Birdingonthe.Net

Recent Postings from
The Cal Birding List

Updated on Tuesday, November 27 at 06:55 PM ET
The most recently received Mail is at the top.

A Placer County falconer contacted me a few years ago because he lost
his Gyrfalcon/Peregrine hybrid (it may have been a pure Gryfalcon or
other Gyrfalcon mix, I can't remember for sure, but I think it was a
Gyr/Per) near Lincoln.  He had a feeling that his bird might have
wandered toward the Delta.  Just an added tidbit for reference.

 
Brian Williams
Yuba Co

 

-----Original Message-----
From: central_valley_birds AT yahoogroups.com
[mailto:central_valley_birds AT yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
ERPFROMCA AT AOL.COM
Sent: Monday, November 26, 2007 6:46 PM
To: CALBIRDS AT yahoogroups.com; central_valley_birds AT yahoogroups.com;
birdingcalifornia AT yahoogroups.com
Cc: ERPfromCA AT aol.com
Subject: [CVBirds] Kings Co. Mystery Falcon

 

This is a follow up to my earlier posts about the odd Falcon I
photographed 
in Kings County on Friday.

For those who may not want to wade through the info below, the short
story 
is that I think this bird is most likely an escaped falconer's bird,
most 
probably a Gyrfalcon/Peregrine hybrid (which are apparently quite
popular in the 
falconer's world). Details about what others think and why I came this 
'conclusion' below.


I got quite a few responses from folks, and they were all over the map.
A 
few felt this bird looked perfectly fine for a Gyrfalcon. A couple
thought is 
might be a juvenile Peregrine. A few others, including one falconer,
thought it 
might be a Saker (a large falcon native to eastern Europe and parts of 
central Asia and also popular with falconers). One person thought it was
a Prairie 
Falcon.

I have put out inquiries to a number of falconers and falcon breeders
who 
sell Gyr/Peregrine hybrids, Sakers and other hybrid variants, but am
still 
waiting for more responses.

First I'll go through what I think it ISN'T, and why.

Gyrfalcon: Although the plumage looks very good for a juv. Gray morph
Gyr, I 
just can't get there on size and structure. When I took photos of this
bird 
and resized them so that the structural elements of the telephone pole 
matched the photo I took of an adult Peregrine a few poles to the west,
the length 
of the mystery falcon is just a tiny bit longer than the Peregrine. This

should only occur at the absolute extremes of both birds. According the
B. 
Wheeler, juv Gyrs (which this would be) are on the long end of the
spectrum because 
they have longer tails. Also, the body just doesn't look bulky enough 
(though I got photos from some folks of Gyrs that looked nearly this
slim). I just 
don't think this bird is big enough to be a Gyrfalcon.

juv. Peregrine: First of all, I (and most everyone agrees) have NEVER
seen a 
juv. Peregrine that looks like this bird. The dark face, the smudginess
in 
the cheek, the heavy markings on the side of the neck are all wrong. The

wingtips also come well short of the end of the tail, wrong for
Peregrine AND for 
Prairie as well. I got a quick look at this bird as it flew and the
flight 
style was just nothing like a Peregrine. Lumbering, in comparison. It
looked 
like a bigger bird in flight with wider and blunter wings than a
Peregrine. 
Steve Summers (who feels pretty sure this is the same bird he saw a
couple days 
earlier) got a flight photo on his phone and the wings look wide and
very 
blunt. Has an almost 'buteo' like shape, but with a long tail.

Prairie: As above, structure is all wrong for Prairie Falcon and the
plumage 
is too gray, and the face way too dark for any Prairie

Saker: This needs careful consideration. Though a bit small for a Saker,
the 
overall structure looks good. I have NO personal experience with this 
species but have looked at a few field guides and downloaded every photo
I could 
and, almost without exception, these Sakers have a very different face
and head 
pattern. Much more like a Prairie Falcon with pale cheeks. Not at all
like 
this bird. Overall plumage seems to be generally much more brown than
this 
bird. I have uploaded to the CALBIRDS web site (look under Files) a Word
doc. 
that has a bunch of randomly selected Saker photos with a photo of the
Kings 
Falcon at the end. Only one of these birds has a face even vaguely like
this 
bird (lower right on page 2).


I haven't been able to find a photo of a Gyr/Peregrine as a juvenile,
but 
can easily imagine it could look like this bird. One popular variant on
this mix 
is a 3/4 Gyr 1/4 Peregrine, which might fit best for this bird.

Of course, there are also many Saker/Gyr and Saker/Peregrine hybrids to 
consider (heck, some even produce Gyr/Merlin hybrids, which Bruce Webb
suggests 
is like crossing a Chihuahua with a Great Dane...)


One falconer is interested in trying to find this bird and capture it,
which 
could give us some resolution.


In any case, this has been fun and I have learned more about falconry
than I 
ever expected to...



Ed Pandolfino

**************************************Check out AOL's list of 2007's
hottest 
products.
(http://money.
 aol.com/special/hot-products-2007?NCID=aoltop00030000000001)

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

A Placer County falconer contacted me a few years ago because he lost
his Gyrfalcon/Peregrine hybrid (it may have been a pure Gryfalcon or
other Gyrfalcon mix, I can't remember for sure, but I think it was a
Gyr/Per) near Lincoln.  He had a feeling that his bird might have
wandered toward the Delta.  Just an added tidbit for reference.

 

Brian

 

-----Original Message-----
From: central_valley_birds AT yahoogroups.com
[mailto:central_valley_birds AT yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
ERPFROMCA AT AOL.COM
Sent: Monday, November 26, 2007 6:46 PM
To: CALBIRDS AT yahoogroups.com; central_valley_birds AT yahoogroups.com;
birdingcalifornia AT yahoogroups.com
Cc: ERPfromCA AT aol.com
Subject: [CVBirds] Kings Co. Mystery Falcon

 

This is a follow up to my earlier posts about the odd Falcon I
photographed 
in Kings County on Friday.

For those who may not want to wade through the info below, the short
story 
is that I think this bird is most likely an escaped falconer's bird,
most 
probably a Gyrfalcon/Peregrine hybrid (which are apparently quite
popular in the 
falconer's world). Details about what others think and why I came this 
'conclusion' below.


I got quite a few responses from folks, and they were all over the map.
A 
few felt this bird looked perfectly fine for a Gyrfalcon. A couple
thought is 
might be a juvenile Peregrine. A few others, including one falconer,
thought it 
might be a Saker (a large falcon native to eastern Europe and parts of 
central Asia and also popular with falconers). One person thought it was
a Prairie 
Falcon.

I have put out inquiries to a number of falconers and falcon breeders
who 
sell Gyr/Peregrine hybrids, Sakers and other hybrid variants, but am
still 
waiting for more responses.

First I'll go through what I think it ISN'T, and why.

Gyrfalcon: Although the plumage looks very good for a juv. Gray morph
Gyr, I 
just can't get there on size and structure. When I took photos of this
bird 
and resized them so that the structural elements of the telephone pole 
matched the photo I took of an adult Peregrine a few poles to the west,
the length 
of the mystery falcon is just a tiny bit longer than the Peregrine. This

should only occur at the absolute extremes of both birds. According the
B. 
Wheeler, juv Gyrs (which this would be) are on the long end of the
spectrum because 
they have longer tails. Also, the body just doesn't look bulky enough 
(though I got photos from some folks of Gyrs that looked nearly this
slim). I just 
don't think this bird is big enough to be a Gyrfalcon.

juv. Peregrine: First of all, I (and most everyone agrees) have NEVER
seen a 
juv. Peregrine that looks like this bird. The dark face, the smudginess
in 
the cheek, the heavy markings on the side of the neck are all wrong. The

wingtips also come well short of the end of the tail, wrong for
Peregrine AND for 
Prairie as well. I got a quick look at this bird as it flew and the
flight 
style was just nothing like a Peregrine. Lumbering, in comparison. It
looked 
like a bigger bird in flight with wider and blunter wings than a
Peregrine. 
Steve Summers (who feels pretty sure this is the same bird he saw a
couple days 
earlier) got a flight photo on his phone and the wings look wide and
very 
blunt. Has an almost 'buteo' like shape, but with a long tail.

Prairie: As above, structure is all wrong for Prairie Falcon and the
plumage 
is too gray, and the face way too dark for any Prairie

Saker: This needs careful consideration. Though a bit small for a Saker,
the 
overall structure looks good. I have NO personal experience with this 
species but have looked at a few field guides and downloaded every photo
I could 
and, almost without exception, these Sakers have a very different face
and head 
pattern. Much more like a Prairie Falcon with pale cheeks. Not at all
like 
this bird. Overall plumage seems to be generally much more brown than
this 
bird. I have uploaded to the CALBIRDS web site (look under Files) a Word
doc. 
that has a bunch of randomly selected Saker photos with a photo of the
Kings 
Falcon at the end. Only one of these birds has a face even vaguely like
this 
bird (lower right on page 2).


I haven't been able to find a photo of a Gyr/Peregrine as a juvenile,
but 
can easily imagine it could look like this bird. One popular variant on
this mix 
is a 3/4 Gyr 1/4 Peregrine, which might fit best for this bird.

Of course, there are also many Saker/Gyr and Saker/Peregrine hybrids to 
consider (heck, some even produce Gyr/Merlin hybrids, which Bruce Webb
suggests 
is like crossing a Chihuahua with a Great Dane...)


One falconer is interested in trying to find this bird and capture it,
which 
could give us some resolution.


In any case, this has been fun and I have learned more about falconry
than I 
ever expected to...



Ed Pandolfino

**************************************Check out AOL's list of 2007's
hottest 
products.
(http://money.
 aol.com/special/hot-products-2007?NCID=aoltop00030000000001)

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

County Coordinators/Contributors:

The Fall Migration Season (1 August through 30 November) is ended, and we 
solicit reports for inclusion in the Southern California Region of NORTH 
AMERICAN BIRDS. Reports should be arranged with species in the taxonomic order 
followed by the American Ornithologists Union (waterfowl first). Reports of 
species included on the California Bird Records Committee (CBRC) review list 
(Field List of California Birds 2005, obtainable through Western Field 
Ornithologists at 1359 Solano Drive, Pacifica, CA 94044 www.wfo-cbrc.org ) must 
be accompanied by documentation (written description, photographs, etc.). 
Similar documentation should also accompany reports of species unusual for the 
location or season. We welcome the submission of photographs (please send these 
as jpg attachments to Guy McCaskie). Full names, with all initials, should be 
used in the reports (this reduces the potential for different observers having 
the same initials, and makes it simpler to acknowledge contributors). 


Reports should be sent to the appropriate County Coordinators (listed below) or 
directly to Guy McCaskie. Reports for this season must be received prior to 24 
December 2007. NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS will not exist without your input. 


David Compton (Santa Barbara County)
736 Cieneguitas, #  F
Santa Barbara, CA 93110
davcompton AT earthlink.net

Tom M. Edell (San Luis Obispo County)
46 8th Street
Cayucos, CA 93430
tedell AT aol.com

Kimball L. Garrett (Los Angeles County)
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
900 Exposition Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90007
kgarrett AT nhm.org

John F. Green (Riverside County)
3120 Mount Vernon Ave.
Riverside, CA 
bewickwren AT earthlink.net

Tom and Jo Heindel (Inyo County)
PO Box 400
Big Pine, CA 93513
tjheindel AT aol.com

Oscar Johnson (Ventura County)
P.O. Box 21903
Santa Barbara, CA 93121
henicorhina AT yahoo.com 

Alexander E. Koonce (San Bernardino County)
1357 Paige Lane
Redlands, CA 
sandy_koonce AT redlands.edu

Guy McCaskie (San Diego and Imperial Counties)
954 Grove Avenue
Imperial Beach, CA 91932
guymcc AT pacbell.net

Douglas R. Willick (Orange County)
236 S Batavia St #E
Orange CA 92868
Doug.Willick AT tcb.aecom.com

John C. Wilson (Kern County)
1425 Alta Vista Drive
Bakersfield, CA 93305
jcwilson AT lightspeed.net

We thank you in advance for your time and effort.

Guy McCaskie and Kimball L. Garrett.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

County Coordinators/Contributors:

The Fall Migration Season (1 August through 30 November) is ended, and we 
solicit reports for inclusion in the Southern California Region of NORTH 
AMERICAN BIRDS. Reports should be arranged with species in the taxonomic order 
followed by the American Ornithologists Union (waterfowl first). Reports of 
species included on the California Bird Records Committee (CBRC) review list 
(Field List of California Birds 2005, obtainable through Western Field 
Ornithologists at 1359 Solano Drive, Pacifica, CA 94044 www.wfo-cbrc.org ) must 
be accompanied by documentation (written description, photographs, etc.). 
Similar documentation should also accompany reports of species unusual for the 
location or season. We welcome the submission of photographs (please send these 
as jpg attachments to Guy McCaskie). Full names, with all initials, should be 
used in the reports (this reduces the potential for different observers having 
the same initials, and makes it simpler to acknowledge contributors). 


Reports should be sent to the appropriate County Coordinators (listed below) or 
directly to Guy McCaskie. Reports for this season must be received prior to 24 
December 2007. NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS will not exist without your input. 


David Compton (Santa Barbara County)
736 Cieneguitas, #  F
Santa Barbara, CA 93110
davcompton AT earthlink.net

Tom M. Edell (San Luis Obispo County)
46 8th Street
Cayucos, CA 93430
tedell AT aol.com

Kimball L. Garrett (Los Angeles County)
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
900 Exposition Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90007
kgarrett AT nhm.org

John F. Green (Riverside County)
3120 Mount Vernon Ave.
Riverside, CA 
bewickwren AT earthlink.net

Tom and Jo Heindel (Inyo County)
PO Box 400
Big Pine, CA 93513
tjheindel AT aol.com

Oscar Johnson (Ventura County)
P.O. Box 21903
Santa Barbara, CA 93121
henicorhina AT yahoo.com 

Alexander E. Koonce (San Bernardino County)
1357 Paige Lane
Redlands, CA 
sandy_koonce AT redlands.edu

Guy McCaskie (San Diego and Imperial Counties)
954 Grove Avenue
Imperial Beach, CA 91932
guymcc AT pacbell.net

Douglas R. Willick (Orange County)
236 S Batavia St #E
Orange CA 92868
Doug.Willick AT tcb.aecom.com

John C. Wilson (Kern County)
1425 Alta Vista Drive
Bakersfield, CA 93305
jcwilson AT lightspeed.net

We thank you in advance for your time and effort.

Guy McCaskie and Kimball L. Garrett.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

County Coordinators/Contributors:

The Fall Migration Season (1 August through 30 November) is ended, and we 
solicit reports for inclusion in the Southern California Region of NORTH 
AMERICAN BIRDS. Reports should be arranged with species in the taxonomic order 
followed by the American Ornithologists Union (waterfowl first). Reports of 
species included on the California Bird Records Committee (CBRC) review list 
(Field List of California Birds 2005, obtainable through Western Field 
Ornithologists at 1359 Solano Drive, Pacifica, CA 94044 www.wfo-cbrc.org ) must 
be accompanied by documentation (written description, photographs, etc.). 
Similar documentation should also accompany reports of species unusual for the 
location or season. We welcome the submission of photographs (please send these 
as jpg attachments to Guy McCaskie). Full names, with all initials, should be 
used in the reports (this reduces the potential for different observers having 
the same initials, and makes it simpler to acknowledge contributors). 


Reports should be sent to the appropriate County Coordinators (listed below) or 
directly to Guy McCaskie. Reports for this season must be received prior to 24 
December 2007. NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS will not exist without your input. 


David Compton (Santa Barbara County)
736 Cieneguitas, #  F
Santa Barbara, CA 93110
davcompton AT earthlink.net

Tom M. Edell (San Luis Obispo County)
46 8th Street
Cayucos, CA 93430
tedell AT aol.com

Kimball L. Garrett (Los Angeles County)
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
900 Exposition Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90007
kgarrett AT nhm.org

John F. Green (Riverside County)
3120 Mount Vernon Ave.
Riverside, CA 
bewickwren AT earthlink.net

Tom and Jo Heindel (Inyo County)
PO Box 400
Big Pine, CA 93513
tjheindel AT aol.com

Oscar Johnson (Ventura County)
P.O. Box 21903
Santa Barbara, CA 93121
henicorhina AT yahoo.com 

Alexander E. Koonce (San Bernardino County)
1357 Paige Lane
Redlands, CA 
sandy_koonce AT redlands.edu

Guy McCaskie (San Diego and Imperial Counties)
954 Grove Avenue
Imperial Beach, CA 91932
guymcc AT pacbell.net

Douglas R. Willick (Orange County)
236 S Batavia St #E
Orange CA 92868
Doug.Willick AT tcb.aecom.com

John C. Wilson (Kern County)
1425 Alta Vista Drive
Bakersfield, CA 93305
jcwilson AT lightspeed.net

We thank you in advance for your time and effort.

Guy McCaskie and Kimball L. Garrett.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

It's been pointed out to me that I should have gotten permission to use the
lifted internet photos I did on the Kings Co. falcon file I posted to the
CALBIRDS file section. In my haste to provide more information on this
interesting bird I failed to gain such permission. I have deleted the file
and apologize to all photographers. 

Steve Summers
Porterville 

It's been pointed out to me that I should have gotten permission to use the
lifted internet photos I did on the Kings Co. falcon file I posted to the
CALBIRDS file section. In my haste to provide more information on this
interesting bird I failed to gain such permission. I have deleted the file
and apologize to all photographers. 

Steve Summers
Porterville 

I have posted my photos of the mystery redheaded aythya-type duck to 
the CalBirds photo page (Stephanie's Birding Photos). Several people 
have commented on this unusual bird, and I appreciate the analyses! 
Most think it is an atypical redhead, but one person thought it most 
closely resembled an atypical ring-necked duck.  Consensus is that a 
pochard would have a more canvasback-like sloping forehead and a 
broader light ring on its bill.  Anyone interested in an "up close and 
personal" view of the bird can easily find it among the other wild 
ducks on the lake right off the footpath behind the Nature Center at 
Lake Merritt. My photos are good because the bird was only a few feet 
away from us.


Stephanie Floyd
Fremont

 

I am a falconer and have had in front of my face all of the pure-bred and
all of the hybrid falcons you are referring to. From what I have seen in
real life, the picture is of a pure gyr. That is how they look! Just like
that! I showed the picture to both the saker (Lucky) and the GyrXMerlin
hybrid (Xy) that are in my yard and they agree that it is a pure wild gyr.

Karl G Kerster

Kerster's Falconry

I'd like to add a follow up on Ed's recent post about the Kings Co. falcon.
One field mark that several references point to about one difference between
the Gyrfalcon and Saker is that the tail is more spotted on the Saker and
barred on the Gyr. This can be seen in some of the photos Ed posted in the
file section. The Kings Co. bird definitely had a barred tail and in the
field I counted that the wingtip came just to the third pale bar up from the
tail tip. 

To help make a more complete story and to show some of the photos Ed and I
have been looking at I've posted a pdf file on CALBIRDS in the file section
showing some similar plumaged Gyrs taken from the internet. When I saw the
bird both in flight and on the ground it did look larger to me than a
Peregrine. When the bird was perched on the post it did seem more smaller.
As in my original post on this bird its flight style was definitely more
Gyr-like.

From what's been discussed by Ed and from what I see if this bird is judged
a hybrid I think it will be mostly based on size. I'll have to leave that up
to others much more knowledgeable than I in such matters. 

Ed and I have had a fun time communicating back and forth on this bird and I
think we both are waiting for more knowledgeable folks to come forth with
opinions. This has been a great learning experience for me and as with Ed
I've learned a lot about falconers and their birds. They sure do like to
hybridize them! I'm still hoping we'll hear from the falconers if such a
bird like this has been lost in a time frame that would fit the age of this
bird.

Steve Summers
Porterville

 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

 

I am a falconer and have had in front of my face all of the pure-bred and
all of the hybrid falcons you are referring to. From what I have seen in
real life, the picture is of a pure gyr. That is how they look! Just like
that! I showed the picture to both the saker (Lucky) and the GyrXMerlin
hybrid (Xy) that are in my yard and they agree that it is a pure wild gyr.

Karl G Kerster

Kerster's Falconry

I'd like to add a follow up on Ed's recent post about the Kings Co. falcon.
One field mark that several references point to about one difference between
the Gyrfalcon and Saker is that the tail is more spotted on the Saker and
barred on the Gyr. This can be seen in some of the photos Ed posted in the
file section. The Kings Co. bird definitely had a barred tail and in the
field I counted that the wingtip came just to the third pale bar up from the
tail tip. 

To help make a more complete story and to show some of the photos Ed and I
have been looking at I've posted a pdf file on CALBIRDS in the file section
showing some similar plumaged Gyrs taken from the internet. When I saw the
bird both in flight and on the ground it did look larger to me than a
Peregrine. When the bird was perched on the post it did seem more smaller.
As in my original post on this bird its flight style was definitely more
Gyr-like.

From what's been discussed by Ed and from what I see if this bird is judged
a hybrid I think it will be mostly based on size. I'll have to leave that up
to others much more knowledgeable than I in such matters. 

Ed and I have had a fun time communicating back and forth on this bird and I
think we both are waiting for more knowledgeable folks to come forth with
opinions. This has been a great learning experience for me and as with Ed
I've learned a lot about falconers and their birds. They sure do like to
hybridize them! I'm still hoping we'll hear from the falconers if such a
bird like this has been lost in a time frame that would fit the age of this
bird.

Steve Summers
Porterville

 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I'd like to add a follow up on Ed's recent post about the Kings Co. falcon.
One field mark that several references point to about one difference between
the Gyrfalcon and Saker is that the tail is more spotted on the Saker and
barred on the Gyr. This can be seen in some of the photos Ed posted in the
file section. The Kings Co. bird definitely had a barred tail and in the
field I counted that the wingtip came just to the third pale bar up from the
tail tip. 

To help make a more complete story and to show some of the photos Ed and I
have been looking at I've posted a pdf file on CALBIRDS in the file section
showing some similar plumaged Gyrs taken from the internet. When I saw the
bird both in flight and on the ground it did look larger to me than a
Peregrine. When the bird was perched on the post it did seem more smaller.
As in my original post on this bird its flight style was definitely more
Gyr-like.

From what's been discussed by Ed and from what I see if this bird is judged
a hybrid I think it will be mostly based on size. I'll have to leave that up
to others much more knowledgeable than I in such matters. 

Ed and I have had a fun time communicating back and forth on this bird and I
think we both are waiting for more knowledgeable folks to come forth with
opinions. This has been a great learning experience for me and as with Ed
I've learned a lot about falconers and their birds. They sure do like to
hybridize them! I'm still hoping we'll hear from the falconers if such a
bird like this has been lost in a time frame that would fit the age of this
bird.

Steve Summers
Porterville

Hilary Powers and I birded Lake Merritt in Oakland (Alameda County) 
this afternoon in search of the tufted duck and the hooded merganser 
x common goldeneye.  Didn't find those, but did find an unusual red-
headed aythya-type duck on the lake just behind the Nature Center.  
It might be a female redhead, but the back looks more gray than 
brown.  The bird has a pale, not white, eye-ring, a pale line 
extending back from its eye, pale feathers around the base of its 
bill, and a pale chin. Near the tip of its all-dark bill is a grayish-
blue encircling line. The bird has some vaguely white spots on its 
head, as if it had been spattered with paint.  It was hanging out in 
a mixed group of mostly lesser scaup with a few canvasbacks and at 
least one distant ring-necked duck.  I've been trying to turn it into 
a common pochard, but (aside from the extreme unlikelihood of that) 
its head shape seems too round, and it is overall more reddish than 
brown. Could it be a hybrid of some kind? 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y49/sing4me/100_2494.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y49/sing4me/100_2495.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y49/sing4me/100_2497.jpg


Stephanie Floyd
Fremont

I'd like to add a follow up on Ed's recent post about the Kings Co. falcon.
One field mark that several references point to about one difference between
the Gyrfalcon and Saker is that the tail is more spotted on the Saker and
barred on the Gyr. This can be seen in some of the photos Ed posted in the
file section. The Kings Co. bird definitely had a barred tail and in the
field I counted that the wingtip came just to the third pale bar up from the
tail tip. 

To help make a more complete story and to show some of the photos Ed and I
have been looking at I've posted a pdf file on CALBIRDS in the file section
showing some similar plumaged Gyrs taken from the internet. When I saw the
bird both in flight and on the ground it did look larger to me than a
Peregrine. When the bird was perched on the post it did seem more smaller.
As in my original post on this bird its flight style was definitely more
Gyr-like.

From what's been discussed by Ed and from what I see if this bird is judged
a hybrid I think it will be mostly based on size. I'll have to leave that up
to others much more knowledgeable than I in such matters. 

Ed and I have had a fun time communicating back and forth on this bird and I
think we both are waiting for more knowledgeable folks to come forth with
opinions. This has been a great learning experience for me and as with Ed
I've learned a lot about falconers and their birds. They sure do like to
hybridize them! I'm still hoping we'll hear from the falconers if such a
bird like this has been lost in a time frame that would fit the age of this
bird.

Steve Summers
Porterville

This is a follow up to my earlier posts about the odd Falcon I photographed  
in Kings County on Friday.
 
For those who may not want to wade through the info below, the short story  
is that I think this bird is most likely an escaped falconer's bird, most  
probably a Gyrfalcon/Peregrine hybrid (which are apparently quite popular in 
the 

falconer's world). Details about what others think and why I came this  
'conclusion' below.
 
 
I got quite a few responses from folks, and they were all over the map. A  
few felt this bird looked perfectly fine for a Gyrfalcon. A couple thought is  
might be a juvenile Peregrine. A few others, including one falconer, thought it 

 might be a Saker (a large falcon native to eastern Europe and parts of 
central Asia and also popular with falconers). One person thought it was a 
Prairie 

 Falcon.
 
I have put out inquiries to a number of falconers and falcon breeders who  
sell Gyr/Peregrine hybrids, Sakers and other hybrid variants, but am still  
waiting for more responses.
 
First I'll go through what I think it ISN'T, and why.
 
Gyrfalcon: Although the plumage looks very good for a juv. Gray morph  Gyr, I 
just can't get there on size and structure. When I took photos of this  bird 
and resized them so that the structural elements of the telephone pole  
matched the photo I took of an adult Peregrine a few poles to the west, the 
length 

of the mystery falcon is just a tiny bit longer than the Peregrine. This  
should only occur at the absolute extremes of both birds. According the B.  
Wheeler, juv Gyrs (which this would be) are on the long end of the spectrum 
because 

they have longer tails. Also, the body just doesn't look bulky enough  
(though I got photos from some folks of Gyrs that looked nearly this slim). I 
just 

don't think this bird is big enough to be a Gyrfalcon.
 
juv. Peregrine: First of all, I (and most everyone agrees) have NEVER seen  a 
juv. Peregrine that looks like this bird. The dark face, the smudginess in 
the  cheek, the heavy markings on the side of the neck are all wrong. The 
wingtips also come well short of the end of the tail, wrong for Peregrine AND 
for 

Prairie  as well. I got a quick look at this bird as it flew and the flight 
style was  just nothing like a Peregrine. Lumbering, in comparison. It looked 
like a bigger  bird in flight with wider and blunter wings than a Peregrine. 
Steve Summers (who feels pretty sure this is the same bird he saw a couple days 

earlier) got a  flight photo on his phone and the wings look wide and very 
blunt. Has an almost  'buteo' like shape, but with a long tail.
 
Prairie: As above, structure is all wrong for Prairie Falcon and the  plumage 
is too gray, and the face way too dark for any Prairie


Saker: This needs careful consideration. Though a bit small for a Saker,  the 
overall structure looks good. I have NO personal experience with this  
species but have looked at a few field guides and downloaded every photo I 
could 

and, almost without exception, these Sakers have a very different face and head 

pattern. Much more like a Prairie Falcon with pale cheeks. Not at all like  
this bird. Overall plumage seems to be generally much more brown than this 
bird. I have uploaded to the CALBIRDS web site (look under Files) a Word doc. 

that has a bunch of randomly selected Saker photos with a photo of the Kings  
Falcon at the end. Only one of these birds has a face even vaguely like this  
bird (lower right on page 2).
 
 
I haven't been able to find a photo of a Gyr/Peregrine as a juvenile, but  
can easily imagine it could look like this bird. One popular variant on this 
mix 

 is a 3/4 Gyr 1/4 Peregrine, which might fit best for this bird.
 
Of course, there are also many Saker/Gyr and Saker/Peregrine hybrids to  
consider (heck, some even produce Gyr/Merlin hybrids, which Bruce Webb suggests 

is like crossing a Chihuahua with a Great Dane...)
 
 
One falconer is interested in trying to find this bird and capture it,  which 
could give us some resolution.
 
 
In any case, this has been fun and I have learned more about falconry than  I 
ever expected to...
 
 
 
Ed Pandolfino



**************************************Check out AOL's list of 2007's hottest 
products.
(http://money.aol.com/special/hot-products-2007?NCID=aoltop00030000000001)


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

This is a follow up to my earlier posts about the odd Falcon I photographed  
in Kings County on Friday.
 
For those who may not want to wade through the info below, the short story  
is that I think this bird is most likely an escaped falconer's bird, most  
probably a Gyrfalcon/Peregrine hybrid (which are apparently quite popular in 
the 

falconer's world). Details about what others think and why I came this  
'conclusion' below.
 
 
I got quite a few responses from folks, and they were all over the map. A  
few felt this bird looked perfectly fine for a Gyrfalcon. A couple thought is  
might be a juvenile Peregrine. A few others, including one falconer, thought it 

 might be a Saker (a large falcon native to eastern Europe and parts of 
central Asia and also popular with falconers). One person thought it was a 
Prairie 

 Falcon.
 
I have put out inquiries to a number of falconers and falcon breeders who  
sell Gyr/Peregrine hybrids, Sakers and other hybrid variants, but am still  
waiting for more responses.
 
First I'll go through what I think it ISN'T, and why.
 
Gyrfalcon: Although the plumage looks very good for a juv. Gray morph  Gyr, I 
just can't get there on size and structure. When I took photos of this  bird 
and resized them so that the structural elements of the telephone pole  
matched the photo I took of an adult Peregrine a few poles to the west, the 
length 

of the mystery falcon is just a tiny bit longer than the Peregrine. This  
should only occur at the absolute extremes of both birds. According the B.  
Wheeler, juv Gyrs (which this would be) are on the long end of the spectrum 
because 

they have longer tails. Also, the body just doesn't look bulky enough  
(though I got photos from some folks of Gyrs that looked nearly this slim). I 
just 

don't think this bird is big enough to be a Gyrfalcon.
 
juv. Peregrine: First of all, I (and most everyone agrees) have NEVER seen  a 
juv. Peregrine that looks like this bird. The dark face, the smudginess in 
the  cheek, the heavy markings on the side of the neck are all wrong. The 
wingtips also come well short of the end of the tail, wrong for Peregrine AND 
for 

Prairie  as well. I got a quick look at this bird as it flew and the flight 
style was  just nothing like a Peregrine. Lumbering, in comparison. It looked 
like a bigger  bird in flight with wider and blunter wings than a Peregrine. 
Steve Summers (who feels pretty sure this is the same bird he saw a couple days 

earlier) got a  flight photo on his phone and the wings look wide and very 
blunt. Has an almost  'buteo' like shape, but with a long tail.
 
Prairie: As above, structure is all wrong for Prairie Falcon and the  plumage 
is too gray, and the face way too dark for any Prairie


Saker: This needs careful consideration. Though a bit small for a Saker,  the 
overall structure looks good. I have NO personal experience with this  
species but have looked at a few field guides and downloaded every photo I 
could 

and, almost without exception, these Sakers have a very different face and head 

pattern. Much more like a Prairie Falcon with pale cheeks. Not at all like  
this bird. Overall plumage seems to be generally much more brown than this 
bird. I have uploaded to the CALBIRDS web site (look under Files) a Word doc. 

that has a bunch of randomly selected Saker photos with a photo of the Kings  
Falcon at the end. Only one of these birds has a face even vaguely like this  
bird (lower right on page 2).
 
 
I haven't been able to find a photo of a Gyr/Peregrine as a juvenile, but  
can easily imagine it could look like this bird. One popular variant on this 
mix 

 is a 3/4 Gyr 1/4 Peregrine, which might fit best for this bird.
 
Of course, there are also many Saker/Gyr and Saker/Peregrine hybrids to  
consider (heck, some even produce Gyr/Merlin hybrids, which Bruce Webb suggests 

is like crossing a Chihuahua with a Great Dane...)
 
 
One falconer is interested in trying to find this bird and capture it,  which 
could give us some resolution.
 
 
In any case, this has been fun and I have learned more about falconry than  I 
ever expected to...
 
 
 
Ed Pandolfino



**************************************Check out AOL's list of 2007's hottest 
products.
(http://money.aol.com/special/hot-products-2007?NCID=aoltop00030000000001)


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

This is a follow up to my earlier posts about the odd Falcon I photographed  
in Kings County on Friday.
 
For those who may not want to wade through the info below, the short story  
is that I think this bird is most likely an escaped falconer's bird, most  
probably a Gyrfalcon/Peregrine hybrid (which are apparently quite popular in 
the 

falconer's world). Details about what others think and why I came this  
'conclusion' below.
 
 
I got quite a few responses from folks, and they were all over the map. A  
few felt this bird looked perfectly fine for a Gyrfalcon. A couple thought is  
might be a juvenile Peregrine. A few others, including one falconer, thought it 

 might be a Saker (a large falcon native to eastern Europe and parts of 
central Asia and also popular with falconers). One person thought it was a 
Prairie 

 Falcon.
 
I have put out inquiries to a number of falconers and falcon breeders who  
sell Gyr/Peregrine hybrids, Sakers and other hybrid variants, but am still  
waiting for more responses.
 
First I'll go through what I think it ISN'T, and why.
 
Gyrfalcon: Although the plumage looks very good for a juv. Gray morph  Gyr, I 
just can't get there on size and structure. When I took photos of this  bird 
and resized them so that the structural elements of the telephone pole  
matched the photo I took of an adult Peregrine a few poles to the west, the 
length 

of the mystery falcon is just a tiny bit longer than the Peregrine. This  
should only occur at the absolute extremes of both birds. According the B.  
Wheeler, juv Gyrs (which this would be) are on the long end of the spectrum 
because 

they have longer tails. Also, the body just doesn't look bulky enough  
(though I got photos from some folks of Gyrs that looked nearly this slim). I 
just 

don't think this bird is big enough to be a Gyrfalcon.
 
juv. Peregrine: First of all, I (and most everyone agrees) have NEVER seen  a 
juv. Peregrine that looks like this bird. The dark face, the smudginess in 
the  cheek, the heavy markings on the side of the neck are all wrong. The 
wingtips also come well short of the end of the tail, wrong for Peregrine AND 
for 

Prairie  as well. I got a quick look at this bird as it flew and the flight 
style was  just nothing like a Peregrine. Lumbering, in comparison. It looked 
like a bigger  bird in flight with wider and blunter wings than a Peregrine. 
Steve Summers (who feels pretty sure this is the same bird he saw a couple days 

earlier) got a  flight photo on his phone and the wings look wide and very 
blunt. Has an almost  'buteo' like shape, but with a long tail.
 
Prairie: As above, structure is all wrong for Prairie Falcon and the  plumage 
is too gray, and the face way too dark for any Prairie


Saker: This needs careful consideration. Though a bit small for a Saker,  the 
overall structure looks good. I have NO personal experience with this  
species but have looked at a few field guides and downloaded every photo I 
could 

and, almost without exception, these Sakers have a very different face and head 

pattern. Much more like a Prairie Falcon with pale cheeks. Not at all like  
this bird. Overall plumage seems to be generally much more brown than this 
bird. I have uploaded to the CALBIRDS web site (look under Files) a Word doc. 

that has a bunch of randomly selected Saker photos with a photo of the Kings  
Falcon at the end. Only one of these birds has a face even vaguely like this  
bird (lower right on page 2).
 
 
I haven't been able to find a photo of a Gyr/Peregrine as a juvenile, but  
can easily imagine it could look like this bird. One popular variant on this 
mix 

 is a 3/4 Gyr 1/4 Peregrine, which might fit best for this bird.
 
Of course, there are also many Saker/Gyr and Saker/Peregrine hybrids to  
consider (heck, some even produce Gyr/Merlin hybrids, which Bruce Webb suggests 

is like crossing a Chihuahua with a Great Dane...)
 
 
One falconer is interested in trying to find this bird and capture it,  which 
could give us some resolution.
 
 
In any case, this has been fun and I have learned more about falconry than  I 
ever expected to...
 
 
 
Ed Pandolfino



**************************************Check out AOL's list of 2007's hottest 
products.
(http://money.aol.com/special/hot-products-2007?NCID=aoltop00030000000001)


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Today, Sunday Nov 25th, we could not relocate the Kings Co. Gyrfalcon 
observed last Wednesday, nor the Gyr/mystery falcon photographed in 
the same area on Friday, despite intensive effort throughout the 
day.  

Yet, we still had a rewarding day in this raptor-rich area. We 
tallied over 200 raptors in roughly 100 miles of survey effort 
centered on the core Gyr sighting area in Kings Co, east to the 
Pixley Natl Wildlife Refuge, and south to Kern Natl Wildlife Refuge.

Rough tallies of each species follow:

4 White-tailed Kite
30+ Northern Harrier
2 Accipiter sp.
10+ Red-shoulded Hawk - all HY
*1 Swainson's Hawk - late migrant - an intermediate morph adult(?) 
that flushed from a field in Kings Co on the east side of 4th street/ 
South of Seattle, and flew across the county line to a field in 
Tulare Co. 
100+ Red-tailed Hawk 
12 Ferruginous Hawk
7 Golden Eagle - 5 adult/2 immature
40+ Am Kestrel  
8 Peregrine Falcon sightings that represent, we think. 5-6 different 
birds - all adults! 
1 Prairie Falcon

We also found scattered feather remains of 1 Short-eared Owl and 
heard 1 Great Horned Owl.

Tom Wurster and Liga Auzins

Monrovia, CA

I just spoke to my parents (Vernon and Winona), who
spent an hour this afternoon looking unsuccessfully
for the mystery falcon in Kings County.  BTW, to reach
the Tuscon/10th/Utica area from the I-5, take the
Utica exit east.  From Highway 99, take Avenue 56
west, make the jog onto Avenue 54, and then turn north
on 6th Avenue until reaching Utica (continuing west
until reaching 10th).  Tucson parallels Utica to the
north.

Good falconing,

Andrew Howe
Riverside, CA
howe395 AT yahoo.com

Some folks are having no problems accessing the pics, others are. They are  
posted on CALBIRDS (_www.calbird AT yahoogroups.com_ 
(http://www.calbird AT yahoogroups.com) ) and can be reached either by going to 
the Mystery Birds folder or 

the New Photos  folder. 
 
If you are still having problems, I will send you jpgs directly.
 
 
Ed Pandolfino



**************************************Check out AOL's list of 2007's hottest 
products.
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Some folks are having no problems accessing the pics, others are. They are  
posted on CALBIRDS (_www.calbird AT yahoogroups.com_ 
(http://www.calbird AT yahoogroups.com) ) and can be reached either by going to 
the Mystery Birds folder or 

the New Photos  folder. 
 
If you are still having problems, I will send you jpgs directly.
 
 
Ed Pandolfino



**************************************Check out AOL's list of 2007's hottest 
products.
(http://money.aol.com/special/hot-products-2007?NCID=aoltop00030000000001)


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

OK,
 
I was so unsure about this that I wanted to check it out a bit before  
posting my photo. My trip to Kings County yesterday, though I had little hope 
of 

re-finding the bird, was party inspired by Steve Summers report of a Gyrfalcon 

in the vicinity of Tucson and 10th Ave in Kings.
 
As I drove east on Tucson yesterday from 10th, I first encountered an adult  
Peregrine (see photos posted on Calbirds--note that I accidentally posted the  
photo of the mystery falcon twice and mis-named it once) which was 
cooperative  so I had to digiscope it.
 
About five posts further down the road was the 'mystery' falcon (other  
photo). My first impression was that this bird was about the same size as the  
Peregrine so couldn't be the Gyr. This bird was also cooperative allowing close 

scope views. This is when it got interesting. In terms of plumage looks dead on 

 for a gray morph juv. Gyrfalcon based on numerous photos and guides  
(Wheeler:Raptors of Western North America, Sibley, various internet photos). 
The 

fact that the wing tips come well short of the tail was also good. 
 
However, the bird just didn't look huge (comparing the photos with the  
crossbar sized it looks maybe only very slightly longer than the Peregrine). It 

also lacked that big bodied, small headed look I'd expect. Now, my experience  
with live Gyrs equals exactly ONE. I figured the bird must be a juv Peregrine, 

but must admit to NEVER having seen a juv Peregrine that looks like this 
bird. The indistinct face, coarse streaks on the underparts, shortish wings, 
tail 

 pattern, just don't fit any bird I have seen. Sent the photos to John 
Sterling and he is likewise uncertain. Though the bird seems too small, the 
plumage 

and  some structural features are suggestive of Gyrfalcon. Also, I should 
note that, for some reason, these photos give the bird more of a brownish tone 

than it had  in real life. Really, a rather gray bird. I was able to watch it 
as it flew away, but unfortunately it gave me mostly an end-on view. Still the 

impression  was of a bird that looked bigger than it looked when perched. 
Wingbeats seems  slower and more labored than a Peregrine, although it was 
amazing how quickly the bird was out of sight in spite of not seeming very 
fast. 

Didn't get a chance  to see if there was barring on the flight feathers.
 
According the Wheeler, a female Peregrine can be as long as a male Gyr.  
However, juv Gyrs tend to be longer and have longer tails (which should make 
the 

wingtip-tail difference even more pronounced) so I just don't know what to 
make  of this.
 
So, I'm just not ready to commit either way and would really like to hear  
from others on this bird.
 
 
Ed Pandolfino
Carmichael



**************************************Check out AOL's list of 2007's hottest 
products.
(http://money.aol.com/special/hot-products-2007?NCID=aoltop00030000000001)


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

OK,
 
I was so unsure about this that I wanted to check it out a bit before  
posting my photo. My trip to Kings County yesterday, though I had little hope 
of 

re-finding the bird, was party inspired by Steve Summers report of a Gyrfalcon 

in the vicinity of Tucson and 10th Ave in Kings.
 
As I drove east on Tucson yesterday from 10th, I first encountered an adult  
Peregrine (see photos posted on Calbirds--note that I accidentally posted the  
photo of the mystery falcon twice and mis-named it once) which was 
cooperative  so I had to digiscope it.
 
About five posts further down the road was the 'mystery' falcon (other  
photo). My first impression was that this bird was about the same size as the  
Peregrine so couldn't be the Gyr. This bird was also cooperative allowing close 

scope views. This is when it got interesting. In terms of plumage looks dead on 

 for a gray morph juv. Gyrfalcon based on numerous photos and guides  
(Wheeler:Raptors of Western North America, Sibley, various internet photos). 
The 

fact that the wing tips come well short of the tail was also good. 
 
However, the bird just didn't look huge (comparing the photos with the  
crossbar sized it looks maybe only very slightly longer than the Peregrine). It 

also lacked that big bodied, small headed look I'd expect. Now, my experience  
with live Gyrs equals exactly ONE. I figured the bird must be a juv Peregrine, 

but must admit to NEVER having seen a juv Peregrine that looks like this 
bird. The indistinct face, coarse streaks on the underparts, shortish wings, 
tail 

 pattern, just don't fit any bird I have seen. Sent the photos to John 
Sterling and he is likewise uncertain. Though the bird seems too small, the 
plumage 

and  some structural features are suggestive of Gyrfalcon. Also, I should 
note that, for some reason, these photos give the bird more of a brownish tone 

than it had  in real life. Really, a rather gray bird. I was able to watch it 
as it flew away, but unfortunately it gave me mostly an end-on view. Still the 

impression  was of a bird that looked bigger than it looked when perched. 
Wingbeats seems  slower and more labored than a Peregrine, although it was 
amazing how quickly the bird was out of sight in spite of not seeming very 
fast. 

Didn't get a chance  to see if there was barring on the flight feathers.
 
According the Wheeler, a female Peregrine can be as long as a male Gyr.  
However, juv Gyrs tend to be longer and have longer tails (which should make 
the 

wingtip-tail difference even more pronounced) so I just don't know what to 
make  of this.
 
So, I'm just not ready to commit either way and would really like to hear  
from others on this bird.
 
 
Ed Pandolfino
Carmichael



**************************************Check out AOL's list of 2007's hottest 
products.
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi all,

Seems to me that the following sentence was the simple answer to this whole 
monster in the first place!? 


"but you can delete or read posts on the web to alleviate this),"




-----Original Message-----
>From: scre AT aol.com
>Sent: Nov 21, 2007 9:33 PM
>To: CALBIRDS AT yahoogroups.com
>Subject: Re: [CALBIRDS] New ownership of Calbirds/New California Listserve
>
> 
>who didn't like this new direction (or who  were already banned) and after 
>talking with many people I started a new yahoo group FOR California Birder's. 
I 

>realized many might not want two groups  (and there might be a lot of cross 
>posting but you can delete or read posts on the web to alleviate this), but I 

>felt it important to give a place for those to  discuss recent banned topics 
>and for those who were already banned for whatever  reason or just unhappy.  
>Another main distinction for a new list is after  talking with people, many 


   (!__!)
   (0V0)      HAPPY BIRDING
  {}~~{}        BOB MILLER
 =='''='''==

Southwest Birders
108 West I Street
Brawley, CA. 92227
Imperial County

http://www.southwestbirders.com
bob.miller AT mindspring.com

     Doug, we want to add our thanks for your many years of dedication 
to Calbirds. We have certainly benefited from your hard work.

                    Ken and Brenda Kyle
                    Bakersfield

We thank you, Doug.  The manner in which this "protest" has been 
handled is unfortunate and discouraging.  As for me, I respect and 
appreciate you both as the host of Calbirds and as a person.  You will 
always be welcomed in "my patch" with open arms and an open heart.  
Please visit Kern County often, my friend.  You've done more than your 
share for the good of birding in California.  Thank you.
Michael McQuerrey
kerncobirding moderator
Bakersfield, California

 
First I want to thank Doug for his years  of service with CALBIRDS and taking 
up the mantle when the original CALBIRD fell  apart.  Next I am the one that 
started the new California birding group  
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BirdingCalifornia/). My reasons for doing this 
was a general feeling that many of 

California's Birder's (yes including  myself) felt unhappy with the direction 
CALBIRDS had headed in recent months and  that a place was needed for those 
who didn't like this new direction (or who  were already banned) and after 
talking with many people I started a new yahoo group FOR California Birder's. I 

realized many might not want two groups  (and there might be a lot of cross 
posting but you can delete or read posts on  the web to alleviate this), but I 
felt it important to give a place for those to  discuss recent banned topics 
and for those who were already banned for whatever  reason or just unhappy.  
Another main distinction for a new list is after  talking with people, many 
wanted a place to post or read ad's without getting  them in their e-mail.  I 
decided to use the file section for this purpose. This way there is a place for 

birder's to post and read ads but  not bug the rest of us (please READ the 
homepage and directions in file section for details). I do not think of this as 

a "dueling" or "rival" list serve  for the state (no more than other list 
serves that are out there are) but a place for those who were not satisfied 
with 

what CALBIRDS had become and I  welcome you to join and belong to both list 
serves if you want too.  I have  no animosity toward those running CABIRDS, I 
(along with others) felt a change  was needed and I wanted to let there be a 
choice for California's  Birders.  In the end it will be the Birders who will 
decide which list  serve they like or if they want both list serves to exist, 
which I would welcome. Again I thank Doug for running the list for many years 

and I wish  Steve the best of luck in running CALBIRDS, and I welcome those 
would like to  try the new list serve or both list serves.  

David Vander  Pluym
Ventura



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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hey Doug!

 

Thanks for all your years of service and sacrifice!  We appreciate it!
Hadn't heard about the alternative list, but I'm sticking with CALBIRDS!

 

Regards,

Ed

 

Ed Stonick

Pasadena, CA

edstonick AT earthlink.net  

 

 

  _____  

From: CALBIRDS AT yahoogroups.com [mailto:CALBIRDS AT yahoogroups.com] On Behalf
Of aguillard2469
Sent: Wednesday, November 21, 2007 4:14 PM
To: CALBIRDS AT yahoogroups.com
Subject: [CALBIRDS] New ownership of Calbirds

 

Folks, after many years of running Calbirds, and attempting to do the 
right thing by you. I have decided to step down and become just a 
regular member of this great group.

Recently, there has been much debate about certain things on this 
list, and I have tried my best to keep things going, but as I found 
out today, there is a another California Birding list out there, 
becuase of my outspoken views. I do not wish to damage Calbirds any 
furhter.I am tired and no longer wish to continue to operate Calbirds. 

I have handed over the reins of ownership to Steve Sosensky, and trust 
you will all support him.

I will continue to operate SDBirds, CalOdes (Dragonflies), SoWestLep 
(Butterflies), & SoWestOdes (Dragonflies), so if you'd like to join, 
please feel free to do so

Thank you for a great run, and have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.

Douglas Aguillard
San Diego, CA
doug AT basiclink.  com

 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Folks, after many years of running Calbirds, and attempting to do the 
right thing by you. I have decided to step down and become just a 
regular member of this great group.

Recently, there has been much debate about certain things on this 
list, and I have tried my best to keep things going, but as I found 
out today, there is a another California Birding list out there, 
becuase of my outspoken views. I do not wish to damage Calbirds any 
furhter.I am tired and no longer wish to continue to operate Calbirds. 

I have handed over the reins of ownership to Steve Sosensky, and trust 
you will all support him.

I will continue to operate SDBirds, CalOdes (Dragonflies), SoWestLep 
(Butterflies), & SoWestOdes (Dragonflies), so if you'd like to join, 
please feel free to do so

Thank you for a great run, and have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.

Douglas Aguillard
San Diego, CA
doug AT basiclink.com

Audubon California has released a map showing how the Cosco Busan Oil Spill hit 
four Important Bird Areas in the Bay Area -- Richardson Bay, Brooks Island, 
East Shore Wetlands, and Bolinas Lagoon. Important Bird Areas are critical 
habitat for one or more species of bird and are recognized as a key component 
of global bird and biodiversity conservation. The map, which uses data 
collected through November 11th by the Office of Spill Prevention and Response, 
depicts a conservative estimate of oiled shoreline. Audubon California will 
update this map as additional data becomes available. 




The impacts on birds reaches beyond the specific Important Bird Areas as well 
over 1 million birds rely on San Francisco Bay. In addition, this is a 
particularly critical time for bird movement down the California Coast and with 
oil having moved out of the Golden Gate into the open ocean, a whole additional 
set of birds is at risk on the outer coast. The number of birds moving along 
the coast is spectacular, with one observer counting over 17,000 Pacific Loons 
moving south of the Bay Area along the coast yesterday morning. 




To access the map, visit http://www.audubon-ca.org/oil_spill_ibas.html


Mike Perlmutter
Bay Area Conservation Coordinator
Audubon California
4225 Hollis Street
Emeryville, CA 94608
Tel: ext. 231
Fax:
MPerlmutter AT audubon.org



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

California Bird Records Committee Seeks Input on Nominations

 

[Please do not use "Reply" to respond to this message]

 

The terms of three members of the California Bird Records Committee
(Kimball Garrett, Joe Morlan and Dan Singer) expire as of the next
annual meeting in Los Gatos 18-19 January 2008.  As always, the CBRC
seeks input from the California birding community about potential new
members.  If you know of somebody you feel would make a good CBRC
member, feel free to forward their name and a brief summary of their
qualifications to the CBRC Chair, Dan Singer at dsg2 AT sbcglobal.net .
The actual nominations may only be made by current CBRC members and, of
course, require confirmation of willingness on the part of the potential
nominee.  Nominations will close by 18 December.

 

Thanks for your interest in the work of the CBRC, and we hope you are
all enjoying the CBRC's "Rare Birds of California" book.

 

I apologize for multiple postings, but it looks like we are stuck with
dueling California listserves for the time being.

 

Kimball

 

Kimball L. Garrett

Ornithology Collections Manager

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

900 Exposition Blvd.

Los Angeles CA 90007

 FAX

kgarrett AT nhm.org

 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Trained teams of volunteers from 25 area organizations join with UC
Davis Vet teams and continue to access,wash,fortify,hydrate and care
for nearly 800 live birds at the Intn'l Bird Rescue and Research
Center in Cordelia, CA. over the Thanksgiving Holiday and beyond. The
center's year round activities are largely supported by volunteers and
donations.

There have been three releases since the November 7th incident. Over
110 birds have now completed the rehabilitation cycle and have been
banded and released in calm areas along the Pacific Ocean away from
the oil spill.  The species released include the Common Loon, Ruddy
Turnstone,Surf Scoters, Western and Clark's Grebes, Common Murres,
Eared and Horned Grebes and American Coots. 

Separately,CA. school kids of all ages are becoming aware of the oiled
birds and the year round wildlife rehabilitation activities as a
result of the spill. School groups interested in learning more and
potentially visiting the center can contact us.  Here is two
example of kids and organizations assisting:
http://www.ibrrc.org/haleys_bird_rescue_fund.html 

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2007/11/17/MNO3TE8JB.DTL&o=0 


To report an oiled bird in San Francisco Call - 311.  Outside of the
city phone .

Tom Rusert 
www.ibrrc.org
Community Outreach
& Release Team Volunteer
Cordelia,CA. 

Dan,

There is no CBRC endorsed record of an Eastern Towhee for California - closest 
occurrence appears to be a record for southeast Arizona. 


Guy McCaskie
954 Grove Avenue
Imperial Beach, CA  91932


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Daniel S. Cooper 
  To: CALBIRDS AT yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2007 2:58 PM
  Subject: [CALBIRDS] Fwd: Eastern Towhee (Female) at Eaton Canyon.


  This just appeared today - could this be a first state record?

 (by the way, Eaton Canyon = Eaton Cyn. Nature Center in Pasadena, Los Angeles 
Co.) 


  Dan Cooper
  Los Angeles
  wwwcooperecological.com

  --- In LACoBirds AT yahoogroups.com, "Hill Penfold"  wrote:

  There was a female Eastern Towhee along the east side of the trail
  near the SW corner of the nature center building this morning about 9
  AM. I first noticed it because it was kick-scratching very vigorously
  in leaf litter, more so than it seems to me that either species of our
  local towhees usually does. Also head and wings were not the duller
  gray of a Spotted Towhee female, but a definite brown. It had no spots
  on the back and no wing bars. The eye appeared brown. I did not notice
  whether or not there was a white patch at the base of the primaries
  simply because I didn't look for it. I'm going to try again tomorrow.

  Hill Penfold

  Tujunga

  --- End forwarded message ---



   

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

This just appeared today - could this be a first state record?

(by the way, Eaton Canyon = Eaton Cyn. Nature Center in Pasadena, Los Angeles 
Co.) 


Dan Cooper
Los Angeles
wwwcooperecological.com

--- In LACoBirds AT yahoogroups.com, "Hill Penfold"  wrote:

There was a female Eastern Towhee along the east side of the trail
near the SW corner of the nature center building this morning about 9
AM. I first noticed it because it was kick-scratching very vigorously
in leaf litter, more so than it seems to me that either species of our
local towhees usually does. Also head and wings were not the duller
gray of a Spotted Towhee female, but a definite brown. It had no spots
on the back and no wing bars. The eye appeared brown. I did not notice
whether or not there was a white patch at the base of the primaries
simply because I didn't look for it. I'm going to try again tomorrow.

Hill Penfold

Tujunga

--- End forwarded message ---

Hello all,

Today our Wintu Audubon field trip to the Sacramento National Wildlife 
Refuge had great views of  3-4 BLUE ROSS"S GEESE on the last part of the 
auto tour.  There were also 4-5 Blue Snow Geese in the main group of 
Snow Geese.

As usual, an adult Peregrine Falcon has been well seen by almost 
everyone taking the tour route and it often perches just above the 
road.  Today a Prairie Falcon was cruising the refuge too.  A female 
Hooded Merganser was seen on the other side of the main viewing 
platform.  All the geese seem closer than ever to the auto tour route, 
so their numbers seem higher and the viewing seems better than ever too.

Keep Lookin' Up!

Bob & Carol Yutzy
Shasta,  CA

Hello all,

Today our Wintu Audubon field trip to the Sacramento National Wildlife 
Refuge had great views of  3-4 BLUE ROSS"S GEESE on the last part of the 
auto tour.  There were also 4-5 Blue Snow Geese in the main group of 
Snow Geese.

As usual, an adult Peregrine Falcon has been well seen by almost 
everyone taking the tour route and it often perches just above the 
road.  Today a Prairie Falcon was cruising the refuge too.  A female 
Hooded Merganser was seen on the other side of the main viewing 
platform.  All the geese seem closer than ever to the auto tour route, 
so their numbers seem higher and the viewing seems better than ever too.

Keep Lookin' Up!

Bob & Carol Yutzy
Shasta,  CA

Today at Fort Rosecrans, many people saw up to 5 different Scarlet 
Tanagers (a first for California Birding) 3 males/ 2 females. West 
Side, but mostly along the Northern fencline.


Douglas Aguillard
San Diego, CA
doug AT basiclink.com

Yes, the new edition came out last spring. It contains lots of 
updates and areas not previously covered. Well worth getting, even if 
you have the old one.

At 06:43 PM 11/16/2007, lilithm3 AT juno.com wrote:
>Speaking of Brad Schram's 1998 edition of A Birder's Guide to SoCal 
>-- didn't I hear a few months ago that a new edition is in the works 
>or has been published? Would appreciate any info on that.


Good birding,

Steve Sosensky,
SoCA Bird Guides      www.sosensky.com/guides
Nature Photos                      www.sosensky.com/nature_photos.htm
Optics4Birding   www.optics4birding.com
Aliso Viejo, CA  N,  W

- San Diego, CA RBA [RARE BIRD ALERT]
* California
* San Diego
* November 16,2007
* CASD 

- Birds mentioned:
____________________

Reddish Egret
Tricolored Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Greater White-fronted Goose
Snow Goose
Ross's Goose
Cackling Goose
Eurasian Wigeon
Eurasian Wigeon x American Wigeon
White-winged Scoter
Hooded Merganser
Ferruginous Hawk
Crested Caracara
Black Oystercatcher
American Oystercatcher
Parasitic Jaeger
*Blue-crowned Parakeet
*Green Parakeet
*Red-masked Parakeet
Lewis's Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Eastern Phoebe
Plumbeous Vireo
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Pine Siskin
Red Crossbill
Clay-colored Sparrow
Pine Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Painted Redstart
Scarlet Tanager
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Baltimore Oriole
Yellow-headed Blackbird
____________________

- Transcript

Hotline:         San Diego County, California
Date:      		November 16,2007
Number:        [619-NUT-BIRD]
           		For SAN DIEGO FIELD ORNITHOLOGISTS
Compiler:      Michael Evans, mailto:muevans AT cox.net

NOTE:       NOT ALL OF THE REPORTS PRESENTED BELOW HAVE BEEN  
ADEQUATELY VERIFIED; SPECIES RECORDS ON THE CALIFORNIA BIRD RECORDS  
COMMITTEE (CRBC) SPECIES LIST SHOULD BE SUBMITTED TO THE CRBC FOR  
ACCEPTANCE (see below)
http://www.wfo-cbrc.org/cbrc/review.html


SEE NEWS & NEW PUBLICATION SECTIONS, BELOW
_________________________________________

Reddish Egret, 1, 11/1/07, San Diego Bay, J Street mudflats (Chula  
Vista Marina):  Nordenberg, Jan
&, 1, 11/10/07 & 11/15/07, San Diego Bay NWR, from N-end, 7th St,  
Imperial Beach:  Rideout, Bruce & Billings, Mark J.

Tricolored Heron, 1   (Ad), 11/15/07, San Diego R floodway, N-Robb  
Field:  Billings, Mark J.

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, 3   (2Ad, 1HY), 11/10/07 & 11/15/07,  
Imperial Beach Sports Park and adjacent apartments, in eucalyptus  
trees:     McCaskie, Guy & Billings, Mark J.

Greater White-fronted Goose, 1, 11/12/07, Lindo Lake Park, Lakeside:   
Basinski, Nick
&, 1, 11/13/07, Borrego Springs, Roadrunner Club resort:  Jorgensen,  
Paul

Snow Goose, 11, 11/15/07, San Diego Bay NWR, from N-end, 7th St,  
Imperial Beach:  Billings, Mark J.

Ross's Goose, 1, 11/15/07, Tijuana R Vly, sod farm, Hollister St and  
Sunset:  Billings, Mark J.

Cackling Goose, 1, 1/12/07, Lindo Lake Park, Lakeside:  Worley, Joe

Cackling Goose [Aleutian?], 1, 11/8/07,11/13/07, Borrego Springs,  
Roadrunner Club resort:  Hunefeld, Terry & Jorgensen, Paul
&, 1, 11/11/07, El Camino Country Club, adj to 10th green,  
Oceanside:  Martin, Mike

Eurasian Wigeon, 1(M/Ad), 11/10/07,11/15/07, San Diego Bay NWR, from  
N-end, 7th St, Imperial Beach:  McCaskie, Guy & Billings, Mark J.

Eurasian Wigeon x American Wigeon, 1, 11/4/07, Pe�asquitos Lagoon,  
Carmel Vly Rd, across from Circle K:  Smith, Sue

White-winged Scoter, 3 (F/Juv), 11/10/07, San Diego Bay NWR, from N- 
end, 7th St, Imperial Beach:  Rideout, Bruce

Hooded Merganser, 2, 11/10/07, Famosa Slough, Billings, Dave
&, 1, 11/15/07, San Diego R floodway, N-Robb Field, Billings, Mark J.

Ferruginous Hawk, 1  (dark morph), 11/14/07, Jamul Valley, SR94, SE- 
Jamul Indian Reservation:  Martin, John

Crested Caracara, 1   (Sub-Ad), 11/10/07, Tijuana R Vly, E-end:   
McCaskie, Guy

Black Oystercatcher, 2, 11/4/07, San Diego Bay, Zuniga Jetty  
(restricted access):  ?, Bob
&, 2, 11/15/07, Cabrillo Nat. Mon., rocky shoreline, from middle  
parking lot:  Billings, Mark J.

American Oystercatcher, 1, 11/4/07, San Diego Bay, Zuniga Jetty  
(restricted access):  ?, Bob

Parasitic Jaeger, 1, 11/11/07,11/12/07, 11/15/07, San Diego Bay NWR,  
from N-end, 7th St, Imperial Beach:  McCaskie, Guy; Murayama, Vic &  
Billings, Mark J.

*Blue-crowned Parakeet, 4, 11/7/07, Point Loma residential area,  
Moana  AT  Lomaland:  Worley, Joe

*Green Parakeet, 3, 11/7/07, Point Loma residential area, Moana  AT   
Lomaland:  Worley, Joe

*Red-masked Parakeet, 4, 11/7/07, Point Loma residential area, Moana  
 AT  Lomaland:  Worley, Joe

Lewis's Woodpecker, 1, 11/12/07-11/16/07, Santee Lakes, Lake #5,  
Worley, Joe; Harvey, Christine; Sweeney, Joe & Stock, Jeremy

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, 1, 11/5/07, Guajome Regional Park:   
Nordenberg, Jan

Eastern Phoebe, 1, 11/4/07, Tijuana R Vly, community gardens,  
Hollister St:  Stanley, Trent R.

Plumbeous Vireo, 1, 11/12/07, San Elijo Lagoon, E-nature center trail  
off Manchester Ave:  Patton, R. T.

Golden-crowned Kinglet, 1-2, 11/3/07 &11/10/07, Fort Rosecrans Nat.  
Cem., W-side, Sec R:  Smith, Sue & McCaskie, Guy
&, 4, 11/16/07, Palomar Mtns, betw Observatory Campground & Fry Creek  
Campground:  Edwards, Claude

Pine Siskin, 1, 11/1/07, Famosa Slough:  Puschock, John

Red Crossbill, 2, 11/10/07, Ft Rosecrans Nat. Cem:  McCaskie, Guy

Clay-colored Sparrow, 1, 11/4/07, Chula Vista residential area (V.  
Murayama):  Murayama, Vic

Grace's Warbler, 1 (F/Ad), 11/10/07 & 11/15/07, Ft Rosecrans Nat.  
Cem     McCaskie, Guy & Billings, Mark J.

Pine Warbler, 1, 11/3/07, Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, W-side,  
Sec V (dip); E-side, SE-corner, Sec A-F:  Smith, Sue

American Redstart, 2 (M+F), 11/8/07, Lindo Lake Park, Lakeside, by  
restrooms near playgrounds:  Smith, Susan

Ovenbird, 1, 11/4/07, Downtown San Diego, First St at G St:  Britten,  
Ken

Painted Redstart, 1, 11/3/07, Fort Rosecrans Nat. Cem., W-side, Sec  
R:  Smith, Sue
&, 1, 11/3/07, Point Loma residential area, Dudley St-N-end:  Smith, Sue

Scarlet Tanager, 1 (M/Imm), 11/15/07, Fort Rosecrans Nat. Cem., W- 
side, N-dip area (Sec X):  Billings, Mark J.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak, 1 (M/Imm), 11/2/07, Famosa Slough:  Puschock,  
John

Baltimore Oriole, 1  (M/1st fall), 11/16/07, Santee Lakes, Lake #5:   
Stock, Jeremy

Yellow-headed Blackbird, 1 (F), 11/1/07, Tijuana R Vly, Hollister St,  
Wiggington Stables:  Nordenberg, Jan

_________________________________________

NEWS

CALIFORNIA CHRISTMANS BIRD COUNT SCHEDULES:
http://www.natureali.org/cbcs.htm

Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery will soon have a new director.  
Birders should continue to display responsible and respectful  
behavior that does not disrupt the decorum of the cemetery. If you  
are visiting the cemetery to enjoy the solitude of the location, even  
with binoculars, you should be welcome.

NEW PUBLICATION(S)

RARE BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA. California Bird Records Committee.
2007. Approx. 600pp. Go to http://www.wfo-cbrc.org/ to order. This  
approximately 600 page hardbound book compiles every CBRC decision  
through 2003, with an appendix that treats noteworthy records through  
2006, if full of maps, charts, sketches and photographs. The book  
should be of interest to most birders, particularly those in California.

BIRDS OF ANZA-BORREGO DESERT STATE PARK, A BIRDER'S CHECKLIST.
Paul Jorgensen and Robert Th�riault, March  p).  Published by  
Anza Borrego Foundation and California State Parks.  This checklist  
includes 320 species and a supplemental list of 12 additional species  
(see list).  The checklist also includes a bar graph of relative  
abundance for each species through the season.  Currently only  
available at the Anza-Borrego Park visitor center for $4.99; other  
distributors are being sought.  [available to elite and non-elite  
birders alike]

DIRECTIONS/LOCATIONS
NEW:  SEE STREET-LABELED AERIAL IMAGES OF FORT ROSECRANS NATIONAL  
CEMETERY, downloadable .pdf file at:
http://homepage.mac.com/aves/SW_Border_Birding/FileSharing33.html

For directions to many of the locations listed here,
See Thomas Brothers Map Book for San Diego County, or

SD County Birding Locale Maps available on Internet (9 pages; download):
http://homepage.mac.com/aves/SW_Border_Birding/FileSharing33.html

View Birding Locale Maps as interactive web page, instead of  
downloaded Adobe Acrobat file:
http://homepage.mac.com/aves/SDBirdingWebLocs.html

Joe Morlan's San Diego Bird Page
http://fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us/%7Ejmorlan/sd.htm

SPECIES LISTS
Download Current San Diego County Checklist & Rarity Ratings (being  
revised):
http://homepage.mac.com/aves/SW_Border_Birding/FileSharing33.html

SUMMARY REPORTS
[N E W]:  Download  SUMMARY OF RARE BIRD SIGHTINGS FOR MONTH  
OF SEPTEMBER:
http://homepage.mac.com/aves/SW_Border_Birding/FileSharing33.html

Download 2007 Spring Migratory Season Summary Report:
http://homepage.mac.com/aves/SW_Border_Birding/FileSharing33.html

Download ALL Jan-Jun 2007 Records-Adobe Acrobat or MS Excel:
http://homepage.mac.com/aves/SW_Border_Birding/FileSharing33.html

REPORTING
Report sightings on the rare bird report form (California Bird  
Records Committee):
http://www.wfo-cbrc.org/cbrc/reportform.asp

Send reports on California Bird Record Committee
Review Species sightings to:

Guy McCaskie, Secretary
California Bird Records Committee
P.O. Box 275
Imperial Beach, CA 
mailto:guymcc AT pacbell.net

Send local rarity descriptions to:

Elizabeth Copper, San Diego Area Field Notes Editor
mailto:ebcopper AT avianresearch.org


End transcript

- San Diego, CA RBA [RARE BIRD ALERT]
* California
* San Diego
* November 16,2007
* CASD 

- Birds mentioned:
____________________

Reddish Egret
Tricolored Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Greater White-fronted Goose
Snow Goose
Ross's Goose
Cackling Goose
Eurasian Wigeon
Eurasian Wigeon x American Wigeon
White-winged Scoter
Hooded Merganser
Ferruginous Hawk
Crested Caracara
Black Oystercatcher
American Oystercatcher
Parasitic Jaeger
*Blue-crowned Parakeet
*Green Parakeet
*Red-masked Parakeet
Lewis's Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Eastern Phoebe
Plumbeous Vireo
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Pine Siskin
Red Crossbill
Clay-colored Sparrow
Pine Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Painted Redstart
Scarlet Tanager
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Baltimore Oriole
Yellow-headed Blackbird
____________________

- Transcript

Hotline:         San Diego County, California
Date:      		November 16,2007
Number:        [619-NUT-BIRD]
           		For SAN DIEGO FIELD ORNITHOLOGISTS
Compiler:      Michael Evans, mailto:muevans AT cox.net

NOTE:       NOT ALL OF THE REPORTS PRESENTED BELOW HAVE BEEN  
ADEQUATELY VERIFIED; SPECIES RECORDS ON THE CALIFORNIA BIRD RECORDS  
COMMITTEE (CRBC) SPECIES LIST SHOULD BE SUBMITTED TO THE CRBC FOR  
ACCEPTANCE (see below)
http://www.wfo-cbrc.org/cbrc/review.html


SEE NEWS & NEW PUBLICATION SECTIONS, BELOW
_________________________________________

Reddish Egret, 1, 11/1/07, San Diego Bay, J Street mudflats (Chula  
Vista Marina):  Nordenberg, Jan
&, 1, 11/10/07 & 11/15/07, San Diego Bay NWR, from N-end, 7th St,  
Imperial Beach:  Rideout, Bruce & Billings, Mark J.

Tricolored Heron, 1   (Ad), 11/15/07, San Diego R floodway, N-Robb  
Field:  Billings, Mark J.

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, 3   (2Ad, 1HY), 11/10/07 & 11/15/07,  
Imperial Beach Sports Park and adjacent apartments, in eucalyptus  
trees:     McCaskie, Guy & Billings, Mark J.

Greater White-fronted Goose, 1, 11/12/07, Lindo Lake Park, Lakeside:   
Basinski, Nick
&, 1, 11/13/07, Borrego Springs, Roadrunner Club resort:  Jorgensen,  
Paul

Snow Goose, 11, 11/15/07, San Diego Bay NWR, from N-end, 7th St,  
Imperial Beach:  Billings, Mark J.

Ross's Goose, 1, 11/15/07, Tijuana R Vly, sod farm, Hollister St and  
Sunset:  Billings, Mark J.

Cackling Goose, 1, 1/12/07, Lindo Lake Park, Lakeside:  Worley, Joe

Cackling Goose [Aleutian?], 1, 11/8/07,11/13/07, Borrego Springs,  
Roadrunner Club resort:  Hunefeld, Terry & Jorgensen, Paul
&, 1, 11/11/07, El Camino Country Club, adj to 10th green,  
Oceanside:  Martin, Mike

Eurasian Wigeon, 1(M/Ad), 11/10/07,11/15/07, San Diego Bay NWR, from  
N-end, 7th St, Imperial Beach:  McCaskie, Guy & Billings, Mark J.

Eurasian Wigeon x American Wigeon, 1, 11/4/07, Pe�asquitos Lagoon,  
Carmel Vly Rd, across from Circle K:  Smith, Sue

White-winged Scoter, 3 (F/Juv), 11/10/07, San Diego Bay NWR, from N- 
end, 7th St, Imperial Beach:  Rideout, Bruce

Hooded Merganser, 2, 11/10/07, Famosa Slough, Billings, Dave
&, 1, 11/15/07, San Diego R floodway, N-Robb Field, Billings, Mark J.

Ferruginous Hawk, 1  (dark morph), 11/14/07, Jamul Valley, SR94, SE- 
Jamul Indian Reservation:  Martin, John

Crested Caracara, 1   (Sub-Ad), 11/10/07, Tijuana R Vly, E-end:   
McCaskie, Guy

Black Oystercatcher, 2, 11/4/07, San Diego Bay, Zuniga Jetty  
(restricted access):  ?, Bob
&, 2, 11/15/07, Cabrillo Nat. Mon., rocky shoreline, from middle  
parking lot:  Billings, Mark J.

American Oystercatcher, 1, 11/4/07, San Diego Bay, Zuniga Jetty  
(restricted access):  ?, Bob

Parasitic Jaeger, 1, 11/11/07,11/12/07, 11/15/07, San Diego Bay NWR,  
from N-end, 7th St, Imperial Beach:  McCaskie, Guy; Murayama, Vic &  
Billings, Mark J.

*Blue-crowned Parakeet, 4, 11/7/07, Point Loma residential area,  
Moana  AT  Lomaland:  Worley, Joe

*Green Parakeet, 3, 11/7/07, Point Loma residential area, Moana  AT   
Lomaland:  Worley, Joe

*Red-masked Parakeet, 4, 11/7/07, Point Loma residential area, Moana  
 AT  Lomaland:  Worley, Joe

Lewis's Woodpecker, 1, 11/12/07-11/16/07, Santee Lakes, Lake #5,  
Worley, Joe; Harvey, Christine; Sweeney, Joe & Stock, Jeremy

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, 1, 11/5/07, Guajome Regional Park:   
Nordenberg, Jan

Eastern Phoebe, 1, 11/4/07, Tijuana R Vly, community gardens,  
Hollister St:  Stanley, Trent R.

Plumbeous Vireo, 1, 11/12/07, San Elijo Lagoon, E-nature center trail  
off Manchester Ave:  Patton, R. T.

Golden-crowned Kinglet, 1-2, 11/3/07 &11/10/07, Fort Rosecrans Nat.  
Cem., W-side, Sec R:  Smith, Sue & McCaskie, Guy
&, 4, 11/16/07, Palomar Mtns, betw Observatory Campground & Fry Creek  
Campground:  Edwards, Claude

Pine Siskin, 1, 11/1/07, Famosa Slough:  Puschock, John

Red Crossbill, 2, 11/10/07, Ft Rosecrans Nat. Cem:  McCaskie, Guy

Clay-colored Sparrow, 1, 11/4/07, Chula Vista residential area (V.  
Murayama):  Murayama, Vic

Grace's Warbler, 1 (F/Ad), 11/10/07 & 11/15/07, Ft Rosecrans Nat.  
Cem     McCaskie, Guy & Billings, Mark J.

Pine Warbler, 1, 11/3/07, Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, W-side,  
Sec V (dip); E-side, SE-corner, Sec A-F:  Smith, Sue

American Redstart, 2 (M+F), 11/8/07, Lindo Lake Park, Lakeside, by  
restrooms near playgrounds:  Smith, Susan

Ovenbird, 1, 11/4/07, Downtown San Diego, First St at G St:  Britten,  
Ken

Painted Redstart, 1, 11/3/07, Fort Rosecrans Nat. Cem., W-side, Sec  
R:  Smith, Sue
&, 1, 11/3/07, Point Loma residential area, Dudley St-N-end:  Smith, Sue

Scarlet Tanager, 1 (M/Imm), 11/15/07, Fort Rosecrans Nat. Cem., W- 
side, N-dip area (Sec X):  Billings, Mark J.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak, 1 (M/Imm), 11/2/07, Famosa Slough:  Puschock,  
John

Baltimore Oriole, 1  (M/1st fall), 11/16/07, Santee Lakes, Lake #5:   
Stock, Jeremy

Yellow-headed Blackbird, 1 (F), 11/1/07, Tijuana R Vly, Hollister St,  
Wiggington Stables:  Nordenberg, Jan

_________________________________________

NEWS

CALIFORNIA CHRISTMANS BIRD COUNT SCHEDULES:
http://www.natureali.org/cbcs.htm

Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery will soon have a new director.  
Birders should continue to display responsible and respectful  
behavior that does not disrupt the decorum of the cemetery. If you  
are visiting the cemetery to enjoy the solitude of the location, even  
with binoculars, you should be welcome.

NEW PUBLICATION(S)

RARE BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA. California Bird Records Committee.
2007. Approx. 600pp. Go to http://www.wfo-cbrc.org/ to order. This  
approximately 600 page hardbound book compiles every CBRC decision  
through 2003, with an appendix that treats noteworthy records through  
2006, if full of maps, charts, sketches and photographs. The book  
should be of interest to most birders, particularly those in California.

BIRDS OF ANZA-BORREGO DESERT STATE PARK, A BIRDER'S CHECKLIST.
Paul Jorgensen and Robert Th�riault, March  p).  Published by  
Anza Borrego Foundation and California State Parks.  This checklist  
includes 320 species and a supplemental list of 12 additional species  
(see list).  The checklist also includes a bar graph of relative  
abundance for each species through the season.  Currently only  
available at the Anza-Borrego Park visitor center for $4.99; other  
distributors are being sought.  [available to elite and non-elite  
birders alike]

DIRECTIONS/LOCATIONS
NEW:  SEE STREET-LABELED AERIAL IMAGES OF FORT ROSECRANS NATIONAL  
CEMETERY, downloadable .pdf file at:
http://homepage.mac.com/aves/SW_Border_Birding/FileSharing33.html

For directions to many of the locations listed here,
See Thomas Brothers Map Book for San Diego County, or

SD County Birding Locale Maps available on Internet (9 pages; download):
http://homepage.mac.com/aves/SW_Border_Birding/FileSharing33.html

View Birding Locale Maps as interactive web page, instead of  
downloaded Adobe Acrobat file:
http://homepage.mac.com/aves/SDBirdingWebLocs.html

Joe Morlan's San Diego Bird Page
http://fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us/%7Ejmorlan/sd.htm

SPECIES LISTS
Download Current San Diego County Checklist & Rarity Ratings (being  
revised):
http://homepage.mac.com/aves/SW_Border_Birding/FileSharing33.html

SUMMARY REPORTS
[N E W]:  Download  SUMMARY OF RARE BIRD SIGHTINGS FOR MONTH  
OF SEPTEMBER:
http://homepage.mac.com/aves/SW_Border_Birding/FileSharing33.html

Download 2007 Spring Migratory Season Summary Report:
http://homepage.mac.com/aves/SW_Border_Birding/FileSharing33.html

Download ALL Jan-Jun 2007 Records-Adobe Acrobat or MS Excel:
http://homepage.mac.com/aves/SW_Border_Birding/FileSharing33.html

REPORTING
Report sightings on the rare bird report form (California Bird  
Records Committee):
http://www.wfo-cbrc.org/cbrc/reportform.asp

Send reports on California Bird Record Committee
Review Species sightings to:

Guy McCaskie, Secretary
California Bird Records Committee
P.O. Box 275
Imperial Beach, CA 
mailto:guymcc AT pacbell.net

Send local rarity descriptions to:

Elizabeth Copper, San Diego Area Field Notes Editor
mailto:ebcopper AT avianresearch.org


End transcript

Speaking of Brad Schram's 1998 edition of A Birder's Guide to SoCal -- didn't I 
hear a few months ago that a new edition is in the works or has been published? 
Would appreciate any info on that. 


So noted in my copy. Thanks for the heads up. 

Sue Jorgenson
Fullerton/Anaheim CA

-- "OrCoRBA"  wrote:

Hurkey Creek Campground (Hurkey, a ranch hand and presumably the last person 
to be killed by a grizzly in California) is in the San Jacinto Mountains in 
southern California.  A Birder's Guide to Southern California (Brad Schram 
revised 1998) states (p. 191): 

This thread was closed about a week ago. No more folks.

Douglas Aguillard
Calbirds Listowner
San Diego, CA
doug AT basiclink.com

Release teams at International Bird Rescue are preparing this morning for the 
first birds 

to be returned to the Pacific Flyway. Members of the Unified Command will be in 
Half 

Moon Bay today to view the release of 38 banded birds that have been treated 
for 

oil exposure by the Oiled Wildlife Care Network. Additional birds are under 
assessment to 

be released. There are 754 live birds currently being washed and cared for. 
Approx. 200 

volunteers and professional staff from several organzations are working at the 
center 

today.  Visit www.ibrrc.org for ongoing updates.

WHERE: Pillar Point Harbor, Half Moon Bay, Calif.
WHEN: 3:00 p.m. Nov. 16, 2007

Tom Rusert
Community Outreach &
Release Team Volunteer
Cordelia, CA

A short note that does involving birding and trespassing on public property. 
More and more, "public" property has exclusion rules, especially in problem 
budget years.

Hurkey Creek Campground (Hurkey, a ranch hand and presumably the last person 
to be killed by a grizzly in California) is in the San Jacinto Mountains in 
southern California.  A Birder's Guide to Southern California (Brad Schram 
revised 1998) states (p. 191): " ..... is a favorite of birders in all 
seasons.  Birders can gain walk-in access, by-passing the gate and 
continuing on the road signed to Pine Springs Ranch, crossing the creek, and 
parking along the roadside next to the pedestrian access in the fence on the 
left."

When I taught ornithology I traditionally had my classs stop at this spot, 
bypassing the entrance kiosk.  However, the last time, with a group of about 
20 people, I was challenged by a ranger for not paying the day fees, and we 
were asked to leave the park.  I wasn't going to pay the fees to burden my 
Cal. State students, already under the brunt of budget shortfalls, just for 
a 1/2 hour look at the area.

Perhaps if the group wasn't so large, we might have gone unnoticed.... but 
you should mark your Birder's Guide to avoid finding yourself in the same 
situation.

Joel Weintraub
Dana Point, Ca 

I am glad that park service took the time to respond to Mr. Winter claims,
but I fail to see the relevance of this thread to California birding, and I
suspect most of us here are well acquainted with California State parks from
personal experience (and in my case all good experiences).

Morgan Churchill
formerly of San Diego CA
Now Laramie WY

On Nov 15, 2007 10:28 PM, Jon Winter  wrote:

>
>
> > This post contained a number of misleading statements. I was not parked
> in
> > front of the gate as stated in the report. I was parked to the side of
> the
> > gate well off the entrance road and this can be proven. I was issued a
> > misdemeanor citation which required I be booked, fingerprinted and
> released
> > at the county jail. The citation is a criminal offense. The citation is
> > listed as a arrest in the records regardless of how you wish to
> characterize
> > it. There were not several signs with posted hours; only one, and I have
> > photographs to prove it. The only posted sign for was damaging State
> > Property which was not done. The hours sign indicated that the park was
> open
> > during 10am to 5pm. Nothing was said about trespassing. Does the sign
> mean
> > that the park staff is only present during that time? Does it mean that
> the
> > toilets are not open to the public during those hours? Does it mean that
> > vehicle access was only available during that time? Does it mean that
> > nothing was open after or before those hours? The sign was misleading
> with
> > no signage indicating trespass. Trespass could not be proven without
> signage
> > indicating that it was illegal to trespass. It was not posted as such.
> The
> > case would have been easily won on the basis of that alone regardless of
> any
> > other issue. The property was not properly posted (with respect to
> trespass)
> > and/or was vague at the very least. Proper signage should be posted so
> that
> > the public clearly knows what is acceptable and what is not. This was
> > clearly the case. Anyone using State Park land could be cited for any
> number
> > of offenses (obvious or otherwise) and birders should be aware of this
> > possibility and act accordingly in their own best interest.
> >
> > The ranger could take any action she pleased but that does not make it
> right.
> > No harm was done.
> >
> > If this is an example of a "high quality recreational experience" I
> think
> > most birders would prefer to pass. None of it was necessary.
> >
> > Jon Winter
>
> >
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "dvd94954" >
> To: >
> Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2007 7:34 AM
> Subject: [CALBIRDS] Letter from State Parks
>
> > The purpose of this posting is to provide clarification to a recent
> > submittal by Mr. Jon Winter regarding an incident that occurred at
> > Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park on January 21st 2007. Meaning no
> > disrespect to Mr. Winter, the document he posted contained a number
> > of misleading statements; therefore we would like to take this
> > opportunity to set the record straight.
> >
> > First, California State Park staff did not place Mr. Winter under
> > arrest, we did not transport him to county jail for booking, nor did
> > we fingerprint him. He was simply issued a citation for violation of
> > Posted Hours (not criminal trespass as he stated) and sent on his
> > way. According to our reports Mr. Winters and another individual
> > arrived at Petaluma Adobe sometime prior to 8:15am and parked their
> > vehicle in front of the locked entrance gate and entered the park. It
> > is important to note that several signs are posted on/next to the
> > gate indicating that parking in front of the gate is illegal and that
> > the park hours are from 10am - 5p.m. A short time after the ranger
> > arrived, Mr. Winter and his partner returned to the entrance and
> > climbed back over the locked gate. When asked why they were in the
> > park, Mr. Winters responded he thought the hours and locked gate did
> > not mean people who walked into the park. Mr. Winters and his partner
> > both received citations for violation of posted hours. Based upon our
> > review of the available documented evidence, the ranger took the
> > appropriate level of action.
> >
> > The California State Parks makes every effort to inform its visitors
> > of the opening and closing times of the park unit by posting the
> > operating hours at the entrance. In order to insure the safety of our
> > visitors and property when the park is closed, no persons or vehicles
> > are allowed.
> >
> > Our goal is to provide a high quality recreational experience while
> > protecting our most cherished natural and cultural resources. We hope
> > that this incident does not overshadow the outstanding opportunities
> > that are offered to our park visitors.
> >
> >
> > Don Monahan
> > District Superintendent
> > Diablo Vista District
> > California State Parks
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Unsubscribe: 
mailto:CALBIRDS-unsubscribe AT yahoogroups.com 

> > Website: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CALBIRDS
> > Listowners: 
mailto:CALBIRDS-owner AT yahoogroups.com 

> >
> > For vacation suspension of mail go to the website. Click on Edit My
> Membership and set your mail option to No Email. Or, send a blank email to
> these addresses:
> > Turn off email delivery: 
mailto:CALBIRDS-nomail AT yahoogroups.com 

> > Resume email delivery: 
mailto:CALBIRDS-normal AT yahoogroups.com 

> >
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > __________ NOD32 ) Information __________
> >
> > This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system.
> > http://www.eset.com
> >
> >
>
>  
>



-- 
Morgan Churchill
Laramie, Wyoming


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

The correct number to report oiled birds in the SF area is .





Steve Hampton
________________
Resource Economist
Office of Spill Prevention and Response
California Dept of Fish and Game
PO Box 944209
Sacramento, CA 
----------------------------------- phone
 fax

> This post contained a number of misleading statements.  I was not parked in
> front of the gate as stated in the report.  I was parked to the side of the
> gate well off the entrance road and this can be proven.  I was issued a
> misdemeanor citation which required I be booked, fingerprinted and released
> at the county jail.  The citation is a criminal offense.  The citation is
> listed as a arrest in the records regardless of how you wish to
characterize
> it.  There were not several signs with posted hours; only one, and I have
> photographs to prove it.  The only posted sign for was damaging State
> Property which was not done.  The hours sign indicated that the park was
open
> during 10am to 5pm.  Nothing was said about trespassing.  Does the sign
mean
> that the park staff is only present during that time?  Does it mean that
the
> toilets are not open to the public during those hours?  Does it mean that
> vehicle access was only available during that time?  Does it mean that
> nothing was open after or before those hours?  The sign was misleading with
> no signage indicating trespass.  Trespass could not be proven without
signage
> indicating that it was illegal to trespass.  It was not posted as such.
The
> case would have been easily won on the basis of that alone regardless of
any
> other issue.  The property was not properly posted (with respect to
trespass)
> and/or was vague at the very least.  Proper signage should be posted so
that
> the public clearly knows what is acceptable and what is not.  This was
> clearly the case.  Anyone using State Park land could be cited for any
number
> of offenses (obvious or otherwise) and birders should be aware of this
> possibility and act accordingly in their own best interest.
>
> The ranger could take any action she pleased but that does not make it
right.
> No harm was done.
>
> If this is an example of a "high quality recreational experience" I think
> most birders would prefer to pass. None of it was necessary.
>
> Jon Winter
>

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "dvd94954" 
To: 
Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2007 7:34 AM
Subject: [CALBIRDS] Letter from State Parks


> The purpose of this posting is to provide clarification to a recent
> submittal by Mr. Jon Winter regarding an incident that occurred at
> Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park on January 21st 2007. Meaning no
> disrespect to Mr. Winter, the document he posted contained a number
> of misleading statements; therefore we would like to take this
> opportunity to set the record straight.
>
> First, California State Park staff did not place Mr. Winter under
> arrest, we did not transport him to county jail for booking, nor did
> we fingerprint him. He was simply issued a citation for violation of
> Posted Hours (not criminal trespass as he stated) and sent on his
> way. According to our reports Mr. Winters and another individual
> arrived at Petaluma Adobe sometime prior to 8:15am and parked their
> vehicle in front of the locked entrance gate and entered the park. It
> is important to note that several signs are posted on/next to the
> gate indicating that parking in front of the gate is illegal and that
> the park hours are from 10am - 5p.m. A short time after the ranger
> arrived, Mr. Winter and his partner returned to the entrance and
> climbed back over the locked gate. When asked why they were in the
> park, Mr. Winters responded he thought the hours and locked gate did
> not mean people who walked into the park. Mr. Winters and his partner
> both received citations for violation of posted hours. Based upon our
> review of the available documented evidence, the ranger took the
> appropriate level of action.
>
> The California State Parks makes every effort to inform its visitors
> of the opening and closing times of the park unit by posting the
> operating hours at the entrance. In order to insure the safety of our
> visitors and property when the park is closed, no persons or vehicles
> are allowed.
>
> Our goal is to provide a high quality recreational experience while
> protecting our most cherished natural and cultural resources. We hope
> that this incident does not overshadow the outstanding opportunities
> that are offered to our park visitors.
>
>
> Don Monahan
> District Superintendent
> Diablo Vista District
> California State Parks
>
>
>
>
> Unsubscribe: mailto:CALBIRDS-unsubscribe AT yahoogroups.com
> Website: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CALBIRDS
> Listowners: mailto:CALBIRDS-owner AT yahoogroups.com
>
> For vacation suspension of mail go to the website. Click on Edit My
Membership and set your mail option to No Email. Or, send a blank email to
these addresses:
> Turn off email delivery: mailto:CALBIRDS-nomail AT yahoogroups.com
> Resume email delivery: mailto:CALBIRDS-normal AT yahoogroups.com
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
> __________ NOD32 ) Information __________
>
> This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system.
> http://www.eset.com
>
>

The purpose of this posting is to provide clarification to a recent 
submittal by Mr. Jon Winter regarding an incident that occurred at 
Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park on January 21st 2007. Meaning no 
disrespect to Mr. Winter, the document he posted contained a number 
of misleading statements; therefore we would like to take this 
opportunity to set the record straight.

First, California State Park staff did not place Mr. Winter under 
arrest, we did not transport him to county jail for booking, nor did 
we fingerprint him. He was simply issued a citation for violation of 
Posted Hours (not criminal trespass as he stated) and sent on his 
way. According to our reports Mr. Winters and another individual 
arrived at Petaluma Adobe sometime prior to 8:15am and parked their 
vehicle in front of the locked entrance gate and entered the park. It 
is important to note that several signs are posted on/next to the 
gate indicating that parking in front of the gate is illegal and that 
the park hours are from 10am � 5p.m. A short time after the ranger 
arrived, Mr. Winter and his partner returned to the entrance and 
climbed back over the locked gate. When asked why they were in the 
park, Mr. Winters responded he thought the hours and locked gate did 
not mean people who walked into the park. Mr. Winters and his partner 
both received citations for violation of posted hours. Based upon our 
review of the available documented evidence, the ranger took the 
appropriate level of action.

The California State Parks makes every effort to inform its visitors 
of the opening and closing times of the park unit by posting the 
operating hours at the entrance. In order to insure the safety of our 
visitors and property when the park is closed, no persons or vehicles 
are allowed.  

Our goal is to provide a high quality recreational experience while 
protecting our most cherished natural and cultural resources. We hope 
that this incident does not overshadow the outstanding opportunities 
that are offered to our park visitors.


Don Monahan
District Superintendent
Diablo Vista District
California State Parks

Oiled bird catchers, 

Speaking for the Response, please do not attempt to capture oiled
birds from the spill.  We have search & collection crews with near
100% coverage of the central Bay and outer coast (from Pillar Pt to Pt
Reyes).  The hotspots are being covered multiple times per day.  

Our problem in the East Bay has been that the live oiled birds (mostly
Surf Scoters, Greater Scaup, Eared and Horned Grebes) are quite
difficult to capture along rip-rap shorelines and narrow beaches
(Richmond to Alameda).  We have been most successful by letting them
get comfortable onshore during the day and getting them after dark
using spotlights and very long-handled nets.  Unfortunately,
well-meaning members of the public have been pushing the birds into
the water while attempting to capture them.  We have been posting some
wardens at places to keep the public away until our after-dark
operations.  This may appear that we are just letting the birds
suffer, but it is really the best way to capture them.   

Please feel free to report oiled birds (NOT TO MY EMAIL) by calling .  All these reports are being carefully documented (I've
seen them) are we have been able to adjust response accordingly.  

thanks, 

Steve Hampton
Calif. Dept of Fish & Game

Ed

 

  There are a bunch of recordings of Juniper Titmouse from Colorado on
xeno-canto



HYPERLINK
"http://www.xeno-canto.org/browse.php?query=titmouse"http://www.xeno-canto.o
rg/browse.php?query=titmouse

 

cheers

 

Al

 

Alvaro Jaramillo

HYPERLINK "mailto:chucao AT coastside.net"chucao AT coastside.net

Half Moon Bay, California

 

Field Guides - Birding Tours Worldwide

HYPERLINK "http://www.fieldguides.com"www.fieldguides.com

   _____  

From: CALBIRDS AT yahoogroups.com [mailto:CALBIRDS AT yahoogroups.com] On Behalf
Of erpfromca AT aol.com
Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2007 9:08 AM
To: CALBIRDS AT yahoogroups.com
Subject: [CALBIRDS] Problem with Bird Songs of CA CD

 

For those who have the Birds Songs of CA CD set (Geoffrey Keller/Cornell 
Labs) and may want to use that to familiarize yourself with Juniper Titmouse

vocalizations, be aware that the recordings labeled as Juniper Titmouse are,
in 
fact, Oak Titmouse. I first noticed this some months ago. Checked with John 
Sterling and he agreed that the recordings are Oak Titmouse. I notified the 
Cornell folks and they concur and will fix this in a future edition. These 
recordings were made at Lava Beds NM where, though Juniper Titmouse MAY 
occasionally occur, I have found only Oak Titmouse on my visits. See Carla
Cicero's 
monograph* if you want to see a detailed analysis of the distributions of
the 
'Plain' titmouse complex.

The Stokes Field Guide to Birds Songs: Western Region is a good source for 
real Juniper Titmouse vocalizations (recorded in Utah). Also, if any 
recordists out there have their own recordings of a 'real' Juniper Titmouse
in CA that 
they might be willing to put online for folks to use, that would be great.


This in no way diminishes my opinion of the Birds of CA CD. Still the best 
by far for learning CA bird vocalizations.

* C. Cicero 1996. Sibling species of titmice in the Parus inornatus complex 
(Aves: Paridae). Univ. Calif. Publ. Zool. 128: 1�217.



Ed Pandolfino


************-*********-*********-******** See what's new at HYPERLINK
"http://www.aol.com"http://www.aol.-com

 


No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: /1132 - Release Date: 11/15/2007
9:34 AM



No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition. 
Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: /1132 - Release Date: 11/15/2007
9:34 AM
 


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



Unsubscribe: mailto:CALBIRDS-unsubscribe AT yahoogroups.com
Website: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CALBIRDS
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For vacation suspension of mail go to the website. Click on Edit My Membership 
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<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
 

For those who have the Birds Songs of CA CD set (Geoffrey Keller/Cornell  
Labs) and may want to use that to familiarize yourself with Juniper Titmouse  
vocalizations, be aware that the recordings labeled as Juniper Titmouse are, in 

fact, Oak Titmouse. I first noticed this some months ago. Checked with John  
Sterling and he agreed that the recordings are Oak Titmouse. I notified the  
Cornell folks and they concur and will fix this in a future edition. These  
recordings were made at Lava Beds NM where, though Juniper Titmouse MAY  
occasionally occur, I have found only Oak Titmouse on my visits. See Carla 
Cicero's 

monograph* if you want to see a detailed analysis of the distributions  of the 
'Plain' titmouse complex.


The Stokes Field Guide to Birds  Songs: Western Region is a good source for 
real Juniper Titmouse vocalizations  (recorded in Utah). Also, if any 
recordists out there have their own recordings of a 'real' Juniper Titmouse in 
CA that 

they might be willing to  put online for folks to use, that would be great.
 
 
This in no way diminishes my opinion of the Birds of CA CD. Still the best  
by far for learning CA bird vocalizations.


* C. Cicero 1996. Sibling  species of titmice in the Parus inornatus complex 
(Aves: Paridae). Univ. Calif.  Publ. Zool. 128: 1–217.
 
 
 
Ed Pandolfino
 



************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com

Hi all,
Today Ken Burton, Chet Ogan, George Zyminski, and myself saw the continuing
Gyrfalcon in Del Norte County. Take Highway 101 to Fred Haight Drive, which
is just north of the Smith River. Drive past the Alexandre Dairy on the west
side of the road. You will see a dirt road that goes to the west a short
distance after the dairy and then a distinct paved road with a gate. I might
recommend to not park here as we were slightly "harassed" by somebody that
must have been affiliated with the gravel operation at the end of the road.
The Gyrfalcon seems be in this general area in mid- to late-afternoon, as it
has been seen in this area for the past three days from around 2:30 p.m.
(approximately when we had it today) to near sundown (when it was first
reported by Lucas Brug as a "possible" Gyrfalcon 2 days ago). Be mindful of
private property, of course.

We saw the Gyrfalcon around 2:30 and was directed to it by a Peregrine
Falcon harassing it. The sighting wasn't the most pleasing views, since much
of the observation was in backlit conditions, but we all considered this
bird to be a Gyrfalcon. The bird was very dark (possibly more so due to the
backlighting conditions when we saw the bird) and was about 25% larger than
the Peregrine Falcon that was harassing it. It seemed to have a very dark
face pattern, without a hint of a malar mark, very broad, blunt tipped
wings, and had a noticeably long tail. In flight the bird had a different
flight style from the Peregrine, being very powerful looking with stiff wing
beats, and more of a heavier chested appearance (analagous to the difference
between Parasitic to Pomarine Jaeger structure). I got to see the bird perch
very briefly on a tall dead snag to the east of Fred Haight Drive, Peregrine
still harassing thoroughly. Though I only was able to see the wings and tail
of the bird (since it was perched on the side of the snag opposite from our
position) I was able to clearly see that the wings were noticeable shorter
than the length of the tail. If you're only gonna see only part of a perched
Gyrfalcon, the wings and the tail while are probably the most preferred!

I would have liked better looks of the bird but, alas, I had looks! Good
luck to the ones who try for it in the near future!

If the bird is still being seen by next Monday, I would be willing to share
gas with somebody to try and see it again.

Del Norte continues to ROCK!!!

Rob

-- 
Rob Fowler
Arcata, CA


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi All,

Just a note to let you know that the California CBC schedule is almost
complete. Just a few more compilers need to contact me with their dates.
Also listed at the bottom of the alphabetical column are links to other west
coast state CBC lists.

So, check it out. Please let me know if you find any discrepancies from one
column to the next or wrong dates posted. Sometimes my brain wanders during
keystrokes.

Have a great CBC season.

Ali
Weldon, CA

www.natureali.org/cbcs.htm

P.S. If you know a date that isn't listed, please let me know right away and
I will post it as soon as I return from oiled bird duty and the CVBS.

Alison Sheehey
P.O. Box 153
Weldon, CA 93283
 
*****************************
http://natureali.org - "Sharing the magic of central California's
biodiversity with the world."

P.S. Vote in the Experience Highway 178 photo contest -  deadline November
30th. www.experiencehighway178.org