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The first Point Reyes Birding and Nature Festival will be held in western Marin and Sonoma Counties April 23-26. It will feature more than 50 walks, presentations, and classes on birding, butterflies, wildflowers, and other nature subjects. On line registration takes place at www.pointreyesbirdingfestival.org. The festival includes several free events. Walks and presentations will be led by such well known and knowledgeable naturalists and birders as Rich Stallcup, Jules Evens, Lisa Hug, David Wimpfheimer, Steve Howell, Sarah Allen, Keith Hansen, Allen Fish, Ron LeValley, and David Herlocker. The Festival includes an on-line auction with such exciting items as birding trips to Peru, Ecuador, and South Africa; bed and breakfasts stays in West Marin; high quality binoculars, and many other birding and related items. A very affordable boat trip to Cordell Bank to see pelagic birds and marine mammals will take place April 26 (weather permitting). The Point Reyes area has one of the highest bird species counts in North America, and the Festival is timed to take advantage of spring migration (when birds are in their brightest plumage), as well as local breeding and nesting. Part of the Festival will be a four part series of walks emphasizing learning bird songs. A special CD “Birding by Ear at Point Reyes” is available as part of the Festival, and can be purchased from the website. Walks will take place in coastal wetlands, forests, marshes, grasslands, along ridgetops, chaparral, and coastal dunes. Each of these habitats has its own special set of birds. Late April is a great time to enjoy coastal wildflowers, and several experts will lead walks to see these flowers, and their related butterflies. Friday evening will feature a program by PRBO Conservation Science on
life at the Farallon Islands, and the Saturday evening banquet includes
an illustrated talk about the Natural History of Point Reyes and its birds
by Jules Evens, author of The Natural History of the Point Reyes Peninsula
and California Birdlife.
CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNTS 2009-2010 Wallace Bellota Christmas Bird
Count
THE FORTY-SECOND ANNUAL WALLACE-BELLOTA CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT This year the Wallace-Bellota bird
count was conducted on Saturday January 2 in western foothills of
Calaveras county and eastern San Joaquin County. Thirteen groups of warmly
dressed birders covered the same circular area which has been counted since
1969. Each of the
It was great to see that the the number of Yellow-billed Magpies was up considerably from last year as were the Western Scrub Jays. This may indicate that the peak of the West Nile Virus epidemic has passed. When the results from all this years bird counts are in this suspicion may be borne out. This is a good example of information which can be gained from the Christmas Counts. The count area has changed over the last 40 years with much more land being developed as rural residential and less in such natural habitat as chaparral. It is no wonder that we have not seen California Thrashers or Roadrunners in the area for years. But the habitat is improved for some species because of the addition of some moderate sized ponds, the additional food sources provided for some species at bird feeders and by fruit producing trees and shrubs. The numbers of gulls, ducks and waterbirds are probably much greater than what there were before Commanche Lake and the Harney Lane Landfill where constructed in the count area. We always give a "heads up" to the Sheriff's Office to let them know that the small teams of bird watchers with binoculars are harmless. Afterwards many of the counters get together to compare notes and the results are turned in by the middle of February to the national office for compilation and publication. Steve Stocking Wallace Bellota Christmas Count Compiler
STOCKTON CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT RESULTS Sunday, December 20, 2009 Well, what started out as a cold, gray winter day ended up with blue skies and pleasant temps. Our preliminary species count is 142; biggest misses--Western Sandpiper, Rough-legged Hawk, Varied Thrush, Burrowing Owl, Hutton's Vireo, Prairie Falcon, Brown Creeper, Swainson's Hawk, Pine Siskin, Ferruginous Hawk, White-faced Ibis, and Eurasian Wigeon. Highlights were Winter Wren, Short-eared Owl, Western Grebe, Redhead, Peregrine Falcon, Chipping Sparrow, Townsend's Warbler, Hooded Merganser, Mountain Bluebird, American Avocet, Rock Wren, American White Pelican, Thayer's Gull, and Black Rail. New to the count were Mute Swan (ugh!) and Violet-green Swallow. Thanks to the many counters who came out to spend the day in the field for our 42nd annual count. Jim Rowoth
BIRD SIGHTINGS Mid-October – December 18, 2009 (All sightings pertain to San Joaquin County) Submitted by Liz West On October 24th, Joanne Katanic, Lynette Buckman and I found an American Dipper at the Mokelumne River fish hatchery. On November 11th Pat and Dave Croft found a second dipper at the hatchery. Both dippers are immature. Both dippers were last reported November 26th, at least one is still being seen as of December 12th. Diane and Steve Rose saw a Sage Thrasher at the northwest corner of the Lodi Sewage ponds on November 5th. It was perched on a pile of tractor tires. It was not re found the next day. November 8th Bruce Webb found an adult Harlan’s Hawk with a mostly white tail on Thornton Rd. just north of Peltier Rd. Multiple other people have seen it. Scott Terrill saw a late Barn Swallow at the Stockton Sewage ponds November 11th. While looking for the dipper at the Mokelumne River fish hatchery Diane and Steve Rose had a Townsend’s Solitaire in the cottonwoods across the river from the dipper on November 12th. Lauren Harter and David Vander Plum found a Grasshopper Sparrow during a Central Valley Bird symposium field trip November 21st. The whole group was able to see it before it flew off. On Thanksgiving morning a Slate-colored Junco returned to Cheri Pillsbury’s backyard. She thinks it might be one of the two from last winter. On November 27th Matthew Dodder found a late Hammond’s Flycatcher in the trees between ponds nine and ten at White Slough. Birding 101 Jim Rowoth will again offer his beginning birding workshop,
Birding 101, at Delta College this spring. The class consists of
five Saturday morning sessions, each of which is followed by a field trip
to a local birding hotspot (e.e., Stockton Rural Cemetery, local sewage
pond, etc.). We will examine the various birds found locally and
some not so locally in this workshop. We will look at what makes a bird
a bird and the great variety of different types found in nature, as well
as their endlessly fascinating habits and lifestyles. We will also discuss
the growing sport of bird-watching and bird-watching equipment. Participants
will work on improving their abilities to find and to identify birds in
both in class settings and in the field. Registration details can
be found at http://www.adultedreg.com/delta/index.cfm?processtype=department&deptid=12101
USING NATIVE PLANTS TO ATTRACT BIRDS TO YOUR GARDEN In many cases,
California native plants already play a part in the life of birds. Native
plants can provide food as well as cover where they can escape from predators.
With the combination of water, cover and food, your garden will become
a productive habitat for birds. Some of these plants also, once established,
are low water use plants and so do particularly well in our summer dry
climate.
THE FOLLOWING ARE TREES AND SHRUBS WHICH DO BEST IN DRY LOCATIONS, HOWEVER THEY DO NEED WATER IN DRY WEATHER UNTIL THEY BECOME WELL ESTABLISHED. THIS MAY TAKE TWO OR THREE YEARS. SHRUBS:
TREES
THE FOLLOWING ARE TREES AND SHRUBS WHICH DO BEST IN MOIST LOCATIONS. THEY NEED TO HAVE SOME WATER AVAILABLE DURING THE DRY SEASON, SUMMER THROUGH FALL. THE TREES NEED CARE, PRUNING ETC.) SHRUBS
TREES
Compiled and
produced by the Sierra Foothill Chapter, California Native Plant Society
What Were Birders Seeing Around Here 100 Years Ago? The oldest west coast birding guide that I have is the “Handbook of Birds of the Western United States,” by Florence Merriam Bailey, 1902, with an addendum revised to 1920. The addendum changes the nomenclature to conform to the 1920 A.O.U. checklist. Another interesting section of the addendum is the list of “supplementary references.” There are many articles included which have regional bird lists, but few of these are from the Central Valley or the central Sierra. Most are from coastal areas. Many of these were published either in the “Condor” or in “Pacific Coast Avifauna,” which were products of the Cooper Ornithological Club, a highly respected organization of the day. Other than the 33 plates by Louis Agassiz Fuentes, the illustrations of the “Handbook” were from museum specimens. I decided to review a few of the publications that I could find from the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s to see how both the birds and the nomenclature had changed in the last 100 years. I chose “A Partial List of the Birds of Central California,” by L. Belding of Stockton, published in the Smithsonian Proceedings of April 22, 1879; “A List of the Land Birds of the Placerville-Lake Tahoe Stage Road,” by C. Barlow from the Nov. 1901 issue of the “Condor;” and “Some Birds of the Fresno District, California,” by John C. Tyler, a Cooper Ornithological Club publication from 1913. The earliest publication reviewed was the one by Belding. He mentions the extensive tule swamps west of Stockton and the birds he observed on trips from Stockton to Murphys, Calaveras Big Trees, and Soda Springs, as well as a visit to the Marysville area. He noted the “Red-bellied Hawk” (Swainson’s) which was very common in the Stockton area in summer and nested in oaks. He describes the valley east of Stockton as being very level, sparsely timbered except for narrow strips of oaks and willows along the principal water courses. “Because of the scarcity of water in the breeding season, birds are not numerous.” He also used the interesting name of “Tell Tale” for the Greater Yellowlegs, “Sheldrake” for Common Merganser, and “California Squirrel Hawk” for Ferruginous Hawk. He observed that Yellow-headed Blackbirds were abundant in the valley, but not Tricolored Blackbirds. Most of his observations of foothill and mountain birds were the same ones we would see today. But I did note that there were no observations made of Common Ravens in the hills or mountains. The only hypothesis that I can make about this omission is that Ravens are very smart birds, and may have avoided areas of human habitation where they quite possibly could have been shot. There were no protected species back in the 1800’s. Like Belding, Barlow was both an experienced observer and a collector. He collected both eggs and the birds themselves in the form of skins. His observations were annotated by W. W. Price, who had made extensive observations in the area for many years. The birds studied are, like those studied by Belding, ones which summer in the Sierra. Fall, winter, and spring birds were not noted. That said, it is interesting to note that the summer birds are the same ones we would observe at the same elevations at the present time. If global warming has had an impact on bird species which spend their summers in this area, it is not obvious. House Sparrows were observed at Placerville, but no European Starlings, Wild Turkeys, or other non-native species were noted. Again, and surprisingly, no Ravens were observed. I know little of the other authors, but John C. Tyler, author of “Some Birds of the Fresno District, California,” has a Stockton connection. He was a Fresno businessman and an active amateur who wrote extensively about the birds of the Fresno area. He, too, collected bird eggs for museums and probably to sell to collectors. Collecting eggs was a rather common hobby and there was a journal, “The Nidologist,” for bird egg collectors. Tyler was the father-in-law of Jack Arnold, who taught for years at Stockton (Delta) College and College (University) of the Pacific. He later developed the biology department at the new Sonoma State College as well as spending time after retirement as an ornithology research associate for the California Academy of Sciences. In the agricultural area around Fresno, Tyler noted many species (the names of which have since been changed), such as Florida Gallinule, Forbush Sparrow, Linnet, Hudsonian Curlew, Hutchins’ Goose, and Duck Hawk. But all species are the same as those which would be found in the area today. Can you figure them out? One interesting observation was that there was an “increasing rarity of Magpies.” A local migration of Tricolored Blackbirds was described as passing over at frequent intervals from daylight until after sunset. Swainson’s Hawks were common, and one farmer noted that they kept the mice and gophers in check, so he allowed them to hunt “undisturbed over his place.” Tyler did note Ravens on the west side of the valley near the foothills. It appears that the birds, if not the birders, have changed less than we might think over the last 100 years. I would like to dedicate this article to my recently deceased father, Dr. Kenneth M. Stocking, who was the president of the Stockton (San Joaquin) Audubon Society in 1942 and introduced me to the pleasures of watching birds soon after. Steve Stocking, Education
Chair
One of the very best things you can do to make your garden more attractive to birds is to plant a songbird flower bed, says Steve Kress, a bird conservation expert and vice president of the National Audubon Society. Kress recommends a mixed bed of trees and shrubs and perennial flowers, perhaps along the edge of your property. Combine evergreens and deciduous plants, and include shrubs with thorny stems and plants with berries. Evergreens offer shelter from the wind and from birds of prey. Thorny shrubs are safe spots for nesting, and berries provide food as well as a bright touch in the winter garden. Give birds a tall tree, too. "That's the singing perch," Kress says. "They need a tall tree to sing from." A mixed border along the property line can provide lunch for birds if it is full of dogwoods, serviceberries, viburnums and other berry-producing plants. These trees and shrubs also have pretty flowers in spring or summer, and some have colorful fall foliage. A well-layered bed also serves to separate one area of the garden from another. Every garden should have a water feature, too. In Kress' garden in Maine, a lily pond, with water circulating around natural rocks, is the centerpiece of the landscape. "It attracts a huge number of birds," Kress says, "and I plant hummingbird plants around it." If you don't have the space for a pond, a simple, nicely placed birdbath gives a garden a subtle focal point and will bring many birds to your garden. Kress recommends shallow birdbaths, no more than a couple of inches deep. A diverse landscape that includes native plants will provide seeds and berries, and a natural habitat will supply insects for the birds to eat, but bird feeders help birds through the winter and "provide great entertainment for people," Kress says. "One thing is for sure, they help you learn the birds," Kress says. Instead of placing bird feeders in an open area far from the house, pick a spot close up, he says, within three feet of the windows or even closer. The more aware birds are of figures behind the glass, the less likely they are to fly into a window, Kress says. Birdhouses are among the most charming of garden decorations, and birds just love them. "Just like in the real-estate business, the key is location, location, location," Kress says. "You can really affect your success by thinking about where you put the house." Whimsical birdhouses that look like Swiss chalets or French cathedrals may look terrific to you, but birds can be rather particular, and if you want to attract a family of bluebirds or wrens, it's important to mount it at just the right height, facing the proper direction. A birdhouse also has to have the right-sized hole. It's worth the trouble to do a little research on the preferences and requirements of various birds. (There are guidelines available on the Internet at www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse.) Right now is the time to take down your birdhouses and clean them out, Kress says. Birds are not sticklers for tidiness. In fact, they like unmowed areas where the grass can go to seed. Birds like to look for insects in leafy mulch in flower beds and under shrubs. "A really tidy yard is a bad bird yard," Kress says. You may not be able to let any of your grass get tall enough to go to seed, but you can probably find a place for a brush pile. Instead of running branches through a deafening chipper, you can heap the brush in a corner, pour yourself a tall lemonade, and sit back and listen to the birds sing. From an article by Marty Ross, UPS, February 16, 2007
PO Box 7755, Stockton, California 95267 For more information contact: Jim Rowoth: rowoth@sbcglobal.net or Kasey Foley: kaseyfoley@sbcglobal.net |
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