Age and sex of the Snow Bunting?
Tue, 27 Jan
2004 12:13:17 -0800
From: Doug Vaughan
I'd be interested in hearing other thoughts on the age and sex of the Snow Bunting at the San Leandro Marina. I think it's now been suggested that it is an adult male, a first-winter male, and a winter female.
Joe Morlan notes two points in favor of female, though my unscientific, knee-jerk impression had been that the extensive white areas suggested a male. Even in more cautious retrospect, the absence of black on some of the folded secondaries (at least some appeared all white, though the photos are not so clear on this) and the considerable white on the greater coverts seem consistent with a first-winter male.
Also, none of the illustrations I have show the extensively pale rump and upper tail coverts of the San Leandro bird. Does that mean anything?
Doug Vaughan
Berkeley
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Snow Bunting not found this afternoon
Wed,
28 Jan 2004 19:22:01 -0800
From: Rich Cimino
Hi
I arrived at San Leandro Marina at 2 PM and stayed until about 3:00 and no Snow Bunting. There were several other birders present. One birder decided to walk the trail across the lagoon.
Rich Cimino
Pleasanton
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Nighthawks in Berkeley flatlands?
Wed, 28
Jan 2004 21:43:24 -0800
From: Lisa Owens-Viani
Every night I go walking in the Berkeley flatlands and think I hear nighthawks. Is that possible?
Lisa
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Rarities not found today
Wed, 28 Jan 2004
23:44:07 -0800
From: Russ Wilson
Today my wife and I set out to find 3 target birds: a Black-and-white Warbler at Lake Merritt (Oakland), a Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow at Arrowhead Marsh (Martin Luther King Jr Regional Shoreline, Oakland), and a Snow Bunting at San Leandro Marina.
First stop was about 10:30 AM at Lake Merritt's Children's Fairyland area. After about 1.5 hours search - no Black-and-white Warbler.
Next stop was Arrowhead Marsh - no Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow. (But we had a great view of a Clapper Rail.)
Finally, a last stop at San Leandro Marina at about 4:00 PM - no Snow Bunting.
At each destination we met other birders who were searching for the same birds - to no avail.
We enjoyed the day, but missed the birds. Perhaps the rain moved them out.
Russ Wilson
El Cerrito
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San Leandro Marina
Thu, 29 Jan 2004 00:02:30
-0800
From: Kathy Robertson
East Bay Birders,
Alas, no Snow Bunting seen Wednesday (as far as I know), but other birds of interest were there. Along the shoreline between Par Course Stations 14 & 16 was a Wandering Tattler, pointed out to me by other birders. On the small rocky island west of that area was a nice assortment of shorebirds, including Sanderlings, Ruddy Turnstones and Black Turnstones, and many (15+) Surfbirds. That little island and the adjacent breakwater are a nice place to scope shorebirds roosting/foraging at high tide (low tide exposes a sandbar which allows people to cross over and flush most of the birds). I also saw a Black Oystercatcher on the breakwater last weekend, and have seen White-winged Scoters in the area regularly for the past several weeks (they're usually off the end of the more northerly penninsula that houses the Marina Office.
Also today, there were at least two Horned Grebes in the lagoon, and a beautiful male Eurasian Wigeon to the south, along the shore between Par Course Station 18 and the bridge over the flood control channel.
Good birding,
Kathy Robertson
(now in Hayward, California, but a
San Leandro native)
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Re: Nighthawks in Berkeley flatlands?
Thu,
29 Jan 2004 11:30:41 -0800
From: Rebecca Freed
I've heard them too, over the parking lot of the North Berkeley BART station, after dark.
Rebecca Freed
Berkeley CA
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Re: Nighthawks in Berkeley flatlands?
Thu,
29 Jan 2004 12:44:50 -0800
From: Mark Eaton
Wouldn't regular sightings of either nighthawk be remarkable anywhere in Berkeley?
Mark
Mark W. Eaton
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Re: Nighthawks in Berkeley flatlands?
Thu,
29 Jan 2004 16:03:27 -0800
From: Debbie Viess
These birds have apparently adapted well to urban settings. I first heard their familiar peeent in the summer skies over Chicago, back in the 1960s. I imagine that the lights of BART (or those down at the Marina) attract the insects that attract the birds. Thank god there are animals that can adapt to human habitation. We are everywhere they want to be.
Debbie Viess
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Re: Nighthawks in Berkeley flatlands?
Thu,
29 Jan 2004 16:31:11 -0800
From: Doug Greenberg
I'm sorry, but call me skeptical. Nighthawks in Berkeley? I've never heard of these birds occurring here or anywhere particularly close to here. And for them to occur during the winter would be just about mind-boggling.
I think we need some definite sightings to verify this phenomenon, which would be noteworthy, indeed.
Actually, nighthawks are declining in most areas in this country, and particularly in large cities. I'm most familiar with their demise in Atlanta, Georgia, where once they were common but now they are scarce. I gather the same sad story is occurring all over the midwestern, southern, and eastern states.
Doug Greenberg
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Re: Nighthawks in Berkeley flatlands?
Thu,
29 Jan 2004 17:30:13 -0800
From: Helen Green
These reports seem incredible. Birds of North America accounts show Lesser Nighthawks wintering in southern Mexico, Common Nighthawks are off the map (i.e., farther south). Howell's Birds of Mexico says they winter in South America.
Keep us posted. Helen
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Re: Nighthawks in Berkeley flatlands?
Thu,
29 Jan 2004 18:03:25 -0800
From: John Shiurba
I've never heard nighthawks other than on a CD, but I've often heard Killdeer at night making a sound that might be described as peeent.
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Re: Nighthawks in Berkeley flatlands?
Thu,
29 Jan 2004 20:07:40 -0800
From: Tom Condit
Before a lot of lights were put in to harass homeless people, Killdeer used to regularly graze at night in Ohlone Park east of the dog yard, at least whenever the ground was wet.
A friend of mine from Chicago vehemently hates house cats. He claims they wiped out the nighthawks (and all other rooftop nesters) in the early 1960s.
Tom
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Re: Nighthawks in Berkeley flatlands?
Thu,
29 Jan 2004 20:10:19 -0800 (PST)
From: John Poole
I've heard Killdeer calling at a couple of fields in Berkeley at night (especially at the Berkeley High School field).
John
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Re: Nighthawks in Berkeley flatlands?
Thu,
29 Jan 2004 20:48:51 -0800
From: Lisa Owens-Viani
Well, what other call would I be hearing? It sure sounds like a nighthawk. I have Barn Owls in my neighborhood too.
Lisa
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Re: Nighthawks in Berkeley flatlands?
Thu,
29 Jan 2004 21:05:10 -0800
From: Lisa Owens-Viani
For all of you skeptics - please wander around the Berkeley flatlands some night in the vicinity of Channing Way and Acton St. This is where I hear them regularly.
Lisa
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Re: Nighthawks in Berkeley flatlands?
Thu,
29 Jan 2004 21:19:19 -0800
From: Larry Tunstall
Hi EBBers,
I am forwarding this message to the list for Steve Glover:
Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2004 12:28:46 PST
Subject: Nighthawk StuffHi all,
I've noticed a couple of post about nighthawks. There are two nighthawks which occur in the Bay Area, Lesser Nighthawk and Common Nighthawk. Lesser Nighthawks are very local breeders around the eastern periphery of the Bay Area, including extreme eastern Contra Costa County. Common Nighthawks are very rare vagrants in the Bay Area with occasional records from late May to June and again in fall. They even breed south along the coast, down to northern Sonoma County, I think. Lesser Nighthawks are extremely rare in Northern California in winter (maybe just one or two records) and Common Nighthawks have never been found in winter. I don't believe they are ever found even in Southern California in winter.
I'm not sure that either post mentioned whether the birds might be Common Nighthawks or Lesser Nighthawks, but if the call being heard is the preeent buzzy thing, then that would be Common Nighthawk and far more than likely is being given by some other creature.
While I can't say that a winter Common Nighthawk is impossible, I can say that it is at best extremely unlikely and would require documentation such as photo or voice recording to be convincing.
I seem to remember a discussion on other listserves about what other birds could make a call that sounds like a Common Nighthawk but I can't remember what the guesses were. Anyone have any ideas?
Hope this helps,
Steve Glover
Dublin
Posted to EBB by Larry Tunstall
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Black-and-white Warbler still at Lake Merritt, Oakland
Thu, 29 Jan 2004 21:20:41 -0800
From: Larry Tunstall
I am forwarding the following message to the list for Mark Rauzon:
Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2004 14:24:36 PST
Subject: Black-and-white WarblerI saw the Black-and-white Warbler, female, today around noon at the magic purple mushrooms by Lake Merritt. I missed it on my first 3 tries, and when I arrived today it was not there. But I walked around Children's Fairyland and when I returned to the mushrooms, voila, the characteristic poser caught my eye.
Fairyland must be a trap for Black-and-white Warbler, for one was here before. When I looked at my field notes, I saw a Black-and-white Warbler at that same place on January 29, 1997! I swear I didn't set out to match that date! Weird and wonderful.
Yesterday, I saw a White-throated Sparrow in my yard, white-stripe variety.
good luck,
mark rauzon
Posted to EBB by Larry Tunstall
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Re: Nighthawks in Berkeley flatlands?
Thu,
29 Jan 2004 23:32:37 PST
From: Steve Glover
Hi again everyone,
I hate to be the heavy on these things but it really is extremely unlikely that it is nighthawks that are being heard. The idea that they are Killdeer, though, doesn't really make any sense. The calls of a Killdeer I assume would be familiar to everyone and really are not in the least bit similar to that of a Common Nighthawk. The preent call of Common Nighthawk I refer to is a buzzy trill that is very distinctive once learned. I can't think of anything offhand that really sounds quite like it, though of course owls can make lots of different noises. I would think the most likely thing in the locations mentioned would be Barn Owl which makes a very loud, raspy screech call that I hear every night over my house in Dublin.
I hate to get into one of these drawn-out discussions about how birds have wings and can show up anywhere, etc., which is of course true to some extent. But the fact is that nobody in California has ever found a Common Nighthawk in winter despite a century of coverage. An event of this magnitude should be documented if at all possible.
Ooh, I forgot one more thing. My experience with nighthawks of each species is that they are primarily dawn and dusk birds. They come out and call while it is still light enough out to see them rather than wait until darkness to become active. If there are Common Nighthawks in the areas mentioned they should be visible very late in the afternoon and early evening. My references confirm this, though they do say it is possible for them to feed at night. Of course the references are referring to the birds when they are here in summer and feeding on flying insects on warm nights. I doubt that this would be a good strategy in the Bay Area in winter and, in fact, is most likely why they take the trouble to fly to South America for the winter rather than stay here. Hopefully, someone with experience with Common Nighthawk calls and who lives near Berkeley can visit the spot and let us know what they hear.
Hopefully I haven't offended anyone, this is intended to be helpful!
Steve Glover
Dublin
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