Blackberry Farm (Fall/Winter):
A Riparian Corridor in Silicon Valley

BY Barry LANGDON-LASSAGNE

Easily reachable by car or public transit (the VTA 51 bus), this Cupertino city park has a level paved trail that follows the creek through orchards, forest and fields and is lined with benches at reasonable intervals, making it a beautiful, accessible natural area in the heart of Silicon Valley. The paved trail continues south through McClellan Ranch Preserve, where SCVBA's headquarters are located.

From its headwaters in Monte Bello Open Space Preserve down through Blackberry Farm, Stevens Creek flows through protected lands, city parks and preserves, golf courses and residential areas as it makes its way to the San Francisco Bay. This patchwork of wild and near-wild habitat forms a continuous riparian (creekside) corridor, vital for wildlife including a wide variety of birds.

Trip Covers: October - February

Key Birds: Red-breasted Sapsucker, Acorn Woodpecker, Steller’s Jay, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, California Towhee

How to Bird

Let’s start at the group picnic area. If there is a group activity underway, skip this location and bird north along the trail as described below. If you’d like to head south on the trail, take a look at the Self-guided Field Trip for McClellan Ranch, which is directly adjacent to Blackberry Farm and reached via this paved path.

Townsend’s Warbler in a Valley Oak above the group picnic area

The group picnic area is to the right across a bridge just past the information building as you enter from the parking lot (see “Bridge to Group Picnic Area” on the interactive map below). If this area is not actively in use for an event it can be a great place to sit and watch (and listen!) for forest birds such as Acorn Woodpecker, White-breasted Nuthatch, Steller’s Jay and migrating warblers. You’ll almost certainly hear the raucous laughter (raca-raca-RACA) of the Acorn Woodpeckers and the rapid chatter (shek-shek) of the Steller’s Jays. In the evening, you may even hear a Great Horned Owl hooting in the treetops around this grove or up the hillside to the west. The nuthatches make a distinctive “yank-yank” call as they forage for insects in the bark of treetrunks and the Brown Creepers have a super high-pitched “seEP” that can be surprisingly loud if they are nearby. The creepers also like to forage under bark on tree trunks and branches.

Try sitting at various different spots in this area. You may be surprised how the variety of birds changes in each new location.

Band-tailed Pigeon flying over the orchard

Next, head north along the paved Stevens Creek Trail, scanning for breaks in the foliage that allow glimpses of Stevens Creek and the riparian habitat that lines it: Western Sycamore, Alder, Box Elder, Walnut, Cottonwood, Valley Oak, Live Oak, Buckeye and California Bay Laurel trees, Snowberry, Elderberry, Willow and other bushes. The leaves of Buckeyes turn brown and wither in late summer, well before most other trees, making them easy to spot along the creek and hillside — and the bare branches make great perches for birds such as the Oak Titmouse (small gray bird with a pointed crest) and Chestnut-backed Chickadee (small black, brown and white bird), both of which make frequent calls that sound like “chick-a-dee-dee.”

In the bushes and trees along the creek is where you’ll find much of the bird activity, and there are many places along the trail where you can get good views of the creek and the plants that line it. Parts of the creek may appear dry, especially in drought years like this one (2021), but there is water below the creekbed and in some places it forms pools where birds and animals drink and feed. Look for California Towhee, a large brown sparrow, or Dark-eyed Junco, a compact brown and black sparrow, foraging for seeds on the ground in the underbrush.

Dark-eyed Juncoes can be found throughout the park

Red-breasted Sapsucker visiting the Group Picnic Area in September (they stay throughout the winter)

Check out some of the mature trees along the creek. You may see signs of Red-breasted Sapsucker — lines of evenly-spaced holes that the birds make to drink the sap (these holes do not generally harm the trees). This bird is a winter resident that shows up here around September. The larger round holes are woodpecker nest sites, likely from one of our year-round resident species: Northern Flicker, Acorn Woodpecker, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker or Hairy Woodpecker any of which you may find here. When the woodpeckers are done with the hole, other birds such as Western Bluebird may take advantage of the cavity.

Woodpecker nest hole in a Western Sycamore

There are many places along the trail where you can see the creek, even from a wheelchair or stroller. At the time of this writing (September 2021), there was visible water flowing north until where the golf course comes in close to the trail (north end of parking lot).

Benches are located in some of the better creekside viewing spots and throughout the orchard. Sitting quietly on a bench can be one of the best ways to watch some of the shyer birds and animals and observe their behavior. If you’re patient, they can often come near.

One of many peaceful benches along the creek, facing a willow thicket and shaded by a Western Sycamore

Along the trail toward the orchard, there’s a nice bridge that crosses the creek and gives you good views both up and downstream. At the time of this writing there is no water visible in this portion of the creek. But check all around for birds as the bridge gives you deeper views into the riparian edges.

Red-shouldered Hawk near the bridge by the orchard.

On the other side of the bridge is the orchard, formerly part of Stocklmeier Ranch, which has more open skies where you can watch for Red-tailed Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Turkey Vulture and other soaring birds. You may occasionally see a flock of the native Band-tailed Pigeon fly overhead (darker gray and longer-tailed than the introduced Rock Pigeon that is common in cities). Check for sparrows (in Fall and Winter, White-crowned Sparrow and Golden-crowned Sparrow) on the ground under the trees. California Towhees can commonly be found here as well.

The trail (and one of the benches) through the orchard

After the orchard, you’ll enter another forested zone with a wide variety of introduced tree species such as palm, eucalyptus, cedar, olive and loquat. This area was once part of the Stocklmeier residence and you may find posts with the inscription “Cottage by the Stream” here as well as other remnants of the old farm. The park ends when you reach Stevens Creek Boulevard. If you arrived via public transit, this is where you would enter and exit the park. This forested area can have Oak Titmouse, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Steller’s Jay and White-breasted Nuthatch. From the bridge on Stevens Creek Boulevard you can get a different angle on the creek and check for birds that might otherwise be hard to see from the trail.

The view West from the bus stop, looking toward the bridge over Stevens Creek and the park trailhead.

That’s it! From here either head to the bus stop, or return back down the trail to the parking lot. Thanks for coming along on this little adventure, and I hope you’ll come back often to enjoy this natural area.

Acorn Woodpecker in flight. Photo by Ginger Langdon-Lassagne

Look for Nuttall’s Woodpecker in the older trees along the creek and in the orchards. The striped back distinguishes this species from all our other woodpeckers.

Ready for More?

If you travel south along the paved trail, you’ll find yourself at McClellan Ranch Preserve, headquarters for the Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance. Beyond that, a new section of trail (partially gravel, so not wheelchair accessible) opened in 2021, connecting McClellan Ranch to Linda Vista Park, making for one and a half miles of continuous hiking along and around Stevens Creek. A long-term goal is to have uninterrupted trails from Stevens Creek County Park all the way to the San Francisco Bay — for more information, check out the Friends of Stevens Creek Trail website.

Interactive Map

Directions: From I-280 in Cupertino, exit Foothill Expy. Travel south onto Foothill Blvd for 1.3 miles. Turn left onto McClellan Rd and continue past McClellan Ranch Preserve, for 0.75 miles. Turn left onto Byrne Ave, then take the first left onto San Fernando Avenue and follow signs to the parking area. Note there is also pedestrian access from Scenic Circle in the nearby residential area. Latitude/Longitude: 37.318503, -122.060973

Parking: Large parking lot (free), including eight spaces for handicapped placarded vehicles.

Public Transportation: VTA’s 51 bus stops at the intersection at Stevens’ Creek Blvd and Phar Lap, near the Blue Pheasant Restaurant, about once an hour, 7:30am to 5:30 pm, from either direction. Please consult the schedule at VTA’s site for specific timing, as the schedule is due to change on October 11th, 2021.

From the bus stop it is a short distance to the trailhead, just over the creek bridge, at the north end of Blackberry Farm.

Fees: None

Park Hours: sunrise to sunset

Facilities: Wheelchair accessible restroom with flush toilets. Drinking fountain, trash cans, benches and picnic tables. A playground is located behind the pool. Decent cell phone service for all carriers.

Trip Mileage: Less than a mile out-and-back along paved trail, following the contours of Stevens Creek, with a couple bridges over the creek.

Trail Conditions: Flat, wide (about 9-feet), paved, wheelchair and stroller accessible paths & sidewalks with many benches locate along the length of the trail.

Accessibility: Very accessible level paved trail with frequent benches.

Bikes: Allowed on paved trail

Dogs: Dogs are allowed on leash

More Information

Official Park Map
eBird hotspot: Blackberry Farm to Stevens Creek Blvd.
All About Birds: Great Horned Owl and Acorn Woodpecker
Friends of Stevens Creek Trail

More Resources

For more trips like this one, visit Self-Guided Field Trips, especially McClellan Ranch which is adjacent to Blackberry Farm and has many of the same birds. The paved trail continues to McClellan Ranch, where there are additional restrooms, picnic tables and benches.
Visit the SCVBA Birding Resources page for more information on where to bird, our birding community, bird identification resources and more.
Read “What to Look for Now” by SCVBA Executive Director Matthew Dodder.

Photos by: Barry Langdon-Lassagne, except where noted. All photos were taken at Blackberry Farm in September 2021

Banner Photo Credit: The bridge to the orchard, as seen from the creek, Barry Langdon-Lassagne

Last Updated: 5/21/2022

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Blackberry Farm (Fall/Winter):A Riparian Corridor in Silicon Valley

BY Barry LANGDON-LASSAGNE

Blackberry Farm (Fall/Winter):
A Riparian Corridor in Silicon Valley