Mission Peak on Thursday morning
Thu, 18 Mar 1999 17:37:00 -0800
From: Larry Tunstall
A small group joined Doc Quack for his birdwalk at the Stanford Ave trailhead to Mission Peak Regional Park this morning. With a late start and an early end (because the Doc had to get back to Coyote Hills for a student program), we didn't get very far up the hill. However, the weather was lovely, and we had a couple of fine highlights: (1) a pair of American Kestrels hovering over the grass and swooping down to grab insects, and (2) a flock of 25 to 30 Wild Turkeys, including at least three very long-bearded old toms. After Doc Quack had left, a dog trainer told us that the turkey flock is often down near the trailhead - we saw them on a hill to the right across the creek from the trail.
Here's my list, including observations by others:
Turkey Vulture, Cooper's Hawk (?), American Kestrel, Wild Turkey, Rock Dove, Anna's Hummingbird, Nuttall's Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Black Phoebe, Say's Phoebe, unidentified swallows, Steller's Jay, Western Scrub-Jay, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Bushtit (heard), Bewick's Wren (heard), Ruby-crowned Kinglet (heard), Western Bluebird, American Robin, Wrentit (heard), Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Dark-eyed Junco, Western Meadowlark (heard)
Good birding, Larry
Larry Tunstall
El Cerrito CA
Not the latest news but disturbing
Thu, 18 Mar 1999 20:55:51 -0800
From: Judy
Hi, sorry it has taken me so long to post this, but I kept misplacing the list address. On President's Day weekend, 3 teenagers were arrested for clubbing the ducks at the beach at Lake Merritt. I was not present but noticed my favorite duck missing the next week. The group at the beach I have been feeding cracked corn about twice a week, until recently, when my office moved.
My favorite duck I called Daisy, but it turned out to be a boy, had to be put down at Dr. Harris because of its injuries. It was a Chinese duck, white with honey beige chest. My info is from the Nature Center (Stephanie and Pablo). This cute duck hung out with the mallards and a mixed breed with a tufted head. There is a duck still in this group with a swollen web foot and limping and it is not clear whether this is from the attack. I have photos of Daisy (called Frootloops by the kids) if anyone wants me to send. I am not sure if it is cool to attach a photo to the list. My trips to the beach are just not the same and I always worry "what's next?". I hope the judge throws the juvenile "book" at them because they have no reverence for life.
Judy
Fwd: Observers needed for corvid surveys
Sun, 21 Mar 1999 10:34:41 PST
From: Steve Glover
Hello East Bay Birders and Atlasers,
The following is a post from John Kelly of Audubon Canyon Ranch that he has asked me to post. If anyone can be of any help please let him know at the numbers listed below.
Steve Glover
Dear Friends,This is a request for assistance in assessing the status of Common Ravens and American Crows in the San Francisco Bay area. Audubon Canyon Ranch is looking for volunteer field observers to drive standard road survey routes, to document the presence of crows and ravens and record associated information. Each route is only about 30 miles long, and will be surveyed at 35-45 mph twice monthly through June, so the time commitment is fairly small. Survey dates are flexible. Results will provide important information needed to evaluate the effects of corvid population increases in our area. Each survey team must have exactly one observer/passenger and one observer/driver; the driver's primary responsibility is to make sure the observation vehicle travels safely along the survey route [doesn't crash into a ditch because of a "possible Empid" or "probable Prairie Falcon"]. The driver will also serve as an auxiliary observer and spotter.
Raven populations are currently increasing in many areas of the country, including the SF Bay area. These increases are closely associated with human-altered landscapes and the effects of urbanization, agriculture, forest fragmentation, and roads. The corvid road survey is part of a broader study, in collaboration with the Point Reyes Bird Observatory, to address concerns about apparent increases in nest predation by ravens in colonial waterbird nesting sites. In addition to conducting road surveys, we are monitoring raven nests, tracking radio-tagged ravens, and recording raven behaviors at colonial waterbird nesting sites. Results of this study will provide information on the home ranges, habitat use, activity patterns, and foraging behaviors of ravens.
If you can help in the corvid road survey by doing two surveys per month through June, please call the Cypress Grove Research Center of Audubon Canyon Ranch, ASAP, at 415/663-8203, or e-mail us at cgp@nbn.com. PLEASE FOREWORD THIS MESSAGE TO OTHER EXPERIENCED BAY AREA BIRDERS. Thank you very much!
John P. Kelly
Audubon Canyon Ranch
P.O. Box 808
Marshall, CA 94940
(415) 663-8203 Fax: 415/663-1112
Leona Heights Open Space
Sun, 21 Mar 1999 19:28:34 -0800
From: Larry Tunstall
This morning Lillian Fujii, Steve Hayashi, Ore Carmi, and I birded Leona Heights Regional Open Space just southeast of Merritt College. We walked about 3/4 of the length of the park, from south toward the north. Weather was mostly overcast with occasional very light sprinkles, but a few brief periods of sunshine. The area near the marsh at the south end was very birdy, but in the more riparian area we mostly encountered birds in large moving mixed-species flocks. Interestingly enough, at least one of these flocks included large numbers of Ruby-crowned Kinglets moving and feeding together.
Here's our composite list for the morning:
2 Mallard, 3 Turkey Vulture, 2 Sharp-shinned Hawk, 1 Red-tailed Hawk, 1 Mourning Dove, 3 Anna's Hummingbird, 3 Selasphorus hummingbirds, 2 Black Phoebe, 2 Northern Rough-winged Swallow, 20 Steller's Jay, 2 Western Scrub-Jay, 2 Common Raven, 40 Chestnut-backed Chickadee, 60 Bushtit, 1 Winter Wren, 5 Bewick's Wren, 10 Golden-crowned Kinglet, 40 Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 10 American Robin, 15 Wrentit, 2 California Thrasher, 5 Hutton's Vireo, 30 Orange-crowned Warbler, 1 Townsend's Warbler, 1 Wilson's Warbler, 10 Spotted Towhee, 6 California Towhee, 2 Fox Sparrow, 20 Song Sparrow, 2 Golden-crowned Sparrow, 40 Dark-eyed Junco, 2 Red-winged Blackbird, 1 Purple Finch
This is a lovely walk along a stream. The entrances to this park are well hidden. For the southern entrance that we used, take Keller Ave east from Hwy 580 (a little north of the Oakland Zoo), and turn left on Campus Dr. Take the first right at Canyon Oaks Dr. This will put you in what seems to be the private driveway of an apartment complex, but turn left and go to the end, where you will find the Open Space parking lot on your left. The northern entrance is from the southeast edge of the Merritt Campus college. On the west there is a totally unmarked entrance just north of Stoneridge Ct, and on the east there is an entrance at the end of Crestview Dr (take Lexford Pl off Skyline, then turn onto Crestview Dr). [The west and east entrances are steep roads down the valley sides.]
If you have more than one car, it would be nice to do a car shuttle so that you could walk downhill through the valley from the Merritt College campus to the southern end of the park. There are no outhouses or other facilities in the park.
Good birding, Larry
Larry Tunstall
El Cerrito CA
Fwd: WILDCAT WESTERN SLOPE
Sun, 21 Mar 1999 21:00:01 PST
From: Bob Lewis
Possibly of interest to some of you.....
William McClung writes:
Subj: WILDCAT WESTERN SLOPE
Date: 3/22/99 3:50:59 AM
From: upb@sparc5.fractals.com (William McClung)I am working with El Cerrito City Manager Gary Pokorny and others this week to prepare a draft application for what we are calling THE WILDCAT CANYON RIDGE RESTORATION PROJECT, which we believe may qualify for substantial CALFED funding for the years 2000-2002.
Our project would extend across the upper half of the western slope of Wildcat Canyon for approximately 6 miles, or about 250 acres from Bob Stebbin's house above Canon Drive in Kensington to Richmond Heights, where Stu Winchester and Louise Lacey live.
The area is beautiful, undeveloped, of mixed ownership, wildfire dangerous, highly valued by birders and many others, and worthy of the highest standard of stewardship we can invent and carry out. The CALFED topic category within which we will be seeking funding is LOCAL WATERSHED STEWARDSHIP.
Our idea is to marry fuel reduction to restoration values on a large enough scale to make a real difference.
I have spent a great deal of time working in this area over the last five years, but I am sure I do not know everyone with important knowledge of the flora and fauna of Wildcat Canyon.
It would be helpful if you would give me the names and addresses of people with special knowledge of Wildcat Canyon who you think I should be in touch with on this project. If you have their e-mail addresses, feel free to forward this message to them.
If this project interests you, I welcome your ideas and will be happy to show you the draft application next week.
Bill