Say's Phoebe between Dublin and Livermore
Mon, 22 Sep 2003 19:50:11 -0700
From: Steve Huckabone
Tonight while driving home from work I had my first fall Say's Phoebe. The bird was perched on a barbed-wire fence off Fallon Rd between Dublin and Livermore. Good birding.
Steve Huckabone
Alameda County
Livermore California
Black Phoebe at swimming pool
Mon, 22 Sep
2003 20:24:30 -0700 (PDT)
From: Diane Perry
Not nearly as exciting as Steve's Say's Phoebe, but I have a Black Phoebe who hangs out at my pool every morning, just after sunrise. He flies back and forth, catching small insects just on the surface of the pool water, and then lands either on the diving board or on the rail going down the steps, or even just on the edge of the pool. I could swear this is the same Black Phoebe that I saw "hangin'" at my pool earlier this Spring, and then didn't see for very many months (from, say, late April to just a couple of weeks ago). Did he go somewhere else during the hot weather? Or, was he/she too busy raising a family elsewhere, and has come back to the pool now that he/she's single again? Ah, the musings. I also saw this Black Phoebe (if it's the same one; which it probably is), actually swoop down nearly underneath, slightly, the top of the pool water, using it, I believe, as a bird bath! Will never forget that sight.
Diane Perry
East Walnut Creek (near Northgate High School)
Brewer's Sparrow at Hayward Regional Shoreline
Mon, 22 Sep 2003 20:29:57 -0700
From: John Luther
This afternoon I refound the Brewer's Sparrow that Emilie Strauss found this morning and reported on the Northern California Bird Box. She found it along the trail going towards the bay from the parking lot at the west end of Winton Ave in Hayward. She found it about a quarter of a mile west of the parking lot. I refound it about a half-mile west of the parking lot. I (like Emilie) found it in the fennel feeding with warblers. It was feeding between a foot and 6 feet off the ground. Also present were many Orange-crowned Warblers and Yellow Warblers and Common Yellowthroats. The Brewer's Sparrow was not with the flock of White-crowned Sparrows that are also there.
John Luther
Oakland
Hayward Regional Shoreline
Mon, 22 Sep 2003
21:48:06 PDT
From: Bob Richmond
I was here [Hayward Regional Shoreline] late in the day. I got here at 6:45 PM. Most of the warblers and sparrows seen earlier today were not here now. But I did see a Bewick's Wren, fairly unusual here.
A Prairie Falcon buzzed the W Winton Ave parking lot several times.
Bob
Original Message Subject Index
Re: The changing Berkeley Hills
Mon, 22 Sep
2003 23:30:21 PDT
From: Bill Gilbert
I can make a contribution to this thread about changes in Berkeley birdlife. When I first came to California and lived in Berkeley starting in 1959, White-throated Swifts used to nest commonly in Memorial Stadium (home of the Bears). At that time swifts were a common sight flying over downtown Berkeley. Years later I noticed essentially no swifts over Berkeley, and one day I discovered the probable reason. Large glass panels had been installed in the large archways under the stadium, apparently excluding the swifts from their nesting grounds. Without the stadium, Berkeley apparently offers few if any nesting sites for the swifts. This seems to be an example of how one unknowing act can drastically alter an ecological situation.
Bill Gilbert
Original Message Subject Index
Elegant Terns at Coyote Hills Regional Park, Fremont
Tue, 23 Sep 2003 10:20:01 -0700
From: Mike Feighner
East Bay Birders:
Forwarding the following South Bay Birds post with Roland Kenner's permission:
Mike Feighner
Frank Vanslager led a Santa Clara Valley Audubon walk at Coyote Hills on Sunday. He refound the Elegant Terns he and Bob Reiling had seen on Friday. This was midmorning on the bay side of the hills. The Elegant Terns were perched among Forster's Terns on a decaying boardwalk that goes west across a salt pond from somewhere in the vicinity of the bay end of the Soaproot Trail. The Elegant Terns were mostly on the distant half of this boardwalk; you need a scope. No one took a census, but I counted a dozen or so in a single scope view; there had to have been several dozen at least overall.
This was a life bird for several and a first-on-the-bay for many more. It was part of an excellent, if hot, bird walk. Other birds: Rock Wren, Warbling Vireos, Hutton's Vireo, Orange-crowned Warblers, Pacific-slope Flycatcher, and first-of-fall for many White-crowned Sparrows, Golden-crowned Sparrows and Fox Sparrows.
Note: the South Marsh is essentially dry. We found ducks hard to come by.
Roland Kenner, Santa Clara County
Say's Phoebe and White-crowned Sparrow near Orinda
Tue, 23 Sep 2003 14:01:08 -0700
From: Kitty O'Neil
I just went for a quick hike at San Pablo Dam Rd / Bear Creek Rd (East Bay Municipal Utility District Trail Permit required) and hiked toward the Briones Overlook area. Saw my first fall Say's Phoebe and White-crowned Sparrow. Looks like some Acorn Woodpeckers have created a new larder along that route.
Good fall birding!
Kitty
Kitty O'Neil
Orinda, CA
Brewer's Sparrow at Hayward Regional Shoreline
Tue, 23 Sep 2003 15:08:02 -0700
From: Sheila Junge
The Brewer's Sparrow was seen again this morning at Hayward Regional Shoreline, feeding in fennel between about 7:30 and 8:30 AM.
