Date: 9/23/26 1:28 pm From: Florence Sanchez via groups.io <sanchezucsb11...> Subject: [sbcobirding] Slow birding at La Cumbre Peak, September 23
I returned to the Peak this morning to find it was over 70 degrees at 7 a.m., very buggy, and pretty quiet bird-wise. Even Red-breasted Nuthatches were quieter than usual.
No sign of Evening Grosbeaks or Pinyon Jays in the areas I birded. I wasn't in the best position to observe Clark's Nutcrackers today, but I only saw a group of 4. They landed in th dead pine below the Peak for a few minutes, then moved on.
That famous dead pine was pretty quiet. There was one small flock of Cassin's Finches that alighted briefly, then flew on. A Cooper's Hawk landed in the tree near the trunk and then started walking (as opposed to side-stepping) up the branch until it reached the end. After a few minutes, it made a beeline for the grove below (where I was sitting) and flew through the trees, apparently after something.
There weren't many birds in the trees of that grove, but I did see a small brown bat fly through an open area. I don't know anything about our local bat species, but thought it was odd to see one out in broad daylight on a hot day.
The bugs and heat finally drove me away before 10 a.m.
Florence Sanchez
