7.1 [SFBirds] Re: [SFBirds] 7/1/01 - Northen
Parula continues
"Lou, Calvin" wrote:
>
> This morning 800-845am, the Northern Parula continues along
> the south side of the entrance road to Harding Golf Course
> in San Francisco. The bird was constantly singing.
>
...and still singing around noon today.
7.3 [SFBirds] Re: [SFBirds] N. Parula continues
@ L. Merced, 07/03/01
Paul Saraceni wrote:
>
> This morning the male Northern Parula sang sporadically
between 8:10-8:30
> from the eucalyptus and adjacent albizzia at the intersection
of Skyline and
> the Harding Park entrance road (south side of entrance road).
The Parula
> provided only brief views as it moved about quite a bit
in the tree tops.
Debi and I had scope looks at eye level of
the bird in the albizia slightly
later this morning. No evidence of two birds, though...
The GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE appeared to
have fishing line dangling from
its mouth and a pair of KILLDEER were very territorial, though
I have no
clue where they might be nesting, if indeed they are doing so.
7.3 [SFBirds] Re: [SFBirds] N. Parula continues
@ L. Merced, 07/03/01
harryfuller@techtvcorp.com wrote:
>
> there were two juvenile Killdeer (each still with only one
neck stripe) near
one
> adult on the sandy beach at south edge of north Merced near
the fishing pier
> yesterday...so they nested somewhere in that area. These
two are still very
> small with tail feathers that look like the decorative fuzz
on canape
> troothpicks.
>
These were adults...
7.7 [SFBirds] Northern Parula Nesting Behavior
No, not observed...
From Birder's Handbook:
Nest: Pocket hollowed in hanging lichens;
lined with fine materials. Where
lichen not available, nest may be made of hanging clusters of
confierous
twigs, or in flood-deposited rubbish in branches overhanging
7.7 [SFBirds] Male Northern Parula continues...
...sang only three times during the
3/4 of an hour or more that I was
there. Still 0 for the female. GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE continues
hanging out with mutant mallards, an OSPREY flew over, one or
two RED-TAILED
HAWKS were soaring over Fort Funston, and a BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT
HERON flew
into the reeds at the extreme southwestern edge of North Lake
Merced, right
at the junction of Harding and Skyline.
Has anyone censused DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS
lately? There seems to be
quite a few around these days, with easily 20-30 on the boathouse
piers.
7.11 [SFBirds] Re: [SFBirds] M + F Northern
Parula
Al Eisner wrote:
>
> The two nesting records along Gazos Creek Road in San Mateo
County were in
> precisely locations Mark Eaton obtained from the Birders
Handbook: in trees
> (one a conifer, one not) with lots of hanging moss or lichen.
Is there any of
> this around Harding Park?
I don't think so; I took a close look at the
trees in the area and don't
recall any (significant) regsion of moss or lichen, but Rich
has spent more
time there.
> If a pair cannot find any, would they
avoid
> nesting altogether?
Well, that's the conjecture, but why would
the female type bird then be just
hanging around?
7.11 [SFBirds] Re: [SFBirds] M + F Northern
Parula
Alan Hopkins wrote:
>
> Do we know that the female is actually an adult female and
not a first
> year bird?
>
Apparently, NOPA show little seasonal variation
in plumage, so we can pretty
safely assume that immature birds would be in first fall plumage.
A bird in
first fall female plumage should be identifiable by having no
breast
markings at all. Separating first fall male plumage from adult
female
plumage requires a pretty good look. FWIW, the male is very close
to the
"maximum chestnut" variant, i.e. very little black
in the breast markings.
I haven't seen the other bird yet (must be
hiding out on behind the grassy
knoll :-), so I'll let Rich comment further if he likes.
7.12 [SFBirds] Re: [SFBirds] The Other
Parula
rferrick@aol.com wrote:
>
> This morning the "other" Parula was high in the
bottlebrushes between 6:55AM
and 7:00AM. It chipped 3 times in the 5 minute span, and preened
for about 30
seconds, otherwise it slowly moved through the flowers, pulling
out the
occasional insect.
>
> The bird has no real evidence of a band across the breast.
Looking at
Dunn/Garrett, the throat and breast look like the first fall
female. However,
the crown, uppertial coverts, and secondaries have never appeared
to me as
being washed green, but the center of the back has had a green
patch. Lighting
is tough because I always see it in the dark under canopy. The
few times I have
seen it "more exposed", I have only seen its front.
> So, I can't call it yet.
>
> To the nest question, I haven't seen any moss or lichen
at Lake Merced but I
really haven't looked. Dunn and Garrett do mention alternate
nest materials, if
preferred materials are absent. Given the number of times I have
seen the
"other" Parula, without nesting material, I'm beginning
to think that if a nest
exists, it was built before 7/2 OR no nest exists. Would a nest-building
female
be completely occupied by that activity? or could I expect to
see this "casual
forage" activity even during nest building/nest tending?
>
Actually, it does sound like a hatch year
female. Working under this
hypothesis, this could explain all of the observed behavior.
A hatch year
bird wouldn't be sexually mature, so presumably she wouldn't
engage in nest
building or other breeding activity, but might still be attracted
to the
male (or Rich :-) enough to hang around. Were there a nest, either
bird
could be incubating, which could explain foraging by the female
if the male
were on nest, but should preclude both foraging at the same time.
Even the timing seems pretty good. Hatch year
birds take 12-14 days to
fledge, and if the bird hatched even at the end of May, it seems
plausible
that it could have wandered to Harding Park by early July. But
where did
its parents breed? Any idea on the breeding status of the Andrew
Molera
parulas? Or maybe there's another breeding pair in Marin?
7.14 [SFBirds] Finally Female...
This morning, I finally spotted the
female-type NORTHERN PARULA on the
entrance road to Harding Park. The bird was chipping softly (a
thin 'tsip')
and patiently working its way through the densest high foliage
in the two
bottlebrush trees immediately north of the first speed bump.
While I never
had the bird in sight for more than two seconds or so, the best
sighting
offered a clear view of the unmarked yellow breast. Also, the
plumage on
the bird seemed very disheveled, but I'm not sure if this is
due to age,
preening or extensive molt. The yellow on the breast seemed confined
more
to the center of the breast than than the sides, but again, I
didn't get a
great look at the bird. Getting a good enough look at the bird
high in the
foliage during fog season will be quite difficult. Note that,
I only
managed to see the bird from the path leading to the fishing
beach on the
north side of the entry road, where the foliage down lower is
thinner
allowing views up into the upperstory of the trees. You're also
less likely
to get run over on the path than on the road... :-)
After I lost the female-type, I had a NOPA
fly out of the largest clump of
dense albizia south of the entrance road. Again, I didn't get
great looks
at the bird, but the plumage appeared much crisper and there
appeared to be
more yellow on the breast, though I didn't see the breast band
from that
angle. I'm fairly sure this was the adult male NOPA. At no time
did the
male sing, and it only chipped once or twice.
A HEERMAN'S GULL seemed unusual on one of
the docks at the boat house and an
adult ELEGANT TERN was offshore at the south end of Ocean Beach.
7.18 [SFBirds] Re: [SFBirds] Rose-breasted
Grosbeak @ Mt. Davidson, 07/18/01
Paul Saraceni wrote:
>
> This morning I observed an adult male ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK
in the trees at
> the summit (clearing) of Mt. D. at 8:00 A.M. Presumably,
this is the same
> individual I last observed on 6/22. It was silent while
I observed it,
> though earlier I heard a single "eek" call that
sounded grosbeak-like.
>
I'm not so sure this is the same bird. Vagrants
are continuing to move in
ill-defined ways (e.g. the east bay male RBGR), so this may be
a different
bird.
> W. TANAGER 2 f./imm. (early migrants?)
These are interesting too. Are these birds
which got stranded on the
coastal flyway, didn't make it to their breeding grounds and
didn't return?
Or are they just non-breeding individuals that are early returns
from
breeding areas (coastal or otherwise)?.jpg)
7.19 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Long Marine Lab, SCZ
7.22 [SFBirds] Both Parulas continue
This morning, after missing my rendezvous with Harry by well
over an hour, I
had both NORTHERN PARULAS at the Harding Park Boat House. However,
I had
them in the clump of myoporum (?) and albizia nearest the docks
on which the
gulls and cormorants roost, below the Boat House proper. Walking
from the
Boat House, descend the road towards the abandoned cranes once
used for
launching boats. This is the first clump of foliage you come
to on the
south side of the road.
Also, I had another milestone in that I had
both birds the same field of
view at the same time, eliminating any lingering doubts about
whether there
is one or two birds. Both birds appear to have started their
prebasic molt,
the breast band on the male is showing cinnamon below and black
above; could
the variation in breast band be due to molt?
The female continues to show no breast band,
but the plumage near where the
breast band would be appears to be somewhat grayish at this point.
Also, I
got a good look at the back of the female and it was greenish
and contrasted
noticeably with the head of the bird. This would seem to complicate
the
aging of the bird as I think the back color is better for an
adult, while
the breast coloration and lack of breast band is better for first
fall
female.
Finally, both birds were chipping at the same
time and I swear they were
slightly different. One, probably the female, was giving the
aforementioned
thin 'tsip' call, while the other, probably the male, was giving
a slightly
harder and slightly more metallic 'tsik'. I can't say that I'm
aware of
sexual dimorphism of call notes in any passerine, let alone neotropical
wood
warblers.
The Cliff House had hundreds of COMMON MURRES
and tens of ELEGANT TERNS
while Ocean Beach had lots of RED-NECKED STINTS with no rear
toe and 9 SNOWY
PLOVERS being chased by an off-leash dog. Also, there was a juvenile
CASPIAN TERN; I wonder where it bred?
Middle Lake still has water but only an OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER of interest.
7.23 [SFBirds] Re: Red-necked Stints
>
> The Red-necked Stints you reported Sun...
Sorry; that was my little joke on SFBirds.
The only shorebird which doesn't
have a rear toe is a SANDERLING, which in alternate plumage bears
a very
striking resemblance to an alternate plumaged RED-NECKED STINT.
In fact,
there's one famous alternate plumage Sanderling that showed up
in the UK
which moments away from being unanimously ratified as (if memory
serves) the
first UK record when fortunately someone realized it had no rear
toe.
I guess that was a little too esoteric for this group.
7.27
- 28 Mono and Tuolomne Counties
Unusual/fall migrants:
PRAIRIE FALCON, two apparent migrants, one being chased by a
Red-tailed Hawk near Tioga Pass and another near Tenaya Lake
BELTED KINGFISHER, heard in Lower Lee Vining Campground
WILLOW FLYCATCHER, seen in (surpise) a willow thicket on Upper
Rush Creek. There were no signs of nesting.
WESTERN KINGBIRD, two apparent migrants along Hwy. 395 near the
Mono Lake Visitor Center
AMERICAN CROW, one seen directly overhead at fairly close range
in the Jeffrey Pines along Hwy. 120 east of Hwy. 395
VESPER SPARROW, one in the hordes of Brewer's Sparrows at Navy
Beach
BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK, fledglings begging from an adult at Lower
Lee Vining Canyon
71 species seen:
Turkey Vulture (3)
Canada Goose (2)
Mallard (2)
Osprey (10)
Red-tailed Hawk (6, 15)
American Kestrel (2, 14)
Prairie Falcon (15, 16)
Virginia Rail (2)
Sora (2)
American Coot (4)
Killdeer (2)
American Avocet (2)
Least Sandpiper (10)
Wilson's Phalarope (2)
California Gull (1, 8, 10)
Mourning Dove (2)
Common Nighthawk (11, 12)
Lesser Nighthawk (18)
Calliope Hummingbird (7)
Rufous Hummingbird (1, 8)
Belted Kingfisher (1)
Lewis's Woodpecker (12)
Red-breasted Sapsucker (1, 7)
Northern Flicker (1, 2, 14)
Western Wood-Pewee (1, 7, 13, 14)
Willow Flycatcher (7)
Gray Flycatcher (7, 9)
Dusky Flycatcher (7, 8)
Western Kingbird (5)
Loggerhead Shrike (10)
Warbling Vireo (1)
Steller's Jay (1)
Pinyon Jay (3, 12)
Clark's Nutcracker (1, 2, 12, 14, 17)
Black-billed Magpie (2)
American Crow (12)
Common Raven (15)
Tree Swallow (1)
Violet-green Swallow (2, 4, 10, 12)
Cliff Swallow (2, 4)
Mountain Chickadee (1, 7, 14)
Red-breasted Nuthatch (14)
White-breasted Nuthatch (14)
Pygmy Nuthatch (1)
House Wren (2, 7)
Marsh Wren (2)
American Robin (1, 7)
Sage Thrasher (10)
European Starling (2)
American Pipit (2)
Orange-crowned Warbler (8)
Yellow Warbler (2, 7, 8)
MacGillivray's Warbler (8)
Common Yellowthroat (2)
Western Tanager (2, 14)
Green-tailed Towhee (7, 10)
Spotted Towhee (2, 3)
Brewer's Sparrow (2, 7, 9)
Vesper Sparrow (10)
Song Sparrow (2)
Dark-eyed Junco (7)
Black-headed Grosbeak (1)
Tricolored Blackbird (2)
Western Meadowlark (2)
Brewer's Blackbird (2, 8, 10)
Brown-headed Cowbird (2, 10)
Bullock's Oriole (2)
Cassin's Finch (1)
House Finch (7)
Lesser Goldfinch (7)
House Sparrow (2)
Locations:
1) Lower Lee Vining Campground (Jul 28)
2) Mono Lake County Park (Jul 28)
3) Wilson Creek (Jul 28)
4) DeChambeau Ponds (Jul 28)
5) Mono Lake Visitor Center (Jul 28)
6) DeChambeau Creek (Jul 28)
7) Upper Rush Creek (Jul 28)
8) Lower Lee Vining Campground (Jul 29)
9) South Tufa (I) (Jul 29)
10) Navy Beach (Jul 29)
11) South Tufa (II) (Jul 29)
12) Jeffrey Pines along Highway 120 east of 395 (Jul 29)
13) Lee Vininq Power Station (Jul 29)
14) Upper Horse Meadows/Gibbs Lake Trail (Jul 29)
15) Tioga Pass (Jul 29)
16) Tenaya Lake (Jul 29)
17) Olmstead Point (Jul 29)
18) 120 & 108 (Jul 29)
7.31 [CSBirds] Tuolomne County Birds
I had a few sightings of interest
on my recent trip to the Eastern Sierra
Nevada:
PRAIRIE FALCON, two apparent migrants, one
being chased by a Red-tailed Hawk
near Tioga Pass and another near Tenaya Lake
Nighthawk sp., just a few miles from the Stanislaus county line
The Nighthawk sp. deserves some discussion.
While a Common Nighthawk would
be hardly unusal near the Sierra crest, this bird was seen very
near the
western edge of Tuolomne County. If in fact the bird was a Common
Nighthawk,
this bird is not found on the Stanislaus County list and would
seem to be
highly unusual that far west. If the bird was a Lesser Nighthawk,
it would
have been the first county record for Tuolomne!
7.31 [SFBirds] Re: [SFBirds] F Parula -
Lake Merced
rferrick@aol.com wrote:
>
> I got one brief glimpse of the back of the bird and the
green color does
appear isolated to the upper-center of the back. The rest of
the head, back and
wings flash blue (except for wingbars) but again I did not have
a long enough
view to exlcude green highlighting over some of the blue areas.
>
Yes, I remember distinctly seeing this as
well, that the green was
well-defined on the back and, in particular, did not wash up
onto the head
or bleed outside of the back area.
Did you notice whether the remiges were in molt?
You can contact me via email.