Team Sharpies did the SCVAS Birdathon as a distributed team on Friday April 24, 2020. We netted 166 species on the day, getting photos (or audio recordings) of 148 different species. Having the team divide and conquer helped us to top our all-time team record of 149 species and last year's total of 141 birds. Who knew that we would have a shot at 100+ birds each in our various little parts of the world?!?

The Sharpies have raised $1,642.00 for SCVAS and we had a great time while learning a new way of birding.

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Meet the participants, who each birded their 5-mile radius (5MR) from home and had a lot of fun despite missing each other terribly.

Bill Pelletier & Kitty O'Neil - Hotspots in 5MR include Penitencia Creek, Grant Ranch & Lake, Sierra Vista, Lake Cunningham, and Thompson Creek. Unfortunately, our #1 producing hotspot, Alum Rock Park, was closed for the pandemic. We started the day at home with a life yard bird Peregrine Falcon and got a photo! We picked up 60 species at Grant Ranch including Lazuli Bunting, Lark Sparrow and Bullock's Orioles

https://ebird.org/checklist/S67738201 and ended the day with 102 species.

Barry & Ginger Langdon-Lassagne - Hotspots include McClellan Ranch, Bubb Rd Perc Pond, Cuesta Park, Ulistac, Alviso hotspots, Sunnyvale WPCP, and salt pond A4. Highlights included all three Nuthatches, Yellow Warbler and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher at Cuesta; Gallinule, Green Heron and Golden Eagle at WPCP; A4 delivered big with 30 species, many of them hard to get like Lesser Yellowlegs and a flock of 100 Bonaparte's Gulls https://ebird.org/checklist/S67745045 and ended the day with 105 species.

Pygmy Nuthatch at Cuesta Park—Barry Langdon-Lassagne

Garrett Lau - Hotspots covered were Ulistac, Sunnyvale Baylands, WPCP, A4, Rancho San Antonio, Gate of Heaven, McClellan Ranch, Blackberry Farm, Bubb Pond, Cuesta Park and Las Palmas Park. Highlights included Ring-necked Pheasant at Sunnyvale Baylands, Short-billed Dowitcher at WPCP, Spotted Sandpiper along the bay trail, White-throated Sparrow at McClellan, both Red-Masked and Mitred Parakeet at Las Palmas and Pygmy Nuthatch at Cuesta https://ebird.org/checklist/S67729595 and ended the day with 101 species.

White-throated Sparrow, McClellan Ranch—Garrett Lau

Sergio Perez - Hotspots include Vasona / Oka Ponds, Shannon Valley OSP and he birded his neighborhood quite extensively. When we bird as a team, Sergio is the top spotter so I know the other groups (including Kitty & me) really missed him. Highlights include Black-chinned Hummingbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Western Tanager, Cooper's Hawk and many more https://ebird.org/checklist/S67740092 and ended the day with 65 species. The most exciting segment was Shannon Valley OSP with amazing views of the Lazuli Bunting and great bird songs!

Mike Ambrose & Sonja Kramer - Hotspots include Charleston Marsh, Kite-flying Area, Sunnyvale Baylands, Don Edwards EEC, and the Bay Trail. Their efforts contributed a fantastic amount of audio recordings, as sampled on one of their checklists https://ebird.org/checklist/S67716909 Highlights included Caspian Tern and Short-billed Dowitcher at the EEC, Red-breasted Nuthatch at the Charleston Rd Marsh, Cliff Swallows at Moffett Field and ended the day with 90 species.

Don Pendleton - Hotspots include Shoreline Lake, San Francisquito Creek, Palo Alto Baylands and unique areas that netted him a lot of birds that no other Sharpie got on the day. Highlights include Surf Scoter, Black Skimmer, Red Knot, Cinnamon Teal and a lot of great photos https://ebird.org/checklist/S67729052 and ended the day with 63 species.

Red Knot at Palo Alto Baylands—Don Pendleton

John & Youngmi Hurley - Hotspots include Fremont Older, the super productive Steven's Creek County Park where John put his newly acquired Birding by Ear skills to the test, as many of the birds were not in view. Highlights include Wilson's Warbler, California Thrasher, Wrentit, Ash-Throated Flycatcher, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and great views of Spotted Towhee https://ebird.org/checklist/S67736733 and ended the day with 25 species.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher at Stevens Creek County Park—John Hurley

Gordon Rydquist - Hotspots include Santa Teresa, Los Capintancillos Ponds, Greystone Park, Rancho San Vicente, and the only south county bird locales for the whole team. Highlights included Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Grasshopper Sparrow and Western Meadowlark at Santa Teresa; Lark Sparrow at Rancho San Vicente; Clark’s Grebe at Calero; Pine Siskin at Greystone Park; Purple Martin at Los Capitancillos; Wood Duck at Coyote Creek Trail. https://ebird.org/checklist/S67724829 and ended the day with 82 species.

Lark Sparrow at Ranch San Vicente—Gordon Rydquist

We look forward to the day when the Sharpies can join forces and bird together, not apart.

All the best,

Bill P

Barry & Ginger’s Sharpies Writeup

Ginger at Cuesta Park, Mountain View—Barry Langdon-Lassagne

When we birded our 5-Mile Radius (5MR) on Wednesday as The Piratical Flycatchers, we had in mind our Friday Big Day with The Sharpies as well. In a way, The Piratical Flycatchers’ expedition was a scouting run for The Sharpies Birdathon. Both days were highly successful: we proved consistently (n=2 :-)) that we can find more than 100 species of birds without leaving our 5MR. Considering that we’re smack in the middle of Silicon Valley, more than 5 miles from either the east or the west hills and way too far north for the south hills and Coyote Valley, that’s a pretty delightfully diverse collection of birds.

So, what do we have within our 5MR? Well, we aaaaaalmost make it to the hills. McClellan Ranch is just inside the circle, but the golf course across the street from the ranch is not. Along with the nearby freshwater Bubb Road Percolation Pond, we are able to pick up a good number of forest birds. We got Wrentit here on Wednesday (but alas, not on Friday) as well as California Quail. Black-headed Grosbeaks and both Hooded and Bullock’s Orioles were present on both outings. We found Wilson’s Warblers and Pacific-slope Flycatchers at McClellan, and the percolation pond gave us Ring-necked Duck, Bufflehead and a Spotted Sandpiper.

Cuesta Park in Mountain View is also just inside our zone. A block further out and we’d have had to skip it. There we got our expected Pygmy Nuthatch as well as Red-breasted and White-breasted Nuthatches, another Wilson’s Warbler and two very delightful first-of-spring Yellow Warblers. Two Blue-gray Gnatcatchers were chattering in the Cuesta Park Annex (an open dry grassy field with scattering of trees).

Anise Swallowtails at Sunnyvale WPCP—Barry Langdon-Lassagne

We do have a respectable chunk of Baylands to choose from: Alviso Marina and the close corner of newly-filled Pond A12, Alviso Slough and the Gold Street Bridge. We have Sunnyvale Baylands, Harvey Marsh, Elizabeth Street at Gold Street, the Sunnyvale Water Pollution Control Plant and Pond A4. The famous “State & Spreckles” hotspot is, sadly, about twenty yards too far out.

Elsewhere we have part of Arzino Ranch with Burrowing Owl mounds just in range, Ulistac, a couple freshwater ponds: Heritage Park in Sunnyvale and the Bubb Road Percolation Pond in Cupertino, and numerous city parks including our own neighborhood Ponderosa Park which hosts a pair of Cooper’s Hawks. In all, we have about eighty eBird hotspots of various sizes to choose from, far too many to cover in a single day.

