Lee,
Other friends have seen it near the burrow. But, I expect it may need to hunt in a wider area. Besides, I am sure that it hasn't read the information about its refuge, unfortunately. Very nice photo!
Erica
Hi:
This morning I spotted a ruby crowned kinglet on the ground along the iron Horse Trail behind the Alamo Safeway.
It's time to flush out more participants for the Richmond CBC! Our first three years, we've seen great success with this count circle (see last year's
trip report), so we encourage you to register and represent the 4th Annual Richmond CBC.
And this year it's on Sunday, December 29th, and what's better than spending the end of 2024 participating in the nation's longest running community science bird project?? (Nothing, the answer is nothing)
Check out the count circle
here! You can request an assignment in one of our 18 count areas and we'll do our best to be accommodating.
Here are the links:
Feeder Watcher (bird from the comfort of your own neighborhood if you live in the circle)
Count Dinner If you have any questions or are having trouble registering, please feel free to contact Derek or BreeAnn for help.
Let's have another fantastic Richmond CBC, and register today before we break out the mob tape!
BreeAnn and Derek
Richmond CBC Co-Compilers
I was surprised to see a Burrowing Owl this morning in Cesar Chavez Park at the diagonally opposite side of the park from its enclosure. It was on the west side, only about 30 feet above the main trail in an area with unleased dogs not very far from it (fortunately, they did not seem to notice it). GPS location was 37°52'19.13" N 122°19'21.23" W. It seemed perfectly healthy. I do not know if it is thinking of residing in this section, or just looking around. Perhaps this is not an unusual sighting for this owl, but I am posting in case it is relevant to the ongoing discussion about adequate protections for this species at the park.
Good birding,
Lee Friedman
Snow bunting still there feeding Monday noonish in same location—south culvert at Mt Trashmore.
Kevin Owen
Oakland
Feeding along west end of south culvert.
Lots of folks out here but no longspurs YET
DM
SF
Sent from my mobile - please excuse nonstandard typography.
Is this sighting one that ought to be submitted to the California Birds Records Committee?
I did not know quite how rare the sighting was at the time (and in fact was under the impression that it was a LALO in different plumage) so apologize for not getting the word out earlier.
regards, Erica
This morning I took a walk through the Brentwood Creekside Park and down Eureka Ave. as part of a super-early scouting effort for the East Contra Costa CBC. The absolute highlight came in the form of a Red Crossbill flying over me on Claremont Drive. It is not a particularly good year for this species, and there are very few records for the Central Valley portion of the county. This stretch of Marsh Creek is unique in that it is the only place on the Central Valley floor where Chickadees are resident, that I know of, and I found only one here today in the large valley oaks behind the playground. With it were two Townsend's Warblers and a Western Tanager. The neighborhoods on Cheshire and Claremont Drives had two Hutton's Vireos (singing), and a Purple Finch fed on the pistache here. These are all species we often miss on the count. At the Eureka Ave. bridge was a G-c Kinglet and a female Townsend's Warbler, and in two different orchards further east on Eureka I was pleased to find single Chipping Sparrows with a smattering of Lark Sparrows. This seems to be a rare but increasing winter species in the county.
Checking a few other spots around afterwards was a largely fruitless endeavor.
Ethan Monk
Some quick notes on the Smith’s Longspur that was seen by m.obs. at Mt. Trashmore this morning but not identified until 4-5 hours later (by whom???—thank you to this person) :
A big group of us looked this evening, and we had the continuing Snow Bunting and 1/2 Lapland but no Smith’s. We only had about an hour and change of light to look, so we could easily have missed it.
And not to intrude on the wonderful Alameda review teams territory a bit, BUT considering that Longspurs have been reported at this site since Nov. 7, and many (most?) of the reports prior to today have no photo documentation,everyone that has reported Longspurs from trashmore in the last nine days should go back and look through their photos so we can maybe find out how long this thing has actually been here!!
If the bird is refound tomorrow, please post here as well as to whatever Telegram chat groups, as this is a bird of statewide interest.
Last year three White-throated sparrows (two white-striped, one tan-striped) spent the winter enjoying free seed set out on our south Berkeley back deck railing. It was the third consecutive year we had hosted multiple White-throateds in our yard. This morning I saw two White-throateds (one white-striped, one tan striped) present on the deck railing. That makes four consecutive years for this species in our yard. I cannot know whether these are two of the same birds that were here last year, but I like to think so.
Doug Greenberg, Berkeley
The beautiful snow bunting found today by D. Bangs and D. Kadra delighted many observers atop Mt. Trashmore.
I got there around 11, and found a right hand woman's glove, grey with colorful tag. I know I have many single gloves in my draw but if yours is missing it mate, I can arrange to return it. Here's my photos of this snow bunting. Good Birding. Mark Rauzon, Oakland
Reporting for others. A Snow Bunting was found this morning by Dan Kadra at the Hayward Regional Shoreline. This is ontop of Mount Trashmore, a hill that is accessed from the end of Winton Avenue. Other birders have arrived and it has been refound and is moving around a bit. This is the same spot that annually hosts a large flock of pipits and a few longspurs.
Good luck, just the messenger.
Aaron Maizlish
Moderator
Thirty years ago this week, I had a Clay-colored Sparrow visiting my
yard - seen most days from Nov. 14-24, 1994. Since the neighborhood was just
recovering from the 1991 fire, there was lots of open space. So I saw
several species in the early nineties that I haven't seen here since.
Kay Loughman
in the hills on the Berkeley/Oakland border
judisierra via groups.io wrote:
Day #7 in my yard. Still spending most of the day in a favorite corner.
I spent the afternoon at Hawk Hill in the Marin Headlands yesterday. There were about 15 Golden Gate Raptor Observatory volunteers scouting, I was lucky to be around hearing them shout out various birds near and far. Midafternoon a dark
morph ferruginous hawk was soaring just south of the headland and then got lost in the sun. Late in the afternoon toward the end of the GGRO’s stake out, a large raptor came flying in low from the northwest and perched in the dense brush. Still visible with
binoculars and clearly seen with scopes – a Long-Eared Owl! A terrific shared experience. Apparently the first Long-Eared Owl seen in the area. See the link below for the day’s count and description of the event. (I was reluctant to post this message given
the sensitive nature of the species, but the GGRO website has a great description).
https://www.parksconservancy.org/programs/daily-hawk-count
Coleman Gross
With the hub-bub of house painters finally finished, today I could finally reclaim the peace and quiet of my backyard. I was just minding my own business reading until I finally looked at a persistent bird under the bushes a few feet away. Looked through my small bins that I hang on my lawn chair and a small sparrow, not a Lincoln's or a chipping the latter which would be a first, too, but a Clay-colored sparrow! It spent most of the afternoon in the close company of a FOS yard fox sparrow in the same little corner. It really wasn't bothered by me being so close.
Judi Sierra
Oakalnd
How pleasant... I'm near you in El Cerrito, and enjoy the same morning exploration... often interesting sights and sounds right here...
Cheers,
Jennifer Fury
Saltwater is the cure for everything, sweat, tears, or the sea...
My morning sky watch outside my house in Albany was rewarding today, though I only had a half hour free before work. Most flybys are probably just random, but in case this is part of any wider trends happening today:
First: I was thrilled to see a high circling flock of 6 Bonaparte's Gulls - a yard first! These delicate, graceful birds are among my favorite gulls. They were gradually gaining altitude as they circled, at first drifting East from the direction of the Albany Bulb, but then shifting southwards. Maybe they'll show up at Arrowhead Marsh or one of the other bayside wetlands further south.
Then, 10 minutes later, 2 low flying Western Meadowlarks came flying north along my street, maybe 40 feet off the ground (yard bird #97!) - giving great looks at the black V's on yellow breasts. Living in a densely packed residential area near the Albany Library, the closest good meadowlark habitat is a mile away at the Albany Bulb (and there's nothing in the direction they were flying from), so this was just odd.
Aside from that, some American Goldfinch flyovers, a Hutton's Vireo making its nasal cackling call, the local wintering Orange-crowned Warbler chipping, a mockingbird calling and some flyover bluebirds kept things varied.
I'd really encourage everyone to spend more time looking up and listening wherever you live or work, and however little habitat might be around. Every time I go to listen and watch in front of my house, I feel like it's going to be a waste of time. But I'm usually rewarded with something at least interesting - and occasionally really cool. And you don't have to travel to a popular hotspot (though those are great) to find nice birds. Wherever you are, you can find something neat happening with birds.
Happy birding,
Zac Denning
Albany
Very distant shot of today's Bonaparte's Flock:
Hi All,
Both fencing/structures above 3 feet near burrows and dogs off leash are issues for mortality in Burrowing Owls. As well as people approaching owls. The dogs and people can flush the owls and when flushed they are not focused on predators and are easily predated on, which I have observed. So if there is a combination of predator perches and dog/human disturbance this is a recipe for high mortality. This is why when we do surveys we check for raptors. If raptors are present we stop the survey until the raptor has left.
If fencing is far enough back from used burrows this could outweigh the issues from dog/people disturbance. In areas like this I am in favor of fencing because if no human/dog disturbance the owls are more likely to focus on predators and not flush, but instead stay at or in a burrow. We have seen this work at multiple sites.
Ryan