[EBB Sightings] bird activity is....mushrooming

Hi all,
As Joe mentioned, there is a report of nesting Bell's
Vireos in Alameda County in 1932. There was a
subsequent report from 1937 when a nest was found and
the young banded (Gull V. 19 #7). The location was
along Corral Hollow Road. The catch here is that
Charles G. Sibley, in "The Birds of the South San
Francisco Bay Region," states that the location of the
1932 record was just inside San Joaquin County. The
same may also be true for the 1937 record. 

There have been no Alameda County records in the
intervening 70+ years and there are zero records for
Contra Costa County. 

Additionally, two other things argue against the
possibility of a Bell's Vireo. First, the habitat at
that location is completely wrong for a Bell's Vireo.
Second, it is far too early for this species. For
example, Bell's Vireos arrive in San Diego County
about the third week of March.

Hope this helps,
Steve Glover
Dublin

--- Joseph Morlan  wrote:

> On Fri, 29 Feb 2008 07:35:53 -0800 (PST), debbie
> viess
>  wrote:
> 
> >On Sunday at Lake Chabot, I heard the first
> snatches
> >of a Swainson's thrush song, and just maybe the
> first
> >few notes of an Olive Sided Flycatcher (Quick
> Threee,
> >hold the beers), too.
> 
> These would be unprecedented. According to Weston's
> data from Berkeley
> (cited in the Marin County Breeding Bird Atlas) 
> 
> Earliest Olive-sided is March 28th 
> Earliest Swainson's Thrush is April 14th
> 
> For all of California (1972-1984)
> 
> Earliest Olive-sided is March 19th 
> Earliest Swainson's Thrush is April 6th
> 
> Similar arrival schedules have been noted in Santa
> Cruz County with data
> going back 33 years:
> 
http://santacruzbirdclub.org/Spring%20Arrival%20Dates.htm
> 
> Clearly something very unusual is going on. 
> 
> -- 
> Joseph Morlan, Pacifica, CA 94044   jmorlan (at)
> ccsf.edu 
> Birding Classes start Feb 5 in SF  
> http://fog.ccsf.edu/~jmorlan/
> California Bird Records Committee  
> http://www.wfo-cbrc.org/cbrc/
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