5/27/08

We're three for three weather-wise with this week's break being not from the heat but from the rain and cold! With the temperature again in the low 70s, under patchy clouds, our faithful three had a pleasant trip around the route. We're turning in a respectable count of 15 birds; our highlights being a pair of sweetly-singing House Wrens guarding their nest in the Tournament Park Sycamore and a Red-whiskered Bulbul braving the Polytech campus. Viveca spotted him move in as we were eyeing a nearby Mockingbird. For the third week in a row we capped the walk with Yellow-chevroned Parakeets.

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

The stats:
The date: 05/27/08
The week number: 22
The walk number: 937
The weather: 71F, scattered clouds
The walkers: Viveca Sapin-Areeda, Glenn Hamell, Beth Moore
The birds (15):

Rock Pigeon
Scrub Jay
Northern Mockingbird
House Sparrow
House Finch
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Red-whiskered Bulbul
Black Phoebe
European Starling
House Wren
Bushtit
Raven
Black-chinned Hummingbird
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet

-- reported by Beth Moore

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
6/2/08
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu

5/20/08

For the second time in as many weeks our birders were blessed with the first break in a beastly heat wave. We set off under light clouds with a cool breeze and thought the beautiful day would be bountiful as well; but our walk did not deliver on its early promise. We started auspiciously enough with two White-throated Swifts soaring high above and a Spotted Towhee trilling from behind a house on Arden. It was pretty slow going after that. We didn't see a hawk of any sort until we'd reached the parking lot near Broad. It gets worse. We didn't spot a single representative of the Family Columbidae. No Mourning Dove, no Band-tailed Pigeon, no Rock Pigeon. We're even reporting a Hummingbird, sp. Alan, come back!

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

The stats:
The date: 05/20/08
The week number: 21
The walk number: 936
The weather: 74F, sparse clouds
The walkers: Viveca Sapin-Areeda, Beth Moore, Sachin Shenoy
The birds (15):

Rock Pigeon
Scrub Jay
Northern Mockingbird
House Sparrow
House Finch
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Black Phoebe
White-throated Swift
European Starling
Bushtit
Cooper's Hawk
Lesser Goldfinch
Hummingbird, sp
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet

-- reported by Beth Moore

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
6/2/08
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu

5/13/08

It was a picture-perfect day, with a clear blue sky and a moderate 74 degrees. This was a soaring day from the get-go. We spotted a Turkey Vulture as we waited on our corner of California and a Sharp-shinned Hawk as we left the maintenance yard. Add to those a Cooper's Hawk and a Red-tailed Hawk and one could not dispute the *soaring* designation. The Black Phoebe family we've been seeing in the IPAC grove were all present and accounted for, as were three oh-so-close-to-fledgling Ravens and a nest containing an indeterminate number of Black-chinned Hummingbird eggs. Glenn and I capped off the walk by watching a small flock of Yellow-chevroned parakeets playing in a Eucalyptus tree right outside of the Downs building. It was a fine day all around with a total of 20 species observed.

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

The stats:
The date: 05/13/08
The week number: 20
The walk number: 935
The weather: 74F, sunny
The walkers: Glenn Hamell, Viveca Sapin-Areeda, Beth Moore

The birds (20):

Rock Pigeon
Scrub Jay
Mockingbird
House Sparrow
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Turkey Vulture
Black Phoebe
European Starling
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Bushtit
Cooper's Hawk
Band-tailed Pigeon
Red-tailed Hawk
Lesser Goldfinch
Black-chinned Hummingbird
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet
Common Raven

-- reported by Beth Moore

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
6/2/08
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu

5/6/08

The star of this weeks walk is Common Yellowthroat. It was spotted by Glenn. He located it in a tree, near Wilson Ave (Broad Center). We glimpsed another Warbler (olive green above and bright yellow on the chest and belly) near Morrisroe but I couldn't see enough field marks to id it.

We saw the female house wren going in and out of the nest (hole in the tree, tournament park) and we heard some chicks chirping :) So we will have to keep track of them.

We found a new nest (black-chinned hummingbird). It was in the same tree as the one we saw last time but was built on different branch. The female BCH was seen sitting in the nest.

As usual we also saw the raven chicks ..... I could see three of them moving about. Maybe the fourth one was hidden behind. I am not sure.

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

The stats:
The date: 5/06/08
The week number: 19
The walk number: 934
The weather: 64F, very cloudy
The walkers: Glenn Hamell, Viveca Sapin-Areeda, Jim Carldom, Sachin Shenoy

The birds (16):

Northern Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
American Crow
House Wren
Nuttall's Woodpecker
European Starling
Common Yellowthroat
Bushtit
American Goldfinch
Yellow-Chevroned Parakeet
Black-chinned Hummingbird
Common Raven

-- reported by Sachin Shenoy

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
6/2/08
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu