7/30/08

Well, I may have thrown a curve into the works by not being definitive about the walk day. Only three of us showed up. I apologize if I inconvenienced anyone. But three is a quorum, actually two is, so off we went. It was a pleasant enough walk but the birds were somewhat lacking. We got 11 species, which is one below the median for a week 31.

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

We missed a Mockingbird, which surprised us, since they've been pretty consistent lately. Our highlight bird was a Bewick's Wren, which we got with the aid of a fellow from Lake Tahoe who works for the California Air Resources Board and was down by IPAC outside his van taking a break. He apparently is a bird watcher and he helped us seal the deal on the Bewick's. Now if he can seal the deal on the smog, that would be great.

The stats:
The date: 7/30/08
The week number: 31
The walk number: 946
The weather: 80F, sunny
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Beth Moore, Viveca Sapin-Areeda

The birds (11):

Rock Pigeon
Scrub Jay
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Black Phoebe
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet
Bewick's Wren

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
7/31/08
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu

7/22/08

OK, I'm back on task. Usually I lead in number of walks walked every year but this year I've had a busy travel schedule. I'm currently in 4th place behind the leader Glenn, followed by Viveca and Beth. So far, we haven't had a week without a walk and I really appreciate everyone's support on that.

We scored pretty well on the walk. We saw 13 species, two above the median for a week 30. See the plots at http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/species_time.html and http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm

We almost got all of our irregular regulars, missing only the Rock Pigeon. We saw a Red-tailed Hawk circling overhead, which may account for the missing pigeons. The highlight bird was a rusty-colored hummingbird, either a Rufous or an Allen's. We record that as Hummingbird, Selasphorus.

The stats:
The date: 7/22/08
The week number: 30
The walk number: 945
The weather: 82F, sunny
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Beth Moore, Jim Carlblom, Sachin Shenoy, Viveca Sapin-Areeda, Chris Martin

The birds (13):

Scrub Jay
Northern Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Red-tailed Hawk
Black Phoebe
Hummingbird, Selasphorus
Bushtit
European Starling

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
7/24/08
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu

7/15/08

Although we started our walk with the temperature just as high as last week, it stayed steady and we felt more comfortable. We got off to a lively start with five species within the first five minutes but in the end we didn't do as well as last week and that was because we didn't see any hawks. We did get all three of our usual suspects from the family Columbidae. By far our favorite part of the walk was standing in the shade of the IPAC grove watching a group of Red-masked Parakeets feeding in the trees.

We look forward to Alan's return next week!

When Alan has had a chance to update you can: 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: 7/15/08
The week number: 29
The walk number: 944
The weather: 88F, Hazy with clouds building
The walkers: Viveca Sapin-Areeda, Kent Potter, Glenn Hamell, Beth Moore

The birds (12):

Rock Pigeon
Northern Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Bushtit
European Starling
Band-tailed Pigeon
Red-masked Parakeet

-- Beth

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
7/21/08
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu

7/8/08

Another hot one [and humid] but the weather didn't deter five of our walkers from making the rounds; a bad back kept Alan away. We made a good haul, 15 species, in spite of the heat and our sluggishness. Our favorite sighting was a lone Red-masked Parakeet in the grove near IPAC. He caught our attention with some very quiet vocalizations and then sat still for us to admire to our hearts' content. Two Hawk species and two Hummingbird species squared off our walk; most of our regulars made an appearance.

When Alan has had a chance to update you can: 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: 7/08/08
The week number: 28
The walk number: 943
The weather: 86F [and climbing], Clouds [and humidity] building
The walkers: Viveca Sapin-Areeda, Simon Radford, Glenn Hamell, Chris Martin, Beth Moore

The birds (15):

Rock Pigeon
Northern Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Bushtit
European Starling
Black-chinned Hummingbird
Spotted Towhee
Red-tailed Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Red-masked Parakeet

-- Beth

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
7/11/08
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu

Editor's note: 15 tied the record high for a week 28!

7/1/08

Well, it was a hot one, about 87 F, but we still did manage to see a few birds. We got 12, one above the median for a week 27.

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

We studied a hummingbird for sometime but had to resort to Hummingbird, sp., as it was just too plain to call. It just had no significant color at all, nothing on the chin, and the tail seemed monochrome too. A little odd.

The stats:
The date: 7/1/08
The week number: 27
The walk number: 942
The weather: 87F, sunny
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Glenn Hamell, Simon Radford, Sachin Shenoy, Viveca Sapin-Areeda, Darren Dowell

The birds (12):

Rock Pigeon
Northern Mockingbird
House Sparrow
House Finch
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Raven
Lesser Goldfinch
Bushtit
Black Phoebe
Starling
Hummingbird, sp.

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
7/1/08
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu