TRIP POLICY: Please limit your sign-ups to 1 weekend trip and 2 weekday trips per month. Also, please take a moment to read our other policies here.
Slow Birding at the Evergreen Valley Community College Lake (Southeast San Jose)
Green Heron by Peter Shen
Join us for a relaxing morning of slow birding at the Evergreen Valley Community College Lake, a vibrant lakeside birding destination nestled in suburban Southeast San Jose. This trip’s priorities will be a slow pace and short distance on a 0.5 mile route on a mostly paved, loop trail.
Site highlights include ample free parking, built-in seating, minimal elevation changes, and great up-close views of various bird species often without need for binoculars (although binoculars are still recommended). This field trip was designed by an independently ambulatory SCVBA volunteer who requires trails of little to no elevation changes and typically takes a sitting break on a collapsible stool every 0.1-0.2 mile.
We are looking forward to seeing some neighborhood favorites including the resident Muscovy Duck, various heron and egret species (Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, Green Heron), various swallow species (Barn Swallow, Violet-Green Swallow), California Scrub-Jay, Acorn Woodpecker, Oak Titmouse, and Chestnut-Backed Chickadee. Hope to see you there!
Trip Difficulty: 0.5 mile, little or no elevation gain, little to no shade (see below for additional details)
Leaders: Susan Tenney (408) 802-6184, S.M.
Additional Languages: English will be the primary language of this field trip, but other languages spoken by our trip leaders include Tamil and Spanish.
Beginner Friendly, Family Friendly All Ages, 1 mile or shorter, 2 hours or less, No elevation gain
Meet: (location pin link; Latitude/Longitude: 37.299170, -121.761526): We will be meeting at a collection of trees lining a paved sidewalk next to the parking lot. There is no built-in seating at this meeting spot - feel free to bring any seating you may need.
Directions: From US-101 in San Jose, exit Yerba Buena Road. Travel east for about 3 miles, then turn left into the Evergreen Valley Community College campus at the electronic sign along the wide parking lot entrance (2 incoming lanes and 2 outgoing lanes with a large tanbark-filled divider in between) with a building labeled "PERFORMING ARTS" visible at the end of lane. Follow the signs towards the Staff Lot 7 (will be on the left). Latitude/Longitude: 37.299170, -121.761526)
Parking:
Latitude/Longitude: 37.299170, -121.761526
Campus map link
Free parking on Sundays in the college’s large parking lot (100+ spots) along Yerba Buena Road
There are many parking spots in Staff Lot 7 that are within 50-100 feet of the meeting spot
6 ADA parking spots (location pin link) are located ~100 feet from the meeting spot with a series of ramps along the path from these ADA spots to the meeting spot. The first 2 ramps are bisected by a metal pole which has 4 feet of paved sidewalk on either side of the pole.
Distance and Surface Type: The total distance covered will be a 0.5 mile round trip from the meeting area on a loop trail. There is a 100-foot long section of packed dirt that leads from the paved sidewalk to a viewpoint at the water’s edge. Other than this section, the rest of the route is fully paved. Although there are no trail barriers that need to be stepped over, there are sections of the route that often have a high density of waterfowl droppings that will need to be stepped around. Other than the road-sidewalk juncture from the ADA parking spots (see above), the entire trail is at least 5 feet wide. There are ramps at all the road-sidewalk junctures on this route. There are no stairs.
Elevation Changes: Minimal. The AllTrails app was used real-time during exploration of this route as it documents elevation changes as little as 1 foot. A maximum of 2 feet of elevation change was noted across any section of the entire 0.5 mile trip. This change occurred in low-grade, gradual slopes (ex: 1 foot elevation change over ~50-100 feet).
Built-In Seating: There are 4 total built-in seating options along this 0.5 mile route.
Location pin link: 1 backed metal park bench and 1 backless metal picnic table located ~0.1 mile from the meeting spot
Location pin link: 1 backed metal park bench along the water’s edge ~100 feet away from the seating above on a packed dirt path
Location pin link: 1 backed metal park bench ~400 feet away from the lakeside seating above
Restrooms: None of the restrooms in the nearby campus buildings are guaranteed open on Sundays. At the Evergreen Community Center Park down the street (1 mile drive, location pin link), there is a 2-gender restroom with metal toilets and 2 stalls (one of which is marked as accessible).
Facilities: cell phone service
Shade Cover: Little to no shade.
Water: No on-site water fountains.
Additional Details:
For any participants who will be birding from a seated position: The railing along most of the 100-foot-long paved bridge at the onset of the route is 4.5 feet high (consists of horizontal bars that have 3-inch gap between them). On either end of the bridge, this transitions to railing that is 3.5 feet high (consists of vertical bars that also have 3-inch gaps between them). Although birding along the taller central section of the bridge is more challenging while seated, the designer of this trip has successfully birded this section of the lake from a seated position through the vertical railing on either end of the bridge.
For any participants who are sensitive to ambient noise: There are 2 large water fountains at this lake that can be heard for the majority of this route. Additionally, there are tennis and pickleball courts a little beyond the region that we will be birding – the activity at these courts creates some mild but ongoing background noise. The designer of this trip has still been able to bird by ear at this location. However, there is enough ambient noise that the Merlin app’s Sound ID feature experiences intermittent difficulty with capturing the bird sounds.
For any participants with immunocompromising health conditions: There are sections of the larger lake loop that experience spray from the lake’s large central water fountain. The trip’s 0.5 mile route was specifically designed to avoid spray exposure regardless of weather/wind conditions (although, of course, this is not a guarantee).
Photos:
Photo 1 (above): Our trip’s meeting spot under a collection of trees along the parking lot-adjacent paved sidewalk with the associated ramp.
Photo 2 (above): The entrance to the lake area with the paved bridge and lake’s fountain visible in the distance.
Photo 3 (above): The backed metal park bench that is the first built-in seating option on the route, with the packed dirt path leading to the lakeside backed metal park bench visible in the background.
Photo 4 (above): The view of the path from the first built-in seating option to the paved bridge, with the parking lot visible in the distance.
Photo 5 (above): The backless metal picnic table along the route.
Photo 6 (above): The 6 ADA parking spots.
Photo 7 (above): Series of ramps connecting the ADA parking spots to the meeting spot and to the lake entrance.
Questions? Email general questions to fieldtrips@scvbirdalliance.org or contact the trip leader for questions regarding the event.