As to the Bay Area, a semi-captive flock in Oakland was breeding by
1956, and a feral population, thought to be moffitti in origin, was
established in the San Francisco Bay area by 1959 (Lidicker & McCollum,
1979, "Canada Goose Goose established as a breeding species in San
Francisco Bay," Western Birds 10: 159-162). It has exploded from there.

The above snippet is from Roberson & Tenney (1993) Atlas of the Breeding
Birds of Monterey County, which goes on to explain the feral
population's start and status there.  Similar details are available in a
number of other Breeding Bird Atlas project publications for their local
county area.

Don Roberson
Pacific Grove CA

Dear Stephen and others,

The early history of our San Francisco Bay feral birds has been published as:

Lidicker, W. Z., Jr., and F. C.
McCollum.  1979.  Canada Goose established as a
breeding species in San Francisco Bay.  West. Birds 10:159–162.

This is accessible on SORA.  I think the best
discussion of local introductions is by David
Shuford in the Marin County breeding bird atlas (now out of print).

Shuford, W. D.  1993.  Canada Goose (Branta
canadensis).  Marin County Breeding Bird Atlas,
pp. 104–105.  Bushtit Books, Bolinas, CA.

David suggests that these birds were purposely
introduced to the S. F. Bay area, although the
reasons are unclear.  I have also discussed the
expansion of these feral geese into South Bay (about 1986) in:

Bousman, W. G.  2007.  Canada Goose (Branta
canadensis).  Breeding Bird Atlas of Santa Clara
County, California, pp. 102–103.  Santa Clara
Valley Audubon Society, Cupertino, CA.

A copy of the atlas can be ordered from the Santa
Clara Valley Audubon website.  Non-migratory (or
feral) Canada Geese have been widely introduced
south of their historic range throughout the
United States.  Everywhere they have been
introduced they have become a nuisance.

Bill


At 12:48 PM 7/14/2008, Stephen M.H. Braitman wrote:

>I apologize if this is off-topic, but it would be nice to get some
>illumination on a subject that has puzzled me for a few years. When I
>first arrived in the Bay Area in 1969, and throughout the '70s, a
>Canada Goose was a pretty rare siting in San Francisco and Berkeley.
>Now, of course, they're everywhere, close to being a nuisance in some
>places! What I'd like to know is when did the Bay Area start becoming
>a home base for either a migrating or resident population of Canada
>geese? This must have happened in the 1980s (?). Have there been any
>studies on this subject? Any research into understanding why this
>situation changed so dramatically? Thanks very much!
>
>Stephen M.H. Braitman
>San Rafael, CA

Out on the Pacific Ocean, under the sun, riding the swells with the
clean fresh breeze on your face, days blur into a soft dream.  Time
slows, even stands still, as you become more and more disconnected
from the hustle and bustle of the "real" world. No cell phones. No
computers. No traffic.  Nothing but sunshine, whales, birds, people
who love birds and birding.  THIS, is the real world.... the ultimate
adventure.  That "other" world, the one you left behind is.... so...
far... away...

It's that time again.  We're coming into the tropicbird, petrel and
Craveri's Murrelet season here in SoCal, when the weather is warm and
the seas are flat.  The sold-out SoCalBirding Deep Water Overnight
Pelagic sails from San Diego Saturday evening on Grande.  If you're
registered, please click the following link and scroll down to "The
Trip" for final preparation tips.  If you have any questions about
the trip, please telephone  Point Loma Sportfishing at 619-223-1627
between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Grande Trip Preparation:  http://tinyurl.com/5znbg9

The next opportunity for pelagic birding in SoCal is on the live-
aboard Searcher, departing Labor Day. As so many pelagic birders have
found, the first week of September is an incredible month to be at
sea.

Searcher is a spacious, luxurious 95-foot live-aboard with multiple
birding observation decks.  Trips are limited to 28 passengers and 4
leaders to ensure plenty of room.  Guests enjoy 4 clean bathrooms, 2
hot showers and 14 air-conditioned cabins.  Delicious meals, snacks
and beverages are included.

This year's Searcher trip is led by a trio of world famous seabirding
connoisseurs: Todd "Skua" McGrath (Marina del Rey);  Paul "Life is
too short to drink bad beer" Guris (an east coast boy) and Dr.
Jon "Birdly Goodness" Feenstra (New Jersey).  Also on board will be
the L.A. Audubon's champion "Tristiam's-Hauling chummer, Mr. Wesley
Fritz, (the Flammulated Owl man of Ventura County).

The first day we'll cruise north through from San Diego to the
Channel Islands where we found two Red-billed Tropicbirds on the 2006
Searcher voyage, the first just 9 miles off the coast of La Jolla!

We'll spend the second day checking out the Channel Islands where
rarities show up with some regularity.  The cold water around the
channel islands is rich in marine life, so whales, dolphins and
seabirds are present in large numbers. We'll encounter thousands of
Pink-footed Shearwaters plus hundreds of Sooty and Black-vented
Shearwaters – and perhaps several rarer species of shearwater as
well.  Of course, all that rich marine life brings birds of prey, and
we'll likely see South Polar Skua plus Pomarine, Parasitic and Long-
tailed Jaegers on these days (The "Skua Slam").

After departing the Channel Islands we'll make our way west and south
to the edge of the Continental Shelf and follow it south.  A Streaked
Shearwater was seen near Santa Cruz Island on September 7, 2002
between Santa Barbara and the San Juan Seamount.  All aboard Searcher
had killer views of a Hawaiian Petrel on September 6, 2006.  A Red-
TAILED Tropicbird was seen from Searcher in September, 2003.  A
Bulwer's Petrel was seen September 4, 2003 off San Clemente Island.
The only North American record of Ringed (Hornby's) Storm-Petrel  was
well photographed on  2 Aug 2005 about 40 km ssw of Santa Rosa
Island.  http://tinyurl.com/6m8gux

What else?  Well, the first California Short-tailed Albatross of the
20th Century was seen in these waters 90 miles west of San Diego on
28 Aug 1977.  Records of Cook's Petrel in SoCal peak in August.
Craveri's Murrelet are often seen on September Searcher voyages.
http://tinyurl.com/6m8gux

There are only 5 more berths available on the September 1-5 Searcher
voyage.  The September trip always sells out.  For more information,
please telephone Celia Condit at (619) 226-2403 or visit Searcher's
website at http://www.bajawhale.com/birdingtrips.asp

THE CONDOR EXPRESS

If you can't take a week for Searcher, The September 6 Los Angeles
Audubon Society deep-water pelagic trip heading out of Santa Barbara
on the Condor Express is the place to be.

The late fall/early summer is one of the best times year off Southern
California for encounters with large numbers of birds and a high
diversity. Species that have been seen out there in the past several
years have included: Cook's Petrel (2005), Hawaiian Petrel (2006),
Streaked Shearwater (2002), Buller's Shearwater (annual), Wilson's
Storm-Petrel (2003), Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel (2003), Least Storm-
Petrel, Red-billed Tropicbird, Long-tailed Jaeger (annual), Craveri's
Murrelet, hypoleucus Xantus's Murrelet.

Our plan is to depart Santa Barbara harbor, travel across the Santa
Barbara Channel and south past Santa Rosa and San Miguel Islands. The
ocean floor in the area south of Santa Rosa Island and east of the
San Juan Seamount varies in depth from about 1000 feet to over 10000
feet. This region has always been hot on past trips having hosted
such stellar rarities as last summer's Tristram's Storm-Petrel and
spring's Parakeet Auklets.  The fast Condor Express is the only way
to get to these places in a single day.

Details about registration can be found on the Los Angeles Audubon
website:
http://tinyurl.com/67s2ta


THE FUTURE OF SOCALBIRDING.COM

SoCalBirding was started early this year to facilitate more pelagic
trips in the Southern California Bight.  We're off to a good start.
To ensure the longevity of this informational service, the Buena
Vista Audubon Society has generously agreed to take over the
operation including chartering and promotion of SoCalBirding.   A new
website is now being built that will contain listings of all pelagic
trips from San Diego to Santa Barbara.  It's our goal to work with
the Audubon Societies of SoCal to coordinate a rich variety pelagic
trips in 2009 that compliment each other.

--
W. Terry Hunefeld
Life is short.
Bird often.

http://www.SoCalBirding.com
Pelagic Seabirding Trips From San Diego to:
9-mile Bank
Los Coronados Islands
Cortes & Tanner Banks
Channel Islands

http://www.SeaBreeze-Inn.com
4 lovely rooms from $130
At Moonlight Beach, Leucadia
Encinitas, North County San Diego

Hi there CAL birders.  I'm Joel from Oregon and came to Quincy, CA for
  spotted owl work this summer through the Pacific Northwest Research
  Station.  I am also finishing up a few credits to complete my degree
  from Oregon State University.  Anyways, one of my classes requires me
  to find a local birder with good knowledge that I could accompany for
  a day/half-day of birding.  I would be willing to travel a little to
  meet somewhere, and will supply a six pack of your choice for helping
  me out.

Joel Ophoff
Quincy, CA

Hi all,

Does anybody know of an errata sheet for /Rare Birds of California?

In case/ it hasn't been noticed yet, there is a typo on Page G-4 towards
the back.  It appears that th/e contour /interval is 5 miles not the 10
miles stated.

//I wonder why the northern boundary of the state extends out to sea and
doesn't follow the closest point of land principle./


/
--
Elias Elias
HOME: 141 G Street Arcata, CA 95521
WORK: USDA Forest Service, Redwood Sciences Lab., Bird Monitoring Lab.,
1700 Bayview Drive Arcata CA 95521
(559) 433-7254 walkie-talkie
fabflockfinder@...

My status <skype:eliasaelias?chat>
Get Skype <http://www.skype.com/go/download> and call me for free.



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

I don't know of any published errata, but I've been trying to figure out
how to interpret Map 4 (page G-4) ever since I got the book.  It's not
at all intuitive.  Can anyone explain it?  Wouldn't it have made more
sense to draw lines showing the county at-sea boundaries based on
nearest points of land?

I assume the northern boundary simply follows the state line and that
anything to the north is closer to Oregon.

Ken Burton
Arcata
----- Original Message -----
From: "Elias Elias" <fabflockfinder@...>
To: "Calbirds" <CALBIRDS@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2008 1:02 PM
Subject: [CALBIRDS] errata sheet for Rare Birds of California?


> Hi all,
>
> Does anybody know of an errata sheet for /Rare Birds of California?
>
> In case/ it hasn't been noticed yet, there is a typo on Page G-4
> towards
> the back.  It appears that th/e contour /interval is 5 miles not the
> 10
> miles stated.
>
> //I wonder why the northern boundary of the state extends out to sea
> and
> doesn't follow the closest point of land principle./
>
>
> /
> --
> Elias Elias
> HOME: 141 G Street Arcata, CA 95521
> WORK: USDA Forest Service, Redwood Sciences Lab., Bird Monitoring
> Lab.,
> 1700 Bayview Drive Arcata CA 95521
> (559) 433-7254 walkie-talkie
> fabflockfinder@...
>
> My status <skype:eliasaelias?chat>
> Get Skype <http://www.skype.com/go/download> and call me for free.
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>

Ken, Elias, et al.,

I can't speak to an errata sheet, but books with a fraction of the
amount of data in "Rare Birds of CA" often have long errata listings, so
it should not be surprising that one will be need for this work, nor
should that reflect negatively on a great book.

However, I would say that the CBRC intentionally omitted showing "county
boundaries at sea" on the map because this remains a very controversial
topic without a consensus among California's birders (i.e., we wanted to
sell this book in Orange County...).  The locations of records at sea
are given a county designation with respect to the nearest point on land
(mainland or island) but we recognize that county boundaries at sea are
not "official" and that it would be perhaps appear too formal to map
them.

I too am puzzled by the map on page G-4.  The contour lines do look like
10 nautical miles to me as stated in the figure caption(not 5 as Elias
suggested), but if this is the case there should only be 20 contour
lines to get out to the 200 n.m. boundary (there are in fact over 30 of
them).  Rather than speculate on this map, I'll leave it to one of the
editors or to respond.

Kimball

Kimball L. Garrett
Ornithology Collections Manager
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
900 Exposition Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90007
(213) 763-3368
(213) 746-2999 FAX
kgarrett@...


> -----Original Message-----
> From: CALBIRDS@yahoogroups.com [mailto:CALBIRDS@yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf
> Of Ken Burton
> Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2008 3:31 PM
> To: Calbirds; Elias Elias
> Subject: Re: [CALBIRDS] errata sheet for Rare Birds of California?
>
> I don't know of any published errata, but I've been trying to figure
out
> how to interpret Map 4 (page G-4) ever since I got the book.  It's not
> at all intuitive.  Can anyone explain it?  Wouldn't it have made more
> sense to draw lines showing the county at-sea boundaries based on
> nearest points of land?
>
> I assume the northern boundary simply follows the state line and that
> anything to the north is closer to Oregon.
>
> Ken Burton
> Arcata
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Elias Elias" <fabflockfinder@...>
> To: "Calbirds" <CALBIRDS@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2008 1:02 PM
> Subject: [CALBIRDS] errata sheet for Rare Birds of California?
>
>
> > Hi all,
> >
> > Does anybody know of an errata sheet for /Rare Birds of California?
> >
> > In case/ it hasn't been noticed yet, there is a typo on Page G-4
> > towards
> > the back.  It appears that th/e contour /interval is 5 miles not the
> > 10
> > miles stated.
> >
> > //I wonder why the northern boundary of the state extends out to sea
> > and
> > doesn't follow the closest point of land principle./
> >
> >
> > /
> > --
> > Elias Elias
> > HOME: 141 G Street Arcata, CA 95521
> > WORK: USDA Forest Service, Redwood Sciences Lab., Bird Monitoring
> > Lab.,
> > 1700 Bayview Drive Arcata CA 95521
> > (559) 433-7254 walkie-talkie
> > fabflockfinder@...
> >
> > My status <skype:eliasaelias?chat>
> > Get Skype <http://www.skype.com/go/download> and call me for free.
> >
> >
> >
> > [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
> Resume email delivery: mailto:CALBIRDS-normal@yahoogroups.com
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

Hello, Seabirders, CA County Birders, Whale Watchers, and Ocean Lovers,

Shearwater Journey's pelagic season is about to jump into full swing
with our late summer and early fall boat trips from Monterey, Santa
Cruz, Sausalito, Bodega Bay, and Fort Bragg. There is something for
everyone on these trips, with lots of great birding on land in
between boat trip days. Our trips from Monterey's Fishermans' Wharf
have been running since 1976! This year, we return with trips from
Santa Cruz on the north side of Monterey Bay. In past years, these
trips were extremely productive. Santa Cruz is a bit easier to reach
for folks coming from Silicon Valley, San Francisco and the Bay Area.

MONTEREY PELAGIC TRIPS with spaces available:
JULY 25
AUGUST 15, 22, 29
SEPTEMBER 7 (limited number of spaces), 12, 14, 15, 22, 25, 27, 28

ALBACORE TRIPS FROM MONTEREY: (5:30 am - 5:30 pm)
SEPTEMBER 13
OCTOBER 5

FROM SANTA CRUZ (city on the north side of Monterey Bay):
SEPTEMBER 26
OCTOBER 12

BODEGA BAY TO THE BODEGA CANYON & CORDELL BANK:
AUGUST 1, 12
SEPTEMBER 19
OCTOBER 9, 17

FORT BRAGG:
AUGUST 8, 10

SAUSALITO TO THE FARALLON ISLANDS:
AUGUST 10 SOLD OUT (sorry)

Note that some really nice land/sea birding combinations are possible
— August 8 Fort Bragg pelagic, August 9 birding on land in the area,
August 10 Fort Bragg pelagic, August 11 birding Highway 1 south to
Bodega Bay, August 12 Bodega Bay pelagic trip. This land/sea
combination is excellent for both the out of state birders, who can
benefit from the locals, but also for those CA county birders who are
looking to add new species to their county lists. With many birders
out in the field, something unusual is bound to be discovered! One
year, in Fort Bragg, it was a Yellow Wagtail, another it was Bar-
tailed Godwit! Excellent birding in both the Fort Bragg area and
Bodega Bay make this a very attractive outing. Last year, we found
whales on every single Shearwater Journeys' trip! I expect the same
this year, however, I think we have an excellent chance for Blue
Whales this year. Krill is abundant. Northern alcids — Horned Puffins
and Ancient Murrelets have been observed recently, as well as the
southern nesting Xantus's Murrelets. Its about time that we nailed
down a Least Auklet! The offshore report from researchers is that 100
+ Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels and Xantus's Murrelets were out at the
Cordell Bank recently!

For reservations, please contact Debra Shearwater at the information
below. Please note that it will only be possible to contact Debra by
email during the August 7 through August 11 period. Hope to see you
out there!!

Shearwaters forever,
Debra

Debra Shearwater
Shearwater Journeys, Inc.
PO Box 190
Hollister, CA 95024
831.637.8527
debi@...
www.shearwaterjourneys.com

*Antarctica, South Georgia, & The Falkland Islands, January 5-24, 2010*
Shearwater Journeys' Exclusive Charter






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

Hey Ken and others,

I might be able to help you out: At least at the 200 mile limit, think
of the the arcs as belonging to the county that produces the arc.
Therefore the v's where the arcs meet are the county boundries. As you
get closer to shore the county lines should cross the contour line
perpendicularly.

Kudos to the Editors of Rare Birds of California to including this map
in this guide.

I posted a sketch of the map G-4 to the Yahoo groups webpage
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CALBIRDS/files/Regional%20Locality%20Notes/
It graphically describes what I so poorly tried to articulate with words
above.


and Kimball:  Orange county birders shouldn't cry too hard.  Marin's got
it worse.




Elias Elias
HOME: 141 G Street Arcata, CA 95521
WORK: USDA Forest Service, Redwood Sciences Lab., Bird Monitoring Lab.,
1700 Bayview Drive Arcata CA 95521
(559) 433-7254 walkie-talkie
fabflockfinder@...

My status <skype:eliasaelias?chat>
Get Skype <http://www.skype.com/go/download> and call me for free.



Ken Burton wrote:
> I don't know of any published errata, but I've been trying to figure
> out how to interpret Map 4 (page G-4) ever since I got the book.  It's
> not at all intuitive.  Can anyone explain it?  Wouldn't it have made
> more sense to draw lines showing the county at-sea boundaries based on
> nearest points of land?
>
> I assume the northern boundary simply follows the state line and that
> anything to the north is closer to Oregon.
>
> Ken Burton
> Arcata
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Elias Elias"
> <fabflockfinder@...>
> To: "Calbirds" <CALBIRDS@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2008 1:02 PM
> Subject: [CALBIRDS] errata sheet for Rare Birds of California?
>
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Does anybody know of an errata sheet for /Rare Birds of California?
>>
>> In case/ it hasn't been noticed yet, there is a typo on Page G-4 towards
>> the back.  It appears that th/e contour /interval is 5 miles not the 10
>> miles stated.
>>
>> //I wonder why the northern boundary of the state extends out to sea and
>> doesn't follow the closest point of land principle./
>>
>>
>> /
>> --
>> Elias Elias
>> HOME: 141 G Street Arcata, CA 95521
>> WORK: USDA Forest Service, Redwood Sciences Lab., Bird Monitoring Lab.,
>> 1700 Bayview Drive Arcata CA 95521
>> (559) 433-7254 walkie-talkie
>> fabflockfinder@...
>>
>> My status <skype:eliasaelias?chat>
>> Get Skype <http://www.skype.com/go/download> and call me for free.
>>
>>
>>
>> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>>
>>
>


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

Since I seem to be on a calbird posting spree, I thought I'd announce to
the statewide birding community that my coworkers and I happened upon a
alternate plumaged LBMU on 7/15/08.  It was just 2.8 kilometers south of
the south jetty to humboldt bay at 1200 meters from shore.

You can find more details in my write up to the CBRC: or if you're ADD
like me and just wanna see the pic go to Joe Morlan's webpage
http://fog.ccsf.edu/~jmorlan/lbmu071508.htm

A map may be found at:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&t=h&msa=0&msid=10561959955712627169\
2.0004523acd396a5b1daaa&ll=40.747777,-124.259148&spn=0.380783,1.027908&z=11



California Rare Bird Report

Species: Long-billed Murrelet    Brachyramphus perdix

Other species:

Number, sex, age, general plumage: one mostly alternate plumaged adult
unknown sex

County: HUM - Humboldt

Locality: N40.74460 W124.26070

Date(s) seen: 7/15/2008

Time seen: 0900-0904

Reporting observer: Elias Elias

Address: 141 G Street

City: Arcata

State: CA

Zip: 95521

Phone: 559-433-7254

Fax:

E-mail: fabflockfinder@...

Other observers: Moe Morrissette and Jeff Jacobsen

Original finder(s): Elias ELias

Light conditions: overcast good light

Optical equipment: 10 by 25 zeiss victory compacts

Distance: 70-150 meters

Duration of observation: 5 ish minutes

Habitat: nearshore marine waters

Behavior: When I first spotted the bird it was at the surface with another
congener.  They were both floating/swimming.  We stopped the boat to age the
birds for the on-going Marbled Murrelet Population Study that I have been
assisting with since 1994.  Something appeared funny about the bird on the
right.  It had a whitish throat with no partial collar on the nape.  I
asked JJ to go off transect to check more closely as I thought it
was a candidate LBMU.  As we got closer, we made the mistake of heading
directly toward to birds rather than tangentially.  The birds reacted by
diving quite far out and never did get used to our presence.  Just after
they dove I voiced my ID and asked JJ to get his camera out.  I took over
driving while JJ took still shots.  We followed the birds for the next 5-6
minutes while JJ squeezed off shots.  Finally the birds tired of our pursuit
and took flight flying in the same general direction but not very close.
Neither ever called.

Description: A Brachyramphus murrelet by size and shape.  Mostly dark with
white bib flecked with dark feathers. Showed some white in the scapulars.
Toward the end of our sighting did we get close enough to see the white nape
spots.  They were VERY small and hard to see.

When the birds took flight the wing flap rate was appreciably slower for the
LBMU than the MAMU.

Also once we looked at the images the tail was not held upright like a wren.
It was held parallel to the water.

Interestingly I did not note a white eyering in the field. and a image shows
the bird as having a mostly dark underwing.

Voice: The bird did not make any sounds

Similar species: This bird had a dark-flecked white throat which contrasted
sharply with the dark of the rest of the body.  The interface of the
dark/light went straight down the neck without extending onto the nape as
the pale would in a MAMU.

see description of addition points of separation.

Photographs: yes

Previous experience: I've seen perhaps 10-20 others while doing MAMU surveys
off southern Oregon and northern California since 1994. I've only submitted
a few of them.

References consulted during observation: none

References consulted after observation: sibley for underwing color

Notes during observation:

Notes immediately after observation:

Notes from memory: on

Are you positive?: Yes

Why not positive:




--
Elias Elias
HOME: 141 G Street Arcata, CA 95521
WORK: USDA Forest Service, Redwood Sciences Lab., Bird Monitoring Lab.,
1700 Bayview Drive Arcata CA 95521
(559) 433-7254 walkie-talkie
fabflockfinder@...

My status <skype:eliasaelias?chat>
Get Skype <http://www.skype.com/go/download> and call me for free.



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

Calbirders:

Following up on Debi's post on pelagic trips, I just wanted to remind folks
that Shearwater Journeys is also offering two pelagic birding trips
associated with the upcoming Western Field Ornithologists annual meeting in
San Mateo.  One trip will be departing from Bodega Bay on Thursday, October
9th (just before the multi-day meeting), and one trip will be departing
from Santa Cruz on Monterey Bay on Sunday, October 12th (just after).  The
costs for these two special WFO trips are good, too, with 15 to 20 percent
discounts over regular prices!

Additional information is available via WFO's new webpage
<http://www.westernfieldornithologists.org/>.  Just click on the "Annual
Conference" banner and follow the links.

And if you haven't seen the new webpage, check it out.  A few areas are
still "under construction," as they say, but there's plenty that's up and
running with lots that's new.

Cheers,
-Gj

====================================
  Gjon Hazard
  Carlsbad, CA
====================================
(This post is provided by Gjon as information and is not an official post
of the USFWS.)

Hi everyone-

Today, Matt Brady and I had 4 Semipalmated Sabdpipers at the Alexandre Dairy in
Del Norte County. Two adults and two Juveniles. I am pretty frustrated with
google apps, so I put one photo of each here:

http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=6717821&k=ZVGZZ253UVYMZCMGXDX3W

This
should work, let me know if it doesn't. We were pretty impressed with
the brightness of one of the juveniles, which got us considering
Red-necked Stint, but looking at the photos on the computer, this does
not seem to be the case.

Anyway, we were pretty surprised to see 4 SESAs together. The two Juveniles were
the only Juvenile shorebirds present.

The Crested Caracara continued near the beginning of Mosely road, also in the
Smith River Bottoms.

-Ryan Terrill
Santa Cruz, Ca





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

Shorebirds of the Coast - Wed. August 13 - 7:00-9:00 PM -  Bodega Bay
field trips - 8/15 or 8/16 with Lisa Hug. Offered at the Sonoma Comm.
Center, 276 East Napa St. Sonoma. Phone - 707-938-4626 x1.
Visit sonomabirding.org for details.

Inland Shorebirds - Wed. August 20 - 7:00-9:00 PM field trip-
Schollenberger Park 8/22 or 8/23 with Lisa Hug. Offered at Sonoma
Community Center, 276 East Napa St. Sonoma.  Phone- 707-938-4626 x1.
Visit sonomabirding.org for details.

Tom Rusert
Sonoma, CA.
sonomabirding.org

Birding was good in the Yuba Pass Camp Grounds, found off of HY 49 in
Sierra County.
Four of arrived late Saturday afternoon into Yuba Pass camp grounds.
Dave Bowden, Cheryl Pacheco, Jeff Miller and myself (Rich Cimino)
At dusk we set out to find COMMON POORWILL and hopefully owls.
We had a calling COMMON POORWILL at the Vista pull-out on HY49 but fail to
find any birds to view.
The ranchers are cutting their hay crop so we had hoped to find SHORT-EARED
OWLS, we saw none
In Sierra Valley was windy.
Near 8PM, on Harriet Rd. we had a potential Common Poorwill on the road,
best bird was a dark morph adult SWAINSON HAWK and at three different
locations SANDHILL CRANE'S (6).
SUNDAY MORNING> beginning at 6:30 AM Jeff Miller had two BLACK-BACKED
WOODPECKER's in the meadow.
Jeff followed the BBWP into the back side of the camp grounds but lost
their location.
One of the BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER return into the meadow after 7AM and the
four of us were able to watch the bird on a bare snag.
ALSO OF INTEREST IN THE CAMP GROUND;
OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER
HERMIT WARBLER
TOWNSEND’S WARBLER
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER
AUDUBON'S WARBLER
WESTERN TANAGER
Down in Sierra Valley around 9AM we had both VESPER SPARROW's (5) and
BREWER’S SPARROW's (15) on the NW corner of Calpine Rd.and A23.
Driving to Marble Hot Springs / Dyson we stopped a quarter mile south of
the Plumas County line pulling into the dirt road on the west side of A23.
Here in a matter minutes we had GRAY FLYCATCHER's (5) two adults and three
young. We watched the adults feeding the JUVENILE GRAY FLYCATCHERS.
Happy to report no brown cowbird juveniles.
Entering Marble Hot Springs on Dyson Rd. SAGE THRASHER's appeared (5), more
BREWER'S and VESPER'S SPARROWS long the fence line .
Near the first small bridge SORA RAILS (2) showed for several minutes then
at a low level an AMERICAN BITTERN flew in.
Up a short distance to the second small bridge, LESSER YELLOWLEGS, WILSON
PHALAROPES, COMMON SNIPES,MARSH WRENS AND YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS.
Around the corner we had AMERICAN BITTERN, HORNED LARKS, WESTERN KINGBIRDS,
SAGE THRASHER's (7) more VESPER, BREWER'S SPARROWS, SAVANNAH and SONG
SPARROWS.
On to the circa 1903 Bridge SANDHILL CRANES (2), VIRGINIA RAIL -JUVENILE
(1), WHITE-FACED IBIS (27+), NORTHERN HARRIER (2), AMERICAN BITTERN (2)
BARN OWL AND SWAINSON HAWKS (2).
On to the Sierraville cemetery near HY49 and HY89 on HENRY DOTA Rd.
Dave Bowden spotted VAUX'S SWIFT (2) feeding high with WHITE-THROATED SWIFT
(2) and TREE SWALLOWS.
Again Dave found SPOTTED SANDPIPERS (2) at the small ponds near the
cemetery and a family of WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE'S (3) WESTERN BLUEBIRDS (9) and
Dave tops the day off with finding a BALD EAGLE flying by.
I omitted many common species like swallows and ducks, a total of 65
species were recorded.
The volume of VESPERS, BREWERS, SAVANNAH SPARROWS as well SAGE THRASHERS in
fresh plumage deserves the closing comment for trip high light.


Richard Cimino
Pleasanton, Alameda County, Cal.


Richard Cimino
Pleasanton, Alameda County, Cal.

Greetings SoCal Seabirders

The Buena Vista Audubon SoCalBirding pelagic trip this past weekend
produced lifers for many  participants in the form of a drop-dead
close-up Craveri's Murrelet complete with "Sora cottontail" and 22
Xantus's Murrelets, of which 12 were ssp hypoleucus, many with close-
up views.  Multiple Red-billed Tropicbirds flew over and around the
boat while nine Black-footed Albatrosses shadowed us much of the
day.  A preliminary species list follows at the end of this posting.

The Labor Day week Searcher 5-day trip to the Channel Islands and the
Continental Shelf edge is SOLD OUT.  Call Celia Condit to be added to
the wait list.  (619) 226-2403
http://tinyurl.com/28d8hf

The October Buena Vista Audubon deep-water double-overnight trip to
the Cortez & Tanner Bank is SOLD OUT.  There are still spaces
available on the ¾ day trip to the Coronados Islands on the morning
of October 4.  Visit http://www.SoCalBirding.com to reserve a space
for the ¾ day trip, or telephone Point Loma Sportfishing Landing to
be added to the wait list for the double-overnight trip.  (619) 223-
1627

Buena Vista Audubon is planning ANOTHER DOUBLE OVERNIGHT pelagic on
Sat & Sun, November 1&2, very probably with a different itinerary
than the double-headers of May and October.  We are considering
departing early Saturday morning, hitting the Coronados islands to
check out the booby colony (and check for rogue booby species) and
then continue directly to deep water without returning to port
Saturday afternoon.  This will give us a full 48 hours at sea and get
us further out – possibly all the way to the shelf edge, weather and
seas permitting.  We'll post to this listserv when details are
available, no later than next week.

THE ONLY DEEP WATER PELAGIC TRIP (WITH SPACE AVAILABLE) scheduled to
depart SoCal before the November Grande trip is the L.A. AUDUBON
CONDOR EXPRESS trip to the San Juan Seamount.  I was told that if
this trip does not get 25 more reservations by the end of July, it
will be cancelled, which will be a shame because it has produced some
phenomenal finds over the years.  Species that have been seen out
there in the past several years have included Cook's Petrel (10 SEP
2005), Hawaiian Petrel (6 SEP 2006), Streaked Shearwater (2002),
Buller's Shearwater (annual), Wilson's Storm-Petrel (2003), Fork-
tailed Storm-Petrel (2003).  The first Short-tailed Albatross of the
century was  seen in SoCal 90 miles off shore on 28 Aug 1977, with
another seen near Santa Barbara Island 19 Feb – 22 Mar, 2002 and one
near Santa Cruz Island 5 Jul 2005.    A Bulwer's Petrel was seen
September 4, 2003 off San Clemente Island and probably in the Santa
Barbara Channel 5 SEP 2007.   A Red-TAILED Tropicbird was seen 6 Sep
2003 on a Searcher expedition.  Of course, if we get even one of the
rarities or mega-rarities, we'll be lucky, and none are guaranteed or
even probable, but it is funny how we ALWAYS see more rarities from
the Condor Express than we do from our family rooms.  30 of us who
have already signed up for the Condor Express are counting on YOU to
join us to make this trip go.  Please call the L.A. Audubon today or
visit http://tinyurl.com/67s2ta

PRELIMINARY TRIP LIST FROM GRANDE
SUNDAY JULY 20

BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS 9
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER 12
SOOTY SHEARWATER 9
BLACK STORM-PETREL 31
LEACH'S STORM-PETREL 200+
RED-BILLED TROPICBIRD 4
SABINE'S GULL 5
CASSIN'S AUKLET 2
XANTUS'S MURRELET 22
The Buena Vista Audubon wishes to thank our leaders for a great day
at sea on Grande, so THANK YOU Todd McGrath, Paul Lehman, Guy
McCaskie, Jon Feenstra, Matt Sadowski, Dave Pereksta and our Santa
Barbara chummer, Wes Fritz.

A big thank you to Matthew Sadowski who created a Google Map showing
our route and the GPS locations of our  sightings.  I have uploaded a
copy of Matt's handiwork to the files section of SDBirds.
http://tinyurl.com/6nyeuw

You need Google Earth on your computer to view this map.  Download
the file to your hard drive, then double-click it and it will open
Google Earth with the map showing our track.  Click anywhere on the
track to see the species seen there.

See you aboard Searcher, Grande or The Condor Express

W. Terry Hunefeld
Life is short.
Bird often.

http://www.SoCalBirding.com
Pelagic Seabirding Trips From San Diego to:
9-mile Bank
Los Coronados Islands
Cortes & Tanner Banks
Channel Islands

Matt Brady just called to notify me that Lucas Brug refound the falcon  in
Del Norte County today and was sure that it is a Eurasian Hobby.  As far as
I know, Lucas is the only one to have seen this bird.  Call the birdbox at
(707)-822-LOON (5666) for details.



John Sterling

VVVVVVVVVV



26 Palm Ave

Woodland, CA  95695

cell 530 908-3836

ani@...





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

FYI

Cheers,
-Gj

====================================
  Gjon C. Hazard
  Carlsbad, CA 92011 USA
  ====================================
not an official post of the USFWS


----- Forwarded by Gjon Hazard/CFWO/R1/FWS/DOI on 07/23/2008 12:50 PM -----

              "Peter Ginsburg"
              <pagins@...
              om>                                                        To
              Sent by:                  SDBIRDS@yahoogroups.com
              SDBIRDS@yahoogrou                                          cc
              ps.com
                                                                    Subject
                                        [SDBIRDS] Red-necked Stint
              07/23/2008 12:37
              PM








To clarify the location of the bird found this morning by Matt
Sadowski, the bird was seen on mudflats approximately 1/2 (one half)
mile north of the Fiddler's Cove parking lot along the east side of
the "silver strand."  There's a wooden section of boardwalk or platform
along the bike path directly west of where the bird was being seen.  It
moved away from that immediate area with the tide at about the one
meter (3 foot) level so it might be best to try to see it around mid-
afternoon when the tide would be at that same mark and lowering.

Fiddler's Cove is south of the Naval Amphibious Base and perhaps the
first turn-off to the east after passing the base going south.  On
Google Earth there's a notation regarding sailing lessons there.

Peter

Approx. location of bird 32 deg. 39.5 min. north
                         117 deg. 09 min. west


------------------------------------

Yahoo! Groups Links

Hi all,

Just wanted to announce that the Redwood Sciences Lab's Marbled Murrelet
survey crew refound what is probably the same Long-billed Murelet we
discovered last Tuesday a week ago.  We found it in the same general
vicinity.  It had moved about 4 kilometers to the north and was about
1700 meters from the tip of the North Jetty.  Either hire or bring your
own sea-worthy vessel to chase this one.  Contact me for logistical help.

I sent a copy of an image to Joe but he will not have time to post it
for a while.  So if you would like to see an image, write back.

here is a link to the updated map:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&t=h&msa=0&msid=10561959955712627169\
2.0004523acd396a5b1daaa&ll=40.747777,-124.259148&spn=0.380783,1.027908&z=11

Here is my report to the CBRC:

California Rare Bird Report

Species: Long-billed Murrelet    Brachyramphus perdix

Other species:

Number, sex, age, general plumage: 1 unknown sex AHY, mosty alternate
plumage

County: HUM - Humboldt

Locality: N 40.77767 W 124.24927

Date(s) seen: 7/22/2008

Time seen: 11:20-11:25

Reporting observer: Elias Elias

Address: 141 G Street

City: Arcata

State: CA

Zip: 95521

Phone: 559-433-7254

Fax:

E-mail: fabflockfinder@...

Other observers: Moe Morrissette, Jared Wolf and Linda Long

Original finder(s): Moe was surveying his side and stopped the boat for a
murrelet.  Immediately upon my looking at it I IDed it as a Long-billed
Murrelet

Light conditions: overcast good light

Optical equipment: 10x25 zeiss compact victory

Distance: 40-170

Duration of observation: couple-five minutes

Habitat: near-shore marine waters

Behavior: swimming at surface then took flight was fairly approachable

Description: brachyramphus murrelet by size and shape and presence of white
in the scaps.  white throat sharp contrast on side of head and neck with no
collar.  some difuse white marks on back of head

I would say that there is a high likelyhood that this is the same individual
that we saw last tuesday.

Voice: we heard a call that sounded like a SEPL.  It called three times.
once just before it took flight and twice as it flew away.  It was a high
pitched, clear, soft whistled "chu-wheet."  It was defineately two noted.
While I cann't be absolutely certain that the LBMU made the call.  It was
less than ideal weather  and there was a lot of ambiant noise.  A SEPL could
have flown over at that moment but it is highly unlikely.  To my knowledge.
There is no documentation of the noises that this species makes at least in
the English language literature.  Apperantly another team of murrelet
surveyors saw and heard two off southern Oregon last year.  The crew was
comprised of Craig Strong and Ryan Terrill.  Ryan mentioned to me in an
email that he was going to write it up as a note for publication.

Similar species: Xantus's and Craveri's were elimated by the black flecking
on the throat and brest and by the white in the scaps.

MAMU was separated by the dark/light patterning on the head and neck.

Photographs: yes by Elias. copies will be made available

Previous experience: seen 10-20 times during my career as a professional
Marbled Murrelet surveyor in Oregon and northern California.

References consulted during observation: none

References consulted after observation: none

Notes during observation:

Notes immediately after observation:

Notes from memory: on

Are you positive?: Yes

Why not positive:

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Matt Sadowski" <matt.sadowski@...>
Date: July 23, 2008 5:25:31 PM PDT
To: <sdbirds@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [SDBIRDS] Red-necked Stint photos, 23 July 2008, San Diego Bay

I got to work early this morning and had to wait for a coworker so I
grabbed my coffee and took a stroll along the mudflats.
Shorebird numbers were low so I wasn't expecting much until I saw a
rather reddish-throated Calidris foraging in the distance on the
upper/drier part of the mudflat. My first thought was stint but the
rational part of my brain was saying "calm down, it's just a
Sanderling". As the the bird crossed paths with a Western Sandpiper
(showing relative size) that thought process was put to a halt.
Eventually I could see it was rather fatter looking than a WESA with
shorter legs, the posture being more like Least Sandpiper
(although obviously larger). The face was pale with a pale red wash on
the throat and spots below that on the sides of the breast. I
started taking many docu-shots from a distance. Since my phone had
just informed me that it had run out of minutes it was at this
point that I realized I would need to leave the bird and find a pay
phone.

Luckily the bird stayed on the mudflats until about 11:00 and I was
able to get some closer shots before it flew to the sandspit
southeast of the mudflat, where we left it.

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/68911779@N00/

Driving past later, during the peak of the high tide, I did not see
any birds roosting on the sandspit so the small shorebirds
either roosted somewhere in the drier Least Tern nesting area
(restricted) to the south or somewhere else altogether. Hopefully the
bird is back out there right now (17:22, tide dropping). There is no
point in looking for it during high tide because even if it was
roosting somewhere in the area it would not be readily visible from
the bike path viewpoint.

Google map: http://tinyurl.com/5wf6pn

Matt Sadowski
Chula Vista




Michael U. Evans
San Diego, CA



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

----- Original Message -----
From: "Matt Sadowski" <matt.sadowski@...>
To: <sdbirds@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 5:25 PM
Subject: Red-necked Stint photos, 23 July 2008, San Diego Bay


>I got to work early this morning and had to wait for a coworker so I grabbed my
coffee and took a stroll along the mudflats.
>Shorebird numbers were low so I wasn't expecting much until I saw a rather
reddish-throated Calidris foraging in the distance on
>the upper/drier part of the mudflat. My first thought was stint but the
rational part of my brain was saying "calm down, it's just
>a Sanderling". As the the bird crossed paths with a Western Sandpiper (showing
relative size) that thought process was put to a
>halt. Eventually I could see it was rather fatter looking than a WESA with
shorter legs, the posture being more like Least
>Sandpiper (although obviously larger). The face was pale with a pale red wash
on the throat and spots below that on the sides of
>the breast. I started taking many docu-shots from a distance. Since my phone
had just informed me that it had run out of minutes it
>was at this point that I realized I would need to leave the bird and find a pay
phone.
>
> Luckily the bird stayed on the mudflats until about 11:00 and I was able to
get some closer shots before it flew to the sandspit
> southeast of the mudflat, where we left it.
>
> Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/68911779@N00/
>
> Driving past later, during the peak of the high tide, I did not see any birds
roosting on the sandspit so the small shorebirds
> either roosted somewhere in the drier Least Tern nesting area (restricted) to
the south or somewhere else altogether. Hopefully
> the bird is back out there right now (17:22, tide dropping). There is no point
in looking for it during high tide because even if
> it was roosting somewhere in the area it would not be readily visible from the
bike path viewpoint.
>
> Google map: http://tinyurl.com/5wf6pn
>
> Matt Sadowski
> Chula Vista

The Red-necked Stint was still along the Silver Strand of San Diego Bay
this morning at about 7:00 AM.  See previous posts for specifics.

Cheers,
-Gj

====================================
  Gjon C. Hazard
  Carlsbad, CA 92011 USA
====================================
not an official post of the USFWS

> The Red-necked Stint foraged all morning on the Delta Beach mudflats. Viewing
conditions were good with the early morning
> overcast. Mid-morning the sun was out and the stint moved off a ways to the
north of the platform so viewing conditions were
> worse. As the tide was rising the stint was back fairly close to the platform.
At about 11:30 (tide 3..8' and rising) the last of
> the small shorebirds (including the stint) moved to the sandspit and
eventually the upper (east) end of the marsh (not readily
> visible from the platform). At 14:30 the stint was still in the upper marsh.
At 15:00 (after getting sick of having a camera
> pointed at them) most of the small shorebirds (inluding the stint) had moved
up to the Black-belly/turnstone/knot flock on the
> tern site. The tide was still very high when I left but there were several
birders patiently waiting for the mudflat to be
> exposed, so we'll see what was seen...
>
> Matt Sadowski
> Chula Vista, CA

Hi I am visting San Diego Aug 1-10.  Was wondering if there are any
reliable spots where Lawrence's Goldfinches are being seen?  Any help
is appreciated


Gaetano Eosso
NJ

I saw the Red-necked Stint from the observation platform north of
Fiddler's Marina on the afternoon of July 25.  From 3:10 - 3:25pm the
bird was along the sandy spit (the spit to the right of the platform as
you look out over the bay).  This was as the tide was very high.  I had
been there almost an hour before the bird showed up.  Shorebirds were
intermittently flying around the area, but I believe the tide simply
pushed it up from the bay side of the sandy spit to where it was visible
from the platform.  At 3:25pm, it flushed and flew a short distance south
(towards the marina) and set in within the marsh.  It was not associated
with any other small shorebirds.

As previously mentioned, low tide is probably best as the mudflats in
front of the observation platform would be exposed.  However, even at
high tide, the bird may be seen.

Jim Holmes
Sacramento, CA

I received an email question curious as to a more precise location for
the Red-necked Stint.  This bird is in the exact same location as the
Wilson's Plover approximately 1 year ago, and at that time someone
created a google map for the location which should prove useful:

Link: http://tinyurl.com/2lpohp

The two marks correspond to the viewing platform and the bird's
approximate location on the mudflats to the east.

Hope that helps anyone driving down this weekend!

Eitan Altman
San Diego

I saw the RNST at about 10:00, although about 150 meters to the north of the
bike path platform (it was visible from the bike path by walking north past the
platform and scoping through the fence). With the tide coming up I imagine it
got pushed back towards the platform (and several birders coming back to the
parking lot after 11:00 did say it they had just left it).

Matt Sadowski
Chula Vista, CA

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ross Christie" <rchristie@...>
To: <sdbirds@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, July 26, 2008 10:37 AM
Subject: [SDBIRDS] Red-necked Stint, Saturday 7/26 AM


> The Stint was again present this morning up until approx. 7:30 when
> all birds (with the exception of a bold Caspian Tern) flew off to due
> to a Peregrine falcon flyby.
>
>
> Ross Christie
> La Jolla
>

The newly updated version of the San Diego County Checklist is
complete. With 499 species and 3 more on the supplemental lsit,
what will #500 be.

It is in .pdf format, and can be printed in to a 10 trip booklet.

http://sdbirds.basiclink.com/san_diego_county_checklist1.htm

Enjoy,

Doug Aguillard
San Diego Birding Tours & Black Water Photography
San Diego, CA
doug@...
http://sdbirds.basiclink.com

--


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

Birders,



The 49th Supplement to the AOU Check-list of North American birds is now
available to AOU members on the AOU web site, and will soon be
distributed in the July 2008 Auk.  Here is a summary of changes that
impact the California bird list:



1. Flamingos (order Phoenicopteriformes, occurring only as escapees in
CA) are now placed immediately after the grebes (Podicipediformes) in
the check-list sequence.  Old World Phoenicopterus roseus is split from
New World Ph. ruber; the latter species is now called American Flamingo.


2. With new sequence changes and generic splits in the gulls, CA species
are now in this sequence (for which I provide the binomial only if it
has changed):

             Swallow-tailed Gull

             Black-legged Kittiwake

             Red-legged Kittiwake

             Ivory Gull

             Sabine's Gull

             Bonaparte's Gull, Chroicocephalus Philadelphia

             Black-headed Gull, C. ridibundus

             Little Gull, Hydrocoloeus minutus

             Ross's Gull

             Laughing Gull, Leucophaeus atricilla

             Franklin's Gull, Leucophaeus pipixcan

             and the Larus gulls as follows:

Belcher's

Black-tailed Gull

Heermann's Gull

Mew

Ring-billed

Western

Yellow-footed

             California Gull

             Herring (proposal to split smithsonianus and vegae from
argentatus failed)

             Thayer's

             Iceland

             Lesser Black-backed

             Slaty-backed

             Glaucous-winged

             Glaucous

             Great Black-backed (not accepted to CA list)

3. Green Violet-ear becomes Green Violetear



There are several other changes (mainly distributional) that impact the
ABA area, and numerous others that affect taxa occurring only south of
the ABA area. Interestingly, many New World thrushes in the genus Turdus
that were formerly called "robin" (including Clay-colored) are now
called "thrush," but the Rufous-backed Robin (along with American Robin,
of course) appears to be an exception.



Please do not direct complaints or PDF requests to me...



KLG



Kimball L. Garrett

Ornithology Collections Manager

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

900 Exposition Blvd.

Los Angeles CA 90007

(213) 763-3368

(213) 746-2999 FAX

kgarrett@...





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

Hello, Seabirders,

It's here— fall seabird migration has begun!! The first fall migrant
SABINE'S GULLS showed up on our July 25, 2008 pelagic trip from
Monterey Bay. It was a day full of seabirds, from the moment we
departed the dock, finding the LONG-TAILED DUCK,  until we returned
to the harbor in the late afternoon, finding the HARLEQUIN DUCK— with
thousands of shearwaters throughout the day. Highlights included: 62
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSSES (one with a numbered leg band of a bird
banded in Hawaii), 44 PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATERS, and 15-20,000 SOOTY
SHEARWATERS. The nesting BRANDT'S CORMORANTS in the harbor both on
the Coast Guard jetty and the commercial fishing boat, had nearly
full-grown youngsters. A sprinkling of RED-NECKED PHALAROPES were
returning from their northern breeding grounds. Only 2 CASSIN'S
AUKLETS, and no Rhinoceros Auklets were found. The oddity of the day
was an oiled ANCIENT MURRELET off of Otter Point. This chocolate
covered bird stumped us until we got much better views, and could
confirm its identity with the use of digital photographs. ELEGANT
TERNS were in view throughout the day, while 1 POMARINE JAEGER made a
show at the day's end. Many COMMON MURRES, father/chick pairs were
calling back and forth to each other. The chicks are notably smaller
than the adults, making them an identification challenge for the
beginner seabirders who often mistake these chicks for murrelets. In
the gull department: a single juvenile RING-BILLED GULL was in the
harbor and 2 Western-Glaucous-winged Gulls were offshore. SEA OTTERS
put on a fantastic show, feeding on crabs in the harbor with their
pups. HUMPBACK WHALES, NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE DOLPHINS and PACIFIC
WHITE-SIDED DOLPHINS made our day very interesting.

This was just the tip of the fall season, which should progress as
the weeks more along. There is a LOT of food in Monterey Bay. And,
reports of great swarms of krill at Cordell Bank have been reported.
So, it looks it is going to be a great season for seabirding. Our
next trip, is this Friday from Bodega Bay, August 1. If you are
interested in this trip, please contact me by email noon on July 31st
for a reservation. Spaces are available on the August 12th trip from
Bodega Bay as well. Our August 10th trip to the Farallon Islands is
sold out. The line up of trips is as follows:

BODEGA BAY:
AUG 1, Leaders: Lisa Hug, Jennifer Green, Alan Hopkins, Steve Howell,
Matt Brady, Ryan Terrill, Don Doolittle, Debra Shearwater
AUG 12, Leaders: Lisa Hug, John Sterling, Alan Hopkins, Gerry
McChesney, Steve Howell, Debra Shearwater
OCT 9, Leaders: John Sterling, Steve Howell, Lisa Hug, Debra Shearwater
OCT 17, Leaders: Lisa Hug, Jennifer Green, John Sterling, Debra
Shearwater


FORT BRAGG:
AUG 8, Leaders: Lisa Hug, Clay Kempf, Debra Shearwater
AUG 10, Leaders: Lisa Hug, Linda Terrill, Scott Terrill, Clay Kempf,
Debra Shearwater


MONTEREY BAY:
AUG 15, Leaders: Jennifer Green, Linda Terrill, Clay Kempf
AUG 22, Leaders: Clay Kempf, John Sterling, Jennifer Green, Brian
Sullivan, Debra Shearwater
AUG 29, Leaders: Clay Kempf, Linda Terrill, Jennifer Green
SEP 7, Leaders: Clay Kempf, Scott Terrill, Linda Terrill, Jennifer
Green, Debra Shearwater (almost sold out)
SEP 12, Leaders: Clay Kempf, Brian Sullivan, Debra Shearwater
SEP 13, Leaders: Linda Terrill, Scott Terrill, John Sterling, Brian
Sullivan, Debra Shearwater, ALBACORE trip.
SEP 14, Leaders: Linda Terrill, Scott Terrill, John Sterling, Clay
Kempf, Debra Shearwater
SEP 15, Leaders: Clay Kempf, Debra Shearwater
SEP 22, Leaders: David Vander Pluym, David Wimpfheimer, Debra Shearwater
SEP 25, Leaders: Jim Danzenbaker, Steve Howell, Debra Shearwater
SEP 26, Leaders: David Suddjian, Steve Gerow, Jennifer Green, Steve
Howell, Debra Shearwater. This trip departs from SANTA CRUZ, a great
location for folks coming from the Bay Area.
SEP 27, Leaders: Linda Terrill, Scott Terrill, Steve Howell, Debra
Shearwater
SEP 28, Leaders: Jennifer Green, Steve Howell, Debra Shearwater
OCT 3, Leaders: Clay Kempf, Jennifer Green, Debra Shearwater
OCT 4, Leaders: Clay Kempf, Debra Shearwater
OCT 5, Leaders: Linda Terrill, Scott Terrill, Debra Shearwater
OCT 9, Leaders: John Sterling, Lisa Hug, Steve Howell, Debra Shearwater
OCT 12, Leaders: Clay Kempf, Scott Terrill, Linda Terrill, John
Sterling, Jennifer Green, Debra Shearwater. This trip departs from
SANTA CRUZ.
OCT 17, Leaders: John Sterling, Lisa Hug, Jennifer Green, Debra
Shearwater
OCT 18, Leaders: Linda Terrill, Scott Terrill, Clay Kempf, Debra
Shearwater
NOV 29, Leaders: Clay Kempf, Scott Terrill, Linda Terrill, Jennifer
Green, Debra Shearwater

We thank all of the participants of the July 25th trip. The leaders
for this day were: Jennifer Green, John Hiles, John Sterling, Brian
Sullivan, Steve Howell, and Debra Shearwater. The full species list
follows:

JULY 25, 2008 MONTEREY BAY
COMMON LOON- 2
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 62
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 44
SOOTY SHEARWATER- 15-20,000
BROWN PELICAN- 200
BRANDT'S CORMORANT- 1000
PELAGIC CORMORANT- 4
LONG-TAILED DUCK- 1
HARLEQUIN DUCK- 1
LONG-BILLED CURLEW- 2
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 68
POMARINE JAEGER- 1
HEERMANN'S GULL- 250
RING-BILLED GULL- 1 juv.
WESTERN GULL- 200
WESTERN/GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL- 2
SABINE'S GULL- 7
ELEGANT TERN- 200
CASPIAN TERN- 3
COMMON MURRE- 500+
PIGEON GUILLEMOT- 27
ANCIENT MURRELET- 1, oiled bird, off of Otter Point, near the kelp beds
CASSIN'S AUKLET- 2
SEA OTTER- 22
CALIFORNIA SEA LION- 200
HARBOR SEAL- 16
HUMPBACK WHALE- 8
NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE DOLPHIN- 20
   PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHIN- 45
OCEAN SUNFISH- 1


Shearwaters forever,
Debra

Debra Shearwater
Shearwater Journeys, Inc.
PO Box 190
Hollister, CA 95024
831.637.8527
debi@...
www.shearwaterjourneys.com

*Antarctica, South Georgia, & The Falkland Islands, January 5-24, 2010*
Shearwater Journeys' Exclusive Charter






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

County Coordinators/Contributors:

The Summer Season (1 June through 31 July 2008) 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 (Check-List of North American
Birds 1998) and the American Birding Association (6th edition of the ABA
Checklist, 2002). Reports of species included on the California Bird
Records Committee (CBRC) review list (Field List of California Birds 2002,
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. 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 20 August 2008. NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS can not exist without your input.

David Compton (Santa Barbara County)
736 Cieneguitas, # F
Santa Barbara, CA 93110
davcompton@verizon. <mailto:davcompton%40verizon.net> net

Tom M. Edell (San Luis Obispo County)
46 8th Street
Cayucos, CA 93430
tedell@... <mailto:tedell%40aol.com>

Kimball L. Garrett (Los Angeles County)
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
900 Exposition Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90007
kgarrett@nhm. <mailto:kgarrett%40nhm.org> org

John F. Green (Riverside County)
3120 Mount Vernon Ave.
Riverside, CA 92507-3140
bewickwren@earthlin <mailto:bewickwren%40earthlink.net> k.net

Tom and Jo Heindel (Inyo County)
PO Box 400
Big Pine, CA 93513
tjheindel@aol. <mailto:tjheindel%40aol.com> com

Oscar Johnson (Ventura County)
P.O. Box 21903
Santa Barbara, CA 93121
henicorhina@ <mailto:henicorhina%40yahoo.com> yahoo.com

Alexander E. Koonce (San Bernardino County)
1357 Paige Lane
Redlands, CA 92373-6878
sandy_koonce@ <mailto:sandy_koonce%40redlands.edu> redlands.edu

Guy McCaskie (Imperial County)
954 Grove Avenue
Imperial Beach, CA 91932
guymcc@pacbell. <mailto:guymcc%40pacbell.net> net

Douglas R. Willick (Orange County)
236 S Batavia St #E
Orange CA 92868
Doug.Willick@ <mailto:Doug.Willick%40tcb.aecom.com> tcb.aecom.com

John C. Wilson (Kern County)
1425 Alta Vista Drive
Bakersfield, CA 93305
jcwilson@lightspeed <mailto:jcwilson%40lightspeed.net> .net

We thank you in advance for your time and effort.



Guy McCaskie

954 Grove Avenue
Imperial Beach, CA 91932



Kimball L. Garrett





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