Date: 3/22/26 5:12 pm From: Karen via groups.io <karush111...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Field Notes for North Coyote Valley & Laguna Seca
Thank you everyone for joining Philip, Sarah and I early this morning. Everybody pitched in and helped find, identify and help others find birds...Thank you. It was a fantastic trip today and did not disappoint with the arrival of some of the spring birds. When we first arrived a low mist hung over the valley and the birds soon appeared on all sides. In fact there were so many birds it took a quite a while to make it to the base of the hills. Here is a link to the full list. https://ebird.org/checklist/S312199306
We started with a good look at the Laguna Seca pond at the other end of the valley through some scopes where we saw some Great Egrets, Green-winged teals, Greater Yellowlegs with several flyovers by the Egrets and Great Blue Heron. Red-wing Blackbirds and Western Meadows kept popping up out of the thick grass to fly to the tops of nearby trees as we moved along. We were constantly surrounded by a loud chorus of Red-wings for the entire trip which was very different from the last trip where we had ZERO (December). American and Lesser Goldfinches flew among the willows next to the creek. We flushed a Wilson's Snipe and had some good looks at a Yellow-billed Magpie sitting 2 ft from a Sharp-shinned Hawk at the top of an oak. We then hit an oak tree that was the social spot for many species: Northern House Wren, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Western Bluebirds, Acorn Woodpeckers, Lark Sparrows and the newly arrived Western Kingbirds while Tree Swallows flew overhead. The Red-tailed Hawks and American Kestrels flew along the top of the hill looking for food. A Bullock's Oriole also very briefly appeared. We saw several instances of gathering nest material from Northern Mockingbirds and courtship behavior from Wild Turkeys, Red-winged Blackbirds and the Kestrals.
A patch of Plantain and Serpentine rocks were seen along the trail and a field of spider webs spread low to the ground. And the Buckeye ( https://www.inaturalist.org/guide_taxa/358044 ) Butterfly!
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.
