This morning (Wednesday, March 30) Jim Dehnert, Christopher Klein and Matthew Dodder ventured out with "Team Subspecies” for the SCVAS Birdathon. We met at Rancho San Vicente and immediately had two GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS in the grass beside the parking lot. We heard the song and got great looks at one of the two birds as it crouched in the grass just a few yards from the pavement. Hopefully Jim and Christopher’s photos turned out. We didn’t stay long at Rancho San Vicente but did manage also to add WESTERN MEADOWLARK and a WESTERN KINGBIRD to our day list.
We then drove to Calero Reservoir and parked in the boat launch area. Our targets were mostly not found, but we did have our first CLIFF SWALLOWS of the season, as well as BARN, VIOLET-GREEN, and NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS. Across the water to the south we spotted two WILSON’S SNIPES probing on the shore. Other Shorebirds inlcuded GREATER YELLOWLEGS, KILLDEER, and BLACK-NECKED STILT. The WESTERN and CLARK’S GREBES were actively “singing” and dancing. We also spotted a couple of alternate-plumaged EARED GREBES. A group of four COMMON GOLDENEYE and dozens of COMMON MERGANSERS were present as well. We did not see any Eagles or Osprey at the reservoir, but did see a female NORTHERN HARRIER being harassed by RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS. A small raft of AMERICAN WHITE-PELICANS were on the south end along with a pair of GREEN-WINGED TEAL.
Finally we went to the Stile Ranch Trailhead, but stayed low and strolled the Calero Creek Trail. Since we did not hike up the hill, we did not find Grasshopper Sparrow here. But that didn’t matter because it had been the first species we got at our rendezvous. Along the creek trail we had a minimum of 7 RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROWS and at least 3 CALIFORNIA THRASHERS in the chaparral hillside section. As we approached the creek we added WARBLING VIREO, HUTTON’S VIREO, BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER and several PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHERS. We had an unexpected BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON and a GREAT BLUE HERON below us in the creek, and two lingering HERMIT THRUSHES.
We ended our 4-hour adventure with 84 species.
The three checklists and locations can be found here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/45440
Next Wednesday, April 6, the Birdcasso team will head out to draw and/or paint every bird they see. If you wish to sponsor us (or lend your talents to the effort) you can find the information here: https://scvas.org/spring-birdathon-2022-teams#birdcassos
Matthew