03/04/03

Birders:

Kent, Bill, Glenn, Ashish (for first half), and I trudged around in freezing 55 deg weather and saw a lot of birds. We had the record in sight. We needed a Gull and a Red-tailed Hawk, or even a Snowy Owl or maybe a swallow or swift. (28 is the record and we got 26).

Highlights included a Hermit Thrush, a Selasphorus Hummingbird, and a Western Tanager.

Alan

03/11/03

Birders:

Bill, Kent, Glenn, Bob, and I trudged around campus in beautiful weather and recorded 20 species, a little above average for early March. The highlights were a Northern Flicker and an Allen's Hummingbird. We did not see the elusive sparrow in Tournament Park, as there were a billion little kids running rampant in that part of the Caltech bird sanctuary. Another highlight was the removal of the gate from its hinges down in the rough area below the tennis courts.

Alan

03/18/03

Birders:

Bill Schaefer and I were the lone birders on a cool, blustery day. Actually, that's not quite correct. Jon Feenstra partcipated separately on his way to lunch and recorded two species that Bill and I missed, Bushtits and Cedar Waxwings. So we got 21 for the day. We did not see a Mourning Dove.
But we did see a Turkey Vulture and a Bewick's Wren. Also, I saw the elusive sparrow in the park.
I didn't get a great look, but it appeared to me to be quite reddish-brown on the back. It was not a House Sparrow and it was not a White-crowned, but it was a sparrow. So I'm putting it down
as Sparrow, sp., until Jon tells me what it is. It's an elusive little bugger.

Alan

03/25/03

Birders:

Ok, Jon came along today and we got the goldfinches sorted out. Actually, they were a lot more visible than last time. We had no trouble seeing them but a couple of us were trying to make a particularly bright American into a Lesser. Jon wouldn't have it.

It was a beautiful day and the trudging was pleasant. We didn't have anything all that rare but it
was a good solid day -- 20 was the total. This is toward ther high end of what one expects for this time of the year based on past data.

Ashish saw a White-throated Swift appear to enter one of the light fixtures on Baxter (Ramo?)
and maybe they are building a nest in there? If so, maybe we'll get them regularly for awhile. In a month the Yellow-rumps and the Ruby-crowned Kinglets will be gone so we need something
to take up the slack.

Temp 77F Clear skies
Walkers: Ashish, Kent, Alan, Bill, Jon, Glenn (partial -- Glenn must have been offended by my
denial of his request to leave the walk early 2 weeks ago; this time he didn't ask!).

Rock Dove	Scrub Jay	Mockingbird
House Sparrow	Mourning Dove	House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird	Acorn Woodpecker	Crow
Yellow-rumped Warbler	Raven	Cedar Waxwing
American Goldfinch	Starling	Black Phoebe
Bushtit	Red-tailed Hawk	Band-tailed Pigeon
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	White-throated Swift

Alan