Black-throated gray warblers
Thu, 1 Oct 1998 20:32:10 PDT
From: Bill Scoggins
30 Sept. 1998
Hello East Bay Birders,
This afternoon at Coyote Hills Regional Park, Annetta Jones and I saw three black-throated gray warblers and four pacific-slope flycatchers. We found them in the area between the visitor center and Hoot Hollow.
At Hoot Hollow in a brush pile we observed a fledgling Bewick's wren begging for food and being fed. We also saw a young northern mockingbird that still had some downy patches around the breast and on the back. I was surprised to see the begging wren; it seems very late to be raising young. Does El Niño get some credit? What do you think?
Other birds seen:
45 Am[erican] Coot
4 Am[erican] Gold[f]inch
1 Am[erican] kestrel, male
1 Am[erican] White Pelican
1 Anna's Hummingbird
1 belted kingfisher, female
3 Bewick's wren
3 black phoebe
13 bushtit
1 Cal[ifornia] quail
4 Cal[ifornia] towhee
16 Canada Goose
2 cinnamon Teal
2 common moorhen
1 common yellowthroat
8 dark-eyed junco
1 double-crested cormorant
2 fox sparrow
2 gadwall
3 golden-crowned sparrow
1 great blue heron
1 great egret
7 hermit thrush
3 house finch
4 long-billed dowitcher (at the edge of the pond north
of the visitor center)
25 mallard
2 marsh wren
2 northern flicker
3 northern mockingbird
1 northern pintail
65 northern shoveler
3 orange-crowned warbler
3 pied-billed grebe
7 red-winged blackbird
2 red-breasted nuthatch
2 ring-necked peasant
1 ruddy duck
2 snowy egret
1 Townsend's warbler
3 turkey vulture
4 western scrub-jay
1 yellow warbler
8 yellow-rumped warbler
Cloudy skies gave way to the sun; it was a beautiful day to be watching birds. A western pond turtle was basking in the sun; it is only the second one I have seen at Coyote Hills in my six years of birding the park.
Good birding,
Bill Scoggins
Castro Valley
P.S. Today, 1 Oct. 1998, Dave Riensche, Annetta, and I saw three varied thrush, one black-throated gray warbler, one ruby-crowned kinglet, and 9 adult Cal[ifornia] quail at the visitor center. Dave said he saw a family of quail at the quarry parking lot. We saw a sora at the boardwalk entrance and heard virginia rails and soras. Seven quail and a spotted towhee were found in the butterfly garden along with Anna's hummingbird.
New phone number and address
Fri, 2 Oct 1998 12:38:59 PDT
From: Steve Glover
Hello everyone,
This weekend I am moving to Dublin (the next town over) so I will have a new phone number and address. My new number is 925-828-7793. My new address is 6526 Conestoga Lane, Dublin, 94568. If nothing else, the new yard is a big improvement. I stopped by yesterday and there was Acorn Woodpecker and Oak Titmouse out back in the little feeder creek.
Steve Glover
Treasure Island Parula
Fri, 02 Oct 1998 18:10:20 -0700
From: Graham J Etherington
Hi all,
I'm sending this to sfbirds and ebbirds as I don't know who claims Treasure Island!
I had a Parula Warbler on Treasure Island today between officers quarters 60/61 and the small playground on Maclla (spelling?) Road. It was with the GC/RC Kinglet flock there. I was moved on by the police after spending about half an hour in the area. If you know someone that lives on the base or nearby, I'm sure they might escort you. Also in the area were good numbers of Varied Thrushes and plenty of common migrants. (I'm not actually too sure how rare Parula is in the Bay Area - apologies if it's not 'all that'!)
Good birding,
Graham Etherington
UC Berkeley
Editor's Note: Treasure Island is in the city and county of San Francisco.
Avian botulism in Fremont
Sat, 3 Oct 1998 08:21:00 -0700
From: Larry Tunstall
This morning's San Jose Mercury News has a "story" (actually two pictures and a caption) on the front of the Local section about an outbreak of avian botulism "along the bay in south Fremont." It states that more than 300 dead birds have been found and an additional 200 rescued for treatment. The disease, of course, particularly affects ducks and geese, but the photo shows volunteer Janet Hansen rescuing a stricken sandpiper.
I would assume that the DESFB National Wildlife Refuge and/or Coyote Hills Regional Park would have more information about this outbreak. In any case, it would be a good idea to keep an eye out for any sick birds along the bay and report them to an appropriate nature center or rehab facility if you see them. In ducks and geese, at least, the most noticeable symptom is usually that the bird is unable to hold its head up, often having the head and neck draped onto the back.
SJ Mercury News on-line: http://www.mercurycenter.com/
You can find links for the refuge and Coyote Hills in the links section of this website.
By the way, at Lake Merritt on Thursday I saw 15 Ruddy Ducks and 1 male scaup, lots of Pied-billed Grebes and American Coots (and of course Canada Geese, Mallards, Great Egrets, Double-crested Cormorants, Black-crowned Night-Herons, and Snowy Egrets), and about half a dozen Forster's Terns - all in the vicinity of the islands. Still no other winter migrant ducks, but the Ring-billed Gulls are beginning to arrive.
At Castle Rock Regional Rec[reation] Area in Walnut Creek on Carole Dahl's [East Bay Regional Park District] birdwalk Thursday morning, we saw a nice group of Lark Sparrows on the lawn near the restrooms. The shrubs and trees along the trails were quite birdy, but mostly we saw the usual species, with the possible rarities eluding a good look on the rather gloomy morning. Acorn Woodpeckers and California Quail were quite numerous in the picnic areas. We also had a great look at a dark form Red-tailed Hawk in a nearby treetop, later soaring overhead and calling. Other birds seen: Western Scrub-Jay, Starling, Black Phoebe, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Bewick's Wren, Bushtit, Spotted Towhee, California Towhee, Hermit Thrush (a few of them cavorting about up in a tree!), and Dark-eyed Junco.
By the way, the October listings for East Bay Regional Parks events got omitted from the last "Regional in Nature" because of space problems, and the next issue will begin with November. So, if you want to know about EBRPD walks and such, check the calendar on this website, the EBRPD website, or stop by one of the nature centers or offices to pick up a copy of the month's schedule.
Good birding,
Larry
http://www.best.com/~folkbird/
EBbird website:
http://www.best.com/~folkbird/EBBC/
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Avian Botulism fact sheet
Sat, 3 Oct 1998 10:41:05 -0700
From: Larry Tunstall
For more information about avian botulism (and how to recognize it), see
http://www.emtc.nbs.gov/http_data/nwhc/factshts/avian.html
Larry Tunstall
El Cerrito CA
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