[EBB Sightings] Tree swallows have arrived in Fremont

There's no question in my mind I saw tree swallows (just a few) last January at Coyote Hills (near those nesting boxes, FWIW but that's probably a coincidence), and the previous January at Winton Avenue.  I also saw them by seemingly the hundreds at Las Gallinas ponds last winter, but that may have been later in the season.  I don't know much about migration patterns really, but it seems unlikely that they are venturing too far from the Bay Area during the winter given this (admittedly small sample size) pattern.  Whether this a change from past trends due to global warming or some other ecological change, I'll leave for other to comment on.

--- On Thu, 1/14/10, Stephanie Floyd  wrote:

> From: Stephanie Floyd 
> Subject: Re: [EBB Sightings] Tree swallows have arrived in Fremont
> To: sightings at diabloaudubon.com
> Date: Thursday, January 14, 2010, 8:47 PM
> I received similar replies from
> Dominik Mosur and Matthew Dodder, and I defer to all the
> experts who question that these birds are truly FOS. I
> didn't realize that "FOS" had a specific connotation related
> to migration. Tree swallows nest at Lake Elizabeth, but they
> leave in early fall and are not seen again for months and
> months. I don't know where they go in the meantime.? I
> should have said "these are the first tree swallows I've
> seen this season at Lake Elizabeth."
> 
> Stephanie Floyd
> Fremont
> 
> 
> --- On Thu, 1/14/10, Daniel Edelstein 
> wrote:
> 
> > From: Daniel Edelstein 
> > Subject: Re: [EBB Sightings] Tree swallows have
> arrived in Fremont
> > To: "Stephanie Floyd" 
> > Date: Thursday, January 14, 2010, 2:20 PM
> > Thanks for your interesting and
> > excellent EBB sightings post, Stephanie.
> > 
> > Fascinating phenology, in terms of the TREE SWALLOW
> > sightings.
> > 
> > As one thought worthy of banter among us all here,
> please
> > note your TREE SWALLOW individuals may have been First
> of
> > Season (FOS), but, then again, there's another
> potential
> > valid option:
> > 
> > They are "over-wintering" or, more exact,
> "non-breeding
> > season residents" that are present in the Bay Area
> (whereas,
> > of course, a larger percentage of the breeding
> populations
> > for this species travel farther south than the Bay
> Area as
> > obligate neotropical migrants).
> > 
> > In fact, in this sense, it's true that Marin Co., for
> > example, has during multiple recent "winter"
> > seasons/non-breeding seasons hosted small populations
> of
> > TREE SWALLOW. Perhaps this also true for the Fremont
> area? I
> > suspect as such, given the paragraph below at the XX
> where I
> > outline the typical, AVERAGE return date for TREE
> SWALLOW in
> > the Bay Area according to records (1967-1989 and
> 1900-1980,
> > below at XX)
> > 
> > Note for folks interested in seeing TREE SWALLOW now
> or
> > soon:
> > 
> > A good spot to see this species during the
> non-breeding
> > season is the
> > Las Gallinas Wildlife Ponds, San Rafael (off Smith
> Ranch
> > Rd.). Directions to this spot are easily Googled with
> a "Las
> > Gallinas Wildlife Ponds" search in the box at
> > www.google.com
> > 
> > That's not to say, Stephanie, again, that your
> swallows
> > were not migrants. Perhaps they are early ones back.
> But we
> > won't know for sure unless banding occurred on the
> > individuals you espied and a recapture of them in
> nets
> > occurs to confirm their recent whereabouts/travels
> from late
> > 2009 through today.
> > 
> > XX
> > 
> > The historical/typical AVERAGE return for TREE SWALLOW
> in
> > the Bay Area according to a nice chart in Dave
> Shuford's
> > "The Marin Co. Breeding Bird Atlas" (Bushtit Books,
> 1993) is
> > 2/13 at the Palomarin Field Station near Bolinas,
> Marin
> > Co.....and 2/22 for Marin Co. (data from various
> sources as
> > compiled by Dave Shuford). 
> > 
> > Again, thanks for the post.
> > 
> > Regards, Daniel
> > 
> > 
> > Daniel Edelstein
> > 
> > Novato, CA (Bay Area)
> > 
> > &
> > 
> > 
> > Ellison Bay, WI
> > 
> > http://www.warblerwatch.com 
> > 
> > My two blogs:
> > 
> > http://warblerwatch.blogspot.com 
> > (my blog devoted to wood-warblers)
> > 
> > http://danielsmerrittclasses.blogspot.com
> > 
> > (my blog focused on classes I teach at 
> > Merritt College in Oakland, CA, including my next
> > one -- "Bird Song Ecology/Birding By Ear" that begins
> in
> > 4/10)
> > 
> > 12 Kingfisher Court
> > Novato, CA 94949-6628 USA
> > 415-382-1827 (voice & DSL fax)
> > 
> 
> 
> ? ? ? 
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