Black-throated Gray Warbler in Oakland Hills
Sat, 13 Sep 2003 08:46:07 PDT
From: Sylvia Sykora
Can anyone provide abundance records for the (transient?) Black-throated Gray Warbler in the Oakland hills area? I had my first yard sightings in 16 years on April 15 this year and again this morning. On both occasions the bird was approaching - or at - the bird bath.
Sylvia Sykora
Melville Dr near Skyline Blvd
Oakland, CA Alameda
County
The changing Berkeley Hills
Sat, 13 Sep 2003
22:42:53 -0700
From: Larry Tunstall
I received the following message a couple of days ago, but just got permission from the author to forward it to the group.
From: Phila Rogers
Subject: the changing Berkeley hills
Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 16:15:05 -0700Hi Larry:
I just read the e-mail sent to you by the former Lafayette person, now living in Texas, and his interesting observation about the changing avifauna in his old neighborhood. I've observed the same thing around my Berkeley home where I've lived for 51 years. The once mostly open grasslands have turned in to mixed woodland of planted trees now large and mature and in the case of Monterey pines, even dying. I wrote a piece for Terrain a couple of years ago on the subject called "Nothing Stays the Same." Though I haven't kept a precise list of new birds and those no longer in the immediate area (I'm just below Grizzly Peak Blvd, two blocks north of Lawrence Hall of Science) I can pass along some general impressions.
Here's a few of the birds now gone: Wrentit, California Quail, Song Sparrow, Oak Titmouse. Newer birds: Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Pygmy Nuthatch (having just expanded their range downhill from where they have begun nesting along the Selby Trail in Tilden Park), Steller's Jay, more woodpeckers (Hairy Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Nuttall's Woodpecker).
We also used to have a sky-full of Cliff Swallows until Lawrence Hall of Science decided they didn't like them nesting under their eaves (grrrr!).
I wonder if the same kind of changes - though in reverse - are being observed in the Oakland Hills firestorm area.
Cheers,
Phila Rogers
Posted to EBB by Larry Tunstall
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White-crowned Sparrow in north Berkeley
Sun,
14 Sep 2003 16:02:07 -0700
From: Larry Tunstall
I am forwarding the following message to the list for Anne Jennings:
Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 10:24:35 PDT
Subject: White crowned sparrowThis morning I saw the first White-crowned Sparrow of the season in my back yard. There appeared to be only the one.
Anne Jennings
Posted to EBB by Larry Tunstall
Editor's Note: In a later message, Anne wrote: "I live in North Berkeley, not far from King Middle School. I have lots of White-crowned and Golden-crowned Sparrows in my back yard every fall/winter, but this one seemed early."
Ibis at Arrowhead Marsh, Oakland
Mon, 15 Sep
2003 13:57:32 -0700
From: Courtenay Peddle
Hello folks,
At 1:30 PM Monday Sept. 15, I saw a single Plegadis sp. ibis flying north (toward downtown Oakland) over Arrowhead Marsh, Martin Luther King Jr Regional Shoreline. I did not see its head clearly enough to determine whether it was a White-faced Ibis or a Glossy Ibis. But it was a neat bird - only the second time I've seen the species in Oakland.
Good birding!
Courtenay Peddle
Re: The changing Berkeley Hills
Mon, 15 Sep
2003 18:59:12 -0700 (PDT)
From: Diane Perry
This is from the "former Lafayette birder guy":
Diane Perry
Newbie Walnut Creek Birder Gal
Subject: Re: The changing Berkeley Hills
Hi,
I'm the "former Lafayette birder" and it is interesting to compare and contrast the observations with the Berkeley person.
While the Song Sparrow is gone too from Lafayette, and the Chestnut-backed Chickadee and Steller's Jay are increasingly common, just as in Berkeley, the Oak Titmouse not only isn't gone, but becoming increasingly abundant (uncommon in the 1970s, now one of the most abundant birds). Woodpeckers have always been around, but overall numbers are increasing, especially of Nuttall's Woodpecker. The Downy Woodpecker, which used to be the dominant woodpecker (25 to 30 years ago), is now essentially gone, replaced by Nuttall's.
It is interesting to see what changes track from Berkeley to Lafayette ... and which ones don't.
Tom Gill
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