3/30/06
It was a record-setting walk...again. Ho-hum. And I don't mean for week
13 of a year. I mean we set the all-time Caltech record! On this
walk, walk number 827 in the series going back to October of 1986,
we recorded 31 species. That is one above the previous record, which
had been attained twice this year. What a year so far!
See the birds_epoch plot at
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm.
It certainly helped to have Jon Feenstra along. There are a couple
of adjustments you have to make when he is along.
For one thing, you need to be able to write fast. He's calling out
that he heard a Bewick's Wren over there, a House Wren
over yonder, American Goldfinches flying overhead, a
White-crowned Sparrow in the bushes, etc. The other
thing is you gotta have some faith. After all the walks
with Jon, 45 so far, the scientist in me still has trouble
with this. He called out Cedar Waxwings but no one else
heard a thing so I didn't put it down. Can you imagine? But
later we all heard them clearly. On the White-crowned, I heard nothing,
but in just a little while, Kent spotted a couple that
had popped up out of some bushes and into the fence. I didn't hear
the Bewick's when Jon called it but later that wren was all over us.
Couldn't kick it out of the way. Ok, the wren makes a lot
of noise so maybe that's not so impressive, but how about
hearing the Black-throated Gray Warbler make a cheep and calling that
out, only to have it show it's black-throated self in a few seconds?
And on and on. We eventually did see or confirm by sound almost all that he
quick-called on single-note calls. So, I don't think we need an asterisk
by the record but it is a bit like birding on steriods when he comes along.
In addition to quantity we had quality today. We saw a Red-shouldered Hawk,
a bird we hadn't seen since 28 January 2003. And we had Spotted Towhee,
the two wrens, a Black-throated Gray Warbler, Tree Swallow,
and the 31st bird was the Great Egret. How great was that?!
We probably saw the sapsucker in the park but no one got a good enough look
for me to record it. Glenn said it had white in the wing and went
to the trunk of the sapsucker tree but it soon flew before we
could catch up to it. Hmmm.. white in the wing; maybe it was an Ivory-bllled!
The stats:
The date: 3/30/06
The week number: 13
The walk number: 827
The weather: 64 F, partly cloudy
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Glenn Hamell, Jon Feenstra, Kent Potter
The birds (31):
Rock Pigeon
Scrub Jay
Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Starling
Raven
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet
Lesser Goldfinch
Orange-crowned Warbler
Bushtit
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Spotted Towhee
Red-shouldered Hawk
Bewick's Wren
White-crowned Sparrow
House Wren
Hummingbird, Selasphorus (probably Allen's)
Band-tailed Pigeon
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Black Phoebe
American Goldfinch
Cooper's Hawk
Tree Swallow
Cedar Waxwing
Great Egret
Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
3/30/06
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu
3/23/06
3/23/06 (see emails at bottom changing Willow Flycatcher to Flycatcher, sp.)
It was an interesting walk. We didn't get the numbers we'd been
getting the last 3 weeks, but we got some interesting birds.
Over the previous three weeks, we've AVERAGED the previous record
(of 28), getting 30, 24, and 30. We only got 17 species,
which is well below par for week 12 of a year. See the birds_epoch plot at
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm.
But we got some quality birds. We got the Red-breasted Sapsucker,
surely a sight for sore eyes. And we puzzled over a flycatcher
for some time. I'm going with Willow Flycatcher. We've
only seen it once before, on 20 May 2003 when Jon Feenstra
was along. If this was going to be a first sighting, I would put
down Flycatcher, sp. These little flycatchers are tough. It
did not have an eye-ring. Other possibilities include
Gray Flycatcher and Western Wood-Pewee, both of which
we've also seen on campus. I'd say Jon could have saved us about
10 minutes on that one. We also saw the Red-crowned Parrot
sitting right out in the open in the tree at the southwest end of
the south athletic field.
The stats:
The date: 3/23/06
The week number: 12
The walk number: 826
The weather: 74 F, sunny
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Simon Radford, Carolyn Ash
The birds (17):
Rock Dove
Mockingbird
House Sparrow
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
White-throated Swift
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Cooper's Hawk
Raven
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Flycatcher, sp. (was Willow)
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet
Bushtit
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Red-crowned Parrot
Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
3/24/06
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu
All:
I will demote the Willow to Flycatcher, sp.
I obviously don't have a good case for a specific bird.
I would have thought I'd have seen a lot
more tail wagging if it were to be an Eastern Phoebe.
Eastern Wood-pewee comes closest but
I don't want to claim that. I forgot to get
a DNA sample! Sound would have helped -- if Jon
had been along.
Jon, if you drop by my office today,
I can give you the key to the maintenance yard.
I'm in 227 Downs.
Thanks,
Alan
From: "Jonathan S. Feenstra"
You mean Western Wood-Pewee, I imagine, or Eastern Phoebe? Eastern
Wood-Pewee has only a handful of records for the entire state and would take
sound recordings and probably a DNA sample to prove unequivocably (and
certainly to convince the hordes of CA birders who would come here to see
it).
However possible, Western Wood-Pewee and Eastern Phoebe are still both very
are in LA County. Western Wood-Pewee is a common migrant through the
lowlands and breeder in our mountains, but not in March. Maybe I'll take a
walk over there tomorrow morning and poke around a little. Either would be a
significant record.
