Re: Little Blue Heron
Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 09:56:29 PDT
From: Steve Glover
Peter and all,
Even more interesting than the possible Little Blue Heron is the flycatcher [Tropical Kingbird]. If this bird was truly carrying nest material around, then we now know that this bird is a female. If memory serves me, only the female Tropical Kingbird participates in nest construction. This kind of reminds me of the nearby Arctic Tern which spent years trying to lure one of the male Forster's Terns to pair up. It would be interesting to see what would happen if a male Western Kingbird showed up. I don't know if Western and Tropical have ever been noted to have hybridized, but I do know that there are records of Western and Scissor-tailed hybridizing and certainly Tropical and Western are more closely related.
Good birding,
Steve Glover
Dublin, CA
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Tropical Kingbird
Thu, 11 May 2000 11:36:02 PDT
From: Peter Dramer
A Western Kingbird did appear just days after the Tropical Kingbird but did not linger. Birders are still coming by to see this bird so if they note other kingbirds perhaps they will post their sightings.
Peter
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Tilden Regional Park on 11 May
Fri, 12 May 2000 10:46:58 -0700
From: Tom Condit
Just a short note. On Thursday, May 11, I had a free half hour at Jewel Lake before joining a bunch of kids for a pond exploration trip. I saw two birds of interest, to me at least, by the dam:
A young Say's Phoebe was hawking insects right around the dam, using the fence on the dam itself and nearby trees. I say "young" because there were traces of red in the wings, which I take to be a remnant of juvenal plumage.A Swainson's Thrush was down in the vegetation on the east side of the lake next to the dam, then flew over to the west side and went to ground. Given how seldom I actually see this bird, as opposed to hearing its call "somewhere around here", I found this exciting. I heard another calling near the south end of the boardwalk.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see most of the many, many other birds singing around the area, nor to identify them by voice. Sooner or later, I guess I'll learn a few more.
Other birds seen or heard:
Mallards
Anna's Hummingbird
American Robins
Mourning Doves
Western Scrub-Jays
Dark-Eyed Juncos
California Towhees
Chestnut-backed Chickadees
Tom Condit
Hayward Shoreline
Fri, 12 May 2000 18:47:40 PDT
From: Bob Richmond
Today in the fenced-off ponds that are off limits to the public, I saw 2 pairs of Black Skimmers,the Arctic Tern, a Black Tern, and a male Great-tailed Grackle. Near the park headquarters [end of W Winton Ave], the Tropical Kingbird was still present.
Bob
Hayward Shoreline kingbirds
Date: Fri, 12 May 2000 18:49:53 -0700
From: Sheila Junge
The Tropical Kingbird was seen again today near the park office at 3050 W Winton Ave. It was most often on the fence on the west side of the street and closer to the materials plant than the park office. Two Western Kingbirds were also seen on the barbed wire fence behind the trees on the west side of the street. The Western Kingbirds were generally only a few feet apart. None of the Kingbirds did anything with nest material. All were seen around 4 PM and again when I was leaving around 6 PM.
Sheila Junge
Hayward, CA
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Great-tailed Grackles
Sun, 14 May 2000 20:45:41 PDT
From: Steve Glover
Hello all,
Sorry for the belated report. I got an e-mail from Robert Thomas who reported a pair of Great-tailed Grackles at McNabney Marsh [formerly Shell Marsh] near Martinez on Friday. On Saturday evening I spent a full hour there hoping for Contra Costa's first nesting confirmation. Finally, after the full hour I saw the male, which quickly flew off into the tules and was lost from sight. Robert also mentioned that when the pair flew off into the marsh that they didn't come back out in the next 20 minutes he was there.
To get here take Hwy 680 north to the Marina Vista exit, the last before the Benicia Bridge toll plaza. Head east about 0.25 mile or so and turn right onto Waterbird Way. At this intersection is a small dirt lot where you can park after carefully going up a very low curb. There is sometimes a roach coach here during the day. I saw the male on one of the piles of dirt and gravel in this lot before it flew out into the marsh. I must say that as is customary it was very windy here in the afternoon. Mornings are usually better but there is more traffic, particularly large trucks going down Waterbird to get to the dump that like to honk, thinking that they are somehow clever, and scare the living crap out of you.
From there I also saw broods of Mallard, Cinnamon Teal, Gadwall and Pintail as well as precocial stilts and avocets. Of interest was a lingering American Wigeon and a Western Grebe. I didn't see a mate for the grebe but neither species of aecmophorus grebe has been recorded nesting in the county. Also very entertaining were muskrats carrying large mouthfuls of grass to what I assume to be dens. I saw individuals going to three seperate sites, each about 100 yards or so apart.
Good birding,
Steve Glover
Dublin, CA
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