Yesterday, 4-7-21, my dad and I did our first ever Birdathon. We named our team "The Flycatchers" as the Black Phoebe was the first bird I identified when I was five, and the Vermillion Flycatcher is my favorite bird. We decided to do a 4-hour counting birdathon, as for the past year my dad and I have been working on a route through Stevens Creek Park that gives the maximum number of species in the shortest amount of time. Before starting, we set a lofty goal of seeing 100 species.

I started the 4-hour clock ticking at exactly 7:07:07 am on 4/7, about a mile south of Stevens Creek Park on Mt. Eden Road. A Spotted Towhee and Oak Titmouse called from the side of the road, the first of many for the day.

Our first stop at the southern border of the park produced the first of several Purple Finches and Orange-crowned Warblers for the day, but unfortunately, after ten minutes of waiting we did not find the hoped-for California Quail.

We then headed to the Cooley/Canyon picnic areas with high expectations, as during our scouting trip on Sunday this area was filled with birds. We were not disappointed, as we added a ton of birds to our list including HAIRY WOODPECKER, DOWNY WOODPECKER, HERMIT THRUSH, WILSON'S WARBLER, BROWN CREEPER, and 5 singing TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS.

Our next stop was at the pullout where the Tony Look Trail meets Stevens Canyon Road. This is our favorite stop along our route, as we never leave it without seeing something new. After 5 minutes of almost no birds, we were about to leave when two CALIFORNIA QUAILS called from the distance. We were so excited to get to count them, as we figured we wouldn't find any after missing them at our first stop.

Near the next pullout, a BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER was foraging in the oaks above the road, and a KILLDEER called from the water below.

At the Lakeshore Picnic Area, we picked up our swallows for the count, as TREE, VIOLET-GREEN, BARN, and NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED swallows were foraging over the reservoir. I began scoping for the SPOTTED SANDPIPER, and saw it foraging on the mud nearby. We were about to leave when a VAUX'S SWIFT flew right over my head! I was not expecting to get a Vaux's Swift, so we were super excited!

Moving on to the dam, we spotted a MERLIN perched on a distant snag, another unexpected bird for the count.

At the Chestnut Picnic Area, there was a RED-TAILED HAWK perched on its usual tower on the ridge.

At the Villa Maria Picnic Area, our final stop in Stevens Creek County Park, we ran into Dave and Floy Zittin, who expertly pointed us in the right direction to find PINE SISKIN, WESTERN BLUEBIRD, and HUTTON'S VIREO, the final three songbirds we were missing for our count! Thank you Dave and Floy!

Overall, the Stevens Creek portion of our birdathon went spectacularly. Out of all the birds we expected to find, we only missed two, the Ruby-crowned Kinglet, which is getting less common now anyway, and the Wild Turkey. We left Stevens Creek Park with 56 species, and an hour and forty minutes left on the clock.

The next stop was at McClellan Ranch, where we made a quick stop to see the WESTERN SCREECH-OWL.

Along highway 85, we got our only ROCK PIGEONS.

We arrived at the Shoreline Kite Flying Area with only an hour and fifteen minutes left and 44 birds left to find, so I quite literally sprinted the mile to the end to the pump house and back, and got incredibly lucky with all the birds I was hoping to find (SAVANNAH SPARROW, WESTERN MEADOWLARK, AMERICAN PIPIT) plus a bonus LINCOLN'S SPARROW. I was quite winded after only running a mile, so I really admire the endurance the Fartlek Falcons have for their marathon outing.

We then parked at the Rengstorff House, with only an hour left to get the remaining 37 species we needed to hit our goal. I knew Shoreline's abundance of waterbirds could pull through, and as I scoped Shoreline Lake our count went up rapidly with the lingering wintering ducks, as well as gulls and skimmers on the island. It was now a race against the clock to get to Charleston Slough so that we could find all the shorebirds we needed to break 100 species.

I set up to quickly scope pond A1 for the remaining ducks we needed, when a Scaup sporting a funky hairdo caught my eye. I zoomed in, and noticed an obvious tuft on the back of the bird's head, as well as a deep purple iridescence. The flanks were clean, and the back looked quite dark from where we were at the time, so I figured I could be looking at a pure Tufted Duck. The duck could have left at any time, and a Tufted Duck could be a serious contender for Best Bird, so I decided to stay with it instead of continuing on to Charleston Slough. We spent the last 45 minutes of our birdathon observing the bird, and I eventually concluded that it must be a Tufted Duck x Scaup sp. hybrid, due to a hint of green iridescence on the head in certain light, and the back getting slightly paler towards the front (photo in eBird).

I totaled up our lists, and was ecstatic to see that we had found 87 species in just four hours! We really enjoyed being a part of the SCVAS Birdathon for the first time, and can't wait to see what the other teams find!

eBird Lists:
Stevens Creek: https://ebird.org/checklist/S85032855
Shoreline (photos of hybrid): https://ebird.org/checklist/S85042427