Today at the Hayward Shoreline

Chestnut-collared Longspur - 1 on Mt. Trashmore.
Snow Goose - 1 immature on Mt. Trashmore.

Mt. Trashmore was probably mowed in August not recently as several observers have said. It looks like it usually does this time of year and does not have a thick mat of grass on it. Seen there today were the usual grassland birds - Horned Lark, American Pipit, Savannah Sparrow, and Western Meadowlark.

Good birding

Bob

This afternoon I came across a gorgeous Varied Thrush in Hoot Hollow at Coyote Hills. Out at the bay it was high tide, and about 300 avocets were near the pumping station off the No Name Trail. The Eared Grebes continue, and at least six Common Mergansers were out there as well. Sparrows are in! The fennel patch at the Meadowlark Trail junction held crowned, Lincoln's, and Savannah Sparrows. The Say's Phoebe was on the hillside nearby, and the Loggerhead Shrike was in Dairy Glen with the White-Tailed Kites. Hermit Thrushes pop up here and there, and it seems like nearly every bush holds a chittering Ruby-Crowned Kinglet.

Stephanie Floyd
Fremont

Three weeks ago my feeders, decks, railings and any other surface that was convenient for little siskin feet to grip were covered with the streaky little birds. I had never seen such a sudden influx in the 40 years I have lived here. Then, about a week later the numbers started to diminish until I was seeing only a couple each day. Actually I was relieved because I was thinking I was going to have to refinance the house to pay for all the birdseed that I was going to need to purchase to feed the hoards during the winter. Just as I was thinking that they had dispersed and moved on to invade other areas, they returned. Not quite as many as originally but at times at least 2 dozen are here gobbling up the thistle and sunflower chips. At this point I'm thinking that there are going to be a good number of them hanging around this fall/winter. Now I'm hoping they all stay healthy.

I'm in Montclair, a block below Skyline near Snake and Colton.

Susan Russell

The number of sparrows at Oyster Bay right now is staggering. It's by far the most sparrows I've ever seen at once in the Bay Area. I had a 7-sparrow-species day yesterday, with SAVANNAH, LINCOLN'S, SONG, FOX, WHITE-CROWNED, GOLDEN-CROWNED, and one WHITE-THROATED SPARROW. In the middle of the park is a hill with a bare gravelly summit. Just north of this hill is a large lone eucalyptus standing beside a trail. The White-throated was foraging along the trail near this tree, with White-crowned and Golden-crowned Sparrows.
 
Along the main trail across from the landfill was a sparrow that may have been a White-throated/Golden-crowned hybrid. Gulls aren't really up to speed yet, although there is already a big swarm of them on the landfill. I managed to pick out one first-cycle THAYER'S GULL, but nothing else too interesting.
 
Noah Arthur, Oakland  

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

Pine Siskins have come to Livermore as well. My thistle feeder isn't set up yet, but they are happily feeding at the sunflower feeder and on the ground seed for the White-crowns. OK, I don't know if they are really HAPPY about it, but they are making do. I'm cleaning the thistle feeder and hoping to have it up this evening.

good birding,

Jaan Lepson
Livermore

After reading Larry's report yesterday (10/29), I went to No Name Trail and stayed there from 3:30-5:20PM.

I did find several Eared Grebes (in basic plumage http://www.flickr.com/photos/jerryting/8137148504/in/photostream) in the area but no signs of the Semipalmated Sandpiper neither the Elegant Tern.

I did find a single HY Western Sandpiper feeding on the shore along with a group of Least Sandpipers:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jerryting/8137166170/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jerryting/8138609133/in/photostream

A group of 15+ Dunlins also mixed with the Least Sandpipers:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jerryting/8138614187/in/photostream

Other noticables in the area include 20+ American Pipit foraging on the levee just passed the 'Restricted Area' sign and a flew by Brown Pelican.

There were also 2 White-tailed Kites in South Marsh, a Cooper's Hawk on Sycamore Tree right beside the Bayview Trail at Glenn Dairy, and a Sharp-shinned Hawk on the hill side of Quarry Parking area.

Happy Birding,
Jerry Ting
Fremont

Larry,

Clicking on the images which gives locality and dates. I now see that most
of those photos are from Florida. But I found one photo from Coyote Hills
at..

http://pick14.pick.uga.edu/mp/20p?see=I_LHT5504&res=640

Is that the bird? The date says 24 April 2012 but the photo looks like a
Western Sandpiper to me.

I cannot find a Semipalmated Sandpiper photo from 29 October. Am I missing
something?

Thanks.

--
Joseph Morlan, Pacifica, CA
"It turns out we're very good at not seeing things" - Jack Hitt

Yesterday and today, on October 28 and 29, 2012, I have watched the birds in the vicinity of Los Vaqueros Reservoir, near Brentwood, Contra Costa County. Among other birds, I saw seven Rock Wrens (Salpinctes obsoletus), Prairie Falcon (Falco mexicanus) (on Oct.28), 2 Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus), 2 Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) (one bird seen near Vasco / Walnut Blvd ). Eagle's hat-trick was made ​​by observations of Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). Yesterday I saw two adult birds flying over the reservoir, and then sitting on top of a high oak. This was too far for my the Camera, and although I made photo, the effect after the magnified image, were two dark spots on the top of the tree. I returned today to take pictures at a closer distance, unfortunately, I was not able to take a picture of two birds side by side, first saw the bird in the air, and later perching on top of the tree, I'm not sure if these were two birds whether the same. During the return I also met two Bobcats(Lynx rufus)

Rock wren

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/_l14yM4bxjNY9IsqU3XrQNMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Qi8nDZfFsNiiM62dzBaYl9MTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink

Bobcat

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/lMiUS26N2Ef0gWbF-VWFRtMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/VejaIadeQsdl10q_SwWUx9MTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink

Bald Eagle

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/EpYMd-oi7h_n_tDxaWGC6tMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/tIDXOIKq5-9qF-VEIM8viNMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/-uKXlPtxmu5Vf4c7qS7rBdMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink

Good Birdind,

Albert W. Linkowski

Larry,
I believe this would be an exceptionally late date for Semipalmated Sandpiper in
the Bay Area.
Do you have a current picture of the bird you found?

Matthew Dodder
http://www.birdguy.net
http://www.zazzle.com/mdodder
http://neornithes.wordpress.com/



________________________________
From: Larry H. Thompson <thompson14ster@gmail.com>
To: EBB_Sightings@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Mon, October 29, 2012 12:57:57 PM
Subject: [EBB_Sightings] Eared Grebes up close at Coyote Hills Regional Park


On Saturday morning (Oct 27) I spent a couple of hours on the shoreward portion
of the No-name Trail. My best encounter was with about 10 Eared Grebes, which
were very cooperative and are shown at:

http://pick14.pick.uga.edu/mp/20q?search=eared+grebe&flags=col2:&res=640

There were more than 100 American Avocets, but they were hard to approach and
flew several times.

I found a Semipalmated Sandpiper among a group of Least Sandpipers.
http://pick14.pick.uga.edu/mp/20q?search=Semipalmated+Sandpiper&flags=col2:&res=640


I also had a fly-by of an Elegant Tern:
http://pick14.pick.uga.edu/mp/20q?search=Sterna+elegans&flags=col2:&res=640

There was a White-Tailed Kite sitting for several hours in the top of a tree at
Dairy Glen. It was also fairly approachable.


Good birding
Larry Thompson
Livermore, CA




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

Greetings Friends:

Maybe a year has passed since I last visited Briones Regional Park. Only
fifteen minutes from Tilden Park, it's a world away. We left the cool
misty Berkeley Hills dropped down Wildcat Canyon road, to the dry hills
and bright blue sky of inland Contra Costa County,

We were driving in my birding buddy's VW convertible with the top down
which I recommend as a perfect mobile Bird Sit -- sun on the shoulders,
delicious infusions of odors around each curve, and, of course, bird
calls. First bird heard near the Bear Valley and San Pablo Dam Roads was
the Red-shouldered Hawk, whose loud repetitive call was shrill enough to
penetrate even a conventional top.

Once in the park, we strolled along the road and took the fork off to the
right (sign says "Archery Range") which lead downhill toward the creek.
With yellow big-leafed maple leaves under foot, and madrone berries above,
we heard a number of the expected bird calls. Every oak seemed to have a
Ruby-crowned Kinglet along with chickadees and an occasional Oak Titmouse.
A single cricket and frog added their voices. -- Phila Rogers

On Mon, 29 Oct 2012 19:57:52 -0000, "Larry H. Thompson"
<thompson14ster@gmail.com> wrote:

I found a Semipalmated Sandpiper among a group of Least Sandpipers.
http://pick14.pick.uga.edu/mp/20q?search=Semipalmated+Sandpiper&flags=col2:&res=640

Larry,

That photo is labeled from 2007-2010. Do you have photos of the current
bird with date and locality indicated? Or is that the bird?

Semipalmated Sandpiper in California in late October would be
unprecedented.
--
Joseph Morlan, Pacifica, CA
"It turns out we're very good at not seeing things" - Jack Hitt

On Saturday morning (Oct 27) I spent a couple of hours on the shoreward portion of the No-name Trail. My best encounter was with about 10 Eared Grebes, which were very cooperative and are shown at:
http://pick14.pick.uga.edu/mp/20q?search=eared+grebe&flags=col2:&res=640

There were more than 100 American Avocets, but they were hard to approach and flew several times.

I found a Semipalmated Sandpiper among a group of Least Sandpipers.
http://pick14.pick.uga.edu/mp/20q?search=Semipalmated+Sandpiper&flags=col2:&res=640

I also had a fly-by of an Elegant Tern:
http://pick14.pick.uga.edu/mp/20q?search=Sterna+elegans&flags=col2:&res=640

There was a White-Tailed Kite sitting for several hours in the top of a tree at Dairy Glen. It was also fairly approachable.

Good birding
Larry Thompson
Livermore, CA

Around 11:00, Nancy Christensen and I had a female Great-Tailed Grackle on the creek bank across from the five palms at the south end of Lake Elizabeth in Fremont Central Park.

Stephanie Floyd
Fremont

I saw a Virginia Rail in the "Lesser Bittern" pond on Pickleweed trail, Sunday morning around 9:15. But just prior to seeing the Virginia Rail, I heard only, one soft Kik Kee Drr of a Black Rail in the same area. That call is what led me to see the Virginia Rail as it made a quick and short appearance coming out of the reeds. I never saw the Black Rail though. There was also a Common Yellowthroat popping up to the top of the reeds.

There were just a couple of Western Grebe's on the river, though.

Paul Brenner
Martinez

Went for a Morning Hike looking for Golden Eagles and found one Prairie Falcon by the High Valley Camp Area. While hiking down I also ran into singing Rock Wren. One Bobcat was in the vicinity too.

Prairie Falcon
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ddsimages/8132375179/in/photostream

Rock Wren
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ddsimages/8132637173/in/photostream

California Quail
Wild Turkey
Turkey Vulture
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
Acorn Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Black Phoebe
Say's Phoebe
Western Scrub-Jay
Yellow-billed Magpie
American Crow
Oak Titmouse
Bushtit
Bewick's Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Western Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
Spotted Towhee
California Towhee
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Lesser Goldfinch

Davor Desancic
Fremont

The annual Monarch Butterfly Migration has begun with the largest collection in the Bay Area found on the edge of the Monarch Bay Golf Course in San Leandro. Access is restricted to tours through the City.

An image from Saturday:
http://aurich.com/Email/Butterflies/_MG_4399.jpg

Also present, higher in one of the trees, was a watchful Great Horned Owl:
http://aurich.com/Email/Owls/_MG_4333.jpg

Lee Aurich
http://aurich.com/photos

My very abbreviated yard list got a boost of spirits when a pair of Western Bluebirds made a brief visit yesterday afternoon. I live on Dudley Court in Piedmont.

Derek Heins

Another species expanding its range?

Phila Rogers

The male tufted duck was feeding near the Pergola.

Lake Merritt, Alameda, US-CA
Oct 28, 2012 7:15 AM - 8:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
2.0 mile(s)
Comments: Beautiful, clear morning.
21 species (+3 other taxa)

Canada Goose X
Mallard X
Tufted Duck 1 Male, black back, well formed tuft.
Greater/Lesser Scaup X
Bufflehead X
Ruddy Duck X
Pied-billed Grebe X
Horned/Eared Grebe X
Western Grebe X
Double-crested Cormorant X
American White Pelican 7
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret X
Snowy Egret X
Green Heron 1
Black-crowned Night-Heron X
Sharp-shinned/Cooper's Hawk 1
American Coot X
Western Gull X
Rock Pigeon X
Belted Kingfisher X
American Crow 3
Brewer's Blackbird 3
House Sparrow X

East Bay Birders:



For the first time in 18 years, since we've lived in Canyon Lakes, San
Ramon, we have 3 pairs of California Quail visiting our backyard on a daily
basis in the fall. In the past we've seen quail in the summer time, but
never this late. They have been feeding on fallen seed from my mixed
seed/black oil sunflower seed feeder, usually in the afternoon. I usually
put out cracked corn for them in the summer, so perhaps I'll get some more
to encourage them to stay around this winter.



Eugenia Larson