5/31/11

So, we only observed 16 species this week. It was still above average, so we got another positive walk score out of it. That's 15 positive-scoring walks in a row.

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

What was the bird of the day? That's a good question. I guess Black-chinned Hummingbird qualifies. Maybe a Red-whiskered Bulbul, but those are getting to be pretty common on the walks these days.

There is a report of Lazuli Buntings at a house just a few blocks away from Caltech. Would someone please shoo one of those over this way next Monday?

The date: 5/31/11
The week number: 22
The walk number: 1093
The weather: 73°F, partly cloudy

The walkers: Alan Cummings, Beth Moore, John Beckett, Viveca Sapin-Areeda,
Carole Worra, Barbara Ellis, Vicky Brennan

The birds (16):

Northern Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
American Crow
White-throated Swift
Bewick's Wren
Black Phoebe
Starling
Red-whiskered Bulbul
Lesser Goldfinch
Black-chinned Hummingbird
Band-tailed Pigeon
American Robin
Bushtit

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
6/2/11

http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/index.html

5/23/11

We had a pretty good walk, getting 24 species, the same number as last week, and two short of the record high for a week 21. Not half-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 bird of the day was a Rock Pigeon! I'm not kidding; seeing those lately has been a challenge. The other, good bird was a Western Wood-Pewee. It took us a while to pin down the identification, but we got the job done. Other than that, just a good number of birds we should see when it's a good day. And it was a good day.

The date: 5/23/11
The week number: 21
The walk number: 1092
The weather: 62°F, partly cloudy

The walkers: Alan Cummings, Darren Dowell, Barbara Ellis, John Beckett

The birds (24):

Rock Pigeon
Northern Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
American Crow
Starling
Lesser Goldfinch
Black Phoebe
Red-whiskered Bulbul
Cooper's Hawk
White-throated Swift
Spotted Towhee
Bushtit
House Wren
Red-shouldered Hawk
Western Bluebird
Bewick's Wren
Western Wood-Pewee
Hummingbird, Selasphorus
Nuttall's Woodpecker
Common Raven

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
5/26/11

http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/index.html

5/16/11

This was a very interesting walk. First the numbers: 24 species observed, three short of the record-high for a week 20. The walk score was 1.76509, a good score.

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

We saw two interesting and unusual birds: Black-headed Grosbeak and Wilson's Warbler. We hadn't seen either in quite a while. The other unusuality was the Mallard situation. There were three males on the rock in the Throop ponds. No females to be seen. That is a first, as far as I know.

I told you it was a very interesting walk.

The date: 5/16/11
The week number: 20
The walk number: 1091
The weather: 60°F, partly cloudy

The walkers: Alan Cummings, Vivica Sapin-Areeda, Darren Dowell, John Beckett,
Carole Worra, Chaitali Parashare, Vicky with a Y Brennan, Ashish Mahabal

The birds (24):

Northern Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
American Crow
Starling
Mallard
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet
Black-chinned Hummingbird
Black Phoebe
Nuttall's Woodpecker
Bushtit
Red-whiskered Bulbul
Spotted Towhee
Band-tailed Pigeon
Red-crowned Parrot
Black-headed Grosbeak
Red-shouldered Hawk
Bewick's Wren
Lesser Goldfinch
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Common Raven
Wilson's Warbler

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
5/21/11

http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/index.html

5/9/11

I could re-run last week's report, pretty much. We had an above normal walk total but no record was set. We observed 19 species, nine below the record high for a week 19. All the same numbers, except last week we were only four below the record high.

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

We had good weather and some pretty good birds, including the Red-shouldered Hawk, which was out of the tree and hanging onto a branch near the trunk. It was probably the immature.

The date: 5/9/11
The week number: 19
The walk number: 1090
The weather: 60°F, partly cloudy

The walkers: Alan Cummings, John Beckett, Carole Worra, Vivica Sapin-Areeda,
Ashish Mahabal, Vicky Brennan

The birds (19):

Northern Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
American Crow
Starling
Spotted Towhee
California Towhee
Band-tailed Pigeon
Nuttall's Woodpecker
Red-crowned Parrot
Red-shouldered Hawk
Turkey Vulture
Hummingbird, Selasphorus
Bushtit
Black Phoebe
Common Raven

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
5/13/11

http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/index.html

5/2/11

We had an above normal walk total but no record was set. We observed 19 species, four below the record high for a week 18.

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

It was a pretty hot walk (83 F) and the birds took a hit. After observing 29 last week, we droped 10 spots down to 19. We didn't see the Yellow-rumped Warbler, as I predicted. Unfortunately, we didn't see the Whimbrel either. It was on the south or north athletic field from sometime Tuesday until sometime on Saturday but didn't stay around long enough to get on the Caltech birdwalk list. Rats!

We did see a Black-chinned Hummingbird, first of the season. The Red-shouldered Hawk was not on its nest. Rats!

On the good side, walker-wise, we had a new walker and one who returned to the walks for the first time this year. The latter was Barbara Ellis. Good to see her again. The new walker is Chaitali Parashare. She just got her PhD at the University of Virginia and will be post-docing at JPL. Chaitali is the 127th individual to participate in the Caltech birdwalks and brings the cumulative person-walks total to 3923. We've got 4000 in our sights! Welcome to the walks, Chaitali.

The date: 5/2/11
The week number: 18
The walk number: 1089
The weather: 83°F, sunny

The walkers: Alan Cummings, Barbara Ellis, Ashish Mahabal, Chaitali Parashare,
Vivica Sapin-Areeda, Carole Worra, Vicky Brennan, Beth Moore

The birds (19):

Scrub Jay
Northern Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
American Crow
White-throated Swift
Black Phoebe
Bushtit
Band-tailed Pigeon
Turkey Vulture
Black-chinned Hummingbird
Lesser Goldfinch
Cooper's Hawk
Common Raven
House Wren
Starling
Mallard

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
5/2/11

http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/index.html