05/06/03
A quiet day, with only the probable sighting of a California Condor to excite us. Temperature 62F, cloudy until Jon left us. Only 18 species confirmed. Present: Kent, Glenn, Bill, Jon.
| Rock Dove | Mallard | Bandtailed Pigeon |
| Downy Woodpecker | Black-chinned Hummingbird | Spotted Towhee |
| Yellow-chevroned Parakeet | Black Phoebe | Bush-tit |
| Scrub Jay | Northern Mockingbird | House Sparrow |
| Mourning Dove | House Finch | Anna's Hummingbird |
| Acorn Woodpecker | Crow. |
Respectfully submitted, Bill Schaefer.
05/13/03
Birders:
Sorry to get this report out late
but I was under the gun until today.
I wrote a bunch of papers in the last week for
a conference in Japan that will
occur later this summer.
Last Wednesday (5/13/03) was a nice birding day. It was cloudy
and about 73 F. The walkers were
Jon, Bill, Glenn, Ashish, Kent, and me.
We walked and we talked.
Jon was on top of his game and we came
in with 24 species -- by far a record for May.
Two highlights: a pair of Balckchinned hummers
and an angry female Spotted Towhee.
Both highlights were in the maintenance
yard southeast of the tennis courts.
I must have disturbed the Towhees nest
because it took exception to where
I was walking. And this is one
species where the female looks almost
as good as the male. A very nice upclose
and personal sighting.
The list:
Rock Dove
Scrub Jay
Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Raven
Starling
Mallard
Wilson's Warbler
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet
Spotted Towhee
Bushtits
Blackchinned Hummingbird
Bewick's Wren
Yellow Warbler
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Nuttal's Woodpecker
Western Tanager
Black Phoebe
Cooper's Hawk
Alan
05/20/03
Birders:
I'd say the good was the count total for the day -- 22. Again that's a super number for this time of year. And some of these were good birds such as Willow Flycatcher and Warbling Vireo. Now mind you I don't even have a Willow Flycatcher on my life list! And I still don't. That's the ugly. Jon got a good look at it but I didn't. I even went back after the walk and tried another 15 minutes on it. I did see a Swainson's Thrush there but not the flycatcher.
The bad was the heat. It was hotter than a blue pistol as we used to say in Texas. It was about 87 F. Unfortunately there will be even hotter days ahead. The heat took it's toll: Kent wore a non-cotton longsleeve shirt and looked a bit haggard by the end of the walk. But he did hang in there. Glenn departed 3/4 way through to seek coolness. Jon departed about the same time to go back to being a grad student. He does sometimes let work get in the way of birding, a little surprising to me actually.
Walkers:
Alan, Glenn (75%), Kent, Bill, Jon (75%)
Weather: 87 F, sunny
| Rock Dove | Scrub Jay | Mockingbird |
| House Sparrow | Mourning Dove | House Finch |
| Anna's Hummingbird | Acorn Woodpecker | Crow |
| Raven | Lesser Goldfinch | Pacific Slope Flycatcher |
| Bewick's Wren | Spotted Towhee | Black Phoebe |
| Willow Flycatcher (new for the Caltech list) | Wilson's Warbler | Warbling Vireo |
| Bushtit | Starling | Band-tailed Pigeon |
| Swainson's Thrush |
See
you next week,
Alan
05/28/03
The few, the hardy, the proud (Kent, Bill, and I)
walked around a hot, sunny campus (90 F) yesterday
and scared up 11 species. Yep, barely broke
double digits.
Rock Dove
Scrub Jay
Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Acron Woodpecker
Crow
Starling
Black Phoebe
Raven
Alan
PS: We didn't even see one hummingbird!
I almost forgot - Although I didn't walk around to much I did walk to
Chandler and back and around my building a little. I picked up a few to add
to the list. I had Bushtits, Downy Woodpecker (right outside Chandler in
the sycamores), and an Anna's Hummingbird.
Good birding this past weekend - a Garganey at the Baker sewage ponds and a
Yellow-Throated Vireo at Banning Park.
Jon