Tilden mini-report
Wed, 19 May 1999 14:04:26 -0700 (PDT)
From: Tom Condit
5/19/99: Black-headed Grosbeak and Wilson's Warblers singing by Jewel Lake in Tilden Park this morning. Naturalist says grosbeaks are definitely nesting.
Tilden and Briones
Thu, 20 May 1999 21:30:26 -0700
From: Larry Tunstall
This morning Ore Carmi and I birded the area east of Lake Anza in Tilden Regional Park, from the lake up to the Mineral Springs parking lot. We were disappointed in our hope to find some trace of the Pileated Woodpecker that Mary Beth Stowe reported near Lake Anza a couple of weeks ago, but we did have quite a good selection of birds between 7 and 9 AM. It was overcast and cool, with the wind becoming brisker and chillier as the morning progressed. Although lots of birds were vocalizing, it was hard to spot very many of them.
In a little cove at the southeast end of the lake, where swallows were very active, we traced an unfamiliar sound to a pair of Pied-billed Grebes. Then I remembered this eerie but pleasing vocalization from my Thayer CD-ROM (I've never heard it at Lake Merritt, despite all the Pied-billed Grebes there). Nearby, a male Downy Woodpecker was bringing food and passing it to a female inside a cavity. A Nuttall's Woodpecker was in the vicinity also.
Here's our list:
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) - pair on lake, singing heard
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) - four well-grown ducklings
accipiter (Accipiter sp.) - glimpsed briefly flying over
Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) - heard only
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) - heard only
Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)
Selasphorus hummingbird (Selasphorus sp.)
Nuttall's Woodpecker (Picoides nuttallii)
Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) - bringing food to cavity
Olive-sided Flycatcher (Contopus cooperi) - heard only
Pacific-slope Flycatcher (Empidonax difficilis) - heard only
Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans)
Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus)
Steller's Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri)
Violet-green Swallow (Tachycineta thalassina)
Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Stelgidopteryx serripennis)
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
Chestnut-backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens) - heard only
Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus) - heard only
Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) - heard only
Brown Creeper (Certhia americana) - heard only
House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) - large flocks
Orange-crowned Warbler (Vermivora celata) - heard only
Wilson's Warbler (Wilsonia pusilla) - heard only
Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana) - heard only
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus) - heard only
California Towhee (Pipilo cirissalis)
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)
Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)
Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus) - heard only
Lazuli Bunting (Passerina amoena) - heard only
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)
Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus) - heard only
Lesser Goldfinch (Carduelis psaltria) - heard only
We then headed east to Briones Regional Park where we joined Willie & friend for her Ohlone Audubon Society birdwalk (the four of us were the entire group - all those fair-weather birders must have slept in). The weather remained overcast and breezy for the walk from 9:30 to almost noon. We walked from the Bear Creek Rd entrance to the group camp near the Archery Range.
Highlight was a Red-tailed Hawk on a nest with two fledglings, visible across the valley as you go down into the creek. Also a pair of Ash-throated Flycatchers obviously tending a nest in a snag just off the northwest corner of the group campsite. "Lowlight" was all the very active starling nests in the big trees there, with one nest even in the Acorn Woodpeckers' granary tree.
Willie feels that the diversity of birds in this area of Briones has decreased significantly over the past few years. Do others agree, and (if so) does anyone have a likely explanation?
The following list is a composite of the group's observations:
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii)
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) - nest with 2 young
California Quail (Callipepla californica)
Band-tailed Pigeon (Columba fasciata)
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)
Vaux's Swift (Chaetura vauxi)
Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)
Selasphorus hummingbird (Selasphorus sp.)
Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus)
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) - heard only
Pacific-slope Flycatcher (Empidonax difficilis)
Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans)
Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens) - pair at cavity
Hutton's Vireo (Vireo huttoni) - heard only
Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus)
Steller's Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri) - heard only
Western Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica)
Violet-green Swallow (Tachycineta thalassina)
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
Chestnut-backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens)
Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus) - heard only
Brown Creeper (Certhia americana) - heard only
Bewick's Wren (Thryomanes bewickii) - heard only
Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana)
Swainson's Thrush (Catharus ustulatus)
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
Wrentit (Chamaea fasciata)
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) - nesting in cavities, young seen
Orange-crowned Warbler (Vermivora celata)
Wilson's Warbler (Wilsonia pusilla) - heard only
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus)
California Towhee (Pipilo cirissalis)
Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina)
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) - heard only
Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus) - pair, female gathering nesting material
Lazuli Bunting (Passerina amoena) - heard only
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)
House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus)
Lesser Goldfinch (Carduelis psaltria) - heard only
Good birding, Larry
Larry Tunstall
El Cerrito CA
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