Mines Road on Saturday
Sun, 14 Apr 2002 09:06:47 -0700
From: Bruce Mast
Yesterday, I spent the day touring Mines Road, south of Livermore. Highlights for me were the Mines Road "specialty species" Phainopepla, Lawrence's Goldfinch, and Lewis' Woodpecker (seen on San Antonio Road, just past the junction, in Santa Clara County). I was surprised to find a number of Tricolored Blackbirds along San Antonio Road, but I suspect regular visitors to the area have known about them for some time.
Bullock's Orioles and Western Kingbirds are pretty visible along the entire route. California Quail are calling everywhere and heard Wild Turkeys at a couple stops. Saw Rufous-crowned Sparrows a couple times, but struck out on some of the other chaparral species, notably roadrunners and thrashers.
Bruce Mast
Oakland
Saturday morning at Martin Luther King Jr
Regional Shoreline, Oakland
Sun, 14 Apr 2002 09:46:04 -0700
From: Courtenay Peddle
Hello folks,
On a Golden Gate Audubon Society field trip at Martin Luther King Jr Regional Shoreline in Oakland on Saturday morning, we saw the 59 species listed below. The best bird of the day was the Bonaparte's Gull; the best possible bird was a likely Lincoln's Sparrow, which we saw much too briefly to confirm. The shorebirds are mostly in fine breeding (OK, alternate) plumage, and the stilts and avocets are starting to nest. The Clapper Rails are silent and invisible, probably too busy doing what comes naturally. The Burrowing Owls have forsaken their mound (the grass is too high) but all being well, will return when the grass dies back. I believe that the Cinnamon Teal and Blue-winged Teal have left.
Good birding!
Courtenay Peddle
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)
Eared Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis)
Western Grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis)
Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)
Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis)
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)
American Wigeon (Anas americana)
Gadwall (Anas strepera)
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca)
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)
Greater Scaup (Aythya marila)
Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis)
Surf Scoter (Melanitta perspicillata)
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)
Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
American Coot (Fulica americana)
Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa)
Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca)
Willet (Catoptrophorus semipalmatus)
Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)
Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri)
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)
Dunlin (Calidris alpina)
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)
Bonaparte's Gull (Larus philadelphia)
Caspian Tern (Sterna caspia)
Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri)
Rock Dove (Columba livia)
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)
Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)
Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris)
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
Cliff Swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota)
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis)
House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus)
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)
California Towhee (Pipilo crissalis)
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)
Brewer's Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus)
Nest identification needed
Sun, 14 Apr 2002 14:56:32 -0700
From: Lisa Viani
Hi everyone,
I'm wondering if someone could tell me whose empty nest this might be - I found it laying on the ground in a park today, in the middle of a trail, by the way!
It was very very soft, about 6 inches total length, and looked like it was probably a hanging "pouch" type nest. The pouch part was about 4 inches deep. The nest was made primarily of mosses and soft plant fibers, and decorated with some lichens and small dry leaves. The most interesting part, though is this: it was decorated on the outside with feathers from all different kinds of birds, soft downy feathers, only though - but from many different birds of different colors. The pouch itself was lined with many many very soft feathers. Most of the feathers were white and brownish.
I am wondering if it could be a chickadee's nest? The pouch couldn't have been big enough to hold very large birds. Here is the other thing-- there were pieces of brown and white feathers (still attached in clumps ... :-() strewn on the ground, too, as if maybe a hawk or raven or crow had raided it and knocked it down (and probably eaten the young birds). Any thoughts on whose nest it could be?
Lisa Viani
Richmond (near El Cerrito border)
Re: Nest identification needed
Sun, 14 Apr 2002 15:46:40 -0700
From: Dustin Alcala
Lisa,
The nest you found is undoubtedly a Bushtit nest. From your description I consider it only a remote possibility that the nest belonged to Bullock's Orioles. That aside from the fact that orioles probably don't nest in the park you found the nest in. Where is that, by the way?
Dustin Alcala
Albany
Original Message Subject Index
Alameda County Swainson's Hawk nest
Sun, 14 Apr 2002 16:19:14 PDT
From: Steve Glover
Hello all,
This morning I was out doing some atlasing in eastern Contra Costa County. Just before I got to the county line I found a pair of Swainson's Hawks building a nest in Alameda County. I worked this area during the Alameda Atlas and found no nesting birds there, though I did find a pair in seemingly suitable habitat at some point. I am unclear about how many Alameda County nest records there are. The only one I have in my files is one that Grinnell and Wyeth cite from Berkeley from some time before 1891!
