Caltech Birding

3/30/09

Another good Spring walk. We saw 23 species, well above the median for a week 13. Those two sentences were nearly identical to last week, only differing in the last two characters.

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

The only no-show amongst the regulars was the Scrub Jay. Last week the only no-show was the Mourning Dove. We did miss a couple of birds. Viveca and Nathan both saw a large, white bird flapping in the far distance with sort of big, rounded wings. I tried to make them say it was a gull, but no luck. Viveca was sure it wasn't a gull. So, we had to leave that one off the list entirely. And there was one other that Nathan saw shoot out of a tree like a bullet. Or was it a rocket? Anyway, it got away without being identified. We again heard both wrens, but we didn't see the House Wren at its nesting hole. Maybe the eggs have hatched.

The stats:
The date: 3/30/09
The week number: 13
The walk number: 981
The weather: 65 F, partly cloudy
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Viveca Sapin-Areeda, Nathan Dalleska, Kent Potter

The birds (23):

Rock Pigeon
Northern Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet
Red-tailed Hawk
Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Bushtit
Spotted Towhee
White-throated Swift
House Wren
Bewick's Wren
Hummingbird, Selasphorus
Lesser Goldfinch
Orange-crowned Warbler
Cedar Waxwing
Raven

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
3/30/09
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu

3/23/09

Another good Spring walk. We saw 23 species, well above the median for a week 12.

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

The only no-show amongst the regulars was the Mourning Dove. Highlights were the Hermit Thrush, both Wrens, and a Townsend's Warbler. The House Wren is again nesting in a hole of a tree in Tournament Park, the same hole that's been used in the past couple of years. The Bewick's Wren hangs out in the same park.

Next week is week 13, the all-time record week for highest number of species seen, 31.

The stats:
The date: 3/23/09
The week number: 12
The walk number: 980
The weather: 60 F, sunny
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Beth Moore, Darren Dowell, Viveca Sapin-Areeda, Kent Potter

The birds (23):

Rock Pigeon
Scrub Jay
Northern Mockingbird
House Sparrow
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Bushtit
Lesser Goldfinch
Raven
Starling
Hermit Thrush
Swift, sp.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
House Wren
Bewick's Wren
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet
Black Phoebe
Cedar Waxwing
Townsend's Warbler
Band-tailed Pigeon

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
3/25/09

http://birdwalks.caltech.edu

3/16/09

It was a spectacular day and a spectacular walk. We had 20 species when we left Tournament Park and that is one more than I ever remember having at that point. But that's an unoffical recollection and not a record. But it had us thinking about a record. The all time record for any week is 31 and we wound up with 27. Not bad. It wasn't a week 11 record either but the walk score was big and positive. How does a 1.90804 sound? Yes, that's what I'm talking about! It brought the score for the year up to -0.24517, still negative but heading in the right direction.

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

(Now you may wonder why I display so many digits in the walk scores. I guess because they are there in my spreadsheet. That could be adjusted to any number I please. I guess I please to leave it as is. But I could be talked down if anyone cares about it. Probably 3 digits to the right of the decimal point is the minimum needed to have every score be unique, but I haven't checked that.)

We finally got all the regulars. And we got two hawks, two wrens, a swift, a swallow, and on and on. See the list below. What we didn't get and could have gotten and which if we had gotten we would have broken the record were: Western Bluebird, Hermit Thrush, Cedar Waxwing, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Great Egret, Downy Woodpecker, Nuttall's Woodpecker, Dark-eyed Junco, Spotted Towhee, Hummingbird Selasphorus-style, and Red-naped Sapsucker. All of those are eminently possible and would have brought the number to 40, obliterating the all time record. It didn't happen. But I can see how it could happen.

The stats:
The date: 3/16/09
The week number: 11
The walk number: 979
The weather: 66 F, sunny
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Darren Dowell, Viveca Sapin-Areeda, Beth Moore, Chris Martin

The birds (27):

Rock Pigeon
Scrub Jay
Northern Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
White-throated Swift
Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Lesser Goldfinch
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Raven
House Wren
Red-tailed Hawk
American Goldfinch
White-crowned Sparrow
Bushtit
Townsend's Warbler
Bewick's Wren
Cooper's Hawk
Band-tailed Pigeon
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Black Phoebe

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
3/16/09
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu

3/9/09

It was interesting walk. We got 18 species, which is the median for a week 10. Nonetheless, because the average is just a tad above the median, we scored -0.10070. Negative, but not that bad.

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

The interesting finds were:

1) An Anna's Hummingbird on the nest stuffing its youngs' mouths with food. I'm wondering how they do that without causing some injury. I mean their eyes are on the sides of their heads. They can't see what they're doing. They work very vigorously with lots of fast motions. I mean how do they not stab something they don't want to stab.

2) A pair of Red-shouldered Hawks being chased by a crow. This was a difficult call. But it was their calls that sealed the deal for me. Sounded just like the calls coming out of my iPhone. Also, the tail was banded, so it was not a Red-tailed Hawk. And the call of a Cooper's is quite different and it wasn't that. iPhone to the rescue.

3) Black-throated Gray Warbler.

4) White-crowned Sparrow -- first one of those in a long while.

The stats:
The date: 3/9/09
The week number: 10
The walk number: 978
The weather: 57 F, partly cloudy
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Kent Potter, Jim Carlblom, Beth Moore, Viveca Sapin-Areeda

The birds (18):

House Sparrow
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Bushtit
Black Phoebe
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Cedar Waxwing
Black-throated Gray Warbler
White-crowned Sparrow
Downy Woodpecker
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-shouldered Hawk
Starling
Raven
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
3/9/09
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu

3/2/09

A rainy walk again. It started about halfway through the walk but it was light. We trudged on and finished the walk. No one had an umbrella along but no one got very wet. So, it was OK. The walk, well sort of OK. We got 19 species. Unfortunately the median for a week 9 is 21 and the max is 30, so we scored in the red for the 7th time out of 9 walks this year.

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

Our good bird was a Downy Woodpecker. Our bad birds (no shows) were Rock Pigeon and House Sparrow. What is the world coming to when you don't see a Pock Pigeon or a House Sparrow? More than just the economy appears to be going down the drain.

The stats:
The date: 3/2/09
The week number: 9
The walk number: 977
The weather: 72 F, cloudy with light rain
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Beth Moore, Kent Potter, Darren Dowell, Nathan Dalleska

The birds (19):

Scrub Jay
Mockingbird
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Starling
Downy Woodpecker
American Goldfinch
Band-tailed Pigeon
Lesser Goldfinch
Bushtit
Black Phoebe
Gull, sp.
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet
Raven
Cedar Waxwing

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
3/3/09
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu