Lazuli Buntings at Sibley - Maybe falling
on my head was worth it
Tue, 23 Apr 2002 11:09:13 -0700
From: Mike Ezekiel
Couldn't sleep this morning as I am bruised and scraped from stern to stem after falling off a bike (thank Heaven and REI for bike helmets) so I woke up early and was at Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve in the Oakland Hills before 7:00 AM this morning, but the 4 to 6 incredibly vibrantly blue Lazuli Buntings sure made it worthwhile. (Although I can't help but feel that those birds are just some sort of acid-flashback or an art student project to paint improbable birds - such colors only really belong in the tropics, not sedate Northern California.)
Two Golden Eagles (they have a nest which should be easily scopable) also and a California Thrasher and Lincoln's Sparrow as well. Quite birdy with many of the usual suspects, as follows:
Dark-eyed Junco
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Bushtit
California Towhee
Spotted Towhee
Bewick's Wren
Song Sparrow
House Finch
American Goldfinch
Lesser Goldfinch
Steller's Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
Nuttall's Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
White-breasted Nuthatch
Pygmy Nuthatch
American Kestrel
Merlin
Common Raven
Mourning Dove
California Quail
Anna's Hummingbird
other hummingbirds
Probably others as well.
Mike Ezekiel
Oakland
Black-throated Gray Warbler in Wildcat Canyon
Regional Park
Tue, 23 Apr 2002 12:59:30 -0700
From: Wen Hsu
I walked on the trail in Wildcat Canyon Regional Park at the end of Rifle Range Road from El Cerrito this morning between 7:30 and 9:30. Found one Black-throated Gray Warbler in the trees. Is it a common bird in this area?
Other interesting activities/birds:
1 Hutton's Vireo with nest material in its beak, near the bridge over the creek.
2 Warbling Vireos chasing after each other.
1 House Wren singing and claiming territory on a large Live Oak behind the fence on the left of the gate to Havey Canyon and Conlon trails.
1 male Nuttall's Woodpecker on an Live Oak on the slope under the houses near the start of the trail.
Wen Hsu
Berkeley
Re: Black-throated Gray Warblers
Tue, 23 Apr 2002 13:10:55 -0700
From: Rusty Scalf
Black-throated Gray Warblers nest in the mid-elevation Sierra Nevada and the Coast Ranges in woodlands of mixed conifer and broadleaf trees. In the Sierras they seem to like the Ponderosa Pine, Douglas-Fir, and Black Oak mix. I get the impression that the Oak is an essential ingredient since they drop out as soon as you get above the Black Oak belt. There is a nesting record from Sunol Regional Wilderness near Sunol a few years back found on the Alameda County Breeding Bird Atlas. I have seen adults feeding young on Mount Tamalpais in Marin, so I know they nest that close. It would be fun to find them nesting in the East Bay hills. Given the date though, I imagine it most likely that this bird is a migrant. But who knows?
Rusty
Original Message Subject Index
Hayward Regional Shoreline
Tue, 23 Apr 2002 22:18:39 PDT
From: Bob Richmond
During a short stop at the Winton Ave parking lot at the Hayward Regional Shoreline, the following was seen:
California Quail - 1 male, the last one I saw here was in December of 1992.
White-throated Sparrow - 1. I have never seen one here this time of year.
Fox Sparrow - 1, is probably one of the schistacea group of races and the 6th or 7th time I have seen one this spring.
Hermit Warbler - 1 male, was only the 4th one I have seen here.
Townsend's Warbler - 1, is rarely seen in spring.
Black-headed Grosbeak - 1 male
Western Tanager - 1 male
Cedar Waxwings - 20 to 25 are still present.
Pacific-slope Flycatcher - 1 was the first I have seen here this spring.
Golden-crowned Sparrow - 2 are lingering birds, most have left.
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) - 1 was fairly late.
Bob
Red-breasted Nuthatch on UC Berkeley campus
Wed, 24 Apr 2002 09:47:52 -0700
From: Tom Condit
Last night as we were walking across the University of California campus in Berkeley, we heard a Red-breasted Nuthatch calling near the bridge across Strawberry Creek at the west end of the Life Sciences Building.
Tom Condit
Western Tanager in Livermore
Wed, 24 Apr 2002 20:23:34 -0700
From: Steve Huckabone
I had a male Western Tanager calling from a large tree in my backyard yesterday (April 23) at about 6:20 AM. First of the year for me. It stayed for only a few minutes, then flew North.
Good birding.
Steve Huckabone
Alameda County
Livermore, Ca 94550
Least Terns at Albany Mudflats
Wed, 24 Apr 2002 22:44:02 -0700
From: Dustin Alcala
Hi All,
At the Albany Mudflats (Albany Crescent) between Albany Bulb (foot of Buchanan St) and Point Isabel, I had at least 8 Least Terns on Wednesday, the 23rd. I first saw 3 birds fly west over Point Isabel around 3:00 PM. Five birds were sitting on the mudflat at the same time. Then at about 4:00 along the "neck," I had a flyover of 6 birds heading east towards César Chávez Park. No birds were on the mudflat at that time. My guess is that there were at least 9 terns.
Other stuff. There were at least 20 Forster's Terns in the area. The ever dependable Black Oystercatchers (2) put on a good show, walking about on the mud as they normally do??? I have to wonder if they are breeding along the rocks at the base of the cliffs (saw a pair mating here 2 weeks ago). Shorebird numbers were way down - maybe 1,500 total -ut an unusual concentration of 14 Whimbrels were on the mudflat.
Good birding,
Dustin Alcala
Albany