Nashville Warbler
Sun, 19 Nov 2000 12:56:57 PST
From: Helen Green
Hi - a surprise in my front yard yesterday was a late Nashville Warbler hanging about with a Yellow-rumped Warbler! Lost its way to Mexico?
Helen Green
Berkeley
Las Trampas Regional Wilderness and Lake
Merritt
Sun, 19 Nov 2000 18:41:51 -0800 (PST)
From: David Armstrong
We took an 8-mile hike through the Las Trampas Regional Wilderness area [near Danville] today and saw a few birds:
Bewick's Wren
Wrentit
Townsend's and Yellow-rumped Warblers
Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets
Downy and Nuttall's Woodpeckers
Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks
Western Bluebird
Fox Sparrow
Then a stop at Lake Merritt [in Oakland] on the way home:
Cattle Egret
Canvasback
Common Goldeneye
Lesser Scaup
Horned and Eared Grebes
Ruddy duck
David Armstrong
Christmas Bird Counts
Sun, 19 Nov 2000 20:11:29 -0800
From: Larry Tunstall
It's only a month until time again for the annual check on wintering birds across North America. This year, there are counts in Northern California from December 16 through January 1 in various locations.
Most counts are happy to have help even if you are just a beginner. It's a good chance to learn as you go spotting with some of the best birders in the area. The emphasis is on moving from place to place, rapidly counting birds, and moving on, so this may not be your thing if you like leisurely birding with long pauses to enjoy the ambiance. However, I'd recommend trying it once to see if you like it, and remember that you'll be helping compile information of great value for birders, ornithologists, ecologists, and conservationists.
You'll find a list of all this year's Northern California counts with dates and contact information [prepared by EBbirder Kay Loughman] on the Golden Gate Audubon Society website at
I'll add a link to this page from the East Bay Birders Circle homepage, so that you can find it quickly.
I'm also working on a page with information about how to join the other e-mail discussion groups in the Bay Area. That should be available from the EBBC homepage within a day or two.
Just a reminder that the address for posting messages to the entire EBbird list is
You must be posting from exactly the e-mail address at which you are subscribed, and your message may be rejected if it is not in plain text (no HTML or attachments allowed). If you get the list in digest form, you'll need to give a subject heading to your message - automatic reply headings to the entire digest issue will be rejected. If you have problems posting, let me know and we'll try to figure out what's wrong.
Good birding, Larry
Larry Tunstall
El Cerrito CA
Ferruginous Hawk
Sun, 19 Nov 2000 09:24:00 -0800 [delayed in transit]
From: Mike Feighner
East Bay Birders:
While heading east on Highway I-580 yesterday in eastern Alameda County, I spotted a Ferruginous Hawk flying over the east-bound lanes just prior to the "railroad bridge" that you pass under.
Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA
Monterey Peninsula Christmas Bird Count
Sun, 19 Nov 2000 09:38:10 -0800 [delayed in transit]
From: Mike Feighner
East Bay Birders:
Forwarding the following for Steve Rovell to any who may be interested in partaking in the Monterey Peninsula Christmas Bird Count.
To all birders:
(Apologies to all those who receive this message more than once.)
Friday, December 29th is the date for the Monterey Peninsula Christmas Bird Count. It always proves to be a splendid affair in one of the most beautiful areas in the state. I'd like to invite you all to participate in one form or another. Counters are always needed, especially on the pelagic portion of the count ($20 fee). A home-cooked dinner is provided free to all participants at the countdown. For more information or to RSVP, please call or e-mail me. Thanks!
Steve Rovell, compiler
831.883.9288
vagrant@jps.netPS - Some people always wonder why this count always occurs on a weekday. The cost of the boat is about doubled on weekends, making it prohibitively expensive. In the past few years, I have attempted to schedule the count on a Friday or Monday (adjoins the weekend) to include as many people as possible.
Posted to EBbird by Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA
Pileated Woodpecker sighting
Mon, 20 Nov 2000 17:32:58 -0800
From: Martha Lowe
Saw the Joaquin Miller Park [Oakland hills] Pileated Woodpecker [PIWO] again today. I first heard it, and then after some quiet sneaking about, saw it. It was at about 3:30, this is a similar time of day (about an hour or two before sunset) to my last sighting and to another sighting earlier this year. You are going to think I am an idiot at this point but once again I did not have my binoculars with me. So, once again, I cannot tell you the bird's sex, except to guess that it was a male by the extent of red on its forehead.
The bird was located in a stand of Monterey pines just to the southeast of the JMP horse arena (same general area as several previous sightings). There is a paved road that makes a little loop going back to the arena and it was in the trees off that road. I watched it go from tree to tree for about 10 to 15 minutes. It was foraging from the ground to high up in the trees. It was woodpecker heaven there today. There were also two Northern Flickers that were doing some kind of interactive thing - courting? and a Downy or Hairy Woodpecker (I'm ashamed to say I can rarely tell the difference) as well. At one point the pileated flew at the flickers and broke up their little interaction. At another point the pileated was silhouetted against the sky and I could see it sticking its very long tongue out.
After today I am positive that I can identify the PIWO by its call, there is really no other bird that sounds like it, especially in volume. I heard it call often as I watched it today. So I can think back on at least 4 other occasions when I have heard a PIWO - both in the area surrounding the JMP horse arena, and along the Westridge trail where a bird was sighted twice recently.
Martha