Blackpoll Warbler in Berkeley
Sun, 20 Sep 1998 19:43:13 -0700
From: Bob Brandriff
East Bay Birders:
Emilie Strauss is away from her email for several days and asked me to post a note to the east bay birders group. She found a Blackpoll Warbler at Ohlone Park this morning and called several local birders including us. My wife Barbara and I showed up to find Helen Green looking for the bird. We were soon joined by Lillian Fujii, Steve Hayashi, Emilie and several other birders. After about 20 minutes Helen re-found the Blackpoll Warbler and we all got excellent looks and we concluded that it was in first fall plumage. It was mostly by itself although Emilie had seen it with a small mixed flock earlier in the morning. The bird mostly stayed in the deciduous trees on the north side of Hearst just to the west of the California Street intersection (i.e. right on the edge of the park). We also saw a couple of Yellow Warblers, Western Tanagers, and Warbling Vireos.
Thanks Emilie!
Later in the morning I ran into Lillian and Steve again at Jewel Lake where they showed me a nice immature Hermit Warbler; other than that it was even quieter there than last weekend.
Bob
Mitchell Canyon
Mon, 21 Sep 1998 09:02:00 -0700
From: Scott J. Hein
I finally had a weekend at home and was able to take a walk Sunday morning in Mitchell and White Canyons on Mt. Diablo to look for fall migrants and tarantulas. No tarantulas (although the tarantula hawks were patrolling...), but there were a few small flocks of western migrants - a few Townsend's, Black-throated Grays, and a single Wilson's Warbler along with a Western Tanager and a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.
White Canyon was excellent. In addition to the migrants, California Thrashers were abundant and vocal. More interesting though were the many Sage Sparrows that were singing from the top of shrubs, allowing for excellent views. It has been 5 to 6 years since I have seen Sage Sparrows in this location - I had assumed that it had become too overgrown there since there hasn't been a fire in many years. Hopefully they will still be cooperative on the Christmas Count...
For those not familiar with the area, White Canyon is a side canyon that leaves Mitchell Canyon toward the west, 1 mile from the entrance gate - I think the trail marker might actually be labeled "Red Road". The road up White Canyon climbs fairly quickly with excellent chamise and sage habitat close on both sides of the canyon. There is also a nice section with an Oak canopy that is a good place to look for migrants in the spring and fall. If you follow the road far enough it opens up into grassland habitat. There is a stream flowing down the canyon that still has a little water in it. It is a great place to escape the hoards of noisy bikers/hikers/runners that sometimes make for less-than-desirable birding in Mitchell Canyon.
On another note, we had our first White-crowned sparrow of the fall drinking from the pond in our back yard Sunday afternoon.
-Scott
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| Scott J. Hein, Ph.D. | Diablo Analytical,
Inc. |
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| Ph: (925) 609-7544 | P.O. Box
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Miller Knox
Mon, 21 Sep 1998 14:22:17 PDT
From: Steve Glover
East Bay Birders,
This morning I went out to Miller/Knox [Regional Park] in Richmond. I tried to brave the cold wind in hopes of Hawks but only held out for 2 hours. I walked the perimeter of the flat part of the park and some of the trails on the hillside and had a fair number of migrants. The best bird was an Acorn Woodpecker that was wandering around the hillside. This is the 2nd record for Richmond (the other was 9/9/95). I also had 8 Pac[ific]-slope Flycatchers, 1 Willow Flycatcher, 1 Red- breasted Nuthatch, 4+ House Wrens, 1 Hermit Thrush (my first this fall), 2 Warbling Vireos, 2 Orange-crowned Warblers, 6 Yellow Warblers, 1 Townsend's Warbler, 2 Wilson's Warblers, and 4+ Common Yellowthroats. There were 24 Am[erican] Wigeons on the pond as opposed to none on 9/15. An Osprey flew by at about noon.
An imm[ature] Little Blue Heron was reported from the north end of Pt. Isabel on Sat[urday] at 3:00. I looked on Sunday at 9 AM and the bird was not present. I forgot the birder's name but if anyone knows him I would love to talk to him or at least have details sent to me for Field Notes. If documented this represents the first county record.
Good Luck,
Steve Glover
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Acorn Woodpecker
Date: Mon, 21 Sep 1998 15:23:34 -0700
From: Rusty Scalf
Steve Glover's note about a wandering Acorn Woodpecker is interesting. Sunday morning there was a single Acorn Woodpecker in a Madrone in Tilden Park on the hillside trail above the boardwalk. I have often wondered how new colonies get established. Clearly it would require at least a male and a female to meet in a new and suitable location. Does anyone know if this process has been studied?
Rusty Scalf
Berkeley, CA
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RE: Acorn Woodpecker
Date: 21 Sep 98 16:00:43 -0700
From: Les Chibana
REPLY RE: Acorn Woodpecker
I don't know if this has been studied, but I would recommend checking the BNA accounts. Unfortunately, I don't know if the ACWO account has been published yet, and I don't know where in the East Bay you might gain access to a set.
Les Chibana
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Acorn Woodpecker at Coyote Hills Park, Fremont
Mon, 21 Sep 1998 20:37:58 PDT
From: Bill Scoggins
Sat. 19 Sept. 1998
Today at Coyote Hills Regional Park I saw an adult male acorn woodpecker; I found it in the trees directly in front of the visitor. Initially I heard its call coming from behind the center. Then it flew over head and landed in a tree above me. I got some very good viewing for about 5 minutes and confirmed its identity. This is the first one I have ever seen in my 6 years of bird watching at Coyote Hills; have you ever seen one there? Unfortunately it did not bring its family along to colonize Coyote Hills, but it was exciting to think about that possibility for a few minutes.
I just happen to be on a lunch break today when I saw the acorn woodpecker. This was between morning and afternoon butterfly workshops given by Jan Southworth. I learned about the life histories of the Monarch and Anise Swallowtail butterflies; Jan showed many excellent color slides of various stages of these two beautiful butterflies. In the afternoon we reviewed native and nonnative plants that are butterfly favorites; we examined several of these in the garden behind the visitor center and more later at Reagan's Nursery on Decoto Road in Union City. As Jan lectured in the garden the caterpillars happily munched away at milkweed and other larval plants. California chorus frogs were also seen.
Bird Friendly Plants:
The Native Plant Sale, 10 Oct. 1998, at Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National
Wildlife Refuge will also include native and nonnative butterfly garden plants.
The nursery volunteers at the NWR are making a special effort to provide
for butterfly lovers. 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM,
Saturday, Fremont. Call (510) 792-0222 for further information.
Today I also saw 8 of the 48 young quail that we released last week. In addition I saw three unbanded adults, two males and one female. Three Pacific-slope Flycatchers were at Hoot Hollow along with one great horned owl.
I have updated the Ohlone Audubon Soc[iety] web page so it has the latest on field trips and membership meetings. http://members.aol.com/wnscoggins/oas.html or Ohlone Audubon Society. Thanks to Sheila Junge for this information.
Good birding,
Bill Scoggins
Castro Valley
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Re: Butterflies, native plants
Mon, 21 Sep 1998 21:30:47 -0700 (PDT)
From: Tom Condit
I talked with a birder at Jewel Lake last week who has monarch caterpillars on his tiny (two plant) milkweed patch in central Berkeley. He advised me that there would be a native plant sale at Merritt College in Oakland on September 10 as well. The Tilden Park Botanical Garden has lists of bird- and butterfly-friendly plants. Now that I've got a yard big enough for more than one kind of salvia, I'm looking forward to lots of hummers.
Tom Condit
Bill Scoggins wrote:
[snip] As Jan lectured in the garden the caterpillars happily munched away at milkweed and other larval plants. California chorus frogs were also seen.Bird Friendly Plants:
The Native Plant Sale, 10 Oct. 1998, at Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge will also include native and nonnative butterfly garden plants. The nursery volunteers at the NWR are making a special effort to provide for butterfly lovers. 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, Saturday, Fremont. Call (510) 792-0222 for further information.
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