Field Notes

by David Fix

1 March - 28 March 2004

Weeks of pleasant weather, falling rivers (so soon?), and the leaf-greening of creekbottoms   marked this Field Notes period.  The wintering Red-tailed Hawks and American Kestrels have begun to clear out, and Aleutian Canada Goose flocks have been staging for weeks in the dairy pastures.  Selasphorus hummingbirds, most species of swallows, and Orange-crowned Warblers have reappeared.  Wintering Yellow-rumped Warblers, White-crowned Sparrows, and Dark-eyed Juncos have begun to sing, sing, sing with the lengthening days, and many will soon depart.  ABRVTNS:  AB – Arcata Bottoms;  AMP – Arcata Marsh Project;  AOP – Arcata oxidation ponds;  BSLP – Butcher Slough logpond;  ERB – Eel River Bottoms;  NJHB – north jetty of Humboldt Bay. 

RED-NECKED GREBE:  1, Crab Park, 13 Mar (KR, MW);  CLARK’S GREBE:  1, Cock Robin I. bridge, 23 Mar (KR, MW);  LAYSAN ALBATROSS (late report):  1, 4 mi. W Eureka, 10&18 Feb (JM);  BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS:  40, 4 mi. W Eureka, 5 Feb (JM);  NORTHERN FULMAR:  seen, 4 mi. W Eureka, 10&18 Feb (JM);  GREEN HERON:  1, Hilfiker St. pond, Eureka, 15 Mar (MW);  AMERICAN BITTERN:  1, Blue Lake Fish Hatchery, 7 Mar (SC).

TUNDRA SWAN:  3, AB, 6 Mar (RF);  apparent departure of some So. Humboldt Bay-Eel R. birds noted as a flock of 56 flew N over Arcata, 8 Mar (JK) and 75 over, 17 Mar (JT);  SNOW GOOSE:  3, with Aleutians, Lanphere Rd., 29 Feb-6 Mar (JT, RF);  ROSS’S GOOSE:  8, with Aleutians, Lanphere Rd., 6 Mar (RF);  1, Cannibal I. Rd., 23 Mar (KR, MW);  ALEUTIAN CANADA GOOSE:  5000+, AB, 5-6 Mar (SH);  3000+, AB, 7 Mar (SH);  EURASIAN WIGEON:  1, AB, 7-11 Mar (JD, TCC, P&VS, V&DF);  EURASIAN GREEN-WINGED TEAL:  1 male, Butcher Slough off Klopp Lake, 4 Mar (RF), 20 Mar (JT et al.), and 28 Mar (SC);  REDHEAD:  female, AMP, 20 Mar (JT);  LONG-TAILED DUCK:  1 male, Klamath R. mouth, 6 Mar (ST);  HARLEQUIN:  2, King Salmon, 18 Mar (MW);  BARROW’S GOLDENEYE:  1, Lewiston Lake, 6 Mar (PH, CO et al.);  HOODED MERGANSER:  2-4, Mad R. Slough at Lanphere Rd, 1-6 Mar (JT);  seen at Lewiston Lake, 6 Mar (PH, CO et al.);  6, near mouth of Mad R., 7 Mar (KR);  pair, at ponds on Grassy Valley Trail between Lewiston and Douglas City, 7 Mar (DK);  1, on pond at King Salmon, 18 Mar (MW);  OSPREY:  1, flying over AMP with a fish, 6 Mar (SC);  it or another there 19 Mar (JK);  1, upper Trinity R., 9 Mar (DK);  1, So. Fk. Trinity R., 13 Mar (JT, RG)

BALD EAGLE:  1 ad., Klamath R. mouth, 6 Mar (ST);  1, ‘third year’, Hawkins Bar, 4 Mar (Abe Walston);  1 ad. over Sunset School in Arcata, 5 Feb (anon.);  3, Lewiston Dam, 6 Mar (PH, CO et al.);  ad. 14 Mar and imm. 20 Mar, Trinity R. two miles below the N. Fork (AP);  ad., Crab Park, 23 Mar (KR, MW);  ad., Samoa Bridge, 27 Mar (SC);  GOLDEN EAGLE:  1, Garberville, 28 Feb (CO);  1, So. Humboldt Comm. Park near Garberville, 2 Mar (RS, DW);  2, Hamilton Ponds along Trinity R., 6 Mar (PH, CO et al.);  2, So. Fk. Trinity R., 13 Mar (JT, RG);  FERRUGINOUS HAWK:  1 ad., Rohnerville Airport, 4 Mar (LB);  MERLIN:  6 reports of singles from AMP, Lanphere Dunes, Lanphere Rd., and Elk R. mouth, 6-20 Mar (SC, RF, JT et al.);  PEREGRINE FALCON:  4 reports of 1-2 from AB, Arcata, etc., 5-21 Mar (JD, TCC, JK, P&VS, D&DF, MG, GW);  PRAIRIE FALCON:  1, AB, 29 Feb, it appears a bird wintered in the area (JD, TCC).

RUFFED GROUSE:  1, So. Fk. Trinity R., 13 Mar (JT, RG);  COMMON MOORHEN:  wintering imm. at AMP seen as late as 11 Mar (P&VS, V&DF);   SNOWY PLOVER:  one pair as well as 14 ‘scrapes’, s. end Clam Beach, 7 Mar (KR);  RED KNOT:  1, Klopp Lake, 21 Mar (SC);  several, NJHB, 27 Mar (SC);  LESSER YELLOWLEGS:  1, seemingly wintered, V St. Loop, AB, 13 Mar (KR, MW);  SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER:  1, Klopp Lake, 20 Mar (JT et al.);  RUFF:  1, ERB, 13 Mar (KR, MW);  THAYER’S GULL:  1 ad., crippled, Arcata Plaza where unusual, 7 Mar (RF, JT);  1, first-winter, lower Mad R., 24 Mar (JT et al.);  GLAUCOUS GULL:  1, first-winter, on roof of house at 27^th & Alliance, Arcata, 10 Mar (EE);  this individual may have been seen earlier in the winter locally;  CASPIAN TERN:  1, North Bay, 21 Mar (SC);  13, lower Mad R., 24 Mar were in-migrants (JT et al.);  MARBLED MURRELET:  1, King Salmon, 18 Mar (MW);  6 pairs, NJHB, 21 Mar (SC);   LONG-BILLED MURRELET:  1, Trinidad, 21 Mar, not confirmed (MG, GW);  NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL:  1, captured crowned sparrow at Bayside feeder, 7 Mar (JP, DF);  1, Founders Hall, HSU, 11 Mar (JK);  1, unusual in lower Eel R. riparia at Cock Robin I., 13 Mar (KR, MW);  WESTERN SCREECH-OWL:  1 calling, Eureka yard, 27 Mar (TL);  RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD:  1 male, Douglas City, 6 Mar (DK);  YELLOW-SHAFTED FLICKER:  1, Mad R. County Park 25 Mar (GF);  PILEATED WOODPECKER:  1, Rock Creek Ranch, So. Fk. Smith R., 16 Mar (DW);  SAY’S PHOEBE:  1, Lewiston Lake, 6 Mar (PH, CO et al.);  PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER:  1, 28 Mar, Eureka (TL);  TREE SWALLOW:  40, AMP, (SC) and seen at Lewiston Lake (PH, CO) both 6 Mar.

VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW:  10, AMP, 6 Mar (SC);  BARN SWALLOW:  ‘many’, Klopp Lake, 21 Mar (SC);  CLIFF SWALLOW:  1, AMP, 20 Mar (JT et al.);  BROWN CREEPER:  1, ‘Mt. Trashmore’, AMP, 20 Mar, seldom encountered there (JT et al.);  AMERICAN DIPPER:  attended nest, So. Fk. Trinity R., 13 Mar (RG, JT);  NORTHERN SHRIKE:  1, Port Kenyon Rd., 13&23 Mar (KR, MW);  HERMIT THRUSH:  what were thought to be wintering birds were heard singing at Eureka, 22&24 Mar (TL) and at Bayside, 25 Mar (DF);  WESTERN BLUEBIRD:  2-7 seen 16 of 26 days in Feb at Kneeland (BB, DVZ);  MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD:  1 male, Douglas City, 5 Mar (Margie Kuhn).

ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER:  ‘first noted 21 Mar, increasing by 23 Mar’ (KI);  NASHVILLE WARBLER:  1, BSLP, 5 Mar (KR);  BLACK AND WHITE WARBLER:  one wintering at AMP seen as late as 10 Mar (RF, MJ);  YELLOW WARBLER:  one wintering at AMP seen as late as 20 Mar (JT et al.);  HERMIT WARBLER:  1 singing, Eureka, 29 Mar (TL);  PALM WARBLER:  1-2, wintering in AMP and along So. I St., to 20 Mar (JK, FA);  WILSON’S WARBLER:  1, Shay Park, 28 Mar (RF, JC);  COMMON YELLOWTHROAT:  one (of several, remarkably) wintering at AMP seen as late as 20 Mar (JT et al.);  BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK:  1 singing, Eureka, 27 Mar (CO);  SWAMP SPARROW:  1, AMP, 10 Mar (RF, MJ);  ‘SLATE-COLORED’ JUNCO:  1, McKinleyville yard, 19 Mar (KR);  BULLOCK’S ORIOLE:  second-yr. male, Arcata yard, 15 Mar (GB);  COMMON GRACKLE:  1, continuing through at least 4 Mar near Lake Earl (AB);  PINE SISKIN:  12, AMP, 6 Mar (JK);  RED CROSSBILL:  6, Lanphere Dunes, 6 Mar (JT);  EVENING GROSBEAK:  2, So. Fk. Trinity R., 13 Mar (JT, RG).