Later in the day I managed to confirm White-tailed Kite and Loggerhead Shrike from a new block. The shrikes already have fledglings out of the nest.
Finally, does anyone out there know someone with a boat in either the Pittsburg/Antioch area or Bethel Island area? We are hoping to get to a few areas out there that are out of reach from land. We of course would be happy to pay for the gas. If you or anyone you know can help please call me at 925.828.7793.
Good luck,
Steve Glover
Dublin
Hayward Regional Shoreline
Sun, 14 Apr 2002 16:25:44 PDT
From: Bob Richmond
The following was seen today:
Cassin's Vireo - 1 at Winton Ave trailhead - only a few records here
Cedar Waxwing - 20 to 25 at Winton, regular in spring
Black-headed Grosbeak - 1 at Winton
Black Oystercatcher - 1 at Hayward Landing
Snow Goose - 1 at San Lorenzo Community Park
Ross' Goose - 1 at San Lorenzo Community Park
Good Birding
Bob
Cargill salt ponds and Caswell State Park
Sun, 14 Apr 2002 18:06:11 -0700
From: Steve Huckabone
Hi all,
Saturday was spent doing the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory Gull/Tern monitoring program with John Harris on the Cargill Salt property. We did locate nesting Forster's Terns, Black-necked Stilts and American Avocets. Actually seeing the brownish / olive eggs of American Avocet sitting on the open ground. Also saw 16 Bonaparte Gulls with their black hoods, very different from when I usually see them.
Sunday made a trip out to Caswell Memorial State Park between Tracy and Modesto, with the highlights being:
Prairie Falcon - Hwy 580 / Grant Line Rd
Swainson's Hawks - Hwy 205 / Hwy 5 and at Caswell
Nashville Warbler - Caswell
Black-headed Grosbeak - Caswell
Western Kingbirds - all over
40 White-faced Ibis - flying north above Manteca Rd
22 Cattle Egret - .5 miles east of intersection Chrisman Rd. / Durham Ferry Rd
Lowlights:
Brown-headed Cowbirds - Caswell
Good birding,
Steve Huckabone
Alameda County
Livermore, Ca 94550
Albany Bulb/Plateau/Mudflats
Sun, 14 Apr 2002 22:16:51 -0700
From: Larry Tunstall
Sunday morning's Golden Gate Audubon Society birdwalk at the old Albany landfill north of Golden Gate Fields racetrack turned up a number of interesting birds.
Lillian Fujii and Steve Hayashi were the walk leaders. Dustin Alcala (who birds this area frequently) helped with a lot of suggestions and identifications, and Peter Rauch added information about the Eastshore State Park planning process.
We found several Savannah Sparrows singing on territory on the Plateau, the flat area that planners propose to cover with turf playing fields and a parking lot. This area and the similar one on the old Berkeley landfill at the Berkeley Meadow are almost the only remaining approximation of the old coastal upland habitat that once stretched all along this Eastshore Park region. The White-crowned Sparrows that were resident in this habitat have proved adaptable at moving into gardens and landscaping around buildings, but the Savannah Sparrows seem to require large areas of grass and bushes. Western Meadowlarks also are common in this area and presumably nest here.
Other highlights of the morning included two Black-crowned Night-Herons (rarely seen here), two Black Oystercatchers, and a lot of Short-billed Dowitchers (by calls) and Dunlin on the mudflats that are well along in their molt to alternate (breeding) plumage. There was also a long-dead harbor seal with a well-aged fragrance that was not appreciated by all. Strangely enough, no raptors were seen.
Here's my best approximation of a composite list for the group:
Clark's Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Snowy Egret
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Canada Goose
American Wigeon
Mallard
Greater Scaup
an all-black scoter with no identifying marks
Bufflehead
Ruddy Duck
American Coot
Killdeer
Black Oystercatcher
American Avocet
Willet
Spotted Sandpiper
Whimbrel
Long-billed Curlew (only one)
Marbled Godwit
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Dunlin
Short-billed Dowitcher
Ring-billed Gull
California Gull
Herring Gull
Western Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Forster's Tern
Mourning Dove
Anna's Hummingbird
Allen's Hummingbird
Bushtit
California Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Brown-headed Cowbird (heard)
House Finch
American Goldfinch
Earlier in the morning, Dustin Alcala had seen additional species, including Lincoln's Sparrow, Peregrine Falcon, and Spotted Towhee.
Good birding, Larry
Larry Tunstall
El Cerrito CA