Hi All,

I'd been sitting by the pool at Butterbredt Spring for a half hour at 9:55 this AM seeing lots of Wilson's Warblers when something bigger and shorter tailed took a low perch approaching the bathing spot. The KENTUCKY WARBLER gave a good few second view, moved to an even better spot, then flew away as I waited for my camera to focus. 40 minutes later it returned and posed prettily for lots of shots.

Peter Colasanti
Petaluma

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From Broad-tailed and Black-chinned Hummingbirds to Mississippi Kites, that’s what we will be finding at WFO’s Annual Conference in Pueblo, Colorado. Do you like Pinyon-Juniper habitat That’s where we find, of course, Pinyon Jays. But even better, last year’s Western Scrub-jay was split, and Colorado’s species is the Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay. And in prairie habitat—look for Curve-billed Thrasher, Greater Roadrunner, Scaled Quail, and maybe Ladder-backed Woodpecker. If you fancy sparrows, listen and look for Cassin’s and Brewer’s Sparrows, along with Green-tailed Towhee. Other woodpeckers can be found in the mountains—Lewis’s, along with Red-naped and Williamson’s Sapsuckers. Other mountain birds are Plumbeous Vireo and Pygmy Nuthatch. Flycatchers include Olive-sided, Dusky, and Cordilleran—(Can you tell a Cordilleran from a Pacific-slope Does it make a difference). You can find Black and Eastern Phoebes, Juniper Titmouse, Cassin’s Kingbird, and Canyon Towhee just west of Pueblo. If all that sounds like exciting birdlife, it is. Don’t miss it! The annual WFO conference is a four day event that includes scientific presentations, workshops, field trips and other workshops. Dr. Lauryn Benedict, an expert on animal communication and social behavior, will be our keynote speaker, speaking on “He Sings, She Sings: Female Songbirds in Your Backyard.” Her main research is of bird song for understanding how signals evolve in nature. To understand song function, she examines how individuals use vocal signals within environmental and social contexts. She also studies larger patterns of song evolution by measuring how songs vary through time and space, both within and between species. Some of her current projects examine the function and evolution of song and duets among Colorado wren species, New World sparrows, and Old World warblers. Lauryn is Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Northern Colorado. Lauryn also will be giving a workshop, “Birds from the Inside Out,” which will focus on how avian anatomy produces identifying characteristics. Furthering our understanding of birdsong, Nathan Pieplow’s workshop is “Identifying Birds by Their Sounds.” Nathan is the author of the recently released Peterson Field Guide to Bird Sounds of Eastern North America. He also will be presenting his annual “Bird Sound Identification: Team Challenge.” Of course, to learn identification visually, Ed Harper will be presenting his Bird Photo ID Panel.” Other workshops will focus on how to find birds by learning “What do Birds Eat” by entomologist Dave Leatherman, “How to Make, Edit, Share, and Publish Bird Vocalizations” by Ted Floyd, “The Ins and Outs of eBird: from the Basics to Advanced Use and Application,” by Scott Somershoe, and “Identification of Shorebirds,” by Jon Dunn. WFO returns to Colorado for the first time in many years, where there are many species that don’t occur in the Far West, including many species of workshop and field trip leaders! Within Colorado, a wide variety of habitats and species near Pueblo is one of the main reasons this venue was selected for WFO’s annual conference. Another reason is accommodations at the Marriott Hotel. It is located by a walkway to the Pueblo Convention Center, where all activities will be held--workshops, banquet, reception, and exhibitors. Registration link: http://www.westernfieldornithologists.org/conference.php

Frances Oliver WFO Outreach Coordinator & Board Member

CB’ers, Sharon & I took a trip to far NorCal, starting on the 7 th
& ending yesterday (11 th ).
Actually, the goal of the trip was to scout out a viewing location for
the August total solar eclipse in central Oregon, but we took the opportunity
of being in Siskiyou and Trinity Counties to see if we could add some birds. Siskiyou County,
05/08/17 Grass Lake, on SR-97, was full of water, as expected. The past several years it has been dry or
nearly so. With the abundant water, we
were hoping for BLACK TERN, which Bruce Mast got here on 05/30/16 (despite the
low water level), and Jim Greaves got on 06/09/07. No luck.
Perhaps we were a couple of weeks early.
At the Rest Stop here, we did get a couple of singing Purple Finches
(both female), and a Pygmy Nuthatch.
Near Macdoel, along SR-97, we had a Rough-legged Hawk & a Swainson’s
Hawk. With 250 miles still to go to get to Madras, OR, we took only
a short time to bird along SR-161 (a.k.a. Stateline Road), but it was
productive in giving us our first NCB of the trip, LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER. Several Redhead pairs were enjoyable. There were also about 100 WHITE-FACED IBIS,
which turned out to be a surprising previous county miss. Siskiyou County,
05/09/17 Having stayed overnight in Madras, we didn’t get back down to
California until noon. This time, we
more intensively birded the Lower Klamath and Tule Lake NWR’s. Along SR-161, at the junction of Lower
Klamath Lake Road, we found a mixed Icterid flock that included Tricolored
Blackbirds & Yellow-headed Blackbirds.
We took Lower Klamath Lake Rd south for a few miles, getting a
Ferruginous Hawk near the junction with SR-161, and a SAGE THRASHER perhaps
3-miles in. After returning to Stateline Road, we turned south on Hill
Road to get to the auto tour route south of the refuge headquarters. At Tour Stop #1 (which is actually still on
Hill Road), we got a CLARK’S GREBE amongst the more populous Western
Grebes. Near where the auto tour route
turns east out into the refuge, we discovered a PEREGRINE FALCON perched on top
of the rocky wall west of the road.
Scanning the cave entrances in the rock wall, focusing on the
guano-covered openings, we found a Great Horned Owl. Caspian Terns squawked overhead. Siskiyou County,
05/10/17 We stayed in Yreka last night to get an early start on the way
to Weaverville along SR-3. The town of
Etna, in Scotts Valley, was searched for Great-tailed Grackles &
White-tailed Kites, both of which have been seen here, albeit in the dead of
winter. We didn’t get either of these,
but at the Etna City Park we did carefully sort through a flock of CEDAR
WAXWINGs for its congener (no luck). A
Lewis’s Woodpecker and Townsend’s Solitaire were both seen along SR-3 downhill
from the summit. At the summit of SR-3, where the Pacific Crest Trail crosses
the highway, I have always had trouble deciding where the Siskiyou/Trinity
county line is. Arbitrarily, I’ve chosen
the PCT as the line; birds on the south side are in Trinity, birds on the north
are in Siskiyou, and birds flying across the trail are counted in both
counties. So it was, for instance, that
a Brown Creeper on a tree just off the PCT to the south was a Trinity bird –
regrettably, I needed it for Siskiyou but not Trinity. Other interesting birds seen here were
Green-tailed Towhee, Chipping Sparrow, Cassin’s Finch … never in a “needed”
county. Trinity County, 05/10/17 The Lewiston Fish Hatchery had an Osprey driving off an adult
Bald Eagle – usually, it is the opposite.
Along Lewiston Road on the way to the Fish Hatchery from Weaverville, we
got a WILSON’S WARBLER. At the Mary
Smith Campground along Trinity Dam Road, we encountered an assemblage of
coniferous forest birds, including: Warbling Vireo, Black-throated Gray
Warbler, Western Tanager, Cassin’s Vireo & Hairy Woodpecker. Trinity County, 05/11/17 First stop for the day was Summit Creek Road off of SR-3 north
of Hayfork. This road passes through
some good xeric sage habitat, and has been a go-to spot for county birders
since “discovered” by Steve Glover in August, 2005. Here, we added BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER, but
failed to pish up either a Bell’s Sparrow or Rufous-crowned Sparrow. Of course if one is driving on SR-3 to Hayfork, THE
destination is the Hayfork Water Treatment Plant. This is accessed from Tule Creek Road, which
is just a few feet south of the bridge over Hayfork Creek. I usually blow past the entry road to the
WTP, which is not marked in any way.
About a ½-mile from SR-3, the road makes a gentle 90° turn to the left
(south). Within 500’, a road goes off to
the left – this is the entrance road.
Sometimes the gate is closed, compelling one to walk in. There are signs indicating “Authorized
Personnel Only,” but birders are welcomed.
Wood Ducks were herding their chicks.
Lots of swallows including BARN SWALLOW, my 57 th county for
this bird, were flying around.
Shorebirds were the target here, but we only got Spotted Sandpiper &
Short-billed Dowitcher (it called).
However, a flock of BAND-TAILED PIGEONs flew over. A female & 1 st -year male
Bullock’s Oriole put in an appearance – the 1 st -year male always
gets heart beating faster as I contemplate Hooded Oriole (which would be a
county record for Trinity). At the
entrance gate, Salt Creek is very near the road, and a number YELLOW-BREASTED
CHATs were heard, and a male Lazuli Bunting was singing from an exposed perch. We went back through Hayfork to take Wildwood Road over to
SR-36. Along this road are many
opportunities to pull off and bird.
Along this road, we saw a beautiful HERMIT WARBLER. All in all, a good trip with 7 NCB’s for each county, bringing
me to within 2 for color change in each county.
Guess I’ll have to return. Good birding, Stephen Long Oakland, CA diomedea (dot) Stephen (at) gmail (dot) com

The northwest-bound (San Francisco to se. Alaska) "Grand Princess" was

well off Humboldt and Del Norte Counties from 6-10 AM on 09 May, before

continuing on into Oregon waters. Highlights were a total of 25

MURPHY'S PETRELS (18 Humboldt, 7 Del Norte), as well as an Arctic Tern

and a group of 3 Greater Scaup heading north some 107 km west of

Trinidad, HUM.

As we departed San Francisco on 08 May, we had a FORK-TAILED

STORM-PETREL only 1 mile outside the Golden Gate Bridge, and still well

"inside" Land's End/Cliff House/Sutro. No surprise given the widespread

incursion off central CA since April.

--Paul Lehman, San Diego

Birders

A strong cold front swept through the Monterey Bay region on Friday bringing with it gusty northwest winds and optimal viewing conditions for Point Pinos. The show started Friday afternoon with a few Sabine's Gulls and a scattering of Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels. By dawn on Saturday, the winds were really cranking and the flight was in full swing all day. We did hourly checklists in eBird for the day (and those will be fleshed out with photos soon), but the highlight totals were:

Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel: 195 (many right off the rocks; most photographed)
Ashy Storm-Petrel: 2
Leach's Storm-Petrel: 4 (photos of two)
Black-footed Albatross: 100+
Laysan Albatross: 2 (photos)
Red Phalarope: 1927 (photos)
Red-necked Phalarope: 169,000 (simply astronomical numbers, hard to estimate)
Sabine's Gull: 2335 (many photos, big flocks)
Tufted Puffin: 2

Overall it was the best spring seawatching I've ever had from the point. Alas, we were unable to find any Pterodroma petrels from shore.

In addition to the event at the point, Monterey Harbor was awash in Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels, with more than 70 estimated in the inner harbor just feet off the docks. Also both phalaropes there.

Thanks and good birding!

Brian

--
===========
Brian L. Sullivan

eBird Project Leader
www.ebird.org

Photo Editor
Birds of North America Online
http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/BNA
-------------------------------

Hello- There are still fork-tailed storm petrels, red phalaropes & red-necked phalaropes in Monterey Harbor as of 7:45am Sunday May7th. I would expect they will leave the area soon as the winds are starting to die down. If you want to view them, come to the main tourist wharf - they are near the ends of the piers. Plenty of shearwaters - mostly sooty just outside the harbor last night and this morning too.
-Katlyn

--
Katlyn Taylor Marine Biologist
Discovery Whale Watch
971-322-8425
katlyn@...

www.discoverywhalewatch.com

Folks:

The status of Red-shouldered Hawk in Santa Clara County is described
in the Breeding Bird Atlas of Santa Clara County, California.  A
brief summary is that this hawk was very rare in the county until
the early 1970s, when numbers increased rapidly.  Using data from
the Palo Alto and San Jose CBC's that date back to the late 1950s,
the population increase through 2005 was about 13% a year within the
Palo Alto count circle and 17% in the San Jose circle.  Both counts
have had good coverage over the last 50+ years and exceed the 95%
percentile for party-hours for all United States CBCs.

We started a summer bird count in the Palo Alto circle in 1981 and
the summer population increase was less than the winter numbers,
about 5% a year.  Both the winter and summer increases show a p
value of less than 0.004.

Based on Bob Barnes's message, I've looked at the summer numbers
through 2016.  The population increase is now closer to 3% per year,
rather than the earlier value of 5% a year.  There has been a
decline in the total birds counted in the last three summers, but it
is not clear if this is an artifact of the normal variance of a
large data series or the start of a changed trend.

Bill Bousman

Menlo Park

On 5/3/2017 4:22 PM, Bob Barnes bbarnes@...
[CALBIRDS] wrote:

  All,

See below for email message from noted bird guide artisit,
birder, and

naturalist John Schmitt re Red-shouldered Hawk 80 to 90
percent

territory abandonment in SoCal.

I think it would be good to learn through our observations
if a decline

is taking place elsewhere in California as well.

Serving as the messenger for John Schmitt,

Bob Barnes, Ridgecrest, Kern County, California

03MAY17 from John Schmitt...

Hi Bob,

I learned of some troubling news about Red-shouldered
Hawks; I was

in San Luis Obispo County (Morro Bay, Montana de Oro, San
Luis Obispo,

Santa Margarita Valley/ Santa Margarita Lake-all prime
Red-shouldered

Hawk localities) on 26 APR leading some friends of mine on
a short

birdwatching tour (with a strong emphasis on raptors). We
completely

failed to either see or hear a single bird. I mentioned
this to Peter

Bloom (a well known long time raptor researcher) and his
response was:

"I'm not surprised". He went on to relate that there has
been a severe

population decline in Orange, Los Angeles, and San Diego
Counties (80 to

90 percent territory abandonment in some localities).
Cause is

uncertain, but Pete mentioned that some thought
agrichemicals or West

Nile Virus may be involved. So I will be taking special
note of when

and where I see/hear Red-shouldered here in the (Kern
River) valley and

I alert you to perhaps do the same and maybe pass the news
on to others.

Good chatting with you.

Cheers, John

---

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A cruise-ship pelagic with ca. 20 birders aboard the "Coral Princess"

between Los Angeles and Vancouver was between southern Monterey and

central Mendocino Counties on 3 May. Highlights included:

HAWAIIAN PETREL: total of 5, with excellent views and photos (1 San

Mateo, 2 San Francisco, 2 Mendocino)

MURPHY'S PETREL: total of at least 7, ditto views/photos (1 Monterey, 2

San Francisco, 1 Marin, 3 Mendocino)

LAYSAN ALBATROSS: total of 2 (San Mateo, Mendocino)

But zero Cook's Petrels, following two April cruises with moderate

numbers in virtually every county traversed during daylight.

Also, a flock of 7 Arctic Terns in Monterey and still good numbers for

spring of both Fork-tailed and Leach's Storm-Petrels along most of route.

Lost a few hours of the day to dense fog, mostly in AM.

Paul Lehman, San Diego

Hi folks     Interestingly, once again Elegant Terns are showing up and displaying way up here in the central part of the state. They showed up in the last few days of April in Monterey-Santa Cruz, and made it to San Mateo – Marin by May 1. They are calling, displaying and generally acting as if it was Baja California around here. The last couple of seasons that this has happened the water was extremely warm down south, they were exploring to the north perhaps looking for alternative breeding sites, and eventually they went south again. During the very warm water years in Baja the last few seasons, a sizeable number (most) have moved up to breed in Southern California, rather than the food depleted areas that were too hot for them in Baja. This year there was a warm burst in the Sea of Cortez, and now it seems to be closer to the norm. I am not sure how things are going on there right now. In any case, it strikes me as odd that the Elegants are once again coming up here in spring to scout. It makes me wonder if the behavior has gotten “entrapped” in some individuals and that in the end it could mean they may find a nesting site somewhere around here at our latitude       This is the eBird map for Elegant Tern in the last couple of months: http://ebird.org/ebird/map/eleter1neg=true&env.minX=&env.minY=&env.maxX=&env.maxY=&zh=false&gp=false&ev=Z&mr=3-5&bmo=3&emo=5&yr=cur   By the way, tons of Bonaparte’s are around coastally as well, I would say much more than usual.   good birding, Alvaro   Alvaro Jaramillo alvaro@... www.alvarosadventures.com  

All,

See below for email message from noted bird guide artisit, birder, and

naturalist John Schmitt re Red-shouldered Hawk 80 to 90 percent

territory abandonment in SoCal.

I think it would be good to learn through our observations if a decline

is taking place elsewhere in California as well.

Serving as the messenger for John Schmitt,

Bob Barnes, Ridgecrest, Kern County, California

03MAY17 from John Schmitt...

Hi Bob,

I learned of some troubling news about Red-shouldered Hawks; I was

in San Luis Obispo County (Morro Bay, Montana de Oro, San Luis Obispo,

Santa Margarita Valley/ Santa Margarita Lake-all prime Red-shouldered

Hawk localities) on 26 APR leading some friends of mine on a short

birdwatching tour (with a strong emphasis on raptors). We completely

failed to either see or hear a single bird. I mentioned this to Peter

Bloom (a well known long time raptor researcher) and his response was:

"I'm not surprised". He went on to relate that there has been a severe

population decline in Orange, Los Angeles, and San Diego Counties (80 to

90 percent territory abandonment in some localities). Cause is

uncertain, but Pete mentioned that some thought agrichemicals or West

Nile Virus may be involved. So I will be taking special note of when

and where I see/hear Red-shouldered here in the (Kern River) valley and

I alert you to perhaps do the same and maybe pass the news on to others.

Good chatting with you.

Cheers, John

---

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Howdy, Birders,

Spring migration is underway while it seems the heat of summer has already arrived. It’s not too early to plan your fall pelagic trips! Shearwater Journeys has 20 trips on offer this fall, beginning August 4 through October 8. We have trips departing from Monterey, Half Moon Bay, and from Sausalito to the Farallon Islands.

As always, our two departures to the Farallon Islands on August 6 and 13, are booking up quickly. Departing from Sausalito, we sail under the iconic Golden Gate Bridge on a spotlessly clean, stable catamaran with excellent deck space to see the largest breeding seabird colony south of Alaska. Absolutely teeming with seabirds, the past few years we’ve also found a number of goodies. Our past trips have included three species of sulidae: Northern Gannet, Brown Booby, and Blue-footed Booby. We have a 100% success rate finding the amazing Tufted Puffins, up close and personal. Great photo ops of not only seabirds, but an unusual view of Golden Gate Bridge— from below. A trip report can be found here:
http://shearwaterjourneys.blogspot.com/2014/08/farallon-islands-august-3-2014-trip.html

Four over three decades we have offered the wildly successful Albacore trip departing from Monterey at 5:50 a.m. and returning at 5:30 p.m. Always a sell out, this year’s trip is scheduled for Saturday, September 9. This is the single hottest selling trip on our program at this time. Every Albacore trip is different, but many of these trips have turned up either incredible species lists, or outright records, including eight species of shearwaters in one day (a world record), and mega-rare seabirds such as Cook’s Petrel, Streaked and Great Shearwaters, Red-tailed Tropicbird, and most recently JOUANIN'S PETREL (September 12, 2014). To read more about Albacore trips, see:
http://shearwaterjourneys.blogspot.com/2015/07/about-albacore-offshore-monterey-trip.html
http://shearwaterjourneys.blogspot.com/2014/07/albacore-grounds-offshore-monterey.html
http://shearwaterjourneys.blogspot.com/2009/09/trip-report-sep-12-2009-monterey.html

We have 11 pelagic trips departing from Monterey this year in addition to the Albacore trip. These trips run from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and depart from Fisherman’s Wharf Monterey. Our Monterey departures typically cover both Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties. And, we have 6 pelagic trips departing from Half Moon Bay this season. These trips run from 7 a.m. until at least 3:30 p.m., but as late as 6:30 p.m. and depart from H Dock, Johnson Pier, at Pillar Point, Half Moon Bay. HMB trips typically cover both San Mateo and San Francisco Counties.

For RESERVATIONS and DISCOUNTS (booking prior to July 1) for the coming season, please see our web site:
http://www.shearwaterjourneys.com/schedule.html
Please note: I will be out of the office from 10 June through 15 July, leading an expedition voyage in the Russian Far East. You can still send in your reservations during that period, however.

Shearwater Journeys celebrated forty years of pelagic birding trips in 2015. I am grateful to the generations of thousands and thousands of birders, hailing from at least 47 different countries, who have joined our trips over these many decades. Seabirding really is for everyone— the age span on one trip last year was: age 9 to 92.
http://shearwaterjourneys.blogspot.com/2016/09/pelagic-birding-for-all-ages-9-to-92.html

Equally as important are the world class leaders who work tirelessly to not only find seabirds and marine mammals but also to interpret the marine environment in a meaningful way. Our leader ratio is very high, averaging some six leaders per trips. Leaders include: Scott Terrill, Linda Terrill, Peter Pyle, Gerry McChesney, Mary Gustafson, Dave Pereksta, Todd McGrath, Steve Hampton, Jim Holmes, Nick Levendosky, Alex Rinkert, Abe Borker, Steve Tucker, Will Brooks, Christian Schwarz, Tim Miller, Annie Schmidt, Adam Searcy Dena Spatz, Lauren Harter, David Vander Pluym, Clay Kempf, John Garrett, and Debi Shearwater. Many leaders have worldwide seabirding knowledge and first hand experience across the oceans.

Some birders have ticked as many as 25 life birds on one trip!
We celebrated every one!

Shearwaters Forever,
Debi Shearwater

DEBRA SHEARWATER
Shearwater Journeys, Inc.
PO Box 190
Hollister, CA 95024
831.637.8527
debi@...
www.shearwaterjourneys.com
www.shearwaterjourneys.blogspot.com

Celebrating 42 Years of Seabirding with Shearwater Journeys

Birders,

The California Bird Records Committee held its annual meeting at the Psomas offices in Pasadena 27-28 January 2017. Belatedly, here are some of the highlights of that meeting.

COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP

Jon Dunn, Rob Fowler, and Justyn Stahl were elected as voting members. Steve Rottenborn, Scott Terrill, and Tom Benson were re-elected as Chair, Vice Chair, and Secretary, respectively. The terms of Brian Daniels, John Garrett, and Jim Tietz expired.

REVIEW LIST

Little Gull was removed from the Review List on the basis of the total number of accepted records (118 at the time of the meeting) and relatively straightforward identification. Magnificent Frigatebird was removed based on the number of recently accepted records
(75 since the species was added to the Review List in 2010), and Magnificent/Great/Lesser Frigatebird was also removed. No new species were added to the Review List , but one species group (Salvin’s/Chatham Albatross) was added .

OTHER DISCUSSIONS/DECISIONS

The Committee discussed the following issues that may be of general interest to birders:

There was extensive discussion of offshore boundaries and the manner in which offshore records are logged by the CBRC, based on recent suggestions by several birders. The Committee did not make any major changes in approach; it will continue to report the locations
of offshore records based on “closest point of land” (including islands) without assigning the record to a particular county. Legal county boundaries exist in nearshore waters and certain bays, but for offshore records, the CBRC will continue to report only
the county in which the closest point of land lies.

The Committee established an “expedited review” process by which records of easily identifiable species that are well-supported by photo, video, and/or audio documentation supporting the claimed identification are evaluated more quickly than in the standard
review process. Integration of the CBRC records evaluation process with eBird was also discussed. Although the CBRC will continue to consider how the CBRC and eBird processes can assist each other, no specific decisions regarding changes in Committee procedures
were reached.   Identification of subadult Masked and Nazca boobies, including the age at which characters allowing definitive identification may appear and how hybrids between the two species can be identified (or eliminated)
in the case of subadults, was discussed. The CBRC will reach out to experts on these species to gather more information for use in evaluating records of subadults. The Committee also discussed records of Plegadis ibis that appear to be Glossy Ibis except for
small amounts of pink, red, or purple that was not reported by the observers but that is visible in photos (sometimes limited to a few pixels at high magnification). The potential for such colors to result from some aspect of the photographic process, rather
than representing actual pigment, was discussed. Determining when (and whether) hybrids can be eliminated in the case of certain species pairs that are known to interbreed, such as Masked and Nazca booby and White-faced and Glossy ibis, will continue to be
challenging.

Among the specific records that were discussed, two are worthy of some explanation here. The possible Red-backed x Turkestan Shrike at Manchester S.P., Mendocino County 5 Mar-22 Apr 2015 was previously evaluated as a Brown Shrike by the Committee and not accepted
as such. At its recent meeting, the Committee reiterated a previous decision not to formally review it as a Red-backed x Turkestan Shrike. The Committee felt that the 2015 paper by Pyle et al. (North American Birds 69:4-35) did an excellent job evaluating
the identity of the shrike and concluding that it was most likely a Red-backed x Turkestan hybrid, but that even that paper expressed some uncertainty in this conclusion. Committee members did not feel that the CBRC could bring a more definitive conclusion
to this identification. The Committee discussed whether to add Gray Thrasher to the Supplemental List based on the 2 August 2015 record from Famosa Slough, San Diego County. The Supplemental List is for species with records that have not been accepted on the
grounds of questionable natural occurrence, but for which a majority of members believe there is enough potential for natural occurrence for inclusion on the Supplemental List. In the case of the Famosa Slough bird, the condition of the bird’s feathering,
feet, and bill suggested prior captivity strongly enough that the Committee did not feel that the record warranted adding the species to the Supplemental List.

The CBRC discussed the possibility of forming a subcommittee to consider whether/how the CBRC might formally evaluate records of birds showing the characters of well-marked subspecies that meet the Committee’s general criteria for review species. The Committee
will reach out to individuals (including non-Committee members) who might be interested in serving on the subcommittee and explore this idea further.

The Introduced Birds Subcommittee (IBSC), consisting of Kimball Garrett, Jim Tietz, John Garrett, and Tom Benson, will continue to monitor whether any introduced species warrant addition to the State List. In the case of introduced species that have been added
to the state list in other states (e.g., Florida), the IBSC will look into the species’ relative abundance and distribution in California vs. other states where the species have been added. The IBSC will also consider preparing a list of all introduced species
that have been recorded in California, perhaps ranking them according to some as-yet-undetermined status designations.

Please feel free to visit the CBRC’s webpage at
http://www.californiabirds.org/ for updates and additional information. If you have any questions about the CBRC, please contact Steve Rottenborn ( chair@... )
or Tom Benson ( secretary@... ).   Finally, I will continue to serve as the occasional CBRC “spokesperson” on Calbirds for the coming year.  I’m not currently on the CBRC, so just the messenger…   Kimball L. Garrett Ornithology Collections Manager Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County 900 Exposition Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90007 USA (213) 763-3368 kgarrett@... http://www.nhm.org/site/research-collections/ornithology  

What is presumably the same light-morph adult RED-FOOTED BOOBY seen two

days in a row at La Jolla almost two weeks ago was seen again yesterday,

the 29th, by Jim Pea during a half-day fishing trip just inside U.S.

waters off Imperial Beach. The bird was last seen heading somewhat

toward Point Loma. In other booby news, Dean T. saw a good total of 17

BROWN BOOBIES today, the 30th, at La Jolla (including a single flock of

13 birds), as well as the 3 continuing BLACK OYSTERCATCHERS. Also today,

a one-year-old, sporadic REDDISH EGRET was present again at the J

Street/Marina Way mudflats in Chula Vista. Twenty-five Am. White

Pelicans at Sweetwater Reservoir, where also lots of young chick Western

Grebes riding around on the parents' backs.

--Paul Lehman, San Diego

The first spring pelagic for Buena Vista Audubon and Grande
Sportfishing is on May 21st. This is a 12hr. trip departing from San Diego Bay.
We plan to visit the waters over the Nine Mile Bank, San Diego Trough, and the
Thirty Mile Bank. The entire trip will be in U.S. waters, largely San Diego
County, but we may cross briefly in to Los Angeles County waters.
Some of the
expected species are Pink-footed, and Sooty Shearwaters; Black, Ashy, and
Leach's Storm Petrels; Brown Booby; Red and Red-necked Phalarope; Pomarine and
Parasitic Jaeger; Scripps's Murrelet; Cassin's Auklet; Sabine's Gull; and Least,
Common, and Elegant Terns.
Some of the possible species include Black-footed
Albatross, Northern Fulmar, Black-vented Shearwater, Red-billed Tropicbird, South
Polar Skua, Common Murre, Long-tailed Jaeger, and Arctic Tern. This is the peak
of the spring migration and often gives us a surprise or two, sometimes
including land and shorebirds. Marine mammals are also expected, and may
include several species of whales and dolphin. You should get some excellent
photo opportunities on this trip. More trip details are available on our website www.sandiegopelagics.com .
The regular price is $105. We have an "EARLY BIRD" Special at $95
which ends TODAY, Sunday April 30th. Call Point Loma Sportfishing at 619
223-1627 seven days a week to reserve your spot onboard.

I hope to see you out there,

Dave Povey Dulzura

Hi Calbirders

Here are two eBird checklists with Little Stint and Little Gull photos. Sorry for the quality!

https://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S36387955

and

https://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S36387535

Thanks

Brian

On Sat, Apr 29, 2017 at 8:30 PM, B Matheson gypaetusbarbatus@... [CALBIRDS] < CALBIRDS-noreply@yahoogroups.com > wrote:

  Greetings Birders

Yesterday Brian Sullivan, Paul Fenwick, Cooper Scollan and I, attempted a Monterey County Big Day. We hoped to surpass the impressive county Big Day record set by Scott Terrill, Steve Rovell and John Sterling in 1999, of 208 species. We succeeded in this, tallying 217 species. All ABA count protocols were followed. Outside help the day of was neither offered nor accepted. No playback was used. 

Unexpected rarities included: an alternate plumaged LITTLE STINT at Jetty Road, Moss Landing; a 1cy LITTLE GULL at the mouth of the Pajaro River; a 1cy LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL at the Pajaro River Mouth and a nice alternate adult FRANKLIN'S GULL, also at Jetty Road, Moss Landing. 

Besides these rarities, we had good luck with lots of rare migrants and breeders. Beginning at 1200AM, nocturnal highlights were duetting LONG-EARED OWLS, BURROWING OWL and territorial LESSER NIGHTHAWK. We even managed some night glimpses of stakeout geese: ROSS'S, GREATER WHITE-FRONTED and ALEUTIAN. After sunrise/daylight, we did well with scarcities in the upper Salinas Valley like BLUE GROSBEAK, NASHVILLE WARBLER, BELL'S SPARROW and GREATER ROADRUNNER. Arroyo Seco and the Carmel Valley had a nice male COSTA'S HUMMINGBIRD and a couple of BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRDS, along with multiple territorial MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLERS. The outer Monterey Peninsula produced our only really surprising miss: Black Turnstone.  At the Point Pinos Seawatch, good northwest winds yielded lots of BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSSES from shore, but less diversity than we hoped for. Late, lingering, grebe and gull species were all still present in single digits from Monterey to Marina. Up in the Elkhorn Slough area, in addition to the above "red letter" rarities, we did well with YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD, RED KNOT, late ducks (including at least seven REDHEAD), and a lone WHITE-FACED IBIS. 

It was all great fun. 

Good birding, 

Blake Matheson
Monterey Peninsula

--
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Brian L. Sullivan

eBird Project Leader
www.ebird.org

Photo Editor
Birds of North America Online
http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/BNA
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