7/27/04
Summer is officially here. How do I know that? Well, it's hot
for one thing. And the birds are getting scarce for
another. Today it was about 84F, a lot cooler than
last week's 93F, and we saw only 11 species. Last week's
8 species was close to tying the record of 7 for
least species seen since the beginning of 1987.
Eleven is not atypical for the 30th week
of the year, however. The record is 16 way back in 1991.
See the birds_epoch plot at
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm.
Matt, Kelly, and I toured around the campus. Although
the birds were scarce, there were highlights of a sort,
if you want to call letting 3 species get away highlights.
At one of the early stops in the unpaved parking lot next
to the tennis courts, Matt and I observed a flock of Bushtits
that were clumped in a very localized spot and seemed to be
very agitated. They were making their usual
buzzy noises and in addition a more musical trill.
As I was focusing on the bushtits, Matt suddenly
shouted out "What was that!" I said where, and he said there.
It was gone. I didn't see it and I didn't hear it
fly. Matt said it was big. The Bushtits immediately
got much quieter as if whatever it was was making them
nervous. We speculated Crow, Cooper's Hawk,
or Owl. But we didn't put anything down.
Then on Wilson we saw a single bird that I thought
was a swallow fly over a building and disappear.
We couldn't get a good ID on it either. The third
one we lost was a Hummingbird. Kelly was pretty sure
she saw one but couldn't tell what kind and none
of us were absolutely sure that it even was a Hummingbird.
So no Hummingbird for the day.
It was Matt's last walk today, unless he happens
by Caltech at the right time of day on
the right day of the week. I appreciate his
stepping in and being so reliable in the walks and regret
he didn't become aware of them sooner. Of course, that
might have delayed his graduation even more!
Good luck to Matt in the next phase of his life and career
and I hope he does stop by from time to time.
The stats:
The date: 7/27/04
The week number: 30
The walk number: 742
The weather: 84 F, sunny
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Matt Hunt, Kelly Jung
The birds (11):
Rock Dove
Scrub Jay
Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Black Phoebe
Bushtit
Band-tailed Pigeon
Respectfully submitted,
Alan
7/27/04
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu
PS: Jon and I discussed the mystery sighting reported
last week of a pair of Cedar Waxwings and concluded
they must have been Red-whiskered Bulbuls.
7/20/04
Only Glenn and I braved the heat for the 741st walk; it was
about 93 F by the time we got to Wilson Ave. Glenn only wanted to
do half the walk, but perservered so as not to abandon me.
The highlight was Glenn's discovery of a Red-masked Parakeet
stationary in a tree behind IPAC. He wasn't moving or making a
sound, and we're lucky he spotted it.
Just for a moment, I caught a glimpse of what I thought were Cedar
Waxwings. There were a pair, that landed briefly in a leafless part of
a tree. Through the binoculars, I saw they were crested, reddish-brown,
and about the right size for Waxwings. They then flew out of range.
According to the plots, this would be an unusual species for this time
of year. Perhaps the experts can chime in.
Other than those, birds were few and far-between. No Scrub Jay
Mourning Dove, Hummingbird, or Bushtit. We even had to look for a
while to find an Acorn Woodpecker, and the House Finch didn't come
until we got to Avery.
See the birds_epoch plot at
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm.
The stats:
The date: 7/20/04
The week number: 29
The walk number: 741
The weather: 93 F, sunny
The walkers: Glenn Hamell, Matt Hunt
The birds (8):
Rock Dove
Mockingbird
House Sparrow
House Finch
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Red-masked Parakeet
Cedar Waxwing (?) -- later decided it was Red-whiskered Bulbuls
Respectfully submitted,
Matt Hunt
7/20/04
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu
7/13/04
The 740th walk in the series was a hot one, braved
by 4 hardy souls. It was about 92 F and clear, sunny,
and bright. The birds seemed few and far between
but we wound up with 13, tying for 3rd all-time
for week 28 of the year. So it wasn't too bad.
See the birds_epoch plot at
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm.
The most notable sighting was a real close up of
a Red-masked Parakeet. In the category
of most notable non-sighting: we saw
zero Squirrels and usually we're
kicking them out of the way. Did I say it was hot?
The stats:
The date: 7/13/04
The week number: 28
The walk number: 740
The weather: 92 F, sunny
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Glenn Hamell, Matt Hunt, Bryan Jacoby
The birds (13):
Rock Dove
Scrub Jay
Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Band-tailed Pigeon
Starling
Red-masked Parakeet
Bushtit
Respectfully submitted,
Alan
7/13/04
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu
7/7/04
Back to reality. For the last few weeks we have
either been setting records, tying records, or nearly
tying records. In short, the birds have been around
in abundance. Today we had a more typical
walk for this time of year. We recorded 13 species.
See the birds_epoch plot at
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm.
About the most notable thing on the walk
was the sighting of two species
of Parakeets: the Yellow-chevroned and the
Red-masked. It was that kind of day.
The temperature was pleasant though, about 75F,
cool for this time of year.
The stats:
The date: 7/7/04
The week number: 27
The walk number: 739
The weather: 75 F, partly cloudy
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Bryan Jacoby, Kelly Jung
The birds (13):
Rock Dove
Scrub Jay
Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Red-masked Parakeet
Bushtit
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet
Black Phoebe
Respectfully submitted,
Alan
7/7/04
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu