Birds at Botanic Garden, Tilden Regional
Park
Wed, 13 Jun 2001 17:29:11 -0700
From: Russ Williams
Hi East Bay Birders
I walked around the Regional Parks Botanic Garden up in Tilden Regional Park (Berkeley Hills) yesterday June 13 with my little 10X digital camera and got a decent shot of Steller's Jay and a pretty good one of a smaller bird feeding on a blossom from a Mexican grape variety (that's what the identification card said). Must consult my field guide to identify.
Anyway, I also saw many American Robins and hummingbirds.
Russ Williams
Fwd: Please vote on FRS birding channeL
Fri, 15 Jun 2001 17:44:00 -0700
From: Larry Tunstall
FRS channel/code choices (please vote)
Fri, 15 Jun 2001 11:30:16 -0700
From: Steve SosenskyHi All,
I've already posted this on CalBird, but have received only 11 responses. Missing are votes from many of the people who were involved in the original discussion we had on these lists a few months ago when we settled on 8/18 for FRS use. I am assuming that at least some of these people are not subscribed to Calbird. I also want to make sure I include those of you in Northern California who were not involved in the Sourthern California choice. I apologize for crossposting, but I want to make sure that anyone who wants to has an opportunity to express their opinion. Bill Bousman and Larry Tunstall, please forward this message to your lists if you think there are subscribers who do not subscribe to CalBird and would be interested in responding. Those of you who subscribe to BirdChat will also get a similar e-mail this weekend from Don Crockett.
ABA has a current online committee to select which channel/subcode combination (c/sc) ABA will recommend as an ABA area standard. The point of this is to enable birders to know where to tune their FRS radios when visiting an area.
This will be only a guideline, not a requirement. We are trying to find a c/sc which will be relatively traffic free except for birders. We have decided to avoid channels 1 through 7 because overlap with GMRS frequencies increases the potential for competition for a c/sc.
We're coming down to a vote next week. The two main choices for c/sc are our own 8/18 and 11/22 which is in use in the midwest. I'd like to get some feedback from you before I vote. Please select from one of the following choices:
___ Stay on 8/18 regardless of the vote
___ Vote for 8/18 but switch to 11/22 if that c/sc wins
___ Switch to 11/22
___ Pick a third c/sc such as ___/____ (Channel must be 8 or higher, code may not be 0)Please respond directly to me (not on this list) as soon as possible if you have not already voted. If you want to discuss this issue further, all discussion should take place on CalBird to avoid further crossposting. To subscribe to CalBird, go to
Good birding,
SteveSteve Sosensky, photographer www.sosensky.com
10834 Blix Street #213
Toluca Lake, CA 91602
Another Yellow Warbler breeding confirmation
Sat, 16 Jun 2001 20:57:35 -0700
From: Lillian Fujii
Hello birders,
Encouraged by Bob Brandriff's and the Koundakjians' confirmation of Yellow Warbler at Tilden Regional Park last week, this morning we headed back to where we heard a Yellow Warbler last week - Pinole, area not open to the public. Steve found a male after about 2 hours of searching, and after returning to the spot after an early lunch, Steve saw the male feed a fledgling - twice. I also saw the male and the fledgling numerous times, and the male sang and called a few times - both kept disappearing into the willow thickets. We saw at least one more male Yellow Warbler in the vicinity. Not bad for about 4 hours under blazing sun.
Other observations included, in no particular order: Great Horned Owl nest with young, Cooper's Hawk with prey, California Towhee nest with young, Spotted Towhee Nest with eggs and fledglings all over the place, many Song Sparrow fledglings, American Goldfinch feeding fledgling, several Wrentits singing, many Lesser Goldfinches, and a few Lawrence's Goldfinches.
Happy birding.
Lillian Fujii (and Steve Hayashi)
Hayward Regional Shoreline
Sat, 16 Jun 2001 21:57:55 -0700
From: Larry Tunstall
I'm forwarding this message for Bob Lewis, who couldn't get AOL to send plain text.
Larry
GGAS field trip to Hayward Shoreline from 10 AM to 1 PM. 12 people, clear and warm. Interesting sightings were the 7 skimmers and a large flock of American White Pelicans. Full list follows. y=young seen, n=on nest.
Clark's Grebe 1
American White Pelican 55
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 1
Snowy Egret 8
Black-crowned Night-Heron 2
Mallard 30
Cinnamon Teal 4
Northern Shoveler 1 female
Greater Scaup 4
Osprey 1
Northern Harrier 1 male
Black-bellied Plover 3
Snowy Plover 5
Black-necked Stilt 25,y
American Avocet 50,y
Willet 15
Long-billed Curlew 1
Whimbrel 3
Western Gull 4
Caspian Tern 1
Forster's Tern 80,n,y?
Black Skimmer 7
Black Phoebe 1
Cliff Swallow 15
Barn Swallow 100,y
Common Raven 2
Marsh Wren 5
Savannah Sparrow 4
Song Sparrow 15
Red-winged Blackbird 30
Brown-headed Cowbird 5,y
Cooper's Hawk fledglings in north Berkeley
Sat, 16 Jun 2001 22:09:15 -0700
From: Larry Tunstall
Alan Kaplan asked me to pass along the word that a group of 5 young Cooper's Hawks have fledged from a nest near the intersection of Amador Ave and Mariposa Ave in north Berkeley. If you take Shattuck Ave straight north past Live Oak Park where the main street swings off to the west toward the tunnel connecting to Solano Ave, you will find Amador in a few blocks curving off to the left (a block north of Eunice St).
Alan said that today the young hawks were still hanging around the area.
And a happy 64th birthday to Tom Condit!
Good birding, Larry
Larry Tunstall
El Cerrito CA
Re: Hayward Regional Shoreline
Sat, 16 Jun 2001 22:11:22 -0700
From: Mary
Larry Tunstall wrote, for Bob Lewis:
GGAS field trip to Hayward Shoreline from 10 AM to 1 PM. 12 people, clear and warm. Interesting sightings were the 7 skimmers and a large flock of American White Pelicans.
As a wistfully former hiker and active person, I feel like a bit of a wimp for having to ask this, but....
I've got fairly severe arthritis in my various joints now, and need to budget out my walking quite a lot. Some days I can walk two miles, recently it's more like two blocks. Last time I went to Hayward, I couldn't figure out where to start to find the skimmers! I saw lots of Barn Swallows and a harrier, which was exciting, but I'd love to see the skimmers, the pelicans, and other critters. Where, exactly, should I go? I just don't have the stamina to look around for the birds like I used to.
Mary
Original Message Subject Index
East Contra Costa County Atlasing
Sat, 16 Jun 2001 23:18:38 PDT
From: Steve Glover
Hello all,
Today I braved the heat (until 1 PM anyway) of east Contra Costa County and found quite a few interesting nesting birds.
Nest confirmations (in the order I found them as I'm too lazy to put them in order) included Western Scrub-Jay, Northern Harrier (including one with a small rodent it was holding underwater along the banks of a canal!), Western Kingbird, Burrowing Owl (fledglings in two blocks), Western Meadowlark, House Sparrow, Starling, Northern Mockingbird, Tricolored Blackbird (adults feeding fledglings in two blocks), Barn Swallow, Brewer's Blackbird, American Crow, Cliff Swallow, California Quail, American Robin, Red-shouldered Hawk (two begging fledglings incapable of sustained flight in a pathetic line of eucalyptus - very scarce in east county), White-tailed Kite, Loggerhead Shrike, Yellow-billed Magpie, Mallard, Bushtit, Spotted Towhee and Marsh Wren. Blue Grosbeaks were common on Holland Tract at the east end of Delta Rd east of Brentwood and there were several singing on Hoffman Ln west of Byron.
On the way home there was a very nice kettle of 46 Swainson's Hawks along Mountain House Rd in Alameda County. This seems early for such a large kettle so I wonder if they are non-breeders. Waldo Holt had a similar large flock in San Joaquin County this week which could even be the same flock. If anyone wants specific directions to any of these birds let me know.
Steve Glover
Dublin