by Mike Rogers and Mike Mammoser. The bill, as=20
described previously, was all dark gray-black with a very narrow=20
yellow line on the culmen curving around where the anterior portion=20
of the "knob" would be on a male, near the nostrils. There was no=20
swelling here.
Mike Rogers wrote that he thought the bird was an immature male based=20
on the narrow yellow line on the bill, the dark barring on the=20
breast, and the dark markings on the chin. I too thought that it was=20
probably an immature male based on the yellow on the bill, but after=20
looking at references, I'm not sure that I'm comfortable identifying=20
it to age/sex.
I first looked at Palmer's Handbook of the Birds of North America=20
(1976). According to Palmer, immature males get swelling at the base=20
of the culmen "beginning during their 1st fall or winter". Palmer=20
states of the immature male:
"Basic I is quite blackish and generally has appeared on head=20
and foreparts of body by early Oct. and more is acquired soon=20
afterward. There is no sheen, at least in prepared skins. =20
Feathers of lower breast to beyond vent are light with dark=20
ends, giving a finely barred effect clear to base of tail.... =20
Molting varies, being sometimes slowed or late. Generally,=20
molting (this time into Alt. I) starts again in late Oct. on=20
head-neck and anterior body, and sweeps over the body. This=20
plumage is black with some sheen and some striated effect on=20
head-neck. It is, in general, like male Def. Alt. Not later=20
than the time it begins to appear, the basal portion of the=20
upper mandible begins to swell and turn yellow.=B2
This description did not match the Shoreline Lake bird, so I looked=20
at the descriptions of females. Palmer's description of the adult=20
female matches the Shoreline Lake bird (as I saw it) well, and he=20
writes, "Bill black, with hint of yellowish in basal part of upper=20
mandible." It is not clear where exactly this yellow might be=20
located, but because Palmer describes the yellow knob of the immature=20
male as being "on the basal portion of the upper mandible", I don't=20
think that his description of the location of yellow on a female's=20
bill is inconsistent with the Shoreline Lake bird.
I then looked at other references. Bellrose's Ducks, Geese and Swans=20
of North America (1976) states,=20
=B2Immature black scoters are similar to females in appearance,=20
but upper parts are lighter brown and their breasts and bellies=20
are more mottled with white. In midwinter, black feathers=20
begin to appear among the brown feathers of the juvenile males,=20
and they continue to appear through the spring.=B2
Bellrose does not mention yellow on the bill of females, although an=20
illustration shows a small, dull greenish-yellow or grayish-yellow=20
patch near the nostrils on the female.
In his Life Histories..., Bent (1923) wrote,
=B2In the juvenal plumage the sexes are practically=20
alike....[This plumage] is worn during the fall and often well=20
into the winter without change. Sometimes as early as=20
November, but more often not until January or later, the sexes=20
begin to differentiate; a growth of black feathers begins in=20
the head and neck of the young male and a similar growth of=20
brown feathers appears in the young female. The growth of=20
black feathers in the male increases during the winter and=20
spring until some of the most advanced birds become nearly all=20
black except on the belly and wings.=B2
In their Birds of North America account, Bordage and Savard (1995)=20
wrote, =B2Most young drakes acquire some black feathering late in their=20
first fall, with a narrow line of yellow in the nostril area,=B2=20
matching the Shoreline Lake bird well. Although they allow for a=20
large amount of individual variation in the timing of the Prebasic I=20
and Prealternate I molts, they state that the Prebasic I molt "begins=20
on head and foreparts before Oct in male". They further state,=20
"Prealternate I molt (at least in males) begins by late Oct. =20
Molt begins on head and neck and anterior portion of body, then=20
continues through remaining areas. Male plumage black with=20
some sheen. Similar to Definitive Alternate plumage. During=20
this plumage, basal portion of upper mandible begins to swell=20
and turn yellow."
Based primarily on Palmer's information, they also state, =B2Bill...In=20
female, blackish with hint of yellow in basal part of upper mandible=20
but with very little or no swollen area.=B2
An interesting article by Hoffman and Bancroft in Wilson Bulletin=20
(1984) describes the plumages of 15 specimens found dead or dying on=20
Florida beaches in winter and spring during an "invasion" year. They=20
found that the molt of immature Black Scoters in their first winter=20
was somewhat later than Palmer reported, but all the males that died=20
in March or earlier had replaced much of their juvenal feathering in=20
the upperwing coverts and upperparts. A photo shows a first-year=20
male Black Scoter collected in early March that still shows little=20
black in the pale face patch, but this bird also had much black in=20
the upperparts. =20
Ron Thorn gave me some details from two notes in Birding World. In=20
the June 1992 (Vol. 5, No. 5) issue, Jonathan Alderfer wrote that the=20
swollen base of the upper mandibles on the immature males he had seen=20
was a "clearly recognizable" fleshy-yellow. He wrote, "By mid to=20
late winter the shape of the bill base approaches that of the adult=20
male." He also wrote that most immature males have started to=20
acquire black on the head by mid-winter, although this varied among=20
individuals. David Waring wrote a note with illustrations in the=20
March 1993 issue of Birding World (Vol. 6, No. 2). In this, Waring=20
stated, "Up to 10% of about 200 adult females studied on the Pacific=20
coast of the USA and Canada showed variable but often extensive and=20
prominent yellow marks and patches on the bill". Although I have not=20
seen the illustrations, Ron described to me Waring's illustrations of=20
adult female Black Scoters showing extensive fleshy-yellow on the=20
bill, concentrated most in the nostril area. Unfortunately, Ron said=20
that Waring did not write how he distinguished these presumed adult=20
females from immature males.
So, based on all these references, this bird would be extremely late=20
in acquiring black in the head and upperparts and in showing swelling=20
and more extensive yellow on the bill if it is an immature male. The=20
yellow on the bill was so limited in extent that it sounds, based on=20
Waring's illustrations, as though it is within the range of variation=20
shown by female American Black Scoters. The dusky coloration on the=20
chin described by Rogers and Mammoser does seem unusual for a female. =20
However, one of the illustrations in Waring's article in Birding=20
World showed a darker chin and throat contrasting with a paler breast=20
(according to Ron), and a photo in Johnsgard's book on waterfowl (I=20
forget the title) showed a female with vague dusky mottling on the=20
chin and elsewhere on the sides of the face. Both Rogers and=20
Mammoser described dark barring on the breast; a photo in Johnsgard's=20
book shows an adult female with dark brown barring on a paler brown=20
breast, so unless the barring on the Shoreline Lake is actually=20
black, I'm not sure that it rules out a female. =20
I'm not comfortable ageing or sexing this bird conclusively. Given=20
that this bird's characters are apparently not inconsistent with a=20
female, I don't think it would be prudent to label it an immature=20
male (or even a "probable" immature male) when its acquisition of=20
definitive or "adult" features seems to be more retarded than in any=20
description or reference I've been able to find. I suppose it's too=20
much to ask for the bird to hang around for another month or two.
Sorry for the incomplete citations, but most of the references are at=20
work, and if I don't get this message out today I may never get it=20
out. If anyone is interested in following up on this info, I can get=20
the complete references.
Steve Rottenborn
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
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From email@hidden Wed Mar 18 08:29:40 1998
While on my regular "bagel walk" to a local bakery, I heard what seemed
to be a "mewing" sound in a (still) bare tree at the SE corner of Arbor &
Middle in Menlo Park, CA. When I looked up, I got a good look at a
female(?) Cooper's Hawk sitting on a branch. I base the ID mostly on
size as the bird was fairly uniform in back and head color (gunmetal
gray), nice regular pinkish strips down the breast. Other strollers
interrupted me and asked about the bird - which stopped me from getting
more details. At any rate, as I/we watched - a second COHA materialized
and promptly perched on the first's back. Copulation? This nominal
male hopped off to a nearby branch and was shortly seen to depart in a SE
direction to a nearby Cypress-type tree, bearing a foot long twig in its
beak. By the time I'd gotten my binocs off and handed them to one of the
passersby - the second bird had also disappeared somewhere. My wife & I
returned an hour or so later to "fix" the spot in our collective
memories. No birds were readily seen .
The initial spotting was done in the bare tree in front of the house
right at the SE corner of Arbor & Middle. This tree has "pea pods" for
whatever that's worth. It's friend flew into a cypress-like thing about
"a block" to the SE (no actual block; but, around street # 35x or so.)
Lots of vertical trunks and just to right of a tall single trunked
redwood(?).
Since we have the occasional COHA in our back yard, at our bird feeder, I
guess they're not that uncommon - but I've not seen a pair, locally, to
the best of my recollection.
Cheers, Scott
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From email@hidden Wed Mar 18 10:18:04 1998
This morning, in Lower Stevens Creek park, along the creek starting from
the road by the ranger station and upstream:
Pacific-Slope Flycatcher - 1 (heard only)
Warbling Vireo - 2 (both singing, one of them seen)
Plus, of course, lot's of Orange-Crowned Warblers.
Al Eisner
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From email@hidden Wed Mar 18 13:38:15 1998
I went out on the Coyote Creek trail today, 18 Mar 98, at lunch time. I
had a calling PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER near where the bridge crosses
from Shady Oaks Park. There's an ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD building a nest in
the courtyard of our building.
Mike Mammoser
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From email@hidden Wed Mar 18 14:25:03 1998
Hi Everyone--
I had excellent looks at the Black Scoter at Shoreline Lake last Friday at
it fished for barnacles around the boat dock. As I saw it, the bill was
black with a black knob (there's a slight ridge that separates the upper
base from the rest of the bill, with the part inside the ridge having a
distinct bulging curvature), with flame-shaped orange marks running along
each side just above the ridge. The feather tips on the breast and sides had
some brownish-gray, giving a slightly scaled appearance. The throat area
looked darker than the chest area beneath in strong light. The back and nape
areas were uniform dark brown, the face a pale tan. I checked Madge and
Brown (part of Houghton Mifflin's series of family monographs; I think it's
called "Waterfowl of the World"), but they don't show any Black Scoter with
that sort of bill marking. However, the young male they do show (of the
European race nigra) shows orange developing in the knob and the pale face
filling in with dark. The American race is supposed to be similar (nigra
males only get orange on the side of the knob, compared to americana which
get an entirely orange knob; it wasn't clear if the two races develop bill
color the same way). One could imagine a young male getting the first hint
of orange in its bill before its face has a chance to molt, but I haven't
seen one in quite this plumage before.
Mark
PS: The ranger on duty gave me a bird list with drawings of some of the
resident birds, including Little Blue Heron. The list needs some major
updates. Has anyone at SCVAS considered helping out?
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From email@hidden Wed Mar 18 14:46:02 1998
REPLY RE: gasoline on a burning question
So, are two, slightly different birds being described? I suppose that =
until someone sees two birds at the same time, or one in the Lake and one =
in pond A1 at the same time, we can't be too sure.
In answer to Mark's question about the Shoreline bird list, yes, it's =
being updated. It's a long, drawn-out process. The birding coverage has =
been so intense lately that the list keeps getting longer and the species =
status keeps changing :-)
Les
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From email@hidden Thu Mar 19 12:50:36 1998
All:
Ten minutes ago (March 19) a pair of Bullock's Orioles appeared at the
oriole feeder I put out a couple of days ago. Hadn't heard anyone report
them in the area yet.
We also have Western Bluebirds checking out nestboxes here in the park for
the first time in some (how many?) years. Violet-green Swallows are acting
very competitive with them whenever they alight on a box, swooping very low
and close.
Bushtits are putting the finishing touches on their nests here, and titmice
are doing the same in several of our boxes. One was observed with a beakful
of grubs this morning.
--Garth
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From email@hidden Fri Mar 20 07:27:13 1998
My wife saw a Golden Eagle from Sand Hill Rd yesterday (3/19) in
late afternoon. It was in the usual tree in the horse park at the top
of the hill above 280. Seeing one or two there was a regular event in
January, but this is the first one either of us has logged since Jan
28.
----------------
George Oetzel
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From email@hidden Fri Mar 20 11:13:20 1998
Folks:
Both the Marin and Monterey Breeding Bird Atlases described Cooper's
Hawk as a resident of remote forested areas away from human disturbance.
However, in the later 1980's I started receiving reports of urban Cooper's
Hawks including birds at Stanford and in the Willow Glen area of San Jose.
During our own atlas field work we found this species to be a widespread
nesting species in urban areas and the Alameda atlas has had similar
experiences in recent years. However, Summer Bird Count data do not indicate
that there has been a population increase in Cooper's over the last 15 years.
Red-shouldered Hawks, on the other hand are showing a substantial
increase in their local populations and Steve Rottenborn is preparing a paper
on the results of his research on this species. He has noted that this hawk
makes extensive use of palms and eucalyptus, both trees that weren't here
150 years ago.
White-tailed Kites have also nested in urban areas in the last few years
and this is a species that almost disappeared from California in the 1920s and
1930s. It's recovery is probably complete by now. We have also noted that
our most abundant hawk, the Red-tailed Hawk, will use secure nest sites in the
middle of urban areas, such as large eucalyptus, and then forage in grasslands
well away from the nest tree.
There are probably multiple causes for the success of urban-nesting
hawks in this area and there is ample room for speculation. If you read
Bent's account of the Cooper's Hawk, written in the first part of the century,
he describes the agressiveness of this accipiter in taking chickens from the
average homeowner. I would guess many people in Menlo Park a hundred years
ago had their own chicken coop out back and a gun was always close at hand.
Now, a century later, we go to the store for our eggs (or bagels) and carry
binoculars instead of guns.
If you are used to winter views of Cooper's Hawk and have only seen them
as they perched on distant tree or briefly while dashed by, then carry your
binoculars in an area where they are nesting. At this time of year the pairs
are very vocal as they build their nest and the courting birds fluff out their
white undertail coverts so they look like they are carrying one of those old
time shaving brushes around. They really are spectacular during courtship.
Bill
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From email@hidden Fri Mar 20 11:33:19 1998
All:
I heard a Wilson's Warbler at our orchard along Pescadero Creek this AM.
First I'd heard this season. Salmonids (most likely steelhead) were
spawning all week now that the waters have receded to the point that they
can find their preferred riffles. Two pairs of Wood Ducks were cruising the
stream together, purposefully I should think...same with one pair of Common
Mergansers a couple of days ago. These species have probably lost a lot of
nest trees in the recent floods. Sadly, I lost my one duck box to El Nino
as well. All of these things are happening within sight of the Pescadero
Road bridge located at Mile 5.8 from the coast highway (sorry, no public
access to the adjacent lands, although I would be happy to make
arrangements for our place on request).
Western Bluebirds are actively nest-building at McClellan Ranch Park today
in some of the SCVAS nestboxes. Just in time for our Education Day event
from 10-2 here, tomorrow (Sat. March 21).
--Garth Harwood, SCVAS Chapter Manager
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From email@hidden Fri Mar 20 11:44:14 1998
All,
Moments ago (11:30am) an OSPREY was hunting the Guadalupe River at the
airport.
Nick
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From email@hidden Fri Mar 20 12:08:05 1998
At about nine o'clock this morning (3/20) I was at Bixbee Park in Palo Al=
to
on a trail, which goes to the right and uphill into grasslands just past
the parking area. A Savannah Sparrow perched on Coyote Brush was joined =
by
a Kingbird, which sat with its back to me. I could see the gray on the
head blend into the olive on the back. The squarish brown tail showed
buffy tips, but no white on the outer rects. I was unable to see the
throat.
Rosalie Lefkowitz
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From email@hidden Fri Mar 20 13:08:10 1998
I just wanted to report what a great time we had on the Susanville/Honey =
Lake
trip last weekend, led by Bob Hirt. He had been to Japan, Honk Kong, Tai=
wan,
and China during the week, landing in the Bay Area Friday morning - the s=
ame
Friday we and he drove up to Susanville! What a guy. This was our first
Honey Lake trip, having started birding in 1995, but Bob's 22nd.
And many thanks to shortgun-rider Calvin, who should be named "Eagle Eye"=
for
his spectacular spotting ability while riding in Bob=92s lead vehicle. H=
ow does
he do that? Also to Bob's son John for flushing the Barn Owl for us, bet=
ween
lizard- and snake-chases.
BEST BIRDS SEEN
Outstanding birds seen by the group, in approximate order of excitement f=
or my
wife Sharon and I were:
Sage Grouse, our main objective and a lifer for us, on their lek, togethe=
r
with a pronghorn herd
Red-naped Sapsucker, a trip record (according to Bob, and this was his 22=
nd
trip) and also a lifer for us
Sandhill Cranes, including a pair doing simultaneous courtship calls
White-headed Woodpeckers (not seen by all)
Rough-legged Hawks
Pinyon Jays
Townsend=92s Solitaires
Nesting Prairie Falcon at Eagle Lake
Mountain and Western Bluebirds
BIRDS WE SAW, NOT SEEN BY THE GROUP
Driving up on Friday, and stopping to change drivers at a Highway 80 rest=
stop
near Gold Run (past Auburn), Sharon spotted a BARROW=92S GOLDENEYE on wha=
t
looked like a small sewage treatment pond associated with the rest stop. =
We
had to consult all our books to make sure it was a Barrow=92s, but we are=
99%
confident.
Late that afternoon, just before sunset, we were birding the Dakin Wildli=
fe
Refuge area, and began to see clouds of birds up against the mountains. =
We
scoped them and it was huge flocks of SNOW GEESE. They flew to a resting=
area
and all landed. Then a few minutes later, they took to the air again, an=
d all
flew right over us, in wave after wave. I would estimate they were in th=
e
ten-thousands. The flocks were absolutely gorgeous with that fantastic
evening sunlight directly on them.
Next day, at the scheduled end of the Saturday trek, most everyone else w=
anted
to return to an area recently burned to resume the search for Black-backe=
d
Woodpeckers (unsuccessful, although they did have interesting conversatio=
ns
with some of the local citizens, while waiting to chase woodpeckers). Sh=
aron
and I and our two riders Ed and Judy were pooped, and decided to go back =
to
the motel.
On the way back up Mapes Road (Lane?) as I recall, we came upon a pickup
pulled off the road, and a Sonoma County couple looking through a Swarovs=
ky
scope aimed at a treetop bird. "What are you looking at?" we asked. "A
NORTHERN SHRIKE," they said. We pulled over and bailed out, setting up o=
ur
scope and looking through it and theirs. We carefully checked the mask t=
o
confirm that it didn=92t "wrap around" the area just above the beak. Fan=
tastic.
Lifer for us. The Sonoma couple was heading up to the sage grouse lek th=
e
next morning.
I don=92t recall whether we saw any adult Bald Eagles with the group, but
returning over Route 36, near Chester, we saw a pair of adults doing circ=
les,
such that if they were skywriters, their paths together would look like a
figure eight. They were both circling the same clockwise direction but w=
ere
"out of phase", so they approached each other head-on each time the circl=
es
met. They slowly flew their "eight" away from the town and toward nearby=
Lake
Almanor. I got a few photos, but they were a long way up, even at 420mm
telephoto. We=92ll see.
=09
TOTAL LIST
=09
Here=92s the complete list, in alphabetical order, although I=92m sure I =
have made
a few omissions. I created the list from looking through my NGS and reca=
lling
whether we had seen each bird. Not the best method. I think somebody ke=
pt an
"official" trip list, but I'm not sure what happened to it.
# Last First Comments
- ------ ------ --------------
1 Blackbird Brewer's=09
2 Blackbird Red-winged=09
3 Blackbird Tri-colored not seen by all
4 Bluebird Mountain=09
5 Bluebird Western=09
6 Bufflehead =09
7 Canvasback =09
8 Chickadee Mountain=09
9 Coot American=09
10 Cormorant Double-crested=09
11 Crane Sandhill mating calls
12 Creeper Brown=09
13 Crow American=09
14 Dove Mourning=09
15 Dove Rock=09
16 Dowitcher Long-billed=09
17 Duck Ruddy=09
18 Eagle Bald Did the group see any? I think so.
19 Eagle Golden=09
20 Egret Great=09
21 Falcon Prairie cliff nesting
22 Finch Cassin's=09
23 Flicker Red-shafted=09
24 Goldeneye Common males doing head-tilted-back mating display
25 Goose Canada=09
26 Goose Snow Did group see any? I think so.
27 Grebe Horned or Eared
28 Grebe Pied-billed=09
29 Grebe Western=09
30 Grouse Sage on lek, with pronghorn
31 Gull California=09
32 Gull Ring-billed=09
33 Harrier Northern=09
34 Hawk Red-tailed=09
35 Hawk Rough-legged great looks
36 Heron Great Blue=09
37 Jay Pinyon=09
38 Jay Scrub=09
39 Jay Steller's=09
40 Killdeer =09
41 Kinglet Golden-crowned=09
42 Lark Horned=09
43 Magpie Black-billed=09
44 Mallard =09
45 Meadowlark Western=09
46 Merganser Common=09
47 Nuthatch Pygmy=09
48 Nuthatch White-breasted=09
49 Owl Great Horned barn flush
50 Pelican American White=09
51 Phoebe Black=09
52 Phoebe Say's=09
53 Pintail Northern=09
54 Pipit American unusual?
55 Raven Common=09
56 Redhead =09
57 Robin American=09
58 Sapsucker Red-naped trip record
59 Shoveler Northern=09
60 Shrike Loggerhead=09
61 Solitaire Townsend's=09
62 Starling European=09
63 Swallow Tree=09
64 Swan Tundra=09
65