mjm@oliven.olivetti.com (Michael Mammoser) (01/03/90)
As I type these words, I am watching a small flock of Cedar Waxwings eating the sprouting buds in the trees outside my window. Actually, I'm not watching as I type, otherwise this passage would be unreadable. Timesharing is probably a better term. I've just returned from two weeks of vacation, which I used to participate in six local Christmas Bird Counts. They were, in sequential order; Crystal Springs, San Jose, Palo Alto, Mt. Hamilton, Los Banos, and Ano Nuevo. The species totals seen in the party that I was in (which is typically less than the total for the count) ranged from 31 for Ano Nuevo (we were in second-growth redwood forest, which is typically species sparse, looking for a specialty bird - Pileated Woodpecker) to 85 for Los Banos (broadly diverse habitats in the central valley, and one of the best birding days that I ever had). I logged a total species count of 154 for all the CBCs. It's interesting to note that we logged two Pileated Woodpeckers for the Ano Nuevo count based on hearing the birds calling and drumming (we also found ample signs of their presence in both standing and fallen trees), while the bird remains a lifer for me because we never saw them. However, I did learn of a spot where I stand a good chance of seeing them on future visits. As was mentioned by John Shipman in a previous posting, CBCs may afford one the advantage of gaining access to land that is normally off limits to the public. I had this advantage on two of the counts in which I participated. Both the San Jose and Mt. Hamilton counts allowed me onto private land, where I had observations of three Bald Eagles. Last year, at CBC time, this was still a state bird for me. I've seen five Bald Eagles already this winter. Mike Here is the species list for my CBCs: Western Grebe Clark's Grebe Horned Grebe Eared Grebe Pied-Billed Grebe American White Pelican Brown Pelican Double-Crested Cormorant Pelagic Cormorant American Bittern Black-Crowned Night Heron Green-Backed Heron Cattle Egret Snowy Egret Great Egret Great Blue Heron White-Faced Ibis Sandhill Crane Canada Goose Mallard Gadwall Green-Winged Teal American Wigeon Northern Pintail Northern Shoveler Cinnamon Teal Ruddy Duck Canvasback Ring-Necked Duck Greater Scaup Lesser Scaup White-Winged Scoter Surf Scoter Barrow's Goldeneye Common Goldeneye Bufflehead Common Merganser Virginia Rail Sora Common Moorhen American Coot American Avocet Black-Necked Stilt Semipalmated Plover Killdeer Black-Bellied Plover Marbled Godwit Whimbrel Long-Billed Curlew Willet Greater Yellowlegs Spotted Sandpiper Long-Billed Dowitcher Common Snipe Ruddy Turnstone Black Turnstone Dunlin Sanderling Western Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Bonaparte's Gull Ring-Billed Gull Mew Gull Herring Gull California Gull Western Gull Glaucous-Winged Gull Forster's Tern Turkey Vulture Golden Eagle Bald Eagle Black-Shouldered Kite Northern Harrier Sharp-Shinned Hawk Red-Shouldered Hawk Red-Tailed Hawk Ferruginous Hawk American Kestrel Merlin Prairie Falcon California Quail Ring-Necked Pheasant Band-Tailed Pigeon Rock Dove Mourning Dove Great Horned Owl Anna's Hummingbird Belted Kingfisher Northern Flicker Acorn Woodpecker Lewis' Woodpecker Red-Breasted Sapsucker Hairy Woodpecker Nutall's Woodpecker Pileated Woodpecker Black Phoebe Say's Phoebe Horned Lark Tree Swallow Scrub Jay Steller's Jay Yellow-Billed Magpie American Crow Common Raven Wrentit Plain Titmouse Chestnut-Backed Chickadee Bushtit Brown Creeper White-Breasted Nuthatch Pygmy Nuthatch Winter Wren Bewick's Wren Marsh Wren Rock Wren Ruby-Crowned Kinglet Western Bluebird Townsend's Solitaire Hermit Thrush Varied Thrush American Robin Loggerhead Shrike Northern Mockingbird California Thrasher American Pipit Phainopepla European Starling Yellow-Rumped Warbler Townsend's Warbler Common Yellowthroat Rufous-Sided Towhee California Towhee Savannah Sparrow Song Sparrow Lark Sparrow Rufous-Crowned Sparrow Chipping Sparrow Dark-Eyed Junco White-Crowned Sparrow Golden-Crowned Sparrow Fox Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow Western Meadowlark Red-Winged Blackbird Tricolored Blackbird Brewer's Blackbird Brown-Headed Cowbird House Sparrow Pine Siskin American Goldfinch Lesser Goldfinch Lawrence's Goldfinch Purple Finch House Finch