Run for the Hills! 2026

Wilson’s Warbler: Sarah Chan

We had a very fun and birdy day with so many favorite moments! We spotted the two Bald Eagles soaring, one right next to the very small-in-comparison Red-tailed Hawk. We found two Yellow Warblers, a first of the season sighting for many of us. Other warblers included 2 Nashville Warblers, a Wilson's Warbler or two, Yellow-rumped Warblers and Orange-crowned Warblers. There were at least a couple of Lawrence's Goldfinch pairs spotted. And, towards the end of our trip, a male Lazuli Bunting was singing from an exposed branch so that we could all finally get a great look at what we had been hearing everywhere all morning. Lastly, a very red and yellow Western Tanager stayed still high in a eucalyptus for us all to enjoy.

Here's our ebird list.

The Ulistac Pack 2026

Priya and Caitlin

April 22:

Our small but intrepid Birdathon team, Priya Pharate and Caitlin Dempsey, set out to bird at Ulistac Natural Area on a wet spring morning that alternated between steady rain and brief breaks of sunlight.

Neither we nor the birds were deterred by the weather. An exuberant northern mockingbird provided a running soundtrack, cycling through an impressive range of calls that at times suggested red-shouldered hawks, killdeer, lazuli buntings, and hooded orioles were all sharing the same tree.

While we officially recorded 47 species (see checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S325603273), we resisted the mockingbird’s attempts to convince us to push that total past 50.

Black Phoebe: Caitlin Dempsey

The rain had one clear benefit: it kept mosquito activity low, particularly near the eucalyptus grove.

We were pleased to be true to our team’s banner image with a sighting of a western tanager perched high on a snag, standing out even against the gray sky.

Warblers were far more audible than visible. Wilson’s warblers, orange-crowned warblers, and a single MacGillivray’s warbler were all heard singing, while yellow-rumped warblers gave characteristic “chek” calls from within the oak canopy. Bewick’s wrens were singing throughout Ulistac.

White-throated Sparrow: Caitlin Dempsey

Other active species included Nutall's and hairy woodpeckers, black-headed grosbeaks, bushtits, dark-eyed juncos, lesser and American goldfinches, flocks of house finches, blue-gray gnatcatchers, California scrub jays, American crows, and a ruby-crowned kinglet moving through the canopy. Lingering winter residents, including white-throated sparrow and golden-crowned sparrows, were also present, a reminder of the seasonal overlap typical of spring migration.

Near the wetland edge, a great egret hunted while a hairy woodpecker worked into oak bark in search of insects. In the reeds, song sparrows and red-winged blackbirds provided a steady chorus.

Lean Green Birding Machine 2026

April 17:

For the 6th year, the Lean Green Birding Machine birdathon team of Winnie Homer-Smith, Bill Walker, Mary Wiznewski and I spent the day biking from one side of Silicon Valley to the other, raising funds for the education programs of the Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance. Fittingly, on the 100th anniversary of SCVBA, we found an even 100 species, breaking our previous high of 94!

Highlights of this year’s effort included an Osprey (at Rancho San Antonio!), a Bald Eagle (at Shoreline), and some heard-only Black Rails (in the Stevens Creek Tidal Marsh), all new for our count, plus the always elusive Wilson’s Snipe (at the Rancho wetlands), the recently arrived Ash-throated Flycatcher and Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher (both personal favorites, both at Rancho), and a lone American Pipit (on the hardpan at the Stevens Creek Shoreline Nature Study Area). We failed to refind the Virginia Rail I had seen Tuesday in the Rancho wetlands, and missed several others like Great Blue Heron(!), Great Horned Owl (not nesting at Rancho this year for the first time in ages), Mergansers (almost always in the cemetery pond this time of year), and Black-headed Grosbeaks (which showed up on my balcony today, rubbing it in), so the 100 was an even more satisfying result.

The birdathon raises money for the education programs of SCVBA, which is used to subsidize nature programs for schools in poor areas who otherwise can’t afford the cost of such enrichment programs. Use this link https://scvbirdalliance.org/event-calendar/birdathon-lean-green-birding-machine if you’re inspired by our effort (27 miles, 8 1/2 hours!) and want to contribute.

All sightings were recorded in real-time, complete with GPS coordinates, with Birdwatcher’s Diary software (http://stevenscreek.com/birdwatchersdiary.htm).Greenpins on the map represent sightings; red pins are “heard-only” species.

Birdcassos 2026

April 18

Like previous years, Team Birdcasso began a day of drawing at Shoreline Lake. Sarah, Leena, Megan, Mary, Cricket, and I sat at the tables beside the Clubhouse and enjoyed the sunny weather and laughter of Black Skimmers on the island. For me, Team Birdcasso compels me to draw more quickly and with a looser style—free from the trappings of detail or accuracy. It’s always a challenge to draw outdoor with moving subjects, but after the first few awkward strokes, it becomes a little easier and more comfortable. I think many of us feel the same. Mostly, we enjoy using our creativity to appreciate the wildlife around us and doing so together. After a couple of hours we had all completed our initial sketches and then parted to continue working without an audience. Below you will see a selection of portraits made by our group.

Wrong Terns 2026

April 17:

The Wrong Terns hit the trails again this year for another morning of social birding! The birds were cooperative for us, with migrants like Western Flycatchers and Warbling Vireos singing from the sycamores, and many of our residents like the Chestnut-backed Chickadee were already tending to young!

We wandered through McClellan down to Blackberry Farm, where we finally caught sight of the American Robins who had been singing to us through the morning. Our arrival to the trail to Linda Vista Park started with the adorable sight of Canada Goose babies trying to hop the fence their parents had stepped through, and we delayed our progress for 10 minutes to see them finally overcome the challenge and make their way to the golf course for lunch.

We used the last 45 minutes of our 4-hour window to enjoy our own meal at the feeders, and our patience was rewarded by visits from female Black-chinned Hummingbirds and a Selasphorous Hummingbird visiting the feeders.

Checklist: https://ebird.org/atlascalifornia/checklist/S323038787

Concrete Juncos 2026

April 19:

Carolyn, Rowena, Steve, and Carolyn hit the pavement on Sunday for a morning of birding in downtown San Jose! Beginning at Plaza Cesar de Chavez, we watched Chestnut-backed Chickadees and Oak Titmice flit between oaks and palm trees. Quetzalcoatl was not counted as part of our checklist, despite his fine feathers. After seeing the Acorn Woodpeckers of this small park we headed east through the city for coffee and made our way onto San Jose State University campus.

American Robins and Black Phoebes accompanied our stroll through campus, and we were able to find where the Cliff Swallows were nesting on campus, adding yet another breeding code to our list of birds!

Despite our patience (and checking the nest cam feed to confirm they were in residence!) we were not rewarded with a sighting of San Jose’s Peregrines, and the university’s resident Common Ravens were also uncooperative, leaving us with 20 species to end our adventure!

Checklist: https://ebird.org/atlascalifornia/checklist/S324290918

DeDUCKtions 2026

Saturday, May 2, 2026

For 20 years, the DeDUCKtions has held our team effort on tax day, or at least close to it. This year, we moved the date to the last weekend of April because of the forum I was invited to attend in China. At 6:00 AM we met at Cooley Picnic Area of Stevens Creek Park to find (primarily by sound) our first songbirds of the day. Eric, Andy, Sheila, Mary Ann, Ken, Ashutosh, Emily, Cricket and I logged Black-headed Grosbeak and Western Warbling Vireo within moments of opening our car doors.

We then stopped at Lakeshore Picnic Area to search for Spotted Sandpiper but were not successful. Instead we found a pair of Wood Duck and two Caspian Terns.

Picchetti Ranch OSP is where we found some woodland targets like Wilson’s Warbler and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and a other Wood Duck on the small pond.

Of course we had to stop at McClellan Ranch to search for Black-chinned Hummingbird, which we did find at the feeders. A nice surprise was a male Lazuli Bunting feeding in the meadow, as well as Ash-throated Flycatcher, Western Flycatcher, Hooded Oriole and Northern House Wren.

Next on our itinerary was Palo Alto Baylands, Charleston Slough and Shoreline Lake, Sunnyvale WPCP and Don Edwards. We easily doubled our bird count after working the Bay locations. Highlights included Green-winged Teal, American Wigeon, Black Skimmer, Black Tern, Common Gallinule, and Green Heron.

Finally, we headed up to Ed Levin Park (Sandy Wool), completing our western hills, bay front, and eastern hills agenda. Against the will of all our leg muscles and sore feet, we hiked up the hill to find Western Kingbird, Rufous-crowned Sparrow but were unable to find Grasshopper Sparrow. The wind was quite stiff by late afternoon, so that’s our excuse… Our final stop of the day was at Ed Levin (Spring Valley) where our best efforts failed to find the Say’s Phoebe pair that had been present the previous week. Nevertheless, we had spectacular showing of Tree Swallows, White-tailed Kites, and an adult Bald Eagle.

Our final species count for the day was 122 birds.

Our trip report can be found here: 

https://ebird.org/tripreport/509583?view=checklists.

www.Birds! 2026

April 2:

Our team had a great day yesterday:  beautiful weather, cool, blue skies, puffy clouds

We saw 32 species https://ebird.org/atlascalifornia/checklist/S316518087

and our team included Brand New Birders, Beginning Birders Getting Good, Experienced Birders, CBC team members, friends from various connections in life.  We had a great time!

The Fledglings 2026

Western Screech-Owl: Binu John

April 4:

Hello everyone!

Thanks for joining the Fledgling team for the spring birdathon!
 
We started off our birdathon strong at Ulistac Natural Area, with our new motto: "early birder gets the mosquito bites".
We encountered intense swarms, but we still picked up some nice birds like Black-throated Gray Warbler and Fox Sparrow, though we had some easy misses, including the resident California Thrasher.

After shaking off the bugs, we headed off to Ed Levin County Park, where we caught a flock of Cedar Waxwings neatly spaced out like they were practicing social distancing along a single vertical branch.
We then staked out the "magic tree" and were rewarded with views of Rufous Hummingbird and a possible Prairie Falcon cruising through.

Our next stop was Don Edwards SF Bay NWR, which turned out to be fairly productive, with shorebirds and waterfowl galore, along with a potential Golden Plover species mixed in.
Yet we witnessed nature's crime scene on the boardwalk - a sudden explosion of scattered primary feathers, remains and an abandoned egg against the green of the salt marsh - clear evidence of a successful hunt in the pickleweed !
On our way out, we had 4 Snowy Plovers fairly close to the road, and one was banded!

Heading over to Shoreline Lake, we had 3 rather late Cackling Geese at Coast Casey Forebay, and lots of Black Skimmers resting at the island, as well as a Willet molting into breeding plumage - a nice seasonal highlight.

At Sanborn County Park, we missed out on a few regulars like Cassin's Vireo, but we got our target Pacific Wren, another Black-throated Gray Warbler, and a Rufous Hummingbird paused briefly before zipping off, likely another migrant moving through.
Beyond the birds, we found several cicadas emerging on the trees, their discarded shells clinging to the bark. We also spotted two bright banana slugs, and had some fun watching the newts in the small pond adjacent to the Walden Pond.

Vasona Lake was unexpectedly quiet by comparison - we barely had any birds. Other than the picnic crowds, easily the dominant and loudest species on site, most of what we saw were Canada Geese. 

It was quite disappointing, as we expected to get some spring migrants here.

Afterwards, we made our way to Calero Reservoir, where things picked up again with many grebes and a plethora of raptors, including Osprey and Bald Eagle.

The second-to-last stop of the day was Stile Ranch in Santa Teresa County Park, where we had several calling Poorwills, a few of which zipped by fairly close. 

The calling Poorwills were already a treat, but the real highlight was an out-of-nowhere Nighthawk that cut through the fading twilight - long, pointed wings with bold white wing bars flashing as it turned, before it disappeared over the hill just seconds later. We all lit up at the sight, it was the true apex of the trip!

To close out the day, we did some owling along Las Animas Road, with only a single very distant Western Screech-Owl. That was quite surprising, especially compared to the visit here at the same time last year when I had Long-eared Owl, Barn Owl, and Great Horned Owl. We also missed out on Northern Pygmy-Owl, which had been reported by a few others in the past few weeks.

Despite a few "guarantees" which forgot to show up - such as Say’s Phoebe and Pelicans, and fewer owls and gulls than we had hoped for, making our "big day" a little less big than planned, it was still a very solid and fun day overall.
We finished with a total 110 species - not bad for a day that started with mosquitoes and ended with a lone Screech-Owl.

A big thank you to Eve for generously backing our birdathon effort with a donation per species - really appreciated!

Thanks again for joining us - whether for part of it or for the full adventure.

Here's the eBird trip report with all the checklists of the day which I've already shared with you.
You are welcome to add your own comments to share the day from your perspective!!

Happy birding!
Kaiting

The Hummy Pot 2026

Black-chinned Hummingbird: Tom Grey

April 19:

Yesterday morning, The Hummy Pot Birdathon team set out 13 members strong. Our hopes for migrating hummingbirds were high, but the Magic Tree’s blossoms had largely gone to seed, and migrating hummingbird activity was nonexistent. Fortunately, the rest of Ed Levin Spring Valley area was full of birds and exciting breeding activity. A lovely pair of White-tailed Kites was the highlight of the morning for me. We observed them hunting, feeding on a vole, and even mating! We saw plenty of other breeding activity with Acorn Woodpeckers, European Starlings, and Chestnut-backed Chickadees seen visiting their cavity nests, carrying food and fecal sacs. 

There were plenty of other spring breeders or migrants. A swarm of Cliff Swallows was diving at bugs on the pond's surface, while Tree Swallows had nest box property disputes with Western Bluebirds, and Violet-green and Barn Swallows hunted. Flycatchers were also out in force with an Ash-throated Flycatcher, a pair of Western Kingbirds, and Black and Say's Phoebes making their presence known. We also got treated to some spectacularly colored male Bullock's Orioles and a Western Tanager. In total, at Ed Levin County Park, we observed 54 species! Here is a copy of the checklist.

Hoping to redeem the slow hummingbird activity, our group continued to the Los Gatos Creek trail to find a Black-chinned Hummingbird. We were quickly rewarded for our efforts when a male Black-chinned showed up at his favorite perch spot moments after we arrived. Here is a copy of that checklist and the GPS coordinates of that perch spot if anyone wants to go check it out: 37.300704, -121.921607. With the hummingbird and 2 California Gulls seen flying over the Los Gatos Creek Trail, our total species count comes to 56. It was a spectacular morning for birding, only made more enjoyable by a wonderful team of birders. I greatly appreciate everyone joining our team, and thank you to everyone who has supported the Birdathon! 

Happy Birding,

Connor Christensen

Almaden Eagles 2026

Bald Eagle: Amanda Newlove

April 24:

Team Almaden Eagles completed our Birdathon day on Friday, April 24. We are a distributed 24-hour team of eight women, birding all over the Almaden Valley.

A very special THANK YOU to everyone in this awesome group: Ann V., Kirsten, Linda S., Marion, Brooke, Janna, and Bobbie for their fundraising and birding efforts!

We had 115 species in total!

Here's our eBird trip report for the day: https://ebird.org/tripreport/504910

Some notable finds of the day: Janna found our namesake Eagles - a pair of GOLDEN EAGLES to be precise. Linda found a MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER at SCVWD. More than one WOOD DUCK was spotted: Marion at Los Capitancillos ponds and Kristen finding a Wood duck with several young at Chesbro Reservoir. Ann had our group's only MERLIN at Greystone Park. Brooke saw a pair of BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRDs at Calero Creek Trail. Several of our lovely arriving migrating birds were found by multiple members of our group: LAZULI BUNTING, WESTERN TANAGER, BULLOCK'S ORIOLE, BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK.

I enjoyed hearing many singing ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER up on Mt Um area! (Wood Rd trail and Woods trail) and watching the male Wild Turkeys puffing up and displaying. Spring is here!!

Hot Spotters 2026

April 25:

We descended on Ed Levin Park (Sandy Wool Lake Area) at 8:00 to find an enormous line of Fish Day participants waiting at the entrance. Within a few minutes though, everybody in our group had gathered at the Dog Run above the lake. I had been suffering from a bad cold and was planning on taking the day slowly and not exerting myself. But the temptation to climb the hill and locate Rufous-crowned Sparrow proved too strong to ignore. So up we all went, sweating and panting the whole way but we found our target perched on the barbed wire fence beside the trail. As well we located several Lazuli Buntings and Grasshopper Sparrows!

Next we dropped by Spring Valley to see a breeding pair of White-tailed Kites, both species of Oriole and the remainder of the day’s Swallow species including nesting Tree Swallows. In fact, we saw many examples of breeding behavior during our day—another nice thing about spring birding! Happily, we found many fewer people in this portion of the park but it still seems like we made the right decision going to Sandy Wool before it got too hot. Cars were still streaming into the main entrance even as we made our way down the road toward Milpitas.

Finally, we caravanned to Don Edwards to round out our Shorebirds and Waterfowl. The first birds along the entrance road included Semipalmated and Snowy Plover, Dunlin, Long-billed Dowitchers, Least and Western Sandpipers. We then scoped the main pond and picked out an American Wigeon and a single Redhead among the crowd of Ducks. We  ended our day right at noon with a total of 95 species after which I went home a returned to bed with a spoonful of cough syrup and a very big smile.

Cedar Nature Trip Report 2025

Cedar Nature: Wei Xue

On April 13, a warm, sunny day, the Cedar Nature Team set out on our hike for Birdathon fundraising. We split into two groups: one ventured to Sunol Regional Wilderness to seek the majestic pileated woodpecker, the colorful merganser, and the iconic California quail; the other headed to Vasona Lake County Park—a charming urban oasis set around a scenic lake with a vintage train—offering sightings of waterfowl and woodland birds.

Cedar Nature: Kaiting

Seven participants went to Sunol, ranging in age from 8 to 80! Not long after we started, we encountered a Pileated Woodpecker drumming hard on the shack, which attracted everyone’s attention. We stopped by a tree for a while and then luckily saw a pair of Lawrence’s goldfinches – what a nice surprise! We observed around 26 bird species and more than 30 kinds of wildflowers and plants on this field trip. Spring is the best time of the year. The hiking was moderate, and the weather was perfect with a cool breeze in Sunol Regional Wilderness Park.

Black-crowned Night-Heron: Bohao Huang

A team of eleven set out to Vasona Lake, surrounded by the vibrant colors of spring. Vasona Lake Park was chosen for its rich mix of habitats—lake, trees, and open grassy areas—making it a great spot to observe a wide variety of bird species. The outing did not disappoint: on the water, we saw waterfowl such as Buffleheads and Ruddy Ducks; in the reed beds along the lakeshore, we spotted herons, including Great Blue Herons and Green Herons; and swallows zipped swiftly over the lake’s surface. In the lakeside trees, we encountered oak titmice and goldfinches busy collecting nest materials, while hawks and falcons occasionally circled overhead. The trip’s true highlights were the juvenile bald eagle that swept by us at close range and the delightful hooded oriole perched serenely in a palm tree. The House Finch and Acorn Woodpecker nest added even more surprises. In total, we observed 40 bird species—what a rewarding experience, especially for many in our group who were birdwatching for the first time!

4月13日，风和日丽，Cedar Nature Team 出发远足为观鸟马拉松募款。我们分成两组分头行动：一组前往 Sunol Regional Wilderness，寻觅红头发的啄木鸟、漂亮的秋沙鸭，以及标志性的加州鹌鹑；另一组则奔赴 Vasona 湖县立公园——这个迷人的城市绿洲环绕着美丽的湖泊和一列复古小火车，可观赏到各类水鸟与森林鸟类。

这次观鸟行共有七位参与者，年龄从 8 岁到 80 岁不等！我们刚出发不久，就遇到了一只大斑啄木鸟在小屋上“咚咚咚”猛敲，引得大家纷纷围观。我们在一棵大树下驻足片刻，幸运地看见了一对劳伦斯金翅雀——真是惊喜满满！整个行程中，我们大约记录了 26 种鸟类，以及 30 多种野花和植物。春天果然是一年中最美的时节。徒步难度适中，Sunol 区域荒野公园的天气也十分宜人，伴着清爽的微风。

4月13日Cedar Nature的Vasona Lake小分队十二个人在满目春色中准时出发进行今年的Birdathon活动，选择这个地点是因为Vasona Lake公园有湖有树有草坪，可以看到各种种类的鸟。活动全程不负所望，我们在水面上看到了Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck等水鸟，在岸边芦苇丛中看到了大蓝鹭、绿鹭等鹭类，湖面上还看到了快速穿梭飞行的各种燕子。岸上的树林中也看到Oak Titmouce, Goldfinch等忙着筑巢的林鸟，头顶还时不时有hawk盘旋。当然全程的高光当属从我们眼前近距离掠过的白头海雕的亚成鸟，以及在棕榈树上可爱的hooded oriole。House finch 和acorn woodpecker的巢更添意外惊喜。全程我们看到了40种鸟，这对我们队伍中很多第一次观鸟的队员来说是很大的收获！

Ebird list

Sunol Regional Wilderness:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S225369166

Vasona Lake Team: https://ebird.org/checklist/S225399929

Double-counted Cormorants Trip Report 2025

American Robin at Vasona Lake

The Double-counted Cormorants team (Carol Ann & David) returned this year for another 4-hour

photography Birdathon. We chose Vasona Lake County Park, a favorite location. We had beautiful

weather, and the park was not too crowded with people on a Wednesday morning.

We enjoyed watching birds go about their regular routines. Here’s a small sample of some of our

memorable sightings. American Robins foraged in the leaf litter under oaks. Swallows flew overhead in

pursuit of insects, and occasionally perched on a tree to rest and preen. Bufflehead were busy diving on

the lake, along with American Coots and some very vocal Pied-billed Grebes. Several Black-crowned

Night Herons stalked gophers in one meadow. In another meadow, a Red-tailed Hawk caught a gopher,

and flew to perch in a tree to dine. Halfway through his meal, the rest of the gopher fell off the branch.

He returned to the ground to retrieve it, and then flew to a different tree to finish.

There seemed to be many (territorial?) disagreements between different pairs of Canada Geese. One pair took up a position on the top of the footbridge, were followed there by another pair, and a commotion ensued. The Rock Pigeons seemed rather startled and put out that geese had taken over one of their favorite places.

Beside the lake, Rock Pigeons were courting and copulating. One family of Canada goslings grazed in a meadow, and then were led by their parents to swim in the lake. On the island, an adult Great Blue Heron flew off from a nest, and juveniles waited for a parent to return with a meal. A Double-crested Cormorant (our namesake species!) perched on a branch overhanging the lake, showing well the tufts (“crests”) of a breeding bird. A Bewick’s Wren foraged on the forest floor, entered a cavity in a fallen tree carrying food, and exited carrying a fecal sac. Nearby, a fledgling Dark-eyed Junco waited patiently, and was fed by a parent.

Our time ran out all too soon, and before we had completed the planned 2-mile route. We counted 46 species, and I photographed 31 of them. In addition to the birds, we also saw and photographed California Ground Squirrel, Gray Squirrel, and Western Fence Lizard. Our checklist can be viewed at https://ebird.org/checklist/S230330081. We spent a delightful morning birding, and are always pleased to help the Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance raise funds for educational programs.

DeDUCKtions Trip Report 2025

Last Saturday I led my DeDUCKtions Birdathon team on a whirlwind tour from the East Hills to the Bay and then finally to the West Hills. This cross section of the county was fast paced and efficient compared to some of our previous routes, giving us access to a variety of habitats with fairly, short intervals of driving. Participants were Matthew Dodder, Kelly Dodder, Eric Goodill, Mary Ann Allan, Brooke Miller, Ashutosh Sinha, Ellyn Corey, Cathy Loewen, and Ally Romanow

We began at Spring Valley (Ed Levin) at 8:00 searching first for any Selasphorus Hummingbirds or Orioles at the large eucalyptus tree by the corral. We only heard one Selasphorus and it never appeared long enough for us to identify it, and found a pair of Bullock’s Orioles. We had good luck with the Lawrence’s Goldfinches, but the Phaiinopepla has been absent for about two weeks now and so didn’t appear for us. A pair of Golden Eagles appeared over the ridge and one White-tailed Kite was hovering above the trees by the lake. Early on our visit, Eric spotted an Osprey flying away from the lake.

At Sandy Wool (Ed Levin) we continued to hear Lawrence’s Goldfinches near the hang glider landing area as well as Lark Sparrow. Our real target was the Grasshopper Sparrow along the steep trail to Agua Caliente. Luckily we found it long before the steepest part of the trail. We also had our season first Lazuli Bunting here. Obviously, the lake presented a few water birds like Black-crowned Night Heron for us as well as  Great-tailed Grackle.

After leaving this area, we drove to Don Edwards and birded the entrance road to the Environmental Education Center (EEC). There we found a treasure trove of new birds for our list including Semipalmated Plover and breeding-plumaged Dunlin. At the native garden beside the facility we scoped the ponds finding a few new species such as Forster’s Tern, Western Grebe and Canvasback

From there we made a quick stop at Sunnyvale Water Pollution Control Ponds just long enough to add Caspian Tern, and our target Green Heron and Common Gallinule. Marsh Wren was easy to hear at this location as well, but since we had already found them at Don Edwards we were more excited by the House Sparrows that were hanging out along the channel.

A quick stop at the Kite Flying are of Shoreline Park provided distant views of Burrowing Owl, but we also found Western Kingbirds and a lingering Merlin that landed on a power tower above the kiosk—a spot I’ve often seen this species perch.

We birded both the clubhouse area and the Terminal Blvd section of Shoreline Lake. The Black Skimmers, Black Oystercatcher and Lesser Yellowlegs were all found but we did not locate the female Common Goldeneye. I wish we had had time to look at A1 more thoroughly, but we were getting quite tired by late afternoon and still had three stops to go.

Pichetti Ranch OSP was not very birdy, perhaps because of the cool temperatures and the slight drizzle we encountered. This didn’t seem to discourage the revelers at the picnic tables… In fact, much of the day was less active as far as birds than we had hoped, but we still managed to pick up a bird or three, namely Wild Turkey, Orange-crowned Warbler and Black-throated Gray Warbler.

At the nearby Lake View Picnic Area overlooking the Stevens Creek Reservoir we were not optimistic about finding our target since the water was so high and litter exposed shoreline was available. A careful scanning of the entire lake however gave us what we came for a Spotted Sandpiper!

Finally, just before our clock ran out, we caravanned to McClellan Ranch where our Black-chinned Hummingbird female, the bird that I had reported just a day earlier, put in a brief appearance at the feeder before streaking off again. Sadly, two birds we missed on our 10-hour effort eluded us completely. Today however, when I arrived at work and opened my car door the two birds mocked me with their familiar calls. Both Brown Creeper and Western Flycatcher just wanted to rub it in…

We ended up with 124 species, which was eleven more birds than last year. Mission accomplished!

Almaden Eagles Trip Report 2025

The Almaden Eagles team did our SCVBA Spring Birdathon on Friday, April 18. We are an all-women distributed team of eight participants in which each person takes her own part of the Almaden area and nearby vicinity to count. The start of our morning was under very cloudy overcast conditions which didn't begin to clear up until later in the day, not what we would have hoped or expected but we persevered anyway, and came up with a good collection of birds for the day. 

Birds seen and heard besides our local residents included a few lingering wintering birds (crowned sparrows, Hermit Thrush) - newly arrived spring migrants (orioles, flycatchers, vireos, etc) - 7 duck species - 6 woodpecker species - 5 swallow species - 5 finch species - 11 sparrow-types - 5 warblers - and more.

Here I want to acknowledge our team members with some of their unique birds seen during the day

JANNA PAUSER: Hicks Rd & most of the New Almaden area - Pileated Woodpecker - and later, Great Horned Owl, W. Screech Owl, Common Poorwill

AMANDA NEWLOVE: Mt Umunhum area & nearby vicinity - five warbler species including Black-throated Gray Warbler - Chipping Sparrow - 14 Band-tailed Pigeons

KIRSTEN HOLMQUIST: portion of Stile Ranch Trail including Horned Lark, Rufous-crowned Sparrow & Lark Sparrow - Calero Reservoir: Wilson's Snipe, White-tailed Kite, Caspian & Forster's Terns, and "rushing" Western and Clark's Grebes

MARION FARBER: Los Capitancillos Ponds - female Wood Duck with very young ducklings - Spotted Sandpiper (the only one for our day)

