Sage Thrasher continues near Livermore
Mon,
10 Nov 2003 16:44:33 -0800
From: Dave Quady
Hello, all:
The Sage Thrasher along Dagnino Rd in eastern Alameda County was ridiculously cooperative this morning. I arrived about 9:40 AM, and it made me wait all of two minutes before it popped up on a fenceline 20 yards east of the road. After it confirmed that I had left my camera at home, the bird flew to a fenceline no more than 15 feet away from me.... During the 45 minutes I spent there the bird spent at least half its time on a fence within 50 yards of the road. Nice. (0.6 miles north of May School Rd, on Dagnino Rd)
A short while later Roy Carlson found a juvenile Ferruginous Hawk and a Golden Eagle about a mile south on Dagnino Rd. These birds moved on, but we relocated the Ferruginous Hawk a bit further west, on Hartford Rd about 0.5 mile east of North Livermore Ave.
Good birding.
Dave Quady
Berkeley, California
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Longspurs at Hayward Regional Shoreline
Mon,
10 Nov 2003 17:20:30 -0800
From: Joseph Morlan
East Bay Birders,
Today Robbie Fischer and I decided to try for the Chestnut-collared Longspurs at Hayward Regional Shoreline. We arrived late morning to find Steve Glover and friends looking at the little skulkers, thus saving us the two hours it took them to locate the birds. They were in the northwest corner of the old landfill near the W Winton Ave parking lot (Mt Trashmore).
We watched as they crawled, rodent-like through the thick grass. Their drab plumage blends beautifully with the dry grasses making observation (and photography) difficult.
We only found one Lapland Longspur on the plateau and it moved around a lot.
I posted two full-sized digiscoped images of one of the Chestnut-collared Longspur at:
http://community.webshots.com/user/joemorlanOlympus D550z / Nikon FS3ED / 30xWA - hand-held.
Enjoy!
Joseph Morlan, Pacifica, CA
White-throated Swifts in Walnut Creek
Mon,
10 Nov 2003 20:01:15 -0800
From: Rusty Scalf
This morning at about 10:00 I drove through the Hwy 24 / 680 maze in Walnut Creek and saw lots of White-throated Swifts. Probably 20 to 30 zooming about. Is this a winter roost site? I was very surprised by the numbers given the date. Are these birds here all winter?
Rusty Scalf
Re: White-throated Swifts in Walnut Creek
Mon, 10 Nov 2003 21:18:25 -0800
From: Les Chibana
Rusty,
White-throated Swifts do have a year-round presence. However, I don't know if it's known for sure that the same individuals that breed locally also winter locally. I believe I've seen them around the Hoover Tower on the Stanford campus, or in downtown Palo Alto, in winter, but I don't think I've seen winter roosting sites.
Les Chibana, Palo Alto
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Arrowhead Marsh, Oakland
Mon, 10 Nov 2003
21:29:11 -0800
From: Judi Sierra
Seen today at Arrowhead Marsh in Martin Luther King Jr Regional Shoreline, Oakland:
Judi Sierra, Oakland
Sage Thrasher near Livermore
Tue, 11 Nov 2003
16:30:16 -0800
From: Jim Rowoth
Greetings!
As I had the day off, I decided to head for eastern Alameda County to see what I could find. Obviously, not everyone had the day off since traffic was pretty heavy before 8 AM. I found the intersection of May School Rd & Dagnino Rd without problem, but as I drove along, I realized, once again, that I had left home without more specific details on where to find my target bird. Great. In my disgust, I noticed a large, whitish raptor sitting on the east edge of the field at Raymond & Dagnino, got my scope out and found the Ferruginous Hawk. Terrific, not a total loss. After a time, the bird flew halfway up the hill, where he was joined by a second bird of the same persuasion. Things were really looking up. It was obvious why these birds were where they were - the field is just chock full of ground squirrels. A light bulb went off, and I decided to look for Burrowing Owls, and found one almost immediately in the northwest portion of the field.
All this time, I had been racking my brain trying to remember any details that might help me narrow down my search for the Sage Thrasher. I thought I had a vague recollection of some talk about plastic fencing, and there was certainly plenty of that around along both May School and Dagnino. Then I recalled that someone had heard a Great Horned Owl during their search - so there had to be trees around. So I headed for the plastic fencing opposite the large eucalyptus trees north of the May School / Dagnino intersection. Found three mockingbirds, a shrike, and a Say's Phoebe almost immediately on wire fencing north of there, then after a short time, I saw what I assumed would be a fourth mockingbird perch on the orange plastic fencing, but then I noticed the heavy streaking on the breast. Well, I'll be - I got it! The thrasher entertained me for a good 15 minutes before I left around 9:30.
I decided to take the scenic route back to Stockton, driving north on Vasco Rd. I scoped out Marsh Creek Reservoir, where I had, among others, several dozen Ring-necked Ducks, half a dozen Canvasbacks, 4 Wood Ducks, and at least 15 Common Moorhens. I heard one Sora calling very clearly during a lull in the traffic. Opposite the entrance to Round Valley Regional Park, on a dead tree just peeking over the crest of the hill, I had good, long looks at a juvenile Ferruginous Hawk. Fifteen minutes later when I rechecked the tree, there were 2 Red-tailed Hawks in its place. And the last sighting of any significance for the morning was a full adult Ferruginous Hawk along J4/Byron Hwy just south of the intersection with Byron Hot Springs Rd. Wow, a 4-Ferruginous day!
Jim Rowoth
Stockton
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Strange bird in Strawberry Canyon partially solved
Tue, 11 Nov 2003 18:05:40 -0800
From: Judi Sierra
Thanks to Marilyn Trabert and Steve Glover for their input on the white song bird with black splotches. Both feel it's probably a leucistic bird, species unknown.
Judi Sierra Oakland
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Berkeley Aquatic Park
Tue, 11 Nov 2003 18:10:44
-0800
From: Judi Sierra
Many Bufflehead were seen today in the southernmost pond at Berkeley Aquatic Park. There were also some American Wigeons in the southern pond. No other ducks in any of the ponds.
I also went to the Albany Marsh area where there were several Northern Pintails (and scaup).
Judi Sierra, Oakland
Woodpeckers at San Pablo Reservoir, Orinda
Tue, 11 Nov 2003 22:42:16 -0800
From: Kitty O'Neil
I saw a Red-breasted Sapsucker today at San Pablo Reservoir (Old San Pablo Road Trail at Bear Creek Rd & Camino Pablo in Orinda, EBMUD Trail Permit required). I see the sapsucker marks all the time but rarely see the bird.
Any reason why the Northern Flickers are making so much noise these days? Do they always do this and I'm just now noticing?
Kitty
Kitty O'Neil
Orinda, CA