Birdingonthe.NetRecent Postings from
> Home > Mail |
Ringed Kingfisher,©Dan Lane |
|
02 Oct Common Tern Still there and Yokhul Valley Birds 10/1/08 ["svillebirder" ] 02 Oct Tulare Co Year to Date Oct 1, 2008 ["John Lockhart" ] 01 Oct Common Tern still at Lake Kaweah ["John Lockhart" ] 29 Sep Re: hiking Jackass Creek ["Bob and Susan Steele" ] 29 Sep Kings County Short-billed Dowitcher 9/28/08 ["svillebirder" ] 28 Sep hiking Jackass Creek ["Bob and Susan Steele" ] 28 Sep Common Tern at Lake Kaweah ["John Lockhart" ] 25 Sep Pectoral Sandpiper and Brewer's Sparrow's at Lake Success 9/24/08 ["svillebirder" ] 24 Sep Snipes at Lake Success 9/23/08 ["svillebirder" ] 20 Sep Red Knot at Stoil Pond ["John Lockhart" ] 19 Sep Continuing Shorebirds at Visalia WTP 9/17/08 ["svillebirder" ] 17 Sep Visalia WTP Pectoral Sandpipers ["John Lockhart" ] 16 Sep Red-naped Sapsucker in Springville at my house 9/15/08 ["svillebirder" ] 15 Sep Sabine's Gull at Stoil Pond continues ["John Lockhart" ] 13 Sep Sabine's Gull at Stoil Pond in Tulare County 9/13/08 ["svillebirder" ] 12 Sep Overview of last weeks observations Tulare Co ["John Lockhart" ] 11 Sep Mountain Birds above Scicon 9/10/08 ["svillebirder" ] 30 Aug Snowy Plover at Bravo Lake Tulare County 8/29/08 ["svillebirder" ] 27 Aug Lake Success BREWER'S SPARROWS Tul. County 8/26/08 ["svillebirder" ] 27 Aug Black and Ruddy Turnstones in Southern Kings County ["jeff67632003" ] 24 Aug Herbert Preserve highlights on August 23, 2008 (continued) ["poouli" ] 24 Aug Herbert Preserve highlights on August 23, 2008 ["poouli" ] 20 Aug Stilt Sandpipers ["birds_i_vue" ] 20 Aug A ["birds_i_vue" ] 17 Aug Tulare Co. Stilt Sandpipers and Franklin's Gull ["Steve & Priscilla Summers" ] 12 Aug SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER at Alpaugh Irrigation Pond 8/9/08 ["svillebirder" ] 12 Aug Horseshoe Meadow to Mt Whitney Birding ["John Lockhart" ] 09 Aug Apologies for some undecipherable info on my Hanford WTP least tern posting ["poouli" ] 08 Aug Adult least tern at Hanford Wastewater Treatment Plant (WTP) on August 6, 2008 ["poouli" ] 4 Aug North American Birds Summer Reminder [Steve Glover ] 02 Aug I posted a new Tulare Co Checklist incorporating these changes ["John Lockhart" ] 1 Aug 49th supplement to A.O.U. Check-list ["Steve & Priscilla Summers" ] 24 Jul Evening Grosbeak and Flammulated Owl 7/22-7/23 2008 ["svillebirder" ] 22 Jul Birding the Sequoia National Forest Month of July 2008 ["svillebirder" ] 21 Jul Tulare WTP ["John Lockhart" ] 21 Jul TCAS trip to Big Meadows ["John Lockhart" ] 16 Jul Crossbills continue and birds at Loyd Meadow road 7/14/08 ["svillebirder" ] 14 Jul 9 Nov 1998 American Golden-Plover Tulare Co Bird 340 ["John Lockhart" ] 10 Jul More Crossbills 7/9/08 ["svillebirder" ] 08 Jul Tulare Sewage Pond 7/8/08 ["svillebirder" ] 07 Jul Sherman Pass area ["Bob and Susan Steele" ] 05 Jul Willet at Tulare WTP ["John Lockhart" ] 29 Jun Golden Trout Wilderness Backpack trip 6/17-6/26/2008 ["svillebirder" ] 23 Jun Rowell Meadow Trailhead and hike ["John Lockhart" ] 17 Jun Chimney Creek to Springville ["John Lockhart" ] 13 Jun Kings Black-and-white Warbler ["Mark Stacy" ] 10 Jun Camp Nelson to North Road ["John Lockhart" ] 09 Jun Dry Creek Dr and Bravo Lake ["John Lockhart" ] 04 Jun North Road Williamson's Sapsucker 6/3/08 ["svillebirder" ] 02 Jun Correction to previous post the best bird in May was Tony Kurz's Indigo Bunting ["John Lockhart" ] 02 Jun Tulare Co year to date all observers 255 species ["John Lockhart" ] 02 Jun Jennie Lake Backpack ["John Lockhart" ] Subject: Common Tern Still there and Yokhul Valley Birds 10/1/08 From: "svillebirder" <tonyk_71220 AT hotmail.com> Date: Thu, 02 Oct 2008 04:15:25 -0000 The tern was still in the same spot at Lake Kaweah, I got a few pictures of the tern. On my way home I went through Yokhul Valley and had a Pygmy Owl, Screech Owl's, and a Common Poorwill. The poorwill gave me quite a show. After I saw the poorwill on the road I played the call, and the bird flew around my car, almost landing on it. I watched it fly around for about 10 minutes it was very cool, I came that close to getting a picture. I updated my pictures at flickr. The site is www.flickr.com/photos/svillebirder Tony Kurz Springville Tulare CountySubject: Tulare Co Year to Date Oct 1, 2008 From: "John Lockhart" <j_f_lockhart AT sbcglobal.net> Date: Thu, 02 Oct 2008 02:38:23 -0000 Hello all, 268 species have been recorded in Tulare Co so far this year We still need 7 species in the non Exceptional Category Baird's Sandpiper ----------Uncommon Bonaparte's Gull------------Uncommon Long-eared Owl--------------Rare Black-backed Woodpecker-----Rare Grasshopper Sparrow---------Rare White-throated Sparrow------Rare Pine Grosbeak---------------Rare I am going to move Baird's Sandpiper to Rare as I only know of 2 sightings since 2005. 17 exceptional species have been recorded bird location FinderFirst FinderLast Datebegin Dateend DateText birdnumbers Common Tern Lake Kaweah Rob Hansen 9/27/2008 9/29/2008 2 Red Knot Stoil Pond Tony Kurz 9/20/2008 9/21/2008 1 Sabine's Gull Stoil Pond Tony Kurz 9/13/2008 9/14/2008 1 Snowy Plover Bravo Lake Tony Kurz 8/29/2008 8/29/2008 1 Franklin's Gull Alpaugh Irrigation Dist Pond Steve Summers 8/17/2008 8/17/2008 1 Stilt Sandpiper Alpaugh Irrigation Dist Pond Steve Summers 8/17/2008 8/18/2008 2 Semipalmated Sandpiper Alpaugh Irrigation Dist Pond Tony Kurz 8/9/2008 8/9/2008 1 Indigo Bunting Success Lake Tony Kurz 5/4/2008 5/4/2008 1 Red-breasted Merganser Bravo Lake John Lockhart 4/27/2008 4/27/2008 1 Common Loon Bravo Lake Tony Kurz 4/27/2008 4/27/2008 1 Mew Gull Hwy 43 Avenue 84 John Lockhart 3/15/2008 3/19/2008 1 Rough-legged Hawk Alpaugh area Tony Kurz 3/7/2008 3/15/2008 1 Thayer's Gull Alpaugh Irrigation Dist Pond John Luther 3/4/2008 3/4/2008 1 Thayer's Gull Porterville, Dump John Lockhart 2/16/2008 2/16/2008 1 Glaucous-winged Gull Porterville, Dump John Lockhart 2/16/2008 2/16/2008 1 Eastern Phoebe Porterville Steve Summers 1/6/2008 1/8/2008 1 Thayer's Gull Alpaugh Irrigation Dist Pond John Sterling 1/3/2008 1/3/2008 7 Greater Scaup Woodlake WTP John Sterling 1/3/2008 3/25/2008 3 Thayer's Gull Success Lake John Sterling 1/3/2008 2/16/2008 1 Thayer's Gull Alpaugh Irrigation Dist Pond John Lockhart 12/24/2007 2/16/2008 1 Glaucous Gull Alpaugh Irrigation Dist Pond Steve Glover 12/23/2007 1/26/2008 1 Glaucous-winged Gull Alpaugh Irrigation Dist Pond John Lockhart 12/8/2007 1/27/2008 1 Red-breasted Merganser Success Lake Tony Kurz 11/21/2007 1/3/2008 1 John Lockhart VisaliaSubject: Common Tern still at Lake Kaweah From: "John Lockhart" <j_f_lockhart AT sbcglobal.net> Date: Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:11:01 -0000 Tuesday Sept 29, 2008 1 Common Tern was still present at Lake Kaweah Tuesday evening. This is the 3rd county record in 3 years since I recorded the first county record in 2006. Rob Hansen and I feel that the county was just underbirded during that period in years past. All records are from September with Kansas Ave, Bravo Lake and now Lake Kaweah being the locations. I had the afternoon free and birded from Bravo to Lake Kaweah. 1 Ospery Migrants in Horse Creek Campground. John Lockhart VisaliaSubject: Re: hiking Jackass Creek From: "Bob and Susan Steele" <steele7 AT verizon.net> Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2008 19:40:18 -0700 I've had some requests for more info on the "gray-headed" junco. In terms of location this bird was at the second, as I recall, area with water. This area can be know by the 2 large bark free pines that have fallen over the creek and are almost touching. This area had many birds coming in for water. In terms of description we had nice views of the bird as it waited on one of the logs for a drink, maybe 25' from us, and was there 30 seconds to a minute. It had a gray head, upper breast, wings, tail (excpet for the white outer tail feathers) -- in other words lots of gray. Offsetting the gray a nice rust colored patch on the mantle, White belly, dark lores that gave it a "masked" look, and pink bill. Susan Steele Inyokern, CA > -----Original Message----- > From: tularekingsbirds AT yahoogroups.com > [mailto:tularekingsbirds AT yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Bob and Susan > Steele > Sent: Sunday, September 28, 2008 8:16 PM > To: tularekingsbirds AT yahoogroups.com > Subject: [tularekingsbirds] hiking Jackass Creek > > A friend and I hiked up Jackass Creek, Near Kennedy Mdws, for a couple > miles > today. We were looking for changing colors on the aspens, a bit too > early. > We found instead suprising numbers of birds. > > Townsend's Solitaires -- 11 > Chipping Sparrow -- 10 > WC Sparrow -- 5 > DE Junco -50 incluing one "Gray-headed" bird > WB Nuthatch -- 2 > RB Nuthatch -- 1 > Pgymy Nuthatch -- 8 > Fox Sparrow -- 1 > OC Warbler -- 1 > YR Warbler -- 1 > Clark's Nutcracker -- 10 > Stellar's Jay -- 7 > RT Hawk -- 1 > Mt Bluebird -- 9 > N Flicker -- 1 > Hairy Woodie -- 2 > WH Woodie -- 1 > Cassin's Vireo -- 1 > Mt Chickadee -- 20 > > Susan Steele > Inyokern, CA > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > ------------------------------------ > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > >Subject: Kings County Short-billed Dowitcher 9/28/08 From: "svillebirder" <tonyk_71220 AT hotmail.com> Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2008 05:30:02 -0000 On my way home from the beach I stopped by some flooded fields along 6th Ave. The fields are north of Tucson Road on the east side of 6th ave. The fields had at least a thousand shorebirds, mainly Long- billed Dowither's. There was a Short-billed dowitcher out there amongest all the long-bill's. It was calling a lot, and I was able to seperate its distinct call, but I never saw the bird. Tony Kurz Springville Tulare CountySubject: hiking Jackass Creek From: "Bob and Susan Steele" <steele7 AT verizon.net> Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2008 20:15:58 -0700 A friend and I hiked up Jackass Creek, Near Kennedy Mdws, for a couple miles today. We were looking for changing colors on the aspens, a bit too early. We found instead suprising numbers of birds. Townsend's Solitaires -- 11 Chipping Sparrow -- 10 WC Sparrow -- 5 DE Junco -50 incluing one "Gray-headed" bird WB Nuthatch -- 2 RB Nuthatch -- 1 Pgymy Nuthatch -- 8 Fox Sparrow -- 1 OC Warbler -- 1 YR Warbler -- 1 Clark's Nutcracker -- 10 Stellar's Jay -- 7 RT Hawk -- 1 Mt Bluebird -- 9 N Flicker -- 1 Hairy Woodie -- 2 WH Woodie -- 1 Cassin's Vireo -- 1 Mt Chickadee -- 20 Susan Steele Inyokern, CA [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]Subject: Common Tern at Lake Kaweah From: "John Lockhart" <j_f_lockhart AT sbcglobal.net> Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2008 18:50:46 -0000 Sept 27, 2008 While out at Bravo Lake Saturday, Rob Hansen called me and said he had 2 Common Tern at Lake Kaweah. They were there when I arrived 20 minutes later with the light starting to fail. He also reported Sage Thrasher and Osprey that I did not see with the few minutes and poor light. I started the day birding with Tulare County Audubon Society and had one of the slowest days I can remember. We started out checking for migrants along the Tule River between Hwy 144 and Hwy 43. We had a few winter sparrows, a Western Tanager and Common Yellowthroat. We had very little on the Alpaugh BLM trail except for a wayward Acorn Woodpecker. The Alpaugh Irrigation District pond was completely dry. The Tulare WTP's best pond had also dried up shrinking the bird numbers dramatically. Later that evening I went to Bravo Lake that had good bird numbers but nothing too unusual. There were still 2 BuffelHead there and 7 Ring-necked Duck. John Lockhart VisaliaSubject: Pectoral Sandpiper and Brewer's Sparrow's at Lake Success 9/24/08 From: "svillebirder" <tonyk_71220 AT hotmail.com> Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2008 02:22:02 -0000 I had 2 more Brewer's Sparrow's at Lake Success today along with a Pectoral Sandpiper mixed in with the Least Sandpiper's. I posted some new pictures of the sandpiper. Tony Kurz Springville Tulare CountySubject: Snipes at Lake Success 9/23/08 From: "svillebirder" <tonyk_71220 AT hotmail.com> Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2008 05:20:08 -0000 In the pond Northeast of Lake Success there were 3 Wilson's Snipes along the muddy grass flats. Haven't seen these guys for a while. They were sitting still doing their best to stay camofluaged. A single long-billed Dowitcher was also present at the lake. Tony Kurz Springville Tulare CountySubject: Red Knot at Stoil Pond From: "John Lockhart" <j_f_lockhart AT sbcglobal.net> Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2008 23:09:22 -0000 Saturday, Sept 20, 2008 Tony Kurz and I spent about 3 hours searching for the yet unrecorded in Tulare Co Common Ground-Dove between Richgrove and Delano. We then visited the Alpaugh ID pond and Stoil Pond. Stoil Pond had by far the most birds. Red Knot: Second County Record - it liked the northeast corner of the center pond, the only pond with good shorebird habitat. 