I just got the latest catalog from Ciochon Natural History Books
<natural-history-books.com> and of specific interest to those who bird
southern California is a copy of Garrett & Dunn's Birds of Southern
California: Status and Distribution. Although it can't compete with the San
Diego County atlas for that area and is a bit dated (1981), it is the only
work on status and distribution covering the entire southern California
area at once. In addition to species accounts, bar graphs showing occurence
and seasonal status reveal patterns that are still largely current. Due to
a fire that destroyed the printing plates and many copies, it is scarce and
a reasonably good buy at $60.00. More generally of interest are two copies
of the AOU Check-list, Fifth Edition (1957) at $25.00 and $30.00. Until
some future edition, this is the last to list all subspecies recognized by
the AOU. The real find though, for someone, was a gilt-edged, four-volume
set of Alexander Wilson's American Ornithology at $16,500.00.

Geoff


Geoffrey L. Rogers
San Diego, CA
oreortyx@...

Hello all,
Below is the quarterly reminder for North American
Birds. Apologies for the loss of hyperlinks for the
email addresses and the loss of format at the bottom.
A cleaner version can be viewed on Joe Morlan's
website at http://fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~jmorlan/afn.
Steve Glover

December 1, 2005

Dear North American Birds Contributors,

The fall season has already come to a close so please
send your noteworthy records from the Middle Pacific
Coast Region for the period 1 August- 30 November to
the appropriate Subregional Editors (see below) or to
the Regional Editors by 10 December.

Please pay special attention to the format example
given at the end of this message. Reports that are
formatted properly make our job far easier. In
particular, it is important to note that there is a
single tab between species, date, etc.

PLEASE use Subregional Editors for the counties that
have them.  These SREs painstakingly keep track of
records within their counties and are in most cases
THE source of information on the birds of their
counties.  By sending your records to the SREs, you
are helping to contribute to their county files as
well as to North American Birds.  If you wish to send
copies to the Regional Editors, we welcome them, but
please send records through the SREs as well.  If you
have a noteworthy winter sighting from a county
without a Subregional Editor, please send records to
the Regional Editors below.

Records of loons-frigatebirds and larids-alcids go to
Scott Terrill at:


H.T. Harvey & Associates
3150 Almaden Expwy., Suite 145
San Jose, CA 95118
sterrill@...


Records of herons to shorebirds go to Mike Rogers at:

499 Novato Ave.
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
m.m.rogers@...

Records of doves through thrushes/Wrentit (in the new
AOU order, that includes vireos and shrikes) go to
Steve Glover at:

6526 Conestoga Lane
Dublin, CA 94568
countylines@...


Records of thrashers to finches go to Luke Cole at:

561 Hill Street
San Francisco, CA  94114
luke@...



SUBREGIONAL EDITORS

Alameda
Bob Richmond
24650 Amador St. #15
Hayward, CA 94544
Brichmond94544@...

Alpine, Calaveras & Modoc
John Sterling
26 Palm Ave
Woodland, CA 95695
ani@...

Amador & El Dorado
Tim Steurer
4042 Bancroft Dr.
El Dorado Hills, CA 95762-6933
tsteurer@...

Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Sutter, Tehama, Yuba
Bruce Deuel
18730 Live Oak Road
Red Bluff, CA 96080
bdeuel@...

Contra Costa
Steve Glover
6526 Conestoga Lane
Dublin CA 94568
countylines@...

Del Norte
Alan D. Barron
1093 Hwy 101 N. #18
Crescent City, CA 95531
flockfinder@...

Fresno
Gary W. Potter
2183 Walton Ave
Sanger, CA 93657
gwpott@...

Humboldt
David Fix and Jude Claire Power
P.O. Box 4331
Arcata, CA 95518
dfxjcp@...

Kings
Luke Cole
561 Hill Street
San Francisco, CA  94114
luke@...

Lake
Jerry R. White
P.O. Box 113
Kelseyville, CA 95451
grwhite@...

Lassen
Tim Manolis
808 El Encino Way
Sacramento, CA 95864
ylightfoot@...

Madera
Jeff Davis
30705 Pennyroyal Lane
Prather, CA 93651
jndavis@...

Mariposa
David Vander Pluym
1683 Buena Vista St.
Ventura, CA 93001
SCRE@...

Mendocino
Bob Keiffer
P. O. Box 354
Hopland CA 95449
rjkeiffer@...

Merced and San Benito
Kent Van Vuren
26 Vista Dr.
Salinas, CA 93907
vanvurenk@...

Mono
Kristie Nelson
P.O. Box 402
Lee Vining, CA 93541
storm_petrel@...

Monterey
Don Roberson
282 Grove Acre
Pacific Grove CA 93950
831-373-2566fax
creagrus@...

Napa & Solano
Robin Leong
336 Benson Ave.
Vallejo, CA 94590-3027
robin_leong@...

Nevada
Brian Williams
8200 Turner Dr.
Granite Bay, CA 95746
bwcal@...

Placer
Ed Pandolfino
5530 Del Rose Court
Carmichael, CA  95608
erpfromca@...

Plumas & Sierra
John "Mac" McCormick
2351 Filbert St.
Apt. #102
San Francisco, CA 94123
macmc94123@...

Sacramento and Yolo
Chris Conard
2405 Rio Bravo Circle
Sacramento, CA  95826
chris.conard@...

San Francisco (mainland)
The City: Mark Eaton
1524 36th Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94122
mweaton@...

San Joaquin
David G. Yee
11707 N. Alpine Rd.
Lodi, CA 95240
davidyee@...

San Mateo
Peter J. Metropulos
2940 Turk Blvd.
San Francisco, CA 94118
pjmetrop@...

Santa Clara
William G. Bousman
321 Arlington Way
Menlo Park CA 94025
barlowi@...

Santa Cruz
David Suddjian
801 Monterey Ave.
Capitola, CA 95010
DSUDDJIAN@...

Shasta
Bob Yutzy
P. O. Box 990237
Redding CA 96099
boby@...

Siskiyou
Ray Ekstrom
2209 Delphic Rd.
Montague, CA 96064

Sonoma
Ruth Rudesill
P.O. Box 371
Kenwood, CA 95452
rar@...

Stanislaus
Jim Gain
3300 Cardinal Flower Ave.
Modesto, CA 95355
jimgain@...

Trinity
John E. Hunter
P.O. Box 4483
Arcata, CA 95518
jhunter323@...

Tuolumne
Steven Umland
15818 Parkridge Ave.
Sonora, CA 95370
sumland@...


We currently have no regional editors for Marin and
Tulare Counties.  Records from these counties should
be sent directly to the Regional Editors.




The Reporting Deadlines are:
                   	 Spring      Summer      Fall
Winter

Season ends         May 31      July 31     Nov 30
Feb 28

Observer reports to Subregional Editors (SREs)
                  	 June 10     Aug 10      Dec 10
Mar 10

Observer reports to Regional Editors (if not sent to
SRE)
                   	 June 10     Aug 10      Dec 10
Mar 10

SRE reports to Regional Editors
                   	 June 20     Aug 20      Dec 20
Mar 20

Regional Editors final text to ABA office
                   	 July 10     Sep 10       Jan 10
   Apr 10

PLEASE meet your deadlines so that we can meet our
deadlines!


Please send reports in our preferred order: species,
date(s) [including year], locale, co. abbrev., number
of birds, and observer, and then, on a second line,
any comments.  Please separate these sections by a
"tab" (except just a space between locale and county
abbreviation) on electronic versions submitted.
Again, here's an example of the correct format:

Grace's Warbler 12/13/98-2/20/99   Jacks Peak MTY   1
RFT, mob
    A second record for the Region (the first was
6/26/91 at Deer Spring, Glass Mt. MNO) which wintered
with a large flock of Townsend's & Hermit warblers at
the very top of Jacks Peak in Jacks Peak Regional
Park. Details by Tintle and others are enclosed.


Many observers and Subregional Editors have been
submitting their reports electronically, either on a
diskette or by e-mail.  PLEASE submit electronic
reports if possible.  We are trying to maintain an
electronic database of at least recent records, and we
hope to be able to have all old data entered
eventually so that the entire database will be easily
accessible to anyone who wants it.  Electronic
submission of records in the format described above
makes it much easier for us maintain this electronic
database.

We've heard questions about, comments on, and
criticism of our regional reports from several
observers and SREs.  We really appreciate this
feedback, as it helps us to better represent what is
going on in the Region as a whole.  Please help us
correct any factual errors we make, and don't hesitate
to let us know what you think of the reports.

Many thanks to all the contributors and Subregional
Editors who make these reports possible!

Sincerely,


Luke Cole, Mike Rogers, Scott Terrill, and Steve
Glover

(Middle Pacific Coast Regional Editors)

Driving home from Mendocino this past weekend, along Hwy. 101, just
south of Healdsburg, my husband David and I saw an amazing sight. Flying
over the vineyards and distant low hills in the Dry Creek area to the
east were huge flocks of something. I say "something" because at first,
it wasn't apparent what the flocks were composed of (insects? birds?
confused bats?). What drew our eye was the way that the flocks formed
and shifted, causing visibly recognizable shapes to appear, like a
tadpole, and other weird geometric forms. This was both a little freaky,
and a whole lot of amazing. In fact, it was so cool that we got off the
freeway and found a frontage road, to try and get a better picture of
the flock composition, and just to better groove on the amazing visuals.
We found our flock, and it was composed of thousands of birds, but they
were still too far away to get a species ID. My take on them was that
they were blackbirds.the general size and shape were correct, as well as
their agricultural location; flying blackbirds have always reminded me
of mobile pluses and minuses, with their wing and body lengths about
equal to the eye, and this flock exhibited those traits. But wow, what
an amazing display of "flock consciousness". I have never seen anything
quite like it.

Once again, I am awed and humbled by my brush with the mysteries of
nature.

Debbie Viess
Oakland, CA


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

Last week I witnessed an enormous flock of Starlings flying north at sunset over
I-80 over the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area (between Sacramento and Davis).  I
estimated the flock to be about a ½ mile long and averaged about 300 yards wide.
Given their tight formation, if the birds were about 2 ft apart from each other
(say, 1 bird every 4 sq ft), there would have been about 600,000 birds in this
flock.  They may have been tighter, and thus my estimate would be low.




Steve Hampton
________________
Resource Economist
Office of Spill Prevention and Response
California Dept of Fish and Game
PO Box 944209
Sacramento, CA 94244-2090
-----------------------------------
(916) 323-4724 phone
(916) 324-8829 fax

>>> "Debbie Viess" <amanitarita@...> 12/1/2005 11:47 AM >>>
Driving home from Mendocino this past weekend, along Hwy. 101, just
south of Healdsburg, my husband David and I saw an amazing sight. Flying
over the vineyards and distant low hills in the Dry Creek area to the
east were huge flocks of something. I say "something" because at first,
it wasn't apparent what the flocks were composed of (insects? birds?
confused bats?). What drew our eye was the way that the flocks formed
and shifted, causing visibly recognizable shapes to appear, like a
tadpole, and other weird geometric forms. This was both a little freaky,
and a whole lot of amazing. In fact, it was so cool that we got off the
freeway and found a frontage road, to try and get a better picture of
the flock composition, and just to better groove on the amazing visuals.
We found our flock, and it was composed of thousands of birds, but they
were still too far away to get a species ID. My take on them was that
they were blackbirds.the general size and shape were correct, as well as
their agricultural location; flying blackbirds have always reminded me
of mobile pluses and minuses, with their wing and body lengths about
equal to the eye, and this flock exhibited those traits. But wow, what
an amazing display of "flock consciousness". I have never seen anything
quite like it.

Once again, I am awed and humbled by my brush with the mysteries of
nature.

Debbie Viess
Oakland, CA


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




Unsubscribe: mailto:CALBIRDS-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Website: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CALBIRDS
Listowners: mailto:CALBIRDS-owner@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@yahoogroups.com
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Yahoo! Groups Links

I have seen huge clouds of blackbirds behave like this in late fall and
winter, always over farm fields in Polk County, Oregon, which structurally
and functionally resembles California's central farming valleys.

Nathaniel

People who model this sort of behavior view it as an 'emergent'
property, from a fairly simple set of basic behaviors followed by each
member of the flock (or school).

See:  http://www.red3d.com/cwr/boids/

       Rusty Scalf







__________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - Make it your home page!
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

RBA [RARE BIRD ALERT]

* California/Baja California, Mexico
* San Diego and NW Baja California, Mexico
* December 1, 2005
* CASD 05.12.01

BIRDS MENTIONED:

____________________

Baja California, Mexico:
____________________

None
____________________

San Diego County:
____________________

Reddish Egret
Wood Stork
Ross's Goose
Cackling Goose
Cackling x Canada Goose
Greater Scaup
Hooded Merganser
Bald Eagle
Zone-tailed Hawk
Golden Eagle
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Gray Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Vermilion Flycatcher
THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD
Plumbeous Vireo
*Black-throated Magpie-Jay
Varied Thrush
Mountain Bluebird
WINTER WREN
Golden-crowned Kinglet
White-throated Sparrow
Black-and-white Warbler
____________________

- Transcript

Hotline:  San Diego County, California (also covering adjacent NW Baja
California, Mexico)
Date:   November 18, 2005
Number:  (619) 688-2473 [619-NUT-BIRD]
Compiler: Michael Evans, mailto:muevans@...
For SAN DIEGO FIELD ORNITHOLOGISTS

_________________________

BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO REPORTS:
_________________________

None

_________________________

SAN DIEGO COUNTY REPORTS:
_________________________

Reddish Egret, 1 (Ad), 11/27/05, San Diego Bay-S Bay NWR (salt works),
from N-end 7th St, Imperial Beach:  Turko, Doug

Wood Stork, 1, 11/24/05, San Diego Wild Animal Park, from tram, S-Lake
Heron, S-Lake Africa:  Hunefeld, Terry

Ross's Goose, 1, 11/24/05, 11/28/05, 11/30/05, Mission Bay, S-restroom,
S-visitor's center:  Goldhammer, M., Billings, Mark J. & Churchill,
Morgan

Cackling Goose, 1, 11/24/05,11/27/05, 11/28/05,11/30/05, Mission Bay,
S-restroom, S-visitor's center:  Goldhammer, M., Bauman, Dan, Billings,
Mark J. & Churchill, Morgan

Cackling x Canada Goose (?), 1 (Ad), 11/28/05, Mission Bay, S-visitor'c
center, along East Mission Bay Dr:  Billings, Mark J.

Greater Scaup, 1, 11/27/05, Tijuana Estuary, at river mouth:  Hunefeld,
Terry

Hooded Merganser, 2 (M+F), 11/25/05, Santee Lakes, lake before RV park:
   Goldhammer, M.

Bald Eagle, 2, 11/23/05,11/25/05,11/26/05, Lake Henshaw, S-side (?):
Heckard, David, Pallette, Drew

Zone-tailed Hawk, 1, 11/24/05; 2 (Ad), 11/27/05, San Diego Wild Animal
Park, Heart of Africa:  Hunefeld, Terry, Bauman, Dan & 1, 11/28/05,
Escondido, Via Rancho Prkw, W-I-15:  Billings, Mark J.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, 1, 11/25/05, Lindo Lake Park, trees across
street from school:  Hunefeld, Terry

Gray Flycatcher, 1, 11/25/05, Lindo Lake, trees across street from
school:  Hunefeld, Terry

Eastern Phoebe, 1, 11/30/05, Tijuana Estuary, N-river mouth:  Stanley,
Trent R.

Vermilion Flycatcher, 2, 11/25/05, Lindo Lake Park, Lakeside: E-lake:
Stowe, M. B.

THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD, 1 (1st yr?), 11/28/05-12/1/05, Del Dios, near
Lake Hodges, across street from Hernandez Hideaway restaurant (100 m NE
from parking lot) at intersection of Lake, Rancho & Fremont:  Smith,
Susan, Sweeney, Joe, Evans, Michael, Smith, Susan

Plumbeous Vireo, 1, 11/25/05, Santee Lakes, lake 4, NE-corner:  Stowe,
M. B.

*Black-throated Magpie-Jay, 5, 11/23/05, Bonita Mesa Rd @ Alta Loma
Dr :  Wiederhold, Jerry

Varied Thrush, 2 (F), 12/1/05, Palomar Mtn State Park, 1/4 mi from Doan
Pond toward Thunder Spring:  Unitt, Phil

Mountain Bluebird, 60, 11/24/05, Anza Borrego DSP [Desert State Park],
Little Blair Valley: Thériault, B.

WINTER WREN, 1, 12/1/05, Palomar Mtn State Park, Chimney Creek:  Unitt,
Phil

Golden-crowned Kinglet, 1, 11/23/05, Ft Rosecrans NC, W-side, N-dip:
Carlson, B. & 3, 11/29/05, Pine Valley, Pine Creek Trail, of Old
Highway 80:  Stowe, M. B.

White-throated Sparrow, 1, 11/29/05, Point Loma Nazarene Univ., path
betw Dupont St & Lomaland Dr (banded and released):  Johnson, Ginger

Black-and-white Warbler, 1, 11/27/05, Veteran's Park, Imperial Beach
Blvd:  Hunefeld, Terry & 1, (M/HY), 12/1/05, Point Loma Nazarene Univ.,
path betw Dupont St & Lomaland Dr (banded and released):  Johnson,
Ginger

________________________________________

See County Bird Rarity Code List prepared by Mark Billings at SD Bird
Files Section: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SDBIRDS/files/

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

See also: http://www.SoCalAudubon.org/socal/sd-locs.htm

Mary Beth Stowe’s Website for San Diego County birding locations:
http://miriameaglemon.com/San%20Diego%20Bird%20Pages/
Birding%20San%20Diego.htm

For maps of Baja California, Mexico locations, see:
<http://homepage.mac.com/aves/SW_Border_Birding/PhotoAlbum21.html>

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 91933-0275
mailto:guymcc@...


Send local rarity bird descriptions to:

Elizabeth Copper, Subregional Field Notes Editor
mailto:ecopper@...


End transcript




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

Years ago on my first trip to Texas (back in the 70s) I witnessed a huge
mixed flock of blackbirds at Laguna Atascosa NWR that was literally carpeting
the auto tour road in between "lifts".  I crawled into the middle of it and
turned off the engine just to listen and experience it; it was almost like being
in Hitchcock's movie!


Mary Beth  Stowe
San Diego, CA
MiriamEagl@...
_www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com)



In a message dated 12/1/2005 12:11:11 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,
shampton@... writes:

Last  week I witnessed an enormous flock of Starlings flying north at sunset
over  I-80 over the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area (between Sacramento and Davis).
  I estimated the flock to be about a ½ mile long and averaged about 300 yards
  wide.  Given their tight formation, if the birds were about 2 ft apart  from
each other (say, 1 bird every 4 sq ft), there would have been about  600,000
birds in this flock.  They may have been tighter, and thus my  estimate would
be low.








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

I posted the below essay on OrangeCountyBirding to try to increase
participation on our County's Christmas Bird Counts.  If you want to
use the essay or modify it anyway you want to "get out the vote" for
your own regional Counts, please do so.
Joel Weintraub
Dana Point, CA

CBC Counts: We need everyone's help

My late brother used to say there were three types of people in the
world.  Those that make things happen, those that watch things happen,
and those that open up their eyes and say "What happened?"  When it
comes to participation (or lack of it) in the annual Christmas Bird
Counts, those categories seem to fit well.

There are a cadre of birders, in the minority when compared to the
memberships we see in birding Yahoo groups and local Audubon Societies
in our area, that carry the "load" and participate in not just one,
but multiple Christmas Bird Counts each year.  These birders not only
get a "high" by using their skills for citizen science, but also use
the occasion as a learning and social experience.  There is always
something to learn from the experienced field observer to the
beginning birder, and there is always a place for both on Count day.

A Google search on reasons for participating in the Count and my own
thoughts on the matter include:  by force of numbers we make our
presence known among the citizens and politicians of our communities
and thus represent a political force;  publicity generated by such
counts appears in newspapers and other media and elevates public
awareness of conservation problems and land preservation;  we show
that non-consumptive use of wildlife is just as important to a large
segment of the public as people who hunt the same species we might
tally; population data accumulated from the Counts support bird
conservation initiatives; the information can be used to test success
rates of reintroduction efforts; information accumulated is used to
determine the effects of disease (such as the West Nile Virus) and
weather on bird populations;  as urbanization increases, the
information is crucial for seeing population trends in our native and
introduced species;  it continues a tradition started on 25 December
1900 by Frank Chapman and 26 other concerned citizens in 13 states as
a response to a traditional indiscriminate killing of birds around the
same date; you join over 50,000 other birders doing over 1800 count
circles who show their love of bird watching with their participation;
one individual can make a difference in these types of counts; it is a
holiday tradition, and for our own mental health, we need to
participate, encourage others to participate, and maintain such
events; it's a small payback we can make to a hobby that gives many of
us a great amount of satisfaction; it gives us a chance to try out our
new gadgets... digital cameras, new binoculars, ipods, etc. and
justify the cost to our families (and ourselves); it gets us away from
our televisions and computer monitors and into the field and improves
our mental and physical health;  and everyone who participates
probably has additional reasons and individual stories of past events
(and good species and friendships found).

So...don't be in the group that watches things happen by others or
procrastinates about missing happenings, and contact the regional
coordinators of Orange County's Christmas Bird Counts for placement on
coverage teams.  It's not too late and many teams I know could use an
extra pair of eyes and data-takers.   Information on the Orange County
Count leaders can be found on the Sea and Sage Home Page (
http://www.seaandsageaudubon.org/ ).  Last winter 90 observers
participated on the NE Orange County Count and 161 species were
counted, while 96 people helped on the Coastal count with 197 species
seen, and 40 individuals saw 155 species on the South County Count.
For the rest of California's upcoming Christmas Bird Counts see
http://natureali.org/cbcs.htm which showed for our state that last year:

Highest Number of Participants: 203 Oakland
Lowest Number of Participants: 1 South Lake Tahoe
Highest Species Count Circle: 200 Santa Barbara
Lowest Species Count Circle: 30 Mineral
Highest temp:  75ºF Salton Sea South
Lowest temp: 16ºF Bear Valley Springs & Woodfords

Joel Weintraub
Dana Point, CA

Forwarded
Marjorie Hastings
Spring Valley,CA.
mhast27@...

I not only believe in miracles.
I depend on them.
----- Original Message -----
From: "akamauro" <akamauro@...>
To: <SDBIRDS@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, December 02, 2005 3:59 PM
Subject: [SDBIRDS] Thick-billed Kingbird present Friday PM


> I arrived at Hernandez' Hideaway just after 2pm Friday afternoon (must
have just missed Phil).  After searching for about 10 minutes along the road
and around the restaurant, I walked down the dirt trail leading off toward
the lake.  About 200 feet down the trail I came to a wash, where there was a
nice view over to the flowering Eucalyptus tree (large patch of creamy
yellow flowers) about 100 feet off to east.  (You can see the flowering tree
from the dirt parking lot.)  The Kingbird appeared within minutes, flying to
a perch in the dead branches of a willow tree about 25 feet from the trail.
There it proceeded to eat the bee it had just caught, cleaned its bill on
the branch for awhile, and did a little preening.  It made another foray
over to its bee tree, but quickly came back to its perch.  Excellent light,
great looks front and back.  It was still perched there when I finally left
about 15 minutes later.  Looks good for the weekend birders!
>
> --Andy Mauro
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

All,

I've posted photos of the TBKI at the following address:

http://www.davesbirds.com/TBKI.htm

Dave Furseth
Murrieta, CA
www.davesbirds.com

All,

Many apologies - Steve Sosensky correctly pointed out that I had not
identified which TBKI I was referring to in my previous post. The
photos I posted are of the Lake Hodges, San Diego TBKI, not the LA
County bird.

Sorry,
Dave Furseth
Murrieta, CA
www.davesbirds.com

During an amazing day on the sea on a trip out of Bodega Bay to Cordell Bank
National Marine Sanctuary, led by Rich Stallcup and Ann Dewart we had
excellent, prolonged, close views of an immature Short-tailed Albatross. The
bird was first found by Ryan Terrill. I posted a few photos here:



http://www.ericwpreston.com/ShortTailedAlbatross_1.html



We also saw an adult Little Gull, a Laysan Albatross and many other great
birds and cetaceans. It was a fantastic day on the sea.



Eric Preston

San Francisco, CA

eric@...



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

Hi, all!

Just finished up a couple of new pages for the Birding San Diego County
website (below; scroll down to Birding San Diego): there's a new page for Pine
Creek Road, as well as Tijuana Slough NWR.  I also noticed that there were  no
links to Ramona Pond and Lindo Lake, so that's fixed now...  Some of the  older
pages have been updated as I get data for them.  Enjoy!

Mary Beth  Stowe
San Diego, CA
MiriamEagl@...
_www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com)




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

Dear Birders,



I'm pleased to announce that the Godwit Days web page is up and ready to
receive on-line registrations for the 11th Annual Festival, April 21-23,
2006!



Check out www.godwitdays.com <http://www.godwitdays.com/>



Godwit Days is a Spring Migration Bird Festival that we hold here in Arcata,
Humboldt County. It celebrates the diverse array of birds here at that time
and the excellent array of public lands and birding spaces within a short
drive from the Arcata Community Center. Humboldt Bay provides the focus of
attention, with mudflat gatherings of shorebirds in spring colors and our
icon, the Marbled Godwit.



Why godwits? Well, we have lots of them, they are readily identifiable, and
signify the migratory and wintering location that Humboldt Bay provides. It
is a Western Hemisphere Shorebird Network site, recognized at the
international level, and much of it is under protected status. Both the
Arcata Marsh Project and the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge
contribute significantly in this regard.



The event is aimed at all levels of birders. There are almost 100 field
trips and workshops led and presented by our vibrant local birding
community. Local birders will take you to Castle Rock (Del Norte County),
the Eureka Waterfront, giant redwoods with Marbled Murrelets and Barred
Owls, Six Rivers National Forest and the Trinity River, Clam Beach, Dawn
chorus at the Arcata Marsh, Elkhead in Trinidad for thousands of Common
Murres.



Our featured trips include a Big Day competition that pits Saturday’s and
Sunday’s day-long bus trip against each other (well over 100 species seen),
Pelagic Trips (seas permitting), and a personal encounter with Spotted Owls
as local wildlife biologists take you on a nest monitoring excursion. Our
cumulative species total for the event is over 230, which can be expanded on
by our pre- and post-festival trips to further reaches of Northern
California. We work the coast north of Marin before the event, we can even
pick you up at the San Francisco airport. After the event, we visit the
Klamath Basin and the Central Valley on a 3-day tour (back to the airport if
desired).



This year’s keynote is provided by Dr John Fitzpatrick, Director of the
Cornell Lab of Ornithology. His Saturday evening address will feature the
topical Ivory-billed Woodpecker and what this and other individual
birds/species can do to save the world.



As well as focused trips for birders, Godwit Days offers wide array of
community activities, held mostly at the Arcata Community Center. An active
bird fair featuring information booths, agencies, artisans, specialty bird
books and optics vendors fills the main hall. Here on Saturday and Sunday,
Wildlife Images presents some wonderful “up-close” rehabbed birds of prey. A
reception Friday night opens the Gallery of Birds Art Show, which brings
over 30 artists together to display and sell their work.



Food is available: at the Godwit Café, at the Banquet Saturday night, or at
the wrap-up party at a local brewery on Sunday evening. Children’s
educational/environmental activities and a K-12 student art contest work
towards the education goal of the Godwit Days nonprofit organization.



Above all, the City of Arcata welcomes visitors, as only Humboldt can. A
low-stress, mild traffic environment encourages a tremendous community
spirit, from friendly store clerks and wait-staff to the City Council, which
is a major sponsor and the originator of the festival and drive for
ecotourism. As chair of our board, an active California birder, and a proud
community member, I invite you to visit what I call the “last best place in
California.”



Yours Rob,



P.S. For the record, Christmas Bird Count tallies for 2002 (5065), 2003
(6567), 2004 (6961), and 2005 (5711), show that the Centerville to King
Salmon (South Humboldt Bay) count has provided the highest number of Marbled
Godwits on CBC counts anywhere in the USA and Canada for many years.







Robert W. Hewitt

Wildlife Biologist - LBJ Enterprises

Eureka, California

(w) 707-442-0339, (cell) 707-845-3189, (fax) 707-269-0632



Chairman, Godwit Days Steering Committee

www.godwitdays.com

April 21-23, April 2006

Keynote Speaker: John Fitzpatrick

Director, Cornell Lab of Ornithology



Can’t make Godwit Days?  The check on our sister festival in Crescent City.



http://www.aleutiangoosefestival.org/



We invite you to the 8th annual Aleutian Goose Festival
March 31 -- April 4, 2006

  <http://www.aleutiangoosefestival.org/events.html> Events Sampling for 8th
annual Aleutian Goose Festival.
We are honored to offer Birding, Nature and Tolowa and Yurok Indian
cultural experiences that you will remember for the rest of your life.





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

Just saw this on the NARBA site. Just wondering why no one has
reported it to CalBirds? See below......

California: On December 2nd, an adult SLATY-BACKED GULL was seen on
the beach directly across from the lagoon at Frenchman's Creek at
Venice Beach. The Slaty-backed Gull should be looked for early in the
morning on the beach after it flies in from the ocean, where it has
roosted during the night or after its return flight in the afternoon
if it has visited the dump.

Venice Beach is located in Half Moon Bay State Beach and is at the end
of Venice Boulevard off Highway 1.

Lori Conrad
Hermosa Beach, CA

San Diego, CA Rare Bird Alert, December 10, 2005

RBA [RARE BIRD ALERT]

* California/Baja California, Mexico
* San Diego and NW Baja California, Mexico
* December 10, 2005
* CASD 05.12.10

BIRDS MENTIONED:

____________________

Baja California, Mexico:
____________________

None
____________________

San Diego County:
____________________

Broad-billed Hummingbird
Thick-billed Kingbird
Winter Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Painted Redstart
Summer Tanager
Scott's Oriole
____________________

- Transcript

Hotline:  San Diego County, California (also covering adjacent NW Baja
California, Mexico)
Date:   December 10, 2005
Number:  (619) 688-2473 [619-NUT-BIRD]
Compiler: Michael Evans, mailto:muevans@...
For SAN DIEGO FIELD ORNITHOLOGISTS

_________________________

BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO REPORTS:
_________________________

None

_________________________

SAN DIEGO COUNTY REPORTS:
_________________________

BROAD-BILLED HUMMINGBIRD, 1 (M), 12/5/05-12/9/05, Borrego Springs,
private yard on Tilting T Dr:  Cohen, Hal, Myers, Tom, Bauman, Dan &
Hunefeld, Terry

THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD, 1, 12/4/05, 12/7/05, Del Dios, near Lake Hodges:
lakeshore, S-Rancho Dr: Barr, J. & Thériault, B.

WINTER WREN, 1-3, 12/4/05-12/7/05, Palomar Mtn State Park, Doane Vly
Nature Trail, near Weir Trail (trail posts 8-15):  Matson, Michelle,
Myers, Tom, Dorman, LeRoy & Rogers, G.

Golden-crowned Kinglet, 1, 12/6/05,12/7/05, San Diego Zoo, near Harpy
Eagle viewing platform:  Stanley, Trent R.

Painted Redstart, 1 (M), 12/2/05, San Diego Zoo, S-Hunte Amphitheater,
in bamboo (seen from elev walkw betw Jaguar & Snow Leopard):  Stanley,
Trent R.

Summer Tanager, 1, 12/8/05, Cuyamaca College, S-Horticulture Bldg:
Leeks, Jill ?

Scott's Oriole, 2 (M), 12/8/05-12/9/05, Borrego Springs, private yard
on Tilting T Dr:  Bauman, Dan & Hunefeld, Terry
________________________________________

See County Bird Rarity Code List prepared by Mark Billings at SD Bird
Files Section: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SDBIRDS/files/

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

See also: http://www.SoCalAudubon.org/socal/sd-locs.htm

Mary Beth Stowe’s Website for San Diego County birding locations:
http://miriameaglemon.com/San%20Diego%20Bird%20Pages/
Birding%20San%20Diego.htm

For maps of Baja California, Mexico locations, see:
<http://homepage.mac.com/aves/SW_Border_Birding/PhotoAlbum21.html>

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 91933-0275
mailto:guymcc@...


Send local rarity bird descriptions to:

Elizabeth Copper, Subregional Field Notes Editor
mailto:ecopper@...


End transcript




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

This morning, as everyone on the Santa Barbara County list already knows,
Wes Fritz located a male BAIKAL TEAL during a La Purisma Audubon Sociery
field trip to the Mission Hills sewage treatment plant near Lompoc, Santa
Barbara County. The plant was open to the public especially for this field
trip, and the plant manager, Dan Finney, was kind enough to stay around
until 3pm on his day off while other birders came to see the bird. No bands
could be seen on the bird's legs (which were seen well off and on over
several hours), and the bird was very skittish, not allowing anyone to
approach closer than about 100 yds.

There are still other options for seeing this bird. Dan will be at the plant
tomorrow morning from 10am to noon and will permit access to any birder
wishing to see the teal. Also, this afternoon, the bird could easily be seen
from a hillside immediately west of the park. So climbing up the hillside
and scoping from the clearings is an option for looking for this bird as
long as it remains.

DIRECTIONS: From US 101 at Buellton, take highway 154 west; turn right onto
Purisma Rd just before you reach Lompoc, and take this road past the mission
and to the flashing red light at Rucker Rd, where you turn right again; from
Rucker, drive north to Burton Mesa Rd, and then turn right once more; go one
to two tenths of a mile, until you see an inconspicuous unpaved road just
past some small pines on your right; turn here and follow the road down the
hill to the fenced-off sewage plant. (The road continues past the sewage
plant onto La Purisima Mission property.) If you arrive any time but between
10 and 12 tomorrow, pull off the road and search for the duck from the hill
to the west (light may be very bad in the morning, but it's good in the
afternoon). If you arrive when Dan is there tomorrow, pull inside the sewage
plant gate, past the "No Trespassing" sign, and park next to the buildings.
The bird was mostly in the third pond from the north end of the plant, or
the northernmost unlined pond (the two northernmost ponds are lined with a
black material of some sort, while the others are surrounded by plain,
vegetated dirt berms). It was also seen in the second lined pond, and
probably spent some time in one of the more southerly ponds. Once all the
birders settled into the west side of the ponds, the bird settled into the
east end of the third pond and didn't leave all afternoon.

A few other comments about looking for this bird: Not many people go into
this place, so the ducks (Northern Shovelers, Hooded Mergansers, Blue-winged
Teal, Buffleheads, Cinnamon Teal, and Green-wiged Teal) are not used to
crowds of humans and are thus skittish. This means it would be very bad to
have a bunch of people wandering all over the sewage plant looking for the
bird, flushing all the ducks. I highly recommend that people stay in a group
and locate the bird, rather than spreading out. There are only about seven
ponds here, so it shouldn't take too long to find it. If you arrive when Dan
opens the gate tomorrow, I suppose people can go in together to look for the
bird. Anyone arriving later should probably first try to locate the other
birders. Today, late arrivers walked on the outside of the berm to the
group, thus not flushing any ducks. Also, this plan did limit photographic
opportunities, and I hope tomorrow no one will endanger the chances of
anyone else to see the bird by flushing it trying to get a better photo.

My understanding is that there are 5 accepted California records for this
species between 1946 and 1987, all involving specimens, and that another one
was reported from from the Klamath River in 2004 (I dont' know the fate of
this record with the CBRC). Congratulations to Wes Fritz for finding an
incredible bird. Also, all of us who saw the bird today want to express our
great appreciation to Dan Finney of the Mission Hills sewage plant for being
so accommodating and staying around for most of his day off.

Dave Compton
Santa Barbara

Here is some more Baikal Teal info, posted by Brad Schram on the San Luis
Obispo County email list. It includes some alternate directions for people
coming from the north along the coast, and some more exact directions in
regard to finding the plant once you hit Burton Mesa Rd.

Dave Compton
Santa Barbara
-----Original Message-----
From: slocobirding@yahoogroups.com [mailto:slocobirding@yahoogroups.com]On
Behalf Of Brad Schram
Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2005 4:34 PM
To: SLOCo Birding
Subject: [slocobirding] Baikal Teal (SBCo) Update


For those of you not on the SB listserve I update you on the Baikal Teal in
the Lompoc Valley.  A bird of this rarity deserves a little latitude on the
neighboring county listserve.

First--it is, indeed, a genuine drake Baikal Teal, starting to molt into
eclipse plumage--but the head/face is in almost full alternate plumage.
There are no leg bands; it's wary and flies well.

Second--updated directions:  The Mission Hills Water Treatment Plant will be
open tomorrow morning from 10AM to 11:30-12:00.  The plant is NOT normally
open for birders.  To get there....take Hwy 1 south past the entrance to
Vandenberg Airforce Base.  A few miles south of the base entrance turnoff on
Constellation, turning left on Constellation back under Hwy 1; drive until
you come to Burton Mesa, turning right at the stop sign at that
intersection.  Follow Burton Mesa for a few miles.  When you come to the
intersection with Rucker Rd., also a stop sign, you are a few hundred yards
from the treatment plant turnoff.  Continue on Burton Mesa downhill, looking
for Calle Quarto on the right.  Shortly after Calle Quarto on the right
there is an obscure, narrow driveway--the first driveway after Calle Qrto.
Turn in here and follow it to the chain link fence at the plant, turning in
through the gate and parking.

If you can't get there for the brief opening tomorrow, you can continue past
the gate and park where practical.  Walk up the hill to the right that
parallels the plant, finding vantage points from which to scope the settling
ponds.

The bird seemed to favor the first unlined pond closest to the admin.
center, but could be anywhere on the ponds.  It often gets out of the water,
walking up the bank amongst the greenery to preen.  It hangs around with
other ducks.

Brad Schram
Arroyo Grande

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

I'm sure everyone is tired of hearing from me by now, but Brad's correction
is very important. This is really not at all a "minor" correction as he
says.

Dave Compton
Santa Barbara

-----Original Message-----
From: Becky Hoban [mailto:b.hoban@...]
Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2005 6:19 PM
To: 'Dave Compton'
Subject: RE: [sbcobirding] Baikal Teal in Lompoc


Dave

Minor correction to your directions:  "take highway 246 west....onto
Purisima Rd ".

BTW, I only got a couple of decent shots of the bird

Brad


DIRECTIONS: From US 101 at Buellton, take highway 154 west; turn right onto
Purisma Rd just before you reach Lompoc, and take this road past the mission
and to the flashing red light at Rucker Rd, where you turn right again; from
Rucker, drive north to Burton Mesa Rd, and then turn right once more; go one
to two tenths of a mile, until you see an inconspicuous unpaved road just
past some small pines on your right; turn here and follow the road down the
hill to the fenced-off sewage plant. (The road continues past the sewage
plant onto La Purisima Mission property.) If you arrive any time but between
10 and 12 tomorrow, pull off the road and search for the duck from the hill
to the west (light may be very bad in the morning, but it's good in the
afternoon). If you arrive when Dan is there tomorrow, pull inside the sewage
plant gate, past the "No Trespassing" sign, and park next to the buildings.
The bird was mostly in the third pond from the north end of the plant, or
the northernmost unlined pond (the two northernmost ponds are lined with a
black material of some sort, while the others are surrounded by plain,
vegetated dirt berms). It was also seen in the second lined pond, and
probably spent some time in one of the more southerly ponds. Once all the
birders settled into the west side of the ponds, the bird settled into the
east end of the third pond and didn't leave all afternoon.

I posted into the Waterfowl folder in Photos link (to left of messages) 3 shots
of the male BAIKAL TEAL near Lompoc. They were made through a cheaper
scope with Nikon D70 attached. I will try to do something better with some
more distant flight shots made with telephoto later this evening and post
when I can. The scope's optics are not "high end", and turned everything
muddy and browner (even despite the setting sun angle adding reddish tint),
but there is no mistaking the species, if it is indeed determined to be "pure".
Distances, as Dave Compton warned, were about a hundred yards, and my
photos were equivalent to 36x plus blowing up the center of the image.
Those with high end scopes and superior optics will, no doubt, do far better, if
they also can attach an SLR. Or, anyone with 1000mm lens should do far
better! Good Luck.

Thanks to Wes Fritz for finding the bird, and especially to Dan Finney, the
Mission Hills Plant Manager, for letting us stay as late as we could, without
which I could not have got these mediocre shots, and a couple of dozen
birders would have been frustrated...

Jim Greaves
Santa Barbara

Apparently, my message forwarding Brad Hines's correction of my Baikal Teal
directions was not clear to everyone. This is what I was trying to say:

Take highway 246, NOT highway 154, from Buellton toward Lompoc. Everything
else in my original message was correct.

Sorry AGAIN about the confusion.

Dave Compton
Santa Barbara

Hi,

I work with a wildlife rehabilitation center in Arcata, CA.  We received in
a Chuck-will's-widow about two weeks ago (first county record).  It is
currently still in rehab, and I'm trying to get information regarding this
species' distribution in California.  Does anyone have any information
regarding this species?  Other than a green dot somewhere south of SF in
Sibleys, there doesn't seem to be a lot of information.  Any winter records
elsewhere in the state?

Thanks for any info.  I will be posting some pics of this bird shortly.

Good Birding!

Greg Frankfurter
Arcata

--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.371 / Virus Database: 267.13.13/197 - Release Date: 12/9/2005

Hello All,

There are but two documented records of Chuck-wills-widows for California.
The first was of an injured bird found in Half Moon Bay on 16 October 1986 that
later died in rehabilitation center. The second was of a recent road kill in
Loleta on 4 January 1989. They are now specimens at California Acadamy of
Sciences and at Humboldt State University.

Mike San Miguel
Arcadia CA

Hello All

I am a canadian birder coming to California for a few weeks (mostly
sticking to the coast) and am looking to find a white headed
woodpecker, i realize that these birds may be difficult to find but am
looking for an easy one, one that may be very reliable in its
territory, i will be driving the main highway from Grants Pass to
Crescent City, does anyone know of a bird in that vicinity.

Ed Pellizzon
Victoria B.C.
Canada

I posted a few digiscoped photos from this morning on to
Surfbirds. Make sure you scroll all the way down to see the
photos:
http://www.surfbirds.com/cgi-bin/gallery/display.cgi?gallery=galle
ry10
Best, Andy Birch
Los Angeles

Hi Calbirders:

Yahoo!  The system works!  Thanks to everyone who took the time and
trouble to post this exciting find along with details and directions,
and to our hosts who make it all possible.  We joined the crowd this
morning, and everyone was pleasant and well-behaved as far as I could
tell.  Please pass along our thanks again to Dave Finney for allowing
us to flock to the facility.

Now a couple of hundred CALBIRDERS have their latest lifer!

Ed Stonick
edstonick@...

Wasn't there also another bird in rehab that died, in Ventura County ca. 3 years
or so ago??? (I believe that the person who brought it in didn't even know what
it was)
Tom

>From: Greg Frankfurter <gfrankfurter@...>
>Date: Sun Dec 11 00:41:12 CST 2005
>To: CALBIRDS@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: [CALBIRDS] Chuck-Will's-Widow Del Norte County

>Hi,
>
>I work with a wildlife rehabilitation center in Arcata, CA.  We received in
>a Chuck-will's-widow about two weeks ago (first county record).  It is
>currently still in rehab, and I'm trying to get information regarding this
>species' distribution in California.  Does anyone have any information
>regarding this species?  Other than a green dot somewhere south of SF in
>Sibleys, there doesn't seem to be a lot of information.  Any winter records
>elsewhere in the state?
>
>Thanks for any info.  I will be posting some pics of this bird shortly.
>
>Good Birding!
>
>Greg Frankfurter
>Arcata
>
>--
>No virus found in this outgoing message.
>Checked by AVG Free Edition.
>Version: 7.1.371 / Virus Database: 267.13.13/197 - Release Date: 12/9/2005
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Unsubscribe: mailto:CALBIRDS-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>Website: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CALBIRDS
>Listowners: mailto:CALBIRDS-owner@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@yahoogroups.com
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>
>
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>


Thomas Miko (Mik? Tam?s)

thomas.miko@...
thomas_miko@...

653 S. Indian Hill Blvd., #C
Claremont, CA 91711
U.S.A.
34.109167 N, 117.718293 W

home: (909) 445-1456
cell:    (626) 390-1935

FRS radio channel 11 code 22

http://www.angelfire.com/ca2/birdsofhungary
"I think it likely that one of these statements is a mistake, and the other is a
lie." -Mark Twain 1880

Greetings all,
Regarding the suggestion that this bird is molting into eclipse plumage, I
respectfully submit that dabbling duck males go into eclipse in early-mid summer
as soon as they finish breeding activity.  This bird is either a young bird
still molting into alternate plumage or an adult still coming out of eclipse. 
Most dabblers should have finished this molt by now, but some can be very late -
note the shoveler in Jim Greaves' third picture, which is doing the same thing.

Cheers,
Bruce Deuel
Redding

>>> "Dave Compton" <davcompton@...> 12/10/2005 5:27 PM >>>
Here is some more Baikal Teal info, posted by Brad Schram on the San Luis
Obispo County email list. It includes some alternate directions for people
coming from the north along the coast, and some more exact directions in
regard to finding the plant once you hit Burton Mesa Rd.

Dave Compton
Santa Barbara
-----Original Message-----
From: slocobirding@yahoogroups.com [mailto:slocobirding@yahoogroups.com]On
Behalf Of Brad Schram
Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2005 4:34 PM
To: SLOCo Birding
Subject: [slocobirding] Baikal Teal (SBCo) Update


For those of you not on the SB listserve I update you on the Baikal Teal in
the Lompoc Valley.  A bird of this rarity deserves a little latitude on the
neighboring county listserve.

First--it is, indeed, a genuine drake Baikal Teal, starting to molt into
eclipse plumage--but the head/face is in almost full alternate plumage.
There are no leg bands; it's wary and flies well.

Second--updated directions:  The Mission Hills Water Treatment Plant will be
open tomorrow morning from 10AM to 11:30-12:00.  The plant is NOT normally
open for birders.  To get there....take Hwy 1 south past the entrance to
Vandenberg Airforce Base.  A few miles south of the base entrance turnoff on
Constellation, turning left on Constellation back under Hwy 1; drive until
you come to Burton Mesa, turning right at the stop sign at that
intersection.  Follow Burton Mesa for a few miles.  When you come to the
intersection with Rucker Rd., also a stop sign, you are a few hundred yards
from the treatment plant turnoff.  Continue on Burton Mesa downhill, looking
for Calle Quarto on the right.  Shortly after Calle Quarto on the right
there is an obscure, narrow driveway--the first driveway after Calle Qrto.
Turn in here and follow it to the chain link fence at the plant, turning in
through the gate and parking.

If you can't get there for the brief opening tomorrow, you can continue past
the gate and park where practical.  Walk up the hill to the right that
parallels the plant, finding vantage points from which to scope the settling
ponds.

The bird seemed to favor the first unlined pond closest to the admin.
center, but could be anywhere on the ponds.  It often gets out of the water,
walking up the bank amongst the greenery to preen.  It hangs around with
other ducks.

Brad Schram
Arroyo Grande

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



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Message archives and group home page can be found at:
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Birding binoculars
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obispo county ca


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