Long-tailed Duck
Mon, 14 Aug 2000 01:51:24 -0700
From: Larry Tunstall
East Bay birders,
The American Ornithologists Union recently officially changed the common name of Clangula hyemalis from Oldsquaw to Long-tailed Duck. Generally, I have been following the official list of the California Bird Records Committee as the style sheet in editing the EBBC website. In this case, however, I'm going to adopt the new AOU name immediately without waiting for the CBRC to follow suit, because many people have felt that the old name was offensive.
Good birding, Larry
Larry Tunstall
El Cerrito CA
Re: [CVBirds] Hummingbirds
Mon, 14 Aug 2000 04:23:37 -0700
From: Mike Feighner
On the Central Valley Birds e-mail list, David Yee wrote:
Dear Birders:
Starting yesterday (Aug 12) I noticed an increase of hummingbirds at our feeders, especially as evening approached. Most notably, there were more than 3 Rufous/Allen's Hummers for the first time this summer/fall. Then this morning things busted loose. At least 12 Rufous/Allen's were present. The Black-chinned numbers also increased slightly. As interesting as the influx of Rufous/Allen's was the total lack of Anna's - just the same adult male that's been present all summer.
I have received many responses the last few days, especially from people in urban areas. Some have noticed little if any increase in hummer activity, while others have noticed strong increases recently as well. Extremely interesting is that many of the increases from urban areas have almost all been exclusively Anna's and Black-chinneds! This is exactly the type of data I was hoping to generate with your help.
Please keep your observations coming. Even if you can't identify the hummingbirds to species, please let me know if you're getting increases this week or none at all. Thanks!
Regards,
David YeeCentral Valley Birds [CVBirds] may be accessed through the web site at:
David and all:
For some time I have been following this thread with increasing envy of those living in San Joaquin County. Yes, I do live in Livermore in Alameda County a mere 15 miles from the San Joaquin County line. Here the number of hummers has neither increased nor decreased from the current single female Anna's. ;>(
East-Bay Birders, have any of you noticed a change in the number of hummers recently?
Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA
More Coliseum birds (American Kestrel)
Thu, 17 Aug 2000 18:42:45 -0700
From: Lillian Fujii
At the Oakland A's baseball game last night, a pair of American Kestrels entertained us by hawking insects in the stadium lights above the highrise football seats. This took place from at least 8:30 to 9 PM, after which we decided to watch the game. The A's won in the bottom of the 9th inning.
Lillian Fujii
Elegant Terns
Thu, 17 Aug 2000 20:44:53 -0700
From: Emilie Strauss
This evening (about 6 PM; fairly high tide) there were 20 to 30 Elegant Terns foraging between Point Emery and the Emeryville Marina (at the end of Powell St).
Brooks Island Black Skimmer
Sun, 20 Aug 2000 12:19:43 -0700
From: Calvin Lou
On Sunday, 20 August, 8:00 AM, I birded Brooks Island off Richmond in hope of finding some of Steve's goodies from last weekend.
After several scans of the island, I was able to pick out the Black Skimmer sitting on the beach to the right of the large tractor tire, which is in the water near the beach. It flew up after being chased by some gulls. Going a little further to the right, there were the five Brant. And finally to the right of the pier, there were two Black Oystercatchers. They immediately started flying toward me and landed on the breakwater.
Take Marina Parkway Exit from Hwy 580, heading toward the bay, and go to the end of the road. This is the former Richmond Inner Harbor, now known as Richmond Marina or Marina Bay. Scope from here to Brooks Island.
Calvin D Lou
Common Murre
Mon, 21 Aug 2000 19:59:19 -0700
From: Emilie Strauss
Today there was a Common Murre just west of the eastern-most shorebird roost islet at the Albany Mudflat just south of Central Ave, Richmond, Contra Costa County. No Least Terns were visible.
Albany waterfront
Tue, 22 Aug 2000 19:48:43 PDT
From: Brian Fitch
We saw the Common Murre today north of the Albany bulb [in Alameda County, but only a short distance from where Emilie saw it on Monday]. I also heard an odd call from its vicinity and eventually saw it opening its mouth and calling as it faced behind it. I finally found the object of its attention, a chick, which seemed to refuse to respond to the adult's attempts to herd it back out to sea. The adult kept calling and leading, but the youngster kept ignoring it and even swimming in the opposite direction when the adult drew closer. It was fascinating to hear a single murre's rough voice over the relative quiet of the bay.
Several times during the day, both Brown Pelicans and American White Pelicans were in view simultaneously over the water. There were also 4 to 5 Least Terns flying around the area as well as 5 or more Elegant Terns feeding south of and flying over the isthmus, and in the afternoon a Black Oystercatcher flew over the northern Golden Gate Fields parking lot and landed on the rocks south of the adjacent beach.
Brian Fitch
Original Message Subject Index
Piper Slough, 23 August
Thu, 24 Aug 2000 09:09:59 PDT
From: Steve Glover
Hello all,
It was quite windy at Piper Slough yesterday and there were almost no migrants, with the exception of five Willow Flycatchers. This is a great place to see Willow Flycatcher in the fall, and they should be pretty easy to find out there for at least several more weeks. [Piper Slough is at the north end of Bethel Island Rd. in eastern Contra Costa County.]
An Osprey was again on the large dead tree visible to the east when you first climb onto the levee.
Blue Grosbeaks are still about and feeding young, and there was still an adult male around yesterday. They generally leave before the females and youngsters and should depart any day now.
Steve Glover