[EBB Sightings] UC Berkeley Botanical Garden

Wanting some nearby birding and having limited time, I spent an hour  
and a half at the UC bot garden shortly after it opened. The fog was  
still hugging the hills and tall pines, and the garden was generally  
quiet until I got to the Mediterranean section and the Garden of Old  
Roses.

I patiently stood in front of a large sage and finally saw a  
California Thrasher foraging, using its bill to pick through the  
dirt. While I was waiting for the thrasher to reappear, a bright  
Pacific-Slope Flycatcher perched on a nearby bush. Hummer Wars were  
in full force in and around the Garden of Old Roses. There were  
easily fifteen to eighteen individual birds, with Selasphorus  
hummingbirds out-aggressing the Anna's.

Just before I departing, I watched two Steller's Jays in the  
California section. One had mastered the mimicking of two raptors-- 
the cry of a Red-tail and the kekking of a Coop. It was a lesson in  
how common birds are always fascinating.

I saw only one warbler, a Wilson's. The usual birds--Spotted and Cal  
Towhees, Song Sparrows, Wrentit, etc.--were out and about.

Judith Dunham
Berkeley