[EBB Sightings] Grasshopper Sparrow at Briones

Today I took my ornithology class on our annual spring outing to Briones
Regional Park.

A surprise was a singing GRASSHOPPER SPARROW along the fence on the north
side of the road about 100 yards past the entrance Kiosk at the west
entrance.  All members enjoyed fine views.

We also added American Crow to our cumulative list of birds seen on this
trip.  The full list is at:

http://fog.ccsf.edu/~jmorlan/briones.htm

I was also wondering about the status of various super-rarities that have
been reported on this email listing.  Have any of them been confirmed?  Are
they still around?  Were they one-day wonders?

Tufted Titmouse would be new for California. Juniper Titmouse would be
extraordinary for this area.  Cactus Wren is unrecorded in Northern
California with the exception of a single bird in Mono County. Laughing
Gull is a super-rarity anywhere in Northern California. The large flock of
Oak Titmice was mind-boggling.  Nothing like that has ever been seen
before.

These have all been reported without any follow-up.  I assume there must
have been a flurry of private emails but were there any conclusions?  

On most birding email lists, extraordinary rarities get checked out very
quickly.  They are ether verified or left as questionable. Has that been
happening here?  



-- 
Joseph Morlan, Pacifica, CA 94044   jmorlan (at) ccsf.edu 
Fall Birding Classes start Sept 6   http://fog.ccsf.edu/~jmorlan/
California Bird Records Committee   http://www.wfo-cbrc.org/cbrc/