4/25/11

A beautiful day and a very good walk. We tied the record high for a week 17 with 29 species observed.

See the plots at http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/species_time.html and http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm

My kingdom for an Acorn Woodpecker! We did get two woodpeckers, which is good, but getting an acorn would have let us set the record for the week. Oh well.

The most surprising observation to me was the Yellow-rumped Warbler. It should have been gone, but John and I saw a pair on our way back to our offices. I'm sure they will be absent next week.

On Tuesday, a day after the walk, a Whimbrel showed up on the south athletic field. Brendan Crill apparently was the first to notice it. Anyway, the bird is still around as of Thursday, today, but it is now on the north athletic field. I hope it's still around on Monday so we can put it on the list. It will be the first Whimbrel observed on a Caltech birdwalk, and I never heard of one ever being on campus before.

The date: 4/25/11
The week number: 17
The walk number: 1088
The weather: 69°F, sunny

The walkers: Alan Cummings, Vivica Sapin-Areeda, Darren Dowell, Tom Palfrey, Ashish Mahabal, John Beckett, Vicky Brennan

The birds (29):

Northern Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
American Crow
White-throated Swift
Starling
Spotted Towhee
Red-shouldered Hawk
Orange-crowned Warbler
Mallard
Bushtit
California Towhee
Red-whiskered Bulbul
Red-crowned Parrot
Hummingbird, Selasphorus
Lesser Goldfinch
House Wren
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Nuttall's Woodpecker
Turkey Vulture
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet
Downy Woodpecker
Common Raven
Black Phoebe
Red-tailed Hawk
Yellow-rumped Warbler

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
4/28/11

http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/index.html

4/18/11

OK, that's a lot better, back to setting records. We observed 25 species, one better than the previous record high for a week 16.

See the plots at http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/species_time.html and http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm

It was iffy weather but the drizzle held off long enough that the walk proceeded. The birds cooperated pretty well. We had two Scrub Jays and a Mockingbird in a tree at the same time. Don't see that too often anymore. Both nesters, the Raven and Red-shouldered Hawk, were still on their nests. Another good bird was the Western Bluebird, seen out on the north athletic field.

But, by far the bird of the day was the Western Kingbird. It was in the garden area north of Avery House. It was spectacular. It flew about the garden area and gave everyone a lot of excellent looks.

The Gull seen at the bitter end put us over top and set the record.

Nice walk!

The date: 4/18/11
The week number: 16
The walk number: 1087
The weather: 58°F, overcast (some drizzle)

The walkers: Alan Cummings, Vivica Sapin-Areeda, John Beckett,
Darren Dowell, Ashish Mahabal, Carole Worra, Vicky Brennan

The birds (25):

Scrub Jay
Northern Mockingbird
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
American Crow
Starling
Band-tailed Pigeon
White-throated Swift
Common Raven
Red-crowned Parrot
Yellow-rumped Warbler
House Wren
Hummingbird, Selasphorus
Orange-crowned Warbler
Black Phoebe
Western Bluebird
Lesser Goldfinch
Red-whiskered Bulbul
Downy Woodpecker
Bushtit
Red-shouldered Hawk
Swallow, sp.
Western Kingbird
Gull, sp.

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
4/18/11

http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/index.html

4/11/11

OK, back to normal. We observed 19 species, two above the median. It's OK. Those four weeks in a row with 30+ were an anomaly.

See the plots at http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/species_time.html and http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm

We have two nesting species, Red-shouldered Hawks and Common Ravens. Soon those will be out of the nest but hopefully not gone entirely. We do have only one more week of Yellow-rumped Warblers. Based on past data, next week we have about a 40% chance of seeing them on the walk and zero chance after that until the Fall. Enjoy them while you can. They seemed to be plenty abundant today.

The date: 4/11/11
The week number: 15
The walk number: 1086
The weather: 67°F, partly cloudy

The walkers: Alan Cummings, Vicky Brennan, John Beckett,
Ashish Mahabal, Carole Worra, Vivica Sapin-Areeda

The birds (19):

Northern Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
American Crow
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
Starling
Lesser Goldfinch
Red-shouldered Hawk
Black Phoebe
Bushtit
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet
Red-tailed Hawk
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Band-tailed Pigeon
Common Raven

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
4/11/11

http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/index.html

4/4/11

Normally, if we got 27 species I'd be elated, but after four straight weeks of 30 or more birds, 27 is just not cutting it. Oh, but I jest; of course, it's cutting it, just not as much as it has been. The record for week 14 was 29, so we fell two short of that and 10 short of last week's all-time record of 37.

See the plots at http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/species_time.html and http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm

We were let down by the parrots and parakeets. Not a one. And we had been seeing a variety of those recently. On the good side, we saw a flycatcher and a Red-shouldered Hawk on a nest. No, they weren't both on a nest, just the hawk. We were fortunate that Viveca saw the Mallard on the way to the walk. At walk's end, it wasn't there. The last bird we recorded was when we started up Wilson. There was nothing new on the backside (north side) of the walk. Twas a pity.

The date: 4/4/11
The week number: 14
The walk number: 1085
The weather: 78°F, sunny

The walkers: Alan Cummings, Vivica Sapin-Areeda, John Beckett, Carole Worra,
Darren Dowell, Vicky Brennan, Beth Moore, Kent Potter, Ashish Mahabal

The birds (27):

Northern Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
American Crow
Starling
White-throated Swift
Mallard
Bushtit
Band-tailed Pigeon
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Red-whiskered Bulbul
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Turkey Vulture
Red-tailed Hawk
Lesser Goldfinch
Nuttal's Woodpecker
Black Phoebe
Common Raven
Bewick's Wren
Orange-crowned Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
House Wren
Red-shouldered Hawk
Hummingbird, Selasphorus

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
4/4/11

http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/index.html