Caltech Birding

1/27/09

It was a nice day for a walk with the temperature a mild 62 F. We saw fewer birds than expected, however, observing 17 species, two below the median. As a result, we garnered a negative score of -0.514 for the walk, third negative-scoring walk in a row. So, 2009 is not doing too well. After 4 walks, our ranking score for the year is -0.644, which if we stayed at this level would be the worst year since 1987. But surely things will pick up.

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

We actually felt lucky to get what we got as we spotted a Bewick's Wren, a Black-throated Gray Warbler, two kinds of hummingbirds, and a lone Robin. I felt things could have been a lot worse. We missed what were once absolutely certain birds, such as Mockingbird, House Sparrow, and Scrub Jay. Wow, no House Sparrow. What has the campus come to?

The stats:
The date: 1/27/09
The week number: 4
The walk number: 972
The weather: 62 F, partly cloudy
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Viveca Sapin-Areeda, Beth Moore, Kent Potter

The birds (17):

Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Bushtit
Lesser Goldfinch
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Robin
Cedar Waxwing
Black Phoebe
Hummingbird, Selasphorus
Bewick's Wren
Raven

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
1/29/09
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu

1/20/09

Thank goodness for Viveca. She seemed to be on fire with picking out birds today. Maybe it was my opening greeting to her: "You better do better than last week". She must have taken it to heart. We got 18 species, 7 above last week's total, but unfortunately not enough to put us into a positive score for the walk. The median for week 3 is 20 birds and we fell two short. But still, we felt good about it, especially because of the debacle last week.

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

We did see some standout birds. We got a Black-throated Gray Warbler in Tournament Park, a Selasphorus-style Hummingbird in the maintenance yard just east of the tennis courts,, and a Turkey Vulture hanging out with some Red-tailed Hawks. The weather was warm and beautiful. All in all, a good day.

The stats:
The date: 1/20/09
The week number: 3
The walk number: 971
The weather: 82 F, partly cloudy
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Jim Carlblom, Viveca Sapin-Areeda

The birds (18):

Rock Pigeon
Mockingbird
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Hummingbird, Selasphorus
Turkey Vulture
Red-tailed Hawk
Cedar Waxwing
Lesser Goldfinch
Black-throated Gray Warbler
American Goldfinch
Band-tailed Pigeon
Gull, sp.
Black Phoebe
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
1/20/09
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu

PS: I reduced the total for week 1's walk by 1. I removed the Black-chinned Hummingbird based on the poor visual we had on it and the fact that it's not likely to be here this time of year.

1/13/09

An embarrassment of riches this walk was not. We have nothing to say for ourselves. We looked, we listened, we phiisshhed; yet we ended our walk with only 11 species. Our highlight can hardly be counted as such since the Great Egret stood in the rock pond for well over an hour, allowing people to come quite close to take pictures. It's as if he were mocking us...

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: 1/13/09
The week number: 2
The walk number: 970
The weather: 77F, pure sunshine
The walkers: Viveca Sapin-Areeda, Kent Potter, Beth Moore

The birds (11):

Great Egret
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Black Phoebe
Bushtit

-- Beth

-- Note added by editor: 11 species for week 2 ties the record low for
that week. So no bad record was set. Whew! --- Alan

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
1/20/09
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu

1/6/09

(Revised to delete Black-chinned Hummingbird -- not well observed and not likely based on time of year) It was the first walk of the year and it was a good one. We saw 20 species, two above the median and only two below the all-time maximum for a week 1. So we are off to a good start in 2009.

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 kind of a species, sp. day, if you know what I mean. We heard a wren but couldn't decide which one. And we saw a hawk on a tree. He or she refused to fly and we just couldn't make the call from what we saw. We did see all the "regulars" this time, which has been no easy task lately.

The stats:
The date: 1/6/09
The week number: 1
The walk number: 969
The weather: 60F, partly cloudy
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Fiona Tindall, Darren Dowell, Viveca Sapin-Areeda, Kent Potter, Nathan Dalleska

The birds (19):

Rock Pigeon
Scrub Jay
Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Raven
Wren, sp.
Black Phoebe
Dark-eyed Junco
Lesser Goldfinch
Hawk, sp.
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
1/20/09
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu