Just wanted to add that the Egyptian Geese are back at the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area near Davis, CA. We saw about 7 or 8 of them today in mid afternoon in the center part of the main loop.
Date: 7/8/18 12:27 pm From: <bees2...> [central_valley_birds] <central_valley_birds-noreply...> Subject: [CVBirds] Lazuli Bunting at Caswell Memorial State Park
At 9:00 a.m., I was pleased to see and hear a male LAZULI BUNTING singing frequently, as if on territory, near the River Bend Trail, where the wild grapes grow, west of the benches. I don't believe that I've seen a Lazuli Bunting in this park since I had my first one in June of 2011.
Date: 7/8/18 11:47 am From: Robert Furrow <robertfurrow...> [central_valley_birds] <central_valley_birds-noreply...> Subject: [CVBirds] juvenile Steller's Jay in Davis
I recently moved to Davis, and I've been spending a lot of in my South Davis backyard, noting the birds. This morning a juvenile Steller's Jay showed up. The bird still had an obvious gape patch, and was somewhat clumsy, almost falling off the fence when it tried to land. I didn't note any adults.
What's the likely story here? Displaced by the county fire? A sign of some fairly local breeding? It seems pretty out of place.
Happy birding, Rob Furrow
-- Robert Furrow Quantitative Biology Education Postdoc Davis, CA 94402 <robertfurrow...> <rfurrow...>
Date: 7/8/18 11:46 am From: Sally Walters <bajaowl...> [central_valley_birds] <central_valley_birds-noreply...> Subject: Re: [CVBirds] juvenile Steller's Jay in Davis
What about a rescue rehab bird? Inappropriate release site...
> On Jul 8, 2018, at 11:44 AM, Robert Furrow <robertfurrow...> [central_valley_birds] <central_valley_birds-noreply...> wrote:
>
>
> I recently moved to Davis, and I've been spending a lot of in my South Davis backyard, noting the birds. This morning a juvenile Steller's Jay showed up. The bird still had an obvious gape patch, and was somewhat clumsy, almost falling off the fence when it tried to land. I didn't note any adults.
>
> What's the likely story here? Displaced by the county fire? A sign of some fairly local breeding? It seems pretty out of place.
>
> Happy birding,
> Rob Furrow
>
>
> --
> Robert Furrow
> Quantitative Biology Education Postdoc
> Davis, CA 94402
> <robertfurrow...> <mailto:<robertfurrow...> > <mailto:<rfurrow...> >
>
Date: 7/7/18 7:35 pm From: Steve Hampton <stevechampton...> [central_valley_birds] <central_valley_birds-noreply...> Subject: [CVBirds] Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area shorebirds
The water is being laid down at the July shorebird pond NE of Rice Pt, but only a single Greater Yellowlegs there.
More interesting at the moment is the interior of the autotour loop, which is fairly low with some shorebird habitat. Best today was a flock of 21 MARBLED GODWITS.
As pretty much every year for the past 10 years or so, Allen’s Hummingbirds appeared in small numbers in my garden during the last 10 days of June and again on several days this past week. The first selashorus hummers this summer were female/juve. and thus indistinguishable from Rufous hummers, the main reason for classifying them as Allen’s being the timing. Usually I see a few male Allen’s in late June but this year the first adult male did not show ( or at least I did not notice) until this past week. It was a typical green-backed male, also clearly identifiable by the shapes of R2 and R5. I speculate that these Allen’s are part of a post-breeding dispersal beyond the coastal fog belt.
Manfred Kusch
South bank of Putah Creek
3 miles W of Davis
Date: 7/4/18 10:35 am From: Steve Hampton <stevechampton...> [central_valley_birds] <central_valley_birds-noreply...> Subject: [CVBirds] counting Tricolored Blackbird colony for eBird
I'm looking for some TRBL colony counting expertise, specifically for extrapolating colony size from foraging flights. I took the training last year but I can't find my notes on this.
I'm trying to enter in # of TRBL in eBird for the colony on Rd 25, Yolo County.
It is difficult to see the colony due to the high reeds, but adults, males and females (although my pics are mostly males), were streaming in and out of the colony, primarily crossing Rd 25 on the north side of the colony, making it easy to count them. On the return inbound flights, they were all carrying food, suggesting they are provisioning chicks. I did two 1-minute counts of inbound birds, both times counting 112 birds streaming into the colony with food. A similar number seemed to be outbound.
Assuming that 1) both parents are doing these provisioning flights; 2) it's a 10-minute round trip, that would be 112 x 10 / 2 = 560 nests. Assuming 2 adults and 3 chicks per nest, that's 5 x 560 = 2,800 birds. I rounded up to 3,000 because some adults were making foraging flights to the east, not across the road, and so were not included in my counts.
Regarding my assumptions, are there standard assumptions for this kind of them (extrapolating colony size from foraging flights)?
Date: 7/3/18 4:02 pm From: <maryolo1...> [central_valley_birds] <central_valley_birds-noreply...> Subject: [CVBirds] Birding the Yolo Bypass WA shorebird ponds
Starting at the beginning of July the shorebird ponds prepared by the Rice Farmer as part of the contract are being flooded with shallow water as habitat for returning shorebirds. These first ponds begin at the end of the viewing road on the upper Auto Loop.
From the turnaround, one can walk eastward to bird these flooded fields. The very big CAVEAT is that it might be tempting to go so far from your vehicle that you can't make it back to the Entrance Gate on the west levee before sunset. The wildlife area closes at sunset (legal sunset, not " I can still see a little" sunset). Although we drive to all the parking lots before locking the gate, it is easy to miss somebody coming in behind us or parking where they are not visible from the road. Keep your eye on the clock AND the rapidly setting sun and avoid getting locked in.
If you get back to the gate on the west levee a little before sunset you can get a bonus...nearly 20,000 Mexican Freetail Bats flying out to the southwest from under the west end of the Causeway!
Hey all,
I drove the long road into the site described by Logan and found the bird right away. I stayed for 1 1/2 hrs trying to get a picture of the tail spread. I watched all the birds flitting around for about 15 minutes and decided that was a good time to refill the feeders. I brought 3 1/2 liters and could only fill 5 of the 8 feeders. If you decide to refill them, keep in mind, some are zip tied and can’t be removed. Do not cut those ties unless you have some on hand to replace them, at least 8” long. It was fun to watch 15-20 hummers battling each other in this sugary oasis. Good luck!
Michele Swartout
Red Bluff
> On Jun 29, 2018, at 17:57, Logan Kahle <logan...> [central_valley_birds] <central_valley_birds-noreply...> wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
>
> This morning while checking a series of productive hummingbird feeders I’d put out last week in Mendocino National Forest, I found an apparent adult male Allen’s Hummingbird.. The bird was located here: (39..8772835,-122.8054262). For those not coordinate-inclined, I have attempted written directions at the bottom of this email. If you have a working computer, you can plug these points into google maps for an idea of how to get there. A photo of the bird’s spread tail can be seen here: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46873793 >
> There are 8 feeders at the site, roughly broken into two groups by a large gap overlooking the canyon. Looking south at the spot, the bird is on the right (west) side of this gap in the first (eastmost) feeder west of the gap. The bird is very territorial over this one feeder, and never visits any others in my observation (but occasionally bolts east in pursuit of other hummingbirds).
>
> The bird was at this feeder almost the entire morning. I will be checking this evening and tomorrow morning as well, and if the bird does not appear to be present at those times I will post a follow-up.
>
> There are many other hummingbirds here including (today) 6-10 Anna’s, 2 adult male Rufous and 2+ Rufous/Allen’s Hummingbirds (female/immature types) for which I still need to parse through the photos. In previous visits I have had Black-chinned as well. Other fun birds nearby include nesting Peregrine Falcons somewhere in this canyon and the occasional Canyon Wren that sounds off from downslope. If you arrive predawn the place is riddled with poorwills.
>
> As far as I am aware this represents the first documented record for this species in Tehama county (thanks, Bruce!). IMHO that means this represents the first county record of this elusive hummer, as green-backed Rufous cloud any claim not thoroughly documented by spread-tail photographs.
>
> On a side note for any potential chasers, if you have sugarwater around it might not be a bad idea to bring some up to fill some of the empty feeders. I could only fill about 3/4 of the feeders this round. Through hummingbirds, bugs, or evaporation these feeders are often empty by the end of a week, so if we wish this coastal gem to stick around for many to see, any sugary donations for the hummingbirds would be greatly appreciated (or course, put the feeders back where they were if you do decide to fill them).
>
> Good birding,
> Logan Kahle
> Willows/San Francisco, CA
>
>
>
> Written directions to the site: go to the town of Paskenta and head E on M2 upslope for about 17 miles at it turns multiple times. About at that point there is a fork and the road turns to dirt. Take the lower (left) road (according to google this is 24N01) and proceed through the grasslands stretch another 6 miles or so until you see a hummingbird feeder station on your left.
>
> Note: it is not always obvious which road you are on and I would strongly recommend bringing a map, whether digital or paper, if you try for this bird.
>
>
This morning while checking a series of productive hummingbird feeders I’d put out last week in Mendocino National Forest, I found an apparent adult male Allen’s Hummingbird. The bird was located here: (39.8772835,-122.8054262). For those not coordinate-inclined, I have attempted written directions at the bottom of this email. If you have a working computer, you can plug these points into google maps for an idea of how to get there. A photo of the bird’s spread tail can be seen here: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46873793
There are 8 feeders at the site, roughly broken into two groups by a large gap overlooking the canyon. Looking south at the spot, the bird is on the right (west) side of this gap in the first (eastmost) feeder west of the gap.. The bird is very territorial over this one feeder, and never visits any others in my observation (but occasionally bolts east in pursuit of other hummingbirds).
The bird was at this feeder almost the entire morning. I will be checking this evening and tomorrow morning as well, and if the bird does not appear to be present at those times I will post a follow-up.
There are many other hummingbirds here including (today) 6-10 Anna’s, 2 adult male Rufous and 2+ Rufous/Allen’s Hummingbirds (female/immature types) for which I still need to parse through the photos. In previous visits I have had Black-chinned as well. Other fun birds nearby include nesting Peregrine Falcons somewhere in this canyon and the occasional Canyon Wren that sounds off from downslope. If you arrive predawn the place is riddled with poorwills.
As far as I am aware this represents the first documented record for this species in Tehama county (thanks, Bruce!). IMHO that means this represents the first county record of this elusive hummer, as green-backed Rufous cloud any claim not thoroughly documented by spread-tail photographs.
On a side note for any potential chasers, if you have sugarwater around it might not be a bad idea to bring some up to fill some of the empty feeders. I could only fill about 3/4 of the feeders this round. Through hummingbirds, bugs, or evaporation these feeders are often empty by the end of a week, so if we wish this coastal gem to stick around for many to see, any sugary donations for the hummingbirds would be greatly appreciated (or course, put the feeders back where they were if you do decide to fill them).
Good birding,
Logan Kahle
Willows/San Francisco, CA
Written directions to the site: go to the town of Paskenta and head E on M2 upslope for about 17 miles at it turns multiple times. About at that point there is a fork and the road turns to dirt. Take the lower (left) road (according to google this is 24N01) and proceed through the grasslands stretch another 6 miles or so until you see a hummingbird feeder station on your left.
Note: it is not always obvious which road you are on and I would strongly recommend bringing a map, whether digital or paper, if you try for this bird..
ALLEN’S HUMMINGBIRD Tehama county 6/29/18
>>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> This morning while checking a series of productive hummingbird feeders I’d put out last week in Mendocino National Forest, I found an apparent adult male Allen’s Hummingbird. The bird was located here: (39.8772835,-122.8054262). For those not coordinate-inclined, I have attempted written directions at the bottom of this email. If you have a working computer, you can plug these points into google maps for an idea of how to get there. A photo of the bird’s spread tail can be seen here: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46873793 >>
>> There are 8 feeders at the site, roughly broken into two groups by a large gap overlooking the canyon. Looking south at the spot, the bird is on the right (west) side of this gap in the first (eastmost) feeder west of the gap. The bird is very territorial over this one feeder, and never visits any others in my observation (but occasionally bolts east in pursuit of other hummingbirds).
>>
>> The bird was at this feeder almost the entire morning. I will be checking this evening and tomorrow morning as well, and if the bird does not appear to be present at those times I will post a follow-up.
>>
>> There are many other hummingbirds here including (today) 6-10 Anna’s, 2 adult male Rufous and 2+ Rufous/Allen’s Hummingbirds (female/immature types) for which I still need to parse through the photos. In previous visits I have had Black-chinned as well. Other fun birds nearby include nesting Peregrine Falcons somewhere in this canyon and the occasional Canyon Wren that sounds off from downslope. If you arrive predawn the place is riddled with poorwills.
>>
>> As far as I am aware this represents the first documented record for this species in Tehama county (thanks, Bruce!).
>>
>> On a side note for any potential chasers, if you have sugarwater around it might not be a bad idea to bring some up to fill some of the empty feeders. I could only fill about 3/4 of the feeders this round. Through hummingbirds, bugs, or evaporation these feeders are often empty by the end of a week, so if we wish this coastal gem to stick around for many to see, any sugary donations for the hummingbirds would be greatly appreciated (or course, put the feeders back where they were if you do decide to fill them).
>>
>> Good birding,
>> Logan Kahle
>> Willows/San Francisco, CA
>>
>>
>>
>> Written directions to the site: go to the town of Paskenta and head E on M2 upslope for about 17 miles at it turns multiple times. About at that point there is a fork and the road turns to dirt. Take the lower (left) road (according to google this is 24N01) and proceed through the grasslands stretch another 6 miles or so until you see a hummingbird feeder station on your left.
>>
>> Note: it is not always obvious which road you are on and I would strongly recommend bringing a map, whether digital or paper, if you try for this bird.
>>
The Franklin's Gull was putting on a fine show at the Woodland-Davis Clean Water Facility (aka Woodland WTP) today at 100pm, despite the north wind. Flying and swimming around the big pond by the birder's gate. Nice close looks. Only one other gull around - a Ring-billed.
Date: 6/27/18 5:43 pm From: Steve Hampton <stevechampton...> [central_valley_birds] <central_valley_birds-noreply...> Subject: [CVBirds] Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area shorebird ponds this summer
All,
Some of us from Yolo Audubon, Sacramento Audubon, and the Yolo Basin Foundation met with Joe Hobbs, the new mgr of the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area.
We discussed water levels and various mgmt issues. This summer the July shorebird migration habitat pond will be northeast of Rice Point, at the end of the spur road. The August pond will be southeast of Lot C. I'll post a map at the Yolo Audubon Facebook page and I've also embedded it in my eBird report from today, here:
You'll see that fall shorebird migration has already started, with the best this afternoon being a WILLET, still mostly in breeding plumage, along the return leg, between lots C and B.
The shorebird pond water levels are managed by farmers leasing the land, in conjunction with wildlife area staff. It's always a bit of a race between creating good habitat and having the grass grow up too fast, but hopefully there's enough of a slope in these ponds to create some suitable habitat most of the time.
Franklin's gull is still there at 1130am. Right next to the entrance. NW corner of pond south of the main road. Calvin LouSF
Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone -------- Original message --------From: "Kirk Swenson <khswenson...> [central_valley_birds]" <central_valley_birds-noreply...> Date: 6/27/18 8:56 AM (GMT-08:00) To: CV Birds <central_valley_birds...> Subject: Re: [CVBirds] Franklin’s Gull at Woodland WTP
The Franklin's Gull continues this morning in the main pond at Woodland WTP. Good birding,Kirk SwensonDavis, CA On Tue, Jun 26, 2018 at 4:10 PM Keith Bailey <fastrunnerboy05...> [central_valley_birds] <central_valley_birds-noreply...> wrote:
Jason Riggio and I found the Franklin's Gull today (6/26) at 2:30 swimming in the largest water treatment pond where Kathy reported it. It may have been around the WTP yesterday as well as Jason had a flyby black headed type gull that he thought may have been a Franklin's. Photos are in our ebirt list: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46817491 Cheers,Keith BaileyDavis, Ca -------- Keith Bailey Davis, Ca
On Tuesday, June 26, 2018, 2:14:34 PM PDT, <kathy.blankenship...> [central_valley_birds] <central_valley_birds-noreply...> wrote:
I found a Franklin’s Gull associating with a Bonaparte’s Gull in the first pond of the Woodland WTP (now called Woodland/Davis Clean Water Facility). It had the typical black head, split eye ring, and red bill. Nearby I found 60 Wilson’s Phalaropes. I saw the Franklin’s around 8:30 and as I left it was on the spit. I returned at 11:00 but could not relocate the gull. Kathy BlankenshipDavis, CA
Date: 6/27/18 8:57 am From: Kirk Swenson <khswenson...> [central_valley_birds] <central_valley_birds-noreply...> Subject: Re: [CVBirds] Franklin’s Gull at Woodland WTP
The Franklin's Gull continues this morning in the main pond at Woodland WTP..
Good birding,
Kirk Swenson
Davis, CA
On Tue, Jun 26, 2018 at 4:10 PM Keith Bailey <fastrunnerboy05...>
[central_valley_birds] <central_valley_birds-noreply...> wrote:
>
>
> Jason Riggio and I found the Franklin's Gull today (6/26) at 2:30 swimming
> in the largest water treatment pond where Kathy reported it. It may have
> been around the WTP yesterday as well as Jason had a flyby black headed
> type gull that he thought may have been a Franklin's.
>
> Photos are in our ebirt list: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46817491 >
> Cheers,
> Keith Bailey
> Davis, Ca
>
> -------- Keith Bailey Davis, Ca
>
>
> On Tuesday, June 26, 2018, 2:14:34 PM PDT, <kathy.blankenship...>
> [central_valley_birds] <central_valley_birds-noreply...>
> wrote:
>
>
>
>
> I found a Franklin’s Gull associating with a Bonaparte’s Gull in the first
> pond of the Woodland WTP (now called Woodland/Davis Clean Water Facility)..
> It had the typical black head, split eye ring, and red bill. Nearby I
> found 60 Wilson’s Phalaropes. I saw the Franklin’s around 8:30 and as I
> left it was on the spit. I returned at 11:00 but could not relocate the
> gull.
>
>
> Kathy Blankenship
>
> Davis, CA
>
>
>
Date: 6/26/18 4:10 pm From: Keith Bailey <fastrunnerboy05...> [central_valley_birds] <central_valley_birds-noreply...> Subject: Re: [CVBirds] Franklin’s Gull at Woodland WTP
Jason Riggio and I found the Franklin's Gull today (6/26) at 2:30 swimming in the largest water treatment pond where Kathy reported it. It may have been around the WTP yesterday as well as Jason had a flyby black headed type gull that he thought may have been a Franklin's.
Photos are in our ebirt list: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46817491 Cheers,Keith BaileyDavis, Ca
-------- Keith Bailey Davis, Ca
On Tuesday, June 26, 2018, 2:14:34 PM PDT, <kathy.blankenship...> [central_valley_birds] <central_valley_birds-noreply...> wrote:
I found a Franklin’s Gull associating with a Bonaparte’s Gull in the first pond of the Woodland WTP (now called Woodland/Davis Clean Water Facility). It had the typical black head, split eye ring, and red bill. Nearby I found 60 Wilson’s Phalaropes. I saw the Franklin’s around 8:30 and as I left it was on the spit. I returned at 11:00 but could not relocate the gull.
Kathy Blankenship
Davis, CA
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I found a Franklin’s Gull associating with a Bonaparte’s Gull in the first pond of the Woodland WTP (now called Woodland/Davis Clean Water Facility). It had the typical black head, split eye ring, and red bill. Nearby I found 60 Wilson’s Phalaropes. I saw the Franklin’s around 8:30 and as I left it was on the spit. I returned at 11:00 but could not relocate the gull.
