[EBB Sightings] Summer Camp Birds, August 17-21

Birders,

I am posting the message below for Brian Fitch who has difficulty 
posting to this site.  If you have questions or comments, please direct 
them to Brian at:  fogeggs at aol.com.

Thanks,
Kay Loughman
*****************

As happens most summers, the birds start to show up in passage just as 
the kids have to go back to the classroom.  Even in this unusually quiet 
year, a few things appeared during our wanderings this week.

North of Wildcat Peak on Monday, we found a bumper crop of Western 
Bluebirds, twenty or more, and a single lurking Grasshopper Sparrow. 
Tuesday at the Albany Waterfront, we found two Northern Rough-winged 
Swallows hawking over the bulb, while on Wednesday, we watched a mixed 
flock of swallows doing likewise east of the Seaview Trail in Tilden; 
the flock included Tree, Violet-green, Cliff, and Barn.  On the west 
side of the trail a migrant group of two Black-headed Grosbeaks and five 
Western Tanagers were foraging, with two alternate plumaged adult male 
tanagers coming very close to the kids.

Thursday at the Berkeley Marina brought us our first Greater Scaup of 
the season, a Pelagic Cormorant, and several Elegant Terns roosting with 
Forster's on the ruined outer pier.  We also had a camp first, an adult 
Bonaparte's Gull in basic plumage that flew over the basin east of Cesar 
Chavez Park.  The bird checked on the fishing area of two Forster's 
Terns, which then turned on it and drove it off, allowing us to hear the 
gull protest with its strange, buzzy voice.  And today, despite the 
excellent conditions for migration, things were relatively quiet on 
Vollmer Peak in Tilden, with the exception of three Willow Flycatchers, 
and a single adult male Hermit Warbler, both species were firsts of the 
season.  The last interesting bird of the summer was a juvenile black 
morph Red-tailed Hawk that soared over during our goodbye celebration.

Brian Fitch & Crew