11/29/05
Pretty quiet birding day. In fact, it was
so quiet I found myself wishing we'd run across
a tree trimmer so we'd have an excuse
for not hearing any birds.
I guess the story of the day was the
Cooper's Hawk. Glenn and Carolyn
first saw it in a tree on Wilson and then it
sailed out of there before an identification
had been established. No one got a real good look
when it sailed out either. We thought sure
it landed in a nmearby tree but we couldn't
find it. So, we debated Merlin vs. Cooper's until we
found it again near Chester, in the tall conifer.
When it sailed out of there, it was a Cooper's.
We didn't see a lot of birds, only 15 species, which
is below average for this time of year. The record
for week 48 is 22 seen in 1999 and 2002.
See the birds_epoch plot at
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm.
The stats:
The date: 11/29/05
The week number: 48
The walk number: 810
The weather: 63 F, sunny
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Glenn Hamell, Brendan Crill, Carolyn Ash
The birds (15):
Rock Pigeon
Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Black Phoebe
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Bushtit
Cooper's Hawk
Raven
Red-tailed Hawk
Respectfully submitted,
Alan
11/30/05
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu
11/23/05
Nice respectable walk. The temperature was a pleasant
70 F and it was cloudy. The birds were out, as evidenced by the fact
that for the first time in a long time, all the
"regulars" were present and accounted for.
(The regulars are the 9 species pre-printed at the top
of the checklist that Bill Schaefer invented for us
to use a long time ago. Lately, the regulars have been irregular.)
We got 18 species, which is above average. The record
for a week 47 is 21, achieved in 1990 and 1999.
See the birds_epoch plot at
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm.
The stats:
The date: 11/23/05
The week number: 47
The walk number: 809
The weather: 70 F, cloudy
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Kent Potter, Carolyn Ash
The birds (18):
Rock Pigeon
Scrub Jay
Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Raven
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Black Phoebe
Hermit Thrush
Bushtit
Band-tailed Pigeon
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet
Respectfully submitted,
Alan
11/27/05
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu
11/15/05
That was one noisy walk! We first encountered the trash collector
truck south of the south athletic field and we seemed to follow him
around while he made his stops, all the way up Wilson. And then we
ran into the guy with the jackhammer at the corner of Wilson and California,
followed shortly thereafter by the tree trimmers in Bechtel Mall.
Then we caught up with the trash truck again. Ah ya yi!
Despite all the noise we did get 16 birds, which is about
typical for a week 46. Last year during week 46 we only got 11 species.
The record is 22 set way back in 1989. See the birds_epoch plot at
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm.
The stats:
The date: 11/15/05
The week number: 46
The walk number: 808
The weather: 77 F, sunny
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Glenn Hamell, Brendan Crill, Kent Potter
The birds (16):
Rock Pigeon
Scrub Jay
Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black Phoebe
Wren, sp.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Starling
American Goldfinch
Band-tailed Pigeon
Rufous Hummingbird
Respectfully submitted,
Alan
11/16/05
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu
11/8/05
OK, the week 45 walk of 2005 is in the books and it was
a successful one, i.e., we did not set any negative records.
We recorded 17 species, about typcial. The low
for week 45 is 9 in 1987 and the high is 23, reached
a couple of times, the last time being last year.
See the birds_epoch plot at
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm.
We had a good group of 5 birders and the extra eyes helped.
Brendan tracked down the elusive Hermit Thrush
and Glenn spotted the only Scrub Jay of the day.
Nobody could come up with a House Sparrow, of all things.
I gave us all one demerit for that.
The stats:
The date: 11/8/05
The week number: 45
The walk number: 807
The weather: 64 F, partly cloudy
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Glenn Hamell, Kent Potter, Brendan Crill, Carolyn Ash
The birds (17):
Rock Pigeon
Scrub Jay
Mockingbird
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Mallard
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black Phoebe
Hermit Thrush
Cedar Waxwing
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Band-tailed Pigeon
Bushtit
American Goldfinch
Respectfully submitted,
Alan
11/8/05
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu
11/1/05
Last week I attributed our record-setting walk to the addition
of Brendan Crill, the 70th individual to participate
in these walks that go back to the Fall of 1986. Well, guess
what? Another week and another record was tied and Brendan
Crill was again along. But, unfortunately, this was not the record we
were looking for. We tied the record for futility for
week 44 of a year. Yep, it seems to be feast or
famine around here. It was warm, about 82 F, so that may
have kept the birds in the shade or something, but we only
saw 11 species. That happened to us before in 1994 and in 1986.
See the birds_epoch plot at
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm.
Carolyn Ash and Kent Potter did not walk this week but they did
last week, so now they look like superstar birders.
So maybe it was their presence last week that led
to the good kind of record. Or maybe they just lucked out!
We again saw the thrush and after consulting with Jon Feenstra
we are correcting last week's report by now calling
it a Hermit Thrush rather than a Swainson's Thrush.
Jon gave us the "almost impossible this time of year" story
on our call of Swainson's Thrush. When Jon graduates this June
we will miss his commentary (not to mention his walks!).
But I hope he still will comment in these kinds of situations
even after he leaves Caltech to keep us in line.
The stats:
The date: 11/1/05
The week number: 44
The walk number: 806
The weather: 82 F, partly cloudy
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Glenn Hamell, Brendan Crill
The birds (11):
Rock Pigeon
Mockingbird
House Sparrow
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Hermit Thrush
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Raven
Respectfully submitted,
Alan
11/1/05
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu