Sunday at Black Diamond Mines Regional
Preserve
Sun, 19 Mar 2000 16:20:33 -0800
From: Courtenay Peddle
Hello folks,
Don Schmoldt, Sally Walters, and I found the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (thanks for finding a state bird for me, Steve Glover!), the following listed birds, and a slew of Little Brown Jobs flitting through the chamise. Lots of wind, wildflowers, and fresh poison oak. Here's the list:
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus)
Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii)
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)
White-throated Swift (Aeronautes saxatalis)
Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius)
Nuttall's Woodpecker (Picoides nuttallii)
Say's Phoebe (Sayornis saya)
Western Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica)
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
Bewick's Wren (Thryomanes bewickii)
Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula)
Oak Titmouse (Baeolophus inornatus)
Lesser Goldfinch (Carduelis psaltria)
House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus)
Golden-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla)
Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta)
Brewer's Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus)
Good birding!
Courtenay Peddle
Pigeon song??
Tue, 21 Mar 2000 14:10:00 -0800
From: Tom Condit
Sunday March 19 at the UC Botanical Garden, Marsha Feinland and I heard several times what we assumed from the habitat must be the song and/or breeding call of Band-tailed Pigeon. I haven't been able to find any tapes or records with this bird on them, but what we heard was a short series of owl-like hoots, followed by the sound that male Rock Doves make with their throat pouches when they're strutting about. Band-tails are fairly common in this canyon, so we assumed that was what we were hearing.
There was also a Fox Sparrow singing atop tall herbs near the greenhouses by the food plant exhibit.
Because of weather and schedule pressures, this is only the second time this month I've made it up to the Botanical Garden. I didn't see Selasphorus hummingbirds either time. This is the first month since last August I haven't seen them, but it sort of blows my hunch/hope that they're resident.
Tom Condit
Hummingbird Reply Subject Index
Lucy's Warbler
Tue, 21 Mar 2000 17:18:33 -0800
From: Sheila Dickie
Photos of the Lucy's Warbler in my North Oakland back yard have been posted on the Cornell Project Feederwatch website - along with rarities from other parts of the U.S.
http://birdsource.cornell.edu/pfw/pfwnews/rarities99.htm
No sign of the bird for a couple of weeks now. Does anyone know how long the Lucy's Warbler in San Francisco stayed around last winter?
Sheila Dickie
Hermit Thrush
Tue, 21 Mar 2000 18:54:59 -0800
From: Martha Lowe
Hi,
I seem to have a courting pair of Hermit Thrush in my yard! I saw them both last evening, the male chasing the female (or maybe it was the other way around!) about the yard. This evening I heard the male singing and went out to try and catch a glimpse. I didn't catch him in the act but watched one of the birds (I assume it was the male but I'm not sure) flit around to perch visibly and do a little display of tail lifting and wing "shrugging" (for lack of a better word), this was accompanied by strange little vocalizations that I can't even describe. I wonder if these birds might stay here to breed, or do they usually pair up before they take off to wherever it is they do breed? I have never heard one singing in my neighborhood before so this is pretty exciting (I do get Swainson's Thrush every year though). I have heard there are a few who stay and breed up in Oakland's redwoods and heard one up there last year.
I also identified a Fox Sparrow by song for the first time last week, again I have seen them around but never heard one sing.
I never cease to be amazed,
Martha
Tufted Duck at Hayward Regional Shoreline
Wed, 22 Mar 2000 14:22:07 PST
From: Bob Richmond
Today at the Hayward Shoreline a male Tufted Duck was seen in an area off limits to the public. It then flew to the bay near Johnson's Landing. Johnson's Landing is best reached by taking the trail, from the Hayward Shoreline Interpretive Center, to the bay. A male Eurasian Wigeon was also seen today.
Bob Richmond
Re: Selasphorus hummingbirds in UC Berkeley
Botanical Garden
Wed, 22 Mar 2000 20:02:28 -0800
From: Becca Freed
Tom Condit wrote about his March 19 visit to UC Botanical Garden:
Because of weather and schedule pressures, this is only the second time this month I've made it up to the Botanical Garden. I didn't see Selasphorus hummingbirds either time. This is the first month since last August I haven't seen them, but it sort of blows my hunch/hope that they're resident.
Hi Tom & East Bay Birders,
I took a walk up the Strawberry Canyon trail this past Saturday, March 18, and I heard Selasphorus hummingbirds several times. I can't remember the difference between an Allen's Hummingbird call and a Rufous Hummingbird call, but I know a not-Anna's call when I hear it.
(obviously not spending enough time with the tapes, and not nearly enough
time in the field),
Becca Freed
Berkeley CA
Original Message Subject Index
Birds
Wed, 22 Mar 2000 22:53:14 PST
From: Anthony Fisher
Man, you couldn't even see a Red-shouldered Hawk in Oakland in the '70s. Now they're copulating on a branch right outside the window of the house I grew up in!
Speaking of that house, I was visiting my folks there yesterday and my dad was telling me about the chickadee that has been frequenting a little ventilation hole in the outside wall over the sliding glass door. While we were discussing how the bird might make use of the cavernous space that lies beyond the tiny entrance, it flew out and into the Coast Silk-tassel just beyond the deck. The chickadee began to worry and pull at what I thought was one of the tree's tassels. The sudden arrival of two angry Bushtits confirmed that the chickadee was actually ripping at the smaller birds' partially constructed nest!
Was the chickadee collecting material for it's own nest, or attempting to discourage a potential competitor from nesting in the area?
The kid and I went to Crab Cove, Alameda, today to see what Spring has brought. The usual suspects and a beautiful Caspian Tern roosting with a sprinkling of California Gulls and two Mew Gulls. A Red-throated Loon was working just beyond the old pier rocks. Jack Smelt were running and the fisherpeople were hauling them in. Monarch, Anise Swallowtail, West Coast Ladies, and Cabbage butterflies rounded out the day.
Thank you for your indulgence,
Ant
3-month Job Vacancy
(FYI)
Thu, 23 Mar 2000 06:46:26 -0800 (PST)
From: Peter Rauch
Cross-posting from Ecolog-L.
Peter
>>> Posting number 7464, dated 22 Mar 2000 12:30:26
Sender: "Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news"
Subject: field assistant position, paid, California, 4 monthsOne Field Assistant needed Apr 15-Aug 15, also accepting those only available May 1-Aug 1 to help conduct Rapid Ornithological Inventories along several river systems in California's Central Coast.
Determining presence/absence in newly restored and recreation areas. Limited work assessing area breeding birds.
Work 5 days/week, housing included plus $10 camping per diem when in the field. Must have experience in mist-netting, extraction, and MAPS processing of songbirds. Compensation $600/mo.
Please send cover letter, resume, and references to
JAMES BOOKER
Ventana Wildernesss Society
HC 67 Box 99
Monterey, CA. 93940
(831-624-1802)
fax to (831-626-8651)or
KAREN RITCHIE
(831-620-1802)
kwren@redshift.com