Los Vaqueros Reservoir
Mon, 02 Jun 2003 11:28:03
-0700
From: Larry Tunstall
I am forwarding this message to the list for Mark Wales:
Date: Mon, 02 Jun 2003 07:31:59 -0700
From: Mark Wales
Subject: Los Vaqueros ReservoirSaturday we walked a short part of the park around the interpretive center.
Good numbers of Bullock's Orioles and Western Kingbirds, Loggerhead Shrikes plus White-breasted Nuthatches, a Killdeer family with 4 young, and the usual selection of local birds. Also the docent (who's there on Friday/Saturday/Sunday) has a young rescued American Kestrel with her at the center.
There are also rare native turtles to view plus a few snakes! Watch your feet.
Mark
Posted to EBB by Larry Tunstall
Summer Tanager at Kennedy Grove, El Sobrante
Thu, 5 Jun 2003 16:20:53 -0700
From: Judi Cooper
Today Larry and Bingham Gibbs and Judy Johnstone birded three sites along San Pablo Dam Rd between 8:30 AM and 11:30 AM. The first two sites - the area around the East Bay Municipal Utility District office area and the bottom portion of Inspiration Point Trail - were pretty good June birding (50 species). But, at the third stop at Kennedy Grove Regional Recreation Area in El Sobrante we spotted a Summer Tanager south of the parking lot in the trees between the parking lot and the creek. Good digital pictures were obtained as the bird was very close. A Western Tanager was later spotted in the eucalyptus trees around the lawn area.
Lazuli Bunting and Indigo Bunting at Briones Regional
Park
Thu, 5 Jun 2003 21:28:56 -0700
From: Gary & Michelle Baker
Ok, so all you guys saw Lazuli Buntings and Indigo Buntings out at Briones Regional Park. Well, Michelle and I went out a little late last weekend, and it was hot. Thought we wouldn't see much but saw 38 species that day.
At the point where the Briones Valley Trail intersects with the Briones Road Trail there he was a solid dark blue Indigo Bunting. It was on the corral fence where the cattle can be loaded into trucks and such. The fenced-off area is full of dill and mustard. He sang and displayed for us quite a while. I get the feeling he lives around there.
Then, back at the park entrance, there was a pair of small birds blue on the back that flew into the tree closest to the little shack where you pay your fee. A couple of Lazuli Buntings. I had expected them to be the size of a Western Bluebird, but they were quite a bit smaller.
Of course, there were also tons of Western Bluebirds that day. Now that I've seen them all on the same day, I will never confuse them again (unless I see a Lazuli Bunting molting; how can you describe that?)
Gary and Michelle
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Winter Wren in Tilden Nature Area
Fri, 6 Jun
2003 18:30:48 PDT
From: Bill Gilbert
A while ago there was a report to EBB of a Winter Wren having been heard from the boardwalk near Jewel Lake in the Tilden Nature Area (Berkeley Hills). This likely was the same bird I have been hearing almost daily (and twice have seen) for several weeks now along Wildcat Creek near the Nature Center entrance. The bird (I assume just one, since I have not heard singing from two different locations on the same day) ranges from about 100 feet south of the wood bench on the Lower Packrat Trail to perhaps 200 feet upstream from the small lake near the Nature Center. I always have heard the bird singing along Wildcat Creek. Apparently male Winter Wrens continue to sing fairly consistently even after mating, so this individual could be nesting. If you never have heard a Winter Wren, it is one of the more complex and intriguing avian songs, and the length of an individual song is one of the longest of any songbird.
Bill Gilbert
Rose-breasted Grosbeak at Coyote Hills Regional Park
Sat, 7 Jun 2003 14:33:39 -0700
From Gary & Michelle Baker
Great day at the Coyote Hills Regional Park, Fremont
Michelle and I saw a Rose-breasted Grossbeak in the tree east of the Quarry Staging Area parking lot. Just got out of the car and it was singing loudly at the top of the tree. No mistaking it in good light from a short distance with a 20x spotting scope. Apparently a rare sight in these parts!
Also saw the Common Moorhen for the second time foraging about the edges of south side of the Main Marsh.
Gary and Michelle
Long-eared Owl in Mitchell Canyon, Clayton
Sat, 7 Jun 2003 15:25:11 PDT
From: Denise Wight
Hello E.B. Birders,
This morning I flushed a Long-eared Owl along Black Point Trail in Mitchell Canyon, Mount Diablo State Park, near Clayton. The bird was about 100 yards beyond where the trail starts in White Canyon. When it landed, I was able to watch it at close range for about 2 minutes before it flew deep into the trailside vegetation.
Denise Wight
Martinez, CA
Wood Ducks at Upper San Leandro Reservoir
Sat, 07 Jun 2003 16:51:17 -0700
From: Bob Power
Hi all:
After a lovely stroll with John Robinson and friends at Briones Regional Park (no Indigo Bunting; several brief but excellent looks at Lazuli Bunting), I decided chores could wait and I went to Valle Vista Staging Area at Upper San Leandro Reservoir, Moraga (East Bay Municipal Utilities District Trail Permit required).
At the north end of the reservoir, foraging through the marshy, lily-pondy area, were two female Wood Ducks and at least five ducklings. The ducklings were almost completely engulfed by the foliage, so there could have been several more. In the deeper part of the reservoir where it makes it's first southwest turn were 3 male Wood Ducks, very much in the open, hangin' with the Gadwall and Mallard guys.
Also of interest was a White-tailed Kite circling the west-side wooded slopes. My sightline was obscured, so I didn't see the kite fly into the trees, but I'm guessing/hoping that there's a nest on that side. I've only seen the kites on the east side before, working the slopes as you'd expect.
Has anyone seen any kite nesting activity out there this spring?
Good Birding,
Bob Power
Oakland, CA
Alameda County
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Shadow Cliffs Regional Recreation Area
Sat,
7 Jun 2003 17:25:51 -0700
From: Steve Huckabone
This morning I was at Shadow Cliffs Regional Recreation Area (Pleasanton) to survey the heron and egret nesting area for San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory. While walking out I saw the male and female Great-tailed Grackle fly across the lake toward the boat launch area. Otherwise I saw many of the expected local breeding birds, Bullock's Oriole, Black-headed Grosbeak, Downy Woodpecker, Nuttall's Woodpecker, Pied-billed Grebe.
Good birding.
Steve Huckabone
Alameda County
Livermore California