Fwd: Hayward Regional Shoreline 11/20
Mon, 22 Nov 1999 19:37:59 -0800
From: Mike Feighner
Hayward Regional Shoreline 11/20
Mon, 22 Nov 1999 17:50:46 -0800
From: Mark Miller
To: South Bay Birds (E-mail)Hi Everyone--
At Hayward Regional Shoreline on Saturday, 20 November [Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society fieldtrip], the rain stopped long enough to provide great visibility for birding, and we were treated to impressive numbers of shorebirds and raptors. Harriers seemed to be everywhere, along with 3 Peregrine Falcons, a remarkably approachable suckleyii Merlin, a White-tailed Kite that sat with its wings flopped out as if it were shrugging its shoulders, and a Short-eared Owl trying to find a quiet place to roost. We found a shorebird roost north of the radio towers that we guessed contained 10,000 peeps (Western Sandpiper, Dunlin, and Least Sandpiper), 3000 Willets, 1000 Marbled Godwits, and smaller numbers of dowitcher (all the ones that called were Long-billed), Black-bellied Plover, American Avocet, and Long-billed Curlew. American Pipits and Horned Larks were plentiful, but we saw no longspurs or unusual motacillids. A Say's Phoebe sat obligingly on the blade of a bulldozer. In all, 61 species in 3 hours.
After lunch, I visited the interpretive center to see an exhibit of paintings, some featuring birds. By 2:00 the tide had dropped low enough to reveal some rocky shoreline, and I found a Black Turnstone and 7 Red Knots in the flocks.
Mark Miller
Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Tue, 23 Nov 1999 12:41:05 -0800
From: Martha Lowe
Hi there,
Another yard treat today. I saw what I think was a Red-breasted Sapsucker (a first for me!), drilling neat lines of holes in a birch. Actually, it didn't completely match any of the drawings in Peterson's. It was approximately 8 inches long. It had a completely red head, extending solidly down the nape and breast, but it had a single white stripe across the side of the head. The white wing patch was evident, but there was just the faintest bit of yellow on the breast and belly, just below the red. It was definitely a sapsucker, is there a fair amount of variation in coloration? Do Red-breasted and Yellow-bellied ever hybridize (it looked most like a cross between the two) or are their ranges completely separate? Could it have been a young bird, with not quite fully developed adult coloration? Any comments appreciated.
Whatever it was, it was beautiful!
Thanks,
Martha
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Re: Red-breasted Sapsucker
Tue, 23 Nov 1999 14:15:32 -0800
From: Kirk Swenson
Martha Lowe wrote:
Another yard treat today. I saw what I think was a Red-breasted Sapsucker (a first for me!), drilling neat lines of holes in a birch.
Sapsuckers certainly are wonderful birds. Where is your yard?
Actually, it didn't completely match any of the drawings in Petersons. It was approximately 8 inches long. It had a completely red head, extending solidly down the nape and breast, but it had a single white stripe across the side of the head. The white wing patch was evident, but there was just the faintest bit of yellow on the breast and belly, just below the red. It was definitely a sapsucker, is there a fair amount of variation in coloration?
This sounds like a perfectly good description of a Red-breasted Sapsucker. What leads you to suspect a hybrid? I don't have Peterson here in front of me so I can't comment on the particular illustration you're comparing it to.
Do Red-breasted and Yellow-bellied ever hybridize (it looked most like a cross between the two) or are their ranges completely separate? Could it have been a young bird, with not quite fully developed adult coloration? Any comments appreciated.
Whatever it was, it was beautiful!
Red-breasteds are known to hybridize with Red-naped Sapsuckers, but hybrids are fairly rare, certainly less common than pure Red-breasteds. I believe that Yellow-bellied is the only sapsucker that retains juvenile plumage into the winter, so young Red-breasteds should look like adults by this time. If you could give more details of how it didn't fit a pure Red-breasted we might be able to say more.
Kirk Swenson
El Cerrito, CA
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Orange-crowned Warbler in Richmond
Tue, 23 Nov 1999 20:15:28 -0800
From: Lillian Fujii
This morning while waiting in front of my carpool-mate's house in Richmond (next to Mira Vista Park near El Cerrito), there was an Orange-crowned Warbler in a large flock of feeding birds, mostly American Robins, Dark-eyed Juncos, and Cedar Waxwings.
Lillian Fujii
Selasphorus hummers at UC Botanical
Gardens
Tue, 23 Nov 1999 20:20:49 -0800
From: Tom Condit
As of Tuesday, 23 November 1999, there are still at least two Selasphorus hummingbirds at the Mesoamerican hill in the UC Botanical Gardens, Berkeley. They were flying about quite actively, and seemingly in concert (side by side) part of the time.
Only one perched long enough for me to get a good look at it, but it did so several times in the same spot. It was very heavily rufous on the upper breast and sides, had what appeared to be a reddish brown head (but you know the tricks light can play with hummingbirds) and three strong rufous spots on the throat, one in the center and one on each side just below where a moustache stripe would be, all of which flashed ruby red when the light caught them just right. The throat was pale, with dark streaks which flashed irridescent green once when it turned just right. When perched, I couldn't see any green on it at all other than the throat streaks, but when it hovered to feed on a fuschia flower, there appeared to be a green stripe along the side of the back.
Now, if that's not enough confusing description: Just once, when the light hit it just right, the bill appeared to be turquoise in color.
Also at the Garden: Bushtits, Anna's Hummingbirds (one exhibiting distinct nest-defending behavior), Yellow-rumped Warblers, Chestnut-backed Chickadees.
Hummingbirds, Meeker Slough
Wed, 24 Nov 1999 00:29:42 -0800 (PST)
From: Richard Mix
Tom Condit wrote:
As of Tuesday, 23 November 1999, there are still at least two Selasphorus hummingbirds at the Mesoamerican hill in the UC Botanical Gardens, Berkeley.
Wow - what is the late record, actually? There have been some interesting posts on Selasphorus identification on BirdChat lately, which is heating up today with exchanges between Mike Patterson and Mckenzie and Robbins. It may be worth looking up in the archives. Apparently totally green-backed Rufous Hummingbirds are not unheard of!
Saturday afternoon Ann Callaway and I went to Richmond Marina and Meeker Slough, allowing time to follow the creek trail (and making the pleasant discovery that it loops all the way back to the Marina.) We made two identifications based on the calendar: Forster's Tern and and two very scruffy hummers, one of which was more than a third larger than the other (both were simultaniously within spitting distance). Both were more ashen than our feeder birds, and the larger had a black-looking gorget divided in three patches and no color on the forhead. The smaller one made the right noises to confirm Anna's Hummingbird.
The tide was falling and we didn't refind last week's Whimbrel, but the Long-billed Curlews were around in more usual numbers. On the creek we found our first Gadwalls of the winter (two male and a female) and had great looks at a Spotted Sandpiper - both were at the pool where the concrete-lined ditch joins the creek. A Red-breasted Merganser continued in the harbor, and there were several flyover wigeon.
Richard Mix, El Cerrito
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Aquatic Park, Berkeley
Wed, 24 Nov 1999
From: Rusty Scalf
I just spent an hour at Aquatic Park in Berkeley with Denise Wight. Happy to report a pair of Hooded Merganser in the south pond along with a Redhead. Divers [diving ducks] are definitely in with large numbers of Bufflehead present. Some small fish was shoaling, and Double-crested Cormorants and Bonaparte's Gulls fed with gusto. At the south side of the south pond, along the road, a flock of American Robins and at least 3 Varied Thrush fed on Cotoneaster berries.
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Eared Grebe
Brown Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Redhead
Common Goldeneye
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Red-tailed Hawk
American Coot
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Least Sandpiper
dowitcher sp.
Bonaparte's Gull (50+)
Ring-billed Gull
California Gull
Western Gull
Western X Glaucous-winged Gull hybrid (by the island)
Forster's Tern
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Black Phoebe
American Crow
Bushtit
American Robin
Varied Thrush (3)
Yellow-rumped Warbler
California Towhee
Brewer's Blackbird
House Finch
Martin Luther King Shoreline
Wed, 24 Nov 1999 16:37:04 -0800
From: Courtenay Peddle
Hello folks,
Birded the very high tide with lots of companions, including Maury Stern, who found my first Barrow's Goldeneye of the season and a Mew Gull. We saw at least 10 Clapper Rails.
I'm now convinced that we have three pairs of Blue-winged Teal, having seen one pair at Arrowhead and two others on Damon Slough.
Bird of the day: Osprey.
Display of the day: Golden Eagle in a power dive, stooping after a ground squirrel on the big meadow adjacent to Arrowhead Marsh.
Here's the list:
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)
Eared Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis)
Western Grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis)
Clark's Grebe (Aechmophorus clarkii)
Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)
Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)
Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis)
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)
American Wigeon (Anas americana)
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca)
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)
Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors)
Cinnamon Teal (Anas cyanoptera)
Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata)
Canvasback (Aythya valisineria)
Greater Scaup (Aythya marila)
Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis)
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)
Barrow's Goldeneye (Bucephala islandica)
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)
Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
Great Egret (Ardea alba)
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)
Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus)
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)
Clapper Rail (Rallus longirostris)
American Coot (Fulica americana)
Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa)
Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)
Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus)
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca)
Willet (Catoptrophorus semipalmatus)
Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres)
Black Turnstone (Arenaria melanocephala)
Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)
Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri)
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)
Dunlin (Calidris alpina)
Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus)
American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana)
Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)
Mew Gull (Larus canus)
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)
California Gull (Larus californicus)
Glaucous-winged Gull (Larus glaucescens)
Western Gull (Larus occidentalis)
Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri)
Rock Dove (Columba livia)
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)
Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)
Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans)
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)
Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris)
American Pipit (Anthus rubescens)
House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Dendroica coronata)
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)
Golden-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla)
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)
Brewer's Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus)
Thanks for all the responses on the Blue-winged Teal. What a treat to be able to tap into so much birding wisdom.
Good Birding and Happy Thanksgiving
Courtenay Peddle