[EBB Sightings] Harris sparrow at Sunol, SPTO escapes bobcat!

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Jackie,

SPTO is a four-letter code for Spotted Towhee, formerly Rufous-sided=20
Towhee (RSTO).

Basic etiquette (usually unwritten) for most bird lists suggests that=20
posters spell out a bird's common name at the first usage followed by=20
whatever code you use. Thereafter, the code can be used. There are at=20
least a couple 4-letter and a 6-letter code code system.

You can read about some of the codes on Kendric Smith's website,
South Bay Birders Unlimited 
go to the Information Archives

Les
---
Les Chibana
BirdNUTZ(tm) - Ornigasmic Birding
Palo Alto Baylands Birding Classes
em 
web 
ph 650-949-4335
fx 650-949-4137
snailmail: SR2 Box 335, La Honda CA 94020

On Apr 26, 2005, at 1:45 PM, Jackie Vaughan wrote:

> For those of us not so up on all the birding lingo, what is an SPTO?
> =A0
> -Jackie Pierson
> l.p.ellis at att.net wrote:
> On Sat. 4/23, we observed the Harris' sparrow several times.=A0 =
Previous=20
> posters have reported observing it near the porta-potties=A0in the =
small=20
> parking lot beyond the "green barn".=A0 When it disappears into the=20
> brush, it can often be found behind (creekside of)=A0this area, =
foraging=20
> with the GCSPs along=A0the muddy dirt road to the right as you cross =
the=20
> footbridge.=A0 This road goes directly to the creek, impassable now =
with=20
> the very high flow.=A0 There is water (after a shower) in the rut on =
the=20
> right side of the road.=A0 The GCs come down first and are joined by =
the=20
> HASP, usu for a brief visit only.
> =A0
> While looking at the sparrow, a bobcat, coming from upstream,=A0crossed=20=

> the foot of the road at the creek and continued downstream in the=20
> understory.=A0 It crossed the path leading to the footbridge, and tail=20=

> quivering, lunged into the understory just downstream, flushing a=20
> SPTO.=A0Then it walked up onto the deck of the classroom building.=A0 =
When=20
> I heard crows scolding, I continued downstream along the edge of the=20=

> brush, and saw the cat hunkered down about 30 feet away, enjoying a=20
> kill.=A0 I took several photos while he? feasted, looking up at me=20
> occasionally.=A0 After 5-10 minutes, he walked toward the creek.=A0 He=20=

> didn't have anything in his mouth.=A0 About an hour later, I returned =
to=20
> the site of the kill to see what he had eaten.=A0 All that remained =
was=20
> the tail of a ground squirrel!=A0 Other hikers to Little Yosemite=20
> reported seeing a bobcat there too, at about the same time.
> =A0
> While in the area, look at the right side wall of the=A0office =
building=A0=20
> to see a white=3Dbreasted nuthatch enter its large nest hole to feed=20=

> young.=A0 A house wren was seen "apartment hunting" on the same wall =
to=20
> the right of shiny metal ventilation? ducts on Thursday.=A0=20
> Red=3Dshouldered hawk can be observed on nest in sycamore =
downsteam=A0from=20
> mid-bridge.=A0 An oriole nest with shiny cellophane Easter grass is in=20=

> the syc with the old RSHA nest.=A0 There is a Cassin's vireo nest=20
> suspended in a live oak above the trail leading left from the bridge.=A0=
=20
> It's an old oak with a long=3Dhealed stub of a large branch extending =
to=20
> the left side of the trail.
> =A0
> We heard turkeys in the park and saw 2 toms and a hen at the stop sign=20=

> at the end of Geary Road at Calaveras Rd.
> =A0
> Lee Ellis
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
> http://mail.yahoo.com

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Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
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Jackie,


SPTO is a four-letter code for Spotted Towhee, formerly Rufous-sided
Towhee (RSTO).=20


Basic etiquette (usually unwritten) for most bird lists suggests that
posters spell out a bird's common name at the first usage followed by
whatever code you use. Thereafter, the code can be used. There are at
least a couple 4-letter and a 6-letter code code system.


You can read about some of the codes on Kendric Smith's website,=20

South Bay Birders Unlimited <

go to the Information Archives



---

Les Chibana

BirdNUTZ(tm) - Ornigasmic Birding

Palo Alto Baylands Birding Classes

em <

web <

ph 650-949-4335

fx 650-949-4137

snailmail: SR2 Box 335, La Honda CA 94020


On Apr 26, 2005, at 1:45 PM, Jackie Vaughan wrote:


an SPTO?

=A0

-Jackie Pierson



On Sat. 4/23, we observed the Harris' sparrow several times.=A0 Previous
posters have reported observing it near the porta-potties=A0in the small
parking lot beyond the "green barn".=A0 When it disappears into the
brush, it can often be found behind (creekside of)=A0this area, foraging
with the GCSPs along=A0the muddy dirt road to the right as you cross the
footbridge.=A0 This road goes directly to the creek, impassable now with
the very high flow.=A0 There is water (after a shower) in the rut on the
right side of the road.=A0 The GCs come down first and are joined by the
HASP, usu for a brief visit only.

=A0

While looking at the sparrow, a bobcat, coming from upstream,=A0crossed
the foot of the road at the creek and continued downstream in the
understory.=A0 It crossed the path leading to the footbridge, and tail
quivering, lunged into the understory just downstream, flushing a
SPTO.=A0Then it walked up onto the deck of the classroom building.=A0 =
When
I heard crows scolding, I continued downstream along the edge of the
brush, and saw the cat hunkered down about 30 feet away, enjoying a
kill.=A0 I took several photos while he? feasted, looking up at me
occasionally.=A0 After 5-10 minutes, he walked toward the creek.=A0 He
didn't have anything in his mouth.=A0 About an hour later, I returned to
the site of the kill to see what he had eaten.=A0 All that remained was
the tail of a ground squirrel!=A0 Other hikers to Little Yosemite
reported seeing a bobcat there too, at about the same time.

=A0

While in the area, look at the right side wall of the=A0office building=A0=

to see a white=3Dbreasted nuthatch enter its large nest hole to feed
young.=A0 A house wren was seen "apartment hunting" on the same wall to
the right of shiny metal ventilation? ducts on Thursday.=A0
Red=3Dshouldered hawk can be observed on nest in sycamore downsteam=A0from=

mid-bridge.=A0 An oriole nest with shiny cellophane Easter grass is in
the syc with the old RSHA nest.=A0 There is a Cassin's vireo nest
suspended in a live oak above the trail leading left from the bridge.=A0
It's an old oak with a long=3Dhealed stub of a large branch extending to
the left side of the trail.

=A0

We heard turkeys in the park and saw 2 toms and a hen at the stop sign
at the end of Geary Road at Calaveras Rd.

=A0

Lee Ellis


__________________________________________________

Do You Yahoo!?

Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around=20

http://mail.yahoo.com


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