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No birds; ocean deoxygenation
Stan Walens
I have no birds to report in this post.
Will be at the Cove tomorrow while the real birders in town are on the pelagic trip. I hope they find some great things. But there’s a very relevant article on this week’s HuffingtonPost website about ocean deoxygenation. It’s very scary. Worth reading and following up upon. Estimates are that the ocean off San Diego may be dead within 15–25 years, and that much of the Pacific Ocean, both north and south of the Equator, will be dead. Stan Walens San Diego
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Borrego Springs Winds and Migrants
When I awoke at 5 AM this morning I could hear my palm trees groaning and bending. With winds at Rams Hill of 30-35mph gusting to 45mph, I decided to drop down to the valley where things are generally a bit tamer. The front gates to The Roadrunner Club were closed at 5:50 a.m. so I drove around to The Springs Resort (the new complex and RV park to the north of The Roadrunner Club). While walking along the lake in The Springs at sunrise, Black-headed Grosbeaks and Orioles were singing. Wow! Every Palo Verde along the west side of the lake contained migrating passerines. The wind calmed to 10-20 mph for a half hour enabling me to find quite a nice migration list of 50 warblers. One tree alone contained 6 Bullock's Orioles. More surprising was the east side of the lake where a flock of Spotted Sandpipers bobbed along the bank, all in breeding plumage. I have ever seen 11 Spotted Sandpipers together before. Terry Hunefeld Borrego Springs, California Dictated to Siri via iPhone. Please forgive her typos.
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San Elijo Lagoon Visitor Center Loop 4/30/16
carib_boo
Started the weekend off right with a slow birding stroll around the San Elijo Lagoon Visitor Center loop trail for a lovely mix of resident and migratory species: American coot American crow Anna's hummingbird Bewick's wren Black-headed grosbeak Black phoebe Brown-headed cowbird Bushtit California towhee Cassin's kingbird Common yellowthroat Double-crested cormorant Hooded oriole Mallard Mourning dove Northern rough-winged swallow Red-shouldered hawk Rufous hummingbird Song sparrow Sora Whimbrel White-throated swift Wilson's warbler Yellow warbler Betsy Miller Vixie Olivenhain
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Re: Gray Thrasher news
C K Staurovsky
Mark, All due respect, but comparing the Xantus record with the Gray thrasher is apples to oranges. North American hummingbirds have a strongly documented history of long distance migration capability, as well as widespread sources of food continent wide. A Xantus, although clearly not well documented way out of range, has the tools to do so and going along for a long "road trip" with other migrating hummingbird species up the Baja pennisula and thousands of miles further is plausible for the above reasons. Also, there is little documentation of NA hummingbirds as caged species, probably due to metabolic requirements, stress, and lack of song repertoire. So it is extremely unlikely a Xantus would be caged, brought to Canada alive and released/escape. Mimids on the other hand, are a significant portion of caged species, and very easily transported from mid-Baja to San Diego. As far as migration, Mimids generally, and a Gray Thrasher particularly is much less likely and suited to go too far out of range. Range expansions are slow and in extremely short distances relative to size of range. Add in the complete lack of migratory evidence to suggest a stray from the relatively short distance of northern Baja to here and the niche specific requirements of thrasher species in general and the idea of an artificially introduced bird is extremely plausible. Keep in mind that the bird would not have to be captive for even 24 hours to reach San Diego, thereby eliminating visible signs of captivity. (I do recall there were some possible signs none the less (missing toe(s) or something like that??). I am certain many will take issue with my thoughts on the whole matter, but that's the fun in it as far as I'm concerned. All other issues aside, it was/is a very cool find/sighting, it put a big charge into a lot of folks, and was certainly worthy of speculation and consideration as the CBRC did. The fact that it has been not accepted into the "official" records doesn't really take away from that in my mind. Of course, many would disagree, particularly those wanting to "list" it. Who knows, the whole event might be the beginning of a series of Gray thrasher sightings in the Lower 48 and the talk will turn to mechanisms of range expansion. Cheers! Chris Smith El Cajon "Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything." WS
From: "Mark Stratton zostropz@... [SanDiegoRegionBirding]" To: Justyn Stahl Cc: SanDiegoRegionBirding&RBA Sent: Friday, April 29, 2016 4:59 PM Subject: Re: [SanDiegoRegionBirding] Gray Thrasher news So us as observers how do we challenge this? The Xantus's hummingbird with the same range in Canada is accepted but this one a couple hundred miles out of range isn't I think there is a problem there. The Cardinal I understand but this is a bird that if it was released probably would stay in its area and yet one found its way up here. This bird had nice feathers not cage feathers and yet it's not accepted this bird should be accepted. Mark Stratton San Diego
On Apr 29, 2016 4:51 PM, "Justyn Stahl justyn.stahl@... [SanDiegoRegionBirding]" <SanDiegoRegionBirding-noreply@...> wrote:
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Rose Canyon Merlin
Jim Roberts
This afternoon (4/29/16) a Merlin was perched on a snag along the main trail in Rose Canyon,
west of the Regents access. Unitt's County Atlas lists April 26 as the previous late date for this species. It appeared to be an F. c. columbarius. Jim Roberts University City
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Re: Gray Thrasher news
So us as observers how do we challenge this? The Xantus's hummingbird with the same range in Canada is accepted but this one a couple hundred miles out of range isn't I think there is a problem there. The Cardinal I understand but this is a bird that if it was released probably would stay in its area and yet one found its way up here. This bird had nice feathers not cage feathers and yet it's not accepted this bird should be accepted. Mark Stratton San Diego
On Apr 29, 2016 4:51 PM, "Justyn Stahl justyn.stahl@... [SanDiegoRegionBirding]" <SanDiegoRegionBirding-noreply@...> wrote:
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Gray Thrasher news
Justyn Stahl
San Diego Birders, Per the forwarded message below, the California Bird Records Committee has voted (after 2 rounds of deliberation) not to accept the Gray Thrasher (Famosa Slough, 2 August 2015) due to concerns regarding this individual's natural occurrence. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Kimball Garrett kgarrett@... [CALBIRDS] <CALBIRDS-noreply@...> Date: Fri, Apr 29, 2016 at 1:43 PM Subject: [CALBIRDS] Recent CBRC news To: "CALBIRDS@..." <CALBIRDS@...>
Birders,
The California Bird Records Committee (CBRC) recently completed its second round of deliberations on the Gray Thrasher that appeared at Famosa Slough, San Diego County on 2 August 2016. The record was not accepted due to questionable natural occurrence, although this species may still be added to the “Supplemental List.” The state list currently remains at 662 species.
Two potential additions to the California list are being considered by the CBRC: Two records of Purple Sandpiper (at Salt Creek, north end of the Salton Sea, Riverside Co. 25 March to 17 April 2016, and at Kehoe Beach, Pt. Reyes National Seashore, Marin Co. 25 April 2016) have been officially submitted to the CBRC, but have not yet circulated; the Committee will consider whether these records might represent the same individual. A report of Social Flycatcher from South El Monte, Los Angeles County on 28 October 2015 is currently in circulation.
Kimball
Kimball L. Garrett Ornithology Collections Manager Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County 900 Exposition Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90007 USA http://www.nhm.org/site/research-collections/ornithology
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Jacumba 4-29-16 Ten Warblers!
Eric Kallen
This morning i found 10 species of western warblers including chat at the swamp. Where's the yellow-rumped when you actually need it? Damn. MacGillivray's Hermit Nashville Townsend's BTGray (3) Yellow (5) Wilson's (12) Orange-crowned Common yellowthroat (2) And Yellow-breasted chat Bullock's oriole Lawrence's goldfinch (2) Blue grosbeak (2) Western tanager (2) Warbling vireo (2) Green Heron (2) Lazuli bunting (2) Pac slope fly BH grosbeak (4) Tricolored bb many Pine siskin Black-throated sparrow In my yard: Oriole trifecta. 12 orioles at one time lining up at the jelly feeder. BH grosbeak (5) Trcolored bb. (20) Pine Siskin (5) Costa's hummer (3) The mulberry tree on El Centro Ave Western tanager (6) BH grosbeak (4) Eric Kallen Jacumba
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Mission Trails Regional Park
Took a small loop across the grasslands then back towards the dam via Oak Canyon Trail. Wonderful birding this morning. Highlights were: Rufous-crowned Sparrow Grasshopper Sparrow Blue Grosbeak (heard only) Bell's Vireo Hutton's Vireo Costa's Hummingbird Wilson's Warbler Warbling Vireo Ash-throated Flycatcher Some photos on flicker below... -- Waggin' tails, Catherine Author of "Attitude + Attention =Teamwork! Seven Steps to Success" Available thru www.gettoready.net Competitive Obedience Toolbox: www.gettoready.net Ch Borderfame Soul Train UDX, OM ('Kellan the Felon' a.k.a. 'Sir Barkalot') OTCH Sporting Fields Summer Solstice, UDX 8, OGM ("Dax", as in "Dax of the Long Tongue" aka 'Sir Lickalot')) Ch. Sporting Field's Quantum Leap CDX ('Devon' as in 'Devon the Usurper' aka "Monkey")
Ch. OTCH Trumagik Step Aside, UDX 20, OGM (2002 - 2015)
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Round 2: Borrego Springs Migration
Okay. Round 2. I originally posted this message today at about 2:30 p.m. Nothing happened. So I am sending it again to see if Yahoo Groups immediately broadcasts both posts at the same time like it did yesterday. ****************************** Despite high winds this morning we had a nice flurry of migrant activity here in the Anza Borrego desert valley. At birder-friendly La Casa Del Zorro I found Black-headed Grosbeaks, Western Tanagers, three species of oriole, 6 Yellow Warblers, 3 Nashville Warblers, 5 Wilson's Warblers and a Black-throated Gray. The water treatment plant settling ponds revealed no singing vireos--however, the wind was blowing at 20mph with gusts to 45 mph. Clinging to the mesquites were 4 Wilson's Warblers and a Western Tanager. Terry Hunefeld Borrego Springs
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Flurries In The Desert
Despite high winds this morning we had a nice flurry of migrant activity here in the Anza Borrego desert valley. At birder-friendly La Casa Del Zorro I found Black-headed Grosbeaks, Western Tanagers, three species of oriole, 6 Yellow Warblers, 3 Nashville Warblers, 5 Wilson's Warblers and a Black-throated Gray. The water treatment plant settling ponds revealed no singing vireos--however, the wind was blowing at 20mph with gusts to 45 mph. Clinging to the mesquites were 4 Wilson's Warblers and a Western Tanager. Terry Hunefeld Borrego Springs
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Re: The Next 10 Species for San Diego County
Justyn Stahl
SD Birders, Since compiling this list in September, there have been three new additions to the San Diego County list: Varied Bunting, 13 October 2015 at Fiesta Island (accepted by the CBRC) Cheers, Justyn Stahl
On Wed, Sep 9, 2015 at 10:05 AM, Justyn Stahl <justyn.stahl@...> wrote:
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Mtn migration
Jim and Donna
Today (4-27-16) Dave Batzler, Ed Hall and I did a bird survey of the Green Valley campground, Cuyamaca SP, including the fire road to the top of the Pine Ridge trail, 4541 ft. We came back via the Pine Ridge trail. The highlights are listed below. The most extraordinary part of this is that usually none of these birds are expected. To get even one individual would be a pleasant surprise. Peak migration really makes a difference.
Yellow-rumped Warbler 10 Black-throated Gray Warbler 2 Wilson’s Warbler 1 Hermit Warbler 12 Townsend’s Warbler 16 Nashville Warbler 6 Green-tailed Towhee 1 Thanks to Dave there are two photos of the Green-tailed Towhee at https://flic.kr/s/aHskzbqgLB Jim Zimmer Carlsbad, CA
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Re: Turkeys & Yahoo Groups
Gary Nunn
I just searched the SanDiegoRegionBirding group for "Franklin" which found 25 entries going back to 28 Dec 2013. Appears to be working so far as I can tell. Gary Nunn, Pacific Beach.
On Apr 27, 2016, at 5:21 PM, Matt Sadowski matt.sadowski@... [SanDiegoRegionBirding] <SanDiegoRegionBirding-noreply@...> wrote:
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Re: Turkeys & Yahoo Groups
Matt Sadowski <matt.sadowski@...>
Regarding Yahoogroups, has anybody been able to search the archives
recently? It hasn't worked for me for a week or more, both SDRB and
the old SDBirds archives. Is anything being done to fix this?
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
Matt Sadowski
On 4/27/2016 4:51 PM,
thunefeld@... [SanDiegoRegionBirding] wrote:
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Turkeys & Yahoo Groups
Why do turkeys cross roads? Why does Yahoo groups hold a message in queue for 2 hours, then INSTANTLY send it along with the submitted replacement post so that readers see the same post twice and the reporter looks like a dork? These are the questions we're working on here in the desert, where the winds are forecast to HOWL again tomorrow. Terry Hunefeld Borrego Springs ... Wind Advisory remains in effect from 5 PM this afternoon to
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Desert Migration & Why Did The Turkey Cross The Road?
Today was a lovely migration day in the desert. A four-mile sunrise hike around Rams Hill Country Club golf course included a right-on-time Western Wood-Peewee, a male Red-breasted Merganser, 6 Spotted Sandpipers, 25 Yellow-headed Blackbirds, 11 Hooded Orioles, a Warbling Vireo and more than 50 warblers: 31 Wilson’s, 2 Black-throated Gray, 5 Yellow, 2 MacGillivray’s, 4 Nashville, 1 Orange-crowned, and 7 Yellowthroats.
Right at sunrise five Lesser Nighthawks foraged effortlessly over the golf course ponds while throughout the morning 7 adult Verdin were observed busily feeding 8 persistently begging juveniles.
12 Eared Grebes were seen, 10 in breeding plumage. On April 17 I recorded 8 here. Previously, the high eBird count in the Borrego Valley was 3. Will they breed here?
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/ checklist?subID=S29241501
The Rams Hill residential neighborhood is gated (thus listed on eBird as restricted) but the public golf course and its restaurant are open to the public daily with a big parking lot. Birders & walkers are welcome to walk the concrete golf cart paths, many of which lead into the residential neighborhood while others meander through the golf course. We’re simply asked to be respectful of golfers and to step aside for golf carts and maintenance vehicles.
Yesterday two Least Bell’s Vireos were singing at the water treatment plant settling ponds. This is the first year they’ve been recorded at the settling ponds per eBird. Bestselling author, musician, vireo census-taker and retired park ranger Bob Theriault confirms they’ve never been recorded breeding at this location. Will they breed here this year? The mesquite is green and lush. Ranger Bob will keep a close eye on them as he conducts his vireo census.
Yesterday when hiking the pictograph trail in Blair Valley we saw a migrating Western Tanager a Warbling Vireo. 3-5 Scott’s Orioles were singing lustily from the tops of Ocotillos. Three Wild Turkeys (uncommon east of the mountains) were seen crossing Highway S-2 between Scissor’s Crossing and Shelter Valley raising the question: Why did the turkeys cross the road?
Terry Hunefeld Borrego Springs
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MacGillvray's Warbler-San Elijo Visitor Ctr Trail,
I stopped briefly at this trail at about 3 pm today 27 April and saw a beautiful MACGILLIVRAYS WARBLER foraging in back of the Alexandra Ellis bench along the north trail that runs parallel to Manchester. A couple of Nashville Warblers were also seen along the trails in addition to the breeding grosbeaks, yellow warblers etc. Unfortunately, a little past the Ellis bench, I noticed some of the dead willows along the side of the trail looked like they had been infested by the Kuroshio Shothole Borer beetle. Let's hope not! I alerted two of the staff rangers there.
Susan Smith
Seiurus Biological Consulting
Del Mar, CA
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Why Did The Turkey Cross The Road At Scissor's Crossing?
Today was a lovely migration day in the desert. A four-mile sunrise hike around Rams Hill Country Club golf course included a right-on-time Western Wood-Peewee, a male Red-breasted Merganser, 6 Spotted Sandpipers, 25 Yellow-headed Blackbirds, 11 Hooded Orioles, a Warbling Vireo and more than 50 warblers: 31 Wilson’s, 2 Black-throated Gray, 5 Yellow, 2 MacGillivray’s, 4 Nashville, 1 Orange-crowned, and 7 Yellowthroats. Right at sunrise five Lesser Nighthawks foraged effortlessly over the golf course ponds while throughout the morning 7 adult Verdin were observed busily feeding 8 persistently begging juveniles. 12 Eared Grebes were seen, 10 in breeding plumage. On April 17 I recorded 8 here. Previously, the high eBird count in the Borrego Valley was 3. http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S29241501 The Rams Hill residential neighborhood is gated (thus listed on eBird as restricted) but the public golf course and its restaurant are open to the public daily with a big parking lot. Birders & walkers are welcome to walk the concrete golf cart paths, many of which lead into the residential neighborhood while others meander through the golf course. We’re simply asked to be respectful of golfers and to step aside for golf carts and maintenance vehicles. Yesterday two Least Bell’s Vireos were singing at the water treatment plant settling ponds. This is the first year they’ve been recorded at the settling ponds per eBird. Bestselling author, musician, vireo census-taker and retired park ranger Bob Theriault confirms they’ve never been recorded breeding at that location. Yesterday when hiking the pictograph trail in Blair Valley we saw a migrating Western Tanager and Warbling Vireo. 3-5 Scott’s Orioles were singing lustily from the tops of Ocotillos. Three Wild Turkeys (uncommon east of the mountains) were seen crossing Highway S-2 between Scissor’s Crossing and Shelter Valley. Why the turkeys crossed the road we could only speculate.
Terry Hunefeld Borrego Springs
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Oak titmouse, Olive-sided flycatcher, Western Wood-Pewee
thomas meixner
Sorry for the delayed report, but yesterday (4/25/16) at Mission Gorge Dam I had an Olive-sided Flycatcher near the dam area, a Western Wood-Pewee up the Oak Canyon trail, Lazuli Buntings further up the same trail. Also, Blue Grosbeaks just north of the 52 bridge and one Violet-green Swallow at Kumayaay Lake mixed in with about 20 Tree Swallows. Today in Los Penasquitos Canyon off Black Mountain Rd. I had another Olive-sided Flycatcher about a mile west of the Ranch House Crossing on the south side of the river. This just seems odd to me to have them so early on the coastal slope? Also, of what may be of minor interest is an Oak Titmouse seems to have taken up residency in the same general area as the Olive-side in Penasquitos Canyon. I say this because I have had the same bird in this general area since at least 9/29/15. Good birding to all; I'll see some of you on Saturday's pelagic! Tom "Mt. Goat" Meixner
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