Hayward Regional Shoreline, Grant Ave trailhead
Sat, 06 Apr 2002 13:45:33 -0800
From: Rusty Scalf
The Golden Gate Audubon Society trip at the Grant Ave trailhead of Hayward Regional Shoreline in San Lorenzo this morning was quite a success. We had wonderful close-up studies of shorebirds all morning, including some breeding plumage Red Knots. Surprising were 4 Black Oystercatcher on the old pier and 2 Common Tern in with the Forster's Tern perched on the pilings. We watched several incubating American Avocets. One finally got up and we had a clear view of the eggs. 13 people attended.
Rusty Scalf
Pied-billed Grebe
Clark's Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Canada Goose
Green-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
Northern Pintail
American Wigeon
Greater Scaup
Canvasback
Surf Scoter
Red-breasted Merganser
Turkey Vulture
Red-tailed Hawk
Osprey
American Coot
Black-bellied Plover (some in full breeding plumage)
Killdeer
Black Oystercatcher
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet (turning eggs)
Willet
Long-billed Curlew
Marbled Godwit
Red Knot (about 30 birds, some in breeding plumage)
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Dunlin
Short-billed Dowitcher
dowitcher sp.
California Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Forster's Tern
Common Tern
Caspian Tern
Mourning Dove
Anna's Hummingbird
Black Phoebe
Barn Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Common Raven
Bushtit
Marsh Wren (heard)
Northern Mockingbird (singing like mad)
European Starling
Song Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
American Goldfinch
Swifts in Berkeley
Sun, 07 Apr 2002 14:34:44 -0700
From: Tom Condit
Today (Sunday) around 1 PM I saw my first swifts of the season over the University of California Berkeley campus. They were too high to be specific without binoculars, but I suppose that when in doubt one should suppose White-throated Swifts.
Tom Condit
Rufous-crowned Sparrows in Claremont Canyon
Mon, 8 Apr 2002 07:54:00 -0700
From: Ore Carmi
To whom it may interest:
I encountered a pair of Rufous-crowned Sparrows on the north slope of Claremont Canyon in the Berkeley Hills yesterday (Sunday, April 7). Of particular note is that they occurred in a large swath of French Broom.
cheers,
ore carmi, Berkeley, CA
Birding south of Livermore on Saturday
Mon, 08 Apr 2002 08:23:09 -0700
From: Dustin Alcala
Hi All,
On Saturday, April 6, I visited Veterans Park, Sycamore Grove, and Del Valle Regional Park. I spent roughly 7 hours in the field. This was my first visit to Veteran/Sycamore Parks, as well as to the nearby Staging Area for Del Valle. A total of about 85 species were seen for the day.
Starting at the Arroyo entrance to Veterans Park at 7:30, I heard a Black-headed Grosbeak in full song. A male Bullock's Oriole was just down the trail. Across the street at the winery buildings were White-throated Swifts entering holes in the eaves of the roof. Also an Acorn Woodpecker was doing the same. Wild Turkeys were heard, but not seen. No sign of the parula. Birds were abundant, but few other migrants to speak of. Swallows were in good numbers though.
The Staging Area for Del Valle was interesting, but also not terribly productive. A Black-throated Gray Warbler and Rufous Hummingbird were the best migrants. Two Golden Eagles were seen here. One was easy to watch soaring nearby for about 5 minutes. Wild Turkeys were sounding off on both sides of the canyon and one especially cooperative tom patrolled the ridge above the parking lot.
It was probably 10:00 when I drove to the entrance to Sycamore Grove. Yellow-billed Magpies, common all day, were especially common here. I worked the trail along the stream and then hiked up into the oaks on the ?west? edge of the park. 2 pairs of Western Bluebirds seemed sad in this fine habitat, especially when taking into account the abundance of starlings. Highlights included an adult Barn Owl peering unconcernedly out of the opening to a nesting box (exact location intentionally omitted). At least 2 White-tailed Kites were around, as well as 4 Cooper's Hawks, 2 adult, 2 immature, a pair of American Kestrels, several Red-tailed Hawks, as well as the requisite Turkey Vultures. There were almost no migrating songbirds to be had, although one little canyon in the oak woodland had 20-plus Yellow-rumped Warblers, including 2 Myrtles.
After a lengthy stop for lunch I stopped at the first winery entrance along Mines Road. Two pairs of Lawrence's Goldfinch were here as well as one heard-only Bullock's Oriole. It was the middle of the afternoon and not birdy at all.