1 Pectoral Sandpiper 5 Semipalmated Plover We found no migrants in the areas' migrant traps We visited Tulare WTP which had good numbers and diversity of birds. I visited Visalia WTP Friday evening with most of the habitat dry and less then 1000 total birds John Lockhart VisaliaSubject: Continuing Shorebirds at Visalia WTP 9/17/08 From: "svillebirder" <tonyk_71220 AT hotmail.com> Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2008 04:02:44 -0000 Giacomo and I met John Lockhart at Visalia WTP "water had gone down," john had said, but still there was tons of shorebirds. Shorebirds present included: 5 or more Pectoral Sandpipers 2 Lesser Yellowlegs 2 Black-bellied Plover's Western Sandpiper's Least Sandpiper's Greater Yellowlegs Long-billed Dowitcher's It was a very likley spot for a semipalmated Sandpiper to be out there, but we weren't able to pick one out. A Bank Swallow made a couple quick fly-by's, so it was a good afternoon of birding. Tony Kurz Springville Tulare CountySubject: Visalia WTP Pectoral Sandpipers From: "John Lockhart" <j_f_lockhart AT sbcglobal.net> Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2008 01:48:28 -0000 Sept 16, 2008 This afternoon the water had been let out and it was shorebird heaven. It won't last long. I had a least 5 Pectoral Sandpipers 9 Lesser Yellowlegs 2500 Western Sandpipers - Sky filling clouds when the falcon came through. 500 Least Sandpipers 1 Prairie Falcon John Lockhart VisaliaSubject: Red-naped Sapsucker in Springville at my house 9/15/08 From: "svillebirder" <tonyk_71220 AT hotmail.com> Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2008 03:13:55 -0000 I had a male Red-naped Sapsucker in the willow at my house this evening. This puts my Tulare County year list at 253, and a new backyard bird to my backyard list which is now at 124, Amazing!! Tony Kurz Springville Tulare CountySubject: Sabine's Gull at Stoil Pond continues From: "John Lockhart" <j_f_lockhart AT sbcglobal.net> Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2008 02:42:00 -0000 Sunday, Sept 14, 2008 I got back into town and read Tony's report so I head out about 2:00 pm CAUTION CAUTION: Stoil Pond access road, the dirt road that parallels the canal that flows around Stoil Pond, that is just past the locked gate west of the Alpaugh Irrigation Pond off of Road 55 has a pot hole that is actually a road version of a snow bridge. There is water flowing underneath the road. When I went over it was a wheel size pot hole when I left it was a three foot round sinkhole with water flowing through it. I drove out the other way rather then risk another crossing. Stoil Pond had few gulls and shorebirds but it did have the Sabine's Gull. The 2005 Sabine's Gulls where there for a week. Tulare WTP: Water back in all the ponds. Good numbers of birds and good diversity in all areas. Visalia WTP: Lesser Yellowlegs, 2 American Wigeon and good water. By far the most shorebirds. Nothing jumped out at me but I didn't go away convinced that some rarity wasn't hiding out there. John Lockhart VisaliaSubject: Sabine's Gull at Stoil Pond in Tulare County 9/13/08 From: "svillebirder" <tonyk_71220 AT hotmail.com> Date: Sat, 13 Sep 2008 22:33:48 -0000 Giacomo and I started the morning with a Long-billed Curlew survey for California Audubon. The survey was slow only producing 6 Curlews. We headed to the Alpaugh Irrigation Pond, and shorebird numbers were still pretty good. Lots of dowitcher's, no stilt sandpipers. All the usual shorebirds were present including a few Dunlin. Next stop was Stoil ponds, we drove around found a single Juvenile Sabine's Gull in with a bunch of Ring-billed Gulls. We watched the bird from 10:45 to 11:15 AM, and the gull flew off heading Northeast. I posted bad quality pictures, but they'll work for identifying the bird. On the way home we stopped by Lake Success and had a few good birds. A nice group of sparrows was down in the willows: 5 Brewer's, 2 Vesper, 1 White-crowned, and more Savannah Sparrows starting to show up. Best shorebird at the lake was a single Dunlin. A good day of birding!! Tony Kurz Springville Tulare CountySubject: Overview of last weeks observations Tulare Co From: "John Lockhart" <j_f_lockhart AT sbcglobal.net> Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2008 13:14:59 -0000 Friday, Sept 12, 2008 I have been super busy but have had a chance to slip by some birding spots in the last week. Wednesday, Sept 10 Bravo Lake 2 Buffelhead, 1 Vaux's Swift, Forster's and Caspian Tern - with almost no shorebirds. I have been by many of the other Tulare water spots with only Visalia WTP Tulare WTP Alpaugh Irrigation District Pond / Stoil Pond having enough water for good bird diversity. John Lockhart VisaliaSubject: Mountain Birds above Scicon 9/10/08 From: "svillebirder" <tonyk_71220 AT hotmail.com> Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2008 03:10:32 -0000 My dog and I took a drive up Balch Park road, and it was a good birdy evening. I had a small group of warblers which included Yellow, Yellow-rumped, MacGuillvary's, Wilson's, and Black-throated Gray. A group of Vaux's swift made a quick fly-over. Violet-green swallows were in the area as well. I was able to pick out a single Black- swift. A Northern Pygmy Owl I heard too as I hiked up a trail. Tony Kurz Springville Tulare CountySubject: Snowy Plover at Bravo Lake Tulare County 8/29/08 From: "svillebirder" <tonyk_71220 AT hotmail.com> Date: Sat, 30 Aug 2008 05:12:15 -0000 This evening at Bravo Lake I found a Snowy Plover mixed in with Killdeer. I watched the bird from 7:20 PM tell about 7:45 PM. The plover was on the Northeast corner of the lake where the water comes into the lake. It was not in the mudflat area it was up on the dry sand mixed in with vegitation. Other shorebirds were present as well: Wilson's Phalaropes, Least Sandpipers, Long-billed Dowitchers,and Greater Yellowlegs. Lots of waterfowl compared to Lake Success. Herons were abundant too, due to the thousands of juvenile Bullfrogs. About 30 California Gulls were on a strip of sand near this area. Mixed in with the gulls were a couple of Caspians Tern. I called John Lockhart when I found the plover, but due to bad light and a good distance from the plover we were not able to relocate it. Tony Kurz Springville Tulare CountySubject: Lake Success BREWER'S SPARROWS Tul. County 8/26/08 From: "svillebirder" <tonyk_71220 AT hotmail.com> Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2008 05:38:59 -0000 I had some good birds this evening at Lake Success. 6 BREWER'S SPARROWS flying from willow to willow in the Northwest corner of the lake. They were down in the dried up parts of the lake. Waterfowl was not bad for how early it is. Two Green-winged Teal were present as well as 2 Greater White-fronted Geese mixed in with the Canada Geese. The Albino Shoveler is back again I have seen this duck every winter since 2006. Shorebird numbers are rising. A few days ago I 4 Red-necked Phalaropes, 1 Long-billed Dowitcher, and a spotted sandpiper. Today there were good numbers of Least Sandpipers and 2 Greater Yellowlegs present. 15 Caspian Terns and a few California Gulls were present. Tony Kurz Springville Tulare CountySubject: Black and Ruddy Turnstones in Southern Kings County From: "jeff67632003" <jseay AT harveyecology.com> Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2008 04:02:15 -0000 I had both black and ruddy turnstones as well as 2 juv. Baird's Sandpipers today on private property in southern Kings County. I have added photos of each to the shorebirds folder in the Photos section. Jeff Seay Fresno, CASubject: Herbert Preserve highlights on August 23, 2008 (continued) From: "poouli" <hansenbio AT comcast.net> Date: Sun, 24 Aug 2008 01:12:50 -0000 oops, I hit send before I was done. Here are the rest of the highlighted species from Herbert Wetland Prtairie Preserve (HWPP) from a brief birding visit this morning: white-faced ibis - 160 flew ENE over HWPP. common moorhen - 2 full-sized juveniles (probably hatched on the property earlier in the summer when the ponds and sloughs were wet). Wilson's snipe - 1 on the shore of West Pond. burrowing owl - 3 black-chinned hummingbird - 1 This is the latest fall date for this species at HWPP. 2 other hummingbirds (species?) were seen in flight over HWPP today. savannah sparrow - 22 This is my first fall 2008 date for this winter visitor to the Central Valley. In 2006, savannah sparrows were seen at HWPP as early as August 22 so this is not the earliest local return date. This note is included here mostly just to indicate that, not only are these birds back for the "winter" (I know it doesn't feel very wintery yet) but they are back in numbers. Rob HansenSubject: Herbert Preserve highlights on August 23, 2008 From: "poouli" <hansenbio AT comcast.net> Date: Sun, 24 Aug 2008 00:58:28 -0000 When I birded Herbert Wetland Prairie Preserve (HWPP) early this
morning, I saw 33 species. Here are the highlights:
gadwall - 2 This duck is seldom seen at the Preserve; a pair stopped
briefly at West Pond at 8:50 a.m.
Northern shoveler - 2 This is another duck species seldom seen at
HWPP. Two were on West Pond at 7:05 a.m.
green heron - 1 was at West Pond at 7:05 a.m. then was seen later
flying north up Outside Creek and east to Sellers Slough
near North Pond (now dry).
Subject: Stilt SandpipersFrom: "birds_i_vue" <birds_i_vue AT yahoo.com> Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 04:32:02 -0000 The two Stilt Sandpipers previously reported by Steve Summers were refound by David Gaylor and Gary Lindquist on Aug 18 at 6:00 PM. The two sandpipers were seen feeding in a mixed flock of dowitchers and peeps in the southeast most pool of the Alpaugh Basin. The Franklin's Gull was not refound. Gary LindquistSubject: A From: "birds_i_vue" <birds_i_vue AT yahoo.com> Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 04:28:52 -0000 ASubject: Tulare Co. Stilt Sandpipers and Franklin's Gull From: "Steve & Priscilla Summers" <summers AT ocsnet.net> Date: Sun, 17 Aug 2008 13:50:56 -0700 This morning (8/17/08 around 8:30 am) I found two molting adult STILT SANDPIPERS at the Alpaugh Irrigation District pond at the corner of Hwy. 43 and Ave. 56 (west of Alpaugh). The birds were in the SE corner. After being there for over an hour a juvenile FRANKLIN'S GULL arrived. Both John Lockhart and Tony Kurz joined me after calling them. All three birds were still there when we left around 10:30 am. I've added some photos of these birds into the Tulare Co. Birds folder of this group. Steve Summers Porterville, CASubject: SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER at Alpaugh Irrigation Pond 8/9/08 From: "svillebirder" <tonyk_71220 AT hotmail.com> Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2008 04:48:03 -0000 Sorry for the late posting. Saturday I had 1 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER at the Alpaugh Irrigation pond. The bird was in the pond on the corner of Hwy 43 and Ave. 56. There were thousands of shorebirds which included: Western, Least Sandpipers, Wilson's and Red-necked Phalaropes, Semipalmated Plovers, Black-bellied Plovers, and the majority was the overwhelming number of dowitchers. Could this be another Stilt Sandpiper year it reminded me of last fall. Tony Kurz Springville Tulare CountySubject: Horseshoe Meadow to Mt Whitney Birding From: "John Lockhart" <j_f_lockhart AT sbcglobal.net> Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2008 04:12:10 -0000 August 4 - August 10 55 miles at least 95% in Tulare Co, all birds reported here in Tul Co. 99% above 10,000 ft Julian Lockhart, Michael Hughes, Debby Crain, and I. We had Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch from the summit of Mt Whitney to just above Hitchcock Lakes. We heard and had good looks at Red Crossbill from the county line (Cottonwood Pass) to upper Crabtree Meadow. Always just a few at a time. We also had Pygmy Nuthatch and Gray Flycatcher from the county line to Guyot Pass. Near Siberian Pass we had an adult Prairie Falcon providing food for an immature. This is an 10,500+ subalpine meadow where Prairie Falcons are recorded almost every year. I also saw one there in 2005. Is it possible to have breeding Prairie Falcon in Tulare Co or do they travel far with their young? The meadows were full of Mountain Bluebird, up to 50, and some had White-crowned Sparrow. At Siberian Outpost we had 175 plus Dark-eyed Junco flocking together. We had very few woodpeckers, warblers, and vireos. I took counts at campsites and reststops to record on ebird. John Lockhart VisaliaSubject: Apologies for some undecipherable info on my Hanford WTP least tern posting From: "poouli" <hansenbio AT comcast.net> Date: Sat, 09 Aug 2008 00:35:11 -0000 When I posted the report of the Hanford least tern on the evening of August 7 (for the August 6, 2008 sight record), some of the information I tried to include got pretty scrambled in the translation; sorry. Part of the reason the text got so messed up is becasue I wrote the original message in Word and tried to copy it into the Yahoo format on tularekingsbirds. If any birders are interested in getting a clean copy of the notes, the bird list, a diagram of the WTP ponds, or a marked-up version of a Google Earth photo of the Hanford WTP, please just e-mail me at hansenbio AT comcast.net and I'll send you an email with the appropriate attachments. I guess my lesson learned is that it's best, when posting messages here, to just type them in and not try any fancy tables or hand-typed diagrams. Rob Hansen VisaliaSubject: Adult least tern at Hanford Wastewater Treatment Plant (WTP) on August 6, 2008 From: "poouli" <hansenbio AT comcast.net> Date: Fri, 08 Aug 2008 06:46:53 -0000 Adult least tern at Hanford Wastewater Treatment Plant (WTP).
August 6, 2008
I observed an adult least tern at the Hanford WTP* from 3:50-3:55
p.m. on August 6, 2008. I first noticed the bird over pond #2 and
then I saw it later briefly over Pond #1 and Pond #5. My attention
was first drawn to this bird when it was in the air with several
cliff swallows and barn swallows. Most swallows at that time in the
afternoon were either foraging over the ponds or were perched along
wires between pond #2 and pond #5. A few of the barn swallows were
busy pursuing the tern which, while small for a tern, was clearly
larger than them (but not proportionately as large as black terns I¡¯d
seen foraging with swallows over pond #4 just a few minutes
earlier). Once I got binoculars on the bird, it had turned and was
flying directly toward me just above eye level; that¡¯s when I was
able to see immediately that it was a least tern. I could see the
slender, pointed yellow bill and a white forehead contrasting with a
black cap. The color of the bird¡¯s back and upper wings was an even
light gray but the leading edge of the wing, outward from the wrist,
was black. The bird was all white below. The short tail appeared
even shorter than usual, possibly worn, even for a least tern. There
was no dark carpal bar and no white on the crown (as might be
expected on an immature bird). The least tern swooped down to the
water¡¯s surface about five times. I was never able to see if it
caught anything. I don¡¯t know whether mosquitofish (Gambusia
affinis) live in or are stocked in any of the ponds at the WTP. The
pond edges were swarming with blue damselflies (probably damsels,
bluets, or forktails) which the black terns seemed to be attracted to
¡¦ the least tern did not seem to pay any attention to the insects.
* Please see information at the bottom of this message for directions
to the WTP, contact information for permission to bird there, and
an explanation of the location of the 8 ponds at the facility.
This is being sent partly as an FYI to birders in Tulare Basin
(southern San Joaquin Valley) Counties to check out all small terns
during this time in fall migration when black terns may be numerous
at the ponds at Wastewater Treatment Plants (WTP) and other wet
habitats that support lots of damselflies and dragonflies ... maybe
one of you will add this species to another local County list!
Here is a list of the 32 bird species I saw at the Hanford WTP on
August 6, 2008 between 2:30 and 4:04 p.m.:
Ponds Hanford
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 WTP Total
Mallard 1 155 15 10 25 10 216
cinnamon teal 9 9
Northern shoveler 7 5 15 27
ruddy duck 4 45 40 89
pied-billed grebe 1 2 3
eared grebe 2 4 5 11
snowy egret 1 1
Swainson¡¯s hawk 1 1
American coot 75 45 3 123
back-bellied plover 23 23
semipalmated plover 6 6
killdeer 2 6 6 4 18
black-necked stilt 5 150 45 5 55 25 25 310
American avocet 110 5 10 125
spotted sandpiper 1 1
greater yellowlegs 4 12 2 6 4 28
lesser yellowlegs 3 3
Western sandpiper 2 2 4
least sandpiper 35 70 175 35 40 355
long-billed dowitcher 150 35 25 7 15 232
Wilson¡¯s phalarope 31 25 5 5 445 20 531
least tern 1 1
black tern 1 18 7 1 3 30
Forster¡¯s tern 1 1
rock pigeon 15 15
mourning dove 2 2 4
Western kingbird 1 1
loggerhead shrike 1 1
tree swallow 35 35
cliff swallow 6 80 35 121
barn swallow 1 3 4
Brewer¡¯s blackbird 1 1
Total No. of species 5 7 13 14 7 15 11 11 32
Total No. of indiv.birds 11 129 537 410 37 435 635 136 2330
Note: in addition to the birds, I saw one Western pond turtle in pond
# 8.
* Hanford Wastewater Treatment Plant (WTP)
The Hanford WTP is located in Kings Industrial Park in southwestern
Hanford (south of Highway 198 and west of Highway 43), north of Iona
Avenue, east of 11th Avenue, and west of the Burlington Northern
Santa Fe Railroad tracks. There are 8 individual ponds (with a total
wetted surface area of approximately 148.1 acres) at the WTP arranged
as shown below. I¡¯ve assigned each pond a number to be able to refer
to them when describing the location of various birds. The
approximate acreage of each pond is included (calculated using the
measurement function in Google Earth¢â).
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
I I I
I Pond #1 I Pond #2 I
I I I
I 10.3 ac I 10.9 ac I
I I I
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
I I I I
I I I I
I Pond #3 I Pond #4 I Pond #5 I
I I I I
I 36.2 ac I 15.8 ac I 15.1 ac I
I I I I
I I I I
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
I I I I
I I I I
I Pond #6 I Pond #7 I Pond #8 I
¡è I I I I
N I I I I
I 31.9 ac I 14.7 ac I 13.2 ac I
11th I I I I
Ave. I I I I
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
IONA AVENUE
The city's wastewater treatment plant receives and treats 5 million
gallons of sewage per day from residential, commercial, and septic
waste. The treated water is then used for appropriate agricultural
irrigation. The plant manager at the WTP, Bob Cisneros**, can be
contacted at 585-2576; Monday through Friday 6:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
The plant manager will allow birders to drive the levee roads if you
make arrangements ahead of time. The City of Hanford's WTP staff
requests only one or two birder vehicles on the levee roads at a time
and they ask that drivers use caution while driving the levee roads
and drive slowly to minimize dust.
** This name and phone number are current as of August 6, 2008
Subject: North American Birds Summer ReminderFrom: Steve Glover <countylines AT sbcglobal.net> Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2008 08:44:53 -0700 (PDT) Hello all,
Below is a reminder that the summer season for North
American Birds is over. As usual, our apologies for
those of you receiving this message from multiple
listserves.
Steve Glover
Dublin, CA
August 1, 2008
Dear North American Birds Contributors,
The summer season has already come to a close so
please send your noteworthy records from the Northern
California Region for the period 1 June – 31 July to
the appropriate Subregional Editors (see below) or to
the Regional Editors by 10 August.
Please pay special attention to the format example
given at the end of this message. Reports that are
formatted properly make our job far easier. In
particular, it is important to note that there is a
single tab between species, date, etc.
PLEASE use Subregional Editors for the counties that
have them. These SREs painstakingly keep track of
records within their counties and are in most cases
THE source of information on the birds of their
counties. By sending your records to the SREs, you
are helping to contribute to their county files as
well as to North American Birds. If you wish to send
copies to the Regional Editors, we welcome them, but
please send records through the SREs as well. If you
have a noteworthy winter sighting from a county
without a Subregional Editor, please send records to
the Regional Editors below.
Records of loons-frigatebirds and larids-alcids go to
Steve Rottenborn at:
H.T. Harvey & Associates
983 University Ave., Bldg. D
Los Gatos, CA 95032
srottenborn AT harveyecology.com
Records of waterfowl through quail and herons through
shorebirds go to Mike Rogers at:
499 Novato Ave.
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
m.m.rogers AT comcast.net
Records of doves through thrushes/Wrentit (in the new
AOU order that includes vireos and shrikes) go to
Steve Glover at:
6526 Conestoga Lane
Dublin, CA 94568
countylines AT sbcglobal.net
Records of thrashers to finches go to Ed Pandolfino
at:
Ed Pandolfino
5530 Delrose Court
Carmichael, CA 95608
erpfromca AT aol.com
SUBREGIONAL EDITORS
Alameda
Bob Richmond
24650 Amador St. #15
Hayward, CA 94544
Brichmond94544 AT earthlink.net
Alpine, Calaveras & Modoc
John Sterling
29 Palm Ave.
Woodland, CA 95695
ani AT cal.net
Amador & El Dorado
Tim Steurer
4042 Bancroft Dr.
El Dorado Hills, CA 95762-6933
tsteurer AT hotmail.com
Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Sutter, Tehama, Yuba
Bruce Deuel
18730 Live Oak Road
Red Bluff, CA 96080
bdeuel AT wildblue.net
Contra Costa
Steve Glover
6526 Conestoga Lane
Dublin CA 94568
countylines AT sbcglobal.net
Del Norte
Alan D. Barron
1093 Hwy 101 N. #18
Crescent City, CA 95531
flockfinder AT yahoo.com
Fresno
Gary W. Potter
2183 Walton Ave
Sanger, CA 93657
gwpott AT aol.com
Humboldt
Rob Fowler
2277 Heather Lane, Apt. D
Arcata, CA 95521
migratoriusfwlr AT gmail.com
Kings
Luke Cole
561 Hill Street
San Francisco, CA 94114
luke AT igc.org
Lake
Jerry R. White
P.O. Box 113
Kelseyville, CA 95451
grwhite AT jps.net
Lassen
Brad Stovall
Stovall Associates
P.O. Box 4413
Chico, CA 95927
Bmspi1 AT aol.com
Madera
Jeff Davis
11238 N Via Trevisio Way
Fresno, CA 93730
jndavis AT ucsc.edu
Marin
Ryan Terrill
1619 El Dorado Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95062
enicurus AT yahoo.com
Mariposa
David Vander Pluym
1683 Buena Vista St.
Ventura, CA 93001
SCRE AT aol.com
Mendocino
Bob Keiffer
P. O. Box 354
Hopland CA 95449
rjkeiffer AT ucdavis.edu
Merced and San Benito
Kent Van Vuren
26 Vista Dr.
Salinas, CA 93907
vanvurenk AT aol.com
Mono
Kristie Nelson
P.O. Box 402
Lee Vining, CA 93541
storm_petrel AT hotmail.com
Monterey
Don Roberson
282 Grove Acre
Pacific Grove CA 93950
831-373-2566fax
creagrus AT montereybay.com
Napa
Murray Berner
210 Monte Vista
Napa, CA 94558
(707) 224-5897
vireocity AT hotmail.com
Nevada
Brian Williams
8200 Turner Dr.
Granite Bay, CA 95746
bwcal AT sprynet.com
Placer
Ed Pandolfino
5530 Del Rose Court
Carmichael, CA 95608
erpfromca AT aol.com
Plumas & Sierra
John "Mac" McCormick
1230 Dog Leg Dr.
Chico, CA 95928
macmc94123 AT earthlink.net
Sacramento
Chris Conard
2405 Rio Bravo Circle
Sacramento, CA 95826
conardc AT gmail.com
San Francisco (mainland)
The City: Mark Eaton
1524 36th Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94122
mweaton AT pacbell.net
San Francisco (Farallons)
Jim Tietz
P.O. Box 751
Arcata, CA, 95518
jmtietz AT yahoo.com
San Joaquin
Frances Oliver
1817 Songbird Place
Lodi, CA 95240
Hummer52 AT sbcglobal.net
San Mateo
Peter J. Metropulos
2940 Turk Blvd.
San Francisco, CA 94118
pjmetrop AT pacbell.net
Santa Clara
William G. Bousman
321 Arlington Way
Menlo Park CA 94025
barlowi AT earthlink.net
Santa Cruz
David Suddjian and Steve Gerow
801 Monterey Ave.
Capitola, CA 95010
DSUDDJIAN AT aol.com
Stephengerow AT aol.com
Shasta
Bob Yutzy
P. O. Box 990237
Redding CA 96099
boby AT c-zone.net
Siskiyou
Ray Ekstrom
2209 Delphic Rd.
Montague, CA 96064
Solano
Robin Leong
336 Benson Ave.
Vallejo, CA 94590-3027
robin_leong AT netzero.net
Sonoma
Ruth Rudesill
P.O. Box 371
Kenwood, CA 95452
ruthier AT sonic.net
Stanislaus
Harold Reeves
birder AT sbcglobal.net
Trinity
John E. Hunter
P.O. Box 4483
Arcata, CA 95518
jhunter323 AT aol.com
Tulare
Steven Summers
2553 W. Michelle Ln.
Porterville, CA 93257
summers AT ocsnet.net
Tuolumne
Steven Umland
15818 Parkridge Ave.
Sonora, CA 95370
sumland AT skywayusa.net
Yolo
Roger Adamson
2213 Catalina Dr.
Davis, CA 95616
rhadamson AT ucdavis.edu
The Reporting Deadlines are:
Spring Summer Fall Winter
Season ends May 31 July 31 Nov 30
Feb 28
Observer reports to Subregional Editors (SREs)
June 10 Aug 10 Dec 10 Mar 10
Observer reports to Regional Editors (if not sent to
SRE)
June 10 Aug 10 Dec 10 Mar 10
SRE reports to Regional Editors
June 20 Aug 20 Dec 20 Mar 20
Regional Editors final text to ABA office
July 10 Sep 10 Jan 10 Apr 10
PLEASE meet your deadlines so that we can meet our
deadlines!
Please send reports in our preferred order: species,
date(s) [including year], locale, co. abbrev., number
of birds, and observer, and then, on a second line,
any comments. Please separate these sections by a
"tab" (except just a space between locale and county
abbreviation) on electronic versions submitted.
Again, here's an example of the correct format:
Grace's Warbler 12/13/98-2/20/99 Jacks Peak MTY 1
RFT, mob
A second record for the Region (the first was
6/26/91 at Deer Spring, Glass Mt. MNO) which wintered
with a large flock of Townsend's & Hermit warblers at
the very top of Jacks Peak in Jacks Peak Regional
Park. Details by Tintle and others are enclosed.
Many observers and Subregional Editors have been
submitting their reports by e-mail. PLEASE submit
electronic reports if possible. We are trying to
maintain an electronic database of at least recent
records, and we hope to be able to have all old data
entered eventually so that the entire database will be
easily accessible to anyone who wants it. Electronic
submission of records in the format described above
makes it much easier for us maintain this electronic
database.
We've heard questions about, comments on, and
criticism of our regional reports from several
observers and SREs. We really appreciate this
feedback, as it helps us to better represent what is
going on in the Region as a whole. Please help us
correct any factual errors we make, and don't hesitate
to let us know what you think of the reports.
Many thanks to all the contributors and Subregional
Editors who make these reports possible!
Sincerely,
Ed Pandolfino, Mike Rogers, Steve Rottenborn, and
Steve Glover
(Northern California Regional Editors)
Subject: I posted a new Tulare Co Checklist incorporating these changesFrom: "John Lockhart" <j_f_lockhart AT sbcglobal.net> Date: Sat, 02 Aug 2008 02:23:25 -0000 Hello all, As Steve pointed out all the changes for our list are in the gulls. Go to the Files Section of this website and see the checklist Tulare Co Checklist July 29, 2008. If it looks too small hit the zoom button. John Lockhart VisaliaSubject: 49th supplement to A.O.U. Check-list From: "Steve & Priscilla Summers" <summers AT ocsnet.net> Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2008 16:12:08 -0700 The 49th supplement to the A.O.U. check-list is now available on the A.O.U. website at http://www.aou.org/checklist/index.php3 The only affect on Tulare-Kings birds is the order in which the gulls are listed. You can download both the supplement and the complete A.O.U. checklist with all the new changes at the above site. Steve Summers PortervilleSubject: Evening Grosbeak and Flammulated Owl 7/22-7/23 2008 From: "svillebirder" <tonyk_71220 AT hotmail.com> Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:29:01 -0000 Last night up at Redwood drive I called in a Flammulated Owl and was able to get a picture of the bird. The picture isn't that great, but it is always is a treat to see this ghostly bird. I had 1 Evening Grosbeak at Holey Meadow on the Great Western Divide Highway. Tony Kurz Springville Tulare CountySubject: Birding the Sequoia National Forest Month of July 2008 From: "svillebirder" <tonyk_71220 AT hotmail.com> Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:19:57 -0000 It has been birdy up in the mountains common birds consist of Pileated Woodpecker in the Sequoia Groves, lots of woodpecker species, but still no Black-backed this far south. Nomatic birds have been pretty reliable this year in certain areas. Lots of Red Crossbill, and the North road produces the casual Evening Grosbeak, still on the look out for Pine Grosbeak. Owl activity has been great lots of Spotted Owls, lots of Flammulated Owls, a few Northern Saw-whets, no Great Horns surprisingly, and a few Pygmy's and Screech owl. Nightjar action for Common Poorwill has been pretty spotty only a couple of roads: North Road and roads east of Western Divide. Hike into backcountry lots of Common Nighthawks as well as poorwill. This year has been tough for Accipiters not many sightings the past week I have had two Northern Goshawk sightings and that is it. One was a great look, the bird came in right by us and checked us out and took off. One Sharp-shinned we have seen this summer and no Cooper's. Warblers have been numerous, and I can already see the fall migration starting to happen up in the mountains the numbers of Warblers have really jumped in the past 2 weeks. Lots of Hermit, Yellow-rumped, Wilson's, MacGuillvary's, a few Orange-crowned, Yellow, a few Black-throated Gray, and lots of Nashville. I am always keeping an eye out for the Vagrants. Lots of birds to look at, and my job with the Forest Service will go on until the middle of August, so I still have a chance at any of the rarities. Tony Kurz Springville Tulare CountySubject: Tulare WTP From: "John Lockhart" <j_f_lockhart AT sbcglobal.net> Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2008 01:29:04 -0000 Sunday, July 20, 2008 Lots of good shorebird habitat in the ponds accross the street from the plant. Shorebird numbers are building. 1 juvenal Black Tern John Lockhart VisaliaSubject: TCAS trip to Big Meadows From: "John Lockhart" <j_f_lockhart AT sbcglobal.net> Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2008 01:26:37 -0000 Saturday, July 19, 2008 We birded the Big Meadows area in the afternoon after having birded Fresno Co in the morning. We had most of the expect mountain birds without any real super highlights. John Lockhart VisaliaSubject: Crossbills continue and birds at Loyd Meadow road 7/14/08 From: "svillebirder" <tonyk_71220 AT hotmail.com> Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2008 02:51:13 -0000 The Freeman Creek stretch on the eastside of the road produced more Crossbills this morning. There are quite a few crossbills in this area most of the time I hear them flying over, but I had a few looks to sitting a-top the tree's. Other good birds seen was Nashville, Chipping Sparrow, Hutton's Vireo, and California Thrasher. Tony Kurz Springville Tulare CountySubject: 9 Nov 1998 American Golden-Plover Tulare Co Bird 340 From: "John Lockhart" <j_f_lockhart AT sbcglobal.net> Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2008 04:21:02 -0000 9 Nov 1998, American Golden-Plover, Alpaugh Irrigation District pond Don Roberson Tulare Co Bird 340 I have started to use ebird now that you can upload files instead of entering the birds per a sighting. It has and is a learning experiance but in reviewing the data I saw this sighting and emailed Don Roberson for details. He supplied the following and I am adding it to the Tulare Co list. My observation on 9 Nov 1998 was published in the fall 1998 NAB report for northern California. Yes, it was a good record. My notes read: "American Golden-Plover with huge dense flock of ~750 Black-bellied Plover lining one dike in pond. The golden-plover was easily picked out by buffy-brown face & breast, smaller size, small bill, uniform rump through tail (in short flights), uniform underwing (no wing stripe, no black axillaires). [It was in worn juv or] basic plumage with uniform warm-brown back, much too dull for fulva. Primaries extended well beyond the tip of tail (i.e., 4-5 primary tips extending beyond tail). Plain face without fulva supercilium or auricular spot." from Email Don Roberson John Lockhart VisaliaSubject: More Crossbills 7/9/08 From: "svillebirder" <tonyk_71220 AT hotmail.com> Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2008 03:25:18 -0000 Up on the North Road today I had 2 Red Crossbills. Other good bird seen were Williamson's Sapsucker's, a bunch of them. Tony Kurz Springville Tulare CountySubject: Tulare Sewage Pond 7/8/08 From: "svillebirder" <tonyk_71220 AT hotmail.com> Date: Tue, 08 Jul 2008 07:25:53 -0000 I went to look for John's Willet, and unfortunatlly I didn't find it. The Southwest pond had the greatest number of shorebirds. There were least sandpipers, a few Western Sandpipers, Greater Yellowlegs, 1 Marbled Godwit, 2 Long-billed Dowitchers, Wilson's Phalaropes everywhere, spotted sandpiper, and a Black Tern. Lake Success only good bird was a single Forster's Tern. Tony Kurz Springville Tulare CountySubject: Sherman Pass area From: "Bob and Susan Steele" <steele7 AT verizon.net> Date: Mon, 07 Jul 2008 06:19:19 -0700 All, Bob and I spent the weekend in the Sherman Pass area. The biggest highlight was low numbers of motorcycles :-). Amazing. Although we were looking for butterflies, we did have a few highlight birds. The first was a fly over Black Swift at Bald Mountain on July 4. A lifer for Bob. It was with a couple White-throated Swifts and the comparison in size was apparent. We also had a calling Northern Saw-whet Owl in the Bonita Mdws area. A pair of Western Tanagers on the Tulare/Inyo Co line at Nine Mile Canyon. Nesting Wilson's Warblers at a meadow (Boone??) just E of Sherman Pass. If anyone knows how common nesting Wilson's Warblers are in the area, please send me a line. Susan Steele Inyokern, CA [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]Subject: Willet at Tulare WTP From: "John Lockhart" <j_f_lockhart AT sbcglobal.net> Date: Sat, 05 Jul 2008 20:28:26 -0000 Saturday, July 5, 2008 I started pre-dawn at Toledo Pits and hit most of the southwestern Tulare Co birding spots. Good birding for July. At my last stop of the day, about noon at the Tulare WTP, I found an alternate plumage Willet. I waited until it lifted its wings to be sure. It was in the southeast pond, across Paige Ave from the plant. It has shorebird level water. Lots of stilts, avocets, and Wilson's Phalarope. John Lockhart VisaliaSubject: Golden Trout Wilderness Backpack trip 6/17-6/26/2008 From: "svillebirder" <tonyk_71220 AT hotmail.com> Date: Sun, 29 Jun 2008 00:09:04 -0000 Sorry for the late posting. I went went into the Golden Trout Wilderness for a 10 day Back pack trip with the Forest Service. I did have a few good birds. Good birds included 11 Red Crossbills, 1 Evening Grosbeak, 4 Pygmy Nuthatch, 15 Common Nighthawks, which I had 6 at one time flying flying all around me, and a new pair of Spotted Owls. Every evening I went to sleep with calling Poorwills, Nighhawks, Flammulated Owls, and sometimes the distant Northern Pygmy Owl. It was a long exhausting trip that really payed off with some good birds. I did get a pretty good warbler list going: Yellow-rumped, Nashville, Orange-crowned, Black-throatd Gray, Hermit, Yellow, Wilson's, and MacGuillivary's. Tony Kurz Tulare County SpringvilleSubject: Rowell Meadow Trailhead and hike From: "John Lockhart" <j_f_lockhart AT sbcglobal.net> Date: Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:11:03 -0000 June 22, 2008 Debby Crain and I owled our way up Redwood Canyon and through Big Meadows to the Rowell Meadow trailhead. We had a nice Spotted Owl in Redwood Canyon. We also heared Flamulated Owl, Great Horned, and Northern Pygmy-Owl. We slept near the trailhead and observed many of the common Sierren songbird upon awakening. We then hiked in 5-miles oneway on the Roaring River trail to the place I had Black-backed Woodpecker in 2007. No luck this time. We had Red Crossbill in Rowell Meadow area. Lots of Williamson's Sapsuckers. John Lockhart VisaliaSubject: Chimney Creek to Springville From: "John Lockhart" <j_f_lockhart AT sbcglobal.net> Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:30:07 -0000 June 14-15, 2008 Tulare County Audubon birded the Kern River Preserve in Kern Co Saturday morning and crossed the Tul Co line about noon on the Chimney Creek Scenic byway. Slower then expected birding until we got to Troy Meadows. Clark's Nutcracker, Pinyon Jay, and Brewer's Sparrow were found on the way. We walked Troy Meadow and found most of the expected sparrows and a fitzbewing Willow Flycatcher. The campground was blissfully quiet concerning people as the motorcycle trails were still all closed. We camped in the campground and had Common Nighthawk leave the area just after dusk. The next morning we birded the Black Rock ranger station, Smith Meadow, Bald Mtn, Sherman Pass and the road down to Kernville. Everything was a little drier and slower then last year at this time. We got Black-chinned Sparrow fairly high on the Sherman Pass road. Definitely Chaparral but a good .75 to 1 mile higher up the road then on Memorial Day weekend. A California Thrasher showed up excitedly at almost every stop along the Chaparral section of Sherman Pass road. John Lockhart VisaliaSubject: Kings Black-and-white Warbler From: "Mark Stacy" <monkletgimp AT yahoo.com> Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 23:59:29 -0000 Sorry for the late post but on the 11th there was a singing Black-and- white Warbler across the street from my home in Lemoore. I heard it as I was leaving for work and only had a few minutes to watch it. Haven't seen or heard it since. The habitat here is far from ideal so I don't imagine it's lingering nearby. If you'd like to try for it though it was in the small oak on the northwest corner of Skaggs and Champion Streets in Lemoore. Good birding, Mark Stacy LemooreSubject: Camp Nelson to North Road From: "John Lockhart" <j_f_lockhart AT sbcglobal.net> Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:17:10 -0000 Monday, June 9, 2008 On the way over I had a Swainson's Hawk in Frazier Valley. At Camp Nelson I had was able to find Tony's Evening Grosbeak. They have been there for over 2-weeks now. Park at the mailboxes at HWY 190 and Nelson, the first turn off in Camp Nelson and walk back down the highway 2 houses until you see feeders on the south side of the road. I had 3 pairs. I then birded my way to the end of North Road out of Quaking Aspen and found most of what you would expect without anything really extraordinary. I checked all the roads in the vicinity of Click's Trailhead. I then owled my way back home with a stop on Needlesfork Rd and checked meadows for owls. Lots of calling Common Poorwill all along North Road. John Lockhart VisaliaSubject: Dry Creek Dr and Bravo Lake From: "John Lockhart" <j_f_lockhart AT sbcglobal.net> Date: Mon, 09 Jun 2008 04:17:24 -0000 Sunday June 8,08 Rob Hansen sent me an email reporting Yellow-breasted Chat from Dry Creek Dr as early as May 7. I had tried for this species about 6 times all along Dry Creek Dr. Today I was successful, recording the photo I placed on the homepage. I also had of note 1 Purple Martin 1 Prairie Falcon Bravo Lake was mostly grebes and American Coots. 13 American Pelican 2 gull species John Lockhart VisaliaSubject: North Road Williamson's Sapsucker 6/3/08 From: "svillebirder" <tonyk_71220 AT hotmail.com> Date: Wed, 04 Jun 2008 08:20:56 -0000 On the North Road this evening near Junction Meadow I had a male and female Williamson Sapsucker. Just at dusk there was also a singing Swainson's Thrush that I was able to watch sing. Tony Kurz Springville Tulare CountySubject: Correction to previous post the best bird in May was Tony Kurz's Indigo Bunting From: "John Lockhart" <j_f_lockhart AT sbcglobal.net> Date: Mon, 02 Jun 2008 17:07:08 -0000 Correction to previous post the best bird in May was Tony Kurz's Indigo Bunting. My fingers were thinking for themselves. Tony found the bird on May 4 John Lockhart VisaliaSubject: Tulare Co year to date all observers 255 species From: "John Lockhart" <j_f_lockhart AT sbcglobal.net> Date: Mon, 02 Jun 2008 03:13:44 -0000 Sunday, June 01, 2008 By far the best bird in April was Tony Kurz's Indigo Bunting bringing the total Exceptional species recorded in 2008 to 9 compared to 27 by the end of 2007. I now have the county at 255 reported bird species for 2008. With the mountains opening up we only need 13 more species to complete the non-Exceptional list. Yellow-breasted Chat being the species most missed. 6 Uncommon Baird's Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Bonaparte's Gull Allen's Hummingbird Yellow-breasted Chat Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch 7 Rare Willet Long-eared Owl Red-naped Sapsucker Black-backed Woodpecker Grasshopper Sparrow White-throated Sparrow Pine Grosbeak Only a miss on Baird's Sandpiper would make it a miss for two years straight. John Lockhart, VisaliaSubject: Jennie Lake Backpack From: "John Lockhart" <j_f_lockhart AT sbcglobal.net> Date: Mon, 02 Jun 2008 01:00:31 -0000 May 31- June 1 Julian Lockhart and I backpacked into Jennie Lake from the Fox Meadow trailhead in the Big Meadows area off of the Generals Hwy. Still lots (2-3ft)of snow on the northfaces. We had the lake to ourselves and many parties returned unable to find lake due to snow. We had most of the usual mountain birds but nothing new for the Tul Co year. I had a Northern Goshawk flyby at eye level and within 30ft of me. We were birding Poop Out pass for the rarer Fringillidae and had kind-of given up hooting like a pygmy owl, which attracted a good size flock of Pine Siskin, Cassin's Finch, Mountain Chikadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, and Yellow-rumped Warbler. It must of just made a pass at our flock as it was just taking off or turning around from a shot at the flock. Amazing. John Lockhart Visalia |