Date: 1/16/26 8:11 pm From: Connor Christensen via groups.io <connor.r.christensen...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Los Gatos Creek and Oka Ponds
The Oka ponds are currently quite low, and all of the channels are empty as Valley Water performs maintenance. This included chopping down a large eucalyptus tree by the Oka Lanes entrance and significant trimming of many of the bushes around the ponds. I know this is routine maintenance with people mindful of nature working on it, but I still get a bit disheartened seeing trees cut down, vegetation removed, and water levels low. Liz Frith and I led a trip there last Sunday, and despite the low water levels, the bird activity was high, and I was reminded of the admirable adaptability of our avians. The removed trees and trimmed branches are now giant stick piles full of sparrows, wrens, and other eager insectivores. In what deep water remains, we saw a good variety of ducks, including a small flock of 5 Common Mergansers, a young Common Goldeneye, and a lone Northern Shoveler. We got some good looks at some Belted Kingfishers, each defending their remaining section of water. The shallower ponds were filled with wading birds, and the kildeer were enjoying the exposed rocks. One of the small ponds had more than a dozen, mostly young, Snow Egrets and a few Great Egrets chasing each other around.
Along the creek trail, we almost walked right into an Anna's Hummingbird nest. It is always a special treat getting to watch a hummingbird dutifully sit on her nest. As we wrapped up our trip with 49 species, we decided to linger near the pepper trees along the Oka Lane entrance. We were rewarded with a Red-bellied Sapsucker and, not to be outdone, a Hairy Woodpecker flew in to inspect a nearby post. In total, we heard and saw 51 bird species this morning. Here is a copy of the checklist that you can share https://ebird.org/checklist/ S293744802 ( https://ebird.org/checklist/S293744802 ). I returned to the park today to find the vegetation seeming all cleared, but the channels still empty. The bird activity was still fairly high, and I found most of the missing species from our Sunday trip, including 2 Wilson's Snipes (hiding in the bottom left corner of the last pond picture) and a Green Heron. Here is my checklist from this evening. https://ebird.org/checklist/S294581963.
Do not disclose information that identifies the location of nesting birds of any species, to minimize stress on the nesting birds and the risk of vandalism or abuse.
