Caltech Birding

8/29/05

Another hot walk and another failry low total = 11. But 11 was not a record low for week 35 of the year. Nor was it the high. A couple of years ago in 2002 we got 21, an astounding number for this time of year. See the birds_epoch plot at http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm.

We did see two interesting species, neither of which we identifed. One was probably a wren, as it slithered away from us low to the ground and into a bush near the Health Center. The other was a warbler. Looking at the Sibley book, we would say a 1st winter female Tennessee Warbler, but since that would be rare for Southern California and new to our list, I'm going with Warbler, sp.

The stats:
The date: 8/29/05
The week number: 35
The walk number: 797
The weather: 89 F, sunny
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Glenn Hamell, Kent Potter
The birds (11):

Rock Pigeon
House Sparrow
Mopurning Dove
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Red-masked Parakeet
Bushtit
Warbler, sp.
Band-tailed Pigeon
Starling

Respectfully submitted,
Alan
8/29/05
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu

8/24/05

Pretty hot today -- 88 F and a little muggy. And we didn't do too well on the birds. We got 10 species, which regrettably ties for the low number for week 34 of a year. The record high was 16, set last year. See the birds_epoch plot at http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm.

Some of our old standbys are letting us down. We haven't seen a Scrub Jay in quite awhile. And we missed Rock Pigeon and Mourning Dove. I guess we were lucky to get 10.

The stats:
The date: 8/24/05
The week number: 34
The walk number: 796
The weather: 88 F, sunny
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Kent Potter
The birds (10):

Mockingbird
House Sparrow
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Starling
Band-tailed Pigeon
Red-masked Parakeet
Bushtit

Respectfully submitted,
Alan
8/24/05
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu

8/16/05

What a difference a week makes. We had much cooler weather and we were able to get into double digits for bird species for the first time in 5 weeks. We got 13, which actually ties the record HIGH for a week 33. See the birds_epoch plot at http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm.

And not only did we get the numbers up but we had some quality sightings. We saw a Western Kingbird on Wilson, only the 5th Caltech sighting of one of those. We also saw a Rufous Hummingbird in the Brazilian Silk Floss trees west of Chandler. We saw other hummingbirds that could have been either Allen's or Rufous because they had the green back but with a lot of rust color otherwise. Since Kent and I were both sure we saw a rufous-colored back on one, we decided to not record an Allen's and just take the Rufous.

The stats:
The date: 8/16/05
The week number: 33
The walk number: 795
The weather: 73 F, partly cloudy
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Glenn Hamell, Kent Potter
The birds (13):

Rock Pigeon
Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Bushtit
Western Kingbird
Band-tailed Pigeon
Black Phoebe
Rufous Hummingbird

Respectfully submitted,
Alan
8/16/05
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu

8/8/05

Another hot and muggy walk with few species to show for our efforts. We recorded 9 species, which was not a record low for the week number; in fact, last year we only saw 8 species in week 32. But we are setting another kind of record for futility. This is the 4th week in a row with under 10 bird species. The previous record was two weeks in a row in 2000. See the birds_epoch plot at http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm.

We did have a highlight, however. We saw a Cooper's Hawk with a something clutched in its talons as it flew by. Kent and I debated on what was clutched and then we had a philosophical discussion of what would we have done if had been a Hooded Oriole, for example. Would we get to count the Oriole? Very interesting, but a moot point as whatever it was had no color other than gray and we think it might have been a rat. Oh well.

The stats:
The date: 8/8/05
The week number: 32
The walk number: 794
The weather: 85 F, sunny
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Kent Potter
The birds (9):

Rock Pigeon
Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Red-masked Parakeet
Cooper's Hawk

Respectfully submitted,
Alan
8/8/05
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu

8/2/05

Wow, three weeks in a row with single digit results. That must be a record. Where are all the birds? We saw 8 species, which is a record for fewest recorded during week 31 of the year. The previous record was 10. The most seen during week 31 was 17, set way back in 1988. See the birds_epoch plot at http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm.

We did leave one in the field. We could hear, but not see, a bird that we knew was not on our list. We didn't recognize the song so we couldn't identify it. But even if we had gotten that one, we would still have set a record for futility.

The stats:
The date: 8/2/05
The week number: 31
The walk number: 793
The weather: 83 F, sunny
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Glenn Hamell, Kent Potter
The birds (8):

Rock Pigeon
Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Black Phoebe

Respectfully submitted,
Alan
8/2/05
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu