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.