Tues., Jan.1, 2013 -- Toby Tobkin called to report seeing a female BULLOCK'S
ORIOLE and a YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER at the Rose Memorial Park Cemetery in Fort
Bragg.  The Oriole was in the largest Banksia tree that is in the northeastern
part of the cemetery.  The Sapsucker was in the tree next to that one.  The
sighting happened around noon.

For Toby Tobkin -

Carolyn Kinet
Inglenook

Near dusk on New Year's Day, Caspar Pond was wonderfully busy, mostly
with "r" ducks: Ruddies, Ring-Necked, and the continuing 2 male
Redhead, along with the usual Coots. The formerly-lone male Hooded
Merganser now has an entourage of 3 females.

Hello all. Back in Potter Valley for a short while, I've made a couple of
notable bird observations over the past couple of days.

First, the WHITE-CROWNED X GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW hybrid is back, for its third
winter. As in the previous two years, it's hanging out with the Golden-crowned
Sparrow flock that favors the seed feeders in my parent's backyard.

Also notable were nine TUNDRA SWANS that flew low over the property this
afternoon. This was a completely unexpected yard bird (my 99th). The swans flew
towards the southeast, but a late afternoon check along Burris Lane failed to
turn them up, so they may have kept going towards Lake County.

While checking for the swans at the pond at the end of Burris Lane, I noted a
LEWIS'S WOODPECKER and a young FERRUGINOUS HAWK. No sign of the burrowing Owl,
but it may have been underground. In the vineyard across from the old barn with
the Guineafowl and pigeons is a large pond that's hard to see; however, a
careful check of it turned up about a dozen HOODED MERGANSERS.

Another LEWIS'S WOODPECKER was on a friend's property along West Road a couple
of days ago.

Finally, my dad told me that we had a WILSON'S WARBLER hanging around for a few
days earlier in December; it was apparently last seen on the 16th.

Good birding,

Matt Brady
Potter Valley/Baton Rouge LA

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

Thu, 3 Jan 2013 -- A FERRUGINOUS HAWK was hunting and perching above the
field on the east side of Hwy 1, mm 70.32 this morning.  It is only the second
time
I've seen one here since 15 Nov 2012.  For several previous years there had been
a FEHA wintering in this area.

Karen Havlena
Ocean Meadows/Ten Mile Area
North of Fort Bragg, MEN, Ca

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

The birders participating in the Saturday, December 15 Clear Lake Christmas Bird
Count were challenged this year by the weather. We had a minimum temperature of
26 and a high of 37, partly frozen moving water, and strong snow flurries in the
early afternoon resulting in 1˝+ of snow at the higher elevations and slippery
road conditions throughout the count circle.  Fortunately, the east wind was
mild.

Despite all, we ended up with 126 species, significantly less than the previous
10-year average of 141 species. The total number of birds seen was 24,112, again
less than the 10-year average of 49,335 birds.  The 10-year average figure is
skewed somewhat by the fact that in the years of 2004, 2005 and 2006 we had an
unusual high count for many of our water birds on Clear Lake due to the
abundance of food, primarily threadfin shad and silversides. To put this in
perspective, in the year 2004 we had a total of 135,312 individual birds
counted, more than 5˝ times the total number counted this year.

The weather did not discourage the participants, however. We had 53 birders in
the field and 3 feeder watchers, significantly higher than the 10-year average
of 41 in the field and 3.5 at feeders. We were delighted to have 17 first-time
observers in the Clear Lake Count. The majority of our participants were Lake
County residents, but we were pleased to have birders join us from Santa Rosa,
St. Helena, Napa and Woodland. Thank you Out of Towners!

The Ruddy Duck for the second year in a row wins the prize for the most
individuals seen at 8,170, a slight increase over a 5-year average of 8,068 but
dramatically lower than last year's total of 14,838. A record high count of 44
was set for the Snowy Egret, beating out the previous high of 40 in 2005. This
can be attributed in part to the fact that we had 3 kayakers in the Anderson
Marsh area for the first time and accessing habitat unseen from land.

Unfortunately, we are also seeing an increase in the introduced, invasive
Eurasian Collared Dove that this year for the first time equaled the number of
the native Mourning Doves with a count of 94 each. The Eurasian Collared Dove
first appeared on the CBC with 6 individuals in 2008 and reached 26 last year,
and we can expect to see dramatic increases of the Collared Dove in the future
while our Mourning Dove numbers will likely decrease.

Anna's Hummingbird showed up in good numbers with a total of 64 only to be
outdone by the 67 counted in 1998. Twenty-one of these hummers turned up at a
feeder in the Riviera and another 20 were found feeding on the flowers of the
Common or English Ivy.

The Red-breasted Nuthatch experienced another high count with a total of 33
individuals but less than the incredible 71 counted in the year 1984. Its more
typical high is in the single digits, but this year is an "irruptive" year for
this species as presumably a lack of food on the bird's normal wintering ground
is moving them further south in search of food.

The only species that was seen by all participating groups was the Western Scrub
Jay. The big misses were Barn Owl which has been counted yearly except for a
period from l984 through 1988 and Cooper's Hawk which has been absent only once
before in 2001. The other continued miss is the Yellow-billed Magpie, which
might be permanently absent from our count in the future. It has made the CBC
most years since 1989 with the number diminishing since the West Ville Virus
epidemic. The species had a high count of 25 in the 1995 CBC and another high of
17 in 1999. These highs diminished to 3 in 2008, 1 in 2009, 2 in 2010, none last
year and again missing this year. Sadly, the High Valley population appears to
be extirpated.

The California Thrasher made an historic low count with only 1 bird seen this
year as opposed to a 10-year average of 8 birds. Only 1 Lincoln's Sparrow
appeared as well.

On the high note, it is 2013 and another Christmas Bird Count to plan for on
December 14, 2013. Yeah!

My deep gratitude to all the leaders and participants who have dedicated their
time and heart to count all those birds year after year after year.

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 -- Late this afternoon I drove to the end of Burris Lane in
Potter Valley, and I had two BURROWING OWLS in view at the same time from the
high point in the road near the pond.  One was about 50 yards to the SW at the
foot of the facing hill on the far side of an unused track which runs across the
flat(good binoculars view). It (presumably one) has been seen at two burrow
mouths in this area since 2 Dec.  The second was about 400 yards to the SE below
a group of rocks on the distant grassy hillside (scope necessary). Chuck Vaughn,
Seth LaRosa, Allison Rofe, and I saw this bird in the same location on 1 Jan.

George Chaniot
Potter Valley, MEN, CA

Andrea and I have the first week of February off. Where do you all recommend we
go for some birding fun? We'd probably prefer to stay under about a 12 hour
drive.

6&7 Jan 2013   I normally do not report Bald Eagles any more in the winter as
they are becoming so common, but I thought that I would document that in the
last 24 hours there have been 2 adult bald eagles (different birds) and one
first year bald eagle in the Hopland Area.   One adult and the imm. along Feliz
Creek on the west side of Hopland and one adult along Hwy 175/University Road to
the east of Hopland.   Good birding.  Bob Keiffer    
rjkeiffer@...<mailto:rjkeiffer@...>

[Toolkit_Email_Sig_WIN]
Robert J. Keiffer - Superintendent
UC ANR, Hopland Research & Extension Center
4070 University Rd.
Hopland, CA 95449
707-744-1424 ext. 112
Office hours: Monday-Friday 8:00-5:00

Please check out our Website:   http://ucanr.org/sites/hopland/
Also, take a look at our blog (updated daily):
http://ucanr.org/blogs/Hopland/index.cfm



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

Hello All. On my way north this afternoon I made a brief stop by the Crowfoot
Ranch on Highway 101, north of Hopland. There's a large Canada Goose flock that
winters there, and in the past I've seen most of the uncommon geese mixed in.
Today there were about 20 CACKLING GEESE. Additionally, there was a large puddle
that had attracted about 80 American Wigeons; in with them was a single female
EURASIAN WIGEON. Her rufous head was really obvious in the low afternoon
sunlight.

Good birding,

Matt Brady
Potter Valley/Baton Rouge

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8 Jan 2012 -  This video clip of an Arctic Loon was taken at Monterey Harbor
last Sunday    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irbdVFePnwE    You can also find
the link on today's Calbird website.     I recommend watching the youtube video
as it gives great clarity to the amount of white that shows on the flanks of
this species.   We should always be on the lookout for this species along the
Mendocino Coast during winter.   Years ago Matthew Matthiessen reported one
...but there was not sufficient documentation for it to be accepted by the CBRC.
Good birding.  Bob Keiffer    rjkeiffer@...<mailto:rjkeiffer@...>

[Toolkit_Email_Sig_WIN]
Robert J. Keiffer - Superintendent
UC ANR, Hopland Research & Extension Center
4070 University Rd.
Hopland, CA 95449
707-744-1424 ext. 112
Office hours: Monday-Friday 8:00-5:00

Please check out our Website:   http://ucanr.org/sites/hopland/
Also, take a look at our blog (updated daily):
http://ucanr.org/blogs/Hopland/index.cfm



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

This morning I discovered a BRANT a good (scope) distance offshore from Library
Park (between 1st and 3rd Streets). This is only the 2nd record for Lake County.
Dave and Marybeth Woodward who happened to be nearby also saw the bird. Another
group of people came down about 20 minutes later but by that time the bird could
not be refound.
Also seen were 3 Common Loons and a Bald Eagle.

On Tuesday the 8th, the 2 BURROWING OWLS  first found by Dave Woodward were
still present on Callayomi Rd. off of Butts Canyon Rd. The Ferruginous Hawk and
Lewis's Woodpeckers were also still in the area.  Jerry White

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

Greetings Mendobirders-  Dolores and Michael Toivonen spotted an American
Dipper at their Redwood Valley home late this morning(1100 Rd B).  They
had seen it about a week ago as well.  It is apparently frequenting the
creek that runs throught their property.  If anyone would like to look for
it, give Dolores a call for directions to their home- 485-7475.

Dolores and Michael


--
Chuck and Barbara Vaughn
Ukiah, CA

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 -- Late morning there was an adult SNOW GOOSE in the pasture
on the east side of Bald Hill Rd with Canada Geese.  This is east of Pudding
Creek Rd.

Then, I saw both male and female BULLOCK'S ORIOLES at Rose Memorial Cemetery
at E Spruce & N Franklin in Fort Bragg.  They were in the west banksia tree next
to the
"sapsucker" banksia.

Karen Havlena
Fort Bragg, MEN, California

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Hello Everyone,
           This afternoon around 1pm Allison Rofe and I found a RED-NAPED
SAPSUCKER at Riverside park in Ukiah. It was in a tree along the fence of the
main paved walkway. Travelling south on the path it was just past the bmx track
on the right hand side. Red plumage was present on the back of the head, ruling
out a YBSA. We took LOTS of pictures. This was also a  life bird for Allison. 
Here's a link to the pic
https://picasaweb.google.com/sethsells/January112013?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCL\
eP-ZuMwNKNVQ&feat=directlink
           Thanks - Seth LaRosa

Saturday, 12 January 2013.
Highlights from this morning’s Mendocino Coast Audubon field trip to the lower
Ten Mile River included 14 Western Snowy Plovers (several banded) on the beach
just south of the river mouth, 2 Burrowing Owls in the driftwood piles just
north of the old haul road near the river mouth, a Merlin hunting along the
lower river dunes and perched in the firs along the north bank, and a
Ferruginous Hawk working the northern hills further upriver.
Dave Jensen

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

Fri Jan 11, 2013--During a Winter SOS Survey today I had two firsts. There was a
MARBLED GODWIT (a first for winter) on the main beach with the Black-bellied
Plover flock. Also in the Black-bellied Plover flock there were two ROCK
SANDPIPERS. This was the first time I have ever seen them off the rocks and on
the sand. A 7.5 high tide
might explain it.

Richard Hubacek
Little River

Note: This was posted on the SOS site yesterday. It was suggested that it be
posted here because not many people follow the SOS Site.

Saturday Jan 12, 1:30 - 3:00pm
The Red-naped sapsucker reported by Seth LaRosa & Allison Rofe on Jan. 11
continues at Riverside Park in Ukiah.
The bird was seen in the same area as reported previously. Walking south on
the new black-topped path with the BMX track to the right (west) and the
river to the left (east) there is a small evergreen tree (Chinese Elm, I
believe) which is just to the west of the path and adjacent to the BMX
site. There are multiple fresh sap wells in this tree and twice the bird
was seen to fly from there, across the path, to the leafless trees along
the river. The bird returned to this tree for feeding. Very good views were
afforded at all locations.
Also drawn to the sap wells, possibly for insects, was a Yellow-rumped
Warbler, "Myrtle's" race.
Foraging in the trees along the river in this same location were also seen
a Nuttall's, Acorn, and Hairy Woodpecker.

(Riverside Park is at the far east end of East Gobbi St. The Park is always
available to pedestrians but you must park outside the, generally locked,
gate. Not advisable to drive in, even if the gate happens to be open, as
your car could be locked in while you're Sapsuckering, or whatever.
Vishnu


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

Saturday Jan. 12, 10:15 -12:15 PM
Neil and Andrea Davis, myself and wife searched about two hours. Mostly in the
area near the evergreen tree with fresh sap wells. The red-naped sapsucker was
not present at during this period while we were there. Jim Lomax arrived about
9:00 AM  and left when we left and he did not see it either. We saw a
red-breasted sapsucker several times. I guess we have to go back later. Jack
Booth

Birds 1/12/13 at 10 mile river MCAS field trip Thanks David
14 snowy plovers -6 with bands
Single yellow rt
Orange (or red) both
Yellow lt blue  rt
Pink on rt
  Orange lt     blue  green rt
Yellow orange lt light blu rt

Also seen 6 or 7 pairs Am. widgon
6 common merganser
Belted kingfisher?
12+ sanderlings
Coots
2 burrowing owl
Merlin
Kestrel
Red tail hawk
White tailed kite
Many bufflehead
Robins
Yellow rumped warblers
White crowned sparrow
Golden crowned sparrow
Lincolns sparrow?
Wrentit?
Ruby crowned kinglet
Great blue heron
Snowy egret
Great egret
Mallards
Gadwall hen?


from the great beyond (or possibly an IPhone)

Saturday 12 January 2012 - After an excellent MCAS field trip to Ten
Mile (thanks again David), I stopped at Rose Memorial Cemetery in Fort
Bragg to see if the Orioles might present themselves.  They did not.

I met Seth and Allison from Ukiah, who were also hoping for orioles, and
we did find a Nashville Warbler, briefly.  Seth then found a female
Selasphorus (Allens/Rufous) Hummingbird working the lower branches of a
Banksia tree to the east of the "Sapsucker/Oriole" cluster.  The bird
seems to have staked out a small territory with two or three
frequently-used perches.  The odd thing about this bird, aside from it
being here so early in the year, is that it appears to be in juvenile
plumage; there is no central red spot on its throat.

Cheers,
Tim Bray
Albion

I know this is not birds, but any of you on the coast who have a bit of time
to spare on this beautiful day might want to go to the coast north of
Jughandle Creek . A pod of 14 Killer Whales hare heading north and just are
going by Jughandle as I type this. They will probably be off Fort Bragg in
about 20 minutes and then continue north at about 3-4 miles per hour.



Good luck!



Ron LeValley



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

First, we have decided to hold the next ( #114) CBC (Elk to Pt Arena Light)
on Saturday, 4 January, 2014.   That should help some of you to kickstart
your year list for 2014. 

As for this recent CBC, we had a grand total of 139 species.  Several things
combined to delay the final results - apologies all round.  We had only one
"Count Week" species, an Orange-crowned Warbler found by Cheryl Watson
the day after count day.  Highlights included SANDHILL CRANE (Bob & Ryan
Keiffer), GREEN HERON (Jeff Petit), PALM WARBLER (Diane Hichwa & Rich
Trissel), and  PACIFIC GOLDEN-PLOVER (Chuck Vaughn, Jerry White, mob).
The weather was clear but cold.  Many birds stayed under cover and
  kept
quiet, as well.  Only 8,674 individuals were noted by our bundled up counters.

I am going to ask the hierarchy at Nat'l Audubon to allow us to change the
official name of CAMN to Manchester, the nickname used by many.  The
current name, Mendocino Coast, is now awkward, as the Fort Bragg count
is on the Mendocino coast, also!  CAMN fits Manchester very well, so no code
change is necessary -- hope I can get that point across....

My SINCERE THANKS to the participants and to David Jensen for organizing the
count and for providing dinner for those who could be at the compilation that
evening!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Karen Havlena
CAMN

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

Just saw them north of Laguna point way out at horizon!  Thanks Ron!

Sarah, PT
Sent from my iPhone


On Jan 13, 2013, at 12:30 PM, "Ron LeValley" <ron@...> wrote:

> I know this is not birds, but any of you on the coast who have a bit of time
> to spare on this beautiful day might want to go to the coast north of
> Jughandle Creek . A pod of 14 Killer Whales hare heading north and just are
> going by Jughandle as I type this. They will probably be off Fort Bragg in
> about 20 minutes and then continue north at about 3-4 miles per hour.
>
> Good luck!
>
> Ron LeValley
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>


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

Birds 1/12/13
Tags observed by group at 10 mile beach
14 snowy
Single yellow rt
Orange (or red) both
Yellow lt blue  rt
Pink on rt
  Orange lt     blue  green rt
Yellow orange lt light blu rt

Dennis

from the great beyond (or possibly an IPhone)

I got photos, one of which was good enough to show a red tag and a blue and
yellow one, on the legs of one bird. I will post them on the group site. I was
alone (yesterday).




--- On Sat, 1/12/13, Dennis Olivarez <dcolivarez@...> wrote:

From: Dennis Olivarez <dcolivarez@...>
Subject: [Mendobirds] Birds 1/12/13
To: Mendobirds@yahoogroups.com
Date: Saturday, January 12, 2013, 12:53 PM
















 









       Birds 1/12/13

Tags observed by group at 10 mile beach

14 snowy

Single yellow rt

Orange (or red) both

Yellow lt blue  rt

Pink on rt

  Orange lt     blue  green rt

Yellow orange lt light blu rt



Dennis



from the great beyond (or possibly an IPhone)

























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

My wife Uvea and I spotted what we thought to be the Red-Naped Sapsucker at
Riverside Park Ukiah this morning. It flew away before we could take a complete
look at it. A few minutes later we were able to call it in with our Audubon
Birds Ipod app. We got really close good looks. We also came back after lunch
around 12:30 and saw it several times again. We were also able to call a female
Nuttall's Woodpecker in close. Thank you for the heads up.
Steve Stump

14 Jan 2013

Despite two misses yesterday, today at 3:15 I was able to find the RNSA.  It was
in a 4-trunked tree approx. 100 yards beyond the South border of the fenced BMX
track, on the right side of the paved path.  It was foraging for surface insects
and not drilling at all.  It was still in the same tree when I had to leave
after about 20 minutes.

A couple of poor photos are included with my eBird checklist: 
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S12606845

George Gibbs
Ukiah

--- In Mendobirds@yahoogroups.com, "Steve"  wrote:
>
> My wife Uvea and I spotted what we thought to be the Red-Naped Sapsucker at
Riverside Park Ukiah this morning. It flew away before we could take a complete
look at it. A few minutes later we were able to call it in with our Audubon
Birds Ipod app. We got really close good looks. We also came back after lunch
around 12:30 and saw it several times again. We were also able to call a female
Nuttall's Woodpecker in close. Thank you for the heads up.
> Steve Stump
>

January 16, 2012, Lake Pennyroyal

Ten male and four female canvasbacks were "tuling around" in the sunlit mists of
Lake Pennyroyal this morning. Also about 10 ring-necks and 12 ruddies. Two male
canvasbacks engaged in what appeared to be prolonged fighting, with much body
contact, splashing, and dunking. One bout lasted for about a minute, I'd guess.
Three canvasbacks have been here for about two weeks, joined by a few more a
couple days ago, but this is the first time I've seen 14.
I just found a great series of pictures of canvasbacks fighting and of one
coming up with his head covered with mud, bill dripping mud, and eyes open.

http://featheredphotography.com/blog/2010/11/16/canvasback-feeding-and-fighting-\
behavior/

Last week I saw 20 wood ducks one afternoon––the most I've ever seen here at
once.

Pennyroyal is a large private pond NW of Ukiah.

Kate


  Kate Marianchild
   Nature Writer
    katem@...

   Currently writing Secrets of the Oak Woodlands,
   a book full of fascinating information about the plants
   and animals that live among California's oaks. My goal is
   is to inspire Californians to preserve our native oaks
   and the myriad species that live in association with them.
   Oak habitats collectively support more diversity of life
   than any other terrestrial ecosystem in California. To be
   published by Heyday in spring of 2014.








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12-16 January 2013 - One female Canvasback on Gielow/River Road pond about a
mile south of Talmage.   It is usually on the far west side of the pond with its
head tucked under its wing.   3 Northern Shovelers were on the pond today.    
Good Birding.  Bob Keiffer

[Toolkit_Email_Sig_WIN]
Robert J. Keiffer - Superintendent
UC ANR, Hopland Research & Extension Center
4070 University Rd.
Hopland, CA 95449
707-744-1424 ext. 112
Office hours: Monday-Friday 8:00-5:00

Please check out our Website:   http://ucanr.org/sites/hopland/
Also, take a look at our blog (updated daily):
http://ucanr.org/blogs/Hopland/index.cfm



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

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 -- Dorothy Tobkin called to say that she saw a ROSS'S GOOSE
with a
flock of 30 CACKLING GEESE and 3 GT WHITE-FRONTED GEESE.  This is a new
group from the large Canada and a large, Snow Goose group I had a few days ago
adjacent
to Bald Hill Rd, east of Pudding Creek Rd on the NE outskirts of Fort Bragg.

For Dorothy Tobkin
 
 
(K Havlena) Fort Bragg, MEN, Ca

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