Date: 6/19/18 11:24 pm From: Andrew Engilis <aengilisjr...> [central_valley_birds] <central_valley_birds-noreply...> Subject: [CVBirds] Gray Catbird on Putah Creek
Sorry for late post on this bird. I was mostly out of town all day today and not accessible to a computer. During a bird survey I found a calling Gray Catbird on Putah Creek below (east) Stevenson's Bridge on private property at around 7:35am. The bird was skulking and never afforded good looks, but its calls were unmistakable. I was able to record the bird. It was on Solano County side of the creek, but retreated at around 7:50 am to the Yolo Side as well. I let some local folks know -- not sure if they had any luck. If it had not been calling, I would have never detected the bird. It was quite retiring. It seemed to be working its way down stream (eastwards).
Date: 6/18/18 1:00 pm From: Manfred Kusch <makusch...> [central_valley_birds] <central_valley_birds-noreply...> Subject: [CVBirds] Blue Grosbeak et al.
I was surprised to notice yesterday a mature male Blue Grosbeak foraging in some tall grasses near my house, only the fourth time in 30 years that I have observed this species at my place (about half a mile downstream from Stevenson Bridge on the south bank of Putah Creek). This should still be their breeding time, so his presence was a bit intriguing. I’ll keep my eyes open to see whether there may perhaps be more activity because of a nest in the vicinity.
Otherwise things are taking their usual course for this time of year around here. Western Bluebirds who occupied 6 of my nest boxes have fledged already 3 second broods while the other second broods are still in the egg stage or have recently hatched chicks. Tree Swallows also have been doing well. House Wrens have been particularly active, occupying 6 nest boxes (the highest number I have recorded so far) and at least two natural cavities nearby. Western Kingbirds have once again built nests on the brackets attaching transformers to power poles. For the 5th or 6th year in a row a pair returned to the transformer of my neighbor, and this year there are two additional nests on transformer brackets along the drive way leading to our house, a pretty strange preference considering that Western kingbirds also readily nest in trees of all kinds, including on occasion in my palm trees. Hooded Orioles are again present in their usual numbers, 5-7 pairs and building way more nests than they raise young in. I have speculated in the past that they may perhaps abandon nests when Brown-headed Cowbirds lay eggs into their nests, and that maybe true, but this year there have been very few cowbirds here and I have seen none for several weeks. I have also speculated that rats have perhaps found a way to access the nests sewn to the underside of palm fans since I have found nests that had females sitting on/in them for a while abandoned and without eggs. True perhaps also, but I was able to document a more brazen and unexpected nest predator recently when I heard a commotion of orioles and robins outside and found a California Scrubjay that had inserted itself between the rim of a Hooded Oriole nest and the the underside of the palm fan and was cleaning out the nest, either eating the eggs or recently hatched chicks. I fear that once a scrubjay has discovered that the bright fiber cocoons on the underside of palm fans are nests potentially holding a rich food source that individual may be responsible for many of the abandoned nests and the construction of the many new nests. Similarly, these scrub jays are clearly the main predator of Anna’s Hummingbird nests along the creek. Of six hummer nests I found along my trail this spring, four fell victims to srubjays at the stage where the chicks were already several days old and in one case were only days away from fledging. Often the scrub jays will return during the following days and tear the nest apart in an effort to find more chicks. One nest was destroyed while it was still under construction, and only one later nest produced two chicks that were able to survive long enough to fledge. So my feelings towards scrub jays are not quite as tender as those of backyard birders who admire their antics and confiding ways.
Among all this activity, two absences are noteworthy. Although some Spotted Towhees were daily visitors to my feeders during the winter, there none present in my garden now and none are nesting here when in the past I would typically have at least two nesting pairs in the garden. California Towhees are, however, nesting in their usual numbers, 2-3 pairs. One absence is, however, particularly striking this year. After two brief appearances in April, I have seen no Black-headed Grosbeaks around my place and none have so far nested here, nor have I found any along the creek. Since in past years I have always had multiple nests of Black-headed Grosbeaks in my garden, once as many as 12 (clearly an outlier), and their song was a constant background sound during the spring, their total absence is a mystery to me and I hope merely a local anomaly and not part of a larger decline.
Manfred Kusch
South bank of Putah Creek
3 miles W of Davis
