12/19/06
This was a chilly walk; 53 F but nice and sunny.
It was also a spectacular walk in that we saw
a certain spectacled bird for only the 2nd time on the walks,
a Hutton's Vireo. The only other time we saw one of those
was on 16 January 1995. So, this was an indeed a rare find.
Beth was first to say that she saw a vireo but when queried
I had my doubts because she said it went under a car.
Hmmm... wouldn't think a vireo would do that. But a few minutes later
Glenn pointed to a bird in a nearby tree, on the other
side of the car, and that was it, a Hutton's Vireo.
Neat!
Our total was respectable but not record-setting. We saw
17 species, which is well short of the record high of 25
seen in 2002 but well above the record low of 11
seen in 1995. See the birds_epoch plot at
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm.
This will be the last walk of 2006 as Caltech has declared
next week a holiday week. Happy holidays to all.
The stats:
The date: 12/19/06
The week number: 51
The walk number: 863
The weather: 53 F, sunny
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Glenn Hamell, Beth Moore
The birds (17):
Rock Pigeon
Scrub Jay
Mockingbird
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Black Phoebe
Hutton's Vireo
Bushtit
Raven
Townsend's Warbler
Red-tailed Hawk
Band-tailed Pigeon
Cedar Waxwing
Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
12/20/06
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu
12/12/06
This was a notable walk. First of all, we welcomed a new
walker to the group, Beth Moore. Beth becomes the 83rd individual
to participate and she brings the cumulative number of person walks to
2420, accomplished over the 862 walks since the walks
began on 10/10/86. Beth helped a lot, spotting
the seldom seen Say's Phoebe and she was the first to see
several other birds. The one she didn't see and the one no
one saw was the other notable part of the walk. We did not see
an Acorn Woodpecker. You have to go back to 12/9/2003, 150
walks ago, to find the last time we missed seeing an Acorn Woodpecker.
I don't think it was Beth's fault. Last week, Glenn
and I only saw one. So something has cramped their style.
Another notable event happened early in the walk. We saw
what I now think was a falcon circling overhead. We did not
make the call at the time, but having seen a Cooper's and a Red-tailed Hawk
later in the walk and having studied pages 130 and 133 of the Sibley
guide back in my office, I'm convinced it was either a Merlin
or a Peregrine Falcon. It's unusual for me to add one in this manner,
but I really am convinced. It will get listed as Falcon, sp.
We had a pretty good total, 18 species. The record high
for a week 50 is 22 seen in 1994 and the record low is 9
seen in 2003. See the birds_epoch plot at
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm.
The stats:
The date: 12/12/06
The week number: 50
The walk number: 862
The weather: 66 F, partly cloudy
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Glenn Hamell, Simon Radford, Jim Carlblom, Beth Moore, Carolyn Ash
The birds (18):
Rock Pigeon
Scrub Jay
Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Crow
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Falcon,sp.
Bushtit
Cooper's Hawk
Black Phoebe
Say's Phoebe
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Red-tailed Hawk
Lesser Goldfinch
Band-tailed Pigeon
Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
12/12/06
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu
12/5/06
It was a beautiful day for a bird walk. That remark is appropriate
for almost every walk, until we get into the heat
of summer. Due to an absence of three common species,
Scrub Jay, Mockingbird, and Mourning Dove,
we wound up a little short. We saw 14 species, a bit
below average for week 49. The record low for week 49 is 10
seen in 2000 and the record high is 21 from 1999.
See the birds_epoch plot at
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm.
For the first time in a long time we saw gulls. Don't ask
me which type. We saw two types of hawks and the
two Red-tails circling 20 feet over our heads on Wilson
were spectacular.
The stats:
The date: 12/5/06
The week number: 49
The walk number: 861
The weather: 72 F, sunny
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Glenn Hamell
The birds (14):
Rock Pigeon
House Sparrow
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Gull, sp.
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Bushtit
Black Phoebe
Townsend's Warbler
Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
12/8/06
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu