Re: Pectoral Sandpiper at Arrowhead Marsh
Fri, 21 Sep 2001 11:46:31 -0700
From: Jennifer Rycenga
EBBirders:
I just wanted to add to Mike's post that I was out looking for the Pectoral Sandpiper at Arrowhead Marsh yesterday (Sept 20), from 9:45 to 11:00 AM, when the tide was still rather low. I also had no luck, and saw basically the same mix of birds that Mike reported.
Jennifer Rycenga
Berkeley
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Hayward Shoreline
Fri, 21 Sep 2001 12:38:32 PDT
From: Bob Richmond
Today at the Hayward Regional Shoreline:
Black Oystercatcher - 2 seen on the rocks from Hayward Landing at low tide.
Surfbird - 6 also seen from Hayward Landing at low tide.
Pacific-slope Flycatcher - 1
Western Scrub-Jay - 13 seen along the north side of Mt Trashmore. I have only seen then about 6 times at the shoreline, with the number usually being 1 (2 were seen once).
American Pipit - 6 flying overhead near Hayward Landing.
Golden-crowned Sparrow - 2 were the first of the fall seen here.
White-crowned Sparrow - 1
Warblers were in low numbers. They included
Orange-crowned Warbler - 2
Yellow Warbler - 3
Wilson's Warbler - 1
Good Birding
Bob
Re: Pectoral Sandpiper at Arrowhead Marsh
Fri, 21 Sep 2001 17:01:00 -0700
From: Tom Condit
Jennifer Rycenga wrote:
... I was out looking for the Pectoral Sandpiper at Arrowhead Marsh yesterday.... I also had no luck....
Keep looking. I say this because of my own experience in finding a Pectoral Sandpiper in the Emeryville Crescent Marsh. I was out birding one day when I ran into a Brit who was in town on business and had been checking out the marsh. He told me he had seen a Pectoral Sandpiper. "Well," sez I to meself, "he's not familiar with our local birds, he might have mistaken one of them for a Pectoral Sandpiper." Nevertheless, I hit the area every day for a week, and finally found it. Nothing like hunting for a sandpiper among sandpipers to drive you crazy.
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Sudden influx of favorites
Sat, 22 Sep 2001 17:53:40 -0700
From: Lisa Viani
Hi,
I am having a sudden and very welcome influx of White-crowned Sparrows to my backyard (Richmond, just between the hills and flatlands). I know these are year-round residents, but I haven't seen one all year, and I sorely missed them. Anyway, perhaps this is a small flock coming through right now. I also have Yellow Warblers, which I only see in the fall/winter, in addition to my usual American and Lesser Goldfinches, towhees, doves, chickadees, etc. We seem to be having an early fall...
Best,
Lisa Viani
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Arrowhead Marsh (Oakland) on Saturday
Sun, 23 Sep 2001 14:48:34 -0700
From: Courtenay Peddle
Hello folks,
About 30 of us on the Golden Gate Audubon Society walk enjoyed a morning of birding at Arrowhead and Mitigation Marshes, Martin Luther King Jr Regional Shoreline, Oakland (Alameda County), on Saturday. The Clapper Rails were exceptionally cooperative, letting everyone have satisfying looks, not glimpses. And a Burrowing Owl also let us all study it at length. We did not see any Dunlin, which should be arriving any day now. Here's the complete list (not everyone saw every species!):
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)
Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)
American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)
Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
probable Mallard X scaup sp.
probable Mallard X Gadwall
Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
Great Egret (Ardea alba)
Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
White-tailed Kite (Elanus leucurus)
Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus)
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
Clapper Rail (Rallus longirostris)
American Coot (Fulica americana)
Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa)
Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus)
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca)
Willet (Catoptrophorus semipalmatus)
Black Turnstone (Arenaria melanocephala)
Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)
Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri)
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)
Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus)
American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana)
Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)
Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)
California Gull (Larus californicus)
Western Gull (Larus occidentalis)
Western X Glaucous-winged Gull)
Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri)
Rock Dove (Columba livia)
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)
Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia)
Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)
Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans)
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
Common Raven (Corvus corax)
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)
Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris)
House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus)
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)
Good birding!
Courtenay Peddle
Long-eared Owl
Sun, 23 Sep 2001 18:11:01 -0700
From: John Luther
On Saturday (September 22) at about 5:30 AM, Susanne Methvin, David Luther and I heard a Long-eared Owl in Redwood Regional Park. We heard it from the paved road into the park that enters the park from Redwood Rd a few miles east of Skyline Blvd. The Long-eared Owl was in the tall trees only a short distance from Redwood Rd before you get to the pay kiosk.
It is interesting to note that in September 1998 David Luther and I heard a Long-eared Owl in the same area. We have not listened for one there since then. If you do go there please do not play lots of tape that might disturb it. When we heard it both years it called spontaneously. No tapes were played.
John Luther
Wilson's Phalaropes
Sun, 23 Sep 2001 21:05:38 -0700
From: Matthew Dodder
All,
On a scouting trip to Hayward Regional Shoreline, a friend and I observed a single Baird's Sandpiper along the levee trail as well as many Least Sandpipers. Waterfowl included many Northern Shovelers and Northern Pintails but little else.
Somewhat later, a trip to Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge turned up both Virginia Rail and Clapper Rail as well as a multitude of Common Yellowthroats, and Marsh Wrens.
Finally, just beyond the toll plaza on the Dumbarton Bridge, we found a group of about 30 Wilson's Phalaropes feeding in the first pond. We pulled over and observed them for a few minutes through the car windows.
Matthew Dodder
http://www.birdguy.net
Re: Sudden influx of favorites
Sun, 23 Sep 2001 21:48:10 -0700
From: Lillian Fujii
Lisa and anyone else interested in White-crowned Sparrows:
The flock of White-crowned Sparrows in Lisa's back yard is not likely of the resident nuttalli race, but the still-common winter visitors that breed elsewhere. While the nuttalli race is still very common in Marin County, the East Bay population of breeding White-crowned Sparrows is now but a sad remnant of its former abundance. They still breed in the vicinity of the Marina Bay subdivision in Richmond, we've seen fledglings in the "natural area" of César Chávez Park in Berkeley, and there are a few at or near Hilltop Mall in Richmond. White-crowns are frequently parasitized by cowbirds, but no doubt habitat destruction or alternation has played a part in their decline. But those sparrows that remain tenaciously cling on to avoid extirpation from the East Bay. Hearing the sweet song of the White-crowned Sparrow in the East Bay in July brings me joy and sorrow at the same time. May they cling on and prosper in the future. (Pun intended, not appropriate at this time, sorry.)
Lillian Fujii
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