Next to Del Valle. Arrived around 2:00. It was quite windy and, again, little bird activity on land or water. Four Lincoln's Sparrows were along the trail from the boat launch area to Hetch Hetchy Picnic Ground. Sat under an oak for an hour hoping to see a Bald Eagle - it didn't happen. Did see 1 Caspian Tern though, and 2 Bullock's Orioles put on a great show. On the way back to the car I was finally able to pish up a Rufous-crowned Sparrow. I went around to the parking area at the far side of the bridge and walked down to the inflow of the reservoir. Very quiet although there were 4 Forster's Terns here. Went back up and crossed the road. The campground was pretty active, both with birds and with people. Two highlights were a Green Heron flying downstream and some very nice looks at a Hammond's Flycatcher near and in campsite 48.
All-in-all it was a good birding day, but I would have liked to have seen more migrants. Oh well. The complete list follows below.
Dustin Alcala
Albany
Eared Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron
Turkey Vulture
Canada Goose
Mallard
Bufflehead
Common Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Cooper's Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Golden Eagle
American Kestrel
Wild Turkey
California Quail
American Coot
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
California Gull
Caspian Tern
Forster's Tern
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
Barn Owl
White-throated Swift
Anna's Hummingbird
Rufous Hummingbird
Allen's Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Acorn Woodpecker
Nuttall's Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Hammond's Flycatcher
Black Phoebe
Hutton's Vireo
Steller's Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
Yellow-billed Magpie
American Crow
Common Raven
Violet-green Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Oak Titmouse
Bushtit
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Bewick's Wren
House Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Western Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Wrentit
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Orange-crowned Warbler
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson's Warbler
Spotted Towhee
California Towhee
Rufous-crowned Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Black-headed Grosbeak
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Brewer's Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Bullock's Oriole
House Finch
Pine Siskin
Lesser Goldfinch
Lawrence's Goldfinch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
Help needed on hummingbirds and kingbirds
Mon, 08 Apr 2002 12:31:12 -0700
From: Nick Newton
On a walk behind my house Sunday below Merritt College (Redwood Heights District of Oakland), I saw what I thought was my first ever Allen's Hummingbird. It was squabbling with an Anna's Hummingbird for a presumably desirable stretch of hillside covered with trees and scrub. However, when I got back to the house and consulted Sibley, he describes Allen's as barely distinguishable in the field from Rufous, and they also have similar calls. It seems that green-backed Rufous and orange-rumped Allen's exist, and that Rufous are seen in the Bay Area during migration. The one I saw certainly had a green back, but this is apparently not diagnostic. Does anyone have any words of wisdom on this?
On a different subject, I saw a Western Kingbird right outside the Hayward Regional Shoreline on Saturday. The range maps seem to show the Bay Area as being right on the edge of its range - is this bird at all unusual around here?
Thanks in advance for any response.
Nick Newton
Oakland
Reply #1 Reply #2 Reply #3 Subject Index
Re: Allen's versus Rufous Hummingbird identification
Mon, 08 Apr 2002 12:52:14 -0700
From: Kay Loughman
Nick:
That green back may not be diagnostic, but it's a very good indicator - assuming you're talking about an adult male bird. Male Rufous Hummingbirds have relatively little, if any, green on the back - male Allen's Hummingbirds have not much rufous. With females and juveniles, it's essentially impossible to distinguish in the field. Allen's breed here in the Bay Area, so it's possible at this time of year to find adults and juveniles of either sex. I believe Rufous breed further north, so any Rufous migrating through the Bay Area right now should be adults on their way to the breeding ground. I've seen adult male Rufous and Allen's (and undistinguishable females/juvniles) at my feeders in the last week.
Kay Loughman
Berkeley
Original Message Next Reply Subject Index
Re: Allen's versus Rufous Hummingbird identification
Mon, 08 Apr 2002 14:20:14 -0700
From: Larry Tunstall
Hi EBBers,
There was an extensive discussion on EBB of this topic about two and a half years ago. Start at
and look for messages about Selasphorus hummingbirds in September and October. The topic has turned up occasionally in subsequent years.
A good way to find things in the archives is to do a Google search for folkbird.net ebb archive followed by the search terms that will narrow down to the messages you want. In this case
folkbird.net ebb archive allen's rufous identification
will get you a pretty good selection. First you will be given only a couple of selections, but then click on "repeat the search with the omitted items included" to get the full list.
For another discussion, with illustrations, see
http://users.yourvillage.com/conover/ruhu.html
http://users.yourvillage.com/conover/alhu.html
Good birding, Larry
Larry Tunstall
El Cerrito CA
Original Message Subject Index
Re: Missing European Goshawk
Mon, 08 Apr 2002 15:29:15 -0700
From: Tom Condit
Janet Hanson wrote:
Jeff Diaz, local falconer, lost a male European Goshawk.... He will come to lure or fist.
I'd be a little careful about summoning a goshawk to my fist without the proper hand and arm protection.
Original Message Subject Index