Blue-winged Teal, Lucy's Warbler
Wed, 23 Feb 2000 15:44:42 -0800
From: Sheila Dickie
I was at the Martin King Jr Regional Shoreline in Oakland late afternoon on Monday, February 21 (4:30 to 5:30 PM) and saw six male Blue-winged Teals with at least three females; some were in the water and some were up on a bank slightly to the left ("10 o'clock") as you are standing on the large viewing platform. Tide was going out. I had not been to the shoreline for about a year but cannot remember seeing that number of Blue-winged Teals there before. They were in with some Cinnamon and Green-winged Teals. Just as I was thinking it didn't get any better than this, a Clapper Rail walked right into the picture along the inlet just below the path to the left of the platform.
I saw the male Lucy's Warbler briefly at 9:30 AM on Saturday, February 19. It has been in my garden [in Oakland] on and off since December 26.
Sheila Dickie
Urban Parrots
Sat, 26 Feb 2000 10:48:27 PST
From: Tom Ryan
Dear East Bay Birders,
I am preparing a talk on the status of feral parrot populations in the Bay Area for an upcoming Urban Parrot Conference. The purpose of the talk is to identify which species have been observed, which species have established themselves, and where they have established themselves in the Bay Area. I will then attempt to identify gaps in our knowledge. Information presented in the talk may then be prepared for a meeting proceedings.
I was wondering if you have any sightings of any parrots, parakeets, or other psittacids from anywhere in the bay area, especially Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, and Sonoma Counties. Thank you for your assistance.
Tom Ryan
Martin Luther King Jr Regional Shoreline
Sat, 26 Feb 2000 20:16:52 -0800
From: Larry Tunstall
Rusty Scalf forwards the following report from Bob Lewis on the visit by one section of their Albany Adult School birding class today to Martin Luther King Jr Regional Shoreline in Oakland.
Great trip ... rain held off. Walked from Edgewater Dr to [Arrowhead and Mitigation Marshes]. Several neat birds, including the Burrowing Owl, both turnstones, Least Tern, three teal in one scope view, the Clapper Rail, and good gull studies.6 Western Grebe - with greenish bills
7 Clark's Grebe - with yellow-orange bills
6 Horned Grebe - with the flat head
1 Eared Grebe - with a pointy head
1 Pied-billed Grebe
8 Snowy Egret
2 Canada Goose
8 Mallard
2 Gadwall - seen by some
8 Green-winged Teal - some in scope view with other two teal species
100+ American Wigeon
10+ Northern Pintail
10+ Northern Shoveler
6 Blue-winged Teal - 4 male, 2 female, quite good looking
25 Cinnamon Teal - great views along the grass edge, in the scope
300 Ruddy Duck - everywhere
10 Canvasback - in the channel
300 Greater Scaup
50 Lesser Scaup
200 Surf Scoter
10 Common Goldeneye - many females
1 Barrow's Goldeneye - male, good view with Common Goldeneye
25 Bufflehead
1 Clapper Rail - seen by most, but briefly
400 American Coot
20 American Avocet
40 Black-necked Stilt
1 Marbled Godwit
40 Willet
3 Greater Yellowlegs
60 dowitcher sp.
4 Black Turnstone
2 Ruddy Turnstone
10 Dunlin
5++ Western Sandpiper
30 Least Sandpiper
15 Ring-billed Gull
3 Mew Gull - in scope
20 California Gull
1 Herring Gull - seen by some
25 Western Gull
3 Glaucous-winged Gull
2 Least Tern - seen by some (but see links below to replies)
6 Turkey Vulture
1 Red-shouldered Hawk
1 Peregrine Falcon - at a distance, picked out by Pete
3 Mourning Dove
1 Burrowing Owl - wow! too cool - in the scope for a while
1 Anna's Hummingbird
2 Northern Flicker
3 American Crow
5 Bushtit
1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
1 Northern Mockingbird
20 European Starling
2 Yellow-rumped Warbler
1 California Towhee
Song Sparrow - heard
4 White-crowned Sparrow
8 Golden-crowned Sparrow
House Finch - heard
Posted to EBbird by Larry Tunstall
Reply #1 Reply #2 Subject Index
Bird notes
Sun, 27 Feb 2000 00:12:34 -0800
From: Martha Lowe
Hey birders,
I heard my first Purple Finches of the season this week and saw five hanging around my yard today. One was singing to himself, seemingly with his beak shut, but his quivering throat gave him away.
A great treat yesterday, a Belted Kingfisher flying over a yard near the Claremont Hotel, rattling like crazy. Don't know where it had come from (Temescal?) or where it was going (Claremont Canyon?) but it certainly made going to work worthwhile!
I heard an entirely new bird song in my yard today, couldn't catch sight of it though and by the time I had time to check it out on my Peterson's CD-ROM, it was too late, I had lost the imprint its song made in my ears. I hate when that happens. Maybe it will come back tomorrow.......
I have a deck covered with plants in pots, many of which get planted with clarkia and other various wildflower seeds. This winter the birds have been jumping into the pots and raking through them, eating seeds, seedlings, and/or insects. All of the pots constantly look freshly tilled by little raking claws. Has anyone ever seen this kind of behavior from juncos and fox sparrows? Its highly irritating but what can I say, just plant more seeds.
The Friends of Sausal Creek are having our annual bird-monitoring team get together on Wednesday, March 1, at 7 PM, at the Fruitvale Presbyterian Church, 2735 MacArthur Blvd, Oakland. Alan Kaplan will give a presentation on birding by ear, we will look at our point count data and see what we have learned, and we will talk about where we want to go in the next year.
Please feel free to join us! Sorry for the short notice....
Martha