Costa's Hummingbird still in Berkeley
Mon, 30 Apr 2001 08:57:31 -0700 (PDT)
From: Emilie Strauss
The Costa's Hummingbird was seen again from about 7:30 to 8:00 AM on Berkeley Way, and also on a wire on California St between Berkeley Way and Hearst Ave, Berkeley, Alameda County.
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Re: New member
Mon, 30 Apr 2001 11:26:13 -0700
From: Mary
Jerrie Arko wrote:
This year I have had a ton of goldfinches and siskins at the feeders. Man do they go thru a lot of niger$eed.
There's the rub. I opted not to do the niger thing this year because I'm starting a business, and I look at niger seed in terms of how many business cards I could have printed for the same cost. ;)
The house finches are happy with mixed seed or black oil sunflower seed, but I've only ever had one Lesser Goldfinch. They have expensive appetites.
I don't feel horrible about it, though, as I also have Hooded Orioles and Allen's Hummingbirds, which are both just fun.
I would like to join up with any of you for a gentle walk for birds at any time. I am a bit limited at the moment because of recent hip replacement surgery that has gone wrong. I can walk (slowly) and sitting in a car is no problem.
I've got arthritis in my knees that sometimes limits me to about a block's walking. On a good day, I can go a full 2 miles. I really miss long bird hikes, but car, yard, and park birding is keeping me fairly happy. The bluebirds in Burgess Park in Menlo Park nest right next to parking places.
Mary
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Big Springs & Seaview Trails, Tilden
Park, 28 April
Mon, 30 Apr 2001 13:16:57 -0700
From: Tom Condit
We squeezed in a short walk in Tilden Regional Park (Berkeley Hills) late afternoon on Saturday, April 28 - up the Big Springs Trail to the Seaview Trail, a short walk on Seaview, then down again at dusk. We did not see any Poorwills, alas, but did get a terrific view of a singing Rufuous-crowned Sparrow who was incredibly cooperative - perched on a bush right at trail side and let us view him from several angles. (This particular bird was on Seaview, but they are more reliably found down the canyon along the Big Springs trail.)
Also:
Red-tailed Hawks
About a dozen California Quail (again on Seaview, just north of the metal keep-out sign along the eastern fence)
Dark-eyed Juncos (and heard singing as well)
Tom Condit
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Mitchell Canyon
Mon, 30 April 2001 18:12:53 PDT
From: Jim Tietz
Hi-
Today at Mitchell Canyon [in Mount Diablo State Park, south of Clayton] I encountered 69 species and 5 nests from 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM. I hiked the Mitchell Canyon trail to the Red Road and then went right to the top of the hill and then went left about a half mile into the gray pines. The abundances are mostly approximate.
Good Birding,
Jim
7 Turkey Vulture
1 Sharp-shinned Hawk
1 Cooper's Hawk
4 Red-tailed Hawk
1 Golden Eagle
1 American Kestrel
15 California Quail
1 Mourning Dove
5 White-throated Swift
12 Anna's Hummingbird
5 Acorn Woodpecker
4 Nuttall's Woodpecker
1 Downy Woodpecker
3 Hairy Woodpecker
3 Northern Flicker
1 Olive-sided Flycatcher
4 Western Wood-Pewee
3 Hammond's Flycatcher
1 Dusky Flycatcher
12 Pacific-slope Flycatcher
1 Empidonax sp. (Dusky/Hammond's)
3 Black Phoebe (nest found under bridge)
10 Ash-throated Flycatcher
40 Cliff Swallow
6 Steller's Jay (1 nest found in outer bough of live oak)
10 Western Scrub-Jay
1 American Crow
5 Common Raven
3 Chestnut-backed Chickadee
10 Oak Titmouse
30 Bushtit
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
10 Bewick's Wren
4 House Wren
20 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (1 nest found in dead tree & 1 nest found in chamise)
6 Western Bluebird
