10/25/05
I guess what we've been missing was Brendan Crill. He came out
of IPAC and joined us for his first walk and we wound
up with a record-setting walk! On this our 805th walk of the series
we saw 23 species, one better than the 22 seen during the same week
in 2002 (week 43). One of the first birds he called out was a
thrush and we finally decided it was a Swainson's Thrush, a bird we
have seen only 5 times previously in the 20 years of these walks.
And the Swainson's was not the rarest bird we saw. That honor
fell to a pair of Canada Geese flying directly overhead, second
recording all time. Wow, what a day! It was also Carolyn Ash's
13th walk of her career and maybe that added to our luck.
See the birds_epoch plot at
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm.
Other highlight birds were Cooper's Hawk, Townsend's Warbler,
and Cedar Waxwing. It was our first sighting of waxwings this season.
Oh, and we saw a couple of Scrub Jays. So West Nile didn't get them all;
they're back.
The stats:
The date: 10/25/05
The week number: 43
The walk number: 805
The weather: 65 F, overcast
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Glenn Hamell, Brendan Crill, Kent Potter, Carolyn Ash
The birds (23):
Rock Pigeon
Scrub Jay
Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black Phoebe
Hermit Thrush (note: Jon Feenstra said the Swainson's must have been a Hermit)
Cooper's Hawk
Townsend's Warbler
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Bushtit
Canada Goose
Orange-crowned Warbler
Band-tailed Pigeon
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet
Starling
Hummingbird, Selasphorus
Respectfully submitted,
Alan
10/25/05
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu
10/20/05
It was a good walk. The weather was very pleasant and the birds
were out in force for week 42 of the year. We saw 17 species, which
was the third highest total in history for a week 42. If we had
seen a Scrub Jay and a Mockingbird, two very common birds
until recently, we'd have tied the record high for week 42.
See the birds_epoch plot at
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm.
The highlight birds were the White-throated
Swift, Orange-crowned Warbler, and the Allen's (or Rufous) Hummingbird.
Yellow-rumped Warblers were everywhere and we saw a Ruby-crowned Kinglet.
So the birds of Fall have returned -- well some of them anyway.
The stats:
The date: 10/20/05
The week number: 42
The walk number: 804
The weather: 72 F, sunny
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Glenn Hamell, Kent Potter
The birds (17):
Rock Pigeon
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
White-throated Swift
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black Phoebe
Orange-crowned Warbler
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Red-tailed Hawk
Raven
Band-tailed Pigeon
Lesser Goldfinch
Hummingbird, Selasphorus
Respectfully submitted,
Alan
10/20/05
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu
10/12/05
Not great. We saw 14 species, which is on the low end of
what to expect on week 41 of the year. But it wasn't a record low.
See the birds_epoch plot at
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm.
We did see the Western Meadowlarks again, on the North athletic field.
And we bagged a Ruby-crowned Kinglet and, of course,
Yellow-rumped Warblers were out and about. We
got a fleeting glimpse of a pair of Lesser Goldfinches. But
we didn't get Scrub Jay or Mourning Dove and that hurt us.
Sixteen would have been more typical for week 41.
The stats:
The date: 10/12/05
The week number: 41
The walk number: 803
The weather: 74 F, sunny
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Glenn Hamell, Kent Potter, Carolyn Ash
The birds (14):
Rock Pigeon
Mockingbird
House Sparrow
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Western Meadowlark
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Red-tailed Hawk
Bushtit
Lesser Goldfinch
Mallard
Respectfully submitted,
Alan
10/12/05
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu
10/4/05
Eric Christian joined us again and said he would bring us
some birds. I guess he did. We got 16 species, way above the average
of the last few weeks.
See the birds_epoch plot at
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm.
Eric is a former grad student in the group I work in. He got
his PhD in 1989 and is now at NASA Headquarters. He gets back
here occasionally for a meeting and when it's on a Tuesday, he often
manages to make the walk. Thanks, Eric.
While waiting for Carloyn to arrive (she wasn't late;
we were early), Eric noticed a small
flock of birds on the new athletic field. They turned
out to be Western Meadowlarks, a real highlight. We've seen
them on 13 occasions over the past 20 years. We also saw
our first Yellow-rumped Warbler of the Fall season, as
well as our first Orange-crowned Warbler. We finished with
a Hummingbird, Selasphorus, i.e., either an Allen's
or Rufous. It was a pretty good day. We even got a Scrub Jay --
but no Crow.
The stats:
The date: 10/4/05
The week number: 40
The walk number: 802
The weather: 74 F, sunny
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Eric Christian, Glenn Hamell, Kent Potter, Carolyn Ash
The birds (16):
Rock Pigeon
Scrub Jay
Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Western Meadowlark
Black Phoebe
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Bushtit
Orange-crowned Warbler
Band-tailed Pigeon
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet
Hummingbird, Selasphorus
Respectfully submitted,
Alan
10/4/05
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu