Northern Goshawk, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Tue, 7 Mar 2000 13:23:11 PST
From: Steve Glover
Hello everyone,
I went out to Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve this morning to follow up on a report of a Red-naped Sapsucker. I did not find a Red-naped but I had a wonderful morning nonetheless.
First of all, to get to Black Diamond Mines take Hwy 4 to Antioch. Exit at Sommersville Rd. and go south. In several miles the road will take a dramatic turn to the left but you will go straight. You are now entering the park. Continue past the kiosk (no fee on this morning, at least) and go all the way to the end of the road. Park there and continue on the road south toward the hills. About 100 to 200 yards from the parking lot you will come to 2 or 3 oaks immediately adjacent to the trail, all loaded with mistletoe. A pair of Phainopeplas were very conspicuous here, as they often are.
Downslope on your right is a streamlet with just a tiny bit of marshy vegetation. Just beyond that is what I guess was a pepper tree. I heard a sapucker calling from there so I went directly downslope. This got me very muddy so I would do the following: Continue another 100 yards or so to where the Nortonville Trail branches off to the right. On your right is a barbed wire fence. Follow that fence back towards the parking lot. You will have to walk through some deep wet grass but it will take you back close to the pepper tree. The tree is beyond the fence by about 10 yards. The sapsucker called frequently and tapped quite a bit but was very hard to see. When I did finally see it the bird turned out to be an extremely dull immature bird. I am basing the identification [Yellow-bellied Sapsucker] on the fact that the bird is still in juvenile plumage in early March while Red-naped are supposedly out of this plumage by September or October. This is probably about the fourth county record for this species.
While watching this bird a field trip group of school kids flushed a raptor out of a tree and in a brief glimpse I at first thought it was a Red-shouldered Hawk, based mostly on size. It quickly landed again but not before I determined that it was an accipiter rather than a buteo. A little while later, while still trying to see the sapsucker, the bird was again flushed. This time it flew around for several minutes, giving me excellent overhead views. During this time I was able to identify the bird as a Northern Goshawk and even saw it in close proximity to a Red-tailed Hawk.
If anyone wants to actually see a description I would be glad to send it out but I have to be at work in 20 minutes so I don't have the time at the moment. It is interesting to note that there are 4 or 5 apparently sanitary records of Northern Goshawk from the East Bay from Early March to very early April.
Steve Glover
Dublin, CA
Reply #1 Reply #2 Subject Index
Sapsuckers
Wed, 8 Mar 2000 12:32:29 PST
From: Steve Glover
Hello everyone,
I played phone tag with Joel Summerhill today. He was the one who originally reported Red-naped Sapsucker at Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve near Antioch. I was wondering if he had seen a juvenile bird or an adult so I could determine if we had seen the same bird. He reports that his was indeed an adult but he is not sure if it was a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker or a Red-naped Sapsucker. This means that I saw a completely different bird than Joel and that there is either one Yellow-bellied and one Red-naped out there or two Yellow-bellieds. Joel saw his bird on Saturday just a little beyond where I had the Yellow-bellied yesterday. From the parking lot at the end of the road you continue walking about 500 yards to a large slag heap. On your right there is a picnic area with a small wooden stage area at the far back side against the hill. Joel saw the bird in this area. If anyone gets out there and sees either of these birds please let me know.
This morning in Dublin I saw a pair of Hooded Mergansers in the creek near my house. I suspect that these were migrants downed by the weather last night as they were in water that was moving fairly rapidly and was quite brownish with silt.
Steve Glover
Dublin, CA
Original Message Subject Index
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Nothern Goshawk, Tree
Sparrow
Wed, 8 Mar 2000 16:16:47 -0800
From: John Luther
Hi All,
This morning (gate said it opens at 8 AM, I arrived about 8:15 AM) I went to Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve south of Antioch to look for the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Northern Goshawk seen by Steve Glover yesterday. No luck with the Goshawk, but did find the juvenile Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. It was in the pepper tree exactly as described by Steve (excellent directions, Steve!). After wandering around for awhile looking for the goshawk I again saw the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker on both sides of the road where you leave it to get to the pepper tree described by Steve. It was in the small orchard south of the road and in a large oak on the north side of the road. There was also a male Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker there along with Phainopepla, Western Bluebirds, Oak Titmouse and many other species. I also saw a male Northern Harrier carrying nesting material fly east over the parking lot.
I then drove south to Patterson Pass Road in Alameda County [east of Livermore] to look for the Tree Sparrow reported on the RBA as present on March 4. The location was reported as "east of the pass by a gate to the windmill access road." I assumed that this was the one with a sign #3 as there was an old rock corral and rocky outcropping north of the road here. I could not find a Tree Sparrow, but did find a few sparrow flocks by walking east and west on the road from the gate. Also there were lots of other species in the area. A partial list includes Prairie Falcon, American Kestrel, Red-tailed Hawk, Common Raven, American Crow, Western Scrub-Jay, White-crowned Sparrows, Golden-crowned Sparrows, Savannah Sparrows, Lark Sparrows, Lesser Goldfinch, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, California Towhee, House Finch, Red-winged Blackbird, Say's Phoebe, Black Phoebe, Western Meadowlark, California Thrasher.
John Luther
Oakland
Original Message Subject Index
Hayward Shoreline
Wed, 8 Mar 2000 16:23:08 PST
From: Bob Richmond
Seen today at the Hayward Regional Shoreline in spite of the rain were 4 Surfbirds at Hayward's Landing [go west from the end of W Winton Ave]. The tide was incoming and fairly high.
Bob Richmond
FWD: [SBB] Coyote Hills Regional Park
Thu, 09 Mar 2000 12:09:35 -0800
From: Mike Feighner
East-Bay Birders:
Can anyone reply to Nick Lethaby's request below?
Mike Feighner
From: Nick Lethaby
Sent: Thursday, March 9, 2000 10:20 AM
To: South Bay Birds mailing list
Subject: [SBB] Coyote Hills Regional parkAll:
Can anyone talk to me about the best way to bird Coyote Hills Regional Park up North of Fremont. Are there are species that are easier to see there than elsewhere locally? I will going there on Saturday.
Nick Lethaby
Note: Replies can be sent c/o the EBbird list owner at EBbirds@aol.com