Our morning had been forest birding at McClellan and Bubb, then Cuesta, stopping home for lunch and a quick jaunt to Ponderosa Park. The rest of the day we spent wetland birding in the Baylands. The Sunnyvale WPCP had Green Herons, Common Gallinule and a Golden Eagle. Pond A4 had Northern Harrier, Western and Clark’s Grebes, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs (another first-of-year bird) and a single Redhead. On the backside of Pond A4, a multi-mile hike, we scanned Pond A5 and found over 100 Bonaparte’s Gulls mixed with Forster’s Terns, a single Whimbrel, a few distant Scaup and American Wigeon and we heard the call of a Ring-necked Pheasant.

Ginger scanning Pond A4 near the Sunnyvale Water Pollution Control Plant

Although it was disappointing not to be birding together in the same places, The Sharpies kept connected via text-messaging and scanning each other’s eBird checklists as the day went on. We frequently checked in to see whether expected birds had been found, and reported rarities we had discovered. Through planning, creativity and communication we found lots and lots of birds and we each had a great time apart together.

~Barry & Ginger

Caspian Tern at Pond A4—Barry Langdon-Lassagne

John & Youngmi’s Sharpies Writeup

I decided to bird Steven's Creek County Park, as that is in my 5MR but not in anyone else's. I got off to a late start because of a mandatory work training. As I was about to leave, my wife, who is not a birder, asked who I was going with. Of course, the answer is just me, since it's a distributed birding trip. To my surprise, she decided that she would come with me, if only to get out of the house.

Even though it is in my 5MR, I had never been to Steven's Creek CP. I should have done a bit more recon. We took the Coyote Ridge Trail, which turns out to be a difficult 7 mile loop. The trail was fairly birdy, but throughout the trip, we saw very few birds and heard a lot. We had a great picnic lunch at the far end of the reservoir before hiking back in.

Some of the heard-only birds were WILSON'S WARBLER, CALIFORNIA THRASHER, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, OAK TITMOUSE, WRENTIT, ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, LESSER GOLDFINCH and BEWICK'S WREN. I got photos and audio for BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER (my best view) and SPOTTED TOWHEE.

My checklists were for Steven's Creek CP and Fremont Older OSP. Between the two checklists, we recorded 25 species, along with photos for 11 of those and audio for 10. Not very successful from a Big Day perspective, but overall it was a good day to be out.

Garrett Lau’s Writeup

Western Screech-Owl at McClellan Ranch Park—Garrett Lau

My 5MR includes Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, and parts of Cupertino and Mountain View. My first stop was Ulistac, where I had my only California Thrashers and Downy Woodpecker of the day. Next, I went to Sunnyvale Baylands. Highlights in the picnic areas were Western Kingbird and Ash-throated Flycatcher. From there, I rode my bike on the Bay Trail around the Sunnyvale Baylands seasonal wetlands, past Pond A4, and to the Sunnyvale WPCP. Highlights from the ride were Ring-necked Pheasant, both Long-billed and Short-billed Dowitchers, both Western and Clark’s Grebes, Common Gallinule, Spotted Sandpiper, Cinnamon Teal, Green-winged Teal, Glaucous-winged Gull, Forster’s Tern, and Great-tailed Grackle. After the ride, I drove home for lunch and a shower, and then went out to Rancho San Antonio. A stop at Gate of Heaven Cemetery added only one new species to my day list, Wild Turkey. However, Rancho San Antonio added several, including Lazuli Bunting, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Wrentit, House Wren, Warbling Vireo, and Wilson’s Warbler. My next stop was McClellan Ranch. I waited at the feeders until a White-throated Sparrow appeared, and then I checked the barn for the roosting Western Screen-Owls. Then I took a walk to Blackberry Farm, but that added no new species. My next planned stop was Las Palmas Park, but I decided to make a quick stop at the Bubb Road Ponds along the way. This stop added Ring-necked Duck and Bufflehead to my list, although Barry and Ginger had already gotten them for the team in the morning. The targets at Las Palmas Park were Mitred Parakeet and Red-masked Parakeet. The latter is harder to find, but I eventually found both species. I still had some time before sunset, so I went to Cuesta Park to add Pygmy Nuthatch. I ended up with 101 species.

Red-masked (top) and Mitred (bottom) Parakeet—Garrett Lau