From the W Winton Ave parking lot, take the trail west toward the bay along the north side of Mt Trashmore (also known as Mount T). The fennel area where the Brewer's Sparrow was seen starts about a quarter-mile down the trail where the vegetation changes from predominantly coyote bush to fennel on both sides and continues to the point where the trail splits with the right side continuing to the bay. The Brewer's Sparrow moved around quite a bit and was seen on both sides of the trail. Orange-crowned Warblers, Yellow Warblers, Common Yellowthroats, Bushtits, Song Sparrows, Savannah Sparrows, and White-crowned Sparrows were also feeding in the area.
I then headed out to the bay. At 9:45 the water level at Hayward's Landing. (5 feet) was already too high for good birding. Black Turnstones (9) and a Ruddy Turnstone were about the only birds there. They soon headed north so I did too. Frank's Dump West contained the usual suspects: Marbled Godwit, Willet, American Avocet, Black-necked Stilt, Western Sandpiper, Sanderling, Dowitcher, Black Turnstone, Ruddy Turnstone, Black-bellied Plover, Red Knot (red not!). At least 12 Snowy Plovers were in the northwest corner. When I left at 11:00 the tide (6.4 feet) was a little low for really huge numbers of birds.
Good birding!
Sheila Junge
Hayward, CA (Alameda County)
Skunks near Brewer's Sparrow
Tue, 23 Sep 2003
18:28:22 -0700
From: Peter Dramer
Between the parking area at the end of W Winton Ave. and the area where the Brewer's Sparrow is frequenting, there were several skunks rooting about in the middle of the day today. Curious, but nevertheless a reason to be cautious in the area. Peter
Original Message Subject Index
Vaux's Swifts in Livermore
Tue, 23 Sep 2003
20:47:31 -0700
From: Dennis Braddy
EastBayBirders,
At 7:00 PM this evening as I approached the intersection of College Ave and South L St in Livermore I saw a huge cloud of hundreds of Vaux's Swifts overhead. When I returned at 7:30 they were gone. Has anyone else observed this phenomenon?
Dennis Braddy
San Ramon
Coyote Hills Regional Park, Fremont
Tue, 23
Sep 2003 21:34:16 -0700
From: Debbie Wong
All,
I was in the visitor center parking area of Coyote Hills Regional Park in Fremont today (September 23) around noon.
There were Yellow Warblers (10+), Wilson's Warblers (about 5), Hutton's Vireos (2), Willow Flycatchers (2), & "Western Flycatcher" (1).
Near the portable toilet area, I saw Fox Sparrow (1), California Quail (9), Warbling Vireo (1), Bewick's Wren (1) & Hutton's Vireo (1).
At the opposite end, there are 4 shrubs (to the top right of some picnic tables and next to a wooden staircase) and birds were nuts about the berries from the shrubs. There were White-crowned Sparrows (many) & Lincoln's Sparrow (1). The shrubs were also visited by a Hermit Thrush and a Western Tanager (female). A Willow Flycatcher also liked the berries; oddly, most of its right tail feathers were missing.
The best show was a Red-tailed Hawk eating a squirrel, well, bottom half of a squirrel, outside the bench of the visitor center. It first dined on the oak tree above and then decided to come down to the bench. I was at most 12 feet from it and it showed no sign of fear.
Up in the Hoot Hollow area, an American Kestrel was harrassed by a Red-tailed Hawk while eating a mouse/vole on a wire. The kestrel eventually resumed eating after flying back and forth near the hawk. A Red-shouldered Hawk was also nearby.
Also in Hoot Hollow, a Great Horned Owl was heard but was not located.
I did not see any Golden-crowned Sparrows in the sparrow flock and did not go out to see the Elegant Terns either.
Debbie Wong
Re: Vaux's Swifts in Livermore
Tue, 23 Sep
2003 22:10:48 -0700
From: Judi Cooper
Dennis,
I have witnessed this phenomenon twice - in Healdsburg (Sonoma County). The first time was in 2000 and the second time was just on the 18th of this month. During migration the swifts roost in a chimney that they seem to use every year. The one I have observed is at the Rio Lindo Adventist Academy in Healdsburg.
The first time I saw them there were approximately 6,000 and it took about 15 minutes for them to all decend into the chimney, however, it had taken at least 45 minutes for them to gather, form a swirling mass and then funnelling into the chimney. It was so awesome I just could hardly believe it.
On the 18th of this month four birding friends and myself observed about 3,000 funnel into the same chimney. It took about 8 minutes but again it had taken at least 30 minutes for them to gather and get into the right formation to go into the chimney.
According to Gottfried Fritz, a science teacher at the academy - "the swifts began roosting here in the fall of 1989 after the school installed a new boiler which did not have to exhaust through the chimney systen until the full heating capacity of the boiler was needed in late October. I have been here since 1986 so was able to observe and record some information about the yearly migrations. The birds usually start arriving during the third week in August and the migration usually comes to an end during the second week of October. The school has a completely open and unrestricted policy about persons visiting the campus to view the swifts." Gottfried can be reached at 707.431.5100 Ext 144.
So, I think your swifts "disappeared" into a chimney.
Judi Cooper
Moraga
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