Richmond Marina, November 12
Mon, 15 Nov 1999 01:00:25 -0800 (PST)
From: Richard Mix
Last Friday Ann Callaway and I squeezed in nearly an hour before sunset walking from the Richmond Marina to the Meeker Slough beach. Highlights were two female or juvenal Red-breasted Mergansers and a Whimbrel that opened wide and gave a two-note cry twice - it was something like an Indonesian bus conductor's "Kiri, kiri!" and seemed to be answered with an alarm from the Marbled Godwits.
The Whimbrel was of special interest as a new bird to me and because it had very red shoulders and flanks not suggested by Peterson's illustration. If I was fooled by the sunset it wouldn't be the first time, but I compared it carefuly to several willets and am pretty sure it had a dowicher-cinnamon cast, a bit rustier than a curlew (though I recall my first curlew seeming rustier than it ought to, as well). (Curlews seemed unusually scarce Friday, by the way - only one in silhouette after dark.) Looking through Paulson's Shorebirds of the Pacific Northwest I noticed similar coloring on the Bristle-thighed Curlew on page 189 (I assume there are no California records!), but the text didn't mention this feature, leading one to assume this is a matter of individual variation.
The incompleteness of published voice descriptions is a bit disconcerting, though. All my guides mention a call of 5 to 7 or 3 to 8 whistles for the Whimbrel, and many mention it is a flight call; only Stoke's adds a frank "and many other calls." Paulson writes: "As is often the case with similar shorebirds, the flight calls are not only important in calling attention to the bird, but ultimately they may be the best 'field marks'. The Bristle-thighed Curlew's flight call is a 2- or 3-noted whistle [that] may be repeated several times by a flying bird but is very different from the Whimbrel's series of identical notes." Probably this should not be extrapolated to walking calls. ;-)
Richard Mix, El Cerrito
A rough list:
Common Loon
Pie-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Eared Grebe
Western Grebe
Clark's Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Brown Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Canada Goose (4, smallish and a bit shy)
Mallard
Redhead
scaup
Red-breasted Merganser
American Coot
Black-bellied Plover
Killdeer
Willet
Whimbrel
Long-billed Curlew
Marbled Godwit
Black Turnstone
Western Sandpiper (only 1, quite pronounced 'droop')
Least Sandpiper
Dunlin (many and noisy)
Western Gull (three years old, to go by the black-spotted tail and otherwise mature plumage)
Mourning Dove
Anna's Hummingbird
American Crow
Marsh Wren (heard)
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Ducks delayed
Thu, 18 Nov 1999 07:51:01 -0800
From: Tom Condit
San Francisco Chronicle Outdoors section, Thursday, Nov. 18, 1999 (page D11).
A record flight of ducks and geese has been delayed in its annual migration down the Pacific Flyway by unseasonably warm weather in the prairies of southern Canada. The conservation group Ducks Unlimited says areas that should be frozen over and receiving snow at thsi time of year are still seeing warm temperatures and light rain. Conditions primarily affect mallards, Canadian and white-fronted geese. However, many other types of ducks are holding over and feeding in habitat areas of the northern states, until serious winter storms show up to push them down. Currently, in California, the northernmost preserves at the Klamath Basin complex hold 1.6 million ducks, as compared to 1 million in 1998. But the Central California preserves at Los Banos are holding 571,000 ducks, compared to 604,000 last year. Although hunting season opened in October, California waterfowlers have been hurt by a long string of "bluebird days"; the hunt goes much better when whether is overcast and stormy. However, with the biggest flight scheduled to come down the Flyway since 1955 - 26 million-31 million ducks - the season should improve dramatically as soon as cold storms hit Canada's high prairies and the northern states.
Editor's note: The Chronicle is available on-line at
http://www.sfgate.com/
Wednesday at Lake Merritt
Fri, 19 Nov 1999 22:21:01 -0800
From: Judy
Wednesday was the first time I have seen Great American Egrets there near the beach. Two of them had young'uns nearby. I am not an expert but do they breed later in the season? Kind of late to see offspring isn't it?
Also noted that the population of cormorants is up. There were 14 of them lined up on the boom near Harrison St, drying their wings. Thankfully, nobody was fishing nearby.
The meeting at Lake Merritt was very interesting and informative. Thanks for alerting us.
Judy
Blue-winged Teal questions
Sun, 21 Nov 1999 10:27:04 -0800
From: Courtenay Peddle
Hello folks,
I'm now pretty sure there are three pairs of Blue-winged Teal at Martin Luther King Jr Regional Shoreline in Oakland. I saw two pairs yesterday at Damon Slough and five minutes later at Arrowhead Marsh had what I believe to be another pair.
Now the questions: Are there other places in Alameda or Contra Costa counties that they winter?
How about the West Bay? I have seen them at Olema Marsh, Marin County. Thanks for any help, and good birding!
Courtenay
Re: Blue-winged Teal questions
Sun, 21 Nov 1999 17:43:44 PST
From: Steve Glover
Courtenay and all,
I can't offer much about Blue-winged Teals in the West Bay but I can chip in about 2 cents concerning their status in the East Bay. Arrowhead Marsh seems to by far be the best place in the East Bay for this species. Off the top of my head, the only other places I can think of where they are reliable are McNabney Marsh (formerly Shell Marsh) near Martinez, and Coyote Hills Regional Park in Fremont. They are also rare but regular at Hayward Regional Shoreline. They have been recorded at various other places but only on a few occasions or less per location, for example the Alameda Creek Quarries, Lake Merritt, and eastern Contra Costa County. Surprisingly, at least to some, they have now been recorded in every month of the year and could potentially breed.
Happy tealing,
Steve Glover
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