From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Sun Feb 16 16:46:00 2003 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.6/8.12.2) with ESMTP id h1H0hb4t027798 for <[[email protected]]>; Sun, 16 Feb 2003 16:43:37 -0800 (PST) Received: from mms2.broadcom.com (mms2.broadcom.com [63.70.210.59]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.6/8.12.2) with ESMTP id h1H0gwSE027766 for <[[email protected]]>; Sun, 16 Feb 2003 16:42:58 -0800 (PST) Received: from 63.70.210.1 by mms2.broadcom.com with ESMTP (Broadcom MMS1 SMTP Relay (MMS v5.5.0)); Sun, 16 Feb 2003 16:39:34 -0700 Received: from mail-sjcw-1.sw.broadcom.com (mail-sjcw-1.sw.broadcom.com [10.20.128.21]) by mon-irva-11.broadcom.com (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id QAA13318 for <[[email protected]]>; Sun, 16 Feb 2003 16:42: 15 -0800 (PST) Received: from pc2kmikem (dhcpe1-sjcw-254 [10.20.64.254]) by mail-sjcw-1.sw.broadcom.com (8.12.4/8.12.4/SSM) with SMTP id h1H0gNVE019325 for <[[email protected]]>; Sun, 16 Feb 2003 16:42:23 -0800 (PST) From: "Mike Mammoser" <[[email protected]]> To: SBB <[[email protected]]> Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 16:40:56 -0800 Message-ID: <[[email protected]]> MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IMO, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2910.0) X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4910.0300 Importance: Normal X-WSS-ID: 124EF0CC1072991-01-01 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: [SBB] : X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1 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]] On Saturday morning, 15 Feb 03, I made my pilgramage up to Montebello OSP to do some early morning owling. Walking in on the Canyon Trail I managed to elicit a vocal response from a pair of WESTERN SCREECH-OWLS fairly quickly, so I high-tailed it in to the junction of Stevens Creek Trail to work on Saw-whet Owls. I failed to get any responses to my tape here, or a short distance down the creek trail. So, I headed up to the meadow that overlooks the douglas fir drainage between the Stevens Creek Trail and the Indian Creek Trail and settled in to wait for daylight, playing the saw-whet tape on occasion out over the drainage and listening for replies. I had 5 WESTERN SCREECH-OWLS, 4 GREAT HORNED OWLS, and a NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL all vocalizing spontaneously here, but nary a peep out of the local Saw-whets. As the sky lightened, I began my daytime birding further down the Canyon Trail. The raucous WESTERN SCRUB-JAYS started off the dawn chorus at the Indian Creek Trail junction, drowning out virtually everything else. I moved down the trail to escape them only to be met by the STELLER'S JAYS, who serve as the closed-canopy loudmouths. There always seemed to be 3 or 4 VARIED THRUSHES on the trail in front of me, fleeing into the forest as I passed by. BAND-TAILED PIGEONS seemed to be cooing from every treetop. No more than a half mile down the Canyon Trail from the Indian Creek Trail junction I heard 2 PILEATED WOODPECKERS calling from across the drainage. Some heavy drumming from that same area was probably these birds as well. Other woodpeckers included numbers of NORTHERN FLICKERS, ACORN WOODPECKERS, and some loud "peek" calls from a HAIRY WOODPECKER. Also here, I heard 3-4 WINTER WRENS singing from the bottom of the drainage, while a few PYGMY NUTHATCHES worked the tip tops of the doug firs. Heading back, I could still hear the 2 Pileateds calling from the drainage, while a third bird called from back towards the sag pond. As I got to the top of the steep climb above the Stevens Creek Trail junction, a male PILEATED was giving a single note call from the trees along the left side the trail, while another bird was giving the multi-note call from further up on the right side of the trail. This guy gave me some flight views as he stutter-stopped his way towards the other bird, ending up in some oaks up the grassy slope a few hundred yards southeast of the sag pond. Leaving Montebello, I headed down to the Stevens Creek Tidal Marsh in Shoreline Park, hoping for the possibility of the Pacific Golden-plover. Unfortunately, the tide was high at this time and the marsh was full of water. There were some limited shorebirds around, but no plovers. However, the "Eurasian" GREEN-WINGED TEAL was present, in addition to many other species of duck. Thirteen REDHEADS were in Crittenden Marsh, across the creek. In the distance I could see FORSTER'S TERNS working over the salt ponds. Suddenly an impulse struck me. I was expecting it to rain at any time (it never happened) and I decided to bird as long as the weather permitted, and make a Big Day out of it. So, the race was on, and I was off. I went to Shoreline Lake, where I picked up grebes - WESTERN, EARED, HORNED, and PIED-BILLED. There were about 120 SURF SCOTERS on the water; pretty typical for these winter months. I started to tick off gulls as well (get them on my list, not make them mad - though a few of the RING-BILLEDS were probably not pleased with my making them move as I set up the scope). My thought was to hit a lot of spots and not spend a lot of time at any of them; so I was off pretty quickly. My next stop was Mt View Forebay. I played one rendition of a Sora tape and before it finished I had both SORA and VIRGINIA RAIL responses. Neat - just as I planned. A THAYER'S GULL flew out of the Forebay as I walked by and was a nice addition. Unfortunately, I was reminded that I would have to take some hits this day, as I couldn't find a single Black Skimmer anywhere in the vicinity of Charleston Slough. I also missed the pair of Blue-winged Teal in the flood control basin. On to the Palo Alto Baylands. The high water in the estuary caused me to miss some good shorebirds; such as Whimbrel, Black-bellied Plover, and Short-billed Dowitcher. But I was able to augment my gulls with BONAPARTE'S and MEW on the water. I scanned every power tower to the horizon, but there was no sign of a Peregrine Falcon. A walk out the boardwalk gave me CLARK'S GREBE right at the observation deck. The Clapper Rails were nowhere to be found, in spite of the high tide. I pished and I pished for a yellowthroat in the marsh, with no response. Just as I reached the Interpretive Center coming back, I heard a COMMON YELLOWTHROAT chip behind me. Whew. I drove to Sunnyvale Baylands Park, out to the southeast corner, scanned the area to the east, saw the ROSS' GOOSE on the levee, and left. I then went to the Alviso Marina. With the tide still pretty high, I was drooling over all the shorebirds I expected to find in the impoundment. My jaw dropped when I found it virtually empty. I did manage a small flock of DUNLIN with a WESTERN SANDPIPER among them. That's all I could muster. A stop at Arzino Ranch produced a couple BURROWING OWLS, but the White-fronted Geese were not present. The EEC had the BARN OWL in the nest box along the slough. I was hoping to get a day's total in the low 120s. In spite of some costly misses, I had 109 species at this point, and it was only 12:00 noon. I felt pretty good as I headed up to Ed Levin Park. At the Spring Valley Picnic Area, I checked the eucs around the parking lot and found a nice male ALLEN'S HUMMINGBIRD. WESTERN BLUEBIRDS were working the lawn, along with some ground-dwelling YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS. As I tried to pry a sapsucker out of the trees (not successful), a flock of WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS came overhead with some TREE SWALLOWS included. I stared dumbly at an old Yellow-billed Magpie nest wondering "where the hell are the magpies?". A drive up a short road behind the golf course yielded RING-NECKED DUCKS on the golf course pond. Coming back down the road, I stopped at a bushy spot for a pish. Up jumped a LINCOLN'S SPARROW. Driving back down the hill with my windows open and the radio off, I heard a NUTTALL'S WOODPECKER calling. Whoohoo! Then it was time to go south. After the long drive down, I found myself at the power tower