Fledged Black Phoebes at Don Castro Regional
Recreation Area
Wed, 1 May 2002 11:34:59 PDT
From: Phil Gordon.
Greetings EBB'ers,
Yesterday, 30 April, 4 fledged Black Phoebes attended by both parents were near the swimming lagoon in Don Castro Regional Recreation Area in Hayward. Along the edge of this lagoon (now almost empty, but soon scheduled to be filled for summer play) is a Killdeer nest of eggs, with parents doing their broken wing act. The question is how does one move an existing nest with eggs to save it from inundation? Hatching first would solve the problem, should the Park manager be so lucky.
I walked the willow riparian area (5:15 to 6:00 PM) upstream and found the following:
1. Pied-billed Grebe (1)
2. Double-crested Cormorant (3)
3. Great Blue Heron (1) picnic lawn
4. Turkey Vulture (2; silent)
5. Mallard (x)
6. Red-tailed Hawk (dark morph) (1)
7. American Coot (3)
8. Killdeer (1 + nest with eggs, fide: Joe Britton, Mgr.Don Castro RRA)
9. White-throated Swift (1)
10.Anna's Hummingbird (3; 1 diving in display)
11.Nuttall's Woodpecker (2; 1 male)
12.Black Phoebe (2 adults + 4 fledglings)
13.Hutton's Vireo (1; heard only)
14.Westen Scrub-Jay (3)
15.American Crow (2; 1 dove relentlessly on Red-tailed Hawk)
16.Northern Rough-winged Swallow (8 +/-; at dam; excellent place to observe)
17.Cliff Swallow (2 +)
18.Barn Swallow (1)
19.Chestnut-backed Chickadee (4 +)
20.Oak Titmouse (5; 4? recently fledged = traveling family)
21.Bushtit (3 family? groups)
22.Bewick's Wren (3)
23.American Robin (5; including 2 pairs)
24.Wrentit (2)
25.European Starling (10+)
26.Cedar Waxwing (150 +/-; feeding on White Flowering Black Locust flowers)
27.Orange-crowned Warbler (2; gray breast streaks very dark now)
28.Yellow Warbler (1; heard only, but nesting records being sought, fide: JB)
29.Black-throated Gray Warbler (1; heard only)
30.Wilson's Warbler (3; nesting records being sought, fide: JB)
31.Spotted Towhee (5; noisy)
32.California Towhee (4)
33.Song Sparrow (7 +; singing, ubiquitously!)
34.Dark-eyed Junco (heard only; nesters?)
35.Black-headed Grosbeak (3; singing)
36.Lazuli Bunting (1 heard singing only; northeast parking lot area, closed to cars)
37.Red-winged Blackbird (3 +)
38.Bullock's Oriole (1; heard only)
39.Purple Finch (1; heard only)
40.House Finch (12 +)
41.Lesser Goldfinch (6 +/-; several calling in flight)
42.American Goldfinch (1; heard flight call only)
This area has good (riparian) habitat and is a convenient, local, little-used park. Directions: From upper B Street, Hayward, take Kelly St east to Woodroe Ave, turn left (north) and continue into Park [no fee yet] to drive across dam to farthest parking (top drive to east, right). Walk on gravel road at bottom of hill to willows and northeast to another bridge that meets Garin - Chabot Regional Trail (lots more walking, should you wish), but a minor trail continues upstream (San Lorenzo Creek, tributary).
Happy Birding,
Phil Gordon
Re: Olive-sided Flycatcher dates
Wed, 1 May 2002 13:50:22 -0700 (PDT)
From: John Harris
Steve et al.,
I enjoyed your recent post, especially the note about Olive-sided Flycatcher and Dark-eyed Junco first occurrences in the East Bay earlier in this century. It reminded me of something I read about Chestnut-backed Chickadee. Evidently it was considered a vagrant in the East Bay prior to about 1944. Its expansion into the East Bay was attributed to the planting of native and exotic trees, especially redwoods and Monterey pines. It was widespread and abundant in the East Bay by the 1960s. Rich Stallcup wrote an interesting brief article in the summer 1995 newsletter of Point Reyes Bird Observatory. There is also some discussion of range expansion in chickadees in Dave Shuford's Breeding Bird Atlas of Marin County.
An interesting related story is that of the East Bay's redwoods. An extensive forest of redwoods stretched from the East Bay hills at least to Moraga (described in an article called "The Forgotten Redwoods of the East Bay," in the Pacific Historical Quarterly, I forgot the date). These were intensively logged just after the gold rush. Thus the redwood forests that exist now in this area are primarily second growth, about 140 years old. One wonders what lived in that forest prior to the 1850s. The logging took place so early that I don't know if many records of birds exist for that forest. Perhaps some of these birds are returning to areas once inhabited?
John H. Harris
Biology Department, Mills College
Oakland, CA
Original Message Next Reply Subject Index
Historical status of bird species in the
East Bay
Wed, 01 May 2002 14:40:52 -0700
From: Larry Tunstall
Hi all,
Steve Glover wrote a fine piece about the changing status of East Bay birds over the past century back in the early days of this list, when we had far fewer subscribers. You'll find it in the archives at
Thanks, Steve! And I do want to add that I'm sure there's no need to be hesitant about providing this kind of historical information. Many people find it fascinating.
Good birding, Larry
Larry Tunstall
El Cerrito CA
Original Message Subject Index
Hooded Orioles in Fremont
Wed, 01 May 2002 17:12:05 -0700
From: Mary
The Hooded Orioles are back at my hummingbird feeder in the Niles district of Fremont. They seem to be nesting in a fan palm a couple of houses down. Between them and the goldfinches, my backyard is a flurry of yellow.
Mary
Mitchell Canyon
Wed, 01 May 2002 19:21:59 -0700
From: Dennis Braddy
EastBayBirders,
Mitchell Canyon in Mount Diablo State Park near Clayton was birdy today from morning right through the afternoon. We got a head-start birding along the creek east from the end of Regency Dr for an hour until time for the Mitchell Canyon gate to open at 8:00 AM. Mallard, Barn Swallow, and American Kestrel were the only birds seen here that we didn't see later at Mitchell Canyon.
Some of our personal favorites today included Lazuli Bunting, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Calliope Hummingbird, Costa's Hummingbird, Sage Sparrow, Western Tanager, Hermit Warbler, and Hairy Woodpecker.
Most numerous (10 or more individuals seen or heard) were Warbling Vireo and Anna's Hummingbird, followed closely by Spotted Towhee, Black-headed Grosbeak, Hutton's Vireo, Nashville Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, and Wrentit. We saw Warbling Vireo and Nuttall's Woodpecker at nest and nest hole.
One of the most exciting moments was a fur-ball of fighting hummers. The main combatants were multiple Allen's Hummingbirds and Anna's Hummingbirds with a guest appearance by a Calliope Hummingbird. Rufous Hummingbird lurked nearby. The Anna's were clearly the most aggressive. But when the dust settled the Allen's remained, apparently by pure stubbornness.
The jays were having a field day. One Western Scrub-Jay carried a dead bird in its bill, perhaps liberated from one the many nests. Another was investigating something under the bridge just before the parking lot. A pair of very agitated Black Phoebes tried to hurry the jay's departure. I suspected the phoebes had a nest there, but decided not to bother them further. Anyway, the jay soon emerged empty-handed (er, billed). Several apparent Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks calling in the distance turned out to be Steller's Jays close by.
On the way home we saw our only Red-tailed Hawk of the day. It flew over our car trailing a 3-foot snake.
Here's the full list of 57 species with counts or conservative estimates of numbers seen for most:
Brewer's Blackbird
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Bluebird (6)
Lazuli Bunting (8)
Mourning Dove
Rock Dove
Mallard (1)
Purple Finch (1)
Ash-throated Flycatcher (8)
Olive-sided Flycatcher (2)
Pacific-slope Flycatcher (1)
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (4)
Lesser Goldfinch
Black-headed Grosbeak (numerous)
Red-tailed Hawk (1)
Allen's Hummingbird (6)
Anna's Hummingbird (numerous)
Calliope Hummingbird (1)
Costa's Hummingbird (4)
Rufous Hummingbird (6)
Steller's Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
American Kestrel (1)
Northern Mockingbird (1)
White-breasted Nuthatch (6)
Bullock's Oriole (1)
Black Phoebe (4)
California Quail
American Robin
Golden-crowned Sparrow (1)
Sage Sparrow (1)
European Starling
Barn Swallow (1)
Cliff Swallow
Western Tanager (4)
Swainson's Thrush (3)
Bushtit
Oak Titmouse
California Towhee
Spotted Towhee (numerous)
Hutton's Vireo (numerous)
Warbling Vireo (numerous)
Turkey Vulture
Hermit Warbler (2)
Nashville Warbler (numerous)
Orange-crowned Warbler (4)
Townsend's Warbler (2)
Wilson's Warbler (numerous)
Yellow-rumped Warbler ("Audubon's")
Western Wood-Pewee (1)
Acorn Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker (1)
Northern Flicker (2)
Nuttall's Woodpecker (6)
Bewick's Wren (1)
House Wren (1)
Wrentit (numerous)
Dennis and Patricia Braddy
San Ramon