Re: Hooded Orioles in Berkeley
Sun, 03 Jun 2001 08:56:59 -0700
From: Rusty Scalf
Kay Loughman wrote:
In the last week I've seen briefly both male and female Hooded Orioles in my yard. A first here. Given the time of year, and several sightings of a species that is uncommon enough to be worthy of mention, is this likely to be an irruption or dispersal of young birds?
Kay Loughman
Berkeley, above the Claremont Hotel
Kay,
You live in the great Oakland fire zone right?
In the replantings since the fire, have you noticed many fan palms?
Rusty
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Re: Hooded Orioles in Berkeley
Sun, 03 Jun 2001 09:51:23 -0700
From: Kay Loughman
Yes, I live in the fire zone. There are some palms in the replanting - looking very out-of-place to my eye. These tend to be decorative trees put in by landscapers, not fan palms. Years ago (before the fire) I used to find Hooded Orioles most years in the palms northeast of the intersection of College and Ashby in Berkeley. I don't go down there as often as I did once, but haven't seen any there in a long time.
Kay
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And Hooded Orioles in El Cerrito
Sun, 3 Jun 2001 11:27:32 PDT
From: George McRae
Me too in El Cerrito. I live on Barrett Ave with a branch of Baxter Creek in the back yard. The Hooded Orioles have been visiting for four years now, feeding on the hummingbird feeders. I put up a Perky Pet oriole feeder, but forget it, they continue to use the hummer feeders, while the hummers use the oriole feeder. Go figger...
George McRae
Hayward Shoreline
Sun, 3 Jun 2001 21:14:24 PDT
From: Bob Richmond
The following was seen today at Hayward Regional Shoreline:
Black Skimmer - 5, only 1 nesting pair
Eared Grebe - 3 pair of adults with young
Cattle Egret - 1, I have not seen the other adult in several weeks
Blue-winged Teal - 1, this is the first one this summer, following last years' sighting of adult female with ducklings.
Good Birding
Bob
Of late migrants and singing females
Sun, 03 Jun 2001 22:47:53 -0700
From: Rusty Scalf
Per late migrants:
A return to Garrity Lake in Richmond this weekend produced no singing Wilson's Warblers. So the two singing birds of May 27 were likely migrants. Not so remarkable I guess, it's just that I assumed that migrating warblers were all through by then, especially the males.
Per singing Carpodacus finches:
It is clear now that the frequency of singing in female Carpodacus finches is nowhere near what I thought it was. It is a known phenomenon in Purple Finches and House Finches (I am frustrated that I can't find any reference to female Cassin's Finches singing). The more likely situation is indeed singing by an immature male.
I had the experience of observing pairs of Cassin's Finches in the Glass Mountain area (south of Mono Lake) in which both birds were singing - the female a much abbreviated song, and I had somehow gotten the impression that female song was a frequent phenomenon in Purple Finch. Not so I guess.
Rusty Scalf
Hummers & orioles
Mon, 4 Jun 2001 18:12:38 PDT
From: Mark Westlund
I've got Hooded Orioles too ... this is their sixth season to my South Central Berkeley backyard. They go for the hummingbird feeders.
And on the topic of hummers, I was at Orchard Nursery in Lafayette Sunday, and heard an unusual one. It made a clacking noise as it flew, kind of like a wheel of fortune, or a playing card pinned into bicycle spokes. Didn't get much of look at it though, except in flight. Has anyone seen Broad-tailed Hummingbirds in these parts?
Hooded Oriole - Et, tu? Temescal
Tue, 5 Jun 2001 17:51:47 -0700
From: Mike Ezekiel
Belated report from a short walk yesterday evening stroll around Lake Temescal in Oakland.
Swallow infested - Barn Swallow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Violet-green Swallow, etc.
Lots of cute, somewhat grown immature Pied-billed Grebelets with black and white heads.
To cap it all - and a fairly tall ?juniper? on the hilly side, a Hooded Oriole.
Mike Ezekiel
Oakland