A Purple Finch and a Long-tailed Duck
Sun, 22 Apr 2001 22:24:35 PDT
From: Anne Hoff
Not at the same place, however.
Yesterday April 21, Ron Felzer's Merritt College class saw a Long-tailed Duck from the north side of the Albany mudflats, near CostCo on Central Ave in Richmond (Contra Costa County). It was in transition plumage between winter and summer, definitely a male.
This morning April 22, Albany Adult School class saw a Purple Finch feeding at low brushy level in Garin Regional Park, Hayward, Alameda County. Beautiful! As were the Bullock's Orioles, the Western Bluebirds, and the Yellow Warblers, to mention a few. Also a Northern Mockingbird imitating a frog....
Anne Hoff
Golden-crowned Sparrow at Don Edwards
Sun, 22 Apr 2001 22:30:47 -0700
From: Mary
Today (April 22) at about 2 PM, I saw a Golden-crowned Sparrow on the hillside below (west of) the visitor's center at Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Fremont. My Sibley's guide says that it's a winter visitor here. Is it just late, or do they sometimes spend the whole year?
I've got my computer rebuilt, so tomorrow I'll scan the pictures of the pair of Hooded Orioles that have been draining my hummingbird feeder in my backyard in Fremont and put them on the web to share.
Mary, unlurking
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Golden-crowned Sparrows
Sun, 22 Apr 2001 22:51:48 -0700
From: Don Lewis
My backyard Golden-crowned Sparrows are still here also. In the last ten years, they have last been seen on April 12, 20, 10, 24, 23, 23, 19, 20, 25, and May 7. Some of these dates are for a single remaining bird with the bulk leaving a few days earlier.
So, nothing unusual this year but they will leave anytime.
Don Lewis
Lafayette, CA
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Canyon Trail Park, El Cerrito
Sun, 22 Apr 2001 23:42:10 -0700
From: Larry Tunstall
Sunday morning I spent some time birding in Canyon Trail Park off Gatto Ave in northern El Cerrito. This is a city park that has been in the news recently because the city forester wants to cut down all the Monterey pines in the park and plant new trees more suited to the region. After great protests from neighbors of the park, the city government agreed to postpone cutting some of the trees, but authorized removal as soon as possible of some 40 trees that the forester said were in immediate danger of toppling. This logging had originally been scheduled for February or March, and the approval for logging the 40 trees was given at the beginning of April.
A number of the pines near the Gatto Ave entrance by the lawn and tennis courts were marked with a big orange X, so I assume that these are the trees scheduled for logging. A pair of Cooper's Hawks are nesting in one of these trees. I saw what appeared to be an active nest in good repair, and both hawks were perching and calling nearby. They also chased off a Turkey Vulture that cruised through the park at treetop level. I hope that someone knows who to contact to be sure that the trees in this area don't get logged until the nesting has concluded. Personally, it looked to me as if ivy removal would be a much higher priority than logging the pines, most of which looked relatively healthy.
At any rate, despite the ivy, this fairly small park was bursting with bird activity. There were lots of chickadees, bushtits, and juncos (including fledglings). A pair of Red-breasted Nuthatches came down to forage on and near the ground just a few feet from me. A Nuttall's Woodpecker and a Downy Woodpecker worked in the trees not far from me. Bewick's Wrens were singing everywhere. Various birds including hummingbirds were bathing in little pools along the stream. A Black Phoebe was patroling the pond at the bottom of the park.
It was an overcast and cool morning, but even so there were astonishingly few people in the park for a Sunday morning. Plenty of opportunity to sit in quiet and watch the birds go about their daily lives.
In regard to Golden-crowned Sparrows, I saw some near Inspiration Point in Tilden Regional Park on April 19. In Birds of Northern California, David Fix & Andy Bezener say that they're around through early May. They also comment: "despite their great abundance in winter, only a few ever linger well into summer in northern California." So I guess you might find one or two hanging around after the rest depart.
Good birding, Larry
Larry Tunstall El Cerrito CA