Olive-sided Flycatcher briefly in Oakland
Hills
Sat, 11 May 2002 19:27:21 -0700
From:: Johan Langewis
An Olive-sided Flycatcher made its appearance in my neighborhood this year right on schedule - April 20. Every year for the last 11 years that I have lived here one sets up a territory, singing from the top of the same tree each year. However, late last year this tree started looking sickly and died during the winter. The owner cut it down. This year the Olive-sided Flycatcher stayed a few days and I haven't heard it since! Apparently the favorite tree is gone and the territory is no longer suitable. I doubt this really, as there are plenty of tall trees in the neighborhood (see the description of my yard with my yardlist), but it sure seems suspicious. There are plenty of reports of Olive-sided Flycatcher in the area (Tilden Regional Park, etc.), so where has mine gone? Mysterious.
Johan Langewis
Arrowhead and Mitigation Marshes, Oakland
Sun, 12 May 2002 08:44:16 -0700
From: Courtenay Peddle
Hello folks,
About a dozen of us went on a Golden Gate Audubon Society walk at Arrowhead and Mitigation Marshes in Martin Luther King Jr Regional Shoreline (Oakland) Saturday morning. The highlight of the trip was a Peregrine Falcon. One Whimbrel is still present. I wonder whether it might be the same bird that summered there last year.
Lots of American Avocet chicks, some Killdeer chicks, and one clutch each of Mallard ducklings and Canada Goose goslings were on the freshwater ponds. We saw neither rails nor owls; perhaps they are on nest.
Here's the trip list:
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)
Western Grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis)
Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)
Gadwall (Anas strepera)
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)
Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis)
Surf Scoter (Melanitta perspicillata)
Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)
Great Egret (Ardea alba)
Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)
American Coot (Fulica americana)
Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa)
Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca)
Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)
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)
Western Gull (Larus occidentalis)
Caspian Tern (Sterna caspia)
Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri)
Rock Dove (Columba livia)
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)
White-throated Swift (Aeronautes saxatalis)
Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)
Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans)
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)
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)
California Towhee (Pipilo crissalis)
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)
Good birding!
Courtenay Peddle
Leona Heights Regional Open Space
Sun, 12 May 2002 19:02:43 -0700
From: Rusty Scalf
The morning Golden Gate Audubon Society walk at Leona Heights Regional Open Space in Oakland attracted 15 people and lots of birds. We got great looks at several Lazuli Buntings. The canyon was full of singing Wilson's Warblers and Orange-crowned Warblers. The presence of a single Townsend's Warbler makes me realize that migration is still going, so I don't know how many of these birds were actually on territory; But singing was everywhere.
Mallard (brood of young at the pond)
Red-tailed Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Turkey Vulture
California Quail
Band-tailed Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Rock Dove
Anna's Hummingbird
Allen's Hummingbird
Northern Flicker
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Black Phoebe (feeding young)
Barn Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Steller's Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
Common Raven
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Oak Titmouse (heard)
Bushtit
Bewick's Wren
American Robin (on nest)
Swainson's Thrush (heard)
Wrentit
Cedar Waxwing
Hutton's Vireo (lots of singing)
Warbling Vireo (lots of singing)
Wilson's Warbler (lots of singing)
Orange-crowned Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
Black-headed Grosbeak
Lazuli Bunting
Spotted Towhee
California Towhee (feeding young)
Song Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco (with fledglings)
Red-winged Blackbird
Purple Finch
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
Berkeley Meadow (Berkeley Marina)
Sun, 12 May 2002 19:02:48 -0700
From: Rusty Scalf
I took an walk through the Berkeley Meadow (area north of University Ave just west of the freeway on the way to the Berkeley Marina) this evening and was amazed by the diversity of Savannah Sparrow plumages. Singing birds ranged from strongly washed in yellow from tip to tip, to yellow headed, to just a spot of yellow on the lores. Two of the quite yellow ones had auriculars that looked almost chestnut (albeit pale). Also saw a fledgling. Six Black Oystercatchers and a Spotted Sandpiper foraged along the north shore of the meadow.
Rusty Scalf
Mother's Day on Mount Diablo
Sun, 12 May 2002 20:55:05 -0700
From: Mark Eaton
This morning, Bob Brandriff and I had a single singing Black-chinned Sparrow above the last pullout before the south entrance gate to Mount Diablo State Park. From the just below the pullout, the bird was singing on a bush right at the horizon on the hill above. No less interesting was a pair of Rufous-crowned Sparrows just below the road in nearly the same spot, with one carrying food. The nest must be quite close to the road; Bob and I were convinced they were waiting for us to leave before reentering the nest. Please use discretion in this area. To complete the trio of interesting sparrows, Bob found a Sage Sparrow also in the same general area.
Other sightings of local interest:
California Quail
Mourning Dove
Nuttall's Woodpecker
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Hutton's Vireo
Steller's Jay
Violet-green Swallow CO-CF or CN
Oak Titmouse
Bewick's Wren
Wrentit
Orange-crowned Warbler
Spotted Towhee
California Towhee PR-T
Rufous-crowned Sparrow PR-P & CO-CF
Black-chinned Sparrow
Sage Sparrow
Black-headed Grosbeak
Lazuli Bunting
Lesser Goldfinch
Mark
Mark Eaton
San Francisco Field Ornithologists Web Site http://www.sffo.org/
SFBirds mailing list http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SFBirds/
Personal Home Page http://home.pacbell.net/mweaton/
Editor's Note: Mark has used some codes from Breeding Bird Atlas protocols here. PR-T indicates probable nesting because of territorial behavior. PR-P indicates probable nesting because a pair was observed in suitable nesting habitat during breeding season. CO-N indicates confirmed nesting because an adult was seen carrying nesting material. CO-CF indicates confirmed nesting because an adult was seen carrying food. For more of these codes, see http://www.americanbirding.org/norac/atlascodes.htm