9/26/06

The walk started slowly but it picked up a lot of steam, surprisingly up Wilson Ave. and we wound up with the 3rd highest total for a week 39. We got 19 species. See the birds_epoch plot at http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm.

Not only did we get numbers, we got some unusual species. We recorded only the 7th sighting ever on a Caltech bird walk of a Nashville Warbler. And we saw a group of 4 Western Meadowlarks in the south athletic field. But maybe the best find was a Mountain Chickadee. It was the 8th time we recorded one of those but the first since 1997. So we had a great birding day.

Yellow-rumped Warblers are due next week. Looking at the probability plots at http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/probability_plots.htm, we have a 40% chance next week and 100% chance for the weeks thereafter until next April.

The stats:
The date: 9/26/06
The week number: 39
The walk number: 851
The weather: 76 F, sunny
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Glenn Hamell, Simon Radford, Brendan Crill

The birds (19):

Rock Pigeon
Scrub Jay
Mockingbird
House Sparrow
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Red-masked Parakeet
Black Phoebe
Western Meadowlark
Nashville Warbler
Band-tailed Pigeon
Lesser Goldfinch
Bushtit
Mountain Chickadee
Raven
Hummingbird, Selasphorus
Vaux's Swift

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
9/26/06
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu

9/19/06

Ok, we're back on track. We got 15 species, including two species with yellow on them. Hurray! It wasn't a record of any kind; the record high for a week 38 was 25 in 2002 and the record low was 9 in 1999. But it was a pretty good walk. See the birds_epoch plot at http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm.

We did let a couple get away. One was an interesting V-shaped flock in the distance that could have been geese or pelicans. Another was a huge ball of birds in the far distance, careening around in unison. There were hundreds of birds in the ball. They were just too far away to identify. We also heard some metallic chirps in Tournament Park that could have been a non-Yellow-rumped Warbler, if you know what I mean. Things are getting interesting again.

The stats:
The date: 9/19/06
The week number: 38
The walk number: 850
The weather: 81 F, sunny
The walkers: Alan Cummings, Glenn Hamell, Kent Potter, Brendan Crill, Carolyn Ash
The birds (15):

Scrub Jay
Mockingbird
House Sparrow
House Finch
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Crow
Black Phoebe
Red-masked Parakeet
Lesser Goldfinch
Raven
Band-tailed Pigeon
Bushtit
Warbler, sp.
Hummingbird, Selasphorus

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings
9/19/06
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu

9/12/06

If we exclude the very first Caltech bird walk in October of 1986, 9/12/06 will go down as the record low. Only 6 species were observed. The first "bird walk" was anomalous, as no walk took place. Ernie Franzgrote and I merely sat in Tournament Park and had lunch and saw what we saw, 4 species. Actually by that logic, our last walk on 8/29/06 tied the record low of 7. So we've had a dry spell here. Surely the next walk will produce birds in numbers and a few warblers to boot. See the birds_epoch plot at http://birdwalks.caltech.edu/bird_data/two_plots.htm.

The stats:
The date: 9/12/06
The week number: 37
The walk number: 849
The weather: 83 F, sunny
The walkers: Kent Potter, Glenn Hamell, Carolyn Ash, Jim Carlblom

The birds (6):

Rock Dove
Hummingbird, Selasphorus
Acorn Woodpecker
Band-tailed Pigeon
Black Phoebe
Crow

Respectfully submitted,
Alan Cummings (for Kent Potter)
9/18/06
http://birdwalks.caltech.edu