Date: 4/18/21 8:35 am From: Diane McCoy <dianemccoy10...> Subject: [southbaybirds] PA Bay Lands
Hi All, Going through my photos I took on Friday morning, I spotted this Double-crested Cormorant in breeding plumage. It was in lagoon, south side of road bridge. Light was not so good and blurry. What was interesting to me, as a beginner birder, is seeing the ‘crests out,’ (it was not windy) and the beak colors. Interesting. Never have caught this before. It was low-tide. Also spotted that morning: 2 Ridgway’s Rail, female American Widgeon, Western Sandpipers, Snowy and Great Egrets, Barn and Cliff Swallows, Avocets, Stilts, Ruddy Ducks, lots of Northern Shovelers (in the duck pond), Willets, Bewick’s Wren, House Finches, Song, GC and WC Sparrows, Anna’s Hummingbirds, Gadwalls and Green-winged Teals and a Whimbrel.
Diane McCoy
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Date: 4/18/21 12:53 am From: Ginger Langdon-Lassagne via groups.io <binzer...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Patient Listening big day report
Mike,
This was A-MAZ-ING. I’m right there with you, that recording sound is one of the best ways to learning more about birds. Your audio recordings are top notch!
I have a suspicion (not a firm belief, but a strong hope?) that your “possibly not avian” audio track on iNat is a Great Horned Owl doing its bill-clacking. I’ve linked to the appropriate comparison audio, below your linked post there. Maybe? (if so, shoutout to Carter G. for calling it before I did. High-five, man.)
Can confirm that Townsend’s at Cooley as matching the audio I took there of a clearly-visible TOWA on 03/31/21… but without all the annoying wind in the mike. ;-)
Finally I agree with Chris Johnson that your “mystery warbler” is likely a Black-throated Grey but your possible Black-throated Grey is more likely a Bewick’s Wren. BEWRs vary SO MUCH, it’s maddening at times. But also joyful when you discover that the one that nests in your yard is something you’ll recognize as an individual, forever.
Well done on the Audio Big Day. You inspire me!
Ginger Langdon-Lassagne
> On Apr 17, 2021, at 9:00 PM, Mike Ambrose <mikeambrose920...> wrote:
>
> Yesterday (April 16), I did a solo big day for my Birdathon team Patient Listening <https://scvas.org/spring-birdathon-2021-teams#patientlistening>. My goal was to get audio recordings of as many species as possible within 24 hours. I ended with 71 species recorded (out of a total of 114 species observed throughout the day), plus or minus a few that might have some shaky IDs. Good recordings typically require both remote locations (to avoid background noise) and lots of time (to get close to the bird) - both attributes that aren't particularly compatible with a big day - but for today, I prioritized quantity over quality. This was my first time trying to do this type of big day (and my first time doing a solo big day at all), and I was pleased with the species diversity - plus it was a ton of fun.
>
> I started the day owling the John Nicholas trailhead in Sanborn CP, missing most of my target birds but lucking into a single Great Horned Owl <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327258131>. If anyone has any tips about where / how to owl effectively, I'm all ears. At sunrise, I zipped through Vasona and McClellan to get to the Pichetti / Stevens Creek area, grabbing a nice California Thrasher <https://ebird.org/checklist/S85651016> rendition. I couldn't relocate the Hermit Warbler at the Cooley picnic area, but I picked up a few other common warblers. At Pearson-Arastradero, I found a cooing Rock Pigeon <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327341191> gathering nesting material near the trailhead and some enthusiastic House Wrens <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327340721> further down.
>
> By the time I reached the bay, it was already mid-day. Activity was low, song was even lower. I broke out the parabolic microphone to tease out some Northern Shoveler quacks <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327380421> and Least Sandpiper calls <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327380341>, but there were lots of seen-only birds here, and I had no luck with any rails. Most of my bay-side stops were unproductive - quiet shorebirds and ducks - but still had some highlights, like Brown-headed Cowbirds <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327385251> at Sunnyvale WPCP
>
> Things picked up once I left the bay and headed back towards Ed Levin, where I quickly ran a singing male Lawrence's Goldfinch <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327391131> near Sandy Wool lake. I also picked up the Great-tailed Grackle <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327411231> that I missed at the WPCP. I braved the traffic going south for an excellent trip to Coyote Valley OSP, then finished off the day at the Fortini trailhead at Stile Ranch. This was my first time ever coming here without finding Rufous-crowned Sparrow, but I was happy to record Horned Lark <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327403251> and Grasshopper Sparrow <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327403381>. I finished the day in the best way possible - listening to Common Poorwill <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327403321> calling its heart out in the dusk. It serenaded me all the way down the trail, as I returned home tired (14.5 miles of walking!) but satisfied.
>
> At the risk of making this an excruciatingly long writeup, there are a few sounds I never managed to figure out - I'm not a particularly skilled/experienced ear birder, just really enjoy recording - and if anybody's willing and able to identify them, I'd love to know.
> Unknown (probably not avian) sound while owling <https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/74291373> > Some sort of warbler <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327416871> at Piccheti
> Townsend's Warbler? <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327320611> at Cooley in Stevens Creek CP
> Black-throated Gray Warbler (???) <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327320541> at Cooley in Stevens Creek CP (I'm really stretching for this one)
> If I've misidentified anything else, I'd love to hear about it - recording is my way of learning. Thanks all, and happy birding!
>
> -Mike
>
>
>
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Date: 4/17/21 11:31 pm From: Chris Johnson <ryanjohnson77...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Patient Listening big day report
The one marked Black-throated Grey Warbler is probably an odd Bewick's Wren. Not super sure to be honest because it has a weird ending and the recording is faint. Dive into some sonograms and try to match up the first part of the song with any Bewick's recordings.
The one marked warbler species is a partial song and could easily be Black-throated Grey with that up down pattern and raspy voice. Quite sure it is in the Virens group.
The one listed as Townsend's is probably a Townsend's. Definitely in Virens group.
To this day, I still require visual confirmation of most Virens warbler songs on my checklists because their songs are so variable and similar. Hermit and BTGW are also so irregular in this county, and hearing them once or twice a year doesn't really bring complete mastery in the field.
Chris
Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
-------- Original message --------
From: Mike Ambrose <mikeambrose920...>
Date: 4/17/21 9:00 PM (GMT-08:00)
To: South Bay Birds <southbaybirds...>
Subject: [southbaybirds] Patient Listening big day report
Yesterday (April 16), I did a solo big day for my Birdathon team Patient Listening<https://scvas.org/spring-birdathon-2021-teams#patientlistening>. My goal was to get audio recordings of as many species as possible within 24 hours. I ended with 71 species recorded (out of a total of 114 species observed throughout the day), plus or minus a few that might have some shaky IDs. Good recordings typically require both remote locations (to avoid background noise) and lots of time (to get close to the bird) - both attributes that aren't particularly compatible with a big day - but for today, I prioritized quantity over quality. This was my first time trying to do this type of big day (and my first time doing a solo big day at all), and I was pleased with the species diversity - plus it was a ton of fun.
I started the day owling the John Nicholas trailhead in Sanborn CP, missing most of my target birds but lucking into a single Great Horned Owl<https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327258131>. If anyone has any tips about where / how to owl effectively, I'm all ears. At sunrise, I zipped through Vasona and McClellan to get to the Pichetti / Stevens Creek area, grabbing a nice California Thrasher<https://ebird.org/checklist/S85651016> rendition. I couldn't relocate the Hermit Warbler at the Cooley picnic area, but I picked up a few other common warblers. At Pearson-Arastradero, I found a cooing Rock Pigeon<https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327341191> gathering nesting material near the trailhead and some enthusiastic House Wrens<https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327340721> further down.
By the time I reached the bay, it was already mid-day. Activity was low, song was even lower. I broke out the parabolic microphone to tease out some Northern Shoveler quacks<https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327380421> and Least Sandpiper calls<https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327380341>, but there were lots of seen-only birds here, and I had no luck with any rails. Most of my bay-side stops were unproductive - quiet shorebirds and ducks - but still had some highlights, like Brown-headed Cowbirds<https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327385251> at Sunnyvale WPCP
Things picked up once I left the bay and headed back towards Ed Levin, where I quickly ran a singing male Lawrence's Goldfinch<https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327391131> near Sandy Wool lake. I also picked up the Great-tailed Grackle<https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327411231> that I missed at the WPCP. I braved the traffic going south for an excellent trip to Coyote Valley OSP, then finished off the day at the Fortini trailhead at Stile Ranch. This was my first time ever coming here without finding Rufous-crowned Sparrow, but I was happy to record Horned Lark<https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327403251> and Grasshopper Sparrow<https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327403381>. I finished the day in the best way possible - listening to Common Poorwill<https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327403321> calling its heart out in the dusk. It serenaded me all the way down the trail, as I returned home tired (14.5 miles of walking!) but satisfied.
At the risk of making this an excruciatingly long writeup, there are a few sounds I never managed to figure out - I'm not a particularly skilled/experienced ear birder, just really enjoy recording - and if anybody's willing and able to identify them, I'd love to know.
If I've misidentified anything else, I'd love to hear about it - recording is my way of learning. Thanks all, and happy birding!
-Mike
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Date: 4/17/21 9:27 pm From: Ann Verdi <aeverdi235...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Shorebirds at Grant Lake
I saw a single Least Sandpiper molting into adult plumage foraging on the mudflat of pond #4 at the western Los Capitancillos Ponds today (4/17) - a common bird at the Baylands, but not so common here at this inland pond.
Ann Verdi San Jose
On Sat, Apr 17, 2021 at 9:19 PM jan hintermeister < <jan.hintermeister...> wrote:
> I visited Grant Ranch today, primarily to check out the Great Blue Heron > colony for SFBBO. After observing the three active nests, I stopped at the > lake. With the drought, the lake levels are lowering again exposing > concrete pier blocks that lead out to a newly exposed island. There were 7 > Turkey Vultures enjoying the island in the afternoon, just hanging out and > acting pretty social. Near the shore and along the edge of the island > there were Killdeer and 6 Least Sandpipers in breeding plumage, as well as > an American Pipit on the island and a Fox Sparrow on shore. > > The small forebay area is drying out and there were both a Greater and a > Lesser Yellowlegs in the shallow water, again both in breeding plumage. > > Jan Hintermeister > Santa Clara > > >
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Date: 4/17/21 9:19 pm From: jan hintermeister <jan.hintermeister...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Shorebirds at Grant Lake
I visited Grant Ranch today, primarily to check out the Great Blue Heron colony for SFBBO. After observing the three active nests, I stopped at the lake. With the drought, the lake levels are lowering again exposing concrete pier blocks that lead out to a newly exposed island. There were 7 Turkey Vultures enjoying the island in the afternoon, just hanging out and acting pretty social. Near the shore and along the edge of the island there were Killdeer and 6 Least Sandpipers in breeding plumage, as well as an American Pipit on the island and a Fox Sparrow on shore.
The small forebay area is drying out and there were both a Greater and a Lesser Yellowlegs in the shallow water, again both in breeding plumage.
Jan Hintermeister Santa Clara
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Date: 4/17/21 9:00 pm From: Mike Ambrose <mikeambrose920...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Patient Listening big day report
Yesterday (April 16), I did a solo big day for my Birdathon team Patient Listening <https://scvas.org/spring-birdathon-2021-teams#patientlistening>. My goal was to get *audio recordings* of as many species as possible within 24 hours. I ended with *71 species* recorded (out of a total of 114 species observed throughout the day), plus or minus a few that might have some shaky IDs. Good recordings typically require both remote locations (to avoid background noise) and lots of time (to get close to the bird) - both attributes that aren't particularly compatible with a big day - but for today, I prioritized quantity over quality. This was my first time trying to do this type of big day (and my first time doing a solo big day at all), and I was pleased with the species diversity - plus it was a ton of fun.
I started the day owling the John Nicholas trailhead in Sanborn CP, missing most of my target birds but lucking into a single Great Horned Owl <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327258131>. If anyone has any tips about where / how to owl effectively, I'm all ears. At sunrise, I zipped through Vasona and McClellan to get to the Pichetti / Stevens Creek area, grabbing a nice California Thrasher <https://ebird.org/checklist/S85651016> rendition. I couldn't relocate the Hermit Warbler at the Cooley picnic area, but I picked up a few other common warblers. At Pearson-Arastradero, I found a cooing Rock Pigeon <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327341191> gathering nesting material near the trailhead and some enthusiastic House Wrens <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327340721> further down.
By the time I reached the bay, it was already mid-day. Activity was low, song was even lower. I broke out the parabolic microphone to tease out some Northern Shoveler quacks <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327380421> and Least Sandpiper calls <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327380341>, but there were lots of seen-only birds here, and I had no luck with any rails. Most of my bay-side stops were unproductive - quiet shorebirds and ducks - but still had some highlights, like Brown-headed Cowbirds <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327385251> at Sunnyvale WPCP
Things picked up once I left the bay and headed back towards Ed Levin, where I quickly ran a singing male Lawrence's Goldfinch <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327391131> near Sandy Wool lake. I also picked up the Great-tailed Grackle <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327411231> that I missed at the WPCP. I braved the traffic going south for an excellent trip to Coyote Valley OSP, then finished off the day at the Fortini trailhead at Stile Ranch. This was my first time ever coming here without finding Rufous-crowned Sparrow, but I was happy to record Horned Lark <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327403251> and Grasshopper Sparrow <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327403381>. I finished the day in the best way possible - listening to Common Poorwill <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/327403321> calling its heart out in the dusk. It serenaded me all the way down the trail, as I returned home tired (14.5 miles of walking!) but satisfied.
At the risk of making this an excruciatingly long writeup, there are a few sounds I never managed to figure out - I'm not a particularly skilled/experienced ear birder, just really enjoy recording - and if anybody's willing and able to identify them, I'd love to know.
If I've misidentified anything else, I'd love to hear about it - recording is my way of learning. Thanks all, and happy birding!
-Mike
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Date: 4/17/21 3:59 pm From: Matthew Dodder <mdodder...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Various year birds (04-17-21)
After several unsuccessful tries I finally found three SCALY-BREASTED MUNIAS along the Guadalupe River Trail, just north of the dam across from the Water District headquarters. The trio were all adults and perched and preened just a few feet from me. I just happened to walk past their perch and hear their distinctive call. I also kept an eye on the sky near the Hwy 85 overpass for Vaux’s Swifts or Purple Martins, but all I found in that area were CLIFF SWALLOW, NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW, and WHITE-THROATED SWIFT.
I was able to find a couple of VAUX’S SWIFTS among the many Swallows foraging over Los Capitancillos Ponds, and saw a brilliant AMERICAN GOLDFINCH singing while partially hidden in a sycamore.
At Santa Teresa Park I saw a pair of ASH-TRHOATED FLYCATCHERS in an oak tree at the intersection of Ridge Trail and Hidden Springs Trail. I did not detect any Lazuli Buntings or Red Crossbills today, but I saw some other birders searching the pines. There were quite a few LARK SPARROWS in the main meadow area, and RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROWS were singing along the Hidden Springs Trail in appropriate habitat of rocks and artemisia. A couple of Rufous/Allens Hummingbirds were buzzing around the flowering eucalyptus, but I could not nail down species.
My last stop was along the Los Gatos Creek Trail from Saint Elizabeth Drive. I saw mostly ANNA’S HUMMINGBIRDS during my walk, but a single BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD whizzed past me and gave its distinctive “grinding” call which is instantly recognizable. I couldn't see the throat color, the gorget was small, and the bill looked longer and more curved.
You won't want to miss this speaker!SCVAS Special Event: An Evening with Richard Prum APRIL 21 (via zoom)
Author of New York Times’ Bestseller, and winner of the prized "One of the Best Books of the Year" award... "The Evolution of Beauty” https://ticketbud.com/events/2dd2637a-90a9-11eb-94de-42010a717011
Matthew DodderExecutive DirectorSanta Clara Valley Audubon Society22221 McClellan Rd.Cupertino, CA <95014408-252-3748director...>
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I birded for a short time between the Camden pedestrian bridge and Graystone bridge at 1 pm today. I immediately heard the loud bright song of a male YELLOW WARBLER and saw his red streaks. Also of note were two WARBLING VIREO, 2 PACIFIC SLOPE FLYCATCHER and a DOWNY WOODPECKER.
We've had a male RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD at the backyard feeder occasionally for the last two weeks. Otherwise hummingbird numbers are low.
Janna Pauser Almaden Valley
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Date: 4/17/21 11:52 am From: Eve Meier <eve.m.meier...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Nashville Warbler at Smith Creek
Hi Everyone,
This morning, there was a Nashville Warbler along the Smith Creek Trail of Grant Park at the creek crossing.
Eve Meier (San Jose)
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Date: 4/17/21 11:50 am From: Frank Vanslager via groups.io <Vanslagerf...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Some Birding at Freemont Older OSP on 4/17/2021
All:
The parking lot at the west end of Prospect Rd was totally full-up well before 8 o'clock. It was not very birdy. But I did get very good looks at one of the singing Warbling Vireos and a FOY Ash-throated Flycatcher. See the photo.
For some time now I'd intended to post these two phrases from Pete Dunne's book whenever I post about a Merlin at Shoreline Lake. "... frequently hunts in coastal areas where shorebirds abound ... [and] ... very few creatures covered with feathers and smaller than a pigeon want to be near a Merlin."
Frank Vanslager
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Date: 4/16/21 11:58 pm From: Adam Burnett <adamburnett33...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Ruddy Turnstones at San Francisquito Creek mouth (and more)
A few of you have asked about my tide strategy at the San Francisquito Creek mouth. I usually visit on a falling tide, and I find that the flats usually start to uncover when the predicted tide level is around +4.5 to +4.0 feet. I wouldn’t swear by those numbers, but those are the approximate levels I aim for. I use this website to look at tide levels: https://www.tides.net/california/1959/ <https://www.tides.net/california/1959/>
I try to arrive on the early side, so that I can see the shorebirds fly in. (If I arrive too early, I just take a spin through the Baylands on my bike and return to the creek mouth when the tide level has dropped sufficiently.) Some of the pieces of debris in Santa Clara County, closest to shore, tend to uncover before most of the rest of the tidal flats, so it’s possible that arriving early also gives the best chances for finding Ruddy Turnstones or other rock-loving shorebirds (“rockpipers”) on the Santa Clara County side of the line.
Adam Burnett
Stanford
> On Apr 15, 2021, at 23:58, Adam Burnett <adamburnett33...> wrote:
>
> Highlights this evening from a falling tide at the San Francisquito Creek mouth, and elsewhere at the Palo Alto Baylands:
>
> - 3 RUDDY TURNSTONES at the San Francisquito Creek mouth, including 1 that spent time in Santa Clara County. I also saw a Ruddy Turnstone here this past Tuesday evening (4/13), but it stayed in San Mateo County.
>
> - 10 RED KNOTS, also at the creek mouth, all in San Mateo County.
>
> - Thousands of other shorebirds straddling the county line, including less common species such as BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, and SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER. Each of these species was also present on the tidal flats just west of the Lucy Evans visitor center, offering nice breeding-plumage views and a good chance to hear them calling.
>
> - An estimated 90 BONAPARTE’S GULLS, which arrived gradually from the direction of the Palo Alto Water Quality Control Plant (WQCP) starting around 7 PM. After spending time resting on the flats, they flew northward across the bay around 7:30 PM. On 4/13, I saw about 600 Bonaparte’s Gulls here, circling over the WQCP before streaming northward overhead.
>
> - A flyby CASPIAN TERN.
>
> - A MERLIN which flew through and scattered some shorebirds.
>
> - An AMERICAN PIPIT lingering around the flats in the San Francisquito Creek channel, immediately upstream of the Friendship Bridge. I also saw one here on 4/13.
>
> - A SPOTTED SANDPIPER along San Francisquito Creek, just upstream of the Geng Road trailhead. I saw two here on 4/13.
>
> The county line here follows San Francisquito Creek downstream to the bay, then takes a sharp turn southeast and then east, so that almost all of the tidal flats at the creek mouth are in San Mateo County. However, a few pieces of barnacle-encrusted debris at the creek mouth are in Santa Clara County. The attached screenshots (from https://ges.sccgov.org/discovergis/sccmap <https://ges.sccgov.org/discovergis/sccmap>) illustrate the situation, with the county line in pink. For anyone interested, I’ve also attached a photo I took this evening with the county line drawn in, to illustrate which of the pieces of debris at the creek mouth seem to be in Santa Clara County. The Ruddy Turnstone today was on the arched object, which may be a tree trunk, near the right side of the photo.
>
> In addition to Ruddy Turnstones and Red Knots, this spot is worth checking for Black Oystercatchers. I've seen them here twice in the past year, both times in San Mateo County but tantalizingly close to the line. I’m hoping to score one for Santa Clara County before long!
>
> Enough county line minutiae—above all, this spot hosts an excellent shorebird spectacle this time of year, no matter what county they’re in.
>
> Adam Burnett
> Stanford
>
>
> <San Francisquito Creek county line map.png>
>
> <San Francisquito Creek county line map (zoomed).png>
>
> <San Francisquito Creek county line image.jpeg>
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Date: 4/16/21 5:26 pm From: Bill Bousman <barlowi...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Rosendin Park and Live Oak Picnic Area - Eagles and Wood Ducks
Folks:
Pygmy Nuthatches are unusual anywhere in the Diablo Range. If you look at the distribution of this species in Western North America (and Mexico) it looks like polka dots on the map. The reason is that this species rarely leaves it favored conifers. We have only six records in the Diablo Range and mostly at high elevation. Most of the records are for Coe Park with a few near the summit of Mt. Hamilton. The lowest elevation record for the Diablo Range is from Smith Creek, about 2000 feet, so the Rosendin Park record is even more surprising. There are also few records from the flatlands in the county.
The earliest of our records was one at Coe Park on 10 Nov 1986 (Phil Brown). Jim and Amy saw 1+ birds in the same area in the yellow pines above the headquarters three days later and remarked that this was a first record for Coe. We believe these Diablo records are wintering birds and the latest were six on the top of Mt. Hamilton on 23 Apr 1986 and 1+ birds at Smith Creek on 24 Apr 2010 (Matthew, Kenneth Petersen, et al.
The Bird of the World species account lists seven subspecies. Five or so are in Mexico. The other two include /pygmaea/, which is the coastal species form Mendocino to San Luis Obispo. The other is /melanotis/, which is found throughout the west and is the one we see in the Sierra. There is some evidence that these two subspecies can be identified by differences in their vocalizations. So, if you find one of these nuthatches in the Diablo Range and can record its calls that would be very interesting. It would be nice to know if these are displaced Sierran birds.
For what it's worth, Rosendin Park is also an unlikely spot for Red-breasted Nuthatch as well.
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Date: 4/16/21 3:25 pm From: Brooke Miller via groups.io <idbirds...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Ash-throated Flycatcher - Old Oak Glen Ave. - Fri 16-Apr
This morning I birded Old Oak Glen Ave. on the North end of Chesbro Reservoir. Highlights were 2 ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS, my first-of-season, 2 BULLOCK’S ORIOLES, and 2 WILSON’S WARBLERS. I was surprised to find no Warbling Vireo this morning. I listened and looked for Swain’s Thrush here, but I didn’t detect any. I guess it is still too early.
I wrote a Self-Guided Field Trip for Old Oak Glen Ave in Spring, if you’d like to visit this here, you can find it here:
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Date: 4/16/21 1:54 pm From: David Zittin <dzittin...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Upper Stevens Creek Canyon
Hi Birders
Floy and I birded upstream on Stevens Canyon Road starting at Redwood Gulch Road. Highlights
- At least 3, possibly 4 Black-headed Grosbeaks. All singing, 2 seen including a female gathering nesting material.
- 2 Cassin's Vireos. Both were singing loudly, one was seen singing and foraging.
- At least 5 Warbling Vireos. All heard, none seen.
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Date: 4/16/21 11:33 am From: Frank Vanslager via groups.io <Vanslagerf...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Some Birding at Shoreline Lake on 4/16/2021
All:
A Merlin was perched at the very top of the bare tree by the sailboat harbor, both at the start of my day and at the end. See the first photo. But the weekend will probably be much more crowded and it may not be so accommodating then.
Further on there was a Dunlin perched, strangely, on the shore. In the second photo you can see some of its black belly starting to grow in. Then in the third photo in the background is a Greater White-fronted Goose.
Frank Vanslager
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Date: 4/16/21 9:53 am From: Matthew Dodder <mdodder...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Team DeDUCKtions (Tax Day birding)
Team DeDUCKtions ventured out yesterday for the SCVAS Birdathon. https://scvas.org/spring-birdathon-2021-teams#deducktions Team members included:
Matthew and Cricket Dodder (south county, Coyote Valley, McClellan Ranch)Phil and Joan Leighton (Stevens Creek Park)Mary Ann Allan and Eric Goodill (east hills, Grant Park, Smith Creek)Mike Voydanoff (Alviso, Shoreline and urban parks)Ellyn Corey (Sunnyvale Baylands and adjacent ponds)Helen Daly (Shoreline Park) Eve Meier (Belgados Parks, Los Capitancillos Ponds)
We coordinated efforts by email and birded separately for good coverage of the county, but of course, we couldn’t hit every hot spot. We occasionally communicated by text or phone to make sure there were no loose ends in our search. When we were done, we met over zoom to exchange stories and share a toast. We tallied the multiple eBird lists and found the group had found 153 species.
The Dodder vehicle took the following locations over a 12-hour period:— San Felipe Road (all the way to county line)— Cañada Road, Jamieson Road (roadside stop & listen)— Gilroy Hot Springs Road (long walk and drive)— Hunting Hollow (around lot and just across creek)— Coyote Lake Park (main gate to dam, Mendoza Ranch entrance, Harvey Bear Ranch entrance)— Coyote Valley OSP (short walk)— Laguna Avenue — Santa Teresa (Stile Ranch hike)— Almaden Expressway (fly-over Merlin)— McClellan Ranch— Cuesta Park
A few highlights from the team were:Cassin’s Kingbirds and Ring-necked Pheasant on San Felipe RoadWood Duck, Black-throated Gray, Hermit Warbler, and Phainopepla at Gilroy Hot Springs bridgeHammond’s Flycatchers (2) on Cañada Road near fire stationLawrence’s Goldfinch at Coyote Lake Park, Smith Creek and three other locationsBald Eagle (4), Canyon Wren, Rufous-crowned Sparrow at Coyote Lake ParkMerlin Almaden Lake and Grant ParkWilson's Snipe lingering at Charleston SloughAsh-throated Flycatcher at many locations, first of year for usBrant at ShorelineGreater White-fronted Geese at Shoreline and Lake CunninghamVaux's Swift at Los Capitancillos PondsWhite-throated Sparrow at Santa Clara Water District and Coyote Lake ParkAll 3 Nuthatch species (home and Cuesta Park provided the Red-breasted and Pygmy)Grasshopper Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, Horned Lark on Stile Ranch TrailSwainson’s Hawk, Burrowing Owl, Great Horned Owl, Barn Owl, Western Screech-Owl
I'll be organizing ANOTHER all-day team for next week. There's still time to join or sponsor...Spring Birdathon 2021 - Teams — Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society
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Spring Birdathon 2021 - Teams — Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society
Spring 2021 Birdathon - Teams
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Matthew DodderExecutive DirectorSanta Clara Valley Audubon Society22221 McClellan Rd.Cupertino, CA <95014408-252-3748director...>
REMINDER!SCVAS Special Event: An Evening with Richard Prum APRIL 21 (via zoom)
Author of New York Times’ Bestseller, and winner of the prized "One of the Best Books of the Year" award... "The Evolution of Beauty" https://ticketbud.com/events/2dd2637a-90a9-11eb-94de-42010a717011
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Date: 4/15/21 11:59 pm From: Adam Burnett <adamburnett33...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Ruddy Turnstones at San Francisquito Creek mouth (and more)
Highlights this evening from a falling tide at the San Francisquito Creek mouth, and elsewhere at the Palo Alto Baylands:
- 3 RUDDY TURNSTONES at the San Francisquito Creek mouth, including 1 that spent time in Santa Clara County. I also saw a Ruddy Turnstone here this past Tuesday evening (4/13), but it stayed in San Mateo County.
- 10 RED KNOTS, also at the creek mouth, all in San Mateo County.
- Thousands of other shorebirds straddling the county line, including less common species such as BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, and SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER. Each of these species was also present on the tidal flats just west of the Lucy Evans visitor center, offering nice breeding-plumage views and a good chance to hear them calling.
- An estimated 90 BONAPARTE’S GULLS, which arrived gradually from the direction of the Palo Alto Water Quality Control Plant (WQCP) starting around 7 PM. After spending time resting on the flats, they flew northward across the bay around 7:30 PM. On 4/13, I saw about 600 Bonaparte’s Gulls here, circling over the WQCP before streaming northward overhead.
- A flyby CASPIAN TERN.
- A MERLIN which flew through and scattered some shorebirds.
- An AMERICAN PIPIT lingering around the flats in the San Francisquito Creek channel, immediately upstream of the Friendship Bridge. I also saw one here on 4/13.
- A SPOTTED SANDPIPER along San Francisquito Creek, just upstream of the Geng Road trailhead. I saw two here on 4/13.
The county line here follows San Francisquito Creek downstream to the bay, then takes a sharp turn southeast and then east, so that almost all of the tidal flats at the creek mouth are in San Mateo County. However, a few pieces of barnacle-encrusted debris at the creek mouth are in Santa Clara County. The attached screenshots (from https://ges.sccgov.org/discovergis/sccmap <https://ges.sccgov.org/discovergis/sccmap>) illustrate the situation, with the county line in pink. For anyone interested, I’ve also attached a photo I took this evening with the county line drawn in, to illustrate which of the pieces of debris at the creek mouth seem to be in Santa Clara County. The Ruddy Turnstone today was on the arched object, which may be a tree trunk, near the right side of the photo.
In addition to Ruddy Turnstones and Red Knots, this spot is worth checking for Black Oystercatchers. I've seen them here twice in the past year, both times in San Mateo County but tantalizingly close to the line. I’m hoping to score one for Santa Clara County before long!
Enough county line minutiae—above all, this spot hosts an excellent shorebird spectacle this time of year, no matter what county they’re in.
Adam Burnett
Stanford
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Date: 4/15/21 5:32 pm From: Chuq Von Rospach via groups.io <chuqui...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Campbell Ravens
a bit of local interest. Waiting in line to order a drink at the Starbucks at San Tomas and Hamilton, I noticed two crows in the tree; I then realized they weren't crows, but ravens, which seemed notable to me. I grabbed the binoculars to get a closer look to make sure, and when one raven saw me do that, it turned to stare at me and started clacking its beak until I put the binoculars down. I grabbed the camera for a quick shot as well, and it clacked at me again until I stopped. Then the line moved and we both went on our own business and parted.
But that it directly reacted to me looking at it was fun and interesting, and no, I have no clue what it was saying or thinking... And this is a new species for me in this area (it is also a place where band-tail pigeons can be seen on the wires on and off, so don't assume they're all rock pigeons. Although they probably are)
---------------------------------------
Chuq Von Rospach http://www.chuq.me Email: <chuqui...>
Twitter: @chuq
Silicon Valley, California
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Date: 4/15/21 5:08 pm From: janna pauser <jannapauser...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Santa Teresa Co. Park
A huge flock of CEDAR WAXWINGS was seen at the edge of the golf course as I entered Santa Teresa Park. There must have been over a thousand birds in three large flocks that merged and then disappeared. By far the largest flock I've ever seen.
The fog was quite impressive spilling down the hills when I arrived shortly after eight. A pair of WHITE TAILED KITES was seen at the hilltop. I passed singing HOUSE WRENS near the large parking lot. Luckily I went directly to the Pueblo Day area where five calling RED CROSSBILL'S soon flew out of the largest pine tree. One or two may have remained. A LARK SPARROW was singing from the top of a small oak here. I drove back to the start of the Mine trail and birded to where the trail crosses the creek. I had two singing RUFOUS CROWNED SPARROWS and a BLUE GRAY GNATCATCHER on the chaparral hillside. One LINCOLN'S SPARROW and two SAVANNAH SPARROW were seen near the corral. A male BULLOCKS ORIOLE flew in and perched. I stopped at the pay station before leaving around ten. More Lark Sparrows were singing here. The Barn Owl was perched in a large eucalyptus tree after the pay station as you drive in. Look for the white wash and pellets on the road. WESTERN BLUEBIRDS were seen at all locations.
Janna Pauser San Jose
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Date: 4/15/21 4:14 pm From: Chuq Von Rospach via groups.io <chuqui...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Stevens Creek Cooley Picnic Area 4/15 -- Hermit Warbler
I wanted to do a test of a new lens (just got the newly released Fuji X 100-300) and do some scouting/practice for my upcoming big photo day for birdathon, and I decided the heavily shaded and fairly dim Cooley Picnic area would be fun to explore.
To cut to the chase, unlike my previous visit I didn't find a wilson's or Townsend's warbler, but at one point I did notice a bird moving in the canopy of one of the big trees rather furtively. It did a pretty good job of not being easily seen, but at one point I got a very short look at it in the open, and it was a warbler. I saw a yellow head with black on it, looking almost hooded, which what I thought was white on the chin area or breast area. I didn't get a great look before it flew off and I lost sight of it. I ended up sitting on the bench and staking out for another 30 minutes and was close to leaving when I noticed a bird skulking in the canopy again, and I spent two full minutes cussing at it to get into plain view, when it finally did, and it resolved itself into a male Hermit Warbler (which, while I was waiting for it to return and browsing a field guide I had decided was the most likely candidate). I was able to get about 20 seconds clear looks at it, before it left, but no photos.
fairly birdy otherwise in good ways, with multiple black phoebes and juncos, a very active and loud group of Acorn Woodpeckers, multiple Steller's Jays, and a couple of vocal song sparrows. I also found a spotted towhee, at some point saw a white-breasted nuthatch fly in (eBird notes this as rare here, which I think is more about this place being under-birded) and a female downy woodpecker. Total species for an hour's birding was 14, but it is a very pleasant location this time of year, and during migration seems to have good ability to toss out something exotic.
Chuq Von Rospach http://www.chuq.me Email: <chuqui...>
Twitter: @chuq
Silicon Valley, California
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Date: 4/15/21 11:59 am From: Frank Vanslager via groups.io <Vanslagerf...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Orioles at New Almaden on 4/15/2021
All:
I wanted to do Janna's circle trip though New Almaden. At first there wasn't much different than the many Band-tailed Pigeons, Eurasian Collared-Doves, and Jays, but then at the halfway point at Bertram Bridge, things got better. From the bridge itself I had a pair of Wood Ducks. See the photos.
Shortly after leaving the bridge, I heard an oriole chatter. And then I heard a continuing series of "veek" calls. While I was searching for that source I had a brief view of a male Bullock's Oriole -- except that it looked too red! And then I found the male Hooded Oriole that was making the call. A little later I had a female Hooded Oriole (yellow under the tail) fly across carrying some nesting material.
I did list a total of 39 species.
Frank Vanslager
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Date: 4/14/21 10:11 pm From: allisonfluty via groups.io <allisonfluty...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] For Those Missing a Robin
There have been robins in the trees along the parking lot at the hospital I work at in Santa Clara all winter too. Yesterday two were in the golden raintree next to the lunch table I sit at and then they both flew to the grass to forage.
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Date: 4/14/21 8:06 pm From: Audry Nicklin <amnicklin...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Sabine's Gull seen by Don Edwards
Hi everyone,
This evening Connor and I went to Don Edwards to look at the CASPIAN TERNS. It was pretty windy, so I was able to count 26 while my eyes were watering. There may have been more, but it was hard to keep my eyes open. There were also a fair number of CLARK'S and WESTERN GREBES on A16 as well. They kindly were near each other and close to shore, so we got some good looks.
We walked all the way back to our car at the dirt lot when I saw a small tern-like bird fly overhead. I thought it was a Forster's Tern at first, but when I got my binoculars on it I realized its head was entirely black. Connor got good look as well. We didn't see any white on its head or black on its wing tips, ruling out a Franklin's Gull. The wing shape was too sharp and angled for a Bonaparte's Gull. Connor thought the bill looked short, but decided that he couldn't see the yellow tip very well, so it only appeared short. We concluded we must have seen a SABINE'S GULL! Unfortunately by the time I thought to get picture, it was too far away and into the sun. Maybe next time. It was 6:30PM when we saw it flying north into the bay. It may have been coming from the dump.
-Audry
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Birding in New Almaden today I made several stops and found the following birds. Alamitos Road> 3 Black-headed Grosbeak, 2 House Wren, 2 Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Bullocks Oriole and Hooded Oriole, all but Hooded heard only. Mt. Umunhum Road to Bald Mt trailhead> 3 Black-throated Gray Warblers heard only Sierra Azul Woods trail> 2 Black-throated Gray Warblers one seen well. Also here were 5 Orange crowned Warblers, Warbling Vireo Hutton's Vireo and Purple Finch. Rancho San Vicente Almaden Road entrance> Western Bluebird pair, Brown Creeper, Ash throated Flycatcher, House Wren all seen.
Janna Pauser Almaden Valley
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Date: 4/14/21 4:50 pm From: Frank Vanslager via groups.io <Vanslagerf...> Subject: [southbaybirds] An Addendum To All Of My Postings To This Site.
All:
All of my postings are for intermediate or beginning birders who live in, or are visiting, Santa Clara County, California. So the place names, or other descriptions, are only large enough to indicate, in my opinion, where or what I'm talking about. I assume that people can consult other sites, or Wikipedia, to get further information.
Frank Vanslager
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Date: 4/14/21 1:32 pm From: Mike Voydanoff <mike...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] For Those Missing a Robin
I’ve had Robins in my yard all winter. Up in the Santa Cruz Mountains Christmas Tree Farm District, south of Los Gatos.
> On Apr 14, 2021, at 1:29 PM, Chuq Von Rospach via groups.io <chuqui...> wrote:
>
> Larry isn't alone. I've documented for many years that sometime in the spring, we end up with dozens to hundreds of Robins on our street for a few days as they move from their wintering to summering grounds, so we go from zero robins to all the robins to the summer numbers over about a week.
>
> This year, that never happened, and we still have no robins on our street. I'd been meaning to mention it because this was regular like clockwork as the season changed, but not this year. I have no idea why, but it's curious. And it doesn't seem like we've had a major die off, since there are many in places like Live Oak. But the behavior is different this year.
>
> Maybe the ongoing cooler than normal weather? I dunno, but it caught my eye.
>
>
> ---------------------------------------
>
> Chuq Von Rospach http://www.chuq.me > Email: <chuqui...>
> Twitter: @chuq
> Silicon Valley, California
> On Apr 14, 2021, 12:49 PM -0700, <larry8141...>, wrote:
>>
>> I have had a very difficult time finding a Robin for my year list until today. I am assuming there are a few other people out there in the same circumstance.
>
>
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Date: 4/14/21 1:29 pm From: Chuq Von Rospach via groups.io <chuqui...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] For Those Missing a Robin
Larry isn't alone. I've documented for many years that sometime in the spring, we end up with dozens to hundreds of Robins on our street for a few days as they move from their wintering to summering grounds, so we go from zero robins to all the robins to the summer numbers over about a week.
This year, that never happened, and we still have no robins on our street. I'd been meaning to mention it because this was regular like clockwork as the season changed, but not this year. I have no idea why, but it's curious. And it doesn't seem like we've had a major die off, since there are many in places like Live Oak. But the behavior is different this year.
Maybe the ongoing cooler than normal weather? I dunno, but it caught my eye.
---------------------------------------
Chuq Von Rospach http://www.chuq.me Email: <chuqui...>
Twitter: @chuq
Silicon Valley, California
On Apr 14, 2021, 12:49 PM -0700, <larry8141...>, wrote:
>
> I have had a very difficult time finding a Robin for my year list until today. I am assuming there are a few other people out there in the same circumstance.
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Date: 4/14/21 12:49 pm From: Larry Spivak via groups.io <larry8141...> Subject: [southbaybirds] For Those Missing a Robin
Hello All I have had a very difficult time finding a Robin for my year list until today. I am assuming there are a few other people out there in the same circumstance. Due to a message from Chuq about another matter, I went down to Morgan Hill and visited the Live Oak Picnic Area of Anderson Lake County Park. There are plenty of AMERICAN ROBINS for any one there. Take Cochrane Road off 101 and go East. Stay in the left lane until you see the park to your left. Pull into the parking area, park, go across the bridge and look around. Even at 11:00 AM they were busy. It is an E-Bird hotspot. EnjoyLarry
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Date: 4/14/21 11:05 am From: Frank Vanslager via groups.io <Vanslagerf...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Some Birding at Shoreline Park on 4/14/2021
All:
Now that the Burrowing Owls have sensibly moved their burrows to behind a secure chain-linked fence, I thought I would see how the two pairs that I previously saw from my car were doing. So I parked my car at the Kite Flying area at Shoreline Park and walked north on the Bike Trail.
Fairly quickly I found the first ones at a reasonable binocular-viewing distance. See the first photo. The second pair were further along and much harder to find. They were both out walking around, but at quite a distance. See the second photo. They were walking on both sides of that white posted object, but at a scoping distance.
I continued walking out to the lake and found that the Brant continues. See the third photo.
Frank Vanslager
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Date: 4/13/21 4:21 pm From: Oliver Zhang <BLACKROCKARTSTUDIO...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Hummingbird ID
Hi Birders
Last Saturday I was walking along the Bay Trails, this Hummingbird flew in front of me, I only had a few seconds to grab some blurry shots.
I wonder if this is just a regular immature Anna's Hummingbird, given the lack of iridescent head feathers; also, there are not many colorful feathers around the neck, no streaks of other colors below the eyes. It was flying in the back light, I looked into my book, there is no exact match. Can anybody help me out? Thanks
Happy birding.
Oliver
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Date: 4/13/21 2:24 pm From: Bob Bolles <robertcbolles...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Continuing Cassin's Kingbird at Harvey Bear Ranch
All ... This morning I saw a Cassin's Kingbird twice, once walking east on the Willow Springs Trail and once returning to the parking lot. The first time I saw it flying and landing on top of an oak tree near (37.100688, -121.571046). The second time it was sitting on top of a tree near (37.100936, -121.569250). My two checklists are https://ebird.org/checklist/S85460179 https://ebird.org/checklist/S85473912 Joyous birding! ... Bob
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Date: 4/13/21 2:17 pm From: Oliver Zhang <BLACKROCKARTSTUDIO...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Forster's Terns At Shoreline Lake
Hi birders.
The Forster's Terns are back at Shoreline Lake, Mountain View. OTOH, I just realized all these years I misidentified it: it's always the Foster's Tern, the different appearance is due to the life stage: breeding adult, non-breeding adult, immature, etc. I feel so silly.
The photos were taken on Saturday, A1 pond.
Happy birding.
Oliver
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Date: 4/12/21 8:17 pm From: Michelle Nelson <mmnelson57...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Which sightings are worth reporting?
Luca,
I have only seen 3 Bullock's Orioles so far this year, and am interested in seeing more, so I appreciate the heads up.
Michelle Nelson
On Mon, Apr 12, 2021, 11:00 AM Luca <luucaa...> wrote:
> Dear All, > > I follow here your reports of sightings with much interest, but so far I > have posted none of mine. > This because I don't want to bore everyone... and so I would like to ask: > what are the sightings that are of interest to report? Are there > guidelines on what you'd like to see on this list? > Strictly only Santa Clara County or more general South Bay, also? > > For example, yesterday after a mountain bike ride in Ed Levin park, at > Sandy Wood Lake, I went looking around and there were many incredibly > beautiful Bullock's Oriole. Would they be worth reporting? No because > they are supposed to be common now? Yes because in fact I hadn't seen them > so far in the South Bay, so perhaps they are not all that common? No > because out of Santa Clara County? Yes because beautiful? No because > they are often there and known (to you, not to me!) to be there? > > Many thanks, and sorry for the beginner's question. > > Luca > > >
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Date: 4/12/21 7:12 pm From: Dan Bloch <danbloch...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Which sightings are worth reporting?
There was a simple guideline for this question posted ( https://groups.io/g/southbaybirds/message/24065 ) by the list administrator Jim Dehnert a couple of weeks ago: "Ask yourself whether your report will be interesting to other birders at your level of experience, to go see the bird for themselves."
Sightings should be in Santa Clara County. (Which Ed Levin Park is.)
Dan
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Date: 4/12/21 4:29 pm From: Chuq Von Rospach via groups.io <chuqui...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Which sightings are worth reporting?
I think ultimately the answer is "it depends", but here is gererally what I do:
Every time I bird I submit one or more eBird reports to cover the birding -- unless I visit a location that's absolutely worthless (I don't bother submitting a report with only something like House Sparrows or Rock Pigeons).
I will also post a note here on SBB if there is something interesting. That can mean many things, but if eBird flags a species as uncommon or not reported, that's interesting (well, rock pigeons are shown as not reported in many places, but... okay, life is complicated). If a bird is of special note to me, or if I saw some behavior I think will be interesting, or something unusual happened, then I'll write that up.
As an example, here's a report I did NOT make this weekend: I went to Live Oak looking for Wood Ducks and failed, because the place was extremely (and wonderfully) busy, and the ducks seem to have gone to quieter places. Did see Mallards, and one Acorn Woodpecker, and about four zillion Robins, who were flying around and chasing each other -- fun to watch, but really, nothing interesting here to the list.
I also went out to Calero (and scored an annual pass, thankfully) but it was also pretty busy - but I finally got really good looks at a Violet-Green Swallow, so I can stop complaining about it. But on balance, other than reporting something like "I finally nailed that nemisis bird! Gotcha!" it was a nice afternoon of birding that had me run into basically nothing of interest to anyone but me... So I decided not to report in.
For the same reason, I don't report feederwatches regularly, but do if some interesting/unusual species shows, like a first of season Hoodie. Which so far, I haven't seen (but I think we've had one or two hit the feeder when I was elsewhere, given the fast drop in nectar levels).
It is, if you want to, fairly easy to find interesting things to talk about here -- because there are things that made the trip enjoyable (or miserable), and you can build stories about that and those species. I always love acorn woodpeckers, so I will often figure out ways to express that enjoyment here.
It's pretty much up to you what you define as interesting. We all define it somewhat differently.
---------------------------------------
Chuq Von Rospach http://www.chuq.me Email: <chuqui...>
Twitter: @chuq
Silicon Valley, California
On Apr 12, 2021, 11:00 AM -0700, Luca <luucaa...>, wrote:
>
> I follow here your reports of sightings with much interest, but so far I have posted none of mine.
> This because I don't want to bore everyone... and so I would like to ask: what are the sightings that are of interest to report? Are there guidelines on what you'd like to see on this list?
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Date: 4/12/21 3:09 pm From: Brooke Miller via groups.io <idbirds...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Smith Creek - Morning of 12-April
This morning I arrived at Smith Creek at 7:45. It was nippy up there. There was a lot of song down in the trees of the creek - Black-headed Grosbeak, Warbling Vireo, a Cassin’s Vireo, Wilson’s Warblers, etc. I thought I heard the voice of a Hammond’s on my way on the trail towards the creek crossing, but was unable to find it. A bit later on the way back, Mike Mammoser got his binocs on it, but it moved and took me a few minutes to find it. But I did. I missed Hammond’s Flycatcher last year, so am happy to get it again this year.
Behind the fire station there was a pair of LAWRENCE’S GOLDFINCHES. Just past the gate at the bottom of the hill, there was bird activity including two CALIFORNIA THRASHERS, at least one HERMIT THRUSH, and several YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS (including a couple of the Myrtle’s variety). I heard a NASHVILLE WARBLER song on the other side of the firebreak(?) that parallels the dirt road, but I never got my binoculars or camera on it. There is a seep here where some birds were drinking and bathing.
Good birding,
Brooke Miller
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Date: 4/12/21 3:00 pm From: Brooke Miller via groups.io <idbirds...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Black-chinned Hummingbird - First of Year - Willow Glen - 12-Apr
I just had my first BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD at my backyard feeder in the Willow Glen neighborhood of San Jose. It was a female. This is the latest arrival date in the 8 years I’ve lived here.
Good birding,
Brooke Miller
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Date: 4/12/21 11:00 am From: Luca <luucaa...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Which sightings are worth reporting?
Dear All,
I follow here your reports of sightings with much interest, but so far I have posted none of mine. This because I don't want to bore everyone... and so I would like to ask: what are the sightings that are of interest to report? Are there guidelines on what you'd like to see on this list? Strictly only Santa Clara County or more general South Bay, also?
For example, yesterday after a mountain bike ride in Ed Levin park, at Sandy Wood Lake, I went looking around and there were many incredibly beautiful Bullock's Oriole. Would they be worth reporting? No because they are supposed to be common now? Yes because in fact I hadn't seen them so far in the South Bay, so perhaps they are not all that common? No because out of Santa Clara County? Yes because beautiful? No because they are often there and known (to you, not to me!) to be there?
Many thanks, and sorry for the beginner's question.
Luca
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Date: 4/12/21 7:35 am From: Frank Vanslager via groups.io <Vanslagerf...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Female Costa's Hummingbird? at Cuesta Park on 4/11/2021
All:
At 10:02 on Sunday I took this photo (the bird is near the left edge) of a hummingbird in the white-blossomed tree near the northwest corner of Cuesta Park. Compare this photo (blown up) with the drawing on page 298 of Sibley (or the computer version). The note says "completely pale supercilium isolates pale gray auriculars." I didn't really know what I was looking at. I told a questioner that I was looking at a female Black-chinned Hummingbird. When the bird moved on, I moved on. I wanted to bird a bit before, as a former golfer, going home to watch the Masters.
After that I looked at my pictures on my Desktop Screen. After that I rushed back to Cuesta, but there was a family having a party at the base of the tree, so I found nothing. Now, Monday, I'm going back to see if this desert bird is hanging around. (Pete Dunne states that "Often feeds with the tail unmoving and angled down."
Frank Vanslager
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Date: 4/11/21 5:33 pm From: Bill Bousman <barlowi...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Byxbee Park
Folks:
This morning, 4/11/21, I walked a loop at Byxbee Park with Billie, as we often do on Sundays. For the last three weeks (or more) there has been a "largish" CACKLING GOOSE there (and two on 4 Apr). The color pattern is more or less typical of an Aleutian and it has a distinct white neck ring as expected. The bill seems quite distinct in shape from the large Canadas it was grazing with, and it appeared to have a darker breast than those birds (and darker than most Aleutian's I've seen). Alvaro has suggested that the Cackling Goose subspecies taverneri may be the goose equivalent of Kumlien's Gull, so I won't go there.
Another puzzle is an increase in Am. Crows and Common Ravens in the last few weeks. Compared with the last four years there are four-to-six times the number as in 2017 to 2020. Part of the puzzle is what they are eating. All of them are actively foraging in the grasses on the plateau, but they are digging in the soil for something, not grazing like the geese. They would not be there unless there was something good to eat. The other part of the puzzle is that I would have thought both species would be nesting by now, rather than flocking. Maybe the second year of drought are changing things. Or maybe some organism thrives on the methane seeping from the land fill.
Bill Bousman Menlo Park
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Date: 4/11/21 5:13 pm From: Carter Gasiorowski <carter.gasiorowski...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Solitary Sandpiper at Smith Creek This Morning
Today, my dad and I arrived at the Smith Creek Fire Station on Mt. Hamilton just after 7 am, and were lucky enough to run into several other mask-wearing birders who were also on the hunt for all of Mike Rogers' excellent finds. In addition to the wonderful birds that Matthew mentioned in his posting, we saw an additional HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER about 1/3 mile up the Bonhoff trail from the 4-way trail junction, a male BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER 300 yards up the Manzanita Trail, and a SOLITARY SANDPIPER in the cattle pond near the 4-way trail junction. Sam mentioned to us that there was a single sandpiper in the pond, so we went to check it out and were amazed to see that it was a Solitary Sandpiper! Unfortunately, the Solitary flew off in the direction of the creek around 8:00am, and did not return.
Other birds of note included HOUSE WREN, BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER, CALIFORNIA THRASHER, and six NORTHERN FLICKERS.
Overall it was an amazing day of birding with 55 species, 5.5 miles walked, and 3 lifers for me! (Hammond's Flycatcher, Nashville Warbler and Solitary Sandpiper)
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Date: 4/11/21 3:19 pm From: Matthew Dodder <mdodder...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Smith Creek (04-11-21)
Several like-minded birders showed up at Smith Creek Fire Station this morning, inspired by Mike’s impressive report yesterday. Mary Ann, Audrey, Conner, Carter, Ed, Sam, Dave, Cricket and I retraced Mike’s steps for the most part and found many of the same birds—almost all new for our year lists.
The area was quiet at first, but as it warmed and the sun illuminated the trees, we had more activity and bird song. We heard BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK in the oaks above the Fire Station and continued to add individuals later in our walk along the creek. Carter was the first to spot a NASHVILLE WARBLER in the willows along the narrow creek trail shortly after the step-over gate. After crossing the creek (slippery rocks!) we had CASSIN’S VIREO (and a small family of Scorpions—another story). Carter was again the first to spot a HAMMOND’S FLYCATCHER on return walk that was foraging across the water but Dave and I located another Flycatcher, presumably a Hammond’s, closer to the parking lot. Fleeting looks, but distinctive call. A COMMON MERGANSER flew over the road just as we wre leaving.
Sponsor or Join our Birdathon Team “DeDUCKtions" (April 15)https://scvas.org/spring-birdathon-2021-teams#deducktionsContact me for details fo the day, and the Zoom wrap-up after our “big day”
Matthew
Matthew DodderExecutive DirectorSanta Clara Valley Audubon Society22221 McClellan Rd.Cupertino, CA <95014408-252-3748director...>
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Date: 4/11/21 9:53 am From: Steve Patt <stevenpatt...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Lean Green Birding Machine Birdathon
Earlier this week I wrote about my trip with the "Fartlek Falcons" birdathon, seeing 54 species of birds and raising money for Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society in the course of a (slow) run through Arastradero Preserve and Foothills Park.
Yesterday I participated in the continuation of another long birdathon tradition, a biking birdathon. This one started nine years ago, led by expert birder Rob Furrow, and was called the "Mean Green Birding Machine". In the era of COVID we needed to trim down the team size, but long-time MGBM participants Bill Walker and Mary Wiznewski joined me yesterday as the renamed "Lean Green Birding Machine", as we made our way from just south (Pond A4 for the technically-minded) of the Sunnyvale Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP or weepy seepy to local birders) northwards along the San Francisco Bay Trail to Shoreline Lake in Mountain View, a distance of 9 miles with a whopping 66 feet of elevation gain.
We ended up with a very respectable 85 species for the 4-hour effort, below the high of 99 we achieved with the MGBM in 2013 but still very satisfying. The last minutes of the 4-hour period were spent scouring Charleston Slough and adjacent Adobe Creek for last-minute additions, with American Wigeon finally spotted with 4 minutes to go and a lone Dunlin with less than a minute on the clock.
Best birds of the day included an unexpected Horned Grebe in breeding plumage which popped up in the channel by the Moffett Field Golf Club, and a Western Kingbird (which thoughtfully appeared after I ordered it up) on the fence by the Moffett Field runway. A close third was a Peregrine Falcon, for which we are in debt to Carter Gasiorowski, who spotted it flying overhead just as we ran into him and his father at the entrance to the Charleston Road Marsh.
Other "good birds" were two Cinnamon Teal and two Blue-winged Teal in "Lockheed Marsh", a Burrowing Owl near the end of the Kite-flying area at Shoreline, and our first Bullock's Oriole of the year along the Shoreline maintenance road (across from the Kite-flying area).
We had multiple Common Gallinules during the trip (often one is all you get). Common Yellowthroats were literally everywhere from start to finish; arguably the "trash bird" of the day. Also seen in higher numbers than usual were Great-tailed Grackles. Other than that the day went pretty much as expected. Some misses, as is always the case, but a good time was had by all.
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Date: 4/10/21 11:56 pm From: Alvaro Jaramillo <chucao...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Help with ID at Palo Alto Baylands
Luca
Rather than blurting out an answer, maybe I can help with lines of thought. First, there are at least four species in this photo. So there is a lot going on here! The most straight forward are the largest one and the one with a black belly. The latter is almost a giveaway if you look through the book for sandpipers with black bellies in breeding plumage. The big one towering over all others, well there are not that many big sandpipers. Have a look at the big ones in the book, and which are gray like this, and have a dark bill. Then once you figure out the black belly one, the majority of the sandpipers are smaller than that one. Look for color, as they are in breeding plumage now. Sometimes in a group of birds, it is good to start with the easier ones and proceed from there, using relative sizes, shapes and colors of the known birds (once you figure them out) to aid in sorting out the others. Sort of like a crossword puzzle once you have a few letters down on the paper to help you with the missing words.
From: <southbaybirds...> <southbaybirds...> On Behalf Of Luca
Sent: Saturday, April 10, 2021 9:56 PM
To: <southbaybirds...>
Subject: [southbaybirds] Help with ID at Palo Alto Baylands
I need help with an ID at the Palo Alto Baylands.
What are these birds? I am quite undecided (my knowledge of shorebirds is quite weak). Marbled godwit? Least sandpiper?
In sad news, I had a pair of Oak Titmouse nesting in a nestbox in my garden, and today a Cooper Hawk killed the (I think) male. I am afraid the female will be unable now to raise the brood -- I think they had eggs in the nest.
Many thanks for the ID help,
Luca
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Date: 4/10/21 9:56 pm From: Luca <luucaa...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Help with ID at Palo Alto Baylands
I need help with an ID at the Palo Alto Baylands. What are these birds? I am quite undecided (my knowledge of shorebirds is quite weak). Marbled godwit? Least sandpiper?
In sad news, I had a pair of Oak Titmouse nesting in a nestbox in my garden, and today a Cooper Hawk killed the (I think) male. I am afraid the female will be unable now to raise the brood -- I think they had eggs in the nest.
Many thanks for the ID help,
Luca
[image: 2021-04-10_13-04-36_P4100580 1.jpg]
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Date: 4/10/21 7:33 pm From: m_m_rogers <m.m.rogers...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Smiths Creek Fire Station - 4/10/2021
All,
Hoping that the warming trend might bring some migrants, I spent 2.5 hours this morning at the Smiths Creek Fire Station in Grant Ranch County Park. Migrants were indeed about! I found 4 HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHERS (all vocal), 5 BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLERS, 3 NASHVILLE WARBLERS (2 singing), 2 singing HERMIT WARBLERS, and two singing WILSON'S WARBLERS. Other recently arrived breeders included 1 CASSIN'S VIREO, 2 WARBLING VIREOS, and 2 BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAKS. Lingering winter birds were still about with 54 GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROWS, 13 WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS, 1 singing WHITE-THROATED SPARROW, 6 HERMIT THRUSHES, 6 RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS, and 7 PINE SISKINS.
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Upon reading Eve Meier's excellent report from Harvey Bear Ranch, the northern entrance to Coyote Lake Park, Cricket and I decided to visit and have our lunch at the picnic tables. This was our first experience in this portion of the park, so we didn't know what to expect. After our bagel-and-lox lunch, we hiked a couple of miles along the Willow Springs Trail beside the creek before doubling back. It was somewhat crowded, but that seems to happen everywhere on weekends. We saw no other birders though so when we saw a pair of CASSIN'S KINGBIRDS, we had no one to share the experience with. We also had a couple WESTERN KINGBIRDS, YELLOW-BILLED MAGPIES, a pair of LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCHES, a RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW, 4 GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS and a single CHIPPING SPARROW.
SCVAS Special Event: An Evening with Richard Prum APRIL 21 (via zoom)
Author of New York Times’ Bestseller, and winner of the prized "One of the Best Books of the Year" award... "The Evolution of Beauty" An Evening with Richard Prum | Buy Tickets | Ticketbud
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An Evening with Richard Prum | Buy Tickets | Ticketbud
An Evening with Richard Prum - April 21, 2021 at Online. Find event and ticket information on Ticketbud.
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Matthew DodderExecutive DirectorSanta Clara Valley Audubon Society22221 McClellan Rd.Cupertino, CA <95014408-252-3748director...>
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Date: 4/10/21 3:55 pm From: Matthew Dodder <mdodder...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Santa Teresa Park (04-10-21)
Cricket and I saw 7 RED CROSSBILLS along the main entrance road to Santa Teresa Park this morning. Best views were had from the Pueblo Picnic area as the birds called repeatedly and flew from pine to pine. They also alighted briefly on the flowering eucalyptus, which seemed completely out of character. We first hiked down the Mine Trail and explored three different creek crossings along the way. We found several RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROWS, BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER and a number of other birds bathing, but returned without the Crossbills until we were almost ready to leave.
SCVAS Special Event: An Evening with Richard Prum APRIL 21 (via zoom)
Author of New York Times’ Bestseller, and winner of the prized "One of the Best Books of the Year" award... "The Evolution of Beauty" An Evening with Richard Prum | Buy Tickets | Ticketbud
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An Evening with Richard Prum | Buy Tickets | Ticketbud
An Evening with Richard Prum - April 21, 2021 at Online. Find event and ticket information on Ticketbud.
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Matthew DodderExecutive DirectorSanta Clara Valley Audubon Society22221 McClellan Rd.Cupertino, CA <95014408-252-3748director...>
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Date: 4/9/21 10:27 pm From: Michelle Nelson <mmnelson57...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Grant Ranch
I was late getting to Grant Ranch today, so I missed the Vermilion Flycatcher again. I did manage to catch a Bullock's Oriole, some Lark Sparrows, and 2 Lawrence's Goldfinches. (The goldfinch turned his head just as I was taking his picture, but I'm pretty sure on the ID).
I also enjoyed watching a coyote play with a dozen or so turkey vultures and their shadows. The Canada Goose was not amused.
Michelle Nelson
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Yesterday, I walked around Pond A16. Many shorebirds are starting to show their breeding plumage, most obviously Dunlins. A male BLUE-WINGED TEAL was asleep on a strip island off island #9.
This morning, I counted shorebirds in the Palo Alto estuary on a rising tide, then went to Charleston Slough. The bright sun at the estuary make identifying shorebirds harder at the start, but as they moved up the estuary with the tide, the views got better. Most of the dowitchers were quiet, but two SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS called. While at Charleston Slough, I stopped by the south pond in the forebay and saw the male "EURASIAN" GREEN-WINGED TEAL there.
Bill Bousman Menlo Park
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Date: 4/9/21 5:32 pm From: Eve Meier <eve.m.meier...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Spring Migrants at Live Oak Picnic Area and continuing Lawrence's Goldfinches at Harvey Bear
Hi Everyone,
I just got confirmation that I had two *Cassin's Kingbirds* at Harvey Bear. (I had the field marks but wasn't sure because the views were distant and lighting was bad but I was able to record their calls and Matthew confirmed id for me). These birds were seen in the largest eucalyptus that you can see from the parking lot. There was also one *Western Kingbird* in the area. Here's my ebird list for that location: https://ebird.org/checklist/S85192927. If you try to see these birds, bring a scope.
p.s. Harvey Bear is the northernmost entrance to Coyote Lake County Park.
On Fri, Apr 9, 2021 at 3:48 PM Eve Meier <eve.m.meier...> wrote:
> Hi Everyone, > > Today I checked out a few of my favorite locations. The Live Oak Picnic > Area > <https://scvas.org/self-guided-birding/live-oak-group-area-in-anderson-county-park-year-roundnbspnbsppicnic-with-the-wood-ducks> > of Anderson County Park was busy with spring migrants! *Bullock's > Orioles*, *Black-headed Grosbeaks* and 1 *Cassin's Vireo* were found. > Plus *Wood Ducks*, of course. The Rosendin Area > <https://scvas.org/self-guided-birding/rosendin-spring> of Anderson was > quiet except for 1 *Orange-crowned Warbler* and 3 *Western Kingbirds*. I > also checked out the Harvey-Bear entrance to Coyote Lake (no self-guided > field trip yet) where 2 *Lawrence's Goldfinches* were found at the start > of the trailhead (about here: 37.100121, -121.575208). These birds had > been previously reported on ebird. I also had at least 4 *Western > Kingbirds*. > > ebird for Live Oak: https://ebird.org/checklist/S85157375 and > https://ebird.org/checklist/S85171810 > ebird for Rosendin: https://ebird.org/checklist/S85165500 > ebird for Harvey Bear - not submitted yet, waiting for confirmation on an > id, keep you posted > > Happy Birding! > Eve Meier (San Jose) >
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Date: 4/9/21 5:25 pm From: Mike Feighner <feinerVogel94551...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Joseph P. Grant Lake County Park, continuing male Vermilion Flycatcher 9 April 2021
5 of us observed from 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM the continuing adult male Vermilion Flycatcher handing out along the barbed-wire fence along the Hotel Trail near the water trough and in the adjacent trees. A parr of Tree Swallows are occupying the nest box here. A pair of Lawrence's Goldfinches made a brief appearance on the barbed-wire fence. At least 2 Wild Turkeys roamed the meadow to the north of the parking lot.
The $6 fee was to go into effect on 5 April 2021, but the permit dispenser out of order.
This is the Ranch House Area in the southern part of the park , south of Mt. Hamilton Road.
On the way home, 2 miles to the west of the park, we saw a single Bobcat cross Mt. Hamilton Road.
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." -- Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Date: 4/9/21 3:48 pm From: Eve Meier <eve.m.meier...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Spring Migrants at Live Oak Picnic Area and continuing Lawrence's Goldfinches at Harvey Bear
Hi Everyone,
Today I checked out a few of my favorite locations. The Live Oak Picnic Area <https://scvas.org/self-guided-birding/live-oak-group-area-in-anderson-county-park-year-roundnbspnbsppicnic-with-the-wood-ducks> of Anderson County Park was busy with spring migrants! *Bullock's Orioles*, *Black-headed Grosbeaks* and 1 *Cassin's Vireo* were found. Plus *Wood Ducks*, of course. The Rosendin Area <https://scvas.org/self-guided-birding/rosendin-spring> of Anderson was quiet except for 1 *Orange-crowned Warbler* and 3 *Western Kingbirds*. I also checked out the Harvey-Bear entrance to Coyote Lake (no self-guided field trip yet) where 2 *Lawrence's Goldfinches* were found at the start of the trailhead (about here: 37.100121, -121.575208). These birds had been previously reported on ebird. I also had at least 4 *Western Kingbirds*.
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Date: 4/9/21 1:26 pm From: Frank Vanslager via groups.io <Vanslagerf...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Duetting? Hutton's Vireos at Santa Teresa on 4/9/2021
All:
At 9:40 I was a short ways up on the Hidden Springs Trail when I stopped to photograph a singing House Wren (a FOY bird for me). At the same time I heard a strange-sounding Hutton's Vireo right close by. I went about 5 yards further up the trail, and spotted a perched Hutton's Vireo. In my image-stabilized binos I could see his whole body pulse as he gave his call every second or so. But the sound I heard was not a Johnny one-note call but more like a Johnny one-and-a-half-note call!
I watched his body closely and he didn't seem to be giving that softer note, which seemed to be louder in my left ear. If anybody else, birder or not, had come by I would have had them tell me if they could distinctly tell that the song was coming from two different directions. The photo is of the House Wren. I tried, but missed, the Vireo.
Frank Vanslager
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Date: 4/9/21 12:06 pm From: Frank Vanslager via groups.io <Vanslagerf...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Red Crossbills Contnue at Santa Teresa on 4/9/2021
All:
Just short of the first entrance to the first parking lot, there is a circle of 3 pine-cone-containing trees. At about 8 I checked these out pretty strongly before leaving the parking lot area to do a 2 hour circuit on the trails. Then, at about 10:30 I was back at those trees when a couple of birds silently flew into their tops. With my binos I could see that at least one was a Red Crossbill. I took a dozen or so useless photos before one of the birds flew down and perched on a cone, silhouetted against the meadow.
The first 2 photos show a bit of yellowish color on the bird's rump -- whatever that means. The 3rd photo shows the bird as it was leaving the area. I didn't hear them say anything.
Frank Vanslager
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Date: 4/8/21 7:25 pm From: Carter Gasiorowski <carter.gasiorowski...> Subject: [southbaybirds] The Flycatchers Birdathon: 87 species and Tufted Duck x Scaup Hybrid in 4 hours
Yesterday, 4-7-21, my dad and I did our first ever Birdathon. We named our team "The Flycatchers" as the Black Phoebe was the first bird I identified when I was five, and the Vermillion Flycatcher is my favorite bird. We decided to do a 4-hour counting birdathon, as for the past year my dad and I have been working on a route through Stevens Creek Park that gives the maximum number of species in the shortest amount of time. Before starting, we set a lofty goal of seeing 100 species.
I started the 4-hour clock ticking at exactly 7:07:07 am on 4/7, about a mile south of Stevens Creek Park on Mt. Eden Road. A Spotted Towhee and Oak Titmouse called from the side of the road, the first of many for the day.
Our first stop at the southern border of the park produced the first of several Purple Finches and Orange-crowned Warblers for the day, but unfortunately, after ten minutes of waiting we did not find the hoped-for California Quail.
We then headed to the Cooley/Canyon picnic areas with high expectations, as during our scouting trip on Sunday this area was filled with birds. We were not disappointed, as we added a ton of birds to our list including HAIRY WOODPECKER, DOWNY WOODPECKER, HERMIT THRUSH, WILSON'S WARBLER, BROWN CREEPER, and 5 singing TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS.
Our next stop was at the pullout where the Tony Look Trail meets Stevens Canyon Road. This is our favorite stop along our route, as we never leave it without seeing something new. After 5 minutes of almost no birds, we were about to leave when two CALIFORNIA QUAILS called from the distance. We were so excited to get to count them, as we figured we wouldn't find any after missing them at our first stop.
Near the next pullout, a BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER was foraging in the oaks above the road, and a KILLDEER called from the water below.
At the Lakeshore Picnic Area, we picked up our swallows for the count, as TREE, VIOLET-GREEN, BARN, and NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED swallows were foraging over the reservoir. I began scoping for the SPOTTED SANDPIPER, and saw it foraging on the mud nearby. We were about to leave when a VAUX'S SWIFT flew right over my head! I was not expecting to get a Vaux's Swift, so we were super excited!
Moving on to the dam, we spotted a MERLIN perched on a distant snag, another unexpected bird for the count.
At the Chestnut Picnic Area, there was a RED-TAILED HAWK perched on its usual tower on the ridge.
At the Villa Maria Picnic Area, our final stop in Stevens Creek County Park, we ran into Dave and Floy Zittin, who expertly pointed us in the right direction to find PINE SISKIN, WESTERN BLUEBIRD, and HUTTON'S VIREO, the final three songbirds we were missing for our count! Thank you Dave and Floy!
Overall, the Stevens Creek portion of our birdathon went spectacularly. Out of all the birds we expected to find, we only missed two, the Ruby-crowned Kinglet, which is getting less common now anyway, and the Wild Turkey. We left Stevens Creek Park with 56 species, and an hour and forty minutes left on the clock.
The next stop was at McClellan Ranch, where we made a quick stop to see the WESTERN SCREECH-OWL.
Along highway 85, we got our only ROCK PIGEONS.
We arrived at the Shoreline Kite Flying Area with only an hour and fifteen minutes left and 44 birds left to find, so I quite literally sprinted the mile to the end to the pump house and back, and got incredibly lucky with all the birds I was hoping to find (SAVANNAH SPARROW, WESTERN MEADOWLARK, AMERICAN PIPIT) plus a bonus LINCOLN'S SPARROW. I was quite winded after only running a mile, so I really admire the endurance the Fartlek Falcons have for their marathon outing.
We then parked at the Rengstorff House, with only an hour left to get the remaining 37 species we needed to hit our goal. I knew Shoreline's abundance of waterbirds could pull through, and as I scoped Shoreline Lake our count went up rapidly with the lingering wintering ducks, as well as gulls and skimmers on the island. It was now a race against the clock to get to Charleston Slough so that we could find all the shorebirds we needed to break 100 species.
I set up to quickly scope pond A1 for the remaining ducks we needed, when a Scaup sporting a funky hairdo caught my eye. I zoomed in, and noticed an obvious tuft on the back of the bird's head, as well as a deep purple iridescence. The flanks were clean, and the back looked quite dark from where we were at the time, so I figured I could be looking at a pure Tufted Duck. The duck could have left at any time, and a Tufted Duck could be a serious contender for Best Bird, so I decided to stay with it instead of continuing on to Charleston Slough. We spent the last 45 minutes of our birdathon observing the bird, and I eventually concluded that it must be a Tufted Duck x Scaup sp. hybrid, due to a hint of green iridescence on the head in certain light, and the back getting slightly paler towards the front (photo in eBird).
I totaled up our lists, and was ecstatic to see that we had found 87 species in just four hours! We really enjoyed being a part of the SCVAS Birdathon for the first time, and can't wait to see what the other teams find!
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Date: 4/8/21 7:06 pm From: Michael Mammoser <mmammoser...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Red Crossbills continue at Santa Teresa CP
On 8 Apr 2021, I returned to Santa Teresa County Park, at the Pueblo day use area. At about 1:50 pm I was standing on the Mine Trail, when a calling RED CROSSBILL flew overhead. The calls stopped after the bird crossed the trail, and I imagined that it had landed in the trees, as the bird from yesterday did. I walked towards the small creek that intersects the trail, and suddenly the bird flew up from the creek bed and called as it flew towards the pavilion. This bird was quite red, showing it to be a male, and a different bird than the one I had seen the day before.
About 15 minutes later, Melissa Johnson arrived, looking for crossbills. We were chatting in the small parking lot, when a crossbill flew over, calling loudly. Melissa found the bird sitting in the top of the same valley oak tree that had held yesterday's bird. Once again, I was able to get my scope out of the car and on the bird, giving us both decent views while it sat. It was a nice red male. As I was looking at this bird through the scope, another flew overhead calling. Melissa saw this one land in the same tree, but before I could get on it, It flew down towards the creek, quickly followed by the male.
Crossbills are known to eat clay, a compound that helps to neutralize the resins in their pine seed diet. I'm beginning to wonder if these birds are using the mud in the creek bed to serve this purpose, explaining why they continue to show up at this location.
Michael Mammoser
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NOTE: A description of a "green" birdathon follows. If you're interested in joining another one, a small group will be riding bikes on Saturday morning from the Sunnyvale Water Pollution Control Plant along the San Francisco Bay Trail to Shoreline Lake, a 7-ish mile route which has in the past produced as many as 100 species. If you want to join the "Lean Green Birding Machine", indicate so in the comments and we'll get in touch.
Now read on...
Every year the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society has as its major fundraiser a "birdathon", in which people go out to try to see as many species of birds as they can in a day in order to call attention to the work of SCVAS. In particular, this year's birdathon is dedicated to raising money for the chapter's education programs, through which thousands of area children, with an emphasis on children of disadvantaged families, learn about birds and nature in general, and hopefully develop a greater appreciation for the world around them. A description of the first of my three birdathons this year follows. If you want to support the work of SCVAS, and honor my efforts, you can do so here; SCVAS is a non-profit so any donation is appreciated: https://scvas.z2systems.com/np/clients/scvas/campaignTeam.jsp?campaignId=63&teamId=37
In an attempt to continue a long-time tradition of a long-distance birdathon by foot, last year I scouted out a Fartlek* Falcons birdathon route through Arastradero Preserve and Foothills Park. Alas, thanks to COVID the actual birdathon never took place. This year I recruited fellow double-vaxxer Chuck Wilson to join me on the first official running of this birdathon.
We started at the Arastradero parking lot at 7:15 on Wednesday and, as usual in birdathons, quickly picked up a number of common and expected species. One lucky surprise there were a lone ROCK PIGEON sitting on top of one of the buildings; not a species we were expecting. A "trash bird" in general; but in a birdathon every species counts! Entering the preserve we headed up the Wild Rye trail which is always a sure spot for HOUSE WRENS. It was today as well, though we never did see one. Fifteen minutes after we had started a WHITE-TAILED KITE appeared in front of us, kiting. Remember this for later.
Dropping down to Arastradero Lake we were hoping for an Egret or Heron but found neither. Heading up the Arastradero Creek Trail we continued picking up species, mostly by ear, including our lone PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER.
Entering Foothills Park we followed the Coyote Trail and the Panorama Trail up to Vista Hill, where we had a lone BAND-TAILED PIGEON fly by, along with both VIOLET-GREEN and TREE SWALLOWS. As we headed down towards Boronda Lake, we spotted a RED-SHOULDERED HAWK perched on a distant snag; again, remember this. Boronda Lake added many hoped-for species, among them noisy RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS and multiple GADWALL and AMERICAN WIGEON, as well as AMERICAN ROBIN and SONG SPARROW around the perimeter.
We had two special target species for the lake, which I had seen several weeks before - GREEN HERON and Belted Kingfisher. At one point we flushed something from the shore which *might* have been the Heron, but we both thought it was too small. We had almost finished the clockwise circumnavigation of the lake when Chuck spotted the Heron hiding behind a rock in the small cove at the back. It flew almost immediately, but was unmistakeable. No Kingfisher unfortunately.
As we re-entered Arastradero, with about an hour to go, we realized that, since our early spotting of the Kite, we had yet to see a single raptor in the sky. No Red-tails, not even a Turkey Vulture (TV). With a half hour to go, we reached our target of 50 species with an AMERICAN KESTREL perched. Finally, at 10:49 a.m., more than three hours after we had seen our first raptor in the sky, there it was RED-TAILED HAWK! In the sky! Soaring! Still no TV. Ten minutes later, as we were heading up the ridge on the north side of Arastradero Rd., another candidate. A TV? Nope, Red-tail.
At the top of the ridge, a special treat, as a COYOTE posed for us on the other side of the fence. 11:09, six minutes to go, two more raptors in the sky. Both Red-tails! Now we're heading down to the parking lot with two minutes to go, looking for a TV, and also looking for, believe it or not, a Black Phoebe, which hasn't made our list yet. No luck.
Arriving in the parking lot with 30 seconds to go, I headed over towards the fence to try for the Phoebe. No go. But then, with 7 seconds to go, look up! A TURKEY VULTURE! Hooray! 54 species, and all in all a very satisfactory outing. 9.5 miles with 1420' of elevation gain (and loss) in exactly four hours.
*"Fartlek" is a Swedish word meaning "speedplay", and is a running training method in which fast running is alternated with slow running in a semi-random fashion (as opposed to "intervals" which do so in a methodic manner). In our case, the "fast" portion was actually a trot and the "slow" portion was fully stopped, looking at birds, but "fartlek" still seemed an appropriate description.
Steve Patt
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Date: 4/8/21 4:07 pm From: Chuq Von Rospach via groups.io <chuqui...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Lonesome Dove Big Day (SCVAS birdathon fund-raiser) results
This week I participated in my first of two Birdathon events to support Santa Clara Valley Audubon. My goal is to try to raise $1500 for the birdathon this year. It's not too late to help: you can this outing at https://scvas.org/spring-birdathon-2021-teams#lonesomedove, or donate to my second outing on 4/21: https://scvas.org/spring-birdathon-2021-teams#thanksmew-- I'm donating $250 to each event myself, plus I'm matching the first $250 of donations to each of these events, so if you've ever wanted to spend my money on a good cause, now is your chance.
This week's outing was Lonesome Dove, a 24 hour big day, where I set a goal of 100 species for the day. This is my first formal big day, since in general I don't enjoy competitive birding against others or against a clock, but because we can't do my normal group sits and my schedule didn't allow for my to organize virtual groups, I decided this birdathon was a good reason to finally pull off a big day.
TL;DR: I still am not a huge fan of big days, but I'm really satisfied with the results.
My original plan was to start about 9AM, since I have morning obligations at my real job. As it turned out, I had a last minute other complication which had me parked in Cupertino for a while waiting for my cockatoo to finish her quarterly visit to her vet, so I didn't actually start the big day until 10:30AM.
I had mapped out a route that covered the locations in a fairly efficient way, trying to minmimize driving time and maximizing birding time, and of course this threw a wrench in those plans, so I found myself scrambling the rest of the day to try to re-organize the outing. I think I ended up losing about an hour of time due to extra driving from my original plans, which was sad but necessary.
What I ended up doing was slicing off the morning stops (my time in Coyote Valley) and deferring them, so at 10:30 I started the day up in Steven's Creek Park at the Cooley Picnic Area. I think this is an under-birded location that can sometimes be magical and at other times be junco's and jays. The trick to Cooley is to catch it in migration, and when there aren't others there. Once you start getting people at the area it dies off, so I find morning weekdays best.
Cooley Picnic Area is, I think, the spring equivalent to Pichetti's magic persimmon tree in fall: when it kicks in, it's magic. For me, that's what happened.
I drove up and parked, and as I got out of the car, I had a spotted towhee fly by and dive into the brush past me. A rather auspicious start. It sat there hidden, calling much of my visit. I was immediately adopted by a couple of Steller's Jays, one of whom spent much of my visit following me around and yelling at me for trespassing on their turf. I ended up spending just under an hour at Cooley and logged 20 species, but some really special ones, including a solo fly-by Band-Tailed Pigeon seen through a hole in the tree canopy, the spotted towhee, Steller's Jays, three woodpeckers (Acorn: a family of at least six active along the stream; Hairy and Nuttall's) and three different warblers (Orange-Crowned, A couple of really bright and colorful Townsend's males, and to my delight, a beautiful Wilson's). Also seen were a pair of chickadee's copulating, and heard nearby was an enthusiastic red-shouldered hawk.
I'll note Cooley is, I believe the most reliable place for Steller's Jay in the county. I've noticed, over the last decade or so, many places where I used to see this species now host Scrub Jays instead, so it looks like the Steller's Jay loses that territory fight most of the time. Here, there almost always seems to be a few within hearing and often they'll come in and see what mischief they can cause for you.
Anna's Hummingbird
Red-shouldered Hawk
Acorn Woodpecker
Nuttall's Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Black Phoebe
Steller's Jay
American Crow
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Oak Titmouse
European Starling
American Robin
Dark-eyed Junco
Song Sparrow
California Towhee
Spotted Towhee
Orange-crowned Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
I left Cooley's with 19 species for the day list.
After Cooley I decided to check out Gates of Heaven cemetary, which was a wash; I didn't bother to open a list. The pond was empty, there was one active funeral and two other setups for pending ones, and I simply felt that wasn't a place to be birding, so I drove in, circled around and back out.
I then drove to McClellan Ranch, which had a full lot and no feeders (of course). At that point the vet called that my bird was ready, so I headed to pick her up and take her home. By this time it's noon and I'm sweating bullets on time. I grabbed a quick lunch, and headed back out, now to Ed Levin and the east bay hills region.
I finally started birding again at 1:45PM at Ed Levin. I found out they had run out of annual pass forms (hopefully back in stock next week, this seems to be a problem at most parks because they didn't plan for a surge of requests). I birded starting at the dog park area and around Sandy Wool, then headed off to the Elm picnic area. Since last time I visited there most of the trees along the fence by the golf course have come been taken down, which changed that area for me a lot Still, there were some nice birds. I (of course) didn't research where the great horned owl nest was and didn't find it, because I'm an idiot. But I spent 45 minutes at Ed Levin for 25 species, of which 22 added to the day list.
Highlight bird because it was so unexpected: a single male Bufflehead, which shouldn't still be here. I failed (again) at seeing a Violet-Green Swallow, but did see tree, northern rough-winged and a few barn. I admit to now taking their hiding from me personally, and I vow to add them to my year list soon (or else). Also of interest was one, possibly a pair, of great-tailed grackles, with the male wandering the edge of Sandy Wool at the waterline, and later flying off and being joined by a possible female.
It was incredibly windy at Ed Levin, and a stiff breeze dogged me the rest of the day.
Mallard
Bufflehead
Ruddy Duck
Pied-billed Grebe
American Coot
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Red-tailed Hawk
California Scrub-Jay
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Western Bluebird
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Yellow-rumped Warbler
I then felt like I was way behind schedule and needed to make some choices. I decided to skip Spring Valley area in favor of Marsh Road. If you read Carter's report on birding Spring Valley, I made the wrong choice, since Marsh Road was quiet, giving me only two new species for 20 minutes of birding (plus another 20 or so of driving). But Marsh Road is emotionally an important location for me in the county, so I regret nothing. It was also, with no Coyote Valley stops, the most likely place to see Yellow-Billed Magpie, which of course was nowhere to be found. Also, I felt, the best place for Wild turkey (nope) and California Quail (nope) on my agenda.
On the way out of Milpitas I did a literal drive-by of the Milpitas nest, got lucky and tagged Bald eagle (and two mourning doves) in a < 5 minute stop.
Next up was EEC in Alviso, which nicely opened its gates this week, for which my knees thanked them. It is after 3:30 and I felt a lot of time pressure here, so I decided not to carry my scope so I walked out to A16 and back. In retrospect -- I should have spent
another 15 minutes here, carried the scope and looked through the gulls for Herring and Iceland and also for terns. Bad call on my part.
That said, there were three eared grebes close to shore, I got my first Canada Goose of the day, and Cinnamon Teal in the slough, as well as many marsh wrens.
EEC
Canada Goose
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Eared Grebe
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
American White Pelican
Snowy Egret
Common Raven
Bushtit
Marsh Wren
White-crowned Sparrow
I cut my planned stop at the Alviso Marina park due to time, and scurried off to Shoreline Lake. I went to the boat launch area, found a parking spot and walked across the grass. The light was terrible, the wind was worse (it blew over the tripod three times -- yes, I had the scope now), adn there were > 12 wind surfers on the lake. I quickly decided to speed date this stop and look for the specialty birds. Much to my amazement I found the Brant with my first look, in among more CAGO eating the golf course, and a number of Black Skimmers on the island. I also saw a couple of Common Goldeneye and two Surf Scoters, but it's now 4:30, the lake is full of boats not birds, and I decided to spend more time at Baylands instead of trying to find birds among the whitecaps (it was REALLY windy). I decided to cut terminal road and charleston slough out due to time, which was sad.
Shoreline
Brant
Surf Scoter
Common Goldeneye
Ring-billed Gull
Black Skimmer
My last stop for the afternoon was Palo Alto Baylands. The wind did not magically stop. that said, it did a good job of filling out my duck dance card and handed me both green-winged teal and Canvasback, both expected. NOT so expected were a single American Wigeon and also a single Gadwall. I finally started ticking off shorebirds not named Avocet and Stilt. I spent about 30 minutes at Baylands, finishing up a bit before 5:30. My hard stop was 6, so I didn't follow up at Byxbee, Emily Renzell or Geng road but I had them as options if I'd had time. Still,seven more species to the day list on this last stop.
Baylands
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
Willet
Great Egret
After I got home, I did an impromptu "my feeders are down and my yard is boring" watch, but it gave me two more for the day list, Bewick's Wren and House Sparrow.
No-Feeders Watch
Bewick's Wren
House Sparrow
I was really regretting having to slice off Coyote Valley due to my time conflicts, and I simply couldn't see my big day list being complete without a Magpie or three. On the way home from Baylands, I realized that if I didn't start birding until 10:45AM and the event was a 24 event, it meant if I got out early I could take in a bit of Coyote Valley and still be within both the letter and spirit of the rules. I have a daily required meeting at work every morning at 8:30, but once that was done, I marked myself out of the office and hauled butt out to Coyote Valley OSP. I arrived right at 10AM, giving myself 45 minutes for a mini big sit in the parking lot.
It was well worth it. the Rock Wren immediately jumped up on a favorite rock, and I had a few fly-by magpies. While searching with increasing desperation for orioles and kingbirds, I had two male Bullock's get in a territory argument and explode out of a tree, one chasing the other -- straight at me. They finally noticed I was in the way, but they came within 10 feet of me. I did ultimately find 2, possibly 3 male and one female bullock's there. I saw zero kingbirds. Also a nice plus was my first northern harrier of the big day, soaring along the top of the ridge in the distance -- and then being chased by a flock of blackbirds. There was one specific tree along the ridge top they seemed to be protecting, as the harrier, a red-tail and later a turkey vulture all found out the hard way. Amusingly, the red-tail's response was to land IN the tree and pretend to ignore them for a while as they madly dive-bombed it, then take off again and leave, still pretending none of them were chasing him or pulling feathers. My attempt to conjure a golden eagle out of nothing failed.
Coyote Valley OSP
Northern Harrier
Yellow-billed Magpie
Rock Wren
Western Meadowlark
Bullock's Oriole
at 10:45 exactly I closed my eBird report, got in the car, and came home. I didn't get a chance to look for the Swainson's, for the Cassin's Kingbird or Lawrence's goldfinch near 152, or along Laguna road, but I still pulled out five final species to end my big day.
I will warn visitors to Coyote Valley OSP there are two mockingbirds in full bellow there right now, and one of them does a rather impressive Yellow-Billed Magpie. Be wary of ear birding that species there for a few weeks.
My end result: 77 species. Not the 100 I hoped for but I always saw that as a real stretch. 8 of those were year birds, none were lifer or county birds.
Probably the biggest missed location for me was Ulistac, which I regret. Second was Charleston Slough. If I were do to it again (Hey, I will be, but with a camera) I'd delete Marsh road and Gates of Heaven in favor of finding time for both places, even if Ulistac is "only" a sit near the artificial stream for 30-40 minutes. I'd definitely add Spring valley in while I'm near Ed levin for 45 minutes of birding.
I believe I had one too many stops on my planned list even before my schedule chaos, and I have to think that through. That said, to cover the wide diversity of habitats and species in the county, you have to cover a lot of territory -- Coyote Valley OSP, Ed Levin, Ulistac, EEC, Shoreline and Baylands seems to be the bare minimum to try to get a broad coverage of what's available.
I think the wilson's warbler was the best bird, or at least most unexpected.
Notable misses: White-breasted Nuthatch, where the McClellan Ranch feeders being down hurt. Golden Eagle. Northern Flicker. Scaups. Long-Billed Curlew. Herring Gull.
I had fun, and I'm tired but it was worth it and for a good cause. Will I do it again? Yes, in a couple of weeks, and I could use a few more sponsors. (grin)
This week I participated in my first of two Birdathon events to support Santa Clara Valley Audubon. My goal is to try to raise $1500 for the birdathon this year. It's not too late to help: you can this outing at https://scvas.org/spring-birdathon-2021-teams#lonesomedove, or donate to my second outing on 4/21: https://scvas.org/spring-birdathon-2021-teams#thanksmew-- I'm donating $250 to each event myself, plus I'm matching the first $250 of donations to each of these events, so if you've ever wanted to spend my money on a good cause, now is your chance.
This week's outing was Lonesome Dove, a 24 hour big day, where I set a goal of 100 species for the day. This is my first formal big day, since in general I don't enjoy competitive birding against others or against a clock, but because we can't do my normal group sits and my schedule didn't allow for my to organize virtual groups, I decided this birdathon was a good reason to finally pull off a big day.
TL;DR: I still am not a huge fan of big days, but I'm really satisfied with the results.
My original plan was to start about 9AM, since I have morning obligations at my real job. As it turned out, I had a last minute other complication which had me parked in Cupertino for a while waiting for my cockatoo to finish her quarterly visit to her vet, so I didn't actually start the big day until 10:30AM.
I had mapped out a route that covered the locations in a fairly efficient way, trying to minmimize driving time and maximizing birding time, and of course this threw a wrench in those plans, so I found myself scrambling the rest of the day to try to re-organize the outing. I think I ended up losing about an hour of time due to extra driving from my original plans, which was sad but necessary.
What I ended up doing was slicing off the morning stops (my time in Coyote Valley) and deferring them, so at 10:30 I started the day up in Steven's Creek Park at the Cooley Picnic Area. I think this is an under-birded location that can sometimes be magical and at other times be junco's and jays. The trick to Cooley is to catch it in migration, and when there aren't others there. Once you start getting people at the area it dies off, so I find morning weekdays best.
Cooley Picnic Area is, I think, the spring equivalent to Pichetti's magic persimmon tree in fall: when it kicks in, it's magic. For me, that's what happened.
I drove up and parked, and as I got out of the car, I had a spotted towhee fly by and dive into the brush past me. A rather auspicious start. It sat there hidden, calling much of my visit. I was immediately adopted by a couple of Steller's Jays, one of whom spent much of my visit following me around and yelling at me for trespassing on their turf. I ended up spending just under an hour at Cooley and logged 20 species, but some really special ones, including a solo fly-by Band-Tailed Pigeon seen through a hole in the tree canopy, the spotted towhee, Steller's Jays, three woodpeckers (Acorn: a family of at least six active along the stream; Hairy and Nuttall's) and three different warblers (Orange-Crowned, A couple of really bright and colorful Townsend's males, and to my delight, a beautiful Wilson's). Also seen were a pair of chickadee's copulating, and heard nearby was an enthusiastic red-shouldered hawk.
I'll note Cooley is, I believe the most reliable place for Steller's Jay in the county. I've noticed, over the last decade or so, many places where I used to see this species now host Scrub Jays instead, so it looks like the Steller's Jay loses that territory fight most of the time. Here, there almost always seems to be a few within hearing and often they'll come in and see what mischief they can cause for you.
Anna's Hummingbird
Red-shouldered Hawk
Acorn Woodpecker
Nuttall's Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Black Phoebe
Steller's Jay
American Crow
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Oak Titmouse
European Starling
American Robin
Dark-eyed Junco
Song Sparrow
California Towhee
Spotted Towhee
Orange-crowned Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
I left Cooley's with 19 species for the day list.
After Cooley I decided to check out Gates of Heaven cemetary, which was a wash; I didn't bother to open a list. The pond was empty, there was one active funeral and two other setups for pending ones, and I simply felt that wasn't a place to be birding, so I drove in, circled around and back out.
I then drove to McClellan Ranch, which had a full lot and no feeders (of course). At that point the vet called that my bird was ready, so I headed to pick her up and take her home. By this time it's noon and I'm sweating bullets on time. I grabbed a quick lunch, and headed back out, now to Ed Levin and the east bay hills region.
I finally started birding again at 1:45PM at Ed Levin. I found out they had run out of annual pass forms (hopefully back in stock next week, this seems to be a problem at most parks because they didn't plan for a surge of requests). I birded starting at the dog park area and around Sandy Wool, then headed off to the Elm picnic area. Since last time I visited there most of the trees along the fence by the golf course have come been taken down, which changed that area for me a lot Still, there were some nice birds. I (of course) didn't research where the great horned owl nest was and didn't find it, because I'm an idiot. But I spent 45 minutes at Ed Levin for 25 species, of which 22 added to the day list.
Highlight bird because it was so unexpected: a single male Bufflehead, which shouldn't still be here. I failed (again) at seeing a Violet-Green Swallow, but did see tree, northern rough-winged and a few barn. I admit to now taking their hiding from me personally, and I vow to add them to my year list soon (or else). Also of interest was one, possibly a pair, of great-tailed grackles, with the male wandering the edge of Sandy Wool at the waterline, and later flying off and being joined by a possible female.
It was incredibly windy at Ed Levin, and a stiff breeze dogged me the rest of the day.
Mallard
Bufflehead
Ruddy Duck
Pied-billed Grebe
American Coot
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Red-tailed Hawk
California Scrub-Jay
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Western Bluebird
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Yellow-rumped Warbler
I then felt like I was way behind schedule and needed to make some choices. I decided to skip Spring Valley area in favor of Marsh Road. If you read Carter's report on birding Spring Valley, I made the wrong choice, since Marsh Road was quiet, giving me only two new species for 20 minutes of birding (plus another 20 or so of driving). But Marsh Road is emotionally an important location for me in the county, so I regret nothing. It was also, with no Coyote Valley stops, the most likely place to see Yellow-Billed Magpie, which of course was nowhere to be found. Also, I felt, the best place for Wild turkey (nope) and California Quail (nope) on my agenda.
On the way out of Milpitas I did a literal drive-by of the Milpitas nest, got lucky and tagged Bald eagle (and two mourning doves) in a < 5 minute stop.
Next up was EEC in Alviso, which nicely opened its gates this week, for which my knees thanked them. It is after 3:30 and I felt a lot of time pressure here, so I decided not to carry my scope so I walked out to A16 and back. In retrospect -- I should have spent
another 15 minutes here, carried the scope and looked through the gulls for Herring and Iceland and also for terns. Bad call on my part.
That said, there were three eared grebes close to shore, I got my first Canada Goose of the day, and Cinnamon Teal in the slough, as well as many marsh wrens.
EEC
Canada Goose
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Eared Grebe
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
American White Pelican
Snowy Egret
Common Raven
Bushtit
Marsh Wren
White-crowned Sparrow
I cut my planned stop at the Alviso Marina park due to time, and scurried off to Shoreline Lake. I went to the boat launch area, found a parking spot and walked across the grass. The light was terrible, the wind was worse (it blew over the tripod three times -- yes, I had the scope now), adn there were > 12 wind surfers on the lake. I quickly decided to speed date this stop and look for the specialty birds. Much to my amazement I found the Brant with my first look, in among more CAGO eating the golf course, and a number of Black Skimmers on the island. I also saw a couple of Common Goldeneye and two Surf Scoters, but it's now 4:30, the lake is full of boats not birds, and I decided to spend more time at Baylands instead of trying to find birds among the whitecaps (it was REALLY windy). I decided to cut terminal road and charleston slough out due to time, which was sad.
Shoreline
Brant
Surf Scoter
Common Goldeneye
Ring-billed Gull
Black Skimmer
My last stop for the afternoon was Palo Alto Baylands. The wind did not magically stop. that said, it did a good job of filling out my duck dance card and handed me both green-winged teal and Canvasback, both expected. NOT so expected were a single American Wigeon and also a single Gadwall. I finally started ticking off shorebirds not named Avocet and Stilt. I spent about 30 minutes at Baylands, finishing up a bit before 5:30. My hard stop was 6, so I didn't follow up at Byxbee, Emily Renzell or Geng road but I had them as options if I'd had time. Still,seven more species to the day list on this last stop.
Baylands
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
Willet
Great Egret
After I got home, I did an impromptu "my feeders are down and my yard is boring" watch, but it gave me two more for the day list, Bewick's Wren and House Sparrow.
No-Feeders Watch
Bewick's Wren
House Sparrow
I was really regretting having to slice off Coyote Valley due to my time conflicts, and I simply couldn't see my big day list being complete without a Magpie or three. On the way home from Baylands, I realized that if I didn't start birding until 10:45AM and the event was a 24 event, it meant if I got out early I could take in a bit of Coyote Valley and still be within both the letter and spirit of the rules. I have a daily required meeting at work every morning at 8:30, but once that was done, I marked myself out of the office and hauled butt out to Coyote Valley OSP. I arrived right at 10AM, giving myself 45 minutes for a mini big sit in the parking lot.
It was well worth it. the Rock Wren immediately jumped up on a favorite rock, and I had a few fly-by magpies. While searching with increasing desperation for orioles and kingbirds, I had two male Bullock's get in a territory argument and explode out of a tree, one chasing the other -- straight at me. They finally noticed I was in the way, but they came within 10 feet of me. I did ultimately find 2, possibly 3 male and one female bullock's there. I saw zero kingbirds. Also a nice plus was my first northern harrier of the big day, soaring along the top of the ridge in the distance -- and then being chased by a flock of blackbirds. There was one specific tree along the ridge top they seemed to be protecting, as the harrier, a red-tail and later a turkey vulture all found out the hard way. Amusingly, the red-tail's response was to land IN the tree and pretend to ignore them for a while as they madly dive-bombed it, then take off again and leave, still pretending none of them were chasing him or pulling feathers. My attempt to conjure a golden eagle out of nothing failed.
Coyote Valley OSP
Northern Harrier
Yellow-billed Magpie
Rock Wren
Western Meadowlark
Bullock's Oriole
at 10:45 exactly I closed my eBird report, got in the car, and came home. I didn't get a chance to look for the Swainson's, for the Cassin's Kingbird or Lawrence's goldfinch near 152, or along Laguna road, but I still pulled out five final species to end my big day.
I will warn visitors to Coyote Valley OSP there are two mockingbirds in full bellow there right now, and one of them does a rather impressive Yellow-Billed Magpie. Be wary of ear birding that species there for a few weeks.
My end result: 77 species. Not the 100 I hoped for but I always saw that as a real stretch. 8 of those were year birds, none were lifer or county birds.
Probably the biggest missed location for me was Ulistac, which I regret. Second was Charleston Slough. If I were do to it again (Hey, I will be, but with a camera) I'd delete Marsh road and Gates of Heaven in favor of finding time for both places, even if Ulistac is "only" a sit near the artificial stream for 30-40 minutes. I'd definitely add Spring valley in while I'm near Ed levin for 45 minutes of birding.
I believe I had one too many stops on my planned list even before my schedule chaos, and I have to think that through. That said, to cover the wide diversity of habitats and species in the county, you have to cover a lot of territory -- Coyote Valley OSP, Ed Levin, Ulistac, EEC, Shoreline and Baylands seems to be the bare minimum to try to get a broad coverage of what's available.
I think the wilson's warbler was the best bird, or at least most unexpected.
Notable misses: White-breasted Nuthatch, where the McClellan Ranch feeders being down hurt. Golden Eagle. Northern Flicker. Scaups. Long-Billed Curlew. Herring Gull.
I had fun, and I'm tired but it was worth it and for a good cause. Will I do it again? Yes, in a couple of weeks, and I could use a few more sponsors. (grin)
---------------------------------------
Chuq Von Rospach http://www.chuq.me Email: <chuqui...>
Twitter: @chuq
Silicon Valley, California
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Today I was able to find and enjoy, from a safe distance, the Vermillion Fly Catcher at the known location in the Joseph D Grant CP at 11:55 am.
There was no one around this time bothering this beautiful creature.
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Date: 4/8/21 3:27 pm From: Bob Reiling <rreiling2...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Continuing Santa Teresa County Park Red Crossbills
All, My first stop this morning (4/8) at La Rinconada Park was very slow birding (to early, no sun) so I decided to go to Santa Teresa County Park on my fourth try for the Red Crossbills. I stopped in the same parking lot from which Mike Mammoser saw the bird on 4/7 (first large lot near the entrance to the Hidden Springs Trail) and started scanning the trees with my binos and scope. Shortly before 9 I saw two RED CROSSBILLS in the top of a tree to the West near the center eastern portion of the Pueblo Day Use Area. One Crossbill was red with dark wings (I assume an adult male) and the other was yellow wi th dark wings (possibly an adult female but I was unable to verity). Both birds had large bills. Unfortunately instead of taking a very distant photo (about 300 yards) I opted to cross the Day Use Area (rough ground) to get a better photo and while half way there with my eyes on the ground the birds disappeared (no calls). There are perhaps a dozen conifers near where the birds were perched (in a yellow blooming Eucalyptus tree) and I spent the next 2.5 hours trying but failing to re-find them. Other Birds seen included a LARK SPARROW and a HOUSE WREN. Take care, Bob Reiling
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Date: 4/7/21 8:41 pm From: Emilie Danna <emilie.danna...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Wilson's snipe, Sora, Gallinule at Coast Casey Forebay
Continuing today's adventures...
To finish the day, my son and I went to our favorite evening spot at "Charleston Slough/Coast Casey Forebay". The small pond just north of the parking lot on Terminal Blvd often has interesting birds in late afternoon / early evening.
As soon as we arrived, we saw a *Sora* with its bright yellow bill, but it disappeared quickly in the reeds before I could take a photo. Conversely, we were lucky to get very good looks of two *Common Gallinules* that were swimming in the same spot. While we were enjoying the rest of the birds, a well-camouflaged bird caught our eye. It was hiding in the clumps of dried vegetation, emerging once in a while. We guess it was a *Wilson's snipe* (very long bill, streaks on the back, striped head). Please take a look at the photos and let us know what you think. Thank you!
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Date: 4/7/21 8:40 pm From: Matthew Dodder <mdodder...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Shoreline and Charleston Slough 04-07-21
I spent the morning drawing birds for Team Birdcassos as part of the SCVAS Birdathon today. I managed too draw 45 species in a 4-hour period—all with a number 2 pencil. A real challenge to draw that many, especially with no time refine or correct... I don’t know what our team total is yet, but since some team mates did their work at Montebello, and others toured Stevens Creek Park, I think we’ll have a pretty good total. Some participants used water color, others used colored pencils or digital paint.
At Shoreline, I was happy to find 25 BLACK SKIMMERS on the island, both GREATER and LESSER SCAUP, breeding-plumaged EARED GREBE and lingering COMMON GOLDENEYE. The RUDDY DUCKS are beautifully blue-billed now. I did not see the Brant or the Greater White-fronted Geese today, but the sprinklers were on, so maybe they were foraging elsewhere. When I approached Charleston Slough, there were two CASPIAN TERNS on the Forebay and I heard a WHIMBREL nearby but was not able to find it when I reached the platform.
Matthew
SCVAS Special Event: An Evening with Richard Prum APRIL 21 (via zoom)
Author of New York Times’ Bestseller, and winner of the prized "One of the Best Books of the Year" award... "The Evolution of Beauty"An Evening with Richard Prum | Buy Tickets | Ticketbud
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An Evening with Richard Prum | Buy Tickets | Ticketbud
An Evening with Richard Prum - April 21, 2021 at Online. Find event and ticket information on Ticketbud.
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Date: 4/7/21 8:30 pm From: Emilie Danna <emilie.danna...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Blue-winged teal at Don Edwards NWR
Hello,
This afternoon, my son and I toured Don Edwards NWR. We were looking at a group of Cinnamon Teals and on the side, two lighter colored ducks were hiding their heads in their wings. After some time, one of them raised its head and we saw for a short time its characteristic white crescent on its face. Also of note: 6 Common Gallinules and our first Wilson's Warbler. Checklist with photos: https://ebird.org/checklist/S85067219
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Date: 4/7/21 5:26 pm From: Carter Gasiorowski <carter.gasiorowski...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Six Lawrence's Goldfinches at Ed Levin on 4/6
Yesterday. 4-7-21, my mom and I arrived at the Spring Valley area of Ed Levin County Park around noon. By the pond, there was one each of GREAT EGRET, SNOWY EGRET, and GREAT BLUE HERON, as well as at least one BULLOCK'S ORIOLE. In the eucalyptus trees above the parking lots, a male ALLEN'S HUMMINGBIRD was displaying as a few unidentified Rufous/Allen's Hummingbirds flew around. Along the Spring Valley trail, many TREE SWALLOWS were arguing over the nest boxes, as well as 3 male WILD TURKEYS who ran across the trail. There were plenty of raptors, with 7 RED-TAILED HAWKS (six seemed to be paired up, plus one juvenile that would fly around near the adults), 2 WHITE-TAILED KITES perched in a tree near the parking lot, one immature COOPER'S HAWK, and 2 GOLDEN EAGLES, one of which made a low pass over the parking lot. Two HUTTON'S VIREOS sang from the oaks, two WESTERN KINGBIRDS perched to the east of the ranger station, and one VAUX'S SWIFT whizzed over our heads.
After getting somewhat distracted by all the amazing birds, we headed to the area where Dave Weber found the Lawrence's Goldfinches on 4/5. Before long, I saw a male LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCH sitting in a leafless tree feeding a female. They flew, but my mom got onto them, and spotted a second male Lawrence's Goldfinch. We then ran into a very nice birder, Manny, and then yet another Lawrence's Goldfinch joined the three already present. After Manny left, a group of five Lawrence's Goldfinches flew over, and the flyover photo shows four of them being males, and another photo I took earlier shows 2 females next to each other, so there were at least six Lawrence's Goldfinches present! They were flying around quite a bit in-between the Spring Valley Group Picnic Area and the ranger station, mostly landing in the pine trees. The males were singing, which made it easier to locate them in the foliage. The females also seemed to be checking out the kind of places that goldfinches like to build their nests as the males followed them around.
We then headed to the Sandy Wool area, where I saw my FOY male RUFOUS HUMMINGbiRD above the dog park. There were also 9 GREAT-TAILED GRACKLES screaming and displaying together on top of the picnic tables, which was quite comical to watch. As we were sitting in the car getting ready to leave, we watched a GOLDEN EAGLE hunt the ridgeline.
Overall a very nice day with 50 species at the Spring Valley area alone, and some nice rarities!
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Date: 4/7/21 4:04 pm From: Michael Mammoser <mmammoser...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Red Crossbill at Santa Teresa County Park
I visited Santa Teresa County Park on 7 Apr 2021, in mid afternoon, and spent about 45 minutes there. At about 3:00 pm I was walking the road between the large parking lot at the Hidden Springs/Mine trail junction and the small pocket lot just past it, when a RED CROSSBILL flew over, loudly calling "kip kip kip". I got my binoculars on it and followed it as it landed in the top of a valley oak tree up the slope from the road, above the Mine Trail. It sat there for a couple minutes, allowing me to get to my car in the pocket lot, and get my scope out. I got a very satisfying view of the bird for about a minute or so. When it left the tree, it angled down and to the left, possibly heading to the small creek up there, for a drink and/or bath. Michael Mammoser
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Date: 4/7/21 3:41 pm From: MaryAnn Allan <maallan...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Ash-throated Flycatcher, Cassin's Vireo at Monte Bello Open Space Preserve, Wednesday, April 7
I was up at Monte Bello Open Space this morning as part of the Birdcasso's SCVAS birdathon team. A slow, cold start turned into a warm productive day. I had 2 Cassin's Vireos near Gate 5, one bird was well-seen and singing its classic question-answer song. At the main parking lot a Blue-Grey Gnatcatcher was calling from the small tree behind the restroom. And on the Canyon Trail just south of the sag pond, I had an Ash-throated Flycatcher. I believe this is an early arrival for this bird at this location. Other notables include Lincoln Sparrow, CA Quail, displaying turkeys, and at the pond below gate 5 when many Purple Finch, Red-winged Blackbirds, one American Coot and one female Bufflehead. You can see my 3 eBird lists, including photos of the ATFY, at https://ebird.org/checklist/S85052884 ; https://ebird.org/checklist/S85052716 ; https://ebird.org/checklist/S85052637.
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Date: 4/7/21 3:36 pm From: Eve Meier <eve.m.meier...> Subject: [southbaybirds] La Rinconada Park in Los Gatos
Hi Everyone,
Today Patricia Lynch and I birded La Rinconada Park in Los Gatos. This is a quiet little park with a large lawn and about 1/2 mile of trails alongside through the oaks. There's a very small creek that currently has water. It's a touch early for spring migrants but we spotted one *Pacific-slope Flycatcher* and a *Vaux's Swift* flew overhead. The best birds were a *Brown Creeper* with nesting material visiting its nest and several *American Goldfinches*. Other birds included *White-breasted Nuthatch*, *Oak Titmouse*, *Spotted Towhee*, *Hairy Woodpecker* and *Yellow-rumped Warbler*. For more information on this park see Lisa Myers self-guided field trip <https://scvas.org/self-guided-birding/la-rinconada-springsummer>.
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Date: 4/7/21 11:21 am From: Frank Vanslager via groups.io <Vanslagerf...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Some Birding at Geng Rd on 4/7/2021
All:
Out on the levee alongside the golf course, I saw a Raptor landing on a dead tree, and generating a little bird activity. I took 2 quick pictures for later confirmation. When I got in the darkness of my car and used my glasses, the 2 photos seem to show a Barn Swallow harassing a male Merlin. I went back out with the Questar for further looks.
Frank Vanslager
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Date: 4/7/21 9:52 am From: William Pelletier via groups.io <wrpelletier...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Lawrence’s Goldfinch at Lake Cunningham
Folks,
After a month on the east coast (Maine) it is amazing to see the change in our area.
Kitty and I decided to bird our local hotspot at Lake Cunningham and we found the continuing Greater White-fronted Geese (4) swimming on the lake.
Our big surprise was a pair of Lawrence’s Goldfinch gleaning bugs from a fence post chain. After checking eBird this seems to be the first report at this location. Our eBird Checklist is at:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S85033509
Enjoy,
Bill & Kitty
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Sunday I hiked into Santa Teresa County Park from the Bernal ranch on Manila Drive. On Bernal Hill Trail, in addition to enjoying views of nearly two dozen native wildflowers, I saw a singing *RUFOUS-CROWNED Sparrow* on a rock, and a *LARK Sparrow*--probably one of a pair or a group--that took flight and perched on a utility tower. There was a coyote nearby as well.
As I stood on a hill very close to where the Lark Sparrow later started singing, something large erupted from the other side of the rocks and flew off. A Northern harrier, probably, I thought. Maybe.
Or not. As the folks on iNaturalist kindly informed me after I posted the photos, it was a *WILD TURKEY *in full flight!!
I have seen them fly-hop up to tree branches to roost. But this was unprecedented.
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Date: 4/6/21 11:40 am From: Sarah Chan <spqcstuff...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Turkeys not Bunnies?
Last year at Pearson-Arastradero, I accidentally flushed over a dozen
turkey poults from a berry tree. It turns out they were taking advantage of
their small size to eat the berries at the top! Their much heavier mothers
were on the ground, picking the berries at the lower branches.
[image: DSC_7390-2.jpg]
On Tue, Apr 6, 2021 at 10:44 AM Mike Voydanoff <mike...> wrote:
> I’ve had turkeys in the trees in my yard, both here and back in
> Massachusetts. I don’t think this is uncommon behavior. They are birds
> after all. But it is definitely surprising to see none the less.
>
>
>
> On Apr 6, 2021, at 10:40 AM, Diane McCoy <dianemccoy10...> wrote:
>
>
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
>
>
> Hi All,
> I had a rather strange siting of a turkey this weekend!
> We live in Palo Alto near Greer and Embarcadero. Sunday evening around
> 7:30 I was out with doggy doing a last quick walk and saw this turkey
> (young?) take off from our neighbor’s lawn up into the magnolia tree across
> the street! I usually have my little point/shoot camera in my vest pocket
> and so glad I did. It just sat there in the tree, looking a little
> confused…..but that is me imposing emotions on it.
> Has anyone else encountered this in such an urban neighborhood? We are
> close to the bay lands and saw a two over there last year.
> It was gone next morning. Thanks, Diane PS Funny, because didn’t see any
> bunnies all day…...<DSCN5158.jpeg><DSCN5162.jpeg><DSCN5170.jpeg>
>
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Date: 4/6/21 11:25 am From: Frank Vanslager via groups.io <Vanslagerf...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Some Ed Levin Birding on 4/6/2021
All:
In spite of the gloomy morning I thought I'd check out how Ed Levin is doing, season-wise. It did seem to be slightly too early, but I did find a pair of friendly Rufous-crowned Sparrows by the swinging gate on the Agua Caliente Trail. (See the first 2 photos.) And I did see a male Bullock's Oriole year-bird .
On the way out I thought I'd check to see how the Great Horned Owl is doing. In spite of the tree trimming and noise, and the large number of chain-sawed wood piles, he seems to be doing Ok. See the 3rd photo.
Frank Vanslager
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Date: 4/6/21 10:44 am From: Mike Voydanoff <mike...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Turkeys not Bunnies?
I’ve had turkeys in the trees in my yard, both here and back in Massachusetts. I don’t think this is uncommon behavior. They are birds after all. But it is definitely surprising to see none the less.
> On Apr 6, 2021, at 10:40 AM, Diane McCoy <dianemccoy10...> wrote:
>
>
>
>> Begin forwarded message:
>>
>>
>>
>> Hi All,
>> I had a rather strange siting of a turkey this weekend!
>> We live in Palo Alto near Greer and Embarcadero. Sunday evening around 7:30 I was out with doggy doing a last quick walk and saw this turkey (young?) take off from our neighbor’s lawn up into the magnolia tree across the street! I usually have my little point/shoot camera in my vest pocket and so glad I did. It just sat there in the tree, looking a little confused…..but that is me imposing emotions on it.
>> Has anyone else encountered this in such an urban neighborhood? We are close to the bay lands and saw a two over there last year.
>> It was gone next morning. Thanks, Diane PS Funny, because didn’t see any bunnies all day…...<DSCN5158.jpeg><DSCN5162.jpeg><DSCN5170.jpeg>
>>
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Date: 4/6/21 10:41 am From: Diane McCoy <dianemccoy10...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Turkeys not Bunnies?
> Begin forwarded message:
>
>
>
> Hi All,
> I had a rather strange siting of a turkey this weekend!
> We live in Palo Alto near Greer and Embarcadero. Sunday evening around 7:30 I was out with doggy doing a last quick walk and saw this turkey (young?) take off from our neighbor’s lawn up into the magnolia tree across the street! I usually have my little point/shoot camera in my vest pocket and so glad I did. It just sat there in the tree, looking a little confused…..but that is me imposing emotions on it.
> Has anyone else encountered this in such an urban neighborhood? We are close to the bay lands and saw a two over there last year.
> It was gone next morning. Thanks, Diane PS Funny, because didn’t see any bunnies all day…...
>
> --
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Date: 4/5/21 11:04 pm From: Chuq Von Rospach via groups.io <chuqui...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Coyote Valley 4/5
I did a bit of scouting for my big day for the Birdathon this week (you can still support SCVAS and sponsor me: https://scvas.org/spring-birdathon-2021-teams#lonesomedoveand I will definitely appreciate it). I headed down to Coyote Valley hoping to tick the box on the Swainson's Hawk. At the charter school, I ran into another birder also looking, but no hawks. We had a chance to talk to a teacher working there, who wasn't aware the hawks were back (he is now) and noted no problems so far (but: also noted last year someone flew a drone up to the nest for pictures. Pro tip: DO NOT EVER DO THAT). We did identify what I think is their nest, but nobody in it. I decided to leave and check out some other places and circle back on the way home.
Also seen near the school -- a small group of about six crows making a big ruckus. When I got close enough to take a look, two of them were copulating and the others were... egging them on? jilted suitors? Whatever. Also saw a couple of crows chasing a red-tail, which was trying to make a regal exit without acknowleding them biting his tail.
As I was driving up Bailey towards 101, in the big trees to the S of Bailey I saw a hawk shift from one branch to another up there. It was a brown bird with white chest -- I noted the brown was more "Hershey's milk chocolate" rather than a darker/redder brown, and no belly band, so it wasn't a red-tail. It was one of the Swainson's. So yeah, tick that box (red-tails to me always look very dark brown that has a lot of internal texture/color accents in it. Swainson's always look to me to be rather plain brown without a lot of texture).
I hit traffic going south towards 152, so cut off into the golf course to circle back around. In there I didn't see too much but did note a couple of grackles in among the other black birds.
I went off to Coyote Valley OSP. No orioles seen, no kingbird seen (sigh). But I did run into 5 Eurasian Collared Doves, which solved a call problem I had my previous visit, where I knew the call, but my brain kept trying to make it Great Horned Owl which I knew was wrong. It was these kids. A couple of them looked like they were expressing interest in each other, so I think they may nest there this year. Lots of blackbirds (red-winged and brewers) and both nested in the area last spring and they seem to be in that mood again.
The rock wrens showed up immediately, and in fact one of them came and landing on my car hood before I could get out of the car and stared at me, mocking me. Also seen when I was there -- I suddenly heard a raven go into full bellow mode and looked up to see it madly trying to gain altitude. It closed on what at first thought I considered a likely turkey vulture, and when the raven to close enough, it tweaks its wing a little bit and shifted from a moderate glide to a fast one. It easily left the raven in its dust, with the raven looking like it might dislocate a wing trying to flap fast enough to catch it, bellowing non-stop.
Welcome to spring.
---------------------------------------
Chuq Von Rospach http://www.chuq.me Email: <chuqui...>
Twitter: @chuq
Silicon Valley, California
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After I spent the morning with the Swainson's Hawks, I headed over to Santa Teresa Park at the Stile Entrance to see if I could find some Rufous-crowned Sparrows. I was lucky to run into Eve Meier, who pointed some out to me farther up the trail.
A California Thrasher was also kind enough to pose and sing for me on my way out.
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Date: 4/5/21 9:10 pm From: Michelle Nelson <mmnelson57...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Swainson's Hawks, Part Two
The pictures I took of the hawks this morning at the Morgan Hill Charter School are not good enough for Facebook, but I added some to my eBird posting.
One of the pictures shows one of the birds carrying a twig back to the tree. It seems to me that they plan to build a nest there. This is why I was hesitant to report this sighting.
This is the same tree that has been reported on before. It has a flat top and it's right in the parking lot. I took Bailey off 101 and drove into the north entrance and saw one right away. Approaching from the south on Monterey doesn't give as good a view.
I kept my distance and took a few shots out through my sunroof, but these two didn't seem to mind me being there, so I parked and walked around.
They were both off for the day by 10:30 or so.
Michelle Nelson
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Date: 4/5/21 3:40 pm From: Dave Weber <dwbirdster...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Lawrence's Goldfinch at Ed Levin CP Apr 5
This morning there were three Lawrence's Goldfinches in trees at the southeast corner of the old ranger's house at Ed Levin CP. Two males, one probable female. They flew. Dave Weber,MilpitasBy phone
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Date: 4/5/21 10:55 am From: Michelle Nelson <mmnelson57...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Swainson's Hawks
3rd time is the charm. Known location at the Charter School in Morgan Hill. I don't think I'm breaking any rule by saying that because everyone knows they are here. Nest building and mating activity this morning starting around 9:30. I was able to get one halfway decent picture which I will post on Facebook later.
Michelle Nelson
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Date: 4/4/21 3:26 pm From: Emilie Danna <emilie.danna...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Raptor and woodpecker morning at Pearson-Arastradero Preserve
FYI I received a nice email from an eBird reviewer correcting one of our identifications: what we thought was a sharp-shinned hawk was actually a Cooper's hawk due to its gray cheek. See the side-by-side comparison here: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Sharp-shinned_Hawk/species-compare/60324921 Glad I learned something!
On Sun, Mar 28, 2021 at 3:42 PM Emilie Danna <emilie.danna...> wrote:
> Hello, > > This morning, my son and I had a great time at Pearson-Arastradero > Preserve. We saw (or at least we think we saw) 9 (!) different species of > raptors within ~3.5 hours. I took photos of most of them... please keep us > honest as we are not 100% sure of all identifications. Photos are available > at https://ebird.org/checklist/S84290102. I'll correct any mistakes based > on your input. > > It started auspiciously with an immature *Cooper's hawk* (?) in a tree > near the start of the De Anza trail. While I was busy taking photos of it, > my son looked up and saw a *Bald Eagle* traversing high in the sky, > unmistakable with its white head and large size. Then, we saw 2 *white-tailed > kites* flying quite low then using the thermals to quickly gain altitude. > A *red-tailed hawk* soon joined them (see the photos in the checklist > where the red tail is nicely visible), and then a third kite also appeared > on the scene. Later on, a light brown blob attracted my eye in a tree in > the distance, and with binoculars it turned out to be a *red-shouldered > hawk* (?). On the spot, while looking at my (bad) photos to try to > identify it, I realized there was a second bird of the same species right > next to it in the tree (!) and soon both of them flew off the tree one > after the other (maybe they were a couple?). Afterwards, while trying to > identify two swallows perched on a thin naked trunk, it turned out one of > them was a male *American Kestrel*... you can see we have room for > improvement in our identification skills :-) It was far, so I only took one > very blurry photo, but it was easy to recognize from its small size and > distinctive contrasting colors and spots. Meanwhile, a *turkey vulture* > was circling the sky. > > At the Arastradero lake, trees were full of birds, with many yellow-rumped > warblers, bushtits, oak titmice, California towhees, song sparrows, etc. I > gave up counting. We saw and heard >10 *acorn woodpeckers*, as well as > two *Nuttall woodpeckers* and two *Hairy woodpeckers*. > > We were having such a great time that we decided to continue the hike up > Arastradero Creek Trail. Turning left on Acorn Trail, we heard weird noises > multiple times, which we guessed were from Wild Turkeys. We couldn't see > them though and continued on... At the turn in the trail, we finally got a > visual and loudly exclaimed on our discovery (saw 7, including at least 2 > males). And then, my son shouted *"sharp shinned hawk!". *There was > indeed a small hawk perched on a branch right above my head, undisturbed by > our noise (sorry). This is the first time we have ever seen one up close, > so please let us know what you think: you can see some photos in the > checklist (not of great quality as the sun was right in front of me). > > Finally, we continued on and just as we were congratulating ourselves on > such unbelievable luck with raptors, we emerged onto Meadowlark trail and > saw our ninth raptor of the day: a *Northern Harrier* with its > characteristic white rump patch. > >
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Date: 4/4/21 12:58 pm From: Eve Meier <eve.m.meier...> Subject: [southbaybirds] 1 MR birding at Belgatos and Los Capitancillos
Hi Everyone,
This morning and yesterday afternoon, I decided to check out a couple of places that are within a 1 mile radius of my house in preparation for the California Towhees birdathon team (led by Laura Coatney, Julie Amato and me). In Belgatos Park (located in Los Gatos Blvd off of Belgatos Ave) I had my FOS *Wilson's Warbler *and a *Capsian Tern* flew overhead. There were 3 *California Thrashers* in the back lawn area. At Los Capitancillos I was able to find *Vaux's Swifts*, *Tree Swallow*, *Barn Swallows*, *Cliff Swallows*, *Northern Rough-winged Swallows* and *Violet-green Swallows*. I could hear a *Warbling Vireo* singing from the riparian area but could never find it. For more information on this location, read the spring guide for Los Capitancillos <https://scvas.org/self-guided-birding/los-capitancillos-ponds>.
I'll be donating $10 to SCVAS for every species the California Towhees Birdathon Team finds on April 18th (capped at 100 species). This team will be birding individually in our own neighborhoods (within 1 mile radius of our homes.) To increase our species count, join here https://scvas.org/spring-birdathon-2021-teams#thecaliforniatowhees
Happy Birding! Eve Meier (San Jose)
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Date: 4/4/21 12:36 pm From: Matthew Dodder <mdodder...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Shoreline and Stevens Creek by bike (04-04-21)
I biked from home along the Stevens Creek Trail this morning in my search for my first-of-year Hooded Oriole. I ended up making a big circle around Shoreline Lake before coming home.
Along the way, I found 3 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE and one “Aleutian” CACKLING GOOSE feeding with the large flock of CANADA GEESE along the entrance road to Shoreline. Later, I got great looks at the BRANT on the lawn near the pirate ship play structure beside the lake and boat rental area. I counted 12 BLACK SKIMMERS at the lake as well.
Finally, along drainage and service road near the golf club house I found 2 HOODED ORIOLE males and 4 BULLOCK’S ORIOLES singing and calling I the flowering eucalyptus. Several LINCOLN’S SPARROWS remain in the creek in this same general area. A female MERLIN also flew through.
Matthew
SCVAS Special Event: An Evening with Richard Prum APRIL 21 (via zoom)Author of New York Times’ Bestseller, and winner of the prized "One of the Best Books of the Year" award... "The Evolution of Beauty"https://ticketbud.com/events/2dd2637a-90a9-11eb-94de-42010a717011 Matthew DodderExecutive DirectorSanta Clara Valley Audubon Society22221 McClellan Rd.Cupertino, CA <95014408-252-3748director...>
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Date: 4/4/21 9:36 am From: Frank Vanslager via groups.io <Vanslagerf...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Black Skimmers on MV Shoreline Lake on 4/4/2021
All:
If this is the first Sunday following the first full moon, following the Vernal Equinox, then this is Easter. Happy day. I counted 18 Black Skimmers who have returned to the Shoreline Lake island.
The Brant is showing more adult white on its sides then I remember.
Frank Vanslager
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Date: 4/4/21 4:56 am From: Bob Reiling <rreiling2...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Calero Reservoir
All, On Friday (4/2) the best birds on Calero Reservoir (ignoring Western and Clark's Grebes) were a well worn, non-breeding plumage AMERICAN PIPIT and a breeding plumaged CASPIAN TERN (attached photos}. Take care, Bob Reiling
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Date: 4/4/21 4:41 am From: Bob Reiling <rreiling2...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Swainson's Hawk mating confirmed
All, Last Wednesday (3/31) Peggy Don and I saw the dark phase male SWAINSON'S HAWK mate with the light phase female SWAINSON'S HAWK. The attached photo shows the pair shortly after mating. I'm not sure why the report was delayed or why some birder's have decided to mislead other birder's as to the birds location (I assume that it is meant to stop the marauding gang of eco-photographers). I would hope that in the future this does not become a trend as I don't wish to spend my time looking for a rare bird in the wrong place. These birds were on an extremely busy and dangerous highway and are not on a nest but I'm sure that some would prefer only their friends know where the rare birds are. Take care, Bob Reiling
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Date: 4/3/21 5:10 pm From: Matthew Dodder <mdodder...> Subject: [southbaybirds] A16 on a bike 04-03-21
My mountain bike is now equipped with saddlebags and a kickstand so took it out for a spin around Pond A16. The 4 mile loop took a fraction of the time and got me close to the CASPIAN TERN islands in no time. I counted about 25 CATEs on the island, and a few more in flight from the platform. Waterfowl numbers were down from a month ago, but still some GREATER and LESSER SCAUP, and AMERICAN WIGEON. The AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS I saw all had conspicuous breeding horn on their bills, and one DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT was sporting the uncommon white-tufts—mostly I see black tufts around here, but maybe that’s just me. The AMERICAN AVOCETS are full breeding regalia with only 1 in 100 or so still showing gray on their head and neck. Many Gulls, mostly CALIFORNIA GULLS were gathered on the mudflats near the pumphouse, with a dozen or so LONG-BILLED CURLEW.
BIRDATHON REMINDER:
I’ll be drawing birds on Wednesday morning as part of the distributed sketch-team “Birdcassos”. If you’d like to join or sponsor us, please don’t be shy. There are NO bad drawings, and we will celebrate all of them when we’re done. https://scvas.org/spring-birdathon-2021-teams#birdcassos
Matthew DodderExecutive DirectorSanta Clara Valley Audubon Society22221 McClellan Rd.Cupertino, CA <95014408-252-3748director...>
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Date: 4/3/21 5:06 pm From: Matthew Dodder <mdodder...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Stevens Creek Park 04-03-21
Cricket and I hiked around the Stevens Creek Reservoir. We parked at Baytee Picnic Area and headed up the Tony Look Trail all the way to the trail head on the far south end near Cooley, returning along the banks of the creek.
Our birding was dominated by the sounds of WILSON’S WARBLER, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, and a few WARBLING VIREOS. High up where artemisia and other chaparral plants were numerous we had BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER and too many WRENTITS to count. We had a very cooperative pair along the trail just a few feet from, evidently unbothered by us or other hikers. We watched them for several minutes as they gathered nest material unobstructed from our view. BAND-TAILED PIGEONS flew along the ridge across the creek and we had several RED-SHOULDERED HAWKS calling. A few late RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS, TOWNSEND’S WARBLERS and “Crowned” Sparrows remain in the area, but we did not find the Varied Thrush from last week.
BIRDATHON REMINDER:I’ll be drawing birds on Wednesday morning as part of the distributed sketch-team “Birdcassos”. If you’d like to join or sponsor us, please don’t be shy. There are NO bad drawings, and we will celebrate all of them when we’re done. https://scvas.org/spring-birdathon-2021-teams#birdcassos Matthew
Matthew DodderExecutive DirectorSanta Clara Valley Audubon Society22221 McClellan Rd.Cupertino, CA <95014408-252-3748director...>
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Date: 4/3/21 3:06 pm From: Ann Verdi <aeverdi235...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Vaux's Swifts at Los Capitancillos Ponds
This morning (Sat, 4/3) I saw four VAUX'S SWIFTS in with a large mixed flock of swallows over the western-most Los Capitancillos Ponds. Swallows in the mix included mostly Violet-green Swallows and Northern Rough-winged Swallows plus lesser numbers of Tree Swallows and one Barn Swallow.
Ann Verdi San Jose
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Date: 4/2/21 5:49 pm From: janna pauser <jannapauser...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Vaux's Swift in Guadalupe Oak Grove Park
I birded a loop in Guadalupe Oak Grove park at 3 this afternoon. Quite a few TREE SWALLOWS were flying over the west ridge. I watched the swallows from an open area until I spotted a single VAUX'S SWIFT overhead. This small brown swift with a rapid wing beats favors this park and Almaden Valley where some still breed. It looked brownish from below and did not have the contrasting black and white markings of the larger White-throated Swift. I don't like to describe it as a cigar with wings but that's just me.
Janna Pauser Almaden Valley
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Date: 4/2/21 12:20 pm From: Brooke Miller via groups.io <idbirds...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Lawrence's Goldfinch - Calero Creek Trail - Fri 2-April
Folks,
I forgot to mention that a BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER was also along the trail, about 20 yards in from Harry Road.
Brooke Miller
> On Apr 2, 2021, at 12:13 PM, Brooke Miller via groups.io <idbirds...> wrote:
>
> I birded the Calero Creek Trail from Harry Road this morning. In/along the creek that the trail crosses (not the creek that parallels the trail (Calero Creek)), there was a male LAWRENCE’S GOLDFINCH bathing and drinking in the water along with Lesser and American Goldfinches, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Oak Titmice, and Golden- and White-crowned Sparrows. There was lots of activity here with these birds moving from the vegetation, down into the water, and then back into the vegetation. It was hard to keep track of what was going on. I thought I heard more Lawrence’s Goldfinches ‘twinkling’ call, but with all the birds moving around I wasn’t able to see another one.
>
> As soon as I started on the trail at Harry Road I had a WARBLING VIREO, a PACIFC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER, and 2 BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHERS, with more of each of these as I continued on the trail. Also of note was a pair (male and female) of COMMON MERGANSERS in Calero Creek - a species I’ve not seen here before.
>
> Good birding,
> Brooke Miller
>
>
>
>
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Date: 4/2/21 12:14 pm From: Brooke Miller via groups.io <idbirds...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Lawrence's Goldfinch - Calero Creek Trail - Fri 2-April
I birded the Calero Creek Trail from Harry Road this morning. In/along the creek that the trail crosses (not the creek that parallels the trail (Calero Creek)), there was a male LAWRENCE’S GOLDFINCH bathing and drinking in the water along with Lesser and American Goldfinches, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Oak Titmice, and Golden- and White-crowned Sparrows. There was lots of activity here with these birds moving from the vegetation, down into the water, and then back into the vegetation. It was hard to keep track of what was going on. I thought I heard more Lawrence’s Goldfinches ‘twinkling’ call, but with all the birds moving around I wasn’t able to see another one.
As soon as I started on the trail at Harry Road I had a WARBLING VIREO, a PACIFC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER, and 2 BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHERS, with more of each of these as I continued on the trail. Also of note was a pair (male and female) of COMMON MERGANSERS in Calero Creek - a species I’ve not seen here before.
Good birding,
Brooke Miller
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Date: 4/2/21 12:10 pm From: Diane McCoy <dianemccoy10...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Caspian Terns on Their Island (11) in A16 on 4/2/2021
That's wonderful Friank. The photos are helpful.
> On 04/02/2021 11:20 AM Frank Vanslager via groups.io <vanslagerf...> wrote: > > > All: > > From the observation deck in Salt Pond A16 I saw that the Caspian Terns had returned to their island, #11. See the 2 photos. A Questar scan of the island gave me a total of 35 birds. > > Frank Vanslager > >
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Date: 4/2/21 11:20 am From: Frank Vanslager via groups.io <Vanslagerf...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Caspian Terns on Their Island (11) in A16 on 4/2/2021
All:
From the observation deck in Salt Pond A16 I saw that the Caspian Terns had returned to their island, #11. See the 2 photos. A Questar scan of the island gave me a total of 35 birds.
Frank Vanslager
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Date: 4/2/21 9:27 am From: Kirsten Holmquist <kirsten.holmquist...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Spring birds return to Sunnyvale Baylands
I took a walk at Sunnyvale Baylands this morning. Both BULLOCKS ORIOLES and WESTERN KINGBIRDS are back. The 2 kingbirds were hanging out around the rope course. The 4+ orioles were spread around making themselves a nuisance, seemingly trying to aggravate other avian park occupants.
A single AMERICAN WIGEON and a pair of GREEN-WINGED TEAL remain in the wetlands area. In bad news for local breeders, 4 BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS were in a tree around the biggest play area.
Regards, Kirsten
Sent from Xfinity Connect App
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Date: 4/2/21 12:22 am From: Ginger Langdon-Lassagne via groups.io <binzer...> Subject: [southbaybirds] 4/1 Condor in Sunnyvale! Also, Toucan, Bird of Paradise, and many Flamingos!
Yes, this is an April Fool’s Joke. But it’s also an opportunity to have some fun with the SCVAS Birdathon.
[California Condor, painted on the side of a home in Sunnyvale; light-up glass flamingos]
Today, the Foolish Flamingos Birdathon team went out into our neighborhoods and homes to find all the representations of birds in our vicinity. Birds are loved… wait, no… LOVED ❤️❤️❤️ universally and completely, if one is to judge by the way in which birders and non-birders alike show their affection in lawn ornaments, paintings, and even entire neighborhoods’ street naming conventions.
If this post brought you a smile, I hope you consider going to our Foolish Flamingoes Team Support Page <https://scvas.org/spring-birdathon-2021-teams#foolishflamingos> and pledge a penny a species (approx. $3, cheaper than a large latte) for our efforts? Apologies for sidestepping the very clear guidelines posted earlier today (on the first of each month) in pursuit of a worth cause. It was just a bit of silliness.
Thanks for your tolerance!
Ginger Langdon-Lassagne
<binzer...>
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Date: 4/1/21 5:50 pm From: Frank Vanslager via groups.io <Vanslagerf...> Subject: [southbaybirds] A Note About My Post Of 3/31/2021
All:
For those of you who remember my post of 3/31/2021, the rodents I was talking about were Nutria. They are slightly larger than Muskrats, and are considered pests.
Frank Vanslager
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Date: 4/1/21 5:13 pm From: Dorothy Johnson <dfj6281...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Birding Coyote Valley Open Space
Hi Everyone,
I birded Coyote Valley Open Space this morning, walking from the parking lot to the 1st bridge with the Valley Oaks on either side. Highlights included 2 BULLOCK'S ORIOLES, 2 ROCK WRENS, a HOUSE WREN, a WESTERN KINGBIRD, and a GOLDEN EAGLE soaring with a RED-TAILED HAWK.
Happy birding, Dorothy Johnson San Jose
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This morning, I saw my first-of-season male Hooded Oriole in the Monta Loma neighborhood of Mountain View (near Rengstorff & Central.) Next, I saw at least four (FOS) White-throated Swifts flying over Safeway at El Camino and San Antonio at the tri-city border of Mountain View, Palo Alto, and Los Altos.Good Birding!Dotty CalabreseMountain View
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Date: 4/1/21 8:53 am From: Eve Meier <eve.m.meier...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Palo Alto Baylands
Yesterday, The Bayside Ramblers, a socially-distant 4-hour Birdathon team of 2, headed to the Palo Alto Baylands area. We met at Byxbee Park, set our timer for four hours, and we were off. Stop 1 was the garden area surrounding the Palo Alto Water Treatment Plant where we picked up Bonaparte’s Gull, Cedar Waxwing and Lincoln’s Sparrow. Stop 2 was the hills of Byxbee Park for a Western Kingbird and American Kestrel. From the top of the hill, we scanned Mayfield Slough spotting many ducks and a Northern Harrier. On to Stop 4 - the area around the Lucy Evans Center. We scanned the mudflats for Least Sandpiper, a Whimbrel, and more ducks. We checked the duck pond and the plants around the rangers house finding Common Yellowthroat and Black-crowned Night Heron. For Stop 5, we headed out to the end of the boardwalk where the tide was unexpectedly low but found White Pelicans, Caspian Tern and Double-crested Cormorant. Stop 6 was the sailing dock where we counted many Willets. But, most birds were too far out for us so moved on quickly. We only had 20 minutes to spare and our bird count was low so we settled on Geng Rd for Stop 7. We joked about how we hadn’t even seen a Turkey Vulture or House Sparrow. We arrived at our last stop with only 8 minutes to spare but heard a House Sparrow calling as soon as we got out of our cars. Then bam, bam, bam - we had many new birds to add to our list in short succession - Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Bullock’s Oriole and Fox Sparrow! My timer went off and we were done! 65 species tallied!
I encourage everyone to participate in the Birdathon by creating a team, joining a team or sponsoring a team. This year all participants (not sponsors) receive access to Cornell’s Be a Better Birder: Size and Shape course. Visit scvas.org/birdathon for details.
Happy Birding!
Eve Meier (San Jose)
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Date: 4/1/21 8:45 am From: Chuq Von Rospach via groups.io <chuqui...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Don Edwards EEC Gates re-opening
according to a post on Facebook, the parking lots at Don Edwards, boht EEC in Alviso and in Fremont, are going to be re-opening. Gate hours in Alviso will be 7AM to 5PM, Fremont 7AM-7PM. Facilities remain closed.
Also, a reminder: Santa Clara County Parks will start charging parking fees again April 5.
---------------------------------------
Chuq Von Rospach http://www.chuq.me Email: <chuqui...>
Twitter: @chuq
Silicon Valley, California
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Date: 4/1/21 8:15 am From: Brooke Miller via groups.io <idbirds...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Entrance Gate Opens Today at EEC in Alviso
Folks,
According to a post on Facebook by the San Francisco Bay NWR Complex, the main gate at the EEC will be open, starting today, between the hours of 7 am - 5 pm. The facilities will remain closed. I’ve copied the text of the post below:
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Date: 4/1/21 5:31 am From: <southbaybirds...> Group Moderators <southbaybirds...> Subject: [southbaybirds] South Bay Birds Monthly Reminder #guidelines-notice
Thank you for being a member of South Bay Birds [SBB]. This is our monthly reminder sent to the list with information about the group.
South Bay Birds [SBB] is a list intended for reporting your birding activity in Santa Clara county. We encourage everyone to share where they bird and what they see. If you use eBird, we encourage you to include a link to the eBird trip report that you filed.
This list is supported by the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society (https://scvas.org). Their volunteers and funding keeps the list running so please consider joining or donating to them. SBB's Lead Admin is Jim Dehnert. Chuq Von Rospach, Brooke Miller, Matthew Dodder and Barry Langdon-Lassagne assist Jim. You can contact the administration team with your questions and concerns at southbaybirds+<owner...>
The birds we watch should be our primary concern. As birders we need to be sensitive to their needs and not do things that put the birds or their habitat at risk.
We believe all birders should act as ethical birders. Your personal year list or that special photograph could put the bird at risk or cause its nest to fail. Because we expect all birders to act ethically around the birds that bring them joy, we expect that of the birders who are on our list as well. We have written up some ideas of what it means to be an ethical birder, and list links to other resources on ethical birding as well. Please read them and act to put the bird’s needs ahead of your own. If we find out that members of the list are putting birds or their habitat at risk, those members may lose access to the mailing list and its resources.
We also believe that members of the list should treat each other properly. If a list member is found to be attacking or harassing other list members, or engaging in activities that violate the ethical birding code it may affect their future ability to contribute to or subscribe to our lists.
Acceptable Content
The primary content for SBB is where you went and what you saw. The objective is to help other birders interested in the birds you saw to find them themselves. Please include the general location (e.g., an eBird hotspot) and, if appropriate, the bird(s) of interest in the subject line, with any additional detail needed in the message body. Please report only Santa Clara County locations -- other counties have their own mailing lists for trip reports.
Occasionally the administrator will post an Advocacy digest -- no more than once a week, and more typically, once or twice a month. This digest contains topics that are not typically posted to the list but we feel are of interest to the readers of SBB and are important enough to warrant posting to the wider audience. These messages will be tagged with the word "Advocacy" in the subject so members who aren't interested can delete or filter them if they choose. Topics posted as Advocacy messages typically include updates on important Advocacy activities by Santa Clara Valley Audubon (SCVAS) and SCVAS volunteer activities.
Unacceptable Content
We discourage posting information that identifies the location of nesting birds, to minimize stress on the nesting birds and the risk of vandalism or abuse. Nesting locations for Owls and Raptors are prohibited and should not be disclosed.
We discourage general discussion on South Bay Birds, for that we've created a Facebook group (see below). If you with to propose a general-purpose announcement for an Advocacy digest post, please send the proposed text to the administrator (below).
Please do not post notices of upcoming events to SBB. There is a sister list, South Bay Birds (Events) [SBB-Events], that should be used for that purpose. If you are interested in knowing what events are being offered by SCVAS and other county bird-oriented organizations, we encourage you to subscribe to this list (see below).
Please do not post carpooling requests for events to SBB. We request that they go to the Facebook discussion group.
Unsubscribing from South Bay Birds
If you ever need to unsubscribe from this list, an unsubscribe link is at the bottom of every message, or you can go to https://groups.io/g/southbaybirds/. That's also where you can view the list archives, set up a vacation hold, change your email address, or modify your subscription in any way.
South Bay Birds and Birdwatching in Silicon Valley are affiliated with the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society (http://www.scvas.org), which offers classes and outings around the county, so if you're interested in learning more about birding in the county or joining other birders in going out birding, they can help you find an outing that matches your interests.
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Date: 4/1/21 12:35 am From: Jim Dehnert <dehnert...> Subject: [southbaybirds] [Advocacy] SCVAS Avocet Update, Introduction, and Group Policy
It's been quite a while since our last Advocacy post here, and I haven't introduced myself (the new list administrator). I have some news from our sponsors (the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society), I'll introduce myself, and I'll finish up with a description of how I view the group's posting policies, since there have been several related issues raised recently. [As is our practice for Advocacy posts, this material is off-topic for the list. If you want to discuss anything further, please direct comments to me, to the administrators' email *southbaybirds+<owner...> <southbaybirds%<2Bowner...>*, or to other responsible parties, not to the list.]
****** Avocet Update ******
SCVAS sent a notice to members a couple of days ago about the most recent issue of our Avocet Update newsletter <http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/756507/5964563f93/283194937/76ba4922a6/>. It has a number of items of interest to this group, including the spring Birdathon, an upcoming talk, spring Self-Guided Birding Field Trips, and new recommendations concerning bird feeders and salmonellosis <https://scvas.org/backyard-bird-blog/salmonellosis>. The last subject came up recently on this list, and is worth reading if you have a local bird feeder. [Spoiler: you should probably take down any seed or suet feeders until Pine Siskins have left the area in a month or two, for the safety of the birds.]
****** Introduction ******
Chuq mentioned a while back that I (Jim Dehnert) have taken over his role as the primary administrator for this email group (southbaybirds <https://groups.io/g/southbaybirds/topics>). I'd like to start by thanking him for all the work he has done developing and managing this list over the years (since long before I was a subscriber), as well as the associated website <https://siliconvalleybirding.org/> (which you'll find linked at the bottom of every group post). He's promised that he'll fade away slowly, so I hope to have his assistance for quite a while.
As for me... I've been birding in this area for about 3 decades, mostly by myself with just the assistance of field guides until the past 5 years or so -- which was about the time I discovered this list, and when I retired. Since then I've learned a lot, from Matthew Dodder's advanced birding class, from other local birders, and perhaps surprisingly from pushing myself to conscientiously use eBird reporting tools. I'm still not an expert birder, but I'm less of a beginner. :-)
As list administrator, I have no plans to make significant changes in how this group is managed. In particular, I want it to be a welcoming place for Santa Clara County birders at all levels of experience to get information about bird sightings in the county. I'll describe what I think that means in the rest of this message.
****** Group Posting Policy ******
*Summary*
Let's start with the summary view. The fundamental purpose of the group is to help birders find interesting birds they'd like to see, and/or places where they'd like to bird. Posts to the group should be:
- About sightings of interesting birds, and/or the places where we've found them, - in Santa Clara County, - relatively recently; and - consistent with ethical birding practices.
What follows is elaboration of these points.
[tl;dr]
*Purpose*
A word about the purpose: This isn't a chat group about general birding topics. Like most email groups, most of our members (about 1200 strong) get the posts as email messages, because they want to be alerted about sightings that might be of immediate interest. That rapidly becomes unmanageable if the topic is not reasonably constrained.
We do, though, want to be welcoming to birders at all levels. The beginners of today will be the core contributors in the future. So the way I like to think about this is this: ask yourself whether your report will be interesting to other birders at your level of experience, to go see the bird for themselves. If so, great; if not, this isn't the right forum. Our Silicon Valley Birding facebook group <https://www.facebook.com/groups/110996713065201/> is intended for more general birding discussions.
We also have a separate list -- *<southbaybirds-events...> <southbaybirds-events...>* -- for announcements of events like talks, classes, and our field trips. Please subscribe if you're interested in that material, and contact us if you have something of that sort to be posted.
*Posting -- What and Where*
Clearly, you should include what you saw, where you saw it, and when. Please use a subject that provides the bird[s] of interest and the location (in general terms, e.g., a park). The message itself can provide more detail about either, the date, and other context and commentary. Note that an eBird checklist link is an ideal way to encapsulate much of this.
Especially for rarer birds, more precise location information may be desirable. But consider the ethical birding item below...
Sometimes you'll see posts that are essentially trip reports. Even without particularly noteworthy birds, these can help birders decide whether a site is worth a visit at this time.
*Santa Clara County*
Please restrict reports to the county. There are other lists for neighboring counties' sightings, for instance *<peninsula-birding...> <peninsula-birding...>* (San Mateo County Audubon) and *<ebb-sightings...> <ebb-sightings...>* (Alameda/Contra Costa counties). I recommend subscribing if you're interested in those areas as well.
*Timeliness*
The most valuable sightings reports of course are those that come before the bird leaves the area. After several days, you're drifting away from the list's purpose...
*Ethical Birding*
Please check out the links on our associated website <https://siliconvalleybirding.org/> for more detail, but I'll note several items here:
- The welfare of the bird is primary. We don't allow posting locations of raptor nests, and discourage other nest location information that may endanger successful nesting. If in doubt, leave out details. (Mentioning a nest in a large area like a park is fine.) Similarly, think hard about providing precise locations for threatened species or birds likely to attract enough attention to disrupt their foraging. - If you report birds seen on private or inaccessible property, make that clear. We don't encourage trespassing. - Please treat your fellow birders with respect and politeness, on the list and in the field. If you see others behaving unethically, you'll need to decide whether talking to them is safe and likely to be helpful, but do it politely if you do.
*Miscellaneous*
*Photos*: Posting our photography is not the purpose of the list. If you're posting to share your photo, the facebook group is the right place. Photos can be large, which can be an issue for members with limited email storage capacity. On the other hand, photos are sometimes useful (a) to let others see what they're looking for (especially rare birds or unusual variants), or (b) if there's a question about the bird's ID, so others can help. Please be sparing in your photo posts (no more than a couple). If the bird's location is sensitive, strip GPS/exif data. Ideally, put the photo in an eBird checklist (where it can be useful to a much larger community) or another photo website, and just include a link in your post.
*Responses*: Follow-ups to posts can be helpful, e.g., to track the continued presence of a bird, or to provide context. But please send private comments directly to the poster, and let off-topic threads quietly die.
*Problems*: The list moderators are all volunteers, and we don't notice everything that goes by. If you see a significant problem, please send us a note at *southbaybirds+<owner...> <southbaybirds%<2Bowner...>* . (We don't worry much about insignificant problems.) We do sometimes lock threads drifting off-topic, or remove problematic threads entirely; don't attempt to re-open those subjects.
*** If you got this far, I hope it's been useful. Please send any comments to me at the address below.
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Date: 3/31/21 9:02 pm From: Matthew Dodder <mdodder...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Team "Subspecies" logs 120 species
Our lean-and-mean team of 5 dedicated birders (Barry, Ginger, Louise, Mike, and myself) divided up our huge county for a 4-hour distributed effort. We exceeded our goal of 100 species so we’re pretty happy. There’s still time to support us if you wish—we never turn down sponsors... https://scvas.org/spring-birdathon-2021-teams#subspecies For my part, I covered the South County. I left the house at 6:00 AM to arrive on San Felipe Road off Hwy 152 and began birding at 7:00 AM. The CASSIN’S KINGBIRDS were cooperative. Also found here were LAWRENCE’S GOLDFINCHES.
Next was a windy drive up Cañada Road to find BULLOCKS ORIOLES along Jamieson Road. I had hoped to find Lark Sparrows here, but instead found a Bobcat. I was smitten and momentarily distracted from my goal.
Parking at Henry Coe State Park (Hunting Hollow entrance) I walked along Gilroy Hot Springs Road and found my target WOOD DUCK as well as COMMON MERGANSER.
A quick trip to Coyote Lake Park (dam area) produced BALD EAGLE, CANYON WREN, RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW and WHITE-THROATED SWIFT as well as courting Aechmophorus Grebes and a SPOTTED SANDPIPER.
I made a final stop at Coyote Lake Park (Mendoza Ranch entrance) where I got better looks at WESTERN KINGBIRD, and had my previously-missed LARK SPARROW and a nice surprise CHIPPING SPARROW.
I finished my birding at 11:00 AM with 84 species but was unable to count several extra birds in my own neighborhood like Townsend’s Warbler and Red-breasted Nuthatch…. So it goes.
We’ll have a full story of our 120 species adventure on the website soon.
Next week: the BIRDCASSOS set out on a totally fun 4-hour Sketch-a-thon effort. Sign-ups and sponsorships accepted here:https://scvas.org/spring-birdathon-2021-teams#birdcassos
Matthew
Matthew DodderExecutive DirectorSanta Clara Valley Audubon Society22221 McClellan Rd.Cupertino, CA <95014408-252-3748director...>
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Date: 3/31/21 5:33 pm From: Brooke Miller via groups.io <idbirds...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Two Rodents on the Guadalupe River at Ulistac - TOPIC CLOSED
Folks,
This topic is closed. South Bay Birds [SBB] is a list intended for reporting your birding activity in Santa Clara county.
Brooke Miller
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: John Harris <johnh...>
> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Two Rodents on the Guadalupe River at Ulistac
> Date: March 31, 2021 at 5:02:01 PM PDT
> To: <Vanslagerf...>
> Cc: "<southbaybirds...>" <southbaybirds...>
>
> Hi all,
> This animal does not look like a Muskrat to me. I'm not an expert on any of these species, but I did serve as a teaching assistant for the mammalogy lab at UC Davis for four years, so I've seen plenty of specimens, and more than a few wild sightings too. I would throw a third species into the mix as far as possible identification: the Nutria, an invasive exotic. Basically, in linear dimensions and mass, the Muskrat is close to a tree squirrle or ground squirrel, while the Beaver and Nutria are much larger. If you see the tail, it's an easy ID of course, as the Beaver has the classic flat paddle-like tail, but if you don't see the tail, then other features must suffice. One of the key features for Nutria is white whiskers, and the pale appearance of the nose area made me wonder. Maybe if you have some higher resolution photos that could be determined. If it's a Nutria, it should be reported to California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
> John Harris
> Here's some basic size data on the relevant species, from the Peterson Guide to Mammals.
> Beaver
> Head and body length: 2-3 feet
> Tail length: 1 foot
> Weight: 35-70 pounds
>
> Muskrat
> Head and body length: 1 foot
> Tail length: 1 foot
> Weight: 2.5 pounds
>
> Nutria
> Head and body length: about 2 feet
> Tail length: about 1 foot
> Weight: 10-24 pounds
> Look for white whiskers
>
> Some reference animals:
>
> California Ground Squirrel
> Head and body length: 10 inches
> Tail length: 7 inches
> Weight: 1-2 pounds
>
> Western Gray Squirrel
> Head and body length: about one foot
> Tail length: about one foot
> Weight: about 1.75 pounds
>
> On Wed, Mar 31, 2021 at 10:37 AM Frank Vanslager via groups.io <http://groups.io/> <Vanslagerf...> <mailto:<aol.com...>> wrote:
> All:
>
> As Pete LaTourrette informed me, the photo I posted on 2/16/2021 of an almost submerged rodent could possibly have been a Beaver. Today's photos were taken from a spot about 150 yards north of the fencing at the pump spillway at Ulistac. The Muskrat/Beaver pair swam off downstream (left) together.
>
> Frank Vanslager
>
>
>
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Date: 3/31/21 5:27 pm From: Brooke Miller via groups.io <idbirds...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Two Rodents on the Guadalupe River at Ulistac
Folks,
This topic is closed.
South Bay Birds [SBB] is a list intended for reporting your birding activity in Santa Clara County.
—Brooke Miller
> On Mar 31, 2021, at 5:02 PM, John Harris <johnh...> wrote:
>
> Hi all,
> This animal does not look like a Muskrat to me. I'm not an expert on any of these species, but I did serve as a teaching assistant for the mammalogy lab at UC Davis for four years, so I've seen plenty of specimens, and more than a few wild sightings too. I would throw a third species into the mix as far as possible identification: the Nutria, an invasive exotic. Basically, in linear dimensions and mass, the Muskrat is close to a tree squirrle or ground squirrel, while the Beaver and Nutria are much larger. If you see the tail, it's an easy ID of course, as the Beaver has the classic flat paddle-like tail, but if you don't see the tail, then other features must suffice. One of the key features for Nutria is white whiskers, and the pale appearance of the nose area made me wonder. Maybe if you have some higher resolution photos that could be determined. If it's a Nutria, it should be reported to California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
> John Harris
> Here's some basic size data on the relevant species, from the Peterson Guide to Mammals.
> Beaver
> Head and body length: 2-3 feet
> Tail length: 1 foot
> Weight: 35-70 pounds
>
> Muskrat
> Head and body length: 1 foot
> Tail length: 1 foot
> Weight: 2.5 pounds
>
> Nutria
> Head and body length: about 2 feet
> Tail length: about 1 foot
> Weight: 10-24 pounds
> Look for white whiskers
>
> Some reference animals:
>
> California Ground Squirrel
> Head and body length: 10 inches
> Tail length: 7 inches
> Weight: 1-2 pounds
>
> Western Gray Squirrel
> Head and body length: about one foot
> Tail length: about one foot
> Weight: about 1.75 pounds
>
> On Wed, Mar 31, 2021 at 10:37 AM Frank Vanslager via groups.io <http://groups.io/> <Vanslagerf...> <mailto:<aol.com...>> wrote:
> All:
>
> As Pete LaTourrette informed me, the photo I posted on 2/16/2021 of an almost submerged rodent could possibly have been a Beaver. Today's photos were taken from a spot about 150 yards north of the fencing at the pump spillway at Ulistac. The Muskrat/Beaver pair swam off downstream (left) together.
>
> Frank Vanslager
>
>
>
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Date: 3/31/21 5:04 pm From: Chuq Von Rospach via groups.io <chuqui...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Dogs at Palo Alto Baylands
To quote from dogfriendly.com about the place:
Leashed dogs are allowed, unless posted in special bird nesting areas.
the baylands site also notes owners are expected to clean up after them. She was wrong and violating location rules. You are not over-reacting.
---------------------------------------
Chuq Von Rospach http://www.chuq.me Email: <chuqui...>
Twitter: @chuq
Silicon Valley, California
On Mar 31, 2021, 2:42 PM -0700, donganton <donganton...>, wrote:
> We went out to Palo Alto Baylands today and had a nice walk, except for two unleashed dogs running around the boardwalk. I mentioned to the owner that this area is home to endangered species. She said she ONLY let's her dogs off leash on the boardwalk. Even though the dogs can't jump off the boardwalk, I think it could be disruptive to Clapper and Black Rails. Am I overreacting? I love dogs, but I don't always love dog owners.
>
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Date: 3/31/21 5:02 pm From: John Harris <johnh...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Two Rodents on the Guadalupe River at Ulistac
Hi all, This animal does not look like a Muskrat to me. I'm not an expert on any of these species, but I did serve as a teaching assistant for the mammalogy lab at UC Davis for four years, so I've seen plenty of specimens, and more than a few wild sightings too. I would throw a third species into the mix as far as possible identification: the Nutria, an invasive exotic. Basically, in linear dimensions and mass, the Muskrat is close to a tree squirrle or ground squirrel, while the Beaver and Nutria are much larger. If you see the tail, it's an easy ID of course, as the Beaver has the classic flat paddle-like tail, but if you don't see the tail, then other features must suffice. One of the key features for Nutria is white whiskers, and the pale appearance of the nose area made me wonder. Maybe if you have some higher resolution photos that could be determined. If it's a Nutria, it should be reported to California Department of Fish and Wildlife. John Harris Here's some basic size data on the relevant species, from the Peterson Guide to Mammals.
Beaver
Head and body length: 2-3 feet
Tail length: 1 foot
Weight: 35-70 pounds
Muskrat
Head and body length: 1 foot
Tail length: 1 foot
Weight: 2.5 pounds
Nutria
Head and body length: about 2 feet
Tail length: about 1 foot
Weight: 10-24 pounds
Look for white whiskers
Some reference animals:
California Ground Squirrel
Head and body length: 10 inches
Tail length: 7 inches
Weight: 1-2 pounds
Western Gray Squirrel
Head and body length: about one foot
Tail length: about one foot
Weight: about 1.75 pounds
On Wed, Mar 31, 2021 at 10:37 AM Frank Vanslager via groups.io <Vanslagerf= <aol.com...> wrote:
> All: > > As Pete LaTourrette informed me, the photo I posted on 2/16/2021 of an > almost submerged rodent could possibly have been a Beaver. Today's photos > were taken from a spot about 150 yards north of the fencing at the pump > spillway at Ulistac. The Muskrat/Beaver pair swam off downstream (left) > together. > > Frank Vanslager > > >
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Today the trail to A4 was open; no need to use the detour. However, they were doing construction on the first left turn to go around the west sewage pond, and that road is currently closed (so: if you want to go that way, go to the facilities further up the road and take the left there).
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We covered a good stretch of the Cupertino reach of Stevens Creek, from McClellan Ranch through the reservoir and to the upper reaches of Stevens Creek County Park. The biggest surprise for us was the female VARIED THRUSH which was bathing in the creek at Cooley Picnic area. Also very exciting were the numerous, vocalizing WILSON’S and ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS where the Creek Trail crosses Stevens Canyon Road at the bridge. We had a single TOWNSEND’S WARBLER calling at the top of a bay tree, and numerous singing WARBLING VIREOS as well. PURPLE FINCHES were helpfully calling in adjacent trees, providing a marvelous compare-and-contrast.
The percolation ponds at Bubb Road still held a pair of RING-NECKED DUCKS and a single female/immature type COMMON MERGANSER. On the path between McClellan ranch and Blackberry Farm we heard our FOS PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER.
All in all, a great day out! Hope you all get a chance to get out there soon!
Ginger Langdon-Lassagne
<binzer...>
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We went out to Palo Alto Baylands today and had a nice walk, except for two unleashed dogs running around the boardwalk. I mentioned to the owner that this area is home to endangered species. She said she ONLY let's her dogs off leash on the boardwalk. Even though the dogs can't jump off the boardwalk, I think it could be disruptive to Clapper and Black Rails. Am I overreacting? I love dogs, but I don't always love dog owners.
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Date: 3/31/21 10:59 am From: Dani Christensen <danichristensen1128...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Osprey flyover to Sunnyvale WPCP
Hi birders,
I’m currently working near the Sunnyvale WPCP (Water Pollution Control
Plant) and watched an Osprey fly north overhead towards the West & East
ponds. It was really movin. Just wanted to share in case someone is nearby
who wants to find it.
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Date: 3/31/21 10:37 am From: Frank Vanslager via groups.io <Vanslagerf...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Two Rodents on the Guadalupe River at Ulistac
All:
As Pete LaTourrette informed me, the photo I posted on 2/16/2021 of an almost submerged rodent could possibly have been a Beaver. Today's photos were taken from a spot about 150 yards north of the fencing at the pump spillway at Ulistac. The Muskrat/Beaver pair swam off downstream (left) together.
Frank Vanslager
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Date: 3/31/21 6:48 am From: Jumackinnon via groups.io <Jumackinnon...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Grant Ranch
I saw someone playing bird song for the VEFL at Grant last Friday morning. I had not seen that before and I was so disappointed, and distressed for the bird. I didn’t know how to intervene, so I’m glad to hear what you said to them, and will try that next time. Thanks for sharing. On a side note, I moved on down the trail to get away from them and later did get a brief but fairly close look at the VEFL with no one else around.
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Date: 3/30/21 2:43 pm From: Sarah Chan <spqcstuff...> Subject: [southbaybirds] House Wrens at Pearson-Arastradero OSP
Hello all,
This morning, I went to Pearson-Arastradero hoping to find my FOS *House Wren*. I first checked a nest box where a pair nested last year. Just a few feet away from the box, there was a fierce competition between three House wrens. They were displaying, singing and chasing each other in the bush and trees. It looks like the box will be a home for wrens again this year! Further down the trail, I found a tree with *Yellow-rumped warblers* , a couple of *Pine Siskins* and another House Wren. By the lake, there was another pair foraging together in a tree. In total, I found 6.
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Hi Birders,
Floy and I walked upstream on Stevens Creek starting at the Stevens Canyon Road and Redwood Gulch interesction. Some highlights:
- 2 FOS Pacific-slope Flycatcher, both heard (chu-wee calls), one seen and photographed
- 2 Warbling Vireos singing rositas - neither seen
- 1 Male Purple Finch
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Date: 3/30/21 12:36 pm From: Frank Vanslager via groups.io <Vanslagerf...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Cassin's Kingbird and Swainson's Hawk at San Felipe Rd on 3/30/2021
All:
When I parked on San Felipe Rd I didn't need to get out of my car to verify a Cassin's Kingbird. (See the first two photos.) Soon Bill Bousman showed up, and he pointed out a very distant Dark-phase Swainson's Hawk Perched in the top of a tree just past the highway. (See the third photo.) Bill left to get closer to the bird. He will probably have better photos and more info.
Frank Vanslager
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Date: 3/30/21 9:46 am From: Mike Ambrose <mikeambrose920...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Sunnyvale WPCP
The trails leading to the Sunnyvale WPCP ponds are open again (construction is still ongoing for the path to A4, which is only accessible via a detour). Many of the usual suspects were present - a dozen COMMON GALLINULES, a single BLUE-WINGED TEAL in the channel to the east of the East Pond, a few CINNAMON TEAL mixed in.
Most interesting to me was a partial leucistic NORTHERN SHOVELER (picture attached) in the channel to the east of the West Pond <https://goo.gl/maps/a3ECjTj4mSRQuuWS6>. It was cool to see a Northern Shoveler with male plumage and that bright orange bill. Looking at other examples of leucistic Northern Shovelers, this seems to be common - suggesting there's some dark pigment produced by the males but that the "base" color of the bill is orange. I'd be curious if anybody knew more about this mechanism or could correct me if I'm wrong.
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Date: 3/30/21 8:11 am From: Bob Reiling <rreiling2...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Grant Ranch
All, Yesterday (3/29) it was interesting to watch a small group of PURPLE FINCHES feeding on new leaves on the tree over the pond near the ranch house, Less interesting was to see three female photographers (no binos) continuously playing the Vermilion Flycatcher song while an aggravated VEFL moved around the top of the tree nearest the Hotel trail between the two watering tanks. They ignored my request. Later I ran into then again near the pond and explained why they should not play the song during breeding season and if they had waited (not playing the song) the male would have been able to feed and would likely have provided much better photos somewhere along the fence line. They seemed to understand despite the language bearer, Take care, Bob Reiling
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Date: 3/29/21 7:18 pm From: ag lee <aglarpc8...> Subject: [southbaybirds] What about ,,, (see below)
County Bird Sightings - Digest #1093
What about humming bird feeders in an area not frequented by other birds?
A. Lee
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Sent: Sunday, March 28, 2021 6:40 PM
To: <aglarpc8...> <aglarpc8...>
Subject: [southbaybirds] South Bay Birds: Santa Clara County Bird Sightings - Digest #1093
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Topics in this digest:
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1. FOY Hooded Oriole in Cupertino (2)
2. Pine Siskins (5)
3. Rancho San Antonio - Hilltop Tail loop
4. Continuing Cassin's Kingbirds
5. Raptor and woodpecker morning at Pearson-Arastradero Preserve
6. Vermilion Flycatcher and FOS Bullock's Oriole at Grant Ranch today (2)
messages:
.
1a.
FOY Hooded Oriole in Cupertino
From: David Zittin<mailto:<dzittin...>?subject=Re:%20FOY%20Hooded%20Oriole%20in%20Cupertino> Date: Sun, 28 Mar 2021 08:26:24 PDT
Hi Birders,
A bright male Hooded Oriole briefly came to feed at our jelly feeder this morning.
I have my fingers crossed because the nearby palm tree was removed last year. This is a good omen.
This week I have neither heard nor seen any Pine Siskins in our Mountain View neighborhood. Have others seen/heard them in the county this past week? Is it possible they have finally migrated? Let me know where you've seen them recently.
Thanks!
Dotty Calabrese
Yesterday I saw a group of about a dozen on the Guadalupe River trail at the spot where the Eastern Phoebe is being seen. The siskins were feeding on buds at the top of a deciduous tree.
John Harris
Hi Birders,
Floy and I did our Hilltop Trail Loop starting at the norther parking lot, service road, Hilltop Trail and then down the PG&E road back to our car.
Some highlights:
- Several Orange-crowned Warblers either seen or heard singing including a quiet pair foraging on an oak tree.
- Our FOS House Wrens, three all singing, two seen.
- Tom Turkeys with large portions of their tail fans missing. Intra-species fighting? Coyote or bobcat encounters?
- Large flock of Pine Siskins foraging on an oak tree
All,
Shortly before 10 this morning (3/28) I heard a softly calling and occasionally singing CASSIN'S KINGBIRD among the grape vines somewhere East of San Felipe Road between the first and second Eucalyptus trees from Hwy 152. I eventually found the bird some distance away but my auto-focusing camera had focusing problems because of the massive number of poles, wires and vines. The attached photo is a diagnostic rear view of the CAKI in that one can see the white tip of the tail and a lack of white on the edges of the tail. Shortly before 11 I saw a second CAKI working the vineyard some distance South of the first bird, No interaction between the two CAKI that I saw and I never heard the second bird vocalize. No sign of Lawrence's Goldfinches. Earlier (about 9:20) I tried for and missed the Swainson's Hawks (saw Frank Vanslager doing the same) and I also missed them on the way home (about 11:15).
Take care,
Bob Reiling
This morning, my son and I had a great time at Pearson-Arastradero Preserve. We saw (or at least we think we saw) 9 (!) different species of raptors within ~3.5 hours. I took photos of most of them... please keep us honest as we are not 100% sure of all identifications. Photos are available at https://ebird.org/checklist/S84290102. I'll correct any mistakes based on your input.
It started auspiciously with an immature Cooper's hawk (?) in a tree near the start of the De Anza trail. While I was busy taking photos of it, my son looked up and saw a Bald Eagle traversing high in the sky, unmistakable with its white head and large size. Then, we saw 2 white-tailed kites flying quite low then using the thermals to quickly gain altitude. A red-tailed hawk soon joined them (see the photos in the checklist where the red tail is nicely visible), and then a third kite also appeared on the scene. Later on, a light brown blob attracted my eye in a tree in the distance, and with binoculars it turned out to be a red-shouldered hawk (?). On the spot, while looking at my (bad) photos to try to identify it, I realized there was a second bird of the same species right next to it in the tree (!) and soon both of them flew off the tree one after the other (maybe they were a couple?). Afterwards, while trying to identify two swallows perched on a thin naked trunk, it turned out one of them was a male American Kestrel... you can see we have room for improvement in our identification skills :-) It was far, so I only took one very blurry photo, but it was easy to recognize from its small size and distinctive contrasting colors and spots. Meanwhile, a turkey vulture was circling the sky.
At the Arastradero lake, trees were full of birds, with many yellow-rumped warblers, bushtits, oak titmice, California towhees, song sparrows, etc. I gave up counting. We saw and heard >10 acorn woodpeckers, as well as two Nuttall woodpeckers and two Hairy woodpeckers.
We were having such a great time that we decided to continue the hike up Arastradero Creek Trail. Turning left on Acorn Trail, we heard weird noises multiple times, which we guessed were from Wild Turkeys. We couldn't see them though and continued on... At the turn in the trail, we finally got a visual and loudly exclaimed on our discovery (saw 7, including at least 2 males). And then, my son shouted "sharp shinned hawk!". There was indeed a small hawk perched on a branch right above my head, undisturbed by our noise (sorry). This is the first time we have ever seen one up close, so please let us know what you think: you can see some photos in the checklist (not of great quality as the sun was right in front of me).
Finally, we continued on and just as we were congratulating ourselves on such unbelievable luck with raptors, we emerged onto Meadowlark trail and saw our ninth raptor of the day: a Northern Harrier with its characteristic white rump patch.
Ken Petersen and I visited Grant Ranch starting at about 9 am hoping for the Vermilion Flycatcher. We didnt see any other obvious birders per se, but we ran into a group of perhaps twenty photographers looking for the bird. We stayed for about two and a half hours with no luck. One person there said theyd seen if very briefly at 7:30 am at the tops of the oak trees at the T-intersection with the Hotel Trail below the ranch house. (BTW, Ive seen several reports about the bird favoring a location near a water trough. There are two such troughs somewhat close together, so perhaps future reports mentioning the trough could distinguish which one.)
The only highlight of the trip was my FOS male BULLOCKS ORIOLE in the oak trees over the ranch house (which is still blocked off, but the rose garden is open).
I headed up to Smith Creek (which was fairly quiet with lots of jays but no spring arrivals that I detected). Nonetheless, a gorgeous hike along the creek.
I came back to look for the VEFL again around 1:30 pm and staked out the usual oak trees. After twenty minutes or so I heard the VERMILION FLYCATCHER call some ways toward the parking lot along the trail with the bridge (it looks like the trail is called Grant Trail on the parks map). After spending a few minutes with it, it flew off towards the open areas near the Stockmans parking area.
So the moral of this too-long write-up is to know your target birds vocalizations if youre able to hear them. I would have missed the bird otherwise.
Lastly, a sign at the entrance says all Santa Clara County park entrance fees are resuming April 5th.
We were there from 10:30 to 2:30 starting around the north end of the park and then south to the Hotel Trail. We were at the oak trees from 1:30 to 2:30, did not see you or the Vermilion Flycatcher at the oaks or at the water trough....disappointing. Tree Swallows nesting in the nest box at the trough along the Hotel Trail.
Note: The online map does not show the Hotel Trail.
Note: $6 park-use fee goes back into effect on April 5th.
Note: 4 and 1/2 hours of hiking over 3.7 miles.
Mike and Ron Correll-Feichtner
Livermore [cid:183601505.storage_emulated_0__EmailTempImage_1_RotateImage_20210328_141314_jpg_1616981978706]
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Date: 3/29/21 6:18 pm From: Brad Lewis <bradrlewis...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Bullocks Orioles Arrived today - San Martin/Gilroy
Today around 5:15 pm we had 3 male Bullocks Orioles arrive.
For the last 3 years or so we have had 5+ families of Bullocks plus a couple of Hooded Orioles usually show up later in the season.
Very Exciting!!!
Brad Lewis
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Date: 3/29/21 1:23 pm From: David Zittin <dzittin...> Subject: [southbaybirds] South end of Stevens Creek Reservoir.
Hi Birders,
Floy and I walked a short distance towards the reservoir from the dirt parking area on Stevens Canyon Road at the bridge not far south of the fire station.
This is the same place Matthew recently wrote about.
It was fairly birdy. As soon as we got out of the car, we were serenaded by a Warbling Vireo. We saw and heard a male Wilson's Warbler. The highlight of the trip
was a pair of adult Bald Eagles in a high-speed interaction. I managed to get a couple of photos. The eagles spent less than a minute in our area and the last we
saw of them they were both heading south, upstream.
Yesterday we saw a Varied Thrush a few feet beyond the gate at the start of the foot path. Today there was no sign of this species.
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Date: 3/29/21 11:45 am From: Frank Vanslager via groups.io <Vanslagerf...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Some Sonic Birding on 3/29/2021
All:
At Rancho San Antonio I heard my FOS monotonously-singing Orange-crowned Warbler. It was close enough that I was tempted to take a picture of its shaking body.
Later, on the one-way trails, I was treated to the continuous "Johnny one-note" song of a Hutton's vireo. He never stopped, even when other hikers passed by me, but I never located him.
Frank Vanslager
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Date: 3/29/21 11:02 am From: Kitty O'Neil via groups.io <kittoi...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Osprey Sighting Times Two (Oka and Calero) Plus Announcement for Bird Photo Big Day!
Folks,I saw an Osprey fly over Oka Ponds/Los Gatos Creek County Park on Friday 3/26 and then was surprised to also have an Osprey sighting over Calero Reservoir on Saturday 3/27. Also a fly over. I usually consider this a challenging bird to get in Santa Clara County. Good birding!Kitty O
eBird Checklists:Oka https://ebird.org/checklist/S84165886Calerohttps://ebird.org/checklist/S84229192 PS: The Bird Photo Big Day is coming up April 10. This Spring it is all about the Colors! Let’s join in the fun of photographing as many species as possible on April 10th for the second annual Spring Bird Photo Big Day in support of the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory (SFBBO)
While the species count is our top priority, the Photo Day really heats up to red hot with our color competition to Shoot The Rainbow! The best representation of a color will win the prize in each category: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, and Blue. Background color, bird color, tree color, or person’s hat! Get creative. The color just needs to be somewhere in the photo and so does the bird. Bonus contest for the most colors all in one shot, plus the bird of course!
See the details on the Facebook page or the registration page.
Facebook group: Bay Area Bird Photo Big Day on Facebook
Registration page: Bird Photo Big Day 2021
Please feel free to email us if you have any questions.
Thanks!
Kitty O'Neil & Bill Pelletier
<kittoi...>
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Date: 3/28/21 10:49 pm From: Jim Dehnert <dehnert...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Pine Siskins
Hi all,
Response so far indicates that there are still plenty of Pine Siskins still around -- we've beaten that subject to death. Audubon (SCVAS) is putting together a feeder recommendation to be sent soon, and I hope that it will be updated as the situation changes, for those of you who may have been motivated by that concern.
To keep track of local Pine Siskin sightings, eBird has a report here <https://ebird.org/species/pinsis/US-CA-085> with a bar chart that suggests that it'll be a couple of months before the local population drops away.
In general, you can go to *ebird.org <http://ebird.org>*, click on *Explore*, click on *Species Maps*, and choose a species and location (hotspot, town, county, etc.) to get a map of sightings, with the last week in red. That's a much more complete and less invasive approach than asking 1200 SBB members for individual memories. :-)
Happy birding! Jim Dehnert, list administrator
On Sun, Mar 28, 2021 at 4:58 PM <dottycala...> via groups.io <DOTTYCALA= <aol.com...> wrote:
> This week I have neither heard nor seen any Pine Siskins in our Mountain > View neighborhood. Have others seen/heard them in the county this past > week? Is it possible they have finally migrated? Let me know where you've > seen them recently. > Thanks! > Dotty Calabrese > > >
-- -- Jim Dehnert <dehnert...>
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Date: 3/28/21 10:05 pm From: Bill Bauriedel <bill.bauriedel...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Pine Siskins
Likewise, there are probably about a couple dozen or more in our neighborhood. There were many more last week and the week before, so this group may be downsizing and migrating. This seems unusual to me as I would think they would all move on at the same time. This group is easy to hear and harder to see, but anyone can come and see for themselves. We live near Hoover Elementary School and JLS in Palo Alto. There is a bike path along the fences that border on these two schools. Directly opposite the tennis courts at JLS is a large evergreen tree in someone's backyard and the Pine Siskins hang out most of the time in this tree. The tree is easily visible from the path. There is a lot of chattering going on.
Bill Bauriedel
On Sun, Mar 28, 2021 at 1:58 PM <dottycala...> via groups.io <DOTTYCALA= <aol.com...> wrote:
> This week I have neither heard nor seen any Pine Siskins in our Mountain > View neighborhood. Have others seen/heard them in the county this past > week? Is it possible they have finally migrated? Let me know where you've > seen them recently. > Thanks! > Dotty Calabrese > > >
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Date: 3/28/21 6:40 pm From: Mike Feighner <feinerVogel94551...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Vermilion Flycatcher and FOS Bullock's Oriole at Grant Ranch today
Eric,We were there from 10:30 to 2:30 starting around the north end of the park and then south to the Hotel Trail. We were at the oak trees from 1:30 to 2:30, did not see you or the Vermilion Flycatcher at the oaks or at the water trough....disappointing. Tree Swallows nesting in the nest box at the trough along the Hotel Trail. Note: The online map does not show the Hotel Trail.Note: $6 park-use fee goes back into effect on April 5th.Note: 4 and 1/2 hours of hiking over 3.7 miles.Mike and Ron Correll-Feichtner Livermore Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone -------- Original message --------From: "Eric Goodill via groups.io" <ericgmac...> Date: 3/28/21 6:00 PM (GMT-08:00) To: SBB <southbaybirds...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Vermilion Flycatcher and FOS Bullock's Oriole at Grant Ranch today Hi,Ken Petersen and I visited Grant Ranch starting at about 9 am hoping for the Vermilion Flycatcher. We didn’t see any other obvious birders per se, but we ran into a group of perhaps twenty photographers looking for the bird. We stayed for about two and a half hours with no luck. One person there said they’d seen if very briefly at 7:30 am at the tops of the oak trees at the T-intersection with the Hotel Trail below the ranch house. (BTW, I’ve seen several reports about the bird favoring a location near a water trough. There are two such troughs somewhat close together, so perhaps future reports mentioning the trough could distinguish which one.)The only highlight of the trip was my FOS male BULLOCK’S ORIOLE in the oak trees over the ranch house (which is still blocked off, but the rose garden is open).I headed up to Smith Creek (which was fairly quiet with lots of jays but no spring arrivals that I detected). Nonetheless, a gorgeous hike along the creek.I came back to look for the VEFL again around 1:30 pm and staked out the usual oak trees. After twenty minutes or so I heard the VERMILION FLYCATCHER call some ways toward the parking lot along the trail with the bridge (it looks like the trail is called Grant Trail on the park’s map). After spending a few minutes with it, it flew off towards the open areas near the Stockman’s parking area.So the moral of this too-long write-up is to know your target bird’s vocalizations if you’re able to hear them. I would have missed the bird otherwise.Lastly, a sign at the entrance says all Santa Clara County park entrance fees are resuming April 5th.Good birding, Eric GoodillMenlo Park
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Date: 3/28/21 6:25 pm From: Sue Pelmulder <spelmulder...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Pine Siskins
The Pine Siskins are still in my neighborhood as of this morning.
Sue Pelmulder
West Willow Glen
On Mar 28, 2021, at 1:58 PM, <dottycala...> via groups.io <DOTTYCALA...> wrote:
This week I have neither heard nor seen any Pine Siskins in our Mountain View neighborhood. Have others seen/heard them in the county this past week? Is it possible they have finally migrated? Let me know where you've seen them recently.
Thanks!
Dotty Calabrese
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Date: 3/28/21 6:00 pm From: Eric Goodill via groups.io <ericgmac...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Vermilion Flycatcher and FOS Bullock's Oriole at Grant Ranch today
Hi,
Ken Petersen and I visited Grant Ranch starting at about 9 am hoping for the Vermilion Flycatcher. We didn’t see any other obvious birders per se, but we ran into a group of perhaps twenty photographers looking for the bird. We stayed for about two and a half hours with no luck. One person there said they’d seen if very briefly at 7:30 am at the tops of the oak trees at the T-intersection with the Hotel Trail below the ranch house. (BTW, I’ve seen several reports about the bird favoring a location near a water trough. There are two such troughs somewhat close together, so perhaps future reports mentioning the trough could distinguish which one.)
The only highlight of the trip was my FOS male BULLOCK’S ORIOLE in the oak trees over the ranch house (which is still blocked off, but the rose garden is open).
I headed up to Smith Creek (which was fairly quiet with lots of jays but no spring arrivals that I detected). Nonetheless, a gorgeous hike along the creek.
I came back to look for the VEFL again around 1:30 pm and staked out the usual oak trees. After twenty minutes or so I heard the VERMILION FLYCATCHER call some ways toward the parking lot along the trail with the bridge (it looks like the trail is called Grant Trail on the park’s map). After spending a few minutes with it, it flew off towards the open areas near the Stockman’s parking area.
So the moral of this too-long write-up is to know your target bird’s vocalizations if you’re able to hear them. I would have missed the bird otherwise.
Lastly, a sign at the entrance says all Santa Clara County park entrance fees are resuming April 5th.
Good birding, Eric Goodill
Menlo Park
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Date: 3/28/21 3:43 pm From: Emilie Danna <emilie.danna...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Raptor and woodpecker morning at Pearson-Arastradero Preserve
Hello,
This morning, my son and I had a great time at Pearson-Arastradero Preserve. We saw (or at least we think we saw) 9 (!) different species of raptors within ~3.5 hours. I took photos of most of them... please keep us honest as we are not 100% sure of all identifications. Photos are available at https://ebird.org/checklist/S84290102. I'll correct any mistakes based on your input.
It started auspiciously with an immature *Cooper's hawk* (?) in a tree near the start of the De Anza trail. While I was busy taking photos of it, my son looked up and saw a *Bald Eagle* traversing high in the sky, unmistakable with its white head and large size. Then, we saw 2 *white-tailed kites* flying quite low then using the thermals to quickly gain altitude. A *red-tailed hawk* soon joined them (see the photos in the checklist where the red tail is nicely visible), and then a third kite also appeared on the scene. Later on, a light brown blob attracted my eye in a tree in the distance, and with binoculars it turned out to be a *red-shouldered hawk* (?). On the spot, while looking at my (bad) photos to try to identify it, I realized there was a second bird of the same species right next to it in the tree (!) and soon both of them flew off the tree one after the other (maybe they were a couple?). Afterwards, while trying to identify two swallows perched on a thin naked trunk, it turned out one of them was a male *American Kestrel*... you can see we have room for improvement in our identification skills :-) It was far, so I only took one very blurry photo, but it was easy to recognize from its small size and distinctive contrasting colors and spots. Meanwhile, a *turkey vulture* was circling the sky.
At the Arastradero lake, trees were full of birds, with many yellow-rumped warblers, bushtits, oak titmice, California towhees, song sparrows, etc. I gave up counting. We saw and heard >10 *acorn woodpeckers*, as well as two *Nuttall woodpeckers* and two *Hairy woodpeckers*.
We were having such a great time that we decided to continue the hike up Arastradero Creek Trail. Turning left on Acorn Trail, we heard weird noises multiple times, which we guessed were from Wild Turkeys. We couldn't see them though and continued on... At the turn in the trail, we finally got a visual and loudly exclaimed on our discovery (saw 7, including at least 2 males). And then, my son shouted *"sharp shinned hawk!". *There was indeed a small hawk perched on a branch right above my head, undisturbed by our noise (sorry). This is the first time we have ever seen one up close, so please let us know what you think: you can see some photos in the checklist (not of great quality as the sun was right in front of me).
Finally, we continued on and just as we were congratulating ourselves on such unbelievable luck with raptors, we emerged onto Meadowlark trail and saw our ninth raptor of the day: a *Northern Harrier* with its characteristic white rump patch.
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Date: 3/28/21 3:34 pm From: John Luther <aplomado-falcon...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Pine Siskins
I still have 30 or 40 around my house in Oakland hills. At least one pair nested here in the past so some may not leave at all.
John LutherOakland
On Sunday, March 28, 2021, 3:21:08 PM PDT, John Harris <johnh...> wrote:
Yesterday I saw a group of about a dozen on the Guadalupe River trail at the spot where the Eastern Phoebe is being seen. The siskins were feeding on buds at the top of a deciduous tree.John Harris
On Sun, Mar 28, 2021 at 1:58 PM <dottycala...> via groups.io <DOTTYCALA...> wrote:
This week I have neither heard nor seen any Pine Siskins in our Mountain View neighborhood. Have others seen/heard them in the county this past week? Is it possible they have finally migrated? Let me know where you've seen them recently. Thanks!Dotty Calabrese
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Date: 3/28/21 3:21 pm From: John Harris <johnh...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Pine Siskins
Yesterday I saw a group of about a dozen on the Guadalupe River trail at the spot where the Eastern Phoebe is being seen. The siskins were feeding on buds at the top of a deciduous tree. John Harris
On Sun, Mar 28, 2021 at 1:58 PM <dottycala...> via groups.io <DOTTYCALA= <aol.com...> wrote:
> This week I have neither heard nor seen any Pine Siskins in our Mountain > View neighborhood. Have others seen/heard them in the county this past > week? Is it possible they have finally migrated? Let me know where you've > seen them recently. > Thanks! > Dotty Calabrese > > >
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All, Shortly before 10 this morning (3/28) I heard a softly calling and occasionally singing CASSIN'S KINGBIRD among the grape vines somewhere East of San Felipe Road between the first and second Eucalyptus trees from Hwy 152. I eventually found the bird some distance away but my auto-focusing camera had focusing problems because of the massive number of poles, wires and vines. The attached photo is a diagnostic rear view of the CAKI in that one can see the white tip of the tail and a lack of white on the edges of the tail. Shortly before 11 I saw a second CAKI working the vineyard some distance South of the first bird, No interaction between the two CAKI that I saw and I never heard the second bird vocalize. No sign of Lawrence's Goldfinches. Earlier (about 9:20) I tried for and missed the Swainson's Hawks (saw Frank Vanslager doing the same) and I also missed them on the way home (about 11:15). Take care, Bob Reiling
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Date: 3/28/21 2:27 pm From: David Zittin <dzittin...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Rancho San Antonio - Hilltop Tail loop
Hi Birders,
Floy and I did our Hilltop Trail Loop starting at the norther parking lot, service road, Hilltop Trail and then down the PG&E road back to our car.
Some highlights:
- Several Orange-crowned Warblers either seen or heard singing including a quiet pair foraging on an oak tree.
- Our FOS House Wrens, three all singing, two seen.
- Tom Turkeys with large portions of their tail fans missing. Intra-species fighting? Coyote or bobcat encounters?
- Large flock of Pine Siskins foraging on an oak tree
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Chuq Von Rospach http://www.chuq.me Email: <chuqui...>
Twitter: @chuq
Silicon Valley, California
On Mar 28, 2021, 1:58 PM -0700, <dottycala...> via groups.io <DOTTYCALA...>, wrote:
> This week I have neither heard nor seen any Pine Siskins in our Mountain View neighborhood. Have others seen/heard them in the county this past week? Is it possible they have finally migrated? Let me know where you've seen them recently.
> Thanks!
> Dotty Calabrese
>
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Date: 3/28/21 1:58 pm From: <dottycala...> via groups.io <DOTTYCALA...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Pine Siskins
This week I have neither heard nor seen any Pine Siskins in our Mountain View neighborhood. Have others seen/heard them in the county this past week? Is it possible they have finally migrated? Let me know where you've seen them recently. Thanks!Dotty Calabrese
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Date: 3/28/21 11:47 am From: Massimo Bafetti <massimo...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] FOY Hooded Oriole in Cupertino
I saw my FOS Hooded Oriole today too! I’ve got a fan palm in my backyard, and they might be nesting there!
- Massimo Bafetti
Young Birder
> On Mar 28, 2021, at 8:27 AM, David Zittin <dzittin...> wrote:
>
> Hi Birders,
> A bright male Hooded Oriole briefly came to feed at our jelly feeder this morning.
>
> I have my fingers crossed because the nearby palm tree was removed last year. This is a good omen.
>
> -Dave Zittin
> Cupertino, CA.
>
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Date: 3/28/21 8:26 am From: David Zittin <dzittin...> Subject: [southbaybirds] FOY Hooded Oriole in Cupertino
Hi Birders,
A bright male Hooded Oriole briefly came to feed at our jelly feeder this morning.
I have my fingers crossed because the nearby palm tree was removed last year. This is a good omen.
-Dave Zittin
Cupertino, CA.
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Date: 3/27/21 9:52 pm From: Matthew Dodder <mdodder...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Charleston Slough and Shoreline Lake 03-27-21
The last birding I did today was at Shoreline Lake in search of Black Skimmers which I did not find. There were however plenty of lingering COMMON GOLDENEYE, BUFFLEHEAD and EARED GREBE. There were also a lot of boaters so very few birds were resting the island. The BRANT was visible from the west end of the lake with a scope trained toward the golf course. The only other bird of note was my FOY CLIFF SWALLOW near the pump house.
Matthew Dodder
Executive Director
Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society
22221 McClellan Rd.
Cupertino, CA 95014
408-252-3748
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Date: 3/27/21 9:52 pm From: Matthew Dodder <mdodder...> Subject: [southbaybirds] San Felipe Road 03-27-21
I dashed down to San Felipe Road late morning to search for the recently reported CASSIN’S KINGBIRDS. I found two in the vineyard beside the huge eucalyptus trees. I even managed to get some horrible digiscoped images. As well, I spotted 3 LAWRENCE’S GOLDFINCHES in the same area. Just as I was about to leave, Audrey, Connor and Garret rolled up and we continued to watch the the CAKIs for a few minutes. I also told them about the LAGOs, which I gather they were able to see as wel.
Matthew Dodder
Executive Director
Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society
22221 McClellan Rd.
Cupertino, CA 95014
408-252-3748
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Date: 3/27/21 9:51 pm From: Matthew Dodder <mdodder...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Stevens Creek Reservoir (south end) 03-27-21
This morning, Cricket and I walked along the dried creek bed leading north toward the puddle that remains of the Stevens Creek Reservoir. We had our season-first WILSON’S WARBLER (2), and WARBLING VIREO (1). We also got great looks at a male VARIED THRUSH who sang for us a few times. We also had an adult BALD EAGLE, and a MERLIN at the north end, and two COMMON MERGANSER females.
Matthew Dodder
Executive Director
Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society
22221 McClellan Rd.
Cupertino, CA 95014
408-252-3748
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Date: 3/27/21 9:51 pm From: Matthew Dodder <mdodder...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Santa Teresa Park 03-27-21
Mid-morning I visited Santa Teresa County Park from Bernal. It was very birdy, but nothing unusual. I found a couple of RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW on the trail leading from the north trailhead. After a while, Carter, Ed, Audry and Connor showed up. As we stood in place talking about birds we had seen, two BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLERS showed up in an oak tree just a few feet from us. Great looks had by all.
Matthew Dodder
Executive Director
Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society
22221 McClellan Rd.
Cupertino, CA 95014
408-252-3748
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Date: 3/27/21 9:51 pm From: Matthew Dodder <mdodder...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Hwy 101, just south of Cochrane 03-27-21
As I made my way toward the Charter School in Morgan Hill to search for the the Swainson’s Hawk, a campaign that was ultimately unsuccessful…. I happened to see a dark-morph SWAINSON’S HAWK from my moving car just south of Cochrane. The flight silhouette alone was enough to distinguish it from other dark Raptors like Golden Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk or Turkey Vulture. I pulled over as soon as I could to seach the skies to my south, but was not able to relocate the bird. I haven’t notice whether the Morgan Hill bird was reported as dark or not, but the bird I saw definitely was not. I was able to notice several diagnostic features as it flew above and infront of my car and banked to my left, but of course there were not photos.
Matthew Dodder
Executive Director
Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society
22221 McClellan Rd.
Cupertino, CA 95014
408-252-3748
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Date: 3/27/21 8:33 pm From: Carter Gasiorowski <carter.gasiorowski...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Cassin's Kingbird, Swainson's Hawk, and Black-throated Gray Warbler Today
Today, my dad and I started out our morning of birding at 8:00 am on San Felipe Road. Not long after getting out of the car, a CASSIN'S KINGBIRD started calling from the second big eucalyptus tree south of highway 152. My dad spotted it preening high up in the tree, and the bird was nice enough to show off its dark outer tail feathers while I was digiscoping it. A second Cassin's Kingbird was calling from the third eucalyptus south of 152, but we were not able to view the bird.
We then headed north through Morgan Hill and made an impromptu stop at the Morgan Hill Community Park. We saw 21 species in 20 minutes, mostly the expected birds but a pair of AMERICAN WIGEONS seemed very out of place on the swimming pool-sized pond. As the park does not have an eBird hotspot, it was fun to feel like we were discovering a new place.
Our next stop was at the Charter School of Morgan Hill, and before even pulling into the parking lot we saw the returning SWAINSON'S HAWK found my Mike Mammoser yesterday sitting on top of its usual flat-topped pine tree between the school parking lot and Monterey Rd. The hawk was hard to see unless we were either super far away from the tree, or there was a specific spot on the sidewalk of the school where a hole in the branches allowed nice views of the bird.
We ended our morning at Santa Teresa County Park, where we ran into Audry and Connor, as well as another nice birder. We hung around the trees where the Red Crossbills have been seen recently, but the crossbills were a no-show. We then headed a short way down the Hidden Springs Trail, where we bumped into Matthew. While we were all talking, my dad spotted an unusual warbler in one of the oaks above the trail. We got onto it, and I was surprised to see that it was a beautiful male BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER! We got closer, and the warbler began singing while hopping through the trees about 10 feet above the trail. Despite it being so close, it was hard to get a clear view of the bird, as it moved through the leaves so fast, but it did perch in the open for a second, letting me get my first photo of the species! Matthew then spotted another male Black-throated Gray Warbler, and for a brief moment, both birds were singing together in the same view before they flew to more distant trees. I attached a map showing where we saw the warblers.
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Date: 3/27/21 7:54 pm From: Mike Feighner <feinerVogel94551...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] A colorful bird ID
What bird did you see as a FOSMike Correll-Feichtner LivermoreSent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone -------- Original message --------From: Oliver Zhang <BLACKROCKARTSTUDIO...> Date: 3/27/21 7:08 PM (GMT-08:00) To: <southbaybirds...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] A colorful bird ID John. Thanks for the tip. Last Winter just about every South Bay birder got a look of Summer Tanager by the Geng Rd. I went there five times and never found it.Well, my renpin paid off this morning. This is a FOS for me.Happy birding.😀Oliver
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Date: 3/27/21 7:08 pm From: Oliver Zhang <BLACKROCKARTSTUDIO...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] A colorful bird ID
John.
Thanks for the tip. Last Winter just about every South Bay birder got a look of Summer Tanager by the Geng Rd. I went there five times and never found it.
Well, my renpin paid off this morning. This is a FOS for me.
Happy birding.
😀
Oliver
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Date: 3/27/21 6:21 pm From: John Harshman <john.harshman...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] A colorful bird ID
Your guess is better than you might suppose. That’s a young summer tanager, but Piranga tanagers, including all the tanagers we see in the U.S. exclusive of Hawaii, are not really tanagers but cardinals.
John Harshman
San Jose
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Date: 3/27/21 6:14 pm From: Adam Panto <norcalwood...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] A colorful bird ID
That’s a male Summer Tanager just molting into it’s first year’s breeding colors. Great bird for Palo Alto!
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Date: 3/27/21 6:06 pm From: Oliver Zhang <BLACKROCKARTSTUDIO...> Subject: [southbaybirds] A colorful bird ID
Hi birders.
This morning I was walking around the Midtown, Palo Alto just behind the Walgreens when this bird flew in, landed on the trees. It has a nice blend of red & yellow on the belly, a medium-sized bill, there are also colors on the back too. I have not seen this bird before, could this be a cardinal?
Photos are not of high quality because the bird moved too fast, the last photo was a butt shot.
Can anybody help me to identify the bird?
Thanks in advance.
Happy birding.
Oliver
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Date: 3/27/21 6:00 pm From: Steve Patt <stevenpatt...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Lazuli Bunting at Santa Teresa
Interesting. As I try to read/extrapolate Bills graph, it looks like this years date would be April 4. It also appear to be not uncommon (10 examples on the graph) for the actual date to be 7-10 days earlier, so my sighting on the 25th is not wildly out of line. Nevertheless Ive still withdrawn it from the public record barring confirmation.
Steve Patt
________________________________
From: <southbaybirds...> <southbaybirds...> on behalf of Bill Bousman <barlowi...>
Sent: Saturday, March 27, 2021 11:41:04 AM
To: <southbaybirds...> <southbaybirds...>
Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Lazuli Bunting at Santa Teresa
Folks:
I've attached a phenology plot for Lazuli Bunting. The arrival trend is about half a day earlier each year. There is an unusually early record for 3/28/96 by David Suddjian in the Gilroy area (and was noted as exceptionally early by him in his report). There are a number of birds that welcome spring by showing their ability to mimic other bird's spring songs. Not the least is another finch, the Purple Finch, who in the past has embarrassed a number of experienced observers with it excellent renditions of Warbling and Cassin's Vireo songs.
Bill
On 3/26/2021 2:20 PM, Garrett Lau wrote:
I just came from Santa Teresa County Park. I spent most of the time looking for the Lazuli Bunting, but I did not find it. I did see and hear a House Wren, which sounds similar to me, but I talked to Steve when he arrived as I was leaving, and he said that he can tell the difference.
Along the dirt trail that leads to the restroom for the Pueblo Day Use Area, I saw and heard a Red Crossbill.
If I were going to suggest an alternative of similar size and similar
light/dark patter, it would be Rufous-crowned Sparrow. We know they
ca be singing at this time of year, and that the park is a good place
for them. The songs can generally be differentiated, but perhaps a
less common variant could be confused. I'm not suggesting that it was
one, just something for you to consider. eBird show no March records
for any year locally. Bill will no doubt have better data on early
arrival dates in April. But it may well be a really odd year.
Al
On Fri, 26 Mar 2021, Steve Patt wrote:
> It was not a Mockingbird, I assure you. I couldnt have made a positive ID from the visual I had, but I could definitely make a negative one. It was definitely the right size and shape for a Lazuli, with the correct general light/dark pattern (which was all I could see as it was facing me almost head-on darker head area, lighter belly). And of course the song.
>
> Steve Patt
> ________________________________
> From: Nancy Asquith <nancyasquith...><mailto:<nancyasquith...>> > Sent: Friday, March 26, 2021 10:44:22 AM
> To: Steve Patt <stevenpatt...><mailto:<stevenpatt...>> > Cc: <southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...> <southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...>> > Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Lazuli Bunting at Santa Teresa
>
> Steve, yours is the only "recent" sighting in California.
>
> I looked at ebird's Lazuli bunting sightings map, checking roughly the western 2/3 of California for red markers (starting well into Oregon and continuing well into Mexico) and found nothing. Then I checked the unconfirmed sightings for California for the last 7 days--the rare bird alert--and found only your Santa Teresa sighting.
>
> Let's hope someone re-finds the bird and confirms that it isn't a mockingbird with a long memory.
>
> On Fri, Mar 26, 2021 at 8:44 AM Steve Patt <stevenpatt...><mailto:<stevenpatt...><mailto:<stevenpatt...><mailto:<stevenpatt...>>> wrote:
> Just following up on this posting. I checked my records from past years (including last year) and this sighting was definitely early. Last year my first sighting, at virtually the identical spot in Santa Teresa CP, was on April 20, and April 20 of 2018 was my first sighting by the water tank at Rancho San Antonio, one of the most reliable spots in the county for the species. However, I am 100% confident of the ID based on the song (not on the sighting itself, which was too far away and with the naked eye). So either LAZB have shown up earlier this year, or this one individual was just an outlier.
>
> Steve Patt
> ________________________________
> From: <southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...>> <southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...>>> on behalf of Steve Patt <stevenpatt...><mailto:<stevenpatt...><mailto:<stevenpatt...><mailto:<stevenpatt...>>> > Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2021 9:24 PM
> To: <southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...>> <southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...>>> > Subject: [southbaybirds] Lazuli Bunting at Santa Teresa
>
> Out running at Santa Teresa CP this afternoon I had my first (THE first for the county according to eBird) Lazuli Bunting of the year, on the hillside above the Ridge Trail just after it splits off from the Hidden Springs Trail. I had no bins but it sang multiple times and was visible by eye (not well, to be sure).
>
> Steve Patt
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
--
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Date: 3/27/21 11:41 am From: Bill Bousman <barlowi...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Lazuli Bunting at Santa Teresa
Folks:
I've attached a phenology plot for Lazuli Bunting. The arrival trend is about half a day earlier each year. There is an unusually early record for 3/28/96 by David Suddjian in the Gilroy area (and was noted as exceptionally early by him in his report). There are a number of birds that welcome spring by showing their ability to mimic other bird's spring songs. Not the least is another finch, the Purple Finch, who in the past has embarrassed a number of experienced observers with it excellent renditions of Warbling and Cassin's Vireo songs.
Bill
On 3/26/2021 2:20 PM, Garrett Lau wrote: > I just came from Santa Teresa County Park. I spent most of the time > looking for the Lazuli Bunting, but I did not find it. I did see and > hear a House Wren, which sounds similar to me, but I talked to Steve > when he arrived as I was leaving, and he said that he can tell the > difference. > > Along the dirt trail that leads to the restroom for the Pueblo Day Use > Area, I saw and heard a Red Crossbill. > > Garrett Lau > > On Fri, Mar 26, 2021 at 1:34 PM Al Eisner via groups.io > <http://groups.io> <eisner...> > <mailto:<SLAC.Stanford.EDU...>> wrote: > > Hi, Steve: > > If I were going to suggest an alternative of similar size and similar > light/dark patter, it would be Rufous-crowned Sparrow. We know they > ca be singing at this time of year, and that the park is a good place > for them. The songs can generally be differentiated, but perhaps a > less common variant could be confused. I'm not suggesting that it was > one, just something for you to consider. eBird show no March records > for any year locally. Bill will no doubt have better data on early > arrival dates in April. But it may well be a really odd year. > > Al > > On Fri, 26 Mar 2021, Steve Patt wrote: > > > It was not a Mockingbird, I assure you. I couldn’t have made a > positive ID from the visual I had, but I could definitely make a > negative one. It was definitely the right size and shape for a > Lazuli, with the correct general light/dark pattern (which was all > I could see as it was facing me almost head-on — darker head area, > lighter belly). And of course the song. > > > > Steve Patt > > ________________________________ > > From: Nancy Asquith <nancyasquith...> > <mailto:<nancyasquith...>> > > Sent: Friday, March 26, 2021 10:44:22 AM > > To: Steve Patt <stevenpatt...> > <mailto:<stevenpatt...>> > > Cc: <southbaybirds...> <mailto:<southbaybirds...> > <southbaybirds...> <mailto:<southbaybirds...>> > > Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Lazuli Bunting at Santa Teresa > > > > Steve, yours is the only "recent" sighting in California. > > > > I looked at ebird's Lazuli bunting sightings map, checking > roughly the western 2/3 of California for red markers (starting > well into Oregon and continuing well into Mexico) and found > nothing. Then I checked the unconfirmed sightings for California > for the last 7 days--the rare bird alert--and found only your > Santa Teresa sighting. > > > > Let's hope someone re-finds the bird and confirms that it isn't > a mockingbird with a long memory. > > > > On Fri, Mar 26, 2021 at 8:44 AM Steve Patt > <stevenpatt...> > <mailto:<stevenpatt...><mailto:<stevenpatt...> > <mailto:<stevenpatt...>>> wrote: > > Just following up on this posting. I checked my records from > past years (including last year) and this sighting was definitely > early. Last year my first sighting, at virtually the identical > spot in Santa Teresa CP, was on April 20, and April 20 of 2018 was > my first sighting by the water tank at Rancho San Antonio, one of > the most reliable spots in the county for the species. However, I > am 100% confident of the ID based on the song (not on the sighting > itself, which was too far away and with the naked eye). So either > LAZB have shown up earlier this year, or this one individual was > just an outlier. > > > > Steve Patt > > ________________________________ > > From: <southbaybirds...> > <mailto:<southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...> > <mailto:<southbaybirds...>> <southbaybirds...> > <mailto:<southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...> > <mailto:<southbaybirds...>>> on behalf of Steve Patt > <stevenpatt...> > <mailto:<stevenpatt...><mailto:<stevenpatt...> > <mailto:<stevenpatt...>>> > > Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2021 9:24 PM > > To: <southbaybirds...> > <mailto:<southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...> > <mailto:<southbaybirds...>> <southbaybirds...> > <mailto:<southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...> > <mailto:<southbaybirds...>>> > > Subject: [southbaybirds] Lazuli Bunting at Santa Teresa > > > > Out running at Santa Teresa CP this afternoon I had my first > (THE first for the county according to eBird) Lazuli Bunting of > the year, on the hillside above the Ridge Trail just after it > splits off from the Hidden Springs Trail. I had no bins but it > sang multiple times and was visible by eye (not well, to be sure). > > > > Steve Patt > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > > > >
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Date: 3/27/21 8:54 am From: janna pauser <jannapauser...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Cassin's Vireo Guadalupe Oak Grove Park 3-27
Walking along the wooded trail from the parking lot off Thorntree in Guadalupe Oak Grove Park this morning I heard a CASSIN'S VIREO. I found it foraging high in a Valley Oak before the trash can. It's song was very bury and long. It's bold white spectacles showed clearly on its gray head. It had two white wing bars, overall gray upper sides and whitish below except for the pale yellow flanks. Blurry photo attached.
Janna Pauser Almaden Valley
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Date: 3/27/21 7:05 am From: Adam Burnett <adamburnett33...> Subject: [southbaybirds] SCVWD 3/26 - Sap-stealing Yellow-rumped Warbler, and other highlights
With Stanford classes on spring break, I kicked off the weekend a bit early
and visited the Santa Clara Valley Water District trails yesterday
afternoon (3/26), hoping to finally see my first Scaly-breasted Munias.
Based on others’ reports, they seem to be morning birds, so I figured I was
pushing my luck by making yet another afternoon attempt. Fortunately, I
managed to see one SCALY-BREASTED MUNIA after all, feeding on grass seeds
in the grassy area northeast of the laboratory building, along the spur
trail leading northward from the main loop trail toward Blossom Hill Road.
After a couple minutes of nice views, the munia flew off toward the river
channel and out of sight.
I also saw two WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS scratching in the leaf litter under
a large bush along the trail next to the entrance of the administrative
building, near here: (37.24808, -121.87303). They were relatively
unobscured, made lots of rustling noise as they kicked leaves around, and
were not associating with other sparrows, sparing me the usual
needle-in-a-haystack problem.
My favorite sighting was the behavior described in the subject line: a
‘Myrtle’ YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER stealing sap from fresh sapsucker wells! The
sap wells were so fresh, in fact, that the RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER was right
there, keeping an eye on the situation. The sapsucker seemed generally
tolerant of the warbler's behavior but a bit annoyed, and the warbler
seemed wary of the sapsucker, aware that he might take exception to his sap
theft. My eBird list includes a fun sequence of photos showing the warbler
nervously peering at the sapsucker before taking a drink:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S84147584
This scene unfolded in a pepper tree near the administrative building
entrance, right across the trail from the White-throated Sparrows. (And by
the way, I was sorely tempted to put “Yellow-rumped Sapsucker” in the
subject line, but I decided to play it safe and avoid sowing confusion.)
Later in the afternoon, I headed over to Santa Teresa County Park, where I
hung around the Pueblo Day Use Area for a couple hours, eating a late lunch
and enjoying the spring weather. Of course, I was hoping for Red
Crossbills, but had no luck. Carter Gasiorowski and his mom arrived later,
and they pointed out a couple notable birds: a LARK SPARROW, perched atop a
small tree in the middle of the grassy picnic area, and a male HOODED
ORIOLE, who flew in and landed in a eucalyptus tree by the restrooms before
flying to an oak tree farther upslope.
Looking forward to seeing what other birds the weekend, and the spring,
brings!
Adam Burnett
Stanford
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Date: 3/27/21 6:32 am From: Eve Meier <eve.m.meier...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Harvey Bear entrance to Coyote Lake
Hi Everyone,
Yesterday morning I birded the Harvey Bear entrance to Coyote Lake County Park. This area is beautiful right now with the green hills and lots of wildflowers in the flat meadow by the parking lot. The best birds were my FOS *Grasshopper Sparrow* and *Western Kingbird*. There were lots of *Yellow-billed Magpies* and *Western Meadowlarks* too. This area is very underbirded (only 80 checklists) and I'm looking forward to filling out the bar charts this spring!
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Date: 3/26/21 9:39 pm From: Kirsten Holmquist <kirsten.holmquist...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Merlin at Suunyvale Bay Trail
I took a walk on the Sunnyvale Bay Trail this morning. Right at the start as I was heading onto the former dump site, I was treated to a GREAT BLUE HERON making a strike and coming up with what looked like a Gopher. Coming down off the dump site to the wooden bridge to the Bay Trail, several GREAT-TAILED GRACKLES were hanging out. (Note, I had a high count of 70 for this species at one of the nearby towers back in November.) MARSH WRENS were up and boisterously singing. I'm sure it was a moving performance . if you are another Marsh Wren. Several COMMON YELLOWTHROATS were singing along the way as well.
Passing behind the ponds, a MERLIN flew in and perched on the top of one of the towers. Given the warm brown color overall and level of streaking, I am going to guess female Taiga. At least 7 REDHEADS remained hanging out in the channel behind the Lockheed buildings. (Note, my high count back in December was over 100 at the same location.) A pair of WHITE-TAILED KITES were interacting immediately behind the buildings.
Regards,
Kirsten Holmquist
<kirsten.holmquist...>
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Date: 3/26/21 6:28 pm From: Al Eisner via groups.io <eisner...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Lazuli Bunting at Santa Teresa
One added bit of information: according to the Santa Clara County
cumulative lists (compiled in recent years by Brooked Miller and posted
on the SCVAS web site), first dates for Lazuli Bunting over the previous
9 years have all been in the week from April 5 to 12. (In 2010-2011
this range was exgtended a few days later.) But with changing climate,
who knows? Maybe late March will become the norm. And so far as I know,
there is minimal if any history of the species wintering in the Bay Area
(unlike one species which was raised in a private email), although I
could be wrong. I have no particular stakes in this. Ultimately it is
up to Steve to decide, based on his own observation as supplemented by
some history. (And others likely know the latter better than I do.)
Al Eisner
On Sat, 27 Mar 2021, Steven Patt wrote:
> In the interest of not polluting the historical record I have decided to remove my sighting from eBird. I returned to Santa Teresa today and couldnt refind the bird (really not that surprising if theres only one bird). I did see and hear a Rufous-crowned Sparrow on the Hidden Springs Trail and although I remain convinced that the song I heard was a Lazuli, there is sufficient similarity to a Rufous-crowned that I cant categorically rule that out.
>
> Steve Patt
> ________________________________
> From: Garrett Lau <garrett.lau...>
> Sent: Friday, March 26, 2021 2:20:34 PM
> To: <eisner...> <eisner...>
> Cc: Steve Patt <stevenpatt...>; <southbaybirds...> <southbaybirds...>
> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Lazuli Bunting at Santa Teresa
>
> I just came from Santa Teresa County Park. I spent most of the time looking for the Lazuli Bunting, but I did not find it. I did see and hear a House Wren, which sounds similar to me, but I talked to Steve when he arrived as I was leaving, and he said that he can tell the difference.
>
> Along the dirt trail that leads to the restroom for the Pueblo Day Use Area, I saw and heard a Red Crossbill.
>
> Garrett Lau
>
> On Fri, Mar 26, 2021 at 1:34 PM Al Eisner via groups.io<http://groups.io> <eisner...><mailto:<SLAC.Stanford.EDU...>> wrote:
> Hi, Steve:
>
> If I were going to suggest an alternative of similar size and similar
> light/dark patter, it would be Rufous-crowned Sparrow. We know they
> ca be singing at this time of year, and that the park is a good place
> for them. The songs can generally be differentiated, but perhaps a
> less common variant could be confused. I'm not suggesting that it was
> one, just something for you to consider. eBird show no March records
> for any year locally. Bill will no doubt have better data on early
> arrival dates in April. But it may well be a really odd year.
>
> Al
>
> On Fri, 26 Mar 2021, Steve Patt wrote:
>
>> It was not a Mockingbird, I assure you. I couldnt have made a positive ID from the visual I had, but I could definitely make a negative one. It was definitely the right size and shape for a Lazuli, with the correct general light/dark pattern (which was all I could see as it was facing me almost head-on darker head area, lighter belly). And of course the song.
>>
>> Steve Patt
>> ________________________________
>> From: Nancy Asquith <nancyasquith...><mailto:<nancyasquith...>> >> Sent: Friday, March 26, 2021 10:44:22 AM
>> To: Steve Patt <stevenpatt...><mailto:<stevenpatt...>> >> Cc: <southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...> <southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...>> >> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Lazuli Bunting at Santa Teresa
>>
>> Steve, yours is the only "recent" sighting in California.
>>
>> I looked at ebird's Lazuli bunting sightings map, checking roughly the western 2/3 of California for red markers (starting well into Oregon and continuing well into Mexico) and found nothing. Then I checked the unconfirmed sightings for California for the last 7 days--the rare bird alert--and found only your Santa Teresa sighting.
>>
>> Let's hope someone re-finds the bird and confirms that it isn't a mockingbird with a long memory.
>>
>> On Fri, Mar 26, 2021 at 8:44 AM Steve Patt <stevenpatt...><mailto:<stevenpatt...><mailto:<stevenpatt...><mailto:<stevenpatt...>>> wrote:
>> Just following up on this posting. I checked my records from past years (including last year) and this sighting was definitely early. Last year my first sighting, at virtually the identical spot in Santa Teresa CP, was on April 20, and April 20 of 2018 was my first sighting by the water tank at Rancho San Antonio, one of the most reliable spots in the county for the species. However, I am 100% confident of the ID based on the song (not on the sighting itself, which was too far away and with the naked eye). So either LAZB have shown up earlier this year, or this one individual was just an outlier.
>>
>> Steve Patt
>> ________________________________
>> From: <southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...>> <southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...>>> on behalf of Steve Patt <stevenpatt...><mailto:<stevenpatt...><mailto:<stevenpatt...><mailto:<stevenpatt...>>> >> Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2021 9:24 PM
>> To: <southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...>> <southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...>>> >> Subject: [southbaybirds] Lazuli Bunting at Santa Teresa
>>
>> Out running at Santa Teresa CP this afternoon I had my first (THE first for the county according to eBird) Lazuli Bunting of the year, on the hillside above the Ridge Trail just after it splits off from the Hidden Springs Trail. I had no bins but it sang multiple times and was visible by eye (not well, to be sure).
>>
>> Steve Patt
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
> --
>
>
>
>
>
>
--
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Date: 3/26/21 5:01 pm From: Steve Patt <stevenpatt...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Lazuli Bunting at Santa Teresa
In the interest of not polluting the historical record I have decided to remove my sighting from eBird. I returned to Santa Teresa today and couldnt refind the bird (really not that surprising if theres only one bird). I did see and hear a Rufous-crowned Sparrow on the Hidden Springs Trail and although I remain convinced that the song I heard was a Lazuli, there is sufficient similarity to a Rufous-crowned that I cant categorically rule that out.
Steve Patt
________________________________
From: Garrett Lau <garrett.lau...>
Sent: Friday, March 26, 2021 2:20:34 PM
To: <eisner...> <eisner...>
Cc: Steve Patt <stevenpatt...>; <southbaybirds...> <southbaybirds...>
Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Lazuli Bunting at Santa Teresa
I just came from Santa Teresa County Park. I spent most of the time looking for the Lazuli Bunting, but I did not find it. I did see and hear a House Wren, which sounds similar to me, but I talked to Steve when he arrived as I was leaving, and he said that he can tell the difference.
Along the dirt trail that leads to the restroom for the Pueblo Day Use Area, I saw and heard a Red Crossbill.
If I were going to suggest an alternative of similar size and similar
light/dark patter, it would be Rufous-crowned Sparrow. We know they
ca be singing at this time of year, and that the park is a good place
for them. The songs can generally be differentiated, but perhaps a
less common variant could be confused. I'm not suggesting that it was
one, just something for you to consider. eBird show no March records
for any year locally. Bill will no doubt have better data on early
arrival dates in April. But it may well be a really odd year.
Al
On Fri, 26 Mar 2021, Steve Patt wrote:
> It was not a Mockingbird, I assure you. I couldnt have made a positive ID from the visual I had, but I could definitely make a negative one. It was definitely the right size and shape for a Lazuli, with the correct general light/dark pattern (which was all I could see as it was facing me almost head-on darker head area, lighter belly). And of course the song.
>
> Steve Patt
> ________________________________
> From: Nancy Asquith <nancyasquith...><mailto:<nancyasquith...>> > Sent: Friday, March 26, 2021 10:44:22 AM
> To: Steve Patt <stevenpatt...><mailto:<stevenpatt...>> > Cc: <southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...> <southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...>> > Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Lazuli Bunting at Santa Teresa
>
> Steve, yours is the only "recent" sighting in California.
>
> I looked at ebird's Lazuli bunting sightings map, checking roughly the western 2/3 of California for red markers (starting well into Oregon and continuing well into Mexico) and found nothing. Then I checked the unconfirmed sightings for California for the last 7 days--the rare bird alert--and found only your Santa Teresa sighting.
>
> Let's hope someone re-finds the bird and confirms that it isn't a mockingbird with a long memory.
>
> On Fri, Mar 26, 2021 at 8:44 AM Steve Patt <stevenpatt...><mailto:<stevenpatt...><mailto:<stevenpatt...><mailto:<stevenpatt...>>> wrote:
> Just following up on this posting. I checked my records from past years (including last year) and this sighting was definitely early. Last year my first sighting, at virtually the identical spot in Santa Teresa CP, was on April 20, and April 20 of 2018 was my first sighting by the water tank at Rancho San Antonio, one of the most reliable spots in the county for the species. However, I am 100% confident of the ID based on the song (not on the sighting itself, which was too far away and with the naked eye). So either LAZB have shown up earlier this year, or this one individual was just an outlier.
>
> Steve Patt
> ________________________________
> From: <southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...>> <southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...>>> on behalf of Steve Patt <stevenpatt...><mailto:<stevenpatt...><mailto:<stevenpatt...><mailto:<stevenpatt...>>> > Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2021 9:24 PM
> To: <southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...>> <southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...>>> > Subject: [southbaybirds] Lazuli Bunting at Santa Teresa
>
> Out running at Santa Teresa CP this afternoon I had my first (THE first for the county according to eBird) Lazuli Bunting of the year, on the hillside above the Ridge Trail just after it splits off from the Hidden Springs Trail. I had no bins but it sang multiple times and was visible by eye (not well, to be sure).
>
> Steve Patt
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
--
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Date: 3/26/21 2:22 pm From: Diane McCoy <dianemccoy10...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Grebe ID help and sparrow
Hi all
Thanks for help with grebe.
Oh dear, not a Hermit Thrush, but a Fox Sparrow.
Thanks for that ID help too.
Best
Diane
> On Mar 26, 2021, at 1:12 PM, Kent Johnson <kentjohnson...> wrote:
>
>
> The grebe is a Clark's. The other bird is a Fox Sparrow.
>
> Cheers, Kent Johnson
>
> From: <southbaybirds...> <southbaybirds...> on behalf of Diane McCoy <dianemccoy10...>
> Sent: Friday, March 26, 2021 12:47 PM
> To: <southbaybirds...> <southbaybirds...>
> Subject: [southbaybirds] Grebe ID help
>
> Hi,
> I spotted this grebe this morning, 9:30, in the ‘slough’ in front of the Palo Alto Bay Lands EcoCenter (the ‘boat’ building).
> I am thinking (hoping) it is a Clark’s Grebe (Clark has an arc of white over eye…..), but am also thinking a Western in some seasonal plumage or age?
> Thanks for your help.
> Also, was with Larry Spivak for volunteering and he spotted this Hermit Thrush in the shade down by a bench, having a grand old time scraping away finding grubs, worms, to eat.
> Thanks much, Diane McCoy
> <DSCN4992.jpeg>
> <DSCN4988.jpeg>
> <DSCN4989.jpeg>
> <DSCN5008.jpeg>
> <DSCN5009.jpeg>
>
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Date: 3/26/21 2:20 pm From: Garrett Lau <Garrett.Lau...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Lazuli Bunting at Santa Teresa
I just came from Santa Teresa County Park. I spent most of the time looking
for the Lazuli Bunting, but I did not find it. I did see and hear a House
Wren, which sounds similar to me, but I talked to Steve when he arrived as
I was leaving, and he said that he can tell the difference.
Along the dirt trail that leads to the restroom for the Pueblo Day Use
Area, I saw and heard a Red Crossbill.
Garrett Lau
On Fri, Mar 26, 2021 at 1:34 PM Al Eisner via groups.io <eisner=
<SLAC.Stanford.EDU...> wrote:
> Hi, Steve:
>
> If I were going to suggest an alternative of similar size and similar
> light/dark patter, it would be Rufous-crowned Sparrow. We know they
> ca be singing at this time of year, and that the park is a good place
> for them. The songs can generally be differentiated, but perhaps a
> less common variant could be confused. I'm not suggesting that it was
> one, just something for you to consider. eBird show no March records
> for any year locally. Bill will no doubt have better data on early
> arrival dates in April. But it may well be a really odd year.
>
> Al
>
> On Fri, 26 Mar 2021, Steve Patt wrote:
>
> > It was not a Mockingbird, I assure you. I couldn’t have made a positive
> ID from the visual I had, but I could definitely make a negative one. It
> was definitely the right size and shape for a Lazuli, with the correct
> general light/dark pattern (which was all I could see as it was facing me
> almost head-on — darker head area, lighter belly). And of course the song.
> >
> > Steve Patt
> > ________________________________
> > From: Nancy Asquith <nancyasquith...>
> > Sent: Friday, March 26, 2021 10:44:22 AM
> > To: Steve Patt <stevenpatt...>
> > Cc: <southbaybirds...> <southbaybirds...>
> > Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Lazuli Bunting at Santa Teresa
> >
> > Steve, yours is the only "recent" sighting in California.
> >
> > I looked at ebird's Lazuli bunting sightings map, checking roughly the
> western 2/3 of California for red markers (starting well into Oregon and
> continuing well into Mexico) and found nothing. Then I checked the
> unconfirmed sightings for California for the last 7 days--the rare bird
> alert--and found only your Santa Teresa sighting.
> >
> > Let's hope someone re-finds the bird and confirms that it isn't a
> mockingbird with a long memory.
> >
> > On Fri, Mar 26, 2021 at 8:44 AM Steve Patt <stevenpatt...>
> <mailto:<stevenpatt...>> wrote:
> > Just following up on this posting. I checked my records from past years
> (including last year) and this sighting was definitely early. Last year my
> first sighting, at virtually the identical spot in Santa Teresa CP, was on
> April 20, and April 20 of 2018 was my first sighting by the water tank at
> Rancho San Antonio, one of the most reliable spots in the county for the
> species. However, I am 100% confident of the ID based on the song (not on
> the sighting itself, which was too far away and with the naked eye). So
> either LAZB have shown up earlier this year, or this one individual was
> just an outlier.
> >
> > Steve Patt
> > ________________________________
> > From: <southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...> <
> <southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...>> on behalf of
> Steve Patt <stevenpatt...><mailto:<stevenpatt...>> > > Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2021 9:24 PM
> > To: <southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...> <
> <southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...>> > > Subject: [southbaybirds] Lazuli Bunting at Santa Teresa
> >
> > Out running at Santa Teresa CP this afternoon I had my first (THE first
> for the county according to eBird) Lazuli Bunting of the year, on the
> hillside above the Ridge Trail just after it splits off from the Hidden
> Springs Trail. I had no bins but it sang multiple times and was visible by
> eye (not well, to be sure).
> >
> > Steve Patt
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
> --
>
>
>
>
>
>
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Date: 3/26/21 1:42 pm From: janna pauser <jannapauser...> Subject: [southbaybirds] New Almaden spring migrants
This morning I heard the loud one note call of a PACIFIC SLOPE FLYCATCHER while driving along Camden before Harry Road. I stopped at the Casa Grande Museum in New Almaden and found a male HOODED ORIOLE calling from a tall palm. A HOUSE WREN sang from a residents yard and a male WILSON'S WARBLER was seen near the south Bertram Road bridge. I flushed a pair of WOOD DUCKS here and found a singing BROWN CREEPER and WESTERN BLUEBIRD pair. An ORANGE CROWNED WARBLER sang in Twin Creeks. Another stop gave me a WESTERN TANAGER and male TOWNSEND'S WARBLER, a bird I've not seen often this year.
At home a selasphorus hummingbird visited our feeder at noon and a male HOODED ORIOLE at our backyard feeder on March 21, remains.
Janna Pauser Almaden Valley
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Date: 3/26/21 1:34 pm From: Al Eisner via groups.io <eisner...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Lazuli Bunting at Santa Teresa
Hi, Steve:
If I were going to suggest an alternative of similar size and similar
light/dark patter, it would be Rufous-crowned Sparrow. We know they
ca be singing at this time of year, and that the park is a good place
for them. The songs can generally be differentiated, but perhaps a
less common variant could be confused. I'm not suggesting that it was
one, just something for you to consider. eBird show no March records
for any year locally. Bill will no doubt have better data on early
arrival dates in April. But it may well be a really odd year.
Al
On Fri, 26 Mar 2021, Steve Patt wrote:
> It was not a Mockingbird, I assure you. I couldnt have made a positive ID from the visual I had, but I could definitely make a negative one. It was definitely the right size and shape for a Lazuli, with the correct general light/dark pattern (which was all I could see as it was facing me almost head-on darker head area, lighter belly). And of course the song.
>
> Steve Patt
> ________________________________
> From: Nancy Asquith <nancyasquith...>
> Sent: Friday, March 26, 2021 10:44:22 AM
> To: Steve Patt <stevenpatt...>
> Cc: <southbaybirds...> <southbaybirds...>
> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Lazuli Bunting at Santa Teresa
>
> Steve, yours is the only "recent" sighting in California.
>
> I looked at ebird's Lazuli bunting sightings map, checking roughly the western 2/3 of California for red markers (starting well into Oregon and continuing well into Mexico) and found nothing. Then I checked the unconfirmed sightings for California for the last 7 days--the rare bird alert--and found only your Santa Teresa sighting.
>
> Let's hope someone re-finds the bird and confirms that it isn't a mockingbird with a long memory.
>
> On Fri, Mar 26, 2021 at 8:44 AM Steve Patt <stevenpatt...><mailto:<stevenpatt...>> wrote:
> Just following up on this posting. I checked my records from past years (including last year) and this sighting was definitely early. Last year my first sighting, at virtually the identical spot in Santa Teresa CP, was on April 20, and April 20 of 2018 was my first sighting by the water tank at Rancho San Antonio, one of the most reliable spots in the county for the species. However, I am 100% confident of the ID based on the song (not on the sighting itself, which was too far away and with the naked eye). So either LAZB have shown up earlier this year, or this one individual was just an outlier.
>
> Steve Patt
> ________________________________
> From: <southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...> <southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...>> on behalf of Steve Patt <stevenpatt...><mailto:<stevenpatt...>> > Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2021 9:24 PM
> To: <southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...> <southbaybirds...><mailto:<southbaybirds...>> > Subject: [southbaybirds] Lazuli Bunting at Santa Teresa
>
> Out running at Santa Teresa CP this afternoon I had my first (THE first for the county according to eBird) Lazuli Bunting of the year, on the hillside above the Ridge Trail just after it splits off from the Hidden Springs Trail. I had no bins but it sang multiple times and was visible by eye (not well, to be sure).
>
> Steve Patt
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
--
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Date: 3/26/21 1:08 pm From: Adam Panto <norcalwood...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Grebe ID help
Yes, that’s a Clark’s. And that second bird is a Fox Sparrow.
> On Mar 26, 2021, at 12:47 PM, Diane McCoy <dianemccoy10...> wrote:
>
> Hi,
> I spotted this grebe this morning, 9:30, in the ‘slough’ in front of the Palo Alto Bay Lands EcoCenter (the ‘boat’ building).
> I am thinking (hoping) it is a Clark’s Grebe (Clark has an arc of white over eye…..), but am also thinking a Western in some seasonal plumage or age?
> Thanks for your help.
> Also, was with Larry Spivak for volunteering and he spotted this Hermit Thrush in the shade down by a bench, having a grand old time scraping away finding grubs, worms, to eat.
> Thanks much, Diane McCoy
> <DSCN4992.jpeg>
> <DSCN4988.jpeg>
> <DSCN4989.jpeg>
> <DSCN5008.jpeg>
> <DSCN5009.jpeg>
>
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Date: 3/26/21 12:47 pm From: Diane McCoy <dianemccoy10...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Grebe ID help
Hi,
I spotted this grebe this morning, 9:30, in the ‘slough’ in front of the Palo Alto Bay Lands EcoCenter (the ‘boat’ building).
I am thinking (hoping) it is a Clark’s Grebe (Clark has an arc of white over eye…..), but am also thinking a Western in some seasonal plumage or age?
Thanks for your help.
Also, was with Larry Spivak for volunteering and he spotted this Hermit Thrush in the shade down by a bench, having a grand old time scraping away finding grubs, worms, to eat.
Thanks much, Diane McCoy
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Date: 3/26/21 11:41 am From: Steve Patt <stevenpatt...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Lazuli Bunting at Santa Teresa
It was not a Mockingbird, I assure you. I couldnt have made a positive ID from the visual I had, but I could definitely make a negative one. It was definitely the right size and shape for a Lazuli, with the correct general light/dark pattern (which was all I could see as it was facing me almost head-on darker head area, lighter belly). And of course the song.
Steve Patt
________________________________
From: Nancy Asquith <nancyasquith...>
Sent: Friday, March 26, 2021 10:44:22 AM
To: Steve Patt <stevenpatt...>
Cc: <southbaybirds...> <southbaybirds...>
Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Lazuli Bunting at Santa Teresa
Steve, yours is the only "recent" sighting in California.
I looked at ebird's Lazuli bunting sightings map, checking roughly the western 2/3 of California for red markers (starting well into Oregon and continuing well into Mexico) and found nothing. Then I checked the unconfirmed sightings for California for the last 7 days--the rare bird alert--and found only your Santa Teresa sighting.
Let's hope someone re-finds the bird and confirms that it isn't a mockingbird with a long memory.
On Fri, Mar 26, 2021 at 8:44 AM Steve Patt <stevenpatt...><mailto:<stevenpatt...>> wrote:
Just following up on this posting. I checked my records from past years (including last year) and this sighting was definitely early. Last year my first sighting, at virtually the identical spot in Santa Teresa CP, was on April 20, and April 20 of 2018 was my first sighting by the water tank at Rancho San Antonio, one of the most reliable spots in the county for the species. However, I am 100% confident of the ID based on the song (not on the sighting itself, which was too far away and with the naked eye). So either LAZB have shown up earlier this year, or this one individual was just an outlier.
Out running at Santa Teresa CP this afternoon I had my first (THE first for the county according to eBird) Lazuli Bunting of the year, on the hillside above the Ridge Trail just after it splits off from the Hidden Springs Trail. I had no bins but it sang multiple times and was visible by eye (not well, to be sure).
Steve Patt
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Date: 3/26/21 10:44 am From: Nancy Asquith <nancyasquith...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Lazuli Bunting at Santa Teresa
Steve, yours is the only "recent" sighting in California.
I looked at ebird's Lazuli bunting sightings map, checking roughly the western 2/3 of California for red markers (starting well into Oregon and continuing well into Mexico) and found nothing. Then I checked the unconfirmed sightings for California for the last 7 days--the rare bird alert--and found only your Santa Teresa sighting.
Let's hope someone re-finds the bird and confirms that it isn't a mockingbird with a long memory.
On Fri, Mar 26, 2021 at 8:44 AM Steve Patt <stevenpatt...> wrote:
> Just following up on this posting. I checked my records from past years > (including last year) and this sighting was definitely early. Last year my > first sighting, at virtually the identical spot in Santa Teresa CP, was on > April 20, and April 20 of 2018 was my first sighting by the water tank at > Rancho San Antonio, one of the most reliable spots in the county for the > species. However, I am 100% confident of the ID based on the song (not on > the sighting itself, which was too far away and with the naked eye). So > either LAZB have shown up earlier this year, or this one individual was > just an outlier. > > Steve Patt > ------------------------------ > *From:* <southbaybirds...> <southbaybirds...> on behalf of > Steve Patt <stevenpatt...> > *Sent:* Thursday, March 25, 2021 9:24 PM > *To:* <southbaybirds...> <southbaybirds...> > *Subject:* [southbaybirds] Lazuli Bunting at Santa Teresa > > Out running at Santa Teresa CP this afternoon I had my first (THE first > for the county according to eBird) Lazuli Bunting of the year, on the > hillside above the Ridge Trail just after it splits off from the Hidden > Springs Trail. I had no bins but it sang multiple times and was visible by > eye (not well, to be sure). > > Steve Patt > > >
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Date: 3/26/21 8:44 am From: Steve Patt <stevenpatt...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Lazuli Bunting at Santa Teresa
Just following up on this posting. I checked my records from past years (including last year) and this sighting was definitely early. Last year my first sighting, at virtually the identical spot in Santa Teresa CP, was on April 20, and April 20 of 2018 was my first sighting by the water tank at Rancho San Antonio, one of the most reliable spots in the county for the species. However, I am 100% confident of the ID based on the song (not on the sighting itself, which was too far away and with the naked eye). So either LAZB have shown up earlier this year, or this one individual was just an outlier.
Steve Patt
________________________________
From: <southbaybirds...> <southbaybirds...> on behalf of Steve Patt <stevenpatt...>
Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2021 9:24 PM
To: <southbaybirds...> <southbaybirds...>
Subject: [southbaybirds] Lazuli Bunting at Santa Teresa
Out running at Santa Teresa CP this afternoon I had my first (THE first for the county according to eBird) Lazuli Bunting of the year, on the hillside above the Ridge Trail just after it splits off from the Hidden Springs Trail. I had no bins but it sang multiple times and was visible by eye (not well, to be sure).
Steve Patt
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This afternoon I walked around the Emily Renzel Pond for some fresh air; at around 6:00 pm when I sauntered towards Mayfield Slough, a flock of swallows rushed out in the Hitchcocky fashion.
I saw BARN SWALLOW, TREE SWALLOW, VIOLET GREEN SWALLOW.
Given the speed of these little birds, I was only able to grab a few in-flight photos just for my reference. What was interesting was: for the first time I saw the BARN SWALLOW & TREE SWALLOW diving into the water.
Happy Birding.
Oliver
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Date: 3/25/21 11:11 pm From: Vinayak Hebbagil <vinayakh7985...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Help with Bird ID - Looks like a strange Yellow-rumped Warbler
Hi SouthBay birders,
While at Stevens Creek County Park early this week, I saw a strange-looking bird that looked like a Yellow-rumped Warbler with sap. Interestingly, even the head and wings seemed to have been covered in black. Is it sap on the feathers, or is it just wet? Thanks for your help.
[image: 5X7A6739.jpg]
Thanks, Vinayak
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Date: 3/25/21 10:16 pm From: Sushanta Bhandarkar <sushpb2...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Lazuli Bunting at Santa Teresa
THIS is the announcement I have been waiting for!! Woohoooo! Can't wait to see it now. By chance any GPS coordinates?
Thank you -Sushanta
On Thu, Mar 25, 2021 at 9:24 PM Steve Patt <stevenpatt...> wrote:
> Out running at Santa Teresa CP this afternoon I had my first (THE first > for the county according to eBird) Lazuli Bunting of the year, on the > hillside above the Ridge Trail just after it splits off from the Hidden > Springs Trail. I had no bins but it sang multiple times and was visible by > eye (not well, to be sure). > > Steve Patt > > >
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Date: 3/25/21 9:31 pm From: Chuq Von Rospach via groups.io <chuqui...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Rose-breasted grosbeak
According to eBird, the last report of that species was 19-June-2020 in the Loma Prieta Summit area at a feeder.
We seem to get a bird or two every year. I think I see 9 sightings in that span. They are more or less random across the year, but if they clump, it's a bit more likely to happen in May and June, with a couple in April. So this to me doesn't sound TOO out of line with this species here: extremely rare but we get one or two individuals, and spring migration seems the least strange time for them to appear.
---------------------------------------
Chuq Von Rospach http://www.chuq.me Email: <chuqui...>
Twitter: @chuq
Silicon Valley, California
On Mar 25, 2021, 8:18 PM -0700, <craige66...> <craige66...>, wrote:
> All,
> A friend emailed me today asking if I knew what the attached bird is. It has been in his backyard for about 3 weeks at his feeder in the Willow Glen area of San Jose. I immediately thought rose-breasted grosbeak but I'm not aware of hearing of any in Santa Clara County. I double checked Sibleys and it is unmistakable. I also checked with my go to expert, Rick Herder, and he said he thought they have been seen in Monterey county but couldn't remember any in SCC in a while.
>
> Unfortunately, my friend is not a birder and couldn't quite understand my excitement. He is not willing to share his address so the photo will have to suffice as proof. I hope to go there Monday to get a better look but (uggghhh) I'm in Vancouver WA. now I hope the bird hangs around for a few more days.
>
> Does anyone have a better idea of how rare this bird is and when the last one was seen in SCC?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Craige Edgerton
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> wa
>
>
>
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Date: 3/25/21 9:24 pm From: Steve Patt <stevenpatt...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Lazuli Bunting at Santa Teresa
Out running at Santa Teresa CP this afternoon I had my first (THE first for the county according to eBird) Lazuli Bunting of the year, on the hillside above the Ridge Trail just after it splits off from the Hidden Springs Trail. I had no bins but it sang multiple times and was visible by eye (not well, to be sure).
Steve Patt
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All,
A friend emailed me today asking if I knew what the attached bird is. It has been in his backyard for about 3 weeks at his feeder in the Willow Glen area of San Jose. I immediately thought rose-breasted grosbeak but I'm not aware of hearing of any in Santa Clara County. I double checked Sibleys and it is unmistakable. I also checked with my go to expert, Rick Herder, and he said he thought they have been seen in Monterey county but couldn't remember any in SCC in a while.
Unfortunately, my friend is not a birder and couldn't quite understand my excitement. He is not willing to share his address so the photo will have to suffice as proof. I hope to go there Monday to get a better look but (uggghhh) I'm in Vancouver WA. now I hope the bird hangs around for a few more days.
Does anyone have a better idea of how rare this bird is and when the last one was seen in SCC?
Thanks,
Craige Edgerton
wa
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Date: 3/25/21 4:10 pm From: Eve Meier <eve.m.meier...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Santa Clara Valley Water District
Hi Everyone,
This morning I birded the Santa Clara Valley Water District. There were lots of sparrows very actively feeding: *Song*, *Lincoln's*, *Fox*, *White-crowned*, *Golden-crowned* and even one *White-throated Sparrow* (plus *California Towhees* and *Spotted Towhees*). The Pride of Madeira plant has some blooms which the *Anna's Hummingbirds* were enjoying (no other species of hummingbird yet). My FOS (first of season) *Brownheaded Cowbird* was calling from the top of a tree. I heard one *Sora *calling from the river. And, I found 3 *Scaly-breasted Munia* nests in 3 different peppertrees. At least two of them were active.
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Date: 3/25/21 2:29 pm From: Bill Bousman <barlowi...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Shoreline Lake 23 March - Brant, Blue-w Teal, possible Bank Swallow
Mike and folks:
This is our rarest swallow (until a Cave Swallow is found with documentation accepted by the CBRC). There are a few sightings that appear to be spring passage birds, 17 from 2 Apr to 26 May. Then none until the first fall birds on 23 Jun. I agree that it would be nice to see the underparts for such an early record.
Bill Bousman Menlo Park
On 3/25/2021 1:52 PM, jm_danzenbaker_alt via groups.io wrote: > Sorry this is belated -- A Tuesday morning walk around the north side of Shoreline Lake produced what would be a most unexpected Bank Swallow, along with subject-line species. > > See https://ebird.org/checklist/S84084001 for details. > > Mike Danzenbaker > > > > >
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Date: 3/25/21 2:14 pm From: Massimo Bafetti <massimo...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Song bird ID ?
Looks like a song sparrow to me. Also, the photos are really nice!
- Massimo Bafetti
Young Birder
> On Mar 25, 2021, at 11:08 AM, Oliver Zhang <BLACKROCKARTSTUDIO...> wrote:
>
>
> Hi Birders.
>
> On Monday morning I was walking around the Palo Alto Duck Pond for some fresh air, near the Ranger Station,
>
> I heard some really pleasing birds call. After some hard looking, I located a small sparrow-like bird in the bush. From a distance, it looked like a white-crowned sparrow, so I took a few pictures and left. Last night when I was about to delete the photos, upon closer look, the bird looked very different, there are no characteristic black & white streaks on the head.
>
> I went through my book to find two possible species: Song Sparrow & Song Thrush. Because the bird was jumping from branches to the grass, I only managed to catch two decent photos, I hope it's good enough to help me ID it. Thanks in advance.
>
>
>
> Happy birding.
>
> Oliver
>
>
>
>
> <_B4C8554SongBirdFB.jpg>
> <_B4C8557SongBirdFB.jpg>
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Date: 3/25/21 1:52 pm From: jm_danzenbaker_alt via groups.io <jm_danzenbaker_alt...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Shoreline Lake 23 March - Brant, Blue-w Teal, possible Bank Swallow
Sorry this is belated -- A Tuesday morning walk around the north side of Shoreline Lake produced what would be a most unexpected Bank Swallow, along with subject-line species.
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Date: 3/25/21 11:46 am From: Mike Voydanoff <mike...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Coyote Valley OSP 3/24
I was at Coyote Valley OSP yesterday as well and did the full loop for the first time. Most notable sightings were my first Orange-crowned Warbler of the year and four Woodpecker species (Acorn, Hairy, Nuttall’s and Northern Flicker). Other than that, the usual suspects.
> On Mar 25, 2021, at 10:28 AM, Chuq Von Rospach via groups.io <chuqui...> wrote:
>
> I spent a couple of hours yesterday morning in the lot at Coyote Valley OSP doing some birding while I experimented with some new camera gear. I didn't see any of the hopeful spring birds yet, but it was a very pleasant time. As I arrived, I noticed a golden eagle soaring over the meadow. It looked to me to be full adult.
>
> The Rock Wrens came by to troll me as usual, flying up from behind and landing on the fence just out of reach, then jumping back down to the ground to run under my camp chair. I feel like if I brought sunflower seeds they'd chickadee them out of my hand (but I won't).
>
> Of most interest to me were a large number of kettling turkey vultures (at one point I counted 20), and an ongoing, large number of ravens. I also had > 20 in the sky at one point, but they were around and often flying and soaring the entire time I was there. There were some pairs soaring separately from the larger group, and then a larger group. This seemed very much the spring "hello, my name is Jerry, you're cute" mixer going on. There were more Ravens in the area bugging and chattering, along with a smaller number of crows.
>
> At one point a few of them harrassed a bird, which I originally thought was a turkey vulture but when I got a better look turned out to be a very dark red-tailed. There was a second, lighter red-tail that soared around on and off as well.
>
> Nothing super special, but just a nice, quiet morning of enjoying the sunshine and cussing at the camera gear (one piece got rejected and is going back, the video gear stuff is starting to prove itself...)
>
>
> https://ebird.org/checklist/S84020971 <https://ebird.org/checklist/S84020971> >
>
>
> <IMG_0839.jpeg>
> <210324_110027_chuq.jpg>
> <210324_103854_chuq.jpg>
> <210324_104548_chuq.jpg>
> ---------------------------------------
>
> Chuq Von Rospach http://www.chuq.me > Email: <chuqui...>
> Twitter: @chuq
> Silicon Valley, California
>
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Date: 3/25/21 11:38 am From: Sue Pelmulder <spelmulder...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Mixed swallows at LG Creek park
Hi,
The big flock of mixed swallows is having early lunch over the large pond at LG Creek Park.
If anyone in the neighborhood could stop by and confirm the species, that would be terrific.
Sue PELMULDER
San Jose
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Date: 3/25/21 11:07 am From: Oliver Zhang <BLACKROCKARTSTUDIO...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Song bird ID ?
Hi Birders.
On Monday morning I was walking around the Palo Alto Duck Pond for some fresh air, near the Ranger Station,
I heard some really pleasing birds call. After some hard looking, I located a small sparrow-like bird in the bush. From a distance, it looked like a white-crowned sparrow, so I took a few pictures and left. Last night when I was about to delete the photos, upon closer look, the bird looked very different, there are no characteristic black & white streaks on the head.
I went through my book to find two possible species: Song Sparrow & Song Thrush. Because the bird was jumping from branches to the grass, I only managed to catch two decent photos, I hope it's good enough to help me ID it. Thanks in advance.
Happy birding.
Oliver
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Date: 3/25/21 10:28 am From: Chuq Von Rospach via groups.io <chuqui...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Coyote Valley OSP 3/24
I spent a couple of hours yesterday morning in the lot at Coyote Valley OSP doing some birding while I experimented with some new camera gear. I didn't see any of the hopeful spring birds yet, but it was a very pleasant time. As I arrived, I noticed a golden eagle soaring over the meadow. It looked to me to be full adult.
The Rock Wrens came by to troll me as usual, flying up from behind and landing on the fence just out of reach, then jumping back down to the ground to run under my camp chair. I feel like if I brought sunflower seeds they'd chickadee them out of my hand (but I won't).
Of most interest to me were a large number of kettling turkey vultures (at one point I counted 20), and an ongoing, large number of ravens. I also had > 20 in the sky at one point, but they were around and often flying and soaring the entire time I was there. There were some pairs soaring separately from the larger group, and then a larger group. This seemed very much the spring "hello, my name is Jerry, you're cute" mixer going on. There were more Ravens in the area bugging and chattering, along with a smaller number of crows.
At one point a few of them harrassed a bird, which I originally thought was a turkey vulture but when I got a better look turned out to be a very dark red-tailed. There was a second, lighter red-tail that soared around on and off as well.
Nothing super special, but just a nice, quiet morning of enjoying the sunshine and cussing at the camera gear (one piece got rejected and is going back, the video gear stuff is starting to prove itself...)
Chuq Von Rospach http://www.chuq.me Email: <chuqui...>
Twitter: @chuq
Silicon Valley, California
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Date: 3/25/21 10:17 am From: Frank Vanslager via groups.io <Vanslagerf...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Some Birding at Shoreline Park on 3/25/2021
All:
While walking on the paved path that parallels the entrance road to Shoreline at Mountain View, I found 2 Greater White-fronted Goose at the left edge of a Canada Goose flock. (See the photo). But it was cold and very windy, so there wasn't much to see, except for two items of interest to me.
The Brant was swimming by itself out in the middle of the lake.
Frank Vanslager
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Today, 3/24/21, I walked a CCW route on the Alviso Slough Trail. Walking on the east side, I heard calling by a Caspian Tern in flight over Pond A16. I don't know when they install the tern recordings or whether they do that anymore. Lots of ducks on Pond A14, including two male EURASIAN WIGEON. I returned by Pond A12 and saw a 1st-cycle GLAUCOUS GULL at the far edge of the gull flock in late afternoon.
Bill Bousman Menlo Park
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Hi Massimo, I saw my first of the season Allen's yesterday, too! Mine was feeding from a bottlebrush shrub. I live in the Willow Glen neighborhood of San Jose. Where are you located? We generally see them, although not frequently, most of the summer. We also get Black-chinned hummers in the summer, too. Welcome to birding and SBB!! Best wishes, Amy Yee
On Tue, Mar 23, 2021 at 2:41 PM <massimo...> wrote:
> Hi birders! > > I was birdwatching in my backyard and saw an Allen's Hummingbird feeding > from a Cape Honeysuckle. It was a male, with beautiful orange coloration! > It's my first time seeing one, so it's a life bird for me. Has anyone else > started seeing them. I'll send photos if I can get any. > Have a good day, > Massimo Bafetti > Young Birder > > >
-- *Amy Randall Yee* 408 431-6698
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Date: 3/24/21 12:59 pm From: Bob Bolles <robertcbolles...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Continuing Vermilion Flycatcher at Joseph D. Grant
All ... At 9:00AM this morning I found the Vermilion Flycatcher near the water trough along the Hotel Trail in Joseph D. Grant County Park, as previously reported. My eBird checklist is
which includes a couple of pictures taken from a distance and a more complete description of the location. Joyous birding! ... Bob
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Date: 3/24/21 7:07 am From: Marion Farber via groups.io <marion_farber...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Joseph D. Grant County Park Tuesday 3/23
Correction - I meant the Hotel trail southeast of the ranch house, not southwest! Sorry!
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Date: 3/23/21 6:49 pm From: Chuq Von Rospach via groups.io <chuqui...> Subject: [southbaybirds] San Antonio Valley 3/23
I started out the day thinking about Grant Park and the Vermillion Flycatcher, but when I arrived I decided my knees preferred a low-walking day, and called an audible. Instead, I headed up and over the Mt. Hamilton summit and birded San Antonio Valley from Lick Observatory to the Stanislaus County line. After that, I headed out to Patterson, down I5 to Santa Nella and grabbed lunch, which I took to O'Neill Forebay and ate while watching everything fight a rather strong, sustained wind -- strong enough where I was seeing swallows foraging by flying into the wind and moving backward relative to the water/ground below them.
Having read Bill Bousman's transect reports about the valley, I had set my expectations somewhat low, because as you may remember, that whole area burned in the big burns last year. I will estimate that from the entrance to Grant County Park to the county line, about 80% of the mileage I traversed was burned in some way, from moderately scorched to major burn. It was pretty bleak. I knew that there was a big fight to save Lick Observatory, but seeing large burn areas within 1/4 mile of the facility on both sides of the summit was freaky.
For the most part, the burned areas had very few birds, and I hope you like Scrub Jays. After a while, the devastation was enough I kind of tuned out birding until I hit a couple of ponds and realized they had ducks in them -- that included Ring-Necked, American Wigeon,Bufflehead and a couple of Mallards. After that, I was more focussed on birds again instead of looking at all the burned territory.
I kind of arbitrarily broke up my ebird lists every so often, often as I shifted habitats or elevation, but it's definitely arbitrary. I tagged two species coming down the mountain, for instance -- scrub jays and a single acorn woodpecker. I totalled 14 species from the observatory to the junction with Del Puerto Canyon Road, but one notable one was an immature golden eagle in the areas near the gun club.
When I hit the junction I decided to go out Del Puerto to Patterson and head home that way. While sitting at the junction, I saw a bird flying among the trees -- and it turned out to be a Lewis's Woodpecker. I only saw that single individual of that species and only for two quick flights, but that was enough. This is notable for me because it's the first freaking time I've seen one there, despite repeated trips going back, um, 15 years? So a nemesis bird finally falls. Yay me. That made me happy the rest of the trip...
Once I hit the county line I stopped listing unless I ran across something special, which I didn't, and made my way out to Patterson and O'Neill Forebay.
After a pit stop and a nice lunch watching the swallows go "WHEEEE!" in the brisk winds, I decided to bird the forebay before headed home. I will note the wind was brisk enough that while the coots were all "just another day at the office" most of the other birds looked mostly miserable. Winter birds are mostly gone, and there weren't a lot of ducks around not named "Ruddy", and most of them were tucked and sleeping. I did see Scaup (Lesser, I believe), a couple of Canvasbacks, and some buffleheads.
No Western or Clarke's grebes, but I did scare up one pied-billed, an eared grebe in breeding plumage and to my amusement, a horned grebe in winter plumage in among the many many Ruddy ducks. Other than the many Tree Swallows, I did find a good number of Barn swallows near the canal intake area, and some Rough-Winged here and there. My attempts to find a Violet-Green continue, but have not yeet reached nemesis stage.
The highlight bird was -- an Osprey, hanging on to a tree and surveying the lake. It turned out to be in a tree maybe 100 feet from where I ate, and which I didn't notice until I was about to leave. I later saw it hunting the lake and fighting the winds. At various times I also saw a Herring Gull madly trying to get from here to there against the wind and slowly winning, and an un-specified duck trying the same and losing. I had 24 species total at o'Neill, and 34 for the day.
For wildflower fans, a couple of quick notes: in the burned area, there's basically nothing. I saw no significant patches anywhere until I was in Stanislaus County and headed towards Patterson. Once I was out of the worst burn areas I saw some patches of yellow (but not wild mustard; it's all around Casa De Fruta, of course, but it's also everywhere), and I saw the first bits of the poppy bloom starting. There might be some nice poppy patches in a week or two, but it's not there yet. Poppies were further along on 152 on the way back, but honestly, I saw nothing that makes me consider saying "worth a trip" right now.
chuq
---------------------------------------
Chuq Von Rospach http://www.chuq.me Email: <chuqui...>
Twitter: @chuq
Silicon Valley, California
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Date: 3/23/21 6:25 pm From: Chuq Von Rospach via groups.io <chuqui...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Joseph D. Grant County Park Tuesday 3/23
a side note to this: a couple of years ago I read a piece suggesting that nest boxes be hung in pairs somewhat close to each other, because the tree swallows will adopt one and then defend that territory against other swallows, leaving the other box for another species like the bluebird. I am wondering if bluebirds might do the same and leave that second box open for swallows as well, but it doesn't surprise me that the bluebirds win a fight for a box like that...
---------------------------------------
Chuq Von Rospach http://www.chuq.me Email: <chuqui...>
Twitter: @chuq
Silicon Valley, California
On Mar 23, 2021, 4:05 PM -0700, <marion_farber...>, wrote:
>
> Along the same fence line, we saw a pair of TREE SWALLOWS enter a nest box, but then a pair of WESTERN BLUEBIRDS came to check out the box while the Swallows furiously dive-bombed the Bluebirds, to no avail. It appears that the Bluebirds won the fight, at least for now!
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Date: 3/23/21 5:05 pm From: tracy_farrington via groups.io <tracy_farrington...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Juvenile Hawk at Shoreline ID
Oliver,This looks quite like a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk, a Buteo, not an Accipiter. The Accipiters (referred to as the true hawks) are representedby the Sharp-shinned Hawk, the Cooper's Hawk, and the largest of the three, the Northern Goshawk. The Red-shouldered Hawk, like its largercousins, is a Buteo.
Continued good birding,Tracy FarringtonWalnut Creek
On Tuesday, March 23, 2021, 04:24:29 PM PDT, Oliver Zhang <blackrockartstudio...> wrote:
Hi birders.
The Spring is definitely in the air. A couple of days ago I saw a group of TREE SWALLOW near the Emily Renzel Pond; this morning I saw a Juvenile Hawk near the Boat Playground at Shoreline Lake; also both male and female WESTERN BLUEBIRD were active nearby.
I narrowed this accipiter down to a kind of juvenile, but couldn't be certain if it's a Juvenile Red Shouldered Hawk or Red-Tailed Hawk. Can anybody help out? Thanks.
Happy birding.
Oliver
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Date: 3/23/21 4:24 pm From: Oliver Zhang <BLACKROCKARTSTUDIO...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Juvenile Hawk at Shoreline ID
Hi birders.
The Spring is definitely in the air. A couple of days ago I saw a group of TREE SWALLOW near the Emily Renzel Pond; this morning I saw a Juvenile Hawk near the Boat Playground at Shoreline Lake; also both male and female WESTERN BLUEBIRD were active nearby.
I narrowed this accipiter down to a kind of juvenile, but couldn't be certain if it's a Juvenile Red Shouldered Hawk or Red-Tailed Hawk. Can anybody help out? Thanks.
Happy birding.
Oliver
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Date: 3/23/21 4:05 pm From: Marion Farber via groups.io <marion_farber...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Joseph D. Grant County Park Tuesday 3/23
We went in search of the VERMILION FLYCATCHER at Grant Ranch today, and were not disappointed. Around 10am, we got good long looks of him working the fence line and perching on the livestock trough along the Hotel Trail southwest of the ranch house. Along the same fence line, we saw a pair of TREE SWALLOWS enter a nest box, but then a pair of WESTERN BLUEBIRDS came to check out the box while the Swallows furiously dive-bombed the Bluebirds, to no avail. It appears that the Bluebirds won the fight, at least for now!
When we arrived at the parking lot shortly after 9am, we watched a pair of GREAT BLUE HERONS hunting in the meadow by the bathrooms, and while we watched, one of them nabbed a gopher or mole, and after maneuvering it a bit, tossed it down its throat!
The fountain at the rose garden has been drained, so we didn't see any birds there, but did find some PURPLE FINCHES in the area.
At the lake, we were treated to a CALIFORNIA THRASHER in full song.
Other notable birds heard but not seen were a HUTTON'S VIREO and a SELASPHORUS HUMMINGBIRD.
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After several trips to Sycamore Creek off Guadalupe Mines Road I finally had photos of my suspected female YELLOW BELLIED SAPSUCKER. This bird had a black bib and crown, a white chin and no red on the nape. It called occasionally and was extremely skittish. I last saw it from the trail where Lavender Creek joins Sycamore creek in a large leaning Sycamore. Other birds drank sap from the many wells as I waited for an opportunity to view it briefly. I sent my photos to Steve Rottenborn for confirmation. Attached is an example.
Janna Pauser San Jose
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We saw these two last week in San Diego. Not sure if it’s Allen's or Rufous Hummingbird.
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I was birdwatching in my backyard and saw an Allen's Hummingbird feeding from a Cape Honeysuckle. It was a male, with beautiful orange coloration! It's my first time seeing one, so it's a life bird for me. Has anyone else started seeing them. I'll send photos if I can get any.
Have a good day,
Massimo Bafetti
Young Birder
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Yesterday on mid-morning walk at Palo Alto Bay Lands, the swallows are starting to return around the Interpretive Center. Lots of fluttering, darting in and out and chattering under the building (Barn Swallows? saw a few forked tails) and a few darting up above 'nest-orating' mud nests under the eaves (Cliffs....). Another sign of spring!
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Date: 3/22/21 11:09 pm From: Chuq Von Rospach via groups.io <chuqui...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Vasona Lake, Marsh Road 3/22
Today was an off day from work as well as my first dose of Moderna vaccine, and so I did some birding before and after mostly to not stress out and just enjoy a nice day. I started the morning at Vasona Lake County Park, and in the afternoon, visited Marsh Road.
By the way, the county parks are about to start charging for parking again. The change back to paid parking will be on April 5. Don't be cause unaware. I forgot to ask if they were selling annual passes again, but I'll get mine first chance.
Vasona Park was pleasant, not super birdy but fun. I spent some time at the annex staking out the trees and saw no woodpeckers, but did see another Hermit Thrush (my third in three locations this spring), as well as an interacting pair of Yellow rumps. I also had a truly gorgeous red-shouldered hawk more or less strafe my car. Pairs of Western Bluebirds were also nice to see. I also ran across a nice male Nuttall's Woodpecker on in the Riverview area
In the afternoon I made it to Marsh, intended as a first stop, but I didn't actually get there until 3PM so it was my only afternoon stop. Also not super birdy, but if you like Wild Turkeys, I found three different groups along the road, two with males displaying to small harems, a third with two younger males displaying at each other and bellowing, with more birds (either young males or females) hanging out in the shade under a tree. There was water in the stream under the bridge, and there were western bluebirds in the trees near there as I've seen for a number of years. Sparrow numbers were low (this used to be a good area for Lark Sparrows, but either they hate me and hide, or they've shifted elsewhere). I did find flocks of both White-Crowned and Golden-Crowned sparrows in the pastures.
Most interesting to me was at the end of Marsh I found a decent sized flock of swallows. It was 30-40 birds, and seemed to be about half tree swallows. I found 3-5 barn swallows in the mix, and the rest seemed to be Northern Rough-Winged. I keep looking for the green flash for the Violet-Green and not seeing it, so I get to keep trying (not complaining). No sign of swifts.
I was hoping for signs of the first spring arrivals, but both places seemed to be in that waiting state where much of the winter visitors have left but the spring visitors aren't quite here yet. It shouldn't be long....
And it's time for the annual birdathon plea: Please Help Me Support Our Birds (full blog post: https://www.chuq.me/blog/please-help-me-support-our-birds): I'm not doing any group outings this year, but I am doing two solo trips, one big day and one photo big day. I would appreciate any and all donations to SCVAS to help their educational programs as I attempt to hit 100 birds in a day for the first time ever on my big day, and 50-75 species on the photo day. I will match up to $250 in donations for both the Lonesome Dove outing and the Thank Smew photo day, so if you've ever thought to yourself "I wish I could make Chuq spend money on something" now is a chance to fulfill your dream.
---------------------------------------
Chuq Von Rospach http://www.chuq.me Email: <chuqui...>
Twitter: @chuq
Silicon Valley, California
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Date: 3/22/21 6:56 pm From: William Pelletier via groups.io <wrpelletier...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Northern Shoveler/Blue-winged Teal hybrid
Lesser Scaup, it would seem. Female type.
Bill P
On Monday, March 22, 2021, 9:53 PM, donganton <donganton...> wrote:
I saw a strange duck at Don Edwards in Alviso last weekend. It had a spatulate bill and white markings on the face. I thought it was a Northern Shoveler. Any ideas?
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I saw a strange duck at Don Edwards in Alviso last weekend. It had a spatulate bill and white markings on the face. I thought it was a Northern Shoveler. Any ideas?
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Date: 3/22/21 1:32 pm From: Alvaro Jaramillo <chucao...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Red Crossbills at Santa Teresa County Park, Mon 22-Mar
Brooke, and SBB
Hi there. I am attaching a spectrogram of your birds. They decline in frequency with a slight step, a bit of an upward inflection, but not a massive increase in pitch half way through. As such, they look better for Type 2 (Ponderosa Pine) Red Crossbills.
This site has a nice graphic of call types to compare with.
From: <southbaybirds...> <southbaybirds...> On Behalf Of Brooke Miller via groups.io
Sent: Monday, March 22, 2021 12:44 PM
To: South-bay-birds <southbaybirds...>
Subject: [southbaybirds] Red Crossbills at Santa Teresa County Park, Mon 22-Mar
This morning there were no new birds, migrant or otherwise, at the Pueblo Day Use Area at Santa Teresa County Park, except or 8 RED CROSSBILLS that flew over me getting in my car at the upper-most parking lot at about 11:10 am. I managed to get this audio:
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Headed north from Almaden Expressway and Blossom Hill. 1:27 pm
Eve Meier
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Date: 3/22/21 12:44 pm From: Brooke Miller via groups.io <idbirds...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Red Crossbills at Santa Teresa County Park, Mon 22-Mar
This morning there were no new birds, migrant or otherwise, at the Pueblo Day Use Area at Santa Teresa County Park, except or 8 RED CROSSBILLS that flew over me getting in my car at the upper-most parking lot at about 11:10 am. I managed to get this audio:
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Date: 3/21/21 6:33 pm From: Chuq Von Rospach via groups.io <chuqui...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Shoreline and Palo Alto Baylands, 3/19
A couple of days late, sorry....
I called it a weekend a bit early Friday, and grabbed the camera and headed to Shoreline hoping to tick off then Brant after a few tries. I did, so I can stop chasing it. Otherwise, a nice but not incredible visit. Still a lot of Common Goldeneye's hanging around, and I saw my first Black Skimmer on the island this year. I was able to find a distant Eared Grebe showing mostly breeding plumage, and there were numbers of both Bufflehead and Ruddy ducks, plus a couple of Surf Scoters. I also had a Ring-Billed Gull showing off tool-using capabilities by repeatedly grabbing muscles and flying 50' or so up and dropping them on the pavement until they cracked. A greater yellowlegs flew in and settled just up the beach from me near the boathouse.
After I headed to Baylands, where it was more or less the usual suspects, but in a bit of a suprise, in the channel that goes under the bridge I found three American Wigeons, a male/female swimming together, and a second solo mail. That isn't a duck I normally associate with that spot.
Chuq Von Rospach http://www.chuq.me Email: <chuqui...>
Twitter: @chuq
Silicon Valley, California
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Folks,
I visited Calero Reservoir this morning, hoping to see the recently reported Osprey. It was windy and cool for the first half hour, but I entertained myself from the picnic table overlook by watching the WESTERN and CLARK’S GREBES below me doing their courtship displays and unbelievable water dance. I saw their performances several times, which included synchronized head turning, lowered necks and finally the hydrofoil maneuver. I also saw a large number of photographs at water level doing the same as me—just taking it all in. Eventually, an OSPREY flew in, made a few circles over the east end of the reservoir. It flew up and down, circled and finally made a full dive, emerging from the water with a good-sized fish. The bird then flew off toward the road and disappeared. Great looks of this beautiful bird.
Reminder: SCVAS Birdathon is March 27 — May 9https://scvas.org/spring-birdathon-2021-teams My first of 6 “distributed” teams is in a few days:Wed. March 31 “Subspecies” 4-hour Subspecies Fundraising Page
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Subspecies Fundraising Page
Subspecies Fundraising Page
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Matthew DodderExecutive DirectorSanta Clara Valley Audubon Society22221 McClellan Rd.Cupertino, CA <95014408-252-3748director...>
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Your funny flycatcher is a funny flycatcher, in that it has an odd pigment anomaly. It looks like a Black Phoebe but dilute in its pigments. Essentially it does not have as much melanin as a normal Black Phoebe. Very interesting!
From: <southbaybirds...> <southbaybirds...> On Behalf Of Emilie Danna
Sent: Sunday, March 21, 2021 2:01 PM
To: <southbaybirds...>
Subject: [southbaybirds] Vasona Lake: Pied-billed grebe eating crustacean + unknown flycatcher (?)
Hi,
This morning, my son and I birded around Vasona Lake.
In particular, we saw two pied-billed grebes feasting on crustaceans (lobster?): quite impressive to see them gobble up such large prey! See some photos at https://ebird.org/checklist/S83824093
We also saw a bird we could not identify, perhaps a flycatcher? Could you help us identify from the attached photos? Thank you!
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This morning, my son and I birded around Vasona Lake.
In particular, we saw two pied-billed grebes feasting on crustaceans (lobster?): quite impressive to see them gobble up such large prey! See some photos at https://ebird.org/checklist/S83824093
We also saw a bird we could not identify, perhaps a flycatcher? Could you help us identify from the attached photos? Thank you!
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Date: 3/21/21 12:01 pm From: Bill Bousman <barlowi...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Byxbee Park
Folks:
A CACKLING GOOSE continued at Byxbee Park, perhaps the same one seen by Jim and Amy and the one I saw there a week ago. It had a thin neck ring.
Bill Bousman Menlo Park
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Date: 3/21/21 11:53 am From: Bill Bousman <barlowi...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Giant Flock of Cedar Waxwings
Folks:
Locally, I think there is a significant difference in Cedar Waxwing numbers between winter and spring. I examine the temporal distributions of birds using mostly the county notebooks that I kept from 1980 to 2018. I've attached a figure that shows the cumulative sightings of Cedar Waxwings in the county from about 1984 to 2017. Cumulative sightings seem to me to be more revealing than column graphs where you must deal with bin sizes. The plot here has a resolution of one day. Because this is primarily a wintering bird, I choose to start the year on 1 July and end it on 30 Jun. The abscissa label is "Pseudo Julian Date" because I have shifted the "year" by 182 or 183 days.
My interpretation of the Cedar Waxwing sightings data is that we see this species as a wintering bird, a few arriving as early as late August or early September and then found regularly in the county to the end of March; and as a spring migrant. I have fitted these data with a linear regression curve (you could just as easily draw a straight line through the data) and the numbers over the time period work out, on average, to be about one bird per day from September to March. For the wonks among you, the square of the coefficient of correlation is about 0.98. It appears to me that in late March and early May there is a transition to increased numbers. These increased numbers extend from early April to late May, about six birds a day based on the linear regression line. My impression is that the increased numbers are waxwings gathering in concentrated flocks for their northbound migration.
The top three daily high counts of waxwings recorded in the county notebooks are: 900-1000 in urban Palo Alto on 15 Apr 2000 (David Suddjian), 900 along Summit Ridge in the Santa Cruz Mountains on 1O May 2000 (David again), and 600 at Almaden Lake on 1 May 2006 (Mike Mammoser).
Bill Bousman Menlo Park
On 3/20/2021 6:08 PM, <margaretrow...> wrote: > On 3/18/21, around 150 Cedar Waxwings descended on a leafless tree in > my neighbor's yard in Palo Alto. Small groups of the birds flew to > feed on a large berry tree and a fruiting Syzygium tree in my yard. > All of the remaining fruit is starting to look somewhat desiccated. > The remainder of the flock spent time eating the small leaf buds on > the tree where they had landed. I've recently noticed flocks of up to > 50, but this is the first time such a large flock has arrived. As > normal for Waxwings, they did not stay longer than 15 minutes. > I've seen large flocks of up to 50 on our trees, but this flock is a > first for me. > Is anyone else noticing such large groups? > Margaret
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Date: 3/21/21 10:19 am From: Lynette Staffero <lynette...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Giant Flock of Cedar Waxwings
Yesterday morning, March 20th, I had a large group, possibly 50 or more, of Cedar Waxwings in my yard feeding on a large berry tree. I usually see them in January, but this is the first time I’ve seen them this year. The berries on the tree are all but gone. Except for a handful of stragglers, the group was gone in 15 minutes. I live in the Cambrian area of San Jose.
Lynette
From: <southbaybirds...> on behalf of "Kathleen McGall via groups.io" <katom882002...>
Reply-To: <katom882002...>
Date: Saturday, March 20, 2021 at 10:07 PM
To: "<southbaybirds...>" <southbaybirds...>, "<margaretrow...>" <margaretrow...>
Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Giant Flock of Cedar Waxwings
Hi Margaret,
Yes, on the day of the backyard count (Feb 13th), I was walking in Los Altos and saw a very large flock of cedar waxwings, I estimated it to be 100 birds.
I watched for over 30 minutes and saw the cedar waxwings cycle through three times. I was not sure if it was the same flock all three times.
It was amazing! Such beautiful birds.
Kathleen
On Saturday, March 20, 2021, 06:08:05 PM PDT, <margaretrow...> <margaretrow...> wrote:
On 3/18/21, around 150 Cedar Waxwings descended on a leafless tree in my neighbor's yard in Palo Alto. Small groups of the birds flew to feed on a large berry tree and a fruiting Syzygium tree in my yard. All of the remaining fruit is starting to look somewhat desiccated.
The remainder of the flock spent time eating the small leaf buds on the tree where they had landed. I've recently noticed flocks of up to 50, but this is the first time such a large flock has arrived. As normal for Waxwings, they did not stay longer than 15 minutes.
I've seen large flocks of up to 50 on our trees, but this flock is a first for me.
Is anyone else noticing such large groups?
Margaret
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Date: 3/20/21 10:07 pm From: Kathleen McGall via groups.io <katom882002...> Subject: Re: [southbaybirds] Giant Flock of Cedar Waxwings
Hi Margaret,Yes, on the day of the backyard count (Feb 13th), I was walking in Los Altos and saw a very large flock of cedar waxwings, I estimated it to be 100 birds.I watched for over 30 minutes and saw the cedar waxwings cycle through three times. I was not sure if it was the same flock all three times.It was amazing! Such beautiful birds.Kathleen On Saturday, March 20, 2021, 06:08:05 PM PDT, <margaretrow...> <margaretrow...> wrote:
On 3/18/21, around 150 Cedar Waxwings descended on a leafless tree in my neighbor's yard in Palo Alto. Small groups of the birds flew to feed on a large berry tree and a fruiting Syzygium tree in my yard. All of the remaining fruit is starting to look somewhat desiccated. The remainder of the flock spent time eating the small leaf buds on the tree where they had landed. I've recently noticed flocks of up to 50, but this is the first time such a large flock has arrived. As normal for Waxwings, they did not stay longer than 15 minutes. I've seen large flocks of up to 50 on our trees, but this flock is a first for me. Is anyone else noticing such large groups? Margaret
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Two walk-up birds for Deborah and I today, with both the Vermillion Flycatcher at Grant Ranch and the Eastern Phoebe on the Guadalupe River just waiting for us as we arrived at the spot where each has been previously reported.
[Image.jpeg][Image.jpeg]
Steve Patt
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Date: 3/20/21 6:08 pm From: <margaretrow...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Giant Flock of Cedar Waxwings
On 3/18/21, around 150 Cedar Waxwings descended on a leafless tree in my neighbor's yard in Palo Alto. Small groups of the birds flew to feed on a large berry tree and a fruiting Syzygium tree in my yard. All of the remaining fruit is starting to look somewhat desiccated.
The remainder of the flock spent time eating the small leaf buds on the tree where they had landed. I've recently noticed flocks of up to 50, but this is the first time such a large flock has arrived. As normal for Waxwings, they did not stay longer than 15 minutes.
I've seen large flocks of up to 50 on our trees, but this flock is a first for me.
Is anyone else noticing such large groups?
Margaret
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Thank you for sharing the exact location. Found him hunting on the trail this morning soon after a Cooper’s Hawk left the spot.
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Date: 3/20/21 11:31 am From: Frank Vanslager via groups.io <Vanslagerf...> Subject: [southbaybirds] Eastern Phoebe Continues at Guadalupe River on 3/20/2021
All:
When I went to get in my car on this first day of spring, I saw a (rare to me) dawn rainbow. See the first photo. So to drive to the east side of the Guadalupe River I got off 237 at First Street, drove south for 1.5 miles to River Oaks, and turned right to go to the parking at the end.
At a hundred or two yards walking south on the trail, I saw what I wanted: A Birder/Photographer concentrating on something. The second photo probably shows the best overall scene. The Eastern Phoebe is above center and to the left, above the log.
Later I went to Lick Mill Park where I took the third photo showing 2 Cooper's Hawks. One of them earlier had been carrying nesting materials to a nearby dense tree. At the time of the photo the bird on the right was continuing to make quiet calls, which I could see better than I could hear.
Frank Vanslager
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