Re: New yard yirds
Thu, 18 May 2000 04:40:39 -0700
From: Mike Feighner
Kay, John, East Bay Birders:
Just checked my yard list database.... I too have both Great Blue Heron and Great Egret on my yard list as fly-overs. In my father's case he had them standing within 10 feet of the kitchen window. A yard list is a yard list. Mine is defined as anything I can see or hear from my property. Then I supposed you could subdivide the definition into smaller yard lists: confirmed nesting birds, birds seen from inside the house, birds doing something unusual, etc.
I don't have Grasshopper Sparrow on my yard list, but I do have it on my life list. Recently I saw a Grasshopper Sparrow perched on the fence near milepost 0.5 on Del Puerto Canyon in Stanislaus County. Now, this bird was already on my life list and also on my Stanislaus County list. So what was so special about this Grasshopper Sparrow? It was eating a grasshopper. Now that was a first for me. ;>)
Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA
Original Message Next Reply Subject Index
Re: New Yard Birds
Thu, 18 May 2000 09:24:05 -0700
From: Ore Carmi
Mike Feighner wrote:
A yard list is a yard list. Mine is defined as anything I can see or hear from my property.
Then, if I heard Swainson's Thrushes flying over Berkeley again last night from my door, I think I can claim them as yard birds! (:
Also, I saw a flock of several hundred Cedar Waxwings in Berkeley a few days ago. Last year I saw several flocks like that just before they disappeared completely for the summer.
ore
Original Message Subject Index
Late migrants
Thu, 18 May 2000 10:37:00 -0700
From: Rusty Scalf
This morning, the sight of a male Western Tanager got me to wondering about timing and migration. I have always assumed that the later the passage, the farther north the bird is going. Wilson's Warblers are still moving through while locals are activley nesting.
Is this an assumption shared by others? Is it likely that a May 17 tanager in Berkeley is headed towards the northern end of Western Tanager range?
Rusty Scalf
Reply #1 Reply #2 Subject Index
Mt Diablo
Thu, 18 May 2000 20:56:02 -0700
From: Jimm Edgar
I lead a field trip yesterday to Mt Diablo for Mt Diablo Audubon Society and had very few birds all day until about noon when we came across a significant warbler movement near the summit. It was across the road from Pioneer camp. That entrance is on the right side going up. It is just past Blue Oak about 0.25 mile - the wash that goes down the hill. There were scores and scores, I would say, of Yellow, Nashville, Wilson's, and Orange-crowned Warblers. Those seemed to be all we saw. That little hollow seemed warm and there were way more insects than any where else we had been. I don't know if that is why they were there, but it was pretty amazing.
Jimm Edgar
Western Tanager
Thu, 18 May 2000 21:17:24 PDT
From: Ann Callaway
Maybe that Western Tanager that Rusty saw in Berkeley made it up to El Cerrito after lunch and found its way to the pine trees behind our house next to Canyon Trail Park. At any rate, I saw a beautiful male today (first time in our yard, only second time in my entire life, but I doubt whether the thrill of seeing one of these critters will ever wear off). I thought I heard a "hoarse robin" out there....!
Cheers,
Ann Callaway
Original Message Next Reply Subject Index
Re: Western Tanager
Thu, 18 May 2000 21:49:05 +0000
From: Lisa Viani
I also saw a Western Tanager - in southwest Richmond in a city park this past weekend, not too far from the Bay....
Lisa Viani
Original Message Subject Index
Las Trampas Regional Wilderness
Thu, 18 May 2000 22:35:45 -0700
From: Larry Tunstall
A small group joined Dave Riensche for a birdwalk this morning in Las Trampas Regional Wilderness, near San Ramon. It was a lovely sunny and warm morning. We spent most of our time in the oak woods along the stream, so we didn't find the more exotic grassland birds of the area. Actually, for many people the highlight of the morning was a pair of frogs locked in amorous embrace.
Here is what I caught of the group's bird list for the morning:
Turkey Vulture
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed hawk
American Kestrel
California Quail - heard only
Mourning Dove
Anna's Hummingbird
unidentified woodpecker - heard only
Nuttall's Woodpecker - heard by 2 of us in the parking lot afterward
Northern Flicker
Olive-sided Flycatcher - seen by a few
Pacific-slope Flycatcher - heard only
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Warbling Vireo
Steller's Jay - heard only
Yellow-billed Magpie - seen along road on way into park
American Crow
Chestnut-backed Chickadee - heard only
Oak Titmouse
Bewick's Wren - heard only
House Wren - heard only
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (?) - Dave thought a song none of us knew might be a kinglet
Western Bluebird
Wrentit - heard only
Dark-eyed Junco
Lesser Goldfinch
This was all within a quite short walk from the parking lot. Too much time spent watching X-rated frog activities! :-)
Good birding, Larry
Larry Tunstall
El Cerrito CA