1/31/11

It was another beautiful day, 59 F and partly cloudy, and the birds showed up in median fashion. We observed 19 species, right on the median for the week, but a hair below the average, so we got a small, negative walk score.

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

The best bird was the Snowy Egret, which has been hanging around the various ponds on campus for several days. Fortunately, he or she seems to be doing well dining on the minnows and tadpoles. Not so good for the minnows and tadpoles.

We again recorded a Rufous Hummingbird. We also saw one where we couldn't tell if it was Rufous or Allen's, but this one just seemed all orangy, no green to be seen. Notable by their absence: Mourning Dove and Acorn Woodpecker. We had been getting those regularly recently. We also didn't see a Rock Pigeon, but that's not unusual anymore.

The date: 1/31/11
The week number: 5
The walk number: 1076
The weather: 59 F, partly cloudy

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

The birds (19):

Scrub Jay
Northern Mockingbird
House Sparrow
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
American Crow
Snowy Egret
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Bushtit
Black Phoebe
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hawk, sp.
Rufous Hummingbird
American Robin
Orange-crowned Warbler
Spotted Towhee
Starling
Lesser Goldfinch
Common Raven

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
2/2/11

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

1/24/11

Let's see: the day was beautiful, lots of walkers joined in, and the birds cooperated. We observed 23 species, about halfway between the median and the record high for the week.

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

I guess the most unusual sighting was the Rufous Hummingbird. Usually, we can see green on the bird and have to call it Selasphorus, i.e., either Allen's or Rufous. But the report came back that good views were had and not a speck of green was seen. So, Rufous it is. Other good birds were the White-crowned Sparrow, both wrens, and a Black-throated Gray Warbler.

We also saw some Red-whiskered Bulbuls. Well, Vicky didn't see them well enough to put them on her list. We saw them in more than one spot and the people at the right spot at the right time got good views. Unfortunately, Vicky was always in a different spot on this walk. But there are more walks ahead and the bulbuls are getting more and more common on the Caltech campus, so I'm sure she'll get them pretty soon. It's a real test of her patience and so far I'd say she's holding up very well.

The date: 1/24/11
The week number: 4
The walk number: 1075
The weather: 73 F, sunny

The walkers: Alan Cummings, Kent Potter, Viveca Sapin-Areeda, John Beckett, Hannah Dvorak-Carbone, Vicky Brennan, David Werntz, Beth Moore

The birds (23):

Scrub Jay
Northern Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
American Crow
Black Phoebe
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Lesser Goldfinch
Band-tailed Pigeon
Bushtit
Cedar Waxwing
Red-whiskered Bulbul
Bewick's Wren
White-crowned Sparrow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Common Raven
Hawk, sp.
House Wren
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Rufous Hummingbird

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
1/27/11

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

1/18/11

Thud! That's the sound of dropping off last week's number of species observed by 14 species. What a turnaround. But, the weather was fantastic, the birders were nice, and there were some good birds. We observed 18 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 good birds were the Downy Woodpecker and the Hermit Thrush. The other good news is that the Band-tailed Pigeon is back on the nest near the exit of Tournament Park.

Hopefully, there will be better numbers next week. It was maybe too hot out there. It was 83 F, 27 degrees warmer than last week. Let's see, that's about a bird short per 2 degrees. Sounds about right.

The date: 1/18/11
The week number: 3
The walk number: 1074
The weather: 83 F, sunny

The walkers: Alan Cummings, John Beckett, Jim Carlblom, Viveca Sapin-Areeda, Vicky Brennan, Beth Moore
The birds (18):

Scrub Jay
Northern Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
American Crow
Black Phoebe
Lesser Goldfinch
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Red-tailed Hawk
Band-tailed Pigeon
Downy Woodpecker
Hermit Thrush
Bushtit
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Common Raven

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
1/18/11

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

1/10/11

It looks like it took flying in a birder from Connecticut (at his own expense) to get the job done, but whatever it was it worked. We set the ALL_TIME RECORD FOR ANY WALK with 32 species observed!

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

The birder in question is Oliver James. He last walked in 2007 when he was in high school I think. He is on break from college in Connecticut visiting his grandparents, one of whom is Prof. Ward Whaling of Caltech. And there is an interesting story about Ward and me. When I arrived at Caltech in 1967, one of the first persons at Caltech I met was Ward. He was something like the Executive Officer in the Physics, Math, and Astronomy Dept. Incoming grad students had to go see Ward. When I met him I noticed a strong resemblance to a Horace Whaling I knew and had played tennis with in Wichita Falls, TX, my hometown. Well, they were brothers. What a small world it is. My brother David taught Horace's son Graham some tennis back in the day. Graham went on to be a tennis star at WFHS, winning the State Championship in boys singles in 1972 in the top (4A) division.

But I digress. Graham was probably not a birder (but I don't know that for sure). Back to Oliver. He was on top of his game as were the other members of the birding group. Beth emailed in Yellow-chevroned Parakeets seen just after she had to leave the walk, solving a dilemma for me, as we had Parrot or Parakeet, sp. at that point. John emailed in a House Sparrow, which put us at 32. He had crossed Wilson at San Pasqual to examine the bushes there for House Sparrows and then never caught up with us again.

The bird that tied the record was a Snowy Egret on the Baxter Pond at the end of the walk. Viveca just about fainted when she spotted it. Hannah and Vicky also contributed; it was a group effort. We straggled out more than usual, but maybe that's a good thing. Normally, we try to stay a bit bunched up, but Oliver's style is a little different. Maybe he taught us something.

With 32 species, there were a lot of highlights. In addition to the egret, we had Western Tanager, both wrens, both phoebes, and both goldfinches. The total could have been higher: we did not see a Mockingbird or a Rock Pigeon.

By the way, the previous record was 31 species observed on 3/30/2006 (walk number 827). The walkers were me, Glenn Hamell, Kent Potter, and Jon Feenstra. I am the only one to walk on both walks. If you guys from the 2006 walk want to get out and get 33 or more and take back the record, you better come on out in the high season. I should mention that the 2006 walk is still the highest-scoring walk at 3.10979, as compared to the 2.70919 for this walk. That just means the distribution of number of species observed is broader in week 2 than it is in week 13 (the average number is about the same in both cases).

Today's walk was fantastic.

The date: 1/10/11
The week number: 2
The walk number: 1073
The weather: 56 F, sunny

The walkers: Alan Cummings, Hannah Dvorak-Carbone, Oliver James,
Vicky Brennan, Beth Moore, John Beckett, Viveca Sapin-Areeda

The birds (32):

Scrub Jay
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
American Crow
Black Phoebe
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Starling
Bushtit
Bewick's Wren
Lesser Goldfinch
Red-whiskered Bulbul
Common Raven
Orange-crowned Warbler
American Goldfinch
House Wren
Dark-eyed Junco
Say's Phoebe
Turkey Vulture
American Robin
Hermit Thrush
Western Tanager
Band-tailed Pigeon
White-crowned Sparrow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet
Hummingbird, Selasphorus
California Towhee
Townsend's Warbler
Snowy Egret

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
1/11/11

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

1/3/11

We barely got this one in. It rained yesterday and last night all the way up until about 11 am. The weather radar looked promising, so we started the walk. About halfway though it sprinkled a bit, which even later turned into a fine mist. But it was manageable. And we needed to finish the walk because we had a standout bird on the list in the first 15 minutes of the walk. More about that later. We observed 20 species, good for a positive walk score to start 2011.

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

The standout bird was a Western Tanager, seen in the maintenance yard. It was a female and not as spectacular as the male would have been, but nonetheless, it was a Western Tanager, a bird we don't often see. And towards the end of the walk we saw a pair of Yellow-headed Parrots sitting in a tree. They are really neat birds. These two were quiet but we've heard them make quite a racket previously, although we've seen Yellow-headed Parrots only 6 times before. Because of these two species, this was a special walk and I hope it heralds a special year of walks ahead.

The date: 1/3/11
The week number: 1
The walk number: 1072
The weather: 50 F, cloudy

The walkers: Alan Cummings, John Beckett, Kent Potter, Vicky Brennan

The birds (20):

Scrub Jay
Northern Mockingbird
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
American Crow
Lesser Goldfinch
Starling
Black Phoebe
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Western Tanager
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Red-whiskered Bulbul
Dark-eyed Junco
Hummingbird, Selasphorus
Band-tailed Pigeon
Yellow-headed Parrot
Bushtit
Orange-crowned Warbler
Raven

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
1/3/11

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