Date: 10/12/26 4:55 pm From: Kent Johnson <kentjohnson...> Subject: Re: [MBBIRDS] Loma Prieta neighbor threatened birders with rifle
This is not the first time this has happened. I had an unpleasant encounter with a man at that same location several years ago. No gun was involved, but the man did claim that he owned the road and could prohibit anyone from using it, which is clearly untrue. At least one other birder had a similar experience in the area. If he is becoming more aggressive it certainly needs the attention of law enforcement. His home is on the Santa Cruz side of the road, so the incident should be reported to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff.
Kent Johnson
________________________________
From: <mbbirds...> <mbbirds...> on behalf of Lola Ross <lolabones...>
Sent: Monday, October 12, 2026 2:39 PM
To: MBBirds <mbbirds...>
Subject: [MBBIRDS] Loma Prieta neighbor threatened birders with rifle
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:
