12/27/07
(Amended 12/31/07 to include two birds seen by Oliver James just after leaving group at end of walk)
Wow, what a walk! For one thing, it was the first ever Caltech birdwalk that took place on a Caltech holiday. For another, we had the great good fortune to have Oliver James join us. Oliver is a high school junior down from Berkeley visiting his gradparents over the holidays. Oliver has a great ear for birding, like Jon Feenstra has. This was Oliver's 3rd walk of the year and on each walk he has been on we have either tied or broken the record for that week of the year -- as WE DID TODAY! We saw 28 species, smashing the previous week 52 record of 23 by five birds. See the plots at http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/species_time.html and http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm

During week 14 when Oliver walked, we broke the record for that week by four birds. So, I am always happy when he comes along. We did eventually see almost all of the birds that Oliver was having me put down by sound, but it sure made it easier when we knew what we were looking for. I also want to thank Beth and Ashish for interrupting their Caltech holiday and helping to set the week 52 record.

It was a cold day, tied for coldest walk of the year at 53F. But the campus was pretty quiet and that helped with the hearing. The most surprising bird was a Say's Phoebe out on the south athletic field. Otherwise, the birds we saw we could expect to see, but not usually all on the same walk.

2007 was a banner year for the walks in many ways. This was the first year ever that we logged 52 walks. And I missed 9 walks, mostly due to travel. I really appreciate everyone's help in making my longtime goal of one walk per week become a reality. We also averaged 5.77 persons per walk, beating the previous record of 4.35 set last year. If you look at the species vs time plot, I have recently changed it to show the max, min, and median from 1987-2006 (instead of 1987-2007). This allows one to quickly see that in 2007 we either tied or beat a weekly record high 13 times out of the 52 walks. So, for each walk we took in 2007 there was a 1 in 4 chance of tying or setting a record. Pretty good, I'd say. We set or tied the record low for a week only once. I haven't compared 2007 to the other years yet, but by some measure, which is still to be determined, I suspect it was the best year ever.

Happy New Year everybody! Next walk is on Thursday 3 January 2008.

The stats:
The date: 12/27/07
The week number: 52
The walk number: 915
The weather: 53F, partly cloudy
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Beth Moore, Oliver James, Ashish Mahabal

The birds (28):

Rock Pigeon
Scrub Jay
Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black Phoebe
Cedar Waxwing
American Goldfinch
Red-tailed Hawk
Say's Phoebe
Bewick's Wren
Robin
Band-tailed Pigeon
Lesser Goldfinch
Townsend's Warbler
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Bushtit
Starling
Dark-eyed Junco
Raven
Gull, sp.
Orange-crowned Warbler (added late by Oliver)
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet (added late by Oliver)

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
12/31/07
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu

12/19/07
It was a beautiful day for a bird walk. Just after a rain, partly cloudy, and about 59F. Invigorating. And it was a record-setting and record-tying day! I'm sure we set the record for longest time spent before leaving the Morrisroe building area. It was 12:55 pm when we departed the approximate halfway point of the walk. And that was because of the flocks and flocks of birds in the vicinity of the maintenance yard. Just as there were last week, there were an astounding number of Robins and Cedar Waxwings in that area. I don't think I've ever seen so many of those species in one spot. When the waxwings took off they formed into two huge flocks that circled the area for a bit before departing the scene. Quite impressive. And it took some time to sort through them to make sure we didn't overlook something else. We were fortunate to find a Townsend's Warbler mixed in with the hundreds of other birds.

We did great on our species count too. We recorded 25 species, TYING the record for a week 51. See the plots at http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/species_time.html and http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm The last bird added was a House Wren near Dabney Gardens.

All in all a great bird walk! By the way, we plan on having a walk on Thursday of next week (27 December 2007), when Caltech is closed for the holidays. Join us if you can. First walk of the new year will be on a Thursday, 3 January 2008.

The stats:
The date: 12/19/07
The week number: 51
The walk number: 914
The weather: 59F, partly cloudy
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Jim Carlblom, Ashish Mahabal, Beth Moore, Daniel Martin

The birds (25):

Rock Pigeon
Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Black Phoebe
Robin
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow-rumped Warbler
American Goldfinch
Townsend's Warbler
Dark-eyed Junco
Lincoln's Sparrow
Hermit Thrush
Red-masked Parakeet
Red-tailed Hawk
Bushtit
Lesser Goldfinch
Band-tailed Pigeon
Starling
House Wren

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
12/20/07
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu

12/11/07

(as reported by Beth Moore)

This report could be titled: Where Have All of our Hawks Gone? or A Furry of Flocks! It was a gorgeous day, cool 65F with a smattering of high, puffy clouds and a bit of a breeze. I would have been left to do the walk alone had I not had the extreme good fortune of Brendan's company; Brendan was back in town to visit some colleagues.

Our walk got off to a bountiful start with nearly a dozen Red-masked Parakeets picking berries, very quietly, in a tree behind the health center. No sooner were we able to tear ourselves away from them then we encountered a flock of Cedar Waxwings moving gradually along our route toward the maintenance yard. In the maintenance yard the Cedar Waxwings were joined by - yep, a flock - of Robins! By the time we left the maintenance yard the two groups were feeding from the gutter of a nearby house. A hermit thrush in the IPAC grove and the Western Bluebird on a fence in the baseball field marked the end of the feast portion of our walk. And not a single hawk. That might account for all of the flocks, though.

We saw 17 species. See the plots at http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/species_time.html and http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm

The stats:
The date: 12/11/07
The week number: 50
The walk number: 913
The weather: 65F, partly cloudy
The walkers: Brendan Crill, Beth Moore

The birds (17):

House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Red-masked Parakeet
Cedar Waxwing
Robin
Bushtit
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch
Black Phoebe
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
Western Bluebird

--- Beth

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
12/17/07
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu

12/6/07
It was a nice, cool 62F and partly cloudy. Nice day for a birdwalk. And the birds were there. We saw 18 species, a bit above expectations. See the plots at http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/species_time.html and http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm

We saw one bird we had't seen in quite a while, the Dark-eyed Junco. It was good to have it back. Now where are the White-crowned Sparrows?

The stats:
The date: 12/6/07
The week number: 49
The walk number: 912
The weather: 62F, partly cloudy
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Fiona Tindall, Ann Pattrson, Ashish Mahabal

The birds (18):

Rock Pigeon
Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Robin
Lesser Goldfinch
Red-masked Parakeet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Dark-eyed Junco
Starling
Bushtit
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet
Red-tailed Hawk

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
12/7/07
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu