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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kibet" data-source="post: 3495527" data-attributes="member: 126488">Day 9 Saturday 26th NovemberUniversity of California Berkeley Campus (GGAS)Another rainy Saturday, although this time I armed myself with an umbrella as did not want a repeat of a rain soaked camera. The leader of the walk had told me in advance that the walk would go ahead, so it was good to know beforehand. I checked out of my hotel and dropped my bags off at the next hotel, so I did not need to carry them around. I sheltered under an alcove for the worst of the weather, looking out at the redwoods next to meeting point at the Life sciences building. A few others turned up and we had a general chat, with very little interruption with birds as it was so wet. The walk was different to the others, with an introduction about how bird surveys were done almost 100 years ago on the campus. Interesting little titbits like the changing of names of the birds overtime and how the overall number of species had not changed, although the type of species had changed with the landscape. For example, Western Meadowlarks were common in the 1920s, with likely more wilder grasslands, compared to now with the more well maintained lawns. The rain stopped very soon after the walk started, although there was very little activity. A few Cal Tows giving good views, American Crows and Ravens flying around was the only activity for the first part of the walk. This allowed to learn a bit about the campus as we moved around the location. It also allowed a good amount of time looking at Dark-Eyed Juncos, which may have been passed over if activity was higher.A few calls from the Chestnut-Backed Chickadee or a flutter of activity from the Yellow-Rumped Warbler, gave some fun as we perched in front of a tree trying to see where they were and putting the others on them too. Anna’s called, and did their usual convenient display to allow everyone to see it. Then we got to the magic tree, and you could feel the relief of the leader who must have been feeling the stress of a quiet day due to the inclement weather.I have borrowed the “Magic Tree” from the Lake Merritt terminology for the “tree of the day” where there is a lot of action. The call of a Ruby-Crowned Kinglet caused us to stop at this tree and was rewarded with the ruby crown on display. Further up in the tree, a Townsend’s Warbler also flitted and fed, followed by Chestnut-backed Chickadees. To finish off the tree, in came an Oak Titmouse, another crested bird like the Steller’s. Finishing off the walk, we were treated to a view of another Oak Titmouse. Then someone noticed a Brown Creeper crawling up the side of a footbridge, before hopping to a tree to give a more natural view. I had originally planned at popping up to Claremont Canyon, however with the threat of rain and being caught in a very muddy place deterred me on this. As I was still between hotels, I settled in a café to go through images and write for the novel writing month. When I checked into the hotel, it was very busy due to the Golden Bears game and the hotel was hosting a tailgate party. Luckily, the festivities ended as soon as the game did and so everything became quiet by early evening. Photographed Species 69/56</blockquote>

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