Loong Trip Report

This year, we proudly formed the first Chinese Birdathon team: the Loong (Chinese dragon) Team 🐉! Our team name carries deep meaning, celebrating the pride of the Chines community and our reverence and love for nature.

On the morning of April 28th, we spent four hours at Overfelt Garden for the Birdathon. We recorded 32 bird species, including rarer sightings like the Hooded Oriole and Nashville Warbler.

Simultaneously, our team’s birding expert, Phil, recorded 48 species at Ogier Ponds, including the rarely-seen Solitary Sandpiper, significantly boosting our Birdathon records. In total, we documented 56 species.

As a well-known Chinese saying goes, “Heroes come from the youth.” Despite having only seven months of birdwatching experience, our pupil birder Kaiting has rapidly honed his birding skills, inspiring his mom to become a birding enthusiast. His keen eyes and ears led to the discovery of the rarest bird we saw on this trip. Kaiting is indeed a young birding prodigy! We spent at least 20 minutes under a sun-dappled tree, finding almost ten species including Nashville Warbler, which added to our life lists.

While walking along, we spotted a beautiful golden bird perched atop a tree ahead. Everyone exclaimed in surprise as it turned out to be a male Hooded Oriole, shining brilliantly in the sunlight. Although we had seen a female Hooded Oriole earlier, it hid among the foliage. In contrast, this male posed for us to take plenty of photos. After a while, a red-headed Acorn Woodpecker also flew to the top of the tree, making a striking pair with the bright oriole.

From the lake came the loud calls of the Pied-billed Grebe while Northern Rough-winged Swallows and Violet-green Swallows were busy foraging—a Violet-green Swallow with its beautiful metallic feathers streaked by like lightning. Besides birdwatching, our plant expert, Ping Li, introduced us to many native plants. We also took the opportunity to appreciate Chinese architecture. In front of the “One World, One Family”; archway at Overfelt Garden, an elderly Chinese man who regularly exercises there took a group photo for us.

Through this Birdathon, we enjoyed unforgettable birdwatching experiences and have raised $570.18 in donations for bird conservation efforts. Let’s hope for more participation and contributions in next year’s Birdathon!

Loong Team! 🐉 Soar like a dragon in the sky 🐉, you’re amazing!

Double-counted Cormorants Trip Report 2024

18 April 2024

7:46 – 11:46am

This year was our second time participating in Birdathon. We decided to create our own team, the Double-counted Cormorants, and do a 4-hour photography Birdathon, to see how many species we could count and photograph in a four-hour period. We considered visiting multiple sites to see a wider variety of species, but in the end decided to stick with a single location, Shoreline Lake, to avoid using any of our time driving around.

Upon arrival, we saw our first bird before even getting out of the car – a beautiful Red-tailed Hawk atop a street light, enjoying a breakfast of squirrel.

While we didn’t see any unexpected species, we did find a good variety of birds – from geese, ducks, grebes, coots, shorebirds, gulls, skimmers, terns, egrets, and herons on the water; to swallows, finches, sparrows, and others in the surrounding shoreline areas.

Although we did see some still remaining “winter“ species, such as White-crowned Sparrow and Golden- crowned Sparrow, many signs that the breeding season has begun were evident. Black Skimmers were back on the island. There were several families of Canada Geese with goslings. Some of the Eared Grebes were in their breeding plumage. Many songbirds were singing. A pair of Western Bluebirds and a pair of Tree Swallows seemed to be interested in the same nesting site.

We were very happy to see some of our namesake species, the Double-crested Cormorant. They’re a favorite photography subject of mine, with their elegant black plumage and bright teal blue eyes.

When our time ran out, we had counted 45 species, and I had photographed 42 of them. In addition to the birds, we also saw and photographed Black-tailed Jackrabbit, California Ground Squirrel, and Gray Squirrel. Our full checklist can be viewed at https://ebird.org/checklist/S169750106. We had a fabulous morning of birding, and we’re very pleased that we could help SCVAS raise funds for the abundance of programs they offer to educate our region’s diverse population about the importance of preserving open spaces for both wildlife and our own well-being.

All photos by Carol Ann Krug Graves

Los Gatos Birdwatcher Trip Report 2024

Led my (Lisa Meyers) "Los Gatos Birdwatcher" SCVAS Birdathon team this morning. It was a 4 hour adventure. We spent the first two hours on the Los Gatos Creek Trail south of the Main Street Bridge. While we hoped for an American Dipper we never saw one. While here we did watch nest building NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS. CEDAR WAXWINGS were also here in numbers. One STELLER JAY was the only jay we found all morning. We did have a few WARBLING VIREOS in view and singing. All in all it was rather quiet along the creek.

https://ebird.org/checklist/S169538589

We then moved over to Vasona County Park. We did not find anything un-expected and added 30 new species to our list including a SPOTTED SANDPIPER working its way along the shore. A GREEN HERON flew by and we also watched an AMERICAN COOT fly the distance of the reservoir. Ya don't see that everyday. An ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD was feeding a chick in the nest. The chick fully feathered actually fledged before our eyes. We found a WILSON'S WARBLER high in an oak and only one YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER today. One of the GREAT-HORNED OWLS was clearly in view as it sat in the eucalyptus above the camp host. The goslings are around now following their parents. We ended with 57 species.

https://ebird.org/checklist/S169539587

We had 16 participants out there today. The youngest in 3rd grade and the oldest probably has a grandchild in 3rd grade. A great group to share sightings and knowledge amongst each other and those passing by. Letting "civilians" look through a scope at a great bird is always fun.

Thank you to all supporting our efforts for SCVAS.

Weathered Wanderers Trip Report 2024

Below is a belated summary of a Sunday 4/21/2024 Big Day that Richard Jeffers and I (Mike Rogers) did.

We started out at 3:05am at the Mountain View Forebay, hoping to get our list started with birds that are vocal at night. We did hear 2 VIRGINIA RAILS and a SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, but not much else of note. Likewise, a stop at the Palo Alto estuary added a BARN OWL and the day's only LONG-BILLED CURLEW, but not the hoped for Short-billed Dowitcher or Ridgway's Rail. A check of Alviso turned up the day's only NORTHERN PINTAIL and a pair of CINNAMON TEAL, as well as a few expected shorebirds.

Heading over Quimby Road to Grant Ranch, we added WESTERN SCREECH-OWL and several GREAT HORNED OWLS as well as a few early vocalizing songbirds. A stop at the pullout at mile 13.9 above Grant Lake just before 6am added more species, including a heard-only COMMON POORWILL. A stop at milepost 15.5 added one of only two HERMIT THRUSHES on the day, as well as more morning bird song.

Day birding began in earnest at Smith Creek at 6:14am. A very vocal RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH upslope of the fire station was a surprise and our only one of the day. Otherwise, migration was modest and we worked for over 2.5 hours to find many of the expected less common migrants, including 2 HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHERS (both found by their calls), 1 WESTERN FLYCATCHER, 4 WARBLING and 1 CASSIN'S VIREOs, 8 ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS, 2 singing NASHVILLE WARBLERS, 14 YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, 1 singing BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER, 4 TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS, 2+ singing HERMIT WARBLERS, 3 WILSON'S WARBLERS, 3 WESTERN TANAGERS, and 4 LAZULI BUNTINGS. Other notable birds included a singing CHIPPING SPARROW, a female PHAINOPEPLA, and a male HOODED ORIOLE.

Grant Lake had limited diversity and no eagles, but PIED-BILLED GREBES and AMERICAN COOTS already had precocial young. We found no wigeon, a species we missed the whole day for the first time in over two decades of spring big days! The ranch house area was also pretty quiet, but added 2 more WESTERN FLYCATCHERS, our first WESTERN KINGBIRDS, and a SELASPHORUS HUMMINGBIRD, but no Vermilion Flycatcher like last year. A goldfinch flock near the wishing well sounded like it held a Lawrence's Goldfinch, but we could only find 6 AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES and 5 PINE SISKINS among the LESSER GOLDFINCHES.

Lake Cunningham added 4 GREEN HERONS, 3 GREATER YELLOWLEGS, at least 10 GREAT-TAILED GRACKLES, and an EARED GREBE, but we found all these species again later in the day. A quick stop at the Rosicrucian Museum on the way to the bay turned up a male BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD perched on the telephone wires and a flock of 40 CEDAR WAXWINGS (we had seen a single waxwing earlier at Smith Creek).

Arriving at the bay, the Gold Street ponds provided the only SPOTTED SANDPIPER for our day. Alviso Slough behind the cannery had 6 LESSER SCAUP. Precocial young BLACK-NECKED STILTS were already in evidence along the EEC entrance road. Scoping ponds A16 and A18 from the EEC didn't turn up much besides impenetrable heat haze. We ended up with only Ring-billed and California Gulls on the day (combined with no lingering wintering geese, this significantly impacted our species total).

The Sunnyvale Water Pollution Control Plant/Pond A4 turned up 2 WESTERN KINGBIRDS (no Tropical) and 2 COMMON GALLINULES but again a low diversity of wintering waterfowl. A flock of 20 all-white pigeons looked out of place flying over Pond A4. Things got better when we circled the Mountain View Forebay and we added a pair of SURF SCOTERS and 13 BLACK SKIMMERS on Shoreline Lake, 5 CANVASBACKS, 2 GREATER SCAUP, and a BUFFLEHEAD on Pond A1, and a MARBLED GODWIT and 2 DUNLIN on Charleston Slough.

A stop at the Emily Renzel wetlands on the way to the Palo Alto Baylands added the continuing HARRIS'S SPARROW. Shorebirds were already pretty far out at the boat launch at the estuary mouth, but we added our first BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS (4) and a WHIMBREL for the day. And at 4:30pm, we were both scoping the bay edge when a RED-THROATED LOON flew by heading north just outside the yacht harbor mouth. A completely unexpected bird and the latest I've ever seen on an SCL county spring big day (the other April record being from 19 Apr 2008)!

Digiscoped Spotted Sandpiper

After this, we headed to the south county, stopping along Hellyer Avenue to add SAY'S PHOEBE. Ogier Ponds did produce the SOLITARY SANDPIPER, but not the hoped for kingfisher, Wood Duck, or Osprey. A flock of 13 BUFFLEHEADS was a surprise though! Palm Avenue added 2 YELLOW-BILLED MAGPIES and a KESTREL; both species were also along West Laguna Ave as well. At 7:11pm, we arrived at the Calero boat launch and soon added 5 PURPLE MARTINS (2 males), our first CLARK'S GREBES, but no Osprey or eagles.

We finished our day at the Stile Ranch trailhead, finally catching up with RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROWS and hearing two singing HORNED LARKS as a bonus! Heading back home we were treated to another BARN OWL at 8:14pm.

All-in-all we had lots of misses, but ended up with 148 species, 4 of which I have not found on previous Santa Clara County April Big Days (Solitary Sandpiper, Purple Martin, Phainopepla, and Harris's Sparrow). As noted above, American Wigeon was missed for the first time ever. Hutton's Vireo I've only missed once before, but was presumably missed this year largely because we spent the morning in the Diablo Range instead of along Skyline and at Stevens Creek County Park, as in most past years. Conversely, I've missed Ruby-crowned Kinglet the last 11 years, but the odds should have been better at Smith Creek, where I can normally find one at this time of year. And definitely we need to find a better/more accessible place for lingering gulls!

Bobettes Trip Report 2024

On the cool, breezy, mostly sunny, morning of April 6 at 8:30 AM, Donna Meyer and Linda Sue Johnson found parking a challenge at Coast Casey Forebay along Terminal Blvd. We eventually found parking on San Antonio 2+ blocks away. As we walked toward the Forebay, we immediately saw and heard American Crows cawing, CA Gulls swooping, Dark-eyed Juncos socializing, Anna’s Hummingbirds buzzing each other and heard the metallic chink of CA Towhees. Barn Swallows were swooping Coast Casey Forebay and the paved walk way. We raised our binoculars to see the following water birds feeding in the Forebay: Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets, Northern Shovelers, American Coots, Black-crowned Night Herons, Canada Geese, Long-billed (?) and Short-billed Dowitchers, Green-winged Teals and only 2 Black-necked Stilts.

Darting in and out of the tall grasses on both sides of the paved walkway leading to the Pump House were White-crowned and Gold-crowned Sparrows. 2 Song Sparrows sang and were visible behind the fence; one handsome bright red male House Sparrow boldly sat atop the fence. A grumpy Northern Mockingbird loudly sang its imitative phrases. Hunched in the tall grasses around the seasonal pond west of the walk was a Black-crowned Night Heron and swimming were a pair of Gadwalls.

There were surprisingly few birds in the slough: a Mallard pair, and several American Coots. We were to learn why in a few minutes.

A very Low Tide provided a grand feasting area in the exposed mud flats and edges for hundreds, maybe thousands, of water birds in view from the wooden deck, darting rapidly, wildly in what appeared to be total confusion: American Avocet, (Black-necked Stilts,) Marbled Godwit, Willets, (Green-winged Teal), Cinnamon Teal, (Long-billed?) and (Short-billed Dowitchers), Dunlin, (Snowy and Great Egrets.) There were probably more species in the undulating turmoil!

Continuing East around Shoreline in the swampy area we (along with Bob found 2 Lesser Yellow-legs, saw/hard (with Bob Reiling+scope) more Marsh Wrens, (Short-billed Dowitchers) and heard only Common Yellowthroat. Forrester Terns; (CA Gulls) flew over-head. (In A1 more Forrester Terns rested on posts.) At Shoreline Lake: one Ring-billed Gull rested on wooden pier while Ruddy Duck, Western Grebe, Pied-billed Grebe dove and fished. In tree at north side of lake, 2 Red-tailed Hawks squabbled over a roost in same tree. Killdeer were the last new species we spotted before we departed via Coast Casey Forebay.

We had saved an hour to explore a different habitat at CUESTA PARK where we spotted Mourning Doves, (more Dark-eyed Juncos), Black Phoebe, American Robins, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Bushtits, (and another Red-tailed Hawk.)

We, The Bobettes, are happy to contribute to the fund-raising for children’s learning and experiencing the wonder of Birds and Wetlands.

~Donna Meyer and Linda Sue Johnson

Lean Green Birding Machine Trip Report 2024

At 7 am on Wednesday, April 24, three intrepid members of the Lean Green Birding Machine left my front door to embark on a day-long two-wheeled birding expedition. 35 1/2 miles, 9 1/2 hours, and 93 species of birds later, we concluded a very successful and very satisfying outing. Contributions to honor our efforts and benefit the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society’s educational programs for kids can be made here: https://scvas.app.neoncrm.com/campaignTeam.jsp?campaignId=157&teamId=112&

The Lean Green Birding Machine (originally the Mean Green Birding Machine when the team had more people) has been participating in the SCVAS spring birdathon for at least a dozen years. This year after some unfortunate personal issues we were down to just three intrepid cyclists — long-time LGBMers Bill Walker and myself, and new recruit Winnie Homer-Smith. In past years we've opted for the 4-hour category, but it's always felt a bit rushed. This year we decided to switch to the new 10-hour category, allowing us to cover a bit more territory, stop for lunch, and in general feel less pressure to move on from a good bird (or a possible sighting). It was an excellent decision.

Starting at my house at The Forum at Rancho San Antonio, we started off the day in nearby Rancho with the first of two GREAT HORNED OWL nests, and proceeded to exhaustively cover the bike-accessible trails at Rancho. By 8:30 we had a solid 40, highlighted by two different Rails in the "Rancho wetlands" — SORA and VIRGINIA RAIL. To top it off, we actually saw the Sora for the first time at this location. We did have some misses (Black-headed Grosbeak), but in general were off to a good start. Nearby Gate of Heaven Cemetery added COMMON MERGANSER and KILLDEER, though the Ring-necked Duck present two days earlier had gone.

SCVAS HQ at McClellan Ranch Nature Preserve added several more species, including the resident WESTERN SCREECH-OWL, but neither the hoped-for White-throated Sparrow nor a Hooded Oriole made an appearance. On through Blackberry Farm and the Stocklmeir property, and then we had a bit of a ride to our next stop, Cuesta Park, where we quickly found our target PYGMY NUTHATCH. A short jaunt from there puts us on the Stevens Creek Trail, headed for the Bay. Along the way we added another 17 species, most notably a WESTERN KINGBIRD.

It was now noon, so we rewarded ourselves with a nice lunch at the Shoreline Cafe. It would have been nice if a Brewer's Blackbird had joined us at our table, as they often do, because that was one of the common species we never did lay eyes on during the day (Great Blue Heron was another). After lunch, Shoreline Park and Lake added more to the list. The highlight was watching the largest squadron of BLACK SKIMMERS we'd ever seen flying around.

After surveying the Charleston Slough shorebirds from the platform (with time saved thanks to Pete Dunten letting us know we wouldn't find any Least Sandpipers among the thousands of WESTERN SANDPIPERS, thanks Pete!), the Adobe Creek Trail was particularly productive. Not only did we pick up some DUNLIN farther out in Charleston Slough, but in Adobe Creek itself we added both AMERICAN WHITE and BROWN PELICANS, a lone NORTHERN PINTAIL, three CINNAMON TEAL, and last but not last a RED-THROATED LOON (or "Red-throated Diver" as Apple's Brit-speaking Photo ID software would have it).

In the Palo Alto Baylands we finally found our only pair of GREEN-WINGED TEAL along with a group of WHIMBREL, and our only crowned sparrow, a GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW. The final spot on our agenda was the vagrant stakeout at the north end of the Emily Renzel Wetlands. At first we came up empty, but while we searched were rewarded with our first BUSHTITS for the day. But then the cry came from Bill — "There it is!" And so, very satisfyingly, our 93rd and final bird for the day showed himself — a HARRIS'S SPARROW. As with the Loon and several earlier sightings, though none of us had brought an actual camera, my iPhone 15 ProMax with its 5x optical zoom lens produced quite satisfactory results, with a lot lighter load!

The other two members of the team seemed eager to keep searching for species we had missed like Brewer's Blackbird, but there was no chance we were going to reach 100 species, and having that be our final species instead of the Harris's seemed way too anticlimactic to me. So instead we pretty much made a beeline back to Cupertino. When we started, I think we all thought the "10-hour" time limit was way more than we'd need or want, but as it turned out it was a little over 9 1/2 hours by the time we returned to the start for a beer and a ceremonial listening to Grant Hoyt's epic birdathon song, "One More Bird". "One more bird, one more bird! Don't even have to see it, you can count it if it's heard!"

Join us next year, but in the meantime, if you were inspired by our efforts, we welcome and encourage contributions to both honor our birdathon and support the educational programs of SCVAS, which provide nature study opportunities for under-funded schools who can't afford to pay for such enrichment programs.

Run for the Hills! Trip Report 2024

Orange-crowned Warbler: Teresa Cheng

Today, Edward Rooks and I led a non-traditional birdathon team "Run for the Hills".  Instead of trying to find the most birds possible, we birded Woods Rd in Almaden Quicksilver hoping for Black-throated Gray Warblers.  Our favorite bird of the day ended up being a Pileated Woodpecker near the parking lot. We could hear him hammering on a tree a little ways off and, at one point, the bird flew over our heads.  Orange-crowned Warblers and Hutton's Vireos were calling all along the trail.  We had at least 4 Blue-gray Gnatcatchers as well.  As far as the Black-throated Gray Warblers, we heard many but we're only able to get our eyes on one or two.  Here's our complete checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S170135806

Almaden Eagles Trip Report 2024

On Friday, April 19, the Almaden Eagles team did our annual Spring Birdathon. We are an all-woman team and do our counting using the "distributed" option with each member selecting their own area and/or place to count at their own time and pace. This year's team includes Janna Pauser, Kirsten Holmquist, Marion Farber, Linda Sullivan, Bobbie Baker and Ann Verdi.

Cedar Waxwings: Janna Pauser

We ended up with a total of 114 species this year. Rather than go through a long list of birds seen and heard, I just want to highlight special birds seen by each team member.

Two of the team members cover fairly large areas, so I want to start with them first:

Black-throated Gray Warbler: Jann Pauser

Janna Pauser covers most of the Almaden area including Hicks and Alamitos Roads and always comes up with a substantial number of species seen and heard, including ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER, TOWNSEND'S WARBLER, CASSIN'S VIREO and more.. This year she had a PHAINOPEPLA at Casa Grande in New Almaden, Also, in the early evening she got COMMON POORWILL on the road leading up to IBM.

Kirsten Holmquist covers much of the area south of Almaden proper - part of Stile Ranch Trail at Santa Teresa (ROCK WREN, WHITE-TAILED KITE), Calero Reservoir (OSPREY, 4 grebe species including EARED GREBE, 5 swallow species including BARN and CLIFF, and two tern species (CASPIAN and FORSTER'S). At Canada del Oro her finds included OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER, W. WOOD-PEWEE, W. FLYCATCHER, W. KINGBIRD and HUTtON'S VIREO. In Coyote Valley, she added YELLOW-BILLED MAGPIE and YELLOW WARBLER.

Linda Sullivan joined us this year to cover the Santa Clara Valley Water District and Guadalupe Oak Grove Park. Unfortunately the Water District had decided to drain the entire main pond and do maintenance on the smaller mitigation pond at this time - so what to do? As a true birder, Linda decided to go ahead with it anyway, and somehow the birding god (goddess) looked down on her and sent a magnificent adult BALD EAGLE to survey the situation thereby causing the workmen to stop what they were doing to see what was going on.

Linda also joined others, including Janna, to check Santa Teresa later in the day to view some of the birds there - LAZULI BUNTING, RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW, RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD, and also found a GOLDEN EAGLE. So that makes for a two eagle day for the Almaden Eagle team.

Marion Farber checked the Los Capitancillos Ponds again this year, and happily has reported that a female WOOD DUCK is now caring for her young brood in the easternmost pond west of Meridian again.

Bobbie Baker saw the GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE  at Almaden Lake who seems to want to hang on here a while longer. We were hoping this goose would still be here, and so it was.

Ann Verdi counted at the Greystone Park and was able to come up with a furtive RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH in the tall evergreen trees there - the only one seen for our day.

So - there you have it - another successful and somewhat unique day for our annual Birdathon. We hope to try it again next year.

The DeDUCKtions Trip Report 2024

The DeDUCKtions set out on our 10-hour Birdathon effort today. The team comprised of Liz Frith, Mary Ann Allan, Pauline Marchon, Emily Kim, Kelly Dodder and Matthew Dodder. We met at Dodder Abbey in Mountain View and proceeded to Ed Levin County Park, Don Edwards EEC, Sunnyvale WPCP, Emily Renzel Wetlands, Stevens Creek Park, and McClellan Ranch. Highlights were as follows.

Dodder Abbey:

Rufous Hummingbird, Red-breasted Nuthatch.

Ed Levin Sandy Wool/ Elm Area:

Grasshopper Sparrow, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Lazuli Bunting, and Say’s Phoebe on the hillside trail leading to the Sycamore Grove. The hike had completely dried out since last weekend, but at Sycamore Grove we decided to turn around. We bumped into friends Sheila Raymond and Mr. Melnick who informed us of a Western Kingbird we had missed on our way up. We found it later high on the hillside on the barbed wire fence above the hang glider landing strip. A singing White-throated Sparrow was in the Elm Area and stood for pictures near the parking lot.

Ed Levin Spring Valley Area:

Golden Eagle perched high on the hillside across the road. We had multiple Selasphorus Hummingbirds during our visit to the East Hills, but we had our first really good look at Rufous Hummingbird in the flowering eucalyptus above the horse training area. A White-tailed Kite and a Cooper’s Hawk presented themselves too.

Don Edwards EEC:

We picked up most of our Shorebirds here, but also had a Bonaparte’s Gull, and an Iceland Gull scoped from the corner of the Butterfly Garden. A small group of Greater Scaup was found in the distant pond. Three Barn Owls were seen as well.

Sunnyvale WPCP:

We searched for the wintering Tropical Kingbird and came up short, but we had a Lesser Scaup, another Western Kingbird as well as several Common Gallinule. We never did see Green Heron, sigh….

Emily Renzel Wetlands:

We made this detour of the sole purpose of finding the Harris’s Sparrow, which was briefly visible and has become so completely handsome since we last saw it! So much black on its face and snow white belly. Its distinctive call clued us to its presence and with some patience it revealed itself.

Stevens Creek Park (various):

We picked up a few species here, but not as many as we’d hoped. Still, seeing Black-headed Grosbeak, and Western Tanager bathing in the creek was wonderful.

McClellan Ranch:

Since I bird this place all the time, we had some expectations. The late afternoon - early evening activity is quite different, so it took us a while to get our remaining targets. One by one we located Western Flycatcher, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, and finally Black-chinned Hummingbird (reported earlier by Eve Meier). We also had a large number of Cedar Waxwings near the parking lot.

We missed some painfully easy birds, but that’s the way it works when you’re working against the clock and all you’re eating is chocolate-mint pretzels.

We ended up with at least 112 species (tentatively). https://ebird.org/tripreport/223705

Subspecies Report 2024

Yesterday, my last Birdathon team, the Subspecies, ventured out on a four hour effort. We began at Picchetti Ranch OSP at 8:00, and ended at noon at McClellan Ranch. The team comprised of Carolyn Straub, Steve McHenry, Mike Armer, Ryan Ludman, Amanda Newlove, Christopher Klein, Fanghong Chen, and Matthew Dodder. We spent a lot of time on bird songs, of which there were many to be heard. 

At Picchetti Ranch OSP we hiked to the seasonal pond finding a family of Mallards and most exciting was a pair of Wood Ducks. As we continued toward the boundary and into the woods we found Ash-throated Flycatcher, Orange-crowned Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler, Black-throated Gray Warbler, and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. Further along the trail, we heard Western Tanager and Western Wood-Pewee in the valley below us.

Next we went to the Lakeshore Picnic Area to scan the water and sky. We found the Spotted Sandpiper along the shore before the boat ramp. Later, we saw a second Spotted Sandpiper in the cove blow the road. Our most fortunate discovery here was a Green Heron flying along the far edge of the reservoir toward the north end of the reservoir. 

At the Stevens Creek Reservoir Spillway (below the dam), we added our first Song Sparrow, Bushtit, and had exceptional looks at Ash-throated Flycatcher.

Finally at the McClellan Ranch, we picked up a few common birds at the feeders such as Pygmy Nuthatch, Brown-headed Cowbird and California Towhee. We spent some time watching the salvia flowers outside the conference room and were rewarded with excellent views of the female Black-chinned Hummingbird.

We ended at lunch quite satisfied with our haul of 56 species. Trip report here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/230426

We also raised nearly $2000 for the SCVAS Education program. Thank you to all of our excellent team members, and all our generous donors!

Winging It Trip Report 2024

Canada Goose Family: Mary Ann Robertson

Our Birdathon team, Winging It, birded at Pearson-Arastradero Preserve in Palo Alto. It was a beautiful, calm, sunny morning. In the four hours, we saw and heard 52 species, including: a Lazuli Bunting; many Ash-throated Flycatchers and House Wrens; two Western Kingbirds; several Wilson's Warblers and a Hutton's Vireo calling from creekside trees; many Tree and Violet-green Swallows; and a lonely White-crowned Sparrow. Some of us also heard a Western Tanager. 

eBird Checklist

The Piratical Flycatchers Big Day 2023

Tuesday, 25 April, 2023

Western Screech-Owls make a call reminiscent of a ping pong ball rapidly dropping, with the hoots getting closer and closer until they become a trill. It’s eerie and it’s beautiful and it wakes us up at 1:07am on the day of our Big Day Birdathon. First bird! We are camping in our teardrop trailer on the shores of Coyote Lake in the hills west of Gilroy. Our alarms are set for 5am and thankfully we are able to nod off again fairly quickly after the thrill our nocturnal visitor gives us.

Pre-dawn at the campsite

We’d prepared campsite coffee the night before and cached it in a thermos. Every minute counts and we want to catch the dawn chorus of birds in the hills west of our campsite. We awaken on time, drink a quick cup each and then traipse off in the dark to the trailhead. Our binoculars and camera would be of little use for the first hour or two, but our ears will suffice until the light comes. The woodland birds greet us as the sky brightens and our hearts are filled with the joy and wonder of Nature.

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A California Towhee gathering nesting materials (click to zoom)

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Where we listened to the dawn chorus

When you’re craning upward in the early morning light to peer into a verdant canopy of Live Oaks, Sycamores and Bay Laurels and Ginger just glimpsed a Hermit Warbler and a rare Hammond’s Flycatcher flies in to see what’s up and a Brown Creeper starts trilling in the hollow, but the sun is rising above the hilltops and your watch insists you’re already behind schedule, it’s hard to move on. “Don’t leave the birds to find the birds,” a friend’s wise advice echoes in our heads. But we need to leave, or else our total count for the day will be twenty four instead of one hundred twenty four. “Just two more minutes,” I insist, ten full minutes before we finally drag ourselves back down the hillside to our campsite where more coffee and our car await to accelerate our pace.

A narrow road meanders along the western border of the reservoir, part of Coyote Lake-Harvey Bear County Park. At its northern end is a dam overlooking a valley where Canyon Wren can be reliably found, or at least heard, as they sing a most enchanting song: notes descending like cascades of water into a rocky valley. We find our wren, boldly perched mid-dam on a sizable boulder, announcing its presence with little regard for our frenzied tallying. Oh! White-throated Swifts flying overhead. Are they nesting in that cliff? Wait, are those Northern Rough-winged Swallows eating fox scat? No, they want the flies that’re buzzing around it. Black Phoebe, my favorite bird, perches atop the park bulletin board, its mate flycatching nearby. Cassin’s Vireo, Warbling Vireo, Wilson’s Warbler, all playing hide-and-seek and calling from the trees and oh yes, that’s a Nashville Warbler! If we stay long enough I can get a photo…but time, always time. Time to leave this spot for the next spot.

Canyon Wren singing

Black Phoebe at Coyote Dam

At the dam, Coyote Lake

Driving out of the park uphill toward the headwaters of Coyote Creek we spy Common Mergansers in the creek and American Robin in a Madrone as we drive. We stop to walk a bit along the roadside bordering the creek, finding a pair of Wood Ducks and two Black-headed Grosbeak and we always want to keep walking and see if maybe there’s one more bird we hadn’t noticed yet. A Western Tanager perhaps? No, not this time, or not in the time we have.

We turn back downhill, stopping at the Mendoza Ranch parking area on the way out of the east hills. There we watch a pair of Yellow-billed Magpies gather sticks to take to their nest-building site as soon as we stop stalking them. A pair of Tree Swallows are flitting atop the stop sign, ready to breed if only we’d avert our eyes. A Western Kingbird lands on the telephone wires; a Northern Flicker calls from the trees on the opposite side of the road. The little pond has pairs of Gadwall and Bufflehead and Ruddy Duck. It must be Spring. And I haven’t even mentioned the flowers, beautiful spring wildflowers blooming at every stop, distracting us from our quest.

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Stopping at Mendoza Ranch

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Yellow-billed Magpie collecting nest materials (click to zoom)

There’s always a sense of urgency during Birdathons, and constant strategizing to maximize our species count and minimize the time we’re driving. What have we already seen? What did we miss? Where can we go to get more birds in less time? What will traffic be like? What are the tides, the weather? We eat on the go from a snack bag we packed beforehand. We drink more coffee from the thermos and water from our water bottles. We’re always looking out the window in case a hawk soars above us or a passerine flushes from the Coyote Bush close enough for us to identify as we zoom past. But driving time is also valuable for thinking and we use our car-time to strategize.

Red-tailed Hawk

We plot a route that keeps us off the freeways and takes us via backroads past Chesbro Reservoir. There we stop briefly to watch a group of Common Mergansers moving across the lake and hear a Belted Kingfisher call in the willows and our first Wrentit of the day sing on the hillside. We don’t linger though, so next it’s on to Calero Reservoir where we find a pair of young Bald Eagles in a low-key tussle with a Golden Eagle! Nothing seems to come of the interaction; the Golden Eagle soars off and the Bald Eagles settle onto dead treetops on the far edge of the reservoir.

The press of time continues. We forego walking the edge of Calero in hopes of Least Bittern or Tricolored Blackbird—too much time for too small a chance for too few birds. We head to Rancho San Vicente, bathrooms and a hiking trail up green hills to where the Lark Sparrows were singing. We probably linger too long here, but it’s so beautiful.

Ginger on the trail at Rancho San Vicente

Finally we drive toward the Bay, but as we look at our route we realize we can make a quick stop at Lake Almaden, an oasis in the city. On exiting the car Ginger turns on the Merlin Bird ID app to record a sound she’s hearing up the hill: was that a Wilson’s Warbler or a Bewick’s Wren calling? Just as she does so, a Black-chinned Hummingbird dive-bombs her, its distinctive buzz recorded in Merlin for our records. Partway through our explorations we run into SCVAS’s Treasurer Gary Campanella and his wife out for a walk and we exchange hellos. We continue a ways up the creek trail, then cross a bridge to see what else we can find, but Bushtit was the only new bird for the day. We did see a pair of baby European Starlings in a woodpecker hole in a tree, being fed by their parents.

Okay, now it’s time to bolt for the Bay. We take freeways this time, 85 to 101 to San Antonio Road to Terminal Boulevard where we park at the east end to get to Shoreline Lake quickly. It’s 3:45pm. Our plan for the remainder of the day is to keep to the Baylands, with its wetland habitats full of different birds from the hillside forests, savanna and freshwater lakes we explored earlier.

Eared Grebe, Shoreline Lake

On Shoreline Lake we are immediately greeted by a small flotilla of Eared Grebes in their alternate-plumage finery and looking out to the island we see many glorious Black Skimmers with their unique extra-long lower mandible. When they take flight we count at least 30. While scanning the lake for the reliable Surf Scoters (the only place in the county that I know to find them) I see a mysterious white bird on the water, almost at the far shore. “What’s that weird duck?” I ask Ginger, “Is it an Eider or something?” I really had no idea, as I hadn’t been keeping on top of the South-Bay-Birds mailing list so I didn’t know that there was a very rare Long-tailed Duck recently reported there. These birds are found out at sea, rarely inland. Spending precious minutes, we walk all the way around the lake to the playground to get a closer view. The bird seems healthy and it lets us get fairly close for a little photo shoot!

Long-tailed Duck, a county rarity on Shoreline Lake

Black Skimmer above the island at Shoreline Lake

Part of the Shoreline Lake Black Skimmer flock

Our walking takes us to Salt Pond A1 hoping for Canvasback (nope), but we find the subtly-different Clark’s and Western Grebes on the saltwater, and a flock of approximately 200 Marbled Godwits in flight. The path takes us past Charleston Slough, the Forebay and a portion of Adobe Creek where we had hoped to find at least one Black-crowned Night-Heron. There was little there, no sign of the herons which are usually there in good numbers. As we finish the loop, two Green Herons fly over the pathway from one cattail-and-sedge-filled basin to the other.

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Clark’s Grebe: white around the eye (click to zoom)

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Western Grebe: black near the eye (click to zoom)

Green Heron flying over the trail at Charleston Slough

We hurry back to our car as the clock continues inexorably toward dusk and we take a tour of Palo Alto Baylands. The tide is rising, so we go first to the dock at the end of the road and scan out into the deeper bay, but find nothing new there. The muddy edges of the slough do give us a resting flock of Whimbrel. We drive to the Duck Pond, park and walk the borders of the slough. The water is rising in the flats between the pond and the visitor center and there a giant flock of Western Sandpiper are feeding hurriedly before the mud is inundated. I’m mesmerized by the huge number of birds in such a small area, all in a feeding frenzy, occasionally all taking wing at once as some threat, real or imagined, startles them. The sunlight is golden on the birds and the water; it’s another one of those moments that are really hard to leave.

Western Sandpiper feeding

Western Sandpiper flying

The entire flock of sandpipers takes off as the water rises and that breaks the spell. I turn to see a few Semipalmated Plover fly in and we think we see a Snowy Plover but aren’t sure enough to count it. Leaving, we spy our one and only Long-billed Curlew on the far shore, asleep at first but eventually showing us it’s enormously long bill and the lack of head stripes that help distinguish it from the Whimbrel we had counted earlier.

A quick drive over to Byxbee Park does not yield any of the hoped-for rails. We don’t get out of the car here, we’re getting very weary and we’re hoping to hit a couple more spots before we lose our light. We drive hopefully past a Barn Owl box behind the airport, but apparently the winter storms blew it over; it was leaning at an angle unlikely to be appealing to any owl, at least.

Next was Geng Road where a good number of Hooded Orioles call and fly in the trees above the parking lot. We get Spotted Sandpiper here along San Francisquito Creek, the border between Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties.

Tired as we are, we make one last stop at the Emily Renzel Wetlands, get out and hike the loop around the pond. There we find another Spotted Sandpiper, and our hoped-for Black-crowned Night-Heron. No Sora call. The sun sets. Darkness returns to hide the birds. We head back to the car.

Black-crowned Night-Heron at Emily Renzel Wetlands, our last new bird for the day

Sunset at Emily Renzel Wetlands

Rush hour is over as we drive through the city. We are physically drained and ravenous. We pull into Denny’s in Morgan Hill for our breakfast-for-dinner and to tally the day’s observations. Despite many misses, including the usually omnipresent House Sparrow, we have matched our previous year’s total of one-hundred twenty-four birds! Buoyed by our numbers we use our last burst of energy to drive back to our teardrop where we immediately fall into bed and sleep, only to wake again to the call of the Screech-Owl in the tree above our campsite.

Barry & Ginger Langdon-Lassagne
The Piratical Flycatchers

Our campsite at Coyote Lake

Our eBird Trip list with more (bird) photos can be found here.

Here’s the route we took on our Big Day:

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And one more thing…

Epilogue:

The next morning we linger at the campsite. Tree and Violet-green Swallows circle overhead. Ash-throated Flycatchers are clearly nesting somewhere near. The American Crows are waiting to see if we leave scraps of food behind. We slowly clean and pack our things, hook the teardrop up and creep out of the campground. As we drive up and over the hills toward Gilroy we decide that our sore muscles would benefit from a quick hike on one last trail before we go home. We decide to stop at the western entrance to the park. As we get out of the car we cross paths with Eve Meier, SCVAS’s Field Trip leader, and we catch up on each other’s lives. She tells us about her favorite trails at this entrance and we get excited to go exploring. We had never taken these trails before, despite our many years living here.

About a mile, mile and a half, up the trail we hear the high warble of a Lazuli Bunting—a spring arrival we had missed yesterday. We pause in the shade of a Valley Oak as the day has gotten hot and soak in the bird’s song. I look at our map and realize that another “short” mile up the hill runs the Bay Area Ridge Trail, which seems like a great place to turn around. I joke that there will be another new bird at the ridgetop and sure enough, a flock of Chipping Sparrows were flitting among the trees as we crested. We really didn’t expect that bird here—it was yet another delightful surprise. Lark Sparrows, Western Kingbirds, Western Meadowlarks and other savanna specialties were there as well and the view was spectacular. Wildflowers such as Mule Ears, Ithuriel’s Spear and Lupine were blooming on the green hilltops. We can see the lake below us to the east, and can tell where our campsite was. Far to the west is Loma Prieta and Mount Umunhum already silhouetted by the westering sun, and between those hills and our overlook sits the Coyote Valley, mostly agricultural land and wild open space despite its proximity to bustling Silicon Valley, and likely to remain that way due to the unending efforts of SCVAS and other conservation-oriented non-profits in the Santa Clara Valley. We take it all in, then begin to hike back down the trail. It’s hard to leave.

Ha ha! One more one more thing…

Postlude:

It’s 2023, so naturally I asked ChatGPT-4 to reflect on this essay and perhaps transmogrify it into poetry for me. Here’s an AI-generated excerpt of our adventures:

At the break of day, when the clock doth chime,
We look to treetops, losing track of time.
Live Oaks and Sycamores in verdant array,
Ginger spots a Hermit Warbler at play.
A Hammond’s Flycatcher joins the scene,
While a Brown Creeper trills in the hollow green.

The sun doth rise, we are off our pace,
But the birdsong holds us in its embrace.
"Don’t leave the birds to find the birds," a friend did say,
Yet leave we must, lest our count stray.
Two minutes more, I plead the time,
Yet ten minutes later, down the hill we climb.

Saint Anthony Ranchers Trip Report 2022

The Wrap Up:

The Saint Anthony Ranchers’ 2022 Birdathon is history. It was a big success again even with all the covid rules. There were eight of us, birding as five distributed teams of one or two in Santa Clara County. 

The numbers for this year: 96 species were tallied, down slightly from the high of 102 in 2021. The five teams were less than the seven teams last year. Hard to know but fewer eyes may have been the reason for the lower species count. The species list and areas covered, same as last year, are in the attached list. 

Some of the highlights: Lots of different ducks – thirteen species including the fancy Hooded Merganser at Gate of Heaven Cemetery. The species is regular in the cemetery pond in the winter and early spring.

A first for the Birdathon was Eurasian Collared Dove. This introduced dove, native to Europe and Asia, is a species that seems to be everywhere, but it does not compete with the native Mourning Dove.

Black Skimmers were again observed over Shoreline Lake in Mountain View. This  colony is separate from its nearest brethren in coastal San Diego. Their small numbers at the south end of San Francisco Bay are increasing. 

Six birds of prey species were tallied, including Great Horned Owl.

A Western Kingbird at Gate of Heaven Cemetery was a first for the Birdathon. Seen regularly east of here and further south, their numbers are on the rise locally. And a Tropical Kingbird, another first, in Palo Alto was a special treat, a rare bird that prompts birders to flock to see it. The bird has been seen this winter and spring. It has a wide distribution from Mexico and south. Instead of migrating further south in the fall, a few individuals migrate north to California.

Recorded in all areas were our common residents: Anna’s Hummingbird, American Crow, Bewick’s Wren, and House Finch.

Last but not least is the fundraising. Thru the heartwarming generosity of the Ranchers and non-birding contributors, we raised an impressive total of $3,283.80 for kids’ environmental education. This amount was the highest ever. We can’t thank you all enough.

Jim, with a lot of help from Sue.

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Highlights:

Jim and Sue

Sue and I began around 8:15 when the two most common Forum species sang their hearts out as we walked from our front door.  House Finches and Lesser Goldfinches are everywhere, although the Goldfinches tend to be less visible.

We walked along the ridge path that overlooks Santa Clara Valley in one direction and The Forum in the other. There was a large area of grass that had been just mowed for fire safety. The short grass that remained now revealed much evidence of gophers, and two opportunists, Great Blue Herons, were stalking their next meals. If you have ever seen a gopher caught by a Great Blue and it’s between the bird’s beak and it’s belly – remember the very long and skinny neck – you get the picture. Not this time, though.

Down off the ridge we encountered a female Anna’s Hummingbird flying at eye level, and just a few feet away. She was sallying back and forth catching insects, most likely for her nestlings. Had never seen that interesting behavior before.

Near the top of a pine tree perched a Common Raven, quietly surveying the scene below. In flew a lone American Crow, determined to chase off his larger relative. After several noisy swoops past the Raven the Crow finally succeeded.

A Great-horned Owl was our next target, and we found the bird. Bonuses were Violet-green Swallows and Acorn Woodpeckers.

Wintering White-crowned Sparrows (heard) and Golden-crowned Sparrows (seen) were stakeouts at a seed feeder. Never pass up a feeder.

The Forum is notorious for Wild Turkeys. We even have a “Forum Fight Song, “ written by a Forum resident, a retired musician and orchestra conductor, that references Turkeys. 

We were about to give up on the bird for the day, but at the last minute a lone Turkey walked across the road.

Donna Meyer and Linda Sue Johnson 

Together we rushed and pushed and hurried ourselves to cover 3 different areas hoping to accumulate a bird count greater than what we had achieved in each of the last 3 years.

First Area: Shoreline Park having  4 distinct count areas within

1.  Kite Flying area

2. Stevens Creek Nature Study Area, Pond A2E and Tidal Habitat AB1

3. Shoreline Lake 

4. Terminal Blvd: Coast Casey Forebay, Charleston Slough and wetlands areas

2nd Area: Palo Alto Baylands and Geng Road 

3rd Area : Cuesta  Park (spoiler: almost a BUST!) 

7:30 AM:  We (Donna and Linda) started our 4 hour bird count for St. Anthony Ranchers early enough to catch a tide for a good species count in the ponds and tidal habitat east of Stevens Creek Nature Study Area.   We found the number of birds in the bushes and small trees in Shoreline Park’s Kite Flying parking lot to be so varied that we were stopped in our rush to the ponds: busy Yellow–rumped Warblers, Anna’s Hummingbirds, Bewick’s Wren, Lesser Goldfinch, calling Eurasian Collared Doves, Brewer’s  Blackbirds, 2 Ravens on lamp posts, cooing Mourning Doves, and a “hide-and-seek” Ruby-crowned Kinglet engaged us much longer than we had intended.  We reluctantly pulled ourselves away to cover at a rapid pace the long walk down the parking lot row toward the Nature Study path eastward, finding on the way W. Meadowlark, CA Towhee, European Starlings, and a Cedar Waxwing flock flyover.  We pushed ourselves rapidly toward Stevens Creek bridges and beyond to catch the higher tide.   Just beyond the bridges (of course, No Black Rail in dry reeds) we saw numerous Green-winged Teal in low creek water and heard and spotted Song Sparrow and Common Yellowthroat, both species loudly voicing pleasure in the day.  Rushing on toward pond A2E, we were rewarded with views of numerous N. Shovelers, Am. Wigeon, and Gadwall.  Then we pushed on to the tidal habitat (AB1) where we were greeted by two flyover Snowy Egrets, mostly Lesser Scaup and hundreds of Ruddy Ducks, the males sporting handsome blue bills.  Knowing we could not dawdle appreciating the view and happy that we had beat the ebbing tide, we turned around and rapidly retraced our steps to the car, adding Golden-crowned Sparrows to species count.     (23)

On the drive to Shoreline Lake we spotted atop a light post a Red-tailed Hawk, the  first of several for the day.  American Crows were numerous as we approached parking on east side of Shoreline Lake.  The Lake and Island were busy with numerous species of birds to add to our list as we walked rapidly from east to west on north side of the Lake before being stopped by construction at the west end.  Path closed!  New Species for the day here: diving Common Golden-eye and  Pied-billed Grebe, American Coot, Eared Grebe, Black Skimmers in flight and on the Island, Willet, Canada Geese in water and on land, House Finch, several flocks of White-crowned Sparrows, CA Gull flying east to west, numerous Greater Scaup, Double-crested Cormorant in flight and on posts, tilting Turkey Vultures at every level in the sky,  and several elegant male and female Bufflehead.       (16)

     Happy with the variety of species around the Lake area, we hurried back to the car and drove to Terminal Blvd. to bird the western section of Shoreline Park where we added interesting new species at Coast Casey Forebay and Charleston Slough wetlands areas: one Great Egret, Killdeer, Black-necked Stilt, American Avocet, one Greater Yellowlegs, Northern Rough-winged Swallows, Cliff Swallows and Barn Swallows building nests, multiple Marsh Wrens calling loudly among the reeds, Bushtits and Mallards dabbling.  A Belted Kingfisher rapidly flew over our heads and disappeared to the west.      (12)

 Although we were disappointed at missing some of the usual species at Shoreline, we had to move on if we were going to cover all target areas.  Next stop was Palo Alto Baylands at lower tide where we found a few new species, including Canvasbacks, Northern Harrier, a Long-billed Curlew, Least Sandpipers on the mudflats, and Dowitcher sp.

Making a quick stop at Geng Rd. off Embarcadero allowed us to catch the Tropical Kingbird, our first of the day Western Bluebirds and Northern Mockingbird. 

Rushing still we were off to Cuesta Park hoping to finding a variety of different species.  Disappointment!  Practically running around the park to keep in our time period, we found only 2 new species: Dark-eyed Junco and a Nuttall’s Woodpecker.      (10)     

We were satisfied with 61 species for the 4 hour St. Anthony Ranchers Birdathon Day.

The Fledglings Trip Report 2022

2022’s Fledglings

Carter:

Yesterday, 4-9-22, I had the best day of birding I've ever experienced as I participated in the Fledglings Birdathon. All day, as soon as I thought things were slowing down, another amazing bird would show up!

The day began just after 7 am as my dad and I arrived at the Smith Creek Fire Station. Not long after getting out of the car, an adult BALD EAGLE flew over, not a bad start to the day! There was significant wind on the exposed Bonhoff and Manzanita Trails which kept the warblers down, but fortunately, key species like ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, PINE SISKIN, and BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER were still out and about.

Heading down to the creek, we ran into Mike Rogers, which was probably the most fortunate event of the day (more on that later). The valley where the creek runs was sheltered, making it much easier to find birds. The trees near the creek crossing were alive with birds, as WARBLING VIREOS and WILSON'S WARBLERS sang from unseen perches, BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAKS noisily flew between the trees, and the song of TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS descended from the neck-breaking heights at the very top of the canopy. Before the creek crossing, we added a silent DOWNY WOODPECKER and PACFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER to the list for the day. The next stretch of the trail was quiet, but at the end of the path, song resumed with pairs of both HUTTON'S AND CASSIN'S VIREO, plus a HOUSE WREN calling from some brush.

While heading back, Mike Rogers gave a bunch of super helpful tips on how to find birds, such as how the best way to find Hammond's Flycatcher was by listening to its 'peek' call note. Not five minutes later, he stopped abruptly, and I was amazed to hear a HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER calling from somewhere along the creek. Thanks, Mike!

Going back up the Foothill Trail, we got a few more songbirds plus a beautiful GOLDEN EAGLE that flew over, bringing our species for the Smith Creek part of the day up to 52!

Before leaving, Mike told us that Rufous-crowned Sparrow could be found simply by rolling down the windows and listening on the drive down to Joseph D Grant. On the way down, sure enough, I heard the "dear dear dear" of the RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW coming from the chaparral next to the road! Another great bird thanks to Mike!

Our next stop was at Grant Lake, where we wanted to quickly nab some waterbirds. Mike was also birding the lake next, and while scanning the lake next to us he suddenly exclaimed "Purple Martin!" I got the scope on
the area he described, and watched in awe as the gorgeous, iridescent male PURPLE MARTIN circled above the lake, even dropping down and drinking from the surface a few times!

Moving on to the Ranch House, we said goodbye to Mike, extremely grateful for the exceptional birds we spotted thanks to him. We soon ran into the other Mike, (Mike Mammoser) who pointed us in the direction of a few more target birds. Thanks to his good directions, we quickly got LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCH and AMERICAN GOLDFINCH at the fountain, then a heard-only LAZULI BUNTING on the connector to the Hotel Trail while two GOLDEN EAGLES soared in the distance. As we headed back to the car, we figured that since we were 30 minutes behind schedule we'd have to skip hiking out to see the
Vermilion Flycatcher. As we stepped into the parking lot, we saw a bright red flash low in a Sycamore. I looked, and it was the VERMILION FLYCATCHER!! I couldn't believe our luck, and the stunning bird was perched on an exposed twig, letting me get a photo to remember the moment.

Heading down towards the bay, our next stop was at the Penitencia Creek recharge ponds. When we arrived, we found the ponds to be bone-dry. Oops.

Laughing about the unfortunate consequences of not scouting the route beforehand, we arrived at Shoreline early, allowing us time for a much-needed lunch break. Once lunch was finished, our other team members Massimo Bafetti, Carlos Mendoza, and Cedrik Von Briel arrived from their respective routes. We set off towards Charleston Slough, hoping to add a bunch of shorebirds to the day's list. When we got to the
observation deck, the sight before us was quite unexpected. The water was very low, and the mud looked almost dry. The only shorebirds aside from a smattering of Avocets were 5 WILLETS, 1 MARBLED GODWIT, and 1 LONG-BILLED CURLEW. Not a single sandpiper or plover in sight! We then walked over to Shoreline Lake, where the flock of BLACK SKIMMERS flew up from the island and then resettled for scope views, a lifer for Carlos! Scoping A1 added some more REDHEAD plus a SURF SCOTER to the list for the day.

After shoreline, we all headed over to bird the Emily Renzel ponds together. We got great looks at a LESSER SCAUP and a CINNAMON TEAL in the south pond, and not long after our target bird, COMMON GALLINULE swam out from the reeds right next to the trail, a lifer for both Carlos and Massimo! Heading back to the cars, we said our goodbyes, as Carlos had a long drive home ahead of him, Cedrik was off to the Baylands & Byxbee park, and Massimo and I headed to Ulistac.

Arriving at Ulistac, Massimo and I walked through the native plant garden and the eastern trail in the park on our way to the marsh, not finding much. As we headed to the Solitary Sandpiper spot, Brooke pointed us in
the right direction, and John Scharpen was on the bird when we arrived. We all got great looks at the SOLITARY SANDPIPER foraging and occasionally disappearing behind a clump of reeds, as well as a WILSON'S SNIPE. We were unsure if the bird would stick around, so we were excited to find it so
easily!

Massimo then had to return home, while my dad and I met my mom at the SUNNYVALE WPCP, and dad headed off to work. There we picked up a few waterbirds missed at the Baylands such as BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON and CASPIAN TERN, while WHITE-THROATED SWIFT flew overhead and an AMERICAN PIPIT foraged on the path. Behind the radar tower, we got amazing looks at a male CINNAMON TEAL, but no Blue-winged. Heading towards pond A4 we picked up a GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE while Green Heron eluded us for the day.

My mom and I drove to Don Edwards, but unfortunately, the gate was closed and the crowd at the outside parking area was not giving us the warm fuzzies about leaving our car unattended (they did seem to enjoy the vapors from their large glass tube). After over 12 hours of birding, we decided to call the birdathon a wrap. I checked my phone, and I was ecstatic when I saw the number that popped up at the top of our shared trip report. 152
species!!!

All in all, it was an amazing day in so many ways. The team blew our 100 species goal out of the water, we all had great rarities (stay tuned for Cedrik, Carlos, and Massimo's reports), and it was great to get to bird
with other young birders. Above all, it felt really good to be doing this for a good cause, so thank you to SCVAS for protecting nature so that those 152 species can still find a place to live in our ever-more developed area.

The birdathon is certainly a team effort, so there are a lot of people I'd like to thank for making our day such a success! Thank you to Bill Bousman, Brooke Miller, Bill Pelletier, Mike Ambrose, Sarah Chan, Matthew Dodder, and Garrett Lau for providing information and helpful tips on where to find target birds. Thank you to John Scharpen for getting us on the Solitary Sandpiper, and thanks to Mike Mammoser for pointing us in the right direction to find Lazuli Bunting and Lawrence's Goldfinch at Joseph D Grant. A huge thanks to Mike Rogers for finding the Hammond's Flycatcher and Purple Martin for us, plus the treasure trove of other information he gave us. And most of all, thank you to Massimo, Carlos, and Cedrik for being the best teammates ever, and to Massimo for creating this team!

Here is our eBird trip report that has all of our checklists and photos: https://ebird.org/tripreport/46797

Western Bluebird: Massimo Bafetti

Massimo:

On April 9th, I had a great day birdwatching as part of the Fledglings Birdathon team. I got 4 lifers, and was able to meet some amazing young birders. 

Chipping Sparrow: Massimo Bafetti

I started the day off around 9, heading straight to Lone Hill Park. The moment I stepped out of the car, I quickly saw 2 of my first target birds, the Chipping Sparrows, foraging in the grass, along with a noisy mixed flock of House Finches and Lesser Goldfinches. I took a couple minutes to take some photos of the birds around the park, including a very nice-looking male Western Bluebird, and then headed over to my next stops, Guadalupe Oak Grove Park and Fontana Park.

Once we got to the parking lot of Guadalupe Oak Grove Park, I was immediately greeted by the calls of foraging Acorn Woodpeckers, and large and noisy flocks of Tree Swallows, Violet-Green Swallows, and Northern Rough-Winged Swallows. We walked the trail up the first smaller hill, and heard an interesting song being sung by a California Towhee. After we reached the top, we spent some time watching the swallow flocks, and spotted 2 White-Throated Swifts flying high above us. As we walked along the trail, we spotted a Cooper’s Hawk flying over the trail being mobbed by the swallows. 

After walking the Guadalupe Oak Grove Park trail, we reached Fontana Park, which was a surprisingly different landscape from the previous park, despite the proximity. We were welcomed by a large flock of Band-Tailed Pigeons taking off from the power lines. Throughout the park we saw lots of White-Crowned Sparrows and Golden-Crowned Sparrows, but our target species for the park was the elusive White-Throated Sparrow. I scanned the various native gardens, but still nothing. After 15 minutes, I was about to call it quits on the search, but then I saw some sparrows rustling in the bushes along the fence. As I walked over, they flushed over to the open yard of a home across the street, and I was able to snap a photo. After looking, I was able to tell that one of them was in fact the White-Throated Sparrow. 

Ring-necked Duck: Massimo Bafetti

After walking back, we quickly drove over to the Los Capitancillos Ponds. The first pond was devoid of birds, but hiding on the bank there was a small group of Killdeer fledglings. On the second pond, I was able to see my first target species, a small flock of Cackling Geese. I snapped some photos and quickly ran over to get the second target species, the Ring-Necked Ducks. I also spotted a Common Goldeneye on the 2nd pond east of Meridian. After this, we drove over to our meeting spot at the Charleston Slough area. You can check out Carter’s section for more information, but I was able to get three lifers in the area, Black Skimmer, Forster’s Tern, and Redhead! The group also spent time at Emily Renzel, which is an area I had never previously visited. There, I was able to get my fourth lifer of the day, a Common Gallinule. There, we said goodbye to Carlos, and Cedric went off to his next stop. 

Carter, his dad, my dad, and I continued over to Ulistac Natural Area, in search of the Solitary Sandpiper spotted there by other birders. Once we arrived, we spent some time searching for a Fox Sparrow, but to no avail. However, our luck changed once we reached the marsh, with excellent views of the Solitary Sandpiper and a Wilson’s Snipe. This is where I called it a day, and we headed home to end an excellent day of fun and action-packed birding!

California Towhees Trip Report 2022

On April 10th the California Towhees Birdathon team birded within 1 mile of our homes, to see how many bird species we could identify.  Some of us stayed in our backyards and some of us ventured out around our neighborhoods.  

We were lucky that our Birdathon day was somewhat cool after the hot days the week before, and overall it was an excellent birding morning.  However, as early afternoon came around, the winds really picked up with the ensuing storm, and many of us were done for the day.  But overall, I think the event was a success for our team, and it really highlighted just how many birds we have in the immediate areas around our homes and what a wonderful variety of habitats we all encompass.  This year we had 11 team members and observed 82 unique species.  

And I also think it was quite appropriate that the only bird that all members reported was the California Towhee!

House Finch eating berries: Brooke Miller

Black-chinned Hummingbird: Brooke Miller

Hutton’s Vireo: Brooke Miller

Wild Turkey: LC Boros

Bullock’s Oriole: LC Boros

Golden-crowned Sparrow: LC Boros

Merlin: Jennifer Oliver

Cedar Waxwing: Jennifer Oliver

Says Phoebe: Jennifer Oliver

And here is a complete list of the birds we identified:

1. Acorn Woodpecker

2. Allen's Hummingbird

3. American Coot

4. American Crow

5. American Goldfinch

6. American Robin

7. American Wigeon

8. Anna's Hummingbird

9. Band-tailed Pigeon

10. Barn Swallow

11. Bewick's Wren

12. Black Phoebe

13. Black-chinned Hummingbird

14. Blue-grey Gnatcatcher

15. Brown-headed Cowbird

16. Bufflehead

17. Bullock's Oriole

18. Bushtit

19. Californa Towhee

20. California Gull

21. California Quail

22. California Scrub-Jay

23. California Thrasher

24. Canada Goose

25. Cassin's Vireo

26. Cedar Waxwing

27. Chesnut-backed Chickadee

28. Chipping Sparrow

29. Cliff Swallow

30. Common Raven

31. Cooper's Hawk

32. Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)

33. Double-crested Cormorant

34. Eurasian-collared Dove

35. European Starling

36. Gadwall

37. Golden-crowned Sparrow

38. Great egret

39. Hermit Thrush

40. Hooded Oriole

41. House Finch

42. House Sparrow

43. House Wren

44. Hutton's Vireo

45. Kildeer

46. Lark Sparrow

47. Lesser Goldfinch

48. Mallard

49. Merlin

50. Mourning Dove

51. Northern Mockingbird

52. Northern Rough-winged Swallow

53. Northern Shoveler

54. Nuttall's Woodpecker

55. Oak Titmouse

56. Orange-crowned Warbler

57. Pacific-coast Flycatcher

58. Purple Finch

59. Pygmy Nuthatch

60. Red-breasted Nuthatch

61. Red-shouldered Hawk

62. Red-tailed Hawk

63. Red-winged Blackbird (California Bicolored)

64. Rock Pigeon

65. Ruby-crowned Kinglet

66. Ruddy Duck

67. Say's Phoebe

68. Snowy Egret

69. Song Sparrow

70. Spotted Towhee

71. Steller’s Jay

72. Tree Swallow

73. Turkey Vulture

74. Violet-green Swallow

75. Western Bluebird

76. White-breasted Nuthatch

77. White-crowned Sparrow

78. White-tailed Kite

79. Wild Turkey

80. Wrentit

81. Yellow-rumped Warbler

82. Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's)