Ed R. Levin County Park (Fall/Winter):
A Trip Around Sandy Wool Lake
by Laura Coatney
Looking for a picturesque “get-away” to a beautiful area in the fall and winter without having to travel too far from home? The Sandy Wool Lake area of Ed R. Levin County Park is a nice escape in the east hills to spot birds and enjoy nature. Take a leisurely, less than 1 mile walk around Sandy Wool Lake in search of resident and returning wintering birds, all while enjoying views of the Diablo Range’s rolling hills.
Trip Covers: October - March
Key Birds: Golden Eagle, Great Horned Owl, Red-breasted Sapsucker
How to Bird
This trip is approximately 1 mile, looping around the lake and the perimeter of adjacent parking lot areas. The best times of the day to see birds are either in the morning or the evening. Weekends tend to be busier with people, so if you want to avoid more crowds, go on a weekday. From the parking lot closest to the dog park at the end of Downing Road (1 on interactive map), take a few moments while you're gearing up outside your car to look in the oak trees lining the parking lot. Bushtits, Bewick’s Wrens, Oak Titmice, and California Scrub-Jays are some year-round residents that you may see foraging and taking refuge in these oak trees. As you make your way down to the edge of the lake, be sure to scan the grassy lawn areas; mixed flocks with numerous Red-winged Blackbirds like those areas.
California Scrub-Jay. Photo: James Martin
Flock of Red-winged blackbirds. Photo: James Martin
When you reach the lake, there is a wide paved path around the section of the lake closest to the grassy lawn area, which is wheelchair accessible. The dirt trails on the sides of the lake get narrower, yet still passable to keep safe social distance. If you’d like to keep to the paved paths you will still have an enjoyable time with great views of wintering waterfowl that are starting to return mid- to late October like Ruddy Ducks, Gadwalls and Ring-necked Ducks. Good looks at Pied-billed Grebes and Great Blue Herons foraging in the lake are common. Check out SCVAS’s virtual field trip to the Spring Valley area of Ed R. Levin to see a Great Blue Heron catching fish! Sandy Wool Lake is a good place to keep an eye out for Belted Kingfishers too.
Sit at one of the many benches along the trail to take a break and have the birds come to you. Photo: Laura Coatney
Ruddy Duck. Photo by Tom Grey.
Continue around the lake taking the dirt trail if you like (2 on map). The tall, dried grasses in the field to the left provide ample foraging areas for sparrows. This time of the year, Golden-crowned and White-crowned Sparrows are starting to return from their northern summering grounds. Lincoln’s and Savannah Sparrows are spotted in the area starting around fall too.
Golden-crowned Sparrow. Photo by Brooke Miller
As you make your way around the lake, Great-tailed Grackles and Killdeer are commonly seen, but you’re probably more likely to hear them from a distance before seeing them. The levee at the southern end of the lake (3 on map) gives a good vantage point to scan the skies above the lake and hillsides for raptors like Red-tailed Hawks, Golden Eagles, Cooper’s Hawks and American Kestrels. Fall is the time of the year when some raptors migrate south, so remember to look up every now and then to not miss the opportunity to see birds of prey!
Levee at southern end of lake. Scan the hillsides and skies from this levee for raptors. Photo: Laura Coatney
Red-tailed Hawks are very common here and can often be seen circling above, so learning to identify them in flight is helpful. Adult Red-tailed Hawks in flight, like the one pictured below, have red tails as their name suggests; juveniles have a lightly banded brown and white tail. However all Red-tailed Hawks, regardless of age and morph, have dark patches on their wings between the shoulder and wrist (also called patagials), a unique trait to Red-tailed Hawks.
Red-tailed Hawk. Photo by Brooke Miller
After walking around the lake, I enjoy continuing around the perimeter of the parking lots following the fence edge lined with eucalyptus trees along Downing Road before heading back to the car (4 on map). Before sunset, if you take an evening walk, you might hear or see a Great-horned Owl perched in the eucalyptus trees, keenly watching the fields for squirrels. On the weekends this field can be a rather interesting and entertaining area to people-watch too, as hang gliders and paragliders land in these fields. This is also another good area to scan the skies for raptor activity along the hillside.
Search along the edge of the eucalyptus trees for Yellow-rumped Warblers and woodpeckers.
Also along the perimeter of the parking lots, look out for returning wintering birds like Hermit Thrushes, Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Yellow-rumped Warblers in the trees along the fence line. Looking high up in the eucalyptus trees may be a “neck-breaker” for us, but woodpecker species such as Acorn Woodpecker, Red-breasted Sapsucker, and Northern Flicker may be spotted up in the canopies. I hope this has been an enjoyable fall or winter trip to Ed R. Levin’s Sandy Wool Lake!
Yellow-rumped Warbler. Photo by Tom Grey.
Ready for More?
Check out the Spring Valley Area of Ed R. Levin County Park. SCVAS Volunteer Carter Gasiorowski made an excellent virtual field trip, which is posted on the SCVAS YouTube channel (link below). If you are looking for a longer hike and chances to see more raptors, many of the adjacent trails to Sandy Wool Lake are open. Be advised, these are cattle grazing areas. And be sure to wear sunscreen and bring a hat and water, as there is little canopy cover on these trails; it can still be quite warm through the month of October!
Interactive Map
Directions: From I-680 in Milpitas, exit east onto E. Calaveras Blvd. Travel east on E. Calaveras Blvd towards the foothills for two miles passing through the southern portion of Ed R. Levin County Park. To reach the Sandy Wool Lake area, turn left onto Downing Rd. Travel north for about 1 mile going past the lake. For this trip, park in the last parking lot at the end of Downing Road next to the dog park. Latitude/Longitude: 37.456846, -121.863427
Parking: Large paved lot
Fees: Day-use parking fees. See the park website for more information.
Public Transportation: None
Park Hours: Open year-round 8 a.m. – sunset
Facilities: Restrooms and accessible portable toilets with wash stations, water fountains, spotty cell phone coverage.
Heads-up! The area has limited to no cell phone service. To print or download this guide before you go, select the text you want (don’t include the banner photo), then print to PDF, or use a free service such as printfriendly.com, which lets you shrink or remove photos.
Trip Mileage: about 1 mile
Trail Conditions and Mileage: mix of paved paths (wheelchair accessible) and dirt trails
Accessibility: This trip is accessible excluding the dirt portion of trail around the lake.
Bikes: Not allowed at Sandy Wool Lake.
Dogs: Dogs are allowed on 6ft leash plus there’s a dog park next to Sandy Wool Lake
More Information
eBird hotspot: Sandy Wool Lake-Elm Area
Ed R. Levin Spring Valley Area Virtual Field Trip by SCVAS Volunteer Carter Gasiorowski
All About Birds: Red-tailed Hawk
More Resources
For more trips like this one, visit Self-guided Field Trips.
Visit the SCVAS Birding Resources page for more information on where to bird, our birding community, birding identification resources, and more.
Read “What to Look for Now” by SCVAS Executive Director Matthew Dodder.
Banner Photo Credit: Hang Glider over Sandy Wool Lake by Laura Coatney
Last Updated: 3/23/2022
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