White-tailed Kites in Pleasanton
Thu, 01 Aug 2002 15:38:49 -0700
From: Rich Cimino
Last night, July 31 at 7:30 PM, six White-tailed Kites flew over my home in downtown Pleasanton headed northwest. This many kites is currently unusual. Frequently I see two or three several times a week fly to an evening roost to the northwest. This is an evening event which been occurring for 22+ years since I have lived in this home. "Years ago" larger volumes of kites were common. But home development and crows in Pleasanton have added pressures. Crows in my neighborhood typically scramble to attack the kites. Last night there were no crows. The sky was clear, lighting was good, no wind - it was a relaxing sight. Kites have such a gentle-appearing wing rhythm to watch, similar to a butterfly.
Rich Cimino
Pleasanton,Ca.
Where is Frank's Dump?
Thu, 1 Aug 2002 15:52:28 -0700
From: Joan Bernstein
Could someone please give directions to "Frank's Dump"? The bird variety sounds wonderful, but I'm not familiar with it.
Thanks,
Joan Bernstein
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Re: Where is Frank's Dump?
Thu, 01 Aug 2002 17:04:50 -0700
From: Peter Dramer
Frank's Dump is at Hayward Regional Shoreline. From the end of W Winton Ave, take either trail out to the bay and then head north along the Bay Trail. Frank's Dump is the water just north of the radio towers [and east of the Bay Trail]. Yesterday I counted 150 Least Terns. This area is carpeted with shorebirds during the high tide - otherwise, you may find it quite empty.
The optimum time for viewing is during the afternoon when the sun is behind you. The high tides for the next few days occur later in the afternoon. Good viewing would be between 4:00 PM and 6:00 PM.
Snowy Plovers, Semipalmated Plovers, Red Knots, Black Turnstones, Ruddy Turnstones, Least Sandpipers, Western Sandpipers, Long-billed Curlews, Least Terns, and Forster's Terns are present now. Elegant Terns and Caspian Terns should appear soon.
Peter
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Re: Where is Frank's Dump?
Sat, 3 Aug 2002 18:23:38 PDT
From: Mark Rauzon
Thanks for the tip.
We went on Sat. late-morning high tide and saw 17 species of shorebirds including what we thought was a Baird's Sandpiper in the bay mudflats near the inland mudflats. With a lot of luck and a scope you could see 20 shorebird species!
Mark Rauzon
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Sprague's Pipit at Hayward Shoreline
Sun, 04 Aug 2002 11:39:12 -0700
From: Peter Dramer
This morning Sheila Junge and Peter saw a Sprague's Pipit on the Bay Trail at Hayward Regional Shoreline. The bird was foraging in the middle of the trail between the two pedestrian bridges in Cogswell Marsh.
From the parking lot at the end of W Winton Ave, follow the trail south to Cogswell Marsh - cross the north bridge and turn right. The bird was on the section of trail between the bridge and the bay.
The bird was distinctly a pipit, noticed first by the white outer tail feathers in flight. Fortunately, for identification purposes the bird fit the National Geographic guide perfectly. It was paler than American Pipits with a noticeable black eye on a pale face. The white on the throat flared out slightly around the base of the neck. The upper breast had faint streaks and the belly was white. The back feathers were rounded and outlined in pale color to give a scalloped look. The secondaries were boldly outlined in white. The bird foraged like pipit but did not bob its tail.
The lower mandible was pinkish at the base. The legs appeared grayish but Sheila thought there was pink in good light. There are no American Pipits at the Shoreline at this time.
Note: This morning we counted 130 Snowy Plovers in Frank's Dump.
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Re: Sprague's Pipit at Hayward Shoreline
Sun, 4 Aug 2002 17:48:54 -0700 (PDT)
From: Karen Peterson
Hi all
I believe I briefly refound the bird seen by Peter Dramer and Sheila Junge this morning on the Bay Trail south of the W Winton Ave staging area. At about 1:20 this afternoon I noticed a pale bird foraging on the sides of the trail about 40 feet before the second bridge. I was only able to get the scope on him long enough to see his prominent black eye, faintly streaked breast, and non-sparrow bill when a bike came along. The bird flew almost straight up and came down out of sight on the marsh side of the trail. I waited around for another hour and a half and was joined by several other birders, but when I left about 2:45 the bird had not been seen again as far as I know.
Good birding
Karen Peterson
Berkeley
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Re: Sprague's Pipit at Hayward Shoreline
Sun, 04 Aug 2002 19:23:19 -0700
From: Peter Dramer
At Hayward Shoreline we do have Horned Larks present throughout the summer and they do nest here. I drive past Horned Larks daily and am now able to identify them in an instant as they fly off. During the winter we have many American Pipits which I am continually looking among for the potential Red-throated Pipit. After having looked at both birds so often I find the basic conformation of both to be quite distinct. The Horned Larks flush easily and are not wont to strut about in front of you as the pipits do. The Horned Larks, when flushed, fly off and only rarely land back on the trail.
The pipits most often will land back on the same trail as this bird did several times. This pipit held the tip of its bill up above the horizontal unlike the Horned Larks which stand with their bills at or below the horizontal.
The first thing noted about today's bird was that it "looked like a pipit" with no doubt. Watching it walk about we were both aware that we were watching a very pale pipit that was not "walking like a pipit". It was not bobbing as it walked. We were fortunate in being able to view the pipit through a Swarovski scope, at about 50 feet, in good light.
Through the scope we could clearly see that each rounded back feather had a distinct pale border. This bird had its secondaries clearly outlined in white. The face was noticeably pale with no distinct auricular marking.
Peter
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