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Chinchen
climber
Way out there....
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May 30, 2012 - 11:34pm PT
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School of rock is a great movie. You may just be a birder, mr Bird.
Yes, Crystal Crag, good eyes.
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Tony Bird
climber
Northridge, CA
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darn, wish we could drive places. i really, really think i saw a mountain quail at horse flat yesterday. (cf. my posting on "what did you climb today". i have stooped to on-topic discussion.)
on the way up ACH, i encountered many bicyclists. does this mean that i'm going to have to take to bicycling so's, before the end of the season, i can actually add a genuine prod-approved big year mountain quail sighting? scary. i don't mind the long uphill pump so much as the speed descent. i picture my old bicycle dismembering itself at 40 mph.
p.s. not absolutely sure it was a mountain quail anyway, but i suspect it was. had a clear view of its dun-blue head and neck--none of that cap color you see in the california quail. it gave a cry i've never heard before--kind of a long skraaaaaak. all my audubon's guide says is:
"Its frequent call is a loud echoing kyork or woook. Other notes include soft whistles."
my burning question is: does a non-echoing skraaaaaak come close to an echoing woook?
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Tony Bird
climber
Northridge, CA
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nice reference, timid, but it only has one cry for the mountain quail, and my memory of it is getting foggy already.
this is such subjective territory. the audubon guidebook says the california quail hollers out "chi-CA-go". i worked a jobsite where the adjacent quail kept hollering out "it's BREAK-time" all morning long.
so, let's see--you're bicycling up from riverside county, right? so i could meet you at la cañada, where i'm sure we'll be able to crash in a city park sometime after 10 pm. we'll be able to make newcomb's ranch for dinner by the next evening, then spend a day or two tromping around horse flats. might as well do a little bouldering--it helps scare up the quail.
i think dr. F lives in your neighborhood and i've gotten vague promises from him to revisit HF. can we count the bird sightings if someone drives us back home?
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Tony Bird
climber
Northridge, CA
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oh, sorry. great place for pale ale sightings.
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Black Heading Grosbeak out back. And can't recall if I noted a Lazuli Bunting at the feeder!
Yay birds!!
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Some of the most important birds out there are the ones you don't see- like the hawks that left the environs of the Naked Edge.
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cyndiebransford
climber
31 years in Joshua Tree, now Alaska
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I went on a mountain bike ride and saw a Orange-crowned Warbler, Arctic Terns, Spotted Sandpipers, American Dipper and the usual assortment of birds for the Kenai Peninsula.
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dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
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Jun 14, 2012 - 07:41pm PT
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Last weekend I did 3 days in a row birdbiking, or was it bikebirding?
Friday-Irvine Park
Saturday-Upper Newport Bay
Sunday-San Joaquin Marsh
Here is the "Tustin" list now.
1. House Finch (red and orange)
2. White Tailed Kite
3. Annas Hummingbird
4. Rufous Hummingbird
5. Mockingbird
6. Roadrunner-PC
7. Crow
8. Raven
9. Red Tailed Hawk
10. Cooper’s Hawk
11. Mourning Dove
12. Western Bluebird
13. American Robin
14. Black Phoebe
15. Hooded Oriole
16. Band Tailed Pigeon
17. Mallard
18. Calif. Towhee
19. Canada Goose
20. Bewick’s Wren
21. Yellow Warbler- PC
22. Tree Swallow
23. Brewer’s Blackbird
24. Bushtit- PC
25. Spotted Towhee- PC (by call)
26. Rock Dove.
27. Pacific Slope Flycatcher
28. Western Wood Pewee
29. House Sparrow
30. Common Yellowthroat-PC
31. Red Winged Blackbird-PC
32. Killdeer-PC
33. Lesser Goldfinch-PC
34. Ruddy Duck-PC
35. Western Grebe-PC
36. Fox Sparrow-PC
37. American Coot-PC
38. Allen’s Hummingbird
39. Brewer’s Sparrow
40. Western Kingbird-PC
41. Forster’s Tern-PC
42. Wood Duck-IP
43. Acorn Woodpecker-IP
44. Peacock-IP
45. Red Crowned Parrot-IP
46. Nuttall’s Woodpecker-IP
47. Black Necked Stilt-PCC
48. Cinnamon Teal-PCC
49. Snowy Egret-PCC
50. American Avocet-PCC
51. White Pelican-UNB
52. Great Blue Heron-UNB
53. Black Skimmer-UNB
54. Song Sparrow-UNB
55. Common Moorhen-UNB
56. Osprey-UNB
57. Marbled Godwit-UNB
58. Cliff Swallow-SDC
59. Northern Harrier (Marsh Hawk)-UNB
60. Double Crested Cormorant-SJM
61. Pied Billed Grebe-SJM
62. Brown Pelican-SJM
63. Egyptian Goose-SJM
I know the Egyptian Geese (2)were "exotic." But there they were, lookin' pretty wild.
I believe Peacocks are considered as exotics as well but Irvine Park has quite a population of them and they fend for themselves.
Got some good training milege as well.
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Darwin
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Jun 24, 2012 - 07:31pm PT
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Number 100 on my walking/biking big year!
(not that I have any credibility after not recognizing a Lesser Goldfinch on the other birds thread)
Tony is still WAY out ahead of all the people I know participating in local walking/biking event. I know, it's not a competition.
For me 98 and 99 were very cool, too. Number 98 was a Black Swift (a lifer for me) and my heart still beats fast thinking about how it looked zooming around below the dark rain heavy clouds. Number 99 was a California Quail, and I've only seen one other in Seattle, and I just like those birds, especially since my attention was drawn to it by its Chuk'ca'go call, and my wife got to see it, too.
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Tony
Trad climber
Pt. Richmond, CA
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Jul 17, 2012 - 02:03am PT
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I finally got out and about my local after a long stint of travel. I found a few new species after a long gap. It looks like the post-breeding movements have begun. The shorebirds have been returning:
126. American White Pelican
127. Wilson's Warbler
128. Purple Finch (heard only, I couldn't track it down)
129. Heermann's Gull
130. Elegant Tern
The big treat, though, was returning to find all the birds with young. Our local Osprey pair have raised two young just about to fledging. I also found four recently fledged Cooper's Hawks practically in our backyard.
[Edit] Have you ever seen an adult raptor lying down? Fledgling Cooper's Hawks do it a lot.
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Stephen McCabe
Trad climber
near Santa Cruz, CA
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Jul 17, 2012 - 04:01am PT
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Central Californians may be able to add a good one to your list that is usually not seen anywhere near us. A northern parula has been sighted near the gift shop at the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum for about a week now. Usually seen on foggy mornings.
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dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
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Jul 20, 2012 - 11:11pm PT
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OK, here is my update.
64. White Pelican-UNB
65. Great Egret- PC
66. Least Tern- UNB
67. Brandt's Cormorant-UNB
68. Willet-UNB
69. Wilson's Warbler- UNB
70. Cactus Wren-UNB
71. Least sandpiper- UNB
72. Cali. Gull- UNB
73. Cali. Quail- PC
74. Yellow Rumped Warbler- backyard....
I saw my cat, "Kit Kat," in the backyard with a bird she had killed. I yelled, sprinted into the backyard, grabbed her and she dropped the bird at my feet. The bird looked bad, all saliva soaked and eyes closed. Suddenly he opened his eyes , looked into mine, did a full body shudder, gasped for a breath and took off. Yellow Rumped Warbler. He looked good as he cleared the roof and was gone.
I'm working on a Townsend's
Warbler in my Mom's backyard. I need to ride down there at sunset.
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Jul 21, 2012 - 12:15am PT
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Lots of cool stuff here. Thanks everyone!
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Darwin
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Jul 21, 2012 - 12:54am PT
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I just love checking out what others see and when they seem them, that is compared to what I see up here. And who wouldn't like the photos(Tony!) The following was 103. I don't know about the rest of you, but I do get some help from local bird experts. Take the Semipalmated Sandpiper not this one!. I first saw it as a tiny little blob that a friend and expert had previously scoped out, and she said "Semi..., black legs, stubby bill ..." Luckily, I got a better view later, but I have to admit that I was ready to count it the first time.
Anyway there are a ton of unedited photos again at
http://173.160.158.251/postings/2012_07_16_Yellow/index.html
and here are two I picked out:
added in edit:
e.g.; I'll be lucky if I seen any of the following from dee ee's list
53. Black Skimmer-UNB
55. Common Moorhen-UNB
59. Northern Harrier (Marsh Hawk)-UNB
62. Brown Pelican-SJM
OK: I better find a Northern Harrier somewhere in Seattle within bicycling distance. What's UNB? SJM=San Jose Marsh?
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dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
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Jul 27, 2012 - 07:44pm PT
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Dr. F, Rufous Sided Towhee= Spotted Towhee?
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Darwin
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Jul 27, 2012 - 10:50pm PT
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I still think "Rufous Sided Towhee" and "Marsh Hawk" to myself, but Tony has beaten out of me saying those phrases in public.
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Tony
Trad climber
Pt. Richmond, CA
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Jul 28, 2012 - 03:21am PT
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Dr. F is just being old-school on the Towhees. What Darwin says it not quite accurate. I may have asked him how he, as a born and bred Berkeley kid, would report seeing a Marsh Hawk eating an Oldsquaw.
A few days ago I saw #131, Hooded Oriole. I struggled with these, since they were pretty newly fledged and were making some unusual calls that don't match my birdsong app. Fortunately, there was mention of this in the Nat Geo guide.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Jul 29, 2012 - 12:48am PT
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today at low tide on the Hayward shoreline
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Tony
Trad climber
Pt. Richmond, CA
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While checking around for migrants passing through, I found my first new species in quite a while. A Red-necked Phalarope was foraging just offshore near our place.
No other new ones, but there were a bunch of juvenile Robins and Bluebirds about.
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dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
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Here is my update to the "Tustin" list.
HB= Huntington Beach, SDC-San Diego Creek, BC=Bolsa Chica, BC= 60 miles round trip on my road bike.
75. Heerman’s Gull-HB
76. Long Billed Curlew-BC
77. Whimbrel-BC
78. Rough Winged Swallow-SJWS
79. Caspian Tern-SJWS
80. Gadwall-SJWS
81. White Throated Swift-SJWS
82. Starling-SDC
83. Short Billed Dowitcher-SJWS
84. Clark’s Grebe-SJWS
85. Savannah Sparrow-SJWS
86. Semipalmated Plover-SJWS
87. Cassin’s Kingbird-T
Correction: I had been referring to the San Joaquin Marsh but have recently realized that it is actually correctly the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary. The San Joaquin Marsh is across Campus St. from the SJWS.
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