Northern Saw-whet Owl in Berkeley
Tue, 09
Sep 2003 19:40:22 -0700
From: Mark Westlund
In south-central Berkeley (Edwards St between Bancroft Way and Channing Way) I heard a Northern Saw-whet Owl this morning, 5:45 AM, coming from a stand of trees. What an eerie, distinctive, and beautiful sound!
MW
Brown Creeper at Lafayette / Walnut Creek border
Wed, 10 Sep 2003 22:32:16 -0700
From: Larry Tunstall
I received the following message last Saturday. I just got word back from the author that it's okay to post it to the list.
Subject: Brown Creeper and East Bay Birds
Date: Sat, 06 Sep 2003 15:13:21 -0700I grew up in the Lafayette - Walnut Creek borderline area (east of Pleasant Hill Rd, south of Hwy 24) and my parents have owned the same property (in one of the original suburban developments with large backyard gardens in the Las Trampas Creek valley) for 50 years now. I learned to bird here and it has been interesting to see the changes in avifauna at the site over the years as the neighborhood turned from more open country when it was first developed to now almost a woodland habitat as the trees the original homeowners planted have grown tall and matured.
I notice now that you have some yard lists now posted at the EBB site. My parents and sisters and I have kept a fairly accurate yard list of the different species seen at this little property since the 1950s. When I get a chance I will write it up and send it to you for the archive.
I live in Texas now but come back to visit a number of times each year. I just wanted to add in that several days ago and today I had a prolonged opportunity to observe a very fresh-looking Brown Creeper working the large Modesto ash tree in the back yard. It's the first one I can ever remember seeing here in summer (before the tree lost its leaves in the autumn). They have been a casual winter visitor to this property over the last four decades or so but not this time of year.
Tom Gill
Posted to EBB by Larry Tunstall
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Backyard migrants in Livermore
Thu, 11 Sep
2003 17:38:55 -0700
From: Mike Feighner
East Bay Birders:
Once in a while my backyard here in Livermore does get a migrant. Today the eucalyptus had three: 1 Western Tanager, 1 Orange-crowned Warbler, and 1 Yellow Warbler. The last time a Western Tanager was in the yard this year was on May 15th.
Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA, Alameda County
Contra Costa County birds
Thu, 11 Sep 2003
19:10:08 -0700
From: Larry Tunstall
I am forwarding the following message to the list for Steve Glover:
Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 14:47:18 PDT
Subject: Contra Costa County, September 9 and 10Larry,
My new version of AOL is again not able to send messages to EBB so could you please forward the following?
On September 9 I birded around Richmond Marina Bay and Meeker Slough and then stopped briefly at the Richmond Sewage Ponds.
Around the marina and Meeker Slough, birds included the following:
- Pelagic Cormorant - 1
- White-crowned Sparrow - at least 11, apparently all non-migratory nuttalli, including an adult feeding a fledgling! The latest confirmation during the atlas project was in July.
- Harlequin Duck - The male was noted swimming out near Brooks Island while the female was perched on the beach on Brooks Island. Bring your scope. Or a kayak.
- Black Oystercatcher - 6, including 5 on the mud at Meeker Slough just before high tide.
- Cooper's Hawk - 1
There were just a handful of migrants along Meeker Slough with nothing at all unusual.
At the Richmond Sewage Ponds on Richmond Pkwy there were lots of shorebirds at high tide and the habitat was as good as I have ever seen it there. The only rarity was a Baird's Sandpiper but there were plenty of birds to look through.
On September 10, I tried some hawkwatching at Inspiration Point in Tilden Regional Park (Berkeley Hills). There were very few migrating raptors but there were some interesting birds.
- American White Pelican - 3 on San Pablo Reservoir and 11 in the air.
- Acorn Woodpecker - At least 4 which I assume to be post-breeding wanderers as they do not breed there.
- Vaux's Swift - 1 with a flock of Violet-green Swallows, Barn Swallows and White-throated Swifts.
- Greater Yellowlegs - 2 fly-bys.
- Golden Eagle - Four birds over the hills to the east, probably all locals.
- Rufous Hummingbird - 1 male.
- Osprey - 1, probably a resident at the reservoir.
- Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 1
- Red-breasted Sapsucker - early?
- White-tailed Kite - 2 birds seen all morning over the hills just to the north. I don't think I have seen them at all during the past couple of falls at this spot.
Good birding,
SteveSteve Glover
Dublin
Posted to EBB by Larry Tunstall
Re: Late-breeding Nuttall's White-crowned Sparrows
Thu, 11 Sep 2003 19:39:38 -0700
From: Rusty Scalf
Steve Glover wrote:
White-crowned Sparrow - at least 11, apparently all non-migratory nuttalli, including an adult feeding a fledgling! The latest confirmation during the atlas project was in July.
About four years ago I saw an adult nuttali feeding a fledging on September 20 on Heinz St in Berkeley, the site of the then Magic Gardens nursery. I was startled, and decided to telephone Luis Baptista about it. I found him to be very gracious, and he told me that he was beginning to see nuttali nesting later and later, and surmised that it might be cowbird pressure. Cowbirds do their parasitic mischief much earlier, and perhaps apply selective pressure for later and later nesting,. That was his theory, and it seems credible to me.
Rusty Scalf
Original Message Subject Index
Re: Brown Creeper at Lafayette / Walnut Creek border
Thu, 11 Sep 2003 21:29:06 -0700
From: Win Kryda
We get Brown Creepers in Montclair [district of north Oakland] all the time. I usually see them around the time the weather changes just after a rain when the sun comes out. I saw one just yesterday. I also had a Townsend's Warbler last week and a Olive-sided Flycatcher perch right on the house, which was the first time I ever saw one so close.
Original Message Subject Index