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Shipman's field notes, Mar 1980

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1980-03-06: CA: Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)

Notable:  Heermann's Gull
@PAA: Palo Alto Airport
@PADP: Palo Alto Duck Pond
@PAFB: Palo Alto Flood Basin
@TRM: Palo Alto: Timorous Rail Marsh
West end of the main marsh, along the dike that separates it from the airport.
@day: Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Missed No Savannah Sparrows in three days.
Gadwall 1 @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
One on lagoon island.
Wigeon, American @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
A few in the lagoon.
Mallard @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Pairs.
Teal, Blue-winged 
9♂ @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
1♀ @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Shoveler, Northern # @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Pintail, Common 1 @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Duck Pond.
Scaup, Greater @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Males and females, lagoon and duck pond.
Scaup, Lesser @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Males and females, lagoon and duck pond.
Duck, Ruddy # @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Lagoon.
Pheasant, Ring-necked 1♀ @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Airport.
Grebe, Pied-billed @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Grebe, Horned 8+ @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Behavior: Diving in the lagoon.
Grebe, Western @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
A few.
Cormorant, Double-crested @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Behavior: One drying wings.
Heron, Great Blue @Palo Alto Flood Basin
Egret, Great # @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Egret, Snowy # @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Night-Heron, Black-crowned 15 @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Stalked (more like slurped) within 40' of one resting with head down, bill in breast feathers, in the western section of the marsh. Rest flew out of there between sundown and about 20 minutes later.
Hawk, Marsh # @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Accipiter sp. @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Description: Looked big and slow, possible Cooper's.
Kestrel, American 1 @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Rail, Clapper @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Vocalizations: Group grunts.
Sora 3-6 @Palo Alto: Timorous Rail Marsh
Coot, American # @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Killdeer @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Commonest around the airport.
Stilt, Black-necked @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Twos and threes.
Avocet, American 100 @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
yellowlegs sp. @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Willet # @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
A few singles.
Curlew, Long-billed 6 @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Sandpiper, Western 8 @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
With the Dunlins.
Sandpiper, Least @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Majority of the peeps.
Dunlin 12-15 @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Southwest corner of the lagoon, under the runway.
Dowitcher, Short-billed @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Vocalizations: 'tu tu'
Dowitcher, Long-billed @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Vocalizations: 'kleek'
Gull, Bonaparte's 1 @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Description: By white wingtip.
Gull, Heermann's 1i @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Lagoon.
Description: Unmistakable solid chocolate plumage.
Behavior: Harassing dowitchers.
Gull, Ring-billed @Palo Alto Duck Pond
Gull, Western @Palo Alto Duck Pond
Gull, Herring @Palo Alto Duck Pond
Gull, Glaucous-winged @Palo Alto Duck Pond
Dove, Rock @Palo Alto Duck Pond
Dove, Mourning @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Near end of Embarcadero Road.
Shrike, Loggerhead 1 @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Crow, Common @Palo Alto Airport
Swallow, Barn @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
First of the year.
Wren, Long-billed Marsh @Palo Alto: Timorous Rail Marsh
Vocalizations: Cursing at me.
Warbler, Audubon's @Palo Alto Airport
First of the year.
Yellowthroat, Common 1 @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Behavior: As I was hiding in some bushes lurking for photographic opportunities, one almost landed on me.
Sparrow, Song # @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Sparrow, White-crowned @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Blackbird, Red-winged @Palo Alto Duck Pond
Meadowlark, Western # @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)
Blackbird, Brewer's @Palo Alto Duck Pond
Sparrow, House @Palo Alto: Baylands (also 3-7 and 3-8)

1980-03-15: CA: Marin Co.

Notable:  Tufted Duck
@MV: Mill Valley
@Tib: Tiburon
@day: Marin Co.
Mallard @Mill Valley
Canvasback @Mill Valley
Duck, Tufted @Mill Valley
Staked out by Joe Morlan in the bay which has its head in a park area of Mill Valley.
Description: General head/body pattern of scaup and Ring-necked Duck, except: sharply delineated pure white oval on sides; and The Tuft, which looks like a longish samurai topknot, blowing around in the wind; when in a relaxed position, standing just off the back of the head.
Scaup, Greater @Marin Co.
Scoter, Surf # @Tiburon
Bufflehead 3-4♀ @Mill Valley
Loon, Red-throated 5+ @Mill Valley
Grebe, Pied-billed @Mill Valley
Grebe, Horned 10-20 @Mill Valley
Grebe, Eared 4-6 @Mill Valley
Grebe, Western 
@Mill Valley
@Tiburon
Cormorant, Double-crested 
# @Mill Valley
# @Tiburon
Cormorant, Pelagic @Tiburon
Greenwood Beach Road.
Description: By the white 'taillight' patches.
Egret, Great @Mill Valley
Egret, Snowy # @Mill Valley
Night-Heron, Black-crowned 4 @Tiburon
At night on the Tiburon dock.
Hawk, Cooper's 1 @Mill Valley
Description: Large head, large size, slower flapping during bursts.
Hawk, Red-tailed @Tiburon
Over the ocean!
Kestrel, American # @Tiburon
Coot, American @Mill Valley
Killdeer @Mill Valley
peep sp. # @Mill Valley
Sandpiper, Spotted 
1 @Tiburon
6+ @Mill Valley
Willet # @Mill Valley
Gull, Ring-billed # @Mill Valley
Gull, Western @Tiburon
Description: Includes one "light Western".
Gull, Glaucous-winged @Tiburon
Tern, Forster's 2 @Mill Valley
Description: Silvery wingtips.
Dove, Rock # @Marin Co.
Dove, Mourning # @Marin Co.
Flicker, Common @Tiburon
Vocalizations: 'whicker'
scrub-jay sp. @Tiburon
Crow, Common 4 @Tiburon
Swallow, Cliff 10 @Tiburon
Over the Tiburon dock.
Starling, European 3 @Mill Valley
Towhee, California @Marin Co.
Sparrow, White-crowned @Mill Valley
Blackbird, Red-winged @Mill Valley
Blackbird, Brewer's @Mill Valley
Finch, House @Mill Valley
Sparrow, House @Marin Co.

1980-03-19: NM: Palo Alto Baylands

@PAB: Palo Alto Baylands
Harrier, Northern a♂ @Palo Alto Baylands
1980-03-19-0031

1980-03-22: CA: Stevens Creek Park

@day: Stevens Creek Park
Dove, Rock @Stevens Creek Park
Pigeon, Band-tailed 3 @Stevens Creek Park
Behavior: Flyovers.
Dove, Mourning @Stevens Creek Park
Hummingbird, Anna's @Stevens Creek Park
Selasphorus sp. @Stevens Creek Park
Sapsucker, Red-breasted ♂ @Stevens Creek Park
Woodpecker, Nuttall's @Stevens Creek Park
Woodpecker, Downy @Stevens Creek Park
Phoebe, Black @Stevens Creek Park
Jay, Steller's @Stevens Creek Park
scrub-jay sp. @Stevens Creek Park
Swallow, Violet-green # @Stevens Creek Park
Chickadee, Chestnut-backed @Stevens Creek Park
Titmouse, Oak @Stevens Creek Park
Bushtit @Stevens Creek Park
Wren, Bewick's @Stevens Creek Park
Wrentit @Stevens Creek Park
Vocalizations: Subsong.
Robin, American @Stevens Creek Park
Thrasher, California ? @Stevens Creek Park
Chaparral habitat.
Vocalizations: Singing.
Starling, European @Stevens Creek Park
Towhee, California @Stevens Creek Park
Sparrow, Song @Stevens Creek Park
Breeding: Copulating by the creek.
Junco, Oregon @Stevens Creek Park
Oriole, Northern @Stevens Creek Park
Sparrow, House @Stevens Creek Park

1980-03-26: NM: Cupertino: 10305 Calvert

Notable:  Northern Oriole
@home: Cupertino: 10305 Calvert
Oriole, Northern @Cupertino: 10305 Calvert
Vocalizations: Rattle and song.
First of the year.

1980-03-29: CA: Stevens Creek Park

@day: Stevens Creek Park
Chiefly Chestnut area.
Quail, California # @Stevens Creek Park
Service road to bathrooms.
Cormorant, Double-crested 11 @Stevens Creek Park
Flying up to the reservoir around dawn.
Hawk, Sharp-shinned @Stevens Creek Park
Behavior: Terrorizing the general avian population up by the gravel pit.
Hawk, Red-tailed ? @Stevens Creek Park
Above the dam.
Dove, Rock # @Stevens Creek Park
Dove, Mourning # @Stevens Creek Park
Owl, Great Horned 2 @Stevens Creek Park
Vocalizations: Hooting, one high, one low. Not seen.
Hummingbird, Anna's ♂ @Stevens Creek Park
Selasphorus sp. @Stevens Creek Park
Woodpecker, Downy @Stevens Creek Park
Vocalizations: Heard only.
Flicker, Common @Stevens Creek Park
Jay, Steller's # @Stevens Creek Park
scrub-jay sp. 1 @Stevens Creek Park
Chickadee, Chestnut-backed # @Stevens Creek Park
Titmouse, Oak # @Stevens Creek Park
Bushtit, Common # @Stevens Creek Park
Creeper, Brown 1 @Stevens Creek Park
Wren, Bewick's @Stevens Creek Park
Vocalizations: Harassment, 'psht psht psht'; song, 'twee switswitswitswit...'
Wrentit # @Stevens Creek Park
Robin, American # @Stevens Creek Park
Thrasher, California @Stevens Creek Park
From a sage bush.
Vocalizations: That enigmatic song again! This time I saw him screaming: sometimes repeating single notes or small groups up to three times, but also many non-repeated groups, more complex. Similar elements to mockingbirds, but more guttural and nonmusical elements.
Starling, European # @Stevens Creek Park
Towhee, Spotted # @Stevens Creek Park
Towhee, California # @Stevens Creek Park
Sparrow, Song @Stevens Creek Park
Vocalizations: Singing.
Junco, Oregon # @Stevens Creek Park
On the road.
Sparrow, House # @Stevens Creek Park
Suburbia.
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Last updated: 2011-05-23 18:54 MDT