7/26/10
The weather turned even more pleasant, 68 F, but the birds
were a bit hard to find. We observed 13 species, one 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 did have an outstanding sighting. It was a Cooper's Hawk,
sitting out in the open on top of one of the mounds in the
maintenance yard. But, we didn't get a Mockingbird, Scrub Jay,
Rock Pigeon, or an Acorn Woodpecker and that settled
the issue of whether we'd get a record or not. We didn't get close.
The record high for week 30 is 19.
We did welcome two new walkers to the birdwalk. The first was
Vicky Brennan, a relative newcomer to Caltech, working
for Peter Dervan in Chemistry. The second was Uma Venkatesh.
Uma's husband is visiting Caltech for a couple of weeks working
on LIGO. Welcome to the Caltech walks! They are walkers number
121 and 122 and bring the cumulative person walks to 3682. Since
it was walk number 1049, the overall average persons
per walk is 3.5, but we've been averaging closer to 7 this
year and between 5 and 6 the previous three years.
The date: 07/26/10
The week number: 30
The walk number: 1049
The weather: 68 F, sunny
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Viveca Sapin-Areeda, Simon Radford,
Vicky Brennan, John Beckett, Kent Potter, Uma Venkatesh
The birds (13):
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Crow
Lesser Goldfinch
Cooper's Hawk
Black Phoebe
Hummingbird, Selasphorus
Bushtit
Red-masked Parakeet
Turkey Vulture
Band-tailed Pigeon
Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
7/26/10
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/index.html
7/19/10
The weather turned pleasant, 83 F, and the bird count went up, some.
We observed 14 species, three above the median for a week 29,
but 3 short of setting a record for the week. Good enough for
a positive 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 sharp-eyed Viveca spotted a Band-tailed Pigeon
sitting on what appeared to be a nest in the middle of a
fairly dense tree. I don't think I've ever seen a Band-tailed on
a nest. Kent got us a Scrub Jay out of the same tree,
so it was the best tree of the walk.
It would not have been difficult to add another 3 birds and get the
record. We didn't see an Anna's Hummingbird for one thing,
although we did see a Selasphorus-style one. That's unusual.
And if we could get the Acorn Woodpeckers back, it would
help out. And Rock Pigeons have been showing
up at Wilson/San Pasqual but that didn't happen this time.
And where are those Mallards that had been so regular?
So, with just a little more luck we'd have had a record.
The date: 07/19/10
The week number: 29
The walk number: 1048
The weather: 83 F, sunny
The walkers: Alan Cummings, John Beckett, Kent Potter, Viveca Sapin-Areeda
The birds (14):
Scrub Jay
Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Crow
Hummingbird Selasphorus
House Wren
Band-tailed Pigeon
Bushtit
Cooper's Hawk
Lesser Goldfinch
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet
Raven
Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
7/22/10
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/index.html
7/12/10 -- amended
The record-setting streak has come to a screeching halt. We only
observed 12 species, right on the median for a week 28, but since it was just
below the average for week 28, it gave us a negative walk score. We had 16 positive-scoring walks in a row, so sooner or later it was bound to happen.
See the plots at
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/species_time.html
and
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm
Not much to say, except what we didn't see: Mallard, Black Phoebe,
Acorn Woodpecker. On the other hand we saw a Scrub Jay, which we probably
didn't deserve. It wasn't all that hot, so I don't know where the birds were.
The real lowlight, I guess, was the conversation Beth had with a small
child in Tournament Park. The little girl came up to Beth and said
she wanted us out of the park as soon as possible. Beth asked her if it
was because she wanted the park to herself. She said, no, she just
didn't want us watching birds.
The date: 07/12/10
The week number: 28
The walk number: 1047
The weather: 79 F, sunny
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Beth Moore, Viveca Sapin-Areeda, Simon Radford, John Beckett, Chris Martin, Ashish Mahabal
The birds (12):
Rock Pigeon
Scrub Jay
Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Crow
Spotted Towhee
Bushtit
Lesser Goldfinch
Raven -- added by Viveca on her way back to her office
Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
7/16/10
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/index.html
7/6/10
We had a nice, cool walk. Most of the birds showed up; but our female band of
birders were noticeably absent! We missed some 'regulars' such as Red-whiskered
Bulbul and House Finch, but two Western Bluebirds were spotted in the athletic
field and we saw a few Scrub Jays so it was an unusually 'blue' sort of day!
John and I spotted a Raven at the last moment, bringing our final count to 18.
See the plots at
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/species_time.html
and
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm
The date: 07/06/10
The week number: 27
The walk number: 1046
The weather: 66 F, overcast
The walkers: Nathan Dalleska, John Beckett, Tom Palfrey, Kent Potter, Beth Moore
The birds (18):
Rock Pigeon
Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Band-tailed Pigeon
Cooper's Hawk
Scrub Jay
Western Bluebird
Raven
Mallard
Bushtit
Red-crowned Parrot
Lesser Goldfinch
California Towhee
Black Phoebe
-- Beth 7/6/10
Editor's note: 18 ties the record for a week 27.
Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
7/7/10
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/index.html