White-throated Sparrow in Martinez
Sat, 24 Apr 1999 22:36:06 PDT
From: Denise Wight
Hi E.B.Birders,
Today I did a mini Bird-a-thon to benefit Mount Diablo Audubon Society. Instead of covering Contra Costa County as I usually do, I decided to see how many birds I could locate just within Martinez city limits. (This excludes some great habitat, such as Point Edith, McNabney Marsh, Briones, etc.) I counted 98 species in 12 hours, with the highlight being a singing White-throated Sparrow at Carquinez Regional Shoreline entrance.
Denise Wight
Martinez, CA
Blue Grosbeak at Patterson Pass
Sat, 24 Apr 1999 22:59:53 -0700
From: Rich Cimino
The wind has been horrible on the Patterson Pass Rd [east of Livermore] this week. This week I have logged 10 trips to the Patterson Pass searching for the first Blue Grosbeaks. I found one bird on Tuesday at 7:21 PM in an unlikely habitat, the stone corral found at the Windpower Gate 3. The grosbeak flew off over a low saddle north towrds the delta.
Happy Birding
Rich Cimino
Interesting article on bird/plane damage at
airports
Sun, 25 Apr 1999 18:30:29 -0700
From: Judy
Of course there are too many planes......!
http://airtravel.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa040199.htm
Mitchell Canyon
Sun, 25 Apr 1999 20:47:45 -0700
From: Larry Tunstall
This morning Ore Carmi and I joined Mike Feighner and Jim White to bird Mitchell and White Canyons in Mount Diablo State Park near Clayton. The morning stayed overcast and cool, and the birds were not in the mood to show themselves much, though they were doing quite a bit of calling and singing. Highlight of the morning was an Ash-throated Flycatcher that came and perched a few feet over our heads and remained for several minutes while we moved around for various views and even examined it in intimate detail through the scope. This was at the post numbered "2" along the Mitchell Canyon trail. Hummingbirds and flycatchers were notably scarce.
Here's the list I kept, which includes observations by all of the party (I may have missed a few):
Turkey Vulture, Red-tailed Hawk, California Quail (heard), Anna's Hummingbird, Acorn Woodpecker (heard), Nuttall's Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker (heard), Hairy Woodpecker (heard), Olive-sided Flycatcher (heard), Pacific-slope Flycatcher (heard), Ash-throated Flycatcher, Solitary Vireo ("Cassin's"), Hutton's Vireo, Warbling Vireo (heard), Steller's Jay, Western Scrub-Jay, Chestnut-backed Chickadee (heard), Oak Titmouse, Bushtit, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper (heard), Bewick's Wren, House Wren (heard), Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (heard), Western Bluebird, Hermit Thrush (heard), Wrentit (heard), California Thrasher, European Starling, Orange-crowned Warbler (heard), Nashville Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Townsend's Warbler, Hermit Warbler, Wilson's Warbler (heard), Western Tanager (heard), Spotted Towhee (heard), California Towhee, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Black-headed Grosbeak, Lazuli Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, House Finch (heard), Lesser Goldfinch (heard), American Goldfinch
Wildflowers are still scattered here and there without impressive large displays. Chinese Houses have bloomed in the past week.
Good birding, Larry
Larry Tunstall
El Cerrito CA