I don't know what to make of the rust/buff. Most of the drab flycatchers are
just a dull olive gray with some hints of yellow on the mostly white
underparts. Always, with flycatchers, sound is the way to nail the ID. It's
a shame it wasn't calling. The remainder of flycatcher ID is based on
several weighted features - the size, shape, and color of the bill; the
projection of the primary feathers beyond the tertial feathers, the shape of
the head, the shape of the eye ring, and the posture and behavior. Most
cases require good looks at several field marks - unless it calls, then all
is forgiven.
-- Jon
Jon:
It was in the oak tree at the southeast corner of the
maintenance yard (the one that's across the fence to the east).
It was just sitting on a branch preening. I didn't see
tail bobs; maybe a low one but that could
have been part of the preening process. When it did fold out
it's wings, I thought I saw some rusty or buffy color in there.
It seemed small to us. I thought I detected some
faint yellow wash on the belly. Looking just
now in the Kaufman and Sibley books, Eastern Wood-pewee is pretty
much exactly what it looked like. I didn't consider it
at all at the time because the map gives it no chance.
It flew off before we could zero in on the the color(s)
of the beak.
If it was the Eastern Wood-pewee, it would be a first
for the campus.
Alan
Hi Alan,
I wish I could have been there. Winter flycatchers are usually something
interesting. Where was it?
As for the species, Willow would be very unlikely. They are late migrants
only showing up around here mid-May to mid-June. Western Wood-Pewee never
shows up around here before April. Gray, although rare, is one that does
occasionally spend the winter. They can be identified from their
Phoebe-like behavior, by that I mean a slow repetition of tail bobs.
Was this bird being difficult or just sitting comfortably on a branch or fence or something?
Any calls?
Also an outside stretch - what about Eastern Phoebe? I had one in
Pasadena (Eaton Canyon) a couple of weeks ago. It's a very rare bird in
California, but not impossible and is a dull flycatcher without an eyering.
Phoebes and Pewees are larger than the Empidonax flycatchers (like Gray
and Willow) which is often a helpful field mark separating those.
-- Jon
3/14/06
Today is the birthday of two important people in history:
Albert Einstein and my wife Suzette Cummings. And thus what
a fine day to TIE THE ALL-TIME RECORD! Yes, indeedy, we recorded
30 species, just two weeks after accomplishing that total for
the first time ever. See the birds_epoch plot at
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm.
No doubt, we were aided by the return of Jon Feenstra to the walk.
Jon is finishing up his Ph.D. thesis under Dr. Zewail at Caltech
and was on his 44th walk overall, but he had last walked in 2004.
There were 3 or 4 birds he pulled in for us that I'm pretty sure
we would have missed. So, welcome back Jon and thanks. And please
excuse me for occasionally asking, "Jon, are you sure?" I don't know
why I ask; I haven't caught you in a mistake yet.
The most unusual birds we saw were the Turkey Vulture, Sharp-shinned Hawk
(one of my "are you sure" birds), and Violet-green Swallow.
It was also unusual to see two wrens, the House and Bewick's.
The stats:
The date: 3/14/06
The week number: 11
The walk number: 825
The weather: 65 F, sunny
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Kent Potter, Jon Feenstra, Brendan Crill,
Celeste Moore, Christina Pinkney
The birds (30):
Rock Dove
Scrub Jay
Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Bushtit
Raven
House Wren
Hermit Thrush
Red-tailed Hawk
Sharp-shinned Hawk
White-throated Swift
Black Phoebe
Starling
White-crowned Sparrow
Selasphorus Hummingbird
Bewick's Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet
Turkey Vulture
Band-tailed Pigeon
Lesser Goldfinch
Cedar Waxwing
Violet-green Swallow
Orange-crowned Warbler
Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
3/14/06
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu
3/7/06
All:
Thanks, Brendan, for filing the report. I am now back in town.
Since you did record House Sparrow, your first observation
of an alternate sparrow is disallowed because your best
guess was House Sparrow. However, your second observation
was of a sparrow that was definitely not a House or a White-crowned.
So, I'll give you Sparrow, sp. on that one.
So, 24 -- good job!
Thanks,
Alan
PS: Brendan, please bring the notepad and key tomorrow.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi everyone,
We had a good turnout of walkers this week. With all those pairs of eyes, we
counted 23 species. In addition, we had two questionable sparrows - I'll
defer to Alan on how to include these in the count. The first we saw was in
the maintenance yard among the large pipes and the second was in Tournament
park. The first didn't give us a good look, but it was definitely not
white-crowned or a house sparrow and the second I'm pretty sure was a female
house sparrow, but other folks didn't agree with me. Sadly, we had neither a
field guide nor sparrow expertise.
Two new walkers this week: Simon Radford and Celeste Moore. Welcome!
The stats:
The date: 3/7/06
The week number: 10
The walk number: 824
The weather: 61 F, sunny
The walkers: Brendan Crill, Glenn Hamell, Carolyn Ash, Bill Jones,
Christina Pinkney, Barbara Ellis, Matt Bradford, Simon Radford,
Kent Potter, Celeste Moore
The birds: 24 (Ed. note: I removed on Sparrow Sp. from the list)
Rock Dove
Scrub Jay
Northern Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
American Crow
Red-tailed Hawk
Black Phoebe
Sparrow sp.
Common Raven
Band-tailed Pigeon
White-crowned Sparrow
Red-crowned Parrot
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Turkey Vulture
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet
Violet-green Swallow
Western Bluebird
Cheers,
Brendan
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu