March 2001 Field Journal 3.2 [SFBirds] Re: [SFBirds] Y-b Magpie
Fogeggs@aol.com wrote:
>
> As passed on by Mark, Karen and I saw a Yellow-billed Magpie at the
> intersection of Innes and Aurelius Walker (Fitch St on older maps), just west
> of the entrance to Hunter's Point ex-Naval Shipyard. We were just leaving
> the waterfront at the foot of A. Walker (Whimbrel, L-b Curlew), when the bird
> landed at the top of the eucalyptus tree cluster on the ne/east corner. I
> had barely gotten my binos on the magpie when it flew off low to the east
> behind the trees. It didn't seem to go far, but we couldn't refind it on
> either side of Innes, where there's lots of grassy territory.
> This is in addition to a report which I failed to pass on from Jane Wrench,
> of a magpie on the south side of Bernal Heights Park about three weeks ago.
> She wasn't completely certain of her ID, and as it wasn't refound, I let it
> drop. And then Myra's report on Tuesday. Are there any other past sightings
> in addition to these and last year's to support the idea of a regular pattern
> of Feb-March magpie movements?
> Brian Fitch
>
I think it's getting a little bit hard to explain away all of these
sightings as escapees rather than true vagrants. Also, there latest
issue of North American Birds has a (small) section on the expected
timing for vagrant Yellow-billed Magpie.3.4 [SFBirds] Re: [SFBirds] Strybing 1st Sunday
Allan Ridley wrote:
>
> The Brazilian teal have
> paired up (each seems concerned with the whereabouts of the other.)
>Great. Just what we need; breeding Ringed Teal in the arboretum.
3.15 [SFBirds] Coit tower parrot flock plus ????
I had about 20-25 today at lunch. More interestingly, there's something
else hanging out with them. Most of the species in the parrot
(parakeet) flock more or less sound the same, but there was something up
there with a much different call. Unlike the almost rubber toy squeak
given by parakeets, this bird gave a very loud (even louder than the
parakeets) rolling trill that descended slightly. It reminded me a bit
of rolling trill given by a Blue Jay (_no_, it's _not_ a BLJA). If I
remember, I'll bring 'nocs in tomorrow and try to figure out what sort
of escape is now hanging out with these guys...3.24 San Francisco Bird Blitz
Time: 7AM -6:30PM
Weather AM clear, PM scattered ShowersTide High in mid morning
Areas Covered:
Aquatic Park, Palace of Fine Arts, Crissy Field, Kobe& Upton, Langdon
Ct. Battery Crosby, Armory Parking lot, Lloyd Lake, Spreckels Lake,
Bison Paddock, Mallard Lake, Stow Lake, Strybing Arboretum, Geary& 48th
Ave. Cliff House, Ocean Beach @ Noriaga, South Sloat parking lot, Lake
Merced Boathouse, South Lake Merced, McLaren Park, Candlestick Point
Recreation Area, Heron’s Head Park.Sightings
Common Loon only one
Pacific Loon
Red-throated Loon
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Eared Grebe
Western Grebe
Clark's Grebe
Brown Pelican, 4
Double-cr Cormorant
Brandt's Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Black-crowned N-Heron
Greater White-fronted Goose, LM
Canada Goose
Mallard
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup, one at Sprecklels
Greater Scaup
Black Scoter
Surf Scoter
White-winged Scoter
Common Goldeneye
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser, 2 at Strybing
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Turkey Vulture, Presidio
Sharp-shinned Hawk, GGP
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Sora
American Coot
Black-bellied Plover
Killdeer
Black Oystercatcher, 5 at CH, 2 at Candlestick
American Avocet
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
Spotted Sandpiper
Marbled Godwit
Ruddy Turnstone
Black Turnstone
Sanderling
Least Sandpiper
Dunlin
Heermann,s Gull, 2 CH
Mew Gull
California Gull
Herring Gull
Thayer’s Gull, 1 at Place of Fine Arts, one at Spreckles
Western Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Black-legged Kittiwake, first for the blitz found by ME off CH
Caspian Tern, 1, LM
Common Murre, many
Pigeon Guillemot, on Alcatraz, Cliff House
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
Anna's Hummingbird
Allen’s Hummingbird bird
Belted Kingfisher, Crissy Field
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Black Phoebe
Tropical Kingbird, Bison Paddock
Violet-green Swallow,
Tree Swallow
No. Rough-w Swallow, 1, LM
Barn Swallow
Scrub Jay
Steller’s Jay, Stow Lake
American Crow
Common Raven
Chestnut-b Chickadee
Bushtit
Pygmy Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Bewick's Wren, McLaren
Winter Wren
Marsh Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
Cedar Waxwing
European Starling
Hutton's Vireo, McLaren
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Towsend's Warbler
Palm Warbler, Armory parking lot
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson's Warbler, LM, M E heard one somewhere else also
Spotted Towhee Ft. Crosby
California Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow, only 1 bird!
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Brewer's Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Purple Finch
House Finch
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
115 Total SpeciesMark Eaton saw a bird he thought was a Fulmar, Sobien Ruck (sp?) saw a
Kestrel but we did not count them due to the two observer rule. I saw Ca
Quail at Kobe before the trip.3.27 [SFBirds] [Fwd: [CVBirds] Red Crossbills on UCD Campus
This is the second report I've seen today from Northern California.
Might be interesting to look for these tomorrow. We're all expecting
Paul S. to find them on Mt. Davidson. :-)Mark
"Andrew Engilis, Jr." wrote:
>
> At 11:50am, today I found (or should I say they found me) a flock of at
> least 8 Red Crossbills (I think there might hav been more) flying into a
> small pine grove between Wellman and Freeborn Hall. They were calling as
> they flew into the trees. I saw at least two adult males and could not id
> others. Did not have binocs with me, but they were actively calling. When
> I returned to the site around 12:20, they were gone from that grove. I
> almost crashed my bike when i first heard them and they flew directly over me!
>
> Andy Engilis
> UC Davis3.29 [SFBirds] Things are starting to get quiet...
The last time I heard the local Red-breasted Nuthatch was late last week
or early this week. Also, both Yellow-rumped and Townsend's Warblers
were singing earlier this week but I didn't hear them this morning.3.30 [SFBirds] Re: [SFBirds] Thursday
harryfuller@techtvcorp.com wrote:
>
> Early this morning: NO Snowy Plovers at west end of Judah, they gone back to
> breeding territory?This sounds like a red flag. Have the dogs finally run off the Ocean
Beach SNPL?> Still no Hooded Oriole at Sutro Heights
>This is odd too. If anything, they're showing up early in other parts
of the Bay Area. They weren't seen at Kobbe and Upton on the BirdBlitz
either...3.30 [SFBirds] March Coit Tower Parrot Flock observations
1-Mar-01 0 Not heard
2-Mar-01 35+ The most that I've seen at one time; this is probably close
to the true size of the flock
5-Mar-01 17 Fairly well seen at 1:00
6-Mar-01 10
7-Mar-01 2 Not much activity at 8:00 AM
8-Mar-01 10 (est). Heard outside the conference room
9-Mar-01 15-20 Estimate; heard from outside a conference room
12-Mar-01 25+ Flew over the building several times when on the 4th floor
13-Mar-01 5 (est.) Heard around 1:00
14-Mar-01 10+ Heard around 3:00
15-Mar-01 35 Everyone flew over the building around 5:00
16-Mar-01 0 None heard at 9:00
19-Mar-01 8 Flyover at 1:30; more probably in trees
20-Mar-01 8 (est.) Active at 1:00
21-Mar-01 25+ Seen flying around at 2:30
22-Mar-01 15+ Seen flying around at 4:00
23-Mar-01 25+ Flying about in mid-afternoon
26-Mar-01 8 (est.) Heard around 1:00
27-Mar-01 20 (est.) Heard around 1:00
28-Mar-01 5 to 10 Not heard well inside building
29-Mar-01 15+ Heard at 12:30
30-Mar-01 8 Heard at 1:30Home
You can contact me via email.