Tilden Regional Park
Fri, 10 Mar 2000 01:50:08 -0800
From: Larry Tunstall
A small group joined Alan Kaplan's East Bay Regional Parks birdwalk in Tilden Regional Park on Thursday morning, despite intermittent rain. It was a pleasant morning with a surprising selection of birds in the rain, and lots of growing and blooming plants to look at when there were no birds around.
We heard Orange-crowned Warblers, and Alan says that they began returning to Tilden about a week ago. We also saw a few Selasphorus hummingbirds, including one with almost all reddish back and one with almost all green back. There were lots of Varied Thrushes around, and a considerable number of birdsongs to be heard.
Here's my attempt at summarizing what was seen during and just after the walk:
Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) - some flying over
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus) - 1 lovely male flying low overhead
Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) - heard
Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)
Rufous and Allen's Hummingbirds (Selasphorus sp.)
Belted Kingfisher (Ceryle alcyon) - heard flying up and down creek
Red-breasted Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus ruber) - near parking lot
Nuttall's Woodpecker (Picoides nuttallii)
Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens)
Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus) - probable ID, seen briefly
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)
Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans)
Hutton's Vireo (Vireo huttoni) - heard
Steller's Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri)
Western Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica)
Chestnut-backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens)
Bewick's Wren (Thryomanes bewickii) - heard
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula)
Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus)
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
Varied Thrush (Ixoreus naevius)
Wrentit (Chamaea fasciata) - heard
Orange-crowned Warbler (Vermivora celata) - heard
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Dendroica coronata)
Townsend's Warbler (Dendroica townsendi)
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus)
California Towhee (Pipilo crissalis)
Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca)
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) - heard
Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)
Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus)
Several lovely giant trilliums are in bloom along the Upper Packrat Trail.
Good birding, Larry
Larry Tunstall
El Cerrito CA
March 9: Surfbirds still in Emeryville
Fri, 10 Mar 2000 12:52:47 -0800
From: Tom Condit
About 2 PM Thursday, March 9, there were at least nine surfbirds perched on the rocks south of Point Emery (foot of Ashby Avenue) at high tide. They were in a mixed flock which also included
Black Turnstones
Short-billed Dowitcher
Black-bellied Plovers
Willets
Sanderlings
Good chance to compare them side-by-side and in flight with the turnstones. The trick is to walk along the path slowly enough to not flush the Willets.
Also at Point Emery:
Surf Scoters
scaup sp.
Clark's Grebes
Western Grebes
American Coots
Western Meadowlarks
Ring-billed Gulls
Mew Gulls
Tufted Duck at Lake Merritt
Sat, 11 Mar 2000 13:16:02 -0800
From: Emilie Strauss
On Thursday March 9 the female Tufted Duck was still present at Lake Merritt east of the Rotary Science Center with a group of scaup.
The Cattle Egret was still present. It was lurking at the edge of the Rotary Science Center waiting for its afternoon meal from the Science Center staff.
Barn Swallows back at Hayward Shoreline
Sat, 11 Mar 2000 22:30:39 -0800
From: Larry Tunstall
Several people joined Rusty Scalf's Golden Gate Audubon Society walk at Hayward Regional Shoreline this morning. Skies were overcast most of the morning, but the weather was pleasant. With tide ebbing toward low, most of the shorebirds were far out on the mudflats, but a few were close enough for good binocular views. There were surprisingly few ducks in the ponds - in particular the usual huge flocks of Northern Shovelers were missing.
The first few Barn Swallows were swooping around the Interpretive Center, and nearby the Black-necked Stilts were showing signs of scouting out nest sites. A pair of Red-tailed Hawks at a power tower across the freeway exhibited some courting behavior with what appeared to be a small rodent, and then briefly copulated on top of the tower.
The Savannah Sparrows along the trail near the Interpretive Center seem to have unusually bright yellow faces this year. I noticed this a couple of weeks ago, so it was not just a trick of today's light. They have a bright yellow stripe along the top of the head and one above each eye, looking much like a White-crowned Sparrow with the white replaced by yellow. The yellow is not a faint blush - it is like the yellow of an American Goldfinch. Quite an impressive sight.
Here's what I caught of the group's sightings during our walk from the Interpretive Center out to the first bridge past Johnson's Landing, and back.
Clark's Grebe (Aechmophorus clarkii)
Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
Great Egret (Ardea albus)
Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)
Gadwall (Anas strepera)
American Wigeon (Anas americana)
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
Cinnamon Teal (Anas cyanoptera)
Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata)
Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca)
Canvasback (Aythya valisineria)
Greater Scaup (Aythya marila)
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)
Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis)
White-tailed Kite (Elanus leucurus)
Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus)
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)
American Coot (Fulica americana)
Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)
Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus)
American Avocet (Recurirostra americanus)
Willet (Catoptrophorus semipalmatus)
Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus)
Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa)
Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri)
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)
Dunlin (Calidris alpina)
dowitcher (Limnodromus sp.)
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)
Western Gull (Larus occidentalis)
Glaucous-winged Gull (Larus glaucescens)
Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri)
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
Common Raven (Corvus corax) - heard
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus)
Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris) - singing and building nests
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)
Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta)
House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus)
Good birding, Larry
Larry Tunstall
El Cerrito CA
Contra Costa County Oldsquaw and Yellow-bellied
Sapsucker
Sun, 12 Mar 2000 08:32:06 -0800
From: Mike Feighner
East-Bay-Birders:
The Contra Costa County Oldsquaw / Long-tailed Duck was still in the Richmond Marina [Marina Bay] early yesterday morning near the mouth of the harbor between the monument and the building with the green roof on the opposite side.
Take Marina Bay Parkway south from I-580. Marina Bay Parkway becomes Peninsula. Drive to the end of Peninsula and park in the lot.
From here I moved onto Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve. The Phainopeplas were very conspicuous. But the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was a real sulker. Two people there who read our East-Bay-Birds e-mail through the web site saw the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in a locust tree next to the picnic table near the oaks Steve Glover described. They saw it fly to the large oak opposite here on the other side of the barbed-wire fence from where it flew to the pepper tree Steve described. I ran into Steve Hayashi, Lillian Fujii, George Griffeth, and Dorothy Furseth here also looking for the sapsucker. Lillian heard the sapsucker tapping in the pepper tree, but it never came out into view while I was still there. When I left, Steve, Lillian, and Dorothy were still waiting for the sapsucker.
Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA
Signs of spring in Briones
Sun, 12 Mar 2000 17:31:22 -0800
From: Larry Tunstall
After yet another futile attempt to see the Sage Thrasher in Point Richmond, I headed out to the north end of Briones Regional Park [near Martinez] for a spring morning walk. It was a lovely sunny day, with not too many birds around, but those that were around definitely moving on into spring activities.
I walked from Briones Road to the lower Sindicich Lagoon. On the way up the hill, I spotted an Oak Titmouse gathering a beakful of shredded bark. Overhead, a pair of Red-tailed Hawks soared in circles, passing within a few feet of each other on every go-round (though showing no other signs of overt courtship). Up on the hilltop, the grasslands were smooth and green and without a visible sign of the invasive weeds that will take over later. A few California poppies splashed bright orange dots here and there, and yellow buttercups were scattered over the hillsides.
Along the way from the Maricich Lagoons up to the Sindicich Lagoons, Western Meadowlarks were singing here and there, while Western Bluebirds squabbled on the fence, apparently sorting out pairs and claims to nestboxes. A lone Say's Phoebe was with them. At the upper Sindicich Lagoon, a pair of Bufflehead and a pair of Canada Geese were in residence, while a single Violet-green Swallow soared overhead. In the lower Sindicich Lagoon were 2 pairs of Bufflehead, 2 American Coots, and a Great Egret.
On the way back to the car, I admired a gorgeous male American Kestrel flashing blue and brown in the treetops and on frequent dives to the ground below.
Other birds seen or heard included Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Spotted Towhee, Bewick's Wren (singing in a treetop), Anna's Hummingbird, European Starling, Turkey Vulture, American Crow, Red-winged Blackbird, Song Sparrow, and possibly American Pipit.
Looks like some more wonderful spring days coming up. Hope you have a chance to enjoy them.
Good birding, Larry
Larry Tunstall
El Cerrito CA