BROOKE MILLER : Calero Creek Trail & nearby vicinity - Lawrence's Goldfinch, American Goldfinch, White-throated Sparrow, Lazuli Bunting (first one of  season)

BOBBIE BAKER: Los Alamitos Creek Trail from Mazzone to Camden bridge  a male Black-chinned Hummingbird (first one of season seen in this location) - Common Mergansers 

LINDA SULLIVAN: Almaden Lake & Water District - Linda gave us our "eagle" for the day - a Bald Eagle seen in both locations - also detailed sightings of the heron/egret nesting island - Vaux's and White-throated Swifts

ANN VERDI: portion of Guadalupe River Trail from Coleman Rd to the spillway - many N, Rough-winged Swallows seen around Coleman Rd where they nest underneath the Coleman Rd vehicle bridge - and 6 newly arrived Cliff Swallows beginning nesting activities under the Coleman pedestrian bridge - and then at least 5 House Sparrows in the bushes near the apartments (hey, they count too!)

We ended up with a total of 121 species for the day - the highest number for this all-women team. I want to thank all our team members for their efforts that day - especially during the gloomy overcast at the start of the day. Way to go, team!

Sawbuck Rangers Big Day Trip Report 2025

Yesterday (April 20), my intrepid Birdathon team of Eve, Liz, Jackie, and I ranged hither, thither and yon to find as many species as possible all day. I had a personal best day in: checklists (12), species(116) and distance walked while birding (>10 miles). 

My birding lesson of the day (aside from how amazing my team is, of course): I hadn't realized breeding Dunlin can have black bellies. That puzzled me for some time. 

When the whole tale was told, the Rangers found 140 species. With my promised Sawbuck-per-species and other donations from the team, we raised $1580 for the SCVBA's Education Program.

While truly recounting my team's odyssey would require Epic Greek Poetry, I will highlight a few finds from each of the locations scouted, without repeating species :-): 

Metcalf and Las Animas Roads: Western Screech Owl and about 30 California Quails (standing in the road, of course). 

Heintz Open Space: Purple Finch and California Thrasher.

Laguna Ave:  American Goldfinch and 5 Great Egrets.

Shannon Valley OSP: Hooded Oriole and Northern House Wren.

Dr. Gross ponds: Bullock's Oriole and Brewer's Blackbird. 

Coyote Valley OSP: Yellow-billed Magpie and American Kestrel.

Los Alamitos Creek Trail (Singer/McKean): Western Flycatcher and Band-tailed Pigeon.

Sanborn CP (entrance): MacGillivray's Warbler (!!!) and Cassin's Vireo.

Calero Reservoir: 29 Common Mergansers and a Virginia's Rail (HO, naturally).

Santa Teresa CP (BGJ Ranch): American Barn Owl.

Parkway Lakes: Golden Eagle and Gadwall.

Santa Teresa (Stile entrance) was visited 3 times: Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Lazuli Bunting, Common Poorwill, and Great Horned Owl.

Bear Creek Redwoods Pond: Northern Rough-winged Swallow and Pygmy Nuthatch.

SCV Water District: Ring-necked Duck and Black-crowned Night Heron (they were scarce today, only 4 seen in all locations).

Calero Creek Trail (Harry Rd): Say's Phoebe and Lawrence's Goldfinch (HO).

Sanborn (John Nicholas): Pacific Wren and Black-headed Grosbeak.

Shoreline kite flying area: Burrowing Owl and Savannah Sparrow

Shoreline Park (lake); Lesser Yellowlegs and around 50(!) Black Skimmers. 

Sanborn (Lake Ranch Res): Wood duck and Pileated Woodpecker.

Casey Forebay: Marsh Wren and a ton of Barn Swallows. 

One of the ranger's backyard: Vaux's Swift.

PA Baylands: 9(!) Whimbrels at the boat launch and a huge number of Marbled Godwit in the distance. 

Sunnyvale Shopping Center: Mitred Parakeet.

Emily Renzel: Common Gallinule and White-tailed Kite

Quack Pack Trip Report 2025

Today, the Quack Pack Birdathon team visited Palo Alto Baylands.  Our best birds were 2 Ridgway's Rails copulating, 1 American Kestrel near the Lucy Evans Nature Center, 1 male Bullock's Oriole near the Palo Alto Treatment Plant, and 2 Osprey flying overhead.  In total, we had 50 species in 4 hours.  There's still time to support this team and/or to support or join another team.  All donations raised go to support SCVBA’s education programs including our Wetlands Discovery Program in which we teach elementary school children all about the importance of our wetlands with classroom and in-the field education.

Here's our ebird list: https://ebird.org/checklist/S226426518

Hot Spotters Trip Report 2025

The Hot Spotters, the second of my four Birdathon teams this year, ventured out Saturday morning (April 12) for a 4-hour, three destination tour. Team members included Carolyn Straub, Steve McHenry, Daniel Whol, Allison Morantz, Joan Loney, Amanda Newlove, Christopher Klein, Kelly “Cricket” Dodder, and myself. We also had a visiting birder from New York who tagged along for a while and got several lifers!

We began at Ed Levin’s Spring Valley section to search for continuing birds like the Phainopepla, Lawrence’s Goldfinch as well as expected birds like Chipping Sparrow, Golden Eagle, Rufous Hummingbird. We were quite happy to find our FOS Ash-throated Flycatcher and a continuing Says Phoebe. At least two Western Kingbirds were present near the picnic area and tons of Tree Swallows.

Next we stopped in briefly at the Dog Run in the Sandy Wool portion of Ed Levin. Among the new birds were a single Lark Sparrow, Great-tailed Grackle and at least 5 Grasshopper Sparrows that were low enough on the Agua Caliente hill trail to make it feasible for our limited time. No Lazuli Buntings or Rufous-crowned Sparrows were heard from our low listening post beside the dog run.

Finally, we drove 20 minutes or so to reach the Don Edwards EEC. There we were able to get a number of birds unlikely at the previous two stops. Namely, American Avocet, Black-necked Stilt, Semipalmated Plover, a single Snowy Plover, tons of Lesser Scaup, Canvasback, Ruddy Duck, and Western Grebes that we scoped in A18 from the corner of the Native Garden. As luck would have it, we also heard a Virginia Rail in the slough beside the entrance road.

We ended up with a very satisfactory 99 species but missed some obvious birds. Perhaps the Subspecies trip in a few weeks will correct that but they will be using a different route. 

Thank you to everyone who pledged their support for our team. Your donations will go directly (and entirely) to our Education Program so we can continue to inspire young people to care about birds and learn how to protect it for the future.

The complete trip report can be found here:

https://ebird.org/tripreport/350320

Subspecies Trip Report 2025

Yesterday, my fourth and final Birdathon team ventured out on its 4-hour effort. The Subspecies consisted of Andrew Melnick, Liz Frith, Jim Dehnert, Christopher Klein, Kelly and Matthew Dodder. Ally Romanow and Sue Pelmulder had intended to be with us but last minute conflicts that prevented them from joining the birding portion. Many others supported our team (and SCVBA) through their sponsorships, and for that we are grateful!

The team was faced with cool and drizzly weather—a far cry from the brilliant day before or the sunny warmth of today. But we did not let this get us down. We still found many of our targets but had some embarrassing misses on our trip list.

We began at the Stile Ranch trailhead leading up to Santa Teresa County Park. Our targets were obvious, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, Grasshopper Sparrow, and Horned Lark. We managed to find all of them despite the drizzle, but we were never actually able to view the Grasshopper Sparrows. We had a tiny and intriguing Hummingbird zip past us on the switchback portion of the trail, and while we were tempted to call it a Calliope Hummingbird, we lacked enough evidence to add it to our list.

After returning to the gravel lot, we headed toward Harry Road along the Calero Creek Trail. We continued to hear Rufous-crowned Sparrows, Lazuli Buntings and Wrentit the entire length of the trail until we crossed the dry creek and passed through the orchard section. There we added Ash-throated Flycatcher and a single Wood Duck flying high overhead. When we reached the wooded creek section, we added Warbling Vireo, Orange-crowned Warbler, Song Sparrow and other expected species. Oddly, we had no Western Flycatchers here or anywhere the entire day. But we did get our first-of-season Swainson’s Thrush. Heading back to the cars we added Blue-gray Flycatcher and White-throated Swift.

Our final stop was at the Calero Reservoir boat launch. We quickly added a number of waterbirds including Western Grebe, Clark’s Grebe, and Pied-billed Grebe. We were also treated to views of two different Bald Eagles (one adult, and one immature), White-tailed Kite, and Yellow Warbler. Our biggest surprise was when we walked the trail along the north edge of the lake leading from the boat ramp toward the east end. Our group was slightly stretched out, but not so much that they missed my repeated scream “LEAST BITTERN! LEAST BITTERN!! LEAST BITTERN!!!” Everyone got a look at the bird as it lifted out of the reeds and took off toward the east end of the reeds. From my observation, it struck me as a male—a small dark-winged bittern with golden coverts and a very dark back with white streaks and greenish legs. Everyone echoed the observations and we were pretty confident this was the best bird of the day. After scanning the shore and not finding the bird again, we returned to the parking area taking a slightly different route—picking up a tick or two… I was in front of the group when I heard the folks behind me yell out BITTERN as it flew up and east along the water. This “second" bird was farther west than the initial bird and made us consider the possibility that it was actually two individuals. Something to look for. It would be wonderful to have them breeding in the county again!

We ended the day with 86 species (pending final checklist review)

As far as embarrassing misses. Rock Pigeon, American Robin, Western Flycatcher and probably a bunch more…. Oh well. 

Thank you to all my teammates and to our sponsors.