Date: 10/12/26 3:47 pm From: Ryan Phillips <norcalbirding...> Subject: Re: [MBBIRDS] Loma Prieta neighbor threatened birders with rifle
That road from the junction to the gate marked private property right at
the Knibbs Knob County Park Trailhead is public road. This is where it
starts as private property: 37.083700,-121.818152
However, many of the residents believe it is "their" road up there and are
very protective. There is a reason some of them live that deep up there. I
think they maintain the roads up there so I am not sure how much the county
does up there. Probably the reason they are very territorial.
Before they could tolerate a few birders every now and then but now with
the mass amount of birders up there with the current irruptions, they are
not happy. But that does not allow for guns being pulled, but don't put it
past some of the folks up there.
Be careful all.
Ryan
*Ryan Phillips* ǀ Owner and Guide
Personal and Group Birding Excursions in Northern California and Beyond
"Everyone likes birds. What wild creature is more accessible to our eyes
and ears, as close to us and everyone in the world, as universal as a bird?"
- Sir David Attenborough
On Mon, Oct 12, 2026, 2:39 PM Lola Ross <lolabones...> wrote:
> Hey all,
>
> This morning I went up to Loma Prieta and ran into several birders up
> there when I was at the Wiliamson’s Sapsucker stakeout pine (never saw it,
> but I did get nice photos of a RBS).
> Three birders from Santa Clara Co said a Loma Prieta resident threatened
> them with a rifle, fired two shots in the air, motioned them violently to
> go away, flipped them off, and pointed his rifle at them (not necessarily
> in that order). The birders were on the public county road. One of the
> three birders shared the location where it occurred (see link below). She
> took photos of the man and the location and was planning to file a report
> with the SC County Sheriff’s Office, but at Kim’s suggestion, I’m posting
> the info here so you can all be aware.
>
> Brian Spence also returned from that direction a little later on, and had
> not encountered anything untoward, but I chose not to walk up that way
> anyway. Two drivers also sped past us at various times, purposefully
> revving through the softer dirt to try to coat us with dust (once by the
> sapsucker tree and once at the parking area). Most drivers were courteous,
> but not those two.
>
> Stay safe out there. Here’s the location that was shared with me of the
> guy with the rifle:
>
> https://maps.app.goo.gl/diiWnzvfDEUGjFfR7?g_st=ig >
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