Jim's Rossmoor Bird List

Being a personal list of birds identified in the Rossmoor (Walnut Creek) California area.

This has been the fastest growing bird-sighting list I have had the pleasure of assembling. The Rossmoor "enclave" has at least three habitat types, providing a friendly environment for birds normally found at beaches and in un-peopled woodlands. In addition we have a "leash law" on cats, and there is no one hunting for sport or malicious pleasure. They say that no matter how "natural" a wildlife preserve can appear, the animals within have adapted to the fact that it is a human preserve, and therefore has walls of some sort. Rossmoor may have unintentionally created a more natural wildlife preserve in the process of leaving as much native flora as possible in place between the houses.

Credit must also be given to the golf course: if there were no golf course in Rossmoor there would by another 5,000 residents here and I estimate that some 28 of the species on this list would no be present in this area.

My total sighting or identifying of 100 species in six years is detailed in the table below. It is organized in alphabetical order by name adjective, which should help others find a name quicker than having to go thru the list by my sighting date or some other, complex scientific ordering structure.

Seq	Date	Species	Location	Use Feeder	Comments
37	4-25-98	Acorn Woodpecker	home *	x	.
72	4-9-00	Allen's hummingbird	home *	x	.
58	1-11-99	American goldfinch	home *	x	.
53	12-27-98	Anna's hummingbird	home *	x	.
94	5-25-02	Ash-throated Flycatcher	home *	.	.
29	2-28-98	Audubon's warbler	golf course	.	.
41	5-31-98	band-tailed pigeon	south hill	.	.
100	10-10-03	Barn Owl	Del Valle Clubhouse	.	ID feathers at nesting area
34	3-27-98	barn swallow	golf course pond	.	1st sighting 2000: 4/10
77	10-23-00	belted kingfisher	golf course pond	.	.
60	1-18-99	Bewick's wren	Tice Creek	.	2d sighting 10/8/00
62	1-18-99	bi-colored redwing blackbird	golf course	x	flocking
44	6-6-98	black headed grosbeak	sycamore at home *	x	.
17	2-15-98	black phoebe	golf course pond	.	.
73	4-27-00	blue-gray gnatcatcher	western hills	.	.
27	2-15-98	Brewer's blackbird	golf course pond	x	.
64	4-12-99	Brown-headed Cowbird	north golf course	x	.
3	12-15-97	brown towhee	home *	x	.
21	2-15-98	bufflehead	golf course pond	.	.
65	4-17-99	Bullock's oriole	home *	.	.
45	6-6-98	bushtit	home *	.	.
14	1-15-98	California jay	home *	x	.
1	12-15-97	California quail	home *	under	.
50	8-8-98	California thrasher	home *	under	.
18	2-15-98	Canada goose	golf course	.	.
67	12-12-99	cedar waxwing	home *	.	.
39	5-23-98	chestnut-backed chickadee	home *	x	.
35	3-27-98	cliff swallow	golf course pond	.	.
26	2-15-98	common (or great) egret	golf course pond	.	.
89	12-31-01	Common Goldeneye	golf course pond	.	.
22	2-15-98	common merganser	golf course pond	.	.
61	1-18-99	Cooper's hawk	Terra Granada	near	trying to find supper :-)
20	2-15-98	coot	golf course pond	.	.
8	12-26-97	crow	Tice Valley	.	.
24	2-15-98	double-crested cormorant	golf course pond	.	.
84	3-12-01	downy woodpecker	north golf course	.	.
40	5-23-98	English sparrow	home *	.	searching for nest site
68	12-19-99	fox sparrow	home *	under	.
2	12-15-97	golden crowned sparrow	home *	x	.
12	1-2-98	great blue heron	flying across valley	.	later in creek by Main Gate
51	8-9-98	great horned owl	home *	.	song
47	6-15-98	green heron	golf course pond	.	.
81	1-22-01	Hairy Woodpecker	central golf course	.	.
78	12-23-00	Hermit Thrush	home *	.	.
90	1-2-02	Hooded Merganser	pond	.	.
79	1-15-01	hooded warbler	Tice Creek	.	1st accidental
74	6-2-00	house wren	western hills	.	.
25	2-15-98	killdeer	golf course pond	.	.
93	5-6-02	Lawrence's Goldfinch	no. golf course creek	.	.
43	6-6-98	Lesser Goldfinch	home *	x	.
30	3-14-98	Linnet (house finch)	home *	x	.
19	2-15-98	Mallard	golf course pond	under	.
66	7-11-99	mockingbird	Tice Creek Dr	.	@ home 3/2/01
11	12-26-97	mourning dove	home *	under	.
80	1-15-01	Nutall's sparrow	home *	under	.
46	6-15-98	Nutall's woodpecker	Tice Creek / home *	.	.
28	2-28-98	Oregon junco	Ptarmigan	x	.
87	8-6-01	pied-billed grebe	pond	.	.
59	1-17-99	Pine Siskin	home *	x	2d sighting 1/2/01
15	1-20-98	plain titmouse	home *	x	.
92	2-26-02	Red-bellied Sapsucker	home *	.	pair courting in sycamore
71	3-13-00	red-breasted nuthatch	north golf course	.	.
92	2-26-02	red-breasted sapsucker	home *	.	pair courting in sycamore
6	12-20-97	Red-shafted Flicker	home *	x	.
76	7-17-00	red-shouldered hawk	Tice Creek	.	fell on street!
9	12-26-97	red-tailed hawk	home *	.	.
83	3-5-01	Red-winged Blackbird	central golf course	.	several
10	12-26-97	robin	home *	.	.
69	2-7-00	rock wren (1)	western hills	.	.
85	5-8-01	rough-winged swallow	pond	.	.
55	12-28-98	Ruby-crowned Kinglet	Stanley Dollar creek	.	.
23	2-15-98	ruddy duck	golf course pond	.	.
98	9-25-02	Rufous-crowned Sparrow	home *
32	3-20-98	rufous hummingbird	home *	x	.
96	8-29-02	Savannah Sparrow	home *	under
97	9-2-02	Screech Owl	home *
95	8-28-02	Sharp-shinned Hawk	home *
57	12-28-98	Snowy Egret	golf course pond	.	.
16	1-31-98	song sparrow	home *	under	.
70	2-29-00	Sparrow Hawk	near Eagle Ridge	.	.
5	12-20-97	spotted towhee	home *	under	.
31	3-15-98	starling	Ptarmigan & Tice	x	.
54	12-28-98	Stellar's Jay	Gateway	x	.
4	12-15-97	Swainson's thrush	home *	.	.
63	4-3-99	Townsend's warbler	south hill		.
13	1-3-98	Turkey	home *	.	.
48	6-15-98	violet-green swallow	golf course pond	.	1st sight 4/12/99;4/3/00
7	12-25-97	Vulture	power poles	.	.
88	9-17-01	Warbling Vireo	Buckeye Courts	.	.
33	3-27-98	western bluebird	golf course pond	.	.
75	6-12-00	western flycatcher	Stanley Dollar creek	.	2d 4/30/01
38	5-20-98	Western Tanager	home *	.	2d 4/16/01
86	7-23-01	Western Wood Pewee	Tice Creek
56	12-28-98	white-breasted nuthatch	Tice Creek	.	.
52	10-3-98	white-crowned sparrow	home *	.	.
91	2-4-02	White-fronted Goose	north golf course	.	in w/ flock of C. geese
36	3-27-98	white-throated swift	golf course pond	.	.
42	6-4-98	Wilson's warbler	south hill	.	song
82	3-5-01	winter wren	Dollar creek	.	.
49	7-10-98	Wrentit	Del Valle	.	song - later saw on CRT
99	10-8-03	Yellowthroat	central golf course

Rossmoor Bird Sighting List