We did our very first SCVAS Birdathon as the Curious Clickadees team on Sunday, Apr 17. We went with the ‘Photography’ spin on the trip and wanted to get as many species as we can on our camera, and with that also catch some spring activity. We ended the day with 103 species with 90 of them photographed in an approximately 12-hour period.
We decided to start with Smith Creek Station as our first stop. Our very first bird was a BLACK PHOEBE, something we commonly add to our checklists in the county. As we made our way through the trail, the spring migrants were in full swing. We saw CASSIN’S VIREO, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, WILSON’S WARBLER ,and WARBLING VIREOS. We crossed the creek and came upon a bunch of BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAKS calling and singing - including one female on a nest. As luck would have it, we only had a bottom shot of a chickadee - that the team is based on, and was our only picture of the species.
Next, we headed to Joseph Grant Park - Ranch House, where WESTERN KINGBIRDs and BULLOCK’S ORIOLEs welcomed us in the parking lot. At the ranch house and the oaks nearby, we saw our FOS AMERICAN GOLDFINCH, LAZULI BUNTING, ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER , and LAWRENCE’S GOLDFINCH. It was interesting to see several birds foraging for insects and gathering nesting material. We then made a stop at Grant Lake, where we saw our only GADWALLs of the day.
We made our way to Milpitas to get the BALD EAGLE at Curtner Elementary School and then stopped at Ben Rodgers Park to try for the recently sighted RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD. We were successful in seeing what was a life bird for us, after several other attempts.
Our plan was to go to Ed Levin County Park next, however, it only dawned on us once we reached that it was Easter and the park was super crowded. We decided to break for lunch and managed to get the GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE, TREE SPARROW, and a breeding plumaged PURPLE FINCH. Our list was missing a few south county specialties, so we drove to Coyote Valley, where we saw the WESTERN MEADOWLARK, a distant WHITE-TAILED KITE, and AMERICAN KESTREL.
Our final leg of the day brought us back to the bay to look for waterbirds and it did not disappoint. Among others, at Palo Alto Baylands, we saw the CLIFF SWALLOWs were busy gathering mud for their nests, at Shoreline Lake the BLACK SKIMMERs were back on their island, and at Charleston Slough/Coast Casey Forebay, a pair of CINNAMON TEAL foraged while hundreds of WESTERN SANDPIPERs were flushed by a NORTHERN HARRIER. Since, amazingly, we hadn’t seen a GREAT EGRET in the day, we stopped at Shorebird Way Rookery as the sun set.
We had a really great time exploring different parts of the county and catching all the spring action of foraging, nest building, nesting, and juvenile-tending.
eBird report: https://ebird.org/tripreport/48496
~ Vinayak and Shweta