Date: 10/12/26 4:55 pm From: Shantanu Phukan <phukan...> Subject: Re: [MBBIRDS] Loma Prieta neighbor threatened birders with rifle
Dear Birders: 6 years ago I was birding on Loma Prieta just a little below the fork and was confronted by a single white man (in his late forties or early fifties) who shouted at me very aggressively to get off his land followed by various obscenities. I was standing on the road and not on anybody's land. he was not armed but he was so irate that a friend I was with suggested we just withdraw. We did, but ever since then I have not felt entirely safe when birding that area.
Shantanu Phukan
-----Original Message-----
From: Cliff Bixler <clifford.bixler50...>
Sent: Oct 12, 2026 3:41 PM
To: Lola Ross <lolabones...>
Cc: MBBirds <mbbirds...>
Subject: Re: [MBBIRDS] Loma Prieta neighbor threatened birders with rifle
The birders who were threatened should make a report along with any photos especially a license #. We can't have crazies with guns threatening us on public property. That guy needs law enforcement contact.
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:
