by Deborah Jamison
In my birdathon description online and to all team participants, I mislead everyone and will now correct the error. The Cupertino Creek Cruisers birdathon team has been doing the SCVAS Spring birdathon for 18 years, not 17! The team originated as Stevens Creek Birda/Mara-thoners and is not included in the 18 count. This team consisted of Steven Patt, Grant Hoyt (birder extraordinaire who moved to Oregon) and Steve Patt. They walked the entire length of Stevens Creek, minimally 26.4 miles, in 2 days and counted 98 species. This historic document with many photographs is available for viewing in hard format in my home.
The next year, 2004, the team morphed into Team Cupertino Creek Cruisers, with a motto “Fossil Fuel-Free Fun Finding Feathered Friends for Funds”. It lasted 9 hours on foot and was undertaken by Steve Patt and myself. We found 47 species, 2 skunks, 1 deer, 1 off-leash dog and 1 domestic cat, all in McClellan Ranch. Without a bridge to Stocklmeir, we forded Stevens Creek on foot in both directions and counted there. Walking back, we exited Blackberry Farm at the Scenic Circle gate. We descended into the hidden “peninsula” formed by a hairpin turn in the creek and spotted a raven. Subsequent birdathons included Scenic Circle and the peninsula as well. Coming in the back door of the Simms Property (now called McClellan Ranch West) we spotted our one and only Woodduck in all of the times we have done this birdathon,
We did not limit our time to 4 hours until 2009. That was also the time that we recruited city naturalist Barbara Banfield and landscape planner naturalist Jana Sokale to do the Blackberry Farm section as it was torn up to move the creek to a new alignment and was closed to non-staff visitors. We used the extra time to visit the Cupertino percolation ponds on McClellan Rd. and got a few new water species added to the list before time ended. That year we got 54 species.
In future years, other members joined the team, and left for various reasons. Ruth Troetschler, longtime devoted member of SCVAS and excellent birder, moved to Castro Valley where she died just a few years ago. Gail Bower moved to Carmel Valley where she observes and plants native plants and of course finds birds. Stalwart members include Pat Kenny, Ann Hepenstal and honorary member Barbara Banfield, city naturalist. And of course my husband Steve Patt, whose Birdwatcher’s Diary app makes recording sightings quick and easy, his long lens camera photographing some of the birds, plus all of the other duties he undertakes.
And we love our newbies. This year, 2021, they were Joan Young, Scott Johnson, and Jai Cho. Christopher Klein had a death in his family and couldn’t make it. Barbara Banfield and Pat Kenny led this Stocklmeir 2 member sub-team. Jai Cho joined Ann Hepenstal at McClellan Ranch Nature and Rural Preserve. Joan Young and Scott Johnson teamed up with Steven Patt and Deborah Jamison at Blackberry Farm.
We have a lot of traditions we try to keep up. This year we did not spend the night before the birdathon waiting at the barn door for the barn owl to take flight followed by walking around McClellan Ranch listening for western screech and great horned owls. This one we did: muffins, tea and coffee when we arrive at McClellan Ranch, staying in the vicinity of the parking lot until we see a hooded oriole at the feeders, having lunch at the golf course picnic table …. Every year different circumstances change some of our routine, including the 2020 and 2021 distributed birdathons. We had 3 small groups taking one of the 3 properties of the Stevens Creek corridor in Cupertino, the focus of our birdathon.
April 22 was a sunny, warm day. We gathered at MRP, got some coffee, tea and muffins, and separated into our 3 sub-teams. 4 hours later we rendezvoused again in Blackberry Farm for lunch, still looking for birds, comparing notes, and enjoying one another’s company. I forgot to make sure photos were taken of the participants! Darn it! But we do have a few photos of birds, and of course the list! To make sure everyone knew what the boundaries of their territory was, I made a simple hand drawn map of the three territories.
Birdathon Report for Sub-team Cupertino Creek Cruisers, Blackberry Farm section of Stevens Creek Corridor
Members: Steven Patt, Joan Young, Scott Johnson, Deborah Jamison
7:30 – 11:30 am A cool 50 degrees morning that developed into a warm 63 degrees day. Everyone took off their outer layers. Sunny, and very pleasant.
From the parking lot we walked up San Fernando Ave. to nab the more suburban birds. We were not disappointed when we heard a Mockingbird, the closest bird to Byrne Ave. The first of 4 Purple Finches was in the same general area. We heard 3 more in different areas, a popular species for today (no, the songs were not those of House Finches). From there we walked the toward the southern border with McClellan Ranch. An American Crow followed us closely up the trail. On our way back we stopped at a eucalyptus tree near the playground where a Great Horned Owl had a nest in previous years. At first we couldn’t see it, but “Mr. Owl Guy and his mixed beagle” happened by and gave us instructions on where to spot it. At least one in our party did manage to see it. We found 4 “bachelor” Mallards in the creek, not always an assured species. At some point we stopped counting Dark-eyed Juncos; they were everywhere. It was a Red-shouldered Hawk day. 4 in all, mostly in the air calling, one perched. We took care not to re-count the same ones. A Red-tailed Hawk was in the mix too, a good teaching moment comparing the hawk species for our newer team members. We ended up with 34 sightings, the highest for Blackberry Farm since 2011 (36 count). We finished in the mass picnic area across the creek with our 2 other sub-teams joining us for a relaxing “social” sit at 2 big picnic tables.
Note: We did not survey the owl population by walking at night in MRP and BF playing recordings, and we did not survey the bird population in the “peninsula” off of Scenic Circle as we have done most years.
Birdathon Report for Sub-team Stocklmeir, section of Stevens Creek Corridor
Barbara Banfield and Pat Kenny were the 2-person Cupertino Creek Cruisers subteam covering the Stocklmeir area of the Stevens Creek Corridor. We birded the official Stocklmeir section of the park and then Stevens Creek Blvd to the golf course. During most of our walk we were serenaded by lots of acorn woodpeckers. Our most surprising bird of the day was a White-throated Sparrow on Stevens Creek Blvd. The weather was very pleasant and made for a very enjoyable walk.
Sightings
Blackberry Farm
35 sighting(s)
2 Canada Goose
4 Mallard
1 Turkey Vulture
4 Red-shouldered Hawk
1 Red-tailed Hawk
2 Band-tailed Pigeon
2 Eurasian Collared-Dove
3 Mourning Dove (H)
1 Great Horned Owl
3 Anna's Hummingbird
7 Acorn Woodpecker
1 Nuttall's Woodpecker (H)
2 Pacific-slope Flycatcher (H)
2 Black Phoebe
1 Hutton's Vireo (H)
3 Warbling Vireo (H)
3 California Scrub-Jay
10 American Crow
6 Chestnut-backed Chickadee
4 Oak Titmouse
4 Bushtit
1 Brown Creeper (H)
8 Bewick's Wren
4 Western Bluebird
3 American Robin
1 Northern Mockingbird
7 European Starling
3 Spotted Towhee
2 California Towhee (H)
3 Song Sparrow (H)
10 Dark-eyed Junco
1 Hooded Oriole
4 Purple Finch (H)
2 House Finch
1 Lesser Goldfinch
McClellan Ranch (37.31440, -122.06278)
35 sighting(s)
15 Canada Goose
4 Mallard
1 Turkey Vulture
2 Red-shouldered Hawk
1 Red-tailed Hawk
4 Band-tailed Pigeon
4 Mourning Dove
1 Western Screech-Owl
6 Anna's Hummingbird
7 Acorn Woodpecker
4 Nuttall's Woodpecker
2 Pacific-slope Flycatcher
3 Black Phoebe
2 Warbling Vireo
1 Steller's Jay
1 California Scrub-Jay
9 American Crow
8 Chestnut-backed Chickadee
4 Oak Titmouse
2 Bushtit
2 White-breasted Nuthatch
1 Bewick's Wren
3 Western Bluebird
6 American Robin
8 European Starling
15 Cedar Waxwing
1 Orange-crowned Warbler
1 Townsend's Warbler
3 Spotted Towhee
2 Song Sparrow
1 Golden-crowned Sparrow
8 Dark-eyed Junco
1 Western Tanager
3 House Finch
3 Lesser Goldfinch
Stocklmeir (37.32254, -122.06139)
23 sighting(s)
4 Red-shouldered Hawk
2 Red-tailed Hawk
3 Rock Pigeon
6 Band-tailed Pigeon
4 Mourning Dove
15 Acorn Woodpecker
1 Nuttall's Woodpecker
2 Black Phoebe
1 Warbling Vireo
2 California Scrub-Jay
2 American Crow
8 Chestnut-backed Chickadee
1 Brown Creeper
1 Bewick's Wren
2 Western Bluebird
2 American Robin
1 Northern Mockingbird
3 European Starling
3 Spotted Towhee
3 California Towhee
1 White-throated Sparrow
6 Dark-eyed Junco
2 Lesser Goldfinch