3 Swainson's Thrush
1 Hermit Thrush
15 Wrentit
3 California Thrasher
3 Cedar Waxwing
4 European Starling
2 Cassin's Vireo
4 Hutton's Vireo
20 Warbling Vireo
10 Orange-crowned Warbler
1 Black-throated Gray Warbler
12 Townsend's Warbler
5 Hermit Warbler
1 MacGillivray's Warbler
25 Wilson's Warbler
2 Western Tanager
5 Black-headed Grosbeak
10 Lazuli Bunting
15 Spotted Towhee
10 California Towhee
4 Rufous-crowned Sparrow
1 Chipping Sparrow
5 Lark Sparrow
4 Sage Sparrow
1 Grasshopper Sparrow
10 Dark-eyed Junco
5 Red-winged Blackbird
4 Western Meadowlark
2 Brewer's Blackbird
4 Brown-headed Cowbird
4 Bullock's Oriole
5 Purple Finch (1 nest found in outer bough of live oak)
1 House Finch
15 Lesser Goldfinch
1 American Goldfinch
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Re: Mitchell Canyon
Mon, 30 Apr 2001 19:06:09 -0700
From: Joseph Morlan
Jim Tietz wrote:
1 Dusky Flycatcher
12 Pacific-slope Flycatcher
1 Empidonax sp. (Dusky/Hammond's)
How common are Dusky Flycatchers in Contra Costa County in Spring?
Joseph Morlan, Pacifica, CA 94044
California Birding, mystery birds: http://fog.ccsf.org/~jmorlan/
California Bird Records Committee: http://www.wfo-cbrc.org/cbrc/
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Re: Mitchell Canyon
Mon, 30 April 2001 21:28:53 PDT
From: Jim Tietz
Joe-
I don't have much experience with Contra Costa County birds and so can't give you a definitive answer. However, this was the second Dusky Flycatcher that I have encountered this spring (both on Mt Diablo). This is out of about 20 Hammond's Flycatchers and 40 Pacific-slope Flycatchers that I have detected this spring in Contra Costa County. Rich Stallcup stated this weekend that he encounters 1 Dusky for every 10 Hammond's at Mt Diablo. The "Dusky/Hammond's" that I reported was seen too briefly to identify.
Jim
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Re: Mitchell Canyon
Mon, 30 Apr 2001 21:49:32 PDT
From: Steve Glover
Joe and all,
The status of Dusky Flycatcher in spring here in Contra Costa County still remains unresolved. They are reported rather infrequently, probably less than annually, but I have little doubt that some (most?) are actually misidentified Hammond's Flycatchers, which can be quite common in the inner coast range in spring. I personally don't spend much time in potentially prime habitat as I spend most time out in the Delta so I have yet to see one in spring and have only seen one in fall. Although I wouldn't be surprised if it occurred annually in tiny numbers there seems to be almost no evidence to support this idea.
I have heard only good things lately about Jim so I assume he identified the bird correctly and hope that he will send me a description when he has the time.
I hate to sound cynical but I have learned from experience. One spring in about 1990 or so, when I hadn't been birding long, I went into Donner Canyon at Mt Diablo and immediately starting finding non-Pacific-slope Flycatchers but had absolutely no clue how to separate them. Of course I proceeded to do it anyway and came up with 8 Hammond's Flycatchers and 8 Dusky Flycatchers! Looking back I am quite sure that I had 16 Hammond's on that day!
Good birding,
Steve Glover
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Re: Mitchell Canyon
Mon, 30 Apr 2001 22:09:34 PDT
From: Brian Fitch
I heard and saw a Dusky Flycatcher at the head of Mitchell Canyon in spring 1997. It was in a tree above some picnic tables where the canyon splits, well up the mountainside, and it was giving the deehic call consistently for the 20 minutes I spent there.
I've been to Mitchell once or twice each spring since, and haven't seen another Dusky, but neither have I ever hiked up that far again. The date was May 7, 1997.
Brian Fitch
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