2/28/11

Excellent walk. We observed 28 species, same as last week. It was two short of the record for a week 9.

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

We again had a new walker and again we had good success. The new walker is Sridhara Chakravarthy, a postdoc in Biology. He had a camera with a big telephoto lens along. I hope he got some good pictures. Welcome to the Caltech birdwalks, Sridhara.

We finally got a Rock Pigeon. Hurray! And we got a lot of species pairs: hawks, phoebes, hummingbirds, and towhees to be exact. We also had a couple of triplets: warblers and woodpeckers. As I said, it was an excellent walk.

The date: 2/28/11
The week number: 9
The walk number: 1080
The weather: 62 F, partly cloudy

The walkers: Alan Cummings, Ashish Mahabal, Tom Palfrey, Beth Moore,
Viveca Sapin-Areeda, Darren Dowell, Sridhara Chakravarthy, Carole Worra
John Beckett

The birds (28):

Rock Pigeon
Scrub Jay
Northern Mockingbird
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
American Crow
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Cooper's Hawk
Black Phoebe
Lesser Goldfinch
Bushtit
Red-whiskered Bulbul
Band-tailed Pigeon
Common Raven
Hummingbird, Rufous
Starling
Say's Phoebe
Bewick's Wren
Orange-crowned Warbler
Nuttall's Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Spotted Towhee
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Cedar Waxwing
Red-tailed Hawk
California Towhee

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
3/2/11

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

2/22/11

A complete reversal of fortune! We observed 28 species, which tied the record high for a week 8.

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

I attribute our success to a new walker, Carole Worra. It just seems that we have a good walk when a newcomer arrives and that held true this time. Carole works in Biology at Caltech and I hope she joins in on a regular basis.

We tied the record high without the benefit of a Rock Pigeon, a Scrub Jay, or a House Sparrow. But we got some awesome birds: Cassin's Vireo, Red-shouldered Hawk, two different kinds of towhees, two different kinds of phoebes, and Violet-Green Swallows. So I guess we can't complain. It sure beats last week.

The date: 2/22/11
The week number: 8
The walk number: 1079
The weather: 58 F, partly cloudy

The walkers: Alan Cummings, John Beckett, Kent Potter, Viveca Sapin-Areeda, Carole Worra, Darren Dowell, Vicky Brennan

The birds (28):

Northern Mockingbird
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
American Crow
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Red-tailed Hawk
Black Phoebe
Red-shouldered Hawk
Cedar Waxwing
Spotted Towhee
Say's Phoebe
Bewick's Wren
Bushtit
Lesser Goldfinch
Townsend's Warbler
California Towhee
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Cassin's Vireo
Red-whiskered Bulbul
Dark-eyed Junco
Hummingbird, Selasphorus
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Raven
Violet-green Swallow
Band-tailed Pigeon
Mallard

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
2/24/11

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

2/14/11

Not too good. We observed 17 species, which was 3 below the median for the week and gave us our biggest negative walk score (-0.89865) since 10/25/2010.

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

We can't blame the weather; it was a terrific 62 F and sunny. We can blame some of the so-called regulars. We couldn't get a Rock Pigeon, Scrub Jay, Mockingbird, or House Sparrow. It was tough sledding. A bright spot was the Snow Egret, which is still hanging around.

The date: 2/14/11
The week number: 7
The walk number: 1078
The weather: 62 F, sunny

The walkers: Alan Cummings, Viveca Sapin-Areeda, Beth Moore, Ashish Mahabal, Vicky Brennan

The birds (17):

Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
American Crow
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Common Raven
Starling
Bushtit
Lesser Goldfinch
Black Phoebe
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet
Cedar Waxwing
Wren, sp.
Hummingbird, Selasphorus
Band-tailed Pigeon
Nuttall's Woodpecker
Snowy Egret

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
2/17/11

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

2/7/11

Very interesting walk. We observed 24 species, which was only three below the record for a week 6.

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

The interesting observation had to do with parrots. We first saw a Red-crowned Parrot in a tree near the exit of Tournament Park. Then we saw what we assumed was another, but it had some yellow on the head. We thought it might be a juvenile red-crowned but a little research showed that red-crowneds have red crowns, always. So, while we puzzled over that, we saw another red-crowned. Finally, Darren found the unmistakeable Yellow-headed Parrot. So, there were four parrots, two red-crowneds and two yellow-headeds. And they weren't saying a word. If they had been talking we'd have saved some time. But, it was pretty exciting nonetheless.

The Snowy Egret was still around, terrorizing the small fish and crawdads in the ponds. And Vicky finally got a good look at a Red-whiskered Bulbul! We were all happy about that, particularly Vicky.

The date: 2/7/11
The week number: 6
The walk number: 1077
The weather: 75 F, sunny

The walkers: Alan Cummings, John Beckett, Viveca Sapin-Areeda, Vicky Brennan, Kent Potter, Darren Dowell, Tom Palfrey

The birds (24):

Scrub Jay
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
American Crow
Starling
Lesser Goldfinch
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Common Raven
Black Phoebe
Townsend's Warbler
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Red-crowned Parrot
Yellow-headed Parrot
Bewick's Wren
Dark-eyed Junco
American Robin
Red-whiskered Bulbul
Bushtit
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet
Cedar Waxwing
Band-tailed Pigeon
Snowy Egret

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
2/10/11


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