Re: Mountain View Cemetery, Oakland
Mon, 26
May 2003 08:57:20 -0700
From: Bruce Mast
Rusty Scalf wrote:
Do you think the White-crowned Sparrow was a late migrant, or a nesting Zonotrichia leucophrys nuttalli?
Good question. I've never attempted to separate White-crowned Sparrows to subspecies, though the field guides suggest it shouldn't be too difficult. The bird was singing heartily from a perch atop a willow, near one of the ponds, suggestive of territorial behavior. But I imagine that could also be attributed to hormones in a bird preparing to migrate.
Bruce Mast
Oakland
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Nuttall's White-crowned Sparrows
Mon, 26 May
2003 15:06:25 -0700
From: Rusty Scalf
Locally nesting White-crowned Sparrows seem to exist in the East Bay in just a few scattered pockets, though in some mighty unlikely places. I heard a male sing persistently this morning in the wasteland just south of the Home Expo, just west of the Extended Stay Inn in Emeryville, not quite under the great freeway maze. The end of the world. Very disturbed ground though with a fair amount of weedy grasses. I have noticed in past years that a lone male might sing through spring someplace, and then vanish with no sign of nesting. This happened last spring in the plaza in front of the Federal Building in downtown Oakland, and in a residential yard just northeast of the Ashby Ave & San Pablo Ave intersection in Berkeley - persistent singing all spring by a lone bird.
I did see a fledgling this spring at the Emeryville Amtrak Station May 1st (on the west side facing the railroad tracks). I also suspect nesting on Heinz Ave, where Heinz dead-ends just west of San Pablo, and just north of Ashby in Berkeley. About four years ago, I found a nest near that spot under a bush in some landscaping around a commercial building. There was a bird singing along the railroad tracks that border Orchard Supply Hardware at Ashby & 7th St about 2 weeks ago.
Might be good to keep records of where territorial males are singing and where actual nests or fledglings are found. And, if you have a chance, to note Brown-headed Cowbird parasitism.
Rusty Scalf
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Briones Regional Park
Mon, 26 May 2003 15:31:39
-0700
From: John Poole
Dear Birders:
We had a very nice walk along the Briones Crest Trail in Briones Regional Park this morning. Of note were several singing Lazuli Buntings, two singing Grasshopper Sparrows on the fence line, and a nice Cassin's Vireo in the oaks.
John Poole
Brave Turkey Vulture
Mon, 26 May 2003 18:23:25
-0700
From: Mary
Though turkey vultures aren't exactly rare, I find them fascinating, especially when I can get close. And I've rarely gotten close.
But this time, on Canyon Heights Rd about five blocks south of Alameda Creek itself, in eastern Fremont, a Turkey Vulture stopped in for a little roadside snack:
http://www.alamedacreek.net/pics/turkeyvulture1-med.jpg
It was eating when I drove up, but as I stopped the car and snapped the picture, a neighbor with a dog came jogging up the sidewalk, and it flew away. I hope it came back later.
I took the photo yesterday, at about 6:45 PM.
Mary
Re: Nuttall's White-crowned Sparrows
Tue,
27 May 2003 11:44:00 -0700
From: Lisa Owens-Viani
Rusty Scalf wrote:
Might be good to keep records of where territorial males are singing ....
There are some at the El Cerrito Plaza BART station as well.
Lisa
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Wild Turkeys in Oakland Hills
Tue, 27 May
2003 18:02:45 -0700
From: Larry Tunstall
Stephanie Benavidez, supervising naturalist for the Rotary Nature Center at Oakland's Lake Merritt, writes:
First I couldn't find a turkey until I almost hit a female last January off of Peralta Oaks Ct near East Bay Regional Park District office. Now as of today 3 females sighted on the Dunsmuir House & Gardens ground, each sporting a clutch of 15 offsprings. I'll have to monitor how many make it past the predators. 50 Turkeys are just too many for out there.
If you have suggestions for solving the turkey problem or if you would like to volunteer to help monitor the population, contact Stephanie at 510.238.3739.
Good birding, Larry
Larry Tunstall
El Cerrito CA
Clark-Boas Trail, El Sobrante
Tue, 27 May
2003 23:12:26 -0700
From: Larry Tunstall
Alan Kaplan's East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) birdwalk this morning hiked up the Clark-Boas Trail from the end of Clark Rd to the junction with the San Pablo Ridge Trail/Belgum Trail at the ridgetop. Although we started at 7 AM, it was already quite warm, and a lot of the birds apparently had been up at dawn and already retired to a cool spot for the day.
Our goal for the morning was Grasshopper Sparrows, but we did not see or hear any. My records indicate several Grasshopper Sparrows not far from the trailhead in late May 2001. On May 30, 2002, I heard one singing near the ridgetop but did not see any. Although this site still looks suitable for them, it appears that the population here may have disappeared. Lazuli Buntings were also present along this trail in 2000 and 2003, but we found none today.
Best birds of the day were a pair of Wild Turkeys along the fence west of the trail about halfway between the parking lot and the upper fenceline, and a Lark Sparrow singing on the signpost at the junction of trails at the ridgetop. At least one California Quail was calling frequently during almost the entire two hours. Most abundant bird of the day was the Western Scrub-Jay - they were everywhere.
The boundary of Wildcat Canyon Regional Park is not far from the ridgetop. Most of the Clark-Boas Trail is on an EBRPD easement through private property. A proposed housing development would place 171 single-family homes and 9 ranchettes on this geologically unstable 144-acre site by stripping all vegetation from this nice grassland and riparian area, massive leveling and compacting of the land, and burying the entire drainage in culverts. The Environmental Impact Report is due soon, and the developer will be pushing to get the project underway this year. For further information about the campaign to stop this project, see
http://www.saveoursceniclands.org/clark.htm
What I caught of the group list for the morning:
Good birding, Larry
Larry Tunstall
El Cerrito CA