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Updated on Wednesday, October 1 at 11:15 PM ET
The most recently received Mail is at the top.


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 County
Subject: 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
Visalia
Subject: 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
Visalia

Subject: 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 County
Subject: 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
Visalia


Subject: 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 County 
Subject: 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 County
Subject: 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
Visalia


Subject: 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 County
Subject: 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
Visalia
Subject: 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 County
Subject: 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
Visalia
Subject: 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 County  
Subject: 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
Visalia

Subject: 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 County
Subject: 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 County
Subject: 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 County
Subject: 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, CA
Subject: 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 Hansen
Subject: 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 Sandpipers
From: "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 Lindquist  
Subject: A
From: "birds_i_vue" <birds_i_vue AT yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 04:28:52 -0000
A
Subject: 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, CA

Subject: 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 County
Subject: 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
Visalia
Subject: 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
Visalia


Subject: 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 Reminder
From: 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 changes
From: "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
Visalia
Subject: 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
Porterville

Subject: 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 County 
Subject: 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 County
Subject: 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
Visalia
Subject: 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
Visalia
Subject: 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 County
Subject: 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
Visalia

Subject: 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 County
Subject: 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 County
Subject: 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
Visalia
Subject: 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
Springville
Subject: 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
Visalia
Subject: 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
Visalia
Subject: 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  Lemoore

Subject: 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
Visalia
Subject: 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
Visalia
Subject: 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 County
Subject: 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
Visalia
Subject: 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,
Visalia

Subject: 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