From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Mon Dec 8 23:01:45 2003 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id hB96xePJ003601 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 8 Dec 2003 22:59:40 -0800 (PST) Received: from rwcrmhc11.comcast.net (rwcrmhc11.comcast.net [204.127.198.35]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id hB96vBUP003532 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 8 Dec 2003 22:57:11 -0800 (PST) Received: from 204.127.197.111 ([204.127.197.111]) by comcast.net (rwcrmhc11) with SMTP id <2003120906571001300qi5ohe>; Tue, 9 Dec 2003 06:57:10 +0000 Received: from [24.6.247.252] by 204.127.197.111; Tue, 09 Dec 2003 06:57:09 +0000 From: [[email protected]] To: [[email protected]] (SBB Chat Group) Date: Tue, 09 Dec 2003 06:57:09 +0000 Message-Id: <[[email protected]]> X-Mailer: AT&T Message Center Version 1 (Oct 27 2003) X-Authenticated-Sender: YmlyZGVybW9tQGNvbWNhc3QubmV0 Subject: [SBB] Dec. 6, 2003 Bald Eagle and Panoche Valley again X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.2+ Precedence: list List-Id: South Bay Birding List-Unsubscribe: , List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Sender: south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Errors-To: south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Hi! The holidays are truly making me MAD!!! At least I have been able to escape to fantastic locations like Panoche Valley a couple of times. This trip, I decided to really spend some time at the lake off HW156 east of HW101 in Gilroy identifying all the raptors, etc. I saw on Wednesday, as well as looking for the elusive Vesper and Sage Sparrows (had to dash through the canyon and miss lots of other stuff to do it). At the lake at 8:30am, I found a Bald Eagle perched on the far side. I took pictures (see referenced Website below). It soared over the end of the lake and fields bringing up hundreds of other birds along the way. It later perched on the left side of the lake, which was visible to me from pull-outs further along the road (actually closer from this viewpoint). This was not the Bald Eagles at Paicines Damn, which were there when I drove by a little later (with no other stops in between. (Maybe this one will stick around until the CBC - is this Santa Clara County here?) Also saw many species of ducks, egrets, crows, etc. Less usual suspects were 7 Ring-necked Ducks (2-3 females), 3 White Pelicans, White-tailed Kites, Red-shouldered Hawk, American Kestrel, and about 6-10 Red-tailed Hawks (mostly on the fields). Didn't see the Osprey seen on Wednesday. Got a picture of a mystery hawk's backside, if you like a good puzzle. About 17-20" hawk, wide bars on tail (not overly long) ending in a brown bar, white prominent spots on back, all dark appearance. Look for yourself if interested - I'm voting for an immature buteo. On the way to Panoche Valley, I got a picture of a Phainopepla in a tree (along with Western Meadowlarks and Yellow-billed Magpie's). Saw a Red-breasted Sapsucker feeding about 30 feet away and got decent pics of Western Bluebird. Still tons of Crows and Ravens in the valley. Followed flocks of sparrows for about 1.5 hours. Finally found 3 Vesper Sparrows!!!!! (pictures are fair) and got decent pics of Lark Sparrow. Dashed over to look for Chukars and found a N. Harrier instead. Stopped just long enough to see Rufous-crowned Sparrows in the canyon on the way back and see 2Bald Eagles on their normal perch next to Paicines Damn again (3 in one day is a record for me). Common Mergansers were still there, but no Swans. Overall, another stunning day, but the Vesper Sparrows were the best of all! They were hanging out with Savannah and Lark Sparrows about 2-4 miles before the Panoche Valley Inn, mostly in the trees and on the barbed wire on the side of the road and feeding nearby. Happy Holidays! Jean Myers http://community.webshots.com/user/birdermom _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. south-bay-birds mailing list ([[email protected]]) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://www.plaidworks.com/mailman/options/south-bay-birds/south-bay-birds-archive%40plaidworks.com This email sent to [[email protected]]