From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Thu Dec 11 00:23:25 2003 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id hBB8LBPI026914 for <[[email protected]]>; Thu, 11 Dec 2003 00:21:11 -0800 (PST) Received: from rwcrmhc12.comcast.net (rwcrmhc12.comcast.net [216.148.227.85]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id hBB8JpUP026875 for <[[email protected]]>; Thu, 11 Dec 2003 00:19:51 -0800 (PST) Received: from 204.127.197.117 ([204.127.197.117]) by comcast.net (rwcrmhc12) with SMTP id <2003121108195001400rffefe>; Thu, 11 Dec 2003 08:19:50 +0000 Received: from [24.6.247.252] by 204.127.197.117; Thu, 11 Dec 2003 08:19:49 +0000 From: [[email protected]] To: [[email protected]] (SBB Chat Group) Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2003 08:19:49 +0000 Message-Id: <[[email protected]]> X-Mailer: AT&T Message Center Version 1 (Oct 27 2003) X-Authenticated-Sender: YmlyZGVybW9tQGNvbWNhc3QubmV0 Subject: [SBB] Directions to Panoche Valley and Bald Eagle location 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: In response to many questions regarding the location of the Bald Eagle I spotted on December 6th, 2003, as well as directions to Panoche Valley, here goes with map in hand: Bald Eagle was at San Felipe Lake (yes, it has a name) which is a lake reached by taking -HW 101 South to Gilroy -Exit HW 152 east (not 156 as previously stated) -Follow signs to stay on HW152 east -after about 5-10 minutes, you will see lots of water on the right of the road(kind of looks like a flooded field - as many of the fields are in this area in winter) -pull out at one of the three pull-outs wide enough to pull well off the road(two of which give you clear views of the lake) -if you start climbing the mountain, you have gone a couple of miles too far Three hints: 1) Drive with caution! Semi trucks blast through this area at about 50mph and you only have about 30 feet to come to a complete stop on dirt. 2) Bring a scope - you can only see a few species without one. 3) The fields to the left of the lake (best seen from the third pull-out) will provide many additional species and is the best place I've seen for spotting many species of raptors at one time - usually about 15+ raptors are visible from this spot. Directions to Panoche Valley There are several ways to get to Hollister, but you can: - continue on HW 152 east of HW101 until you get to the HW 156 turnoff to Hollister and Pinnacles National Monument (if you pass Casa de Fruta, you've gone too far) -turn left at the first light you come to on Fairview Road (this is a short-cut to avoid town unless you need gas or something - then follow HW 25 signs into and through town) -travel on Fairview Road for several miles until you reach a 4-Way Stop Sign -turn left onto HW 25 south (towards Pinnicles National Monument) -travel another 10+ minutes (through Tres Pinos - slow to 35 - and past the county fairgrounds) until you reach the intersection of Panoche Road. There's a building on the corner which serves as a market, restaurant and bar (if you want to use their toilet, please give all birders a good name by buying something!) Detour: Continue on HW 25 just up the road to the first pullout on the right and use your scope to check out Paicines Damn - often great species can be found here. Return to the grocery store. -turn left (or east) on Panoche Road -the drive up to the valley from here is loaded with birds - drive slow and pull out occasionally, you'll see some nice birds as you gain elevation (Caution - you must drive carefully - there are several "Dips" on this road where the creek goes over the road during winter; this road is single file at times and farm equipment, people, dogs, chickens, deer, etc. pull out when least expected and can be quite startling if not paying attention - also, pull completely off the road - some of the locals zoom along quite fast and are ARMED WITH DANGEROUSLY LOUD HORNS!!! -drive takes about 30 to 40 minutes with very few stops to get to valley beyond the canyon and mountain pass - when you get to this valley, you'll know it - kind of looks surreal with great vistas of short-grass prairie type of terrain -you can now bird along the road on the valley floor - there are lots of dirt shoulders which serve fine for parking (if wet, you may want to keep one tire on the pavement here) -you can look for sparrows all along the fences and nearby fields -you can stop at the Panoche Valley Inn (only business in the valley - they have an outhouse - please buy something here too) where you'll find picnic tables and a variety of the more traditional tree-loving species (notice the Oriole nests hanging all over the leafless trees in winter) -you can turn left on Little Panoche Road where there are supposed to be Chukars at the pass leaving the valley on the other side -you can continue straight (it has a couple of jogs in it) on Panoche Road (looking for Mountain Plover through your scope) and turn right onto New Idria Road - after a couple of minutes, you'll see a large mountain directly in front of you - a Roadrunner has been spotted here running along the base of the mountain -back to Panoche Road, you can continue on - Mountain Plover have been spotted in the fields on either side of the road and I saw a Ferruginous Hawk perched on top of a telephone pole here last week - the road turns into a gravel road -when it goes through a perrenial stream, you can bird this area for Mountain Bluebird seen here in spring Timing: It takes about 1 hour to get from Sunnyvale to Holister. It takes about 1 hour, 15 minutes to get from Holister to Panoche Valley (with very few stops). I recommend that you start quite early and spend about 3 hours looking at Paicines Damn and traveling up the canyon to the valley. Then you can take a lunch break at the Paicines Inn (ok to eat your bag lunch there, but buy something a little larger than gum to keep the proprieters happy) and continue birding the valley for about 3 hours. If you leave at about 3pm, you should be home by about 5-6pm. It's a long day, but worth every minute. Have fun, Jean Myers _______________________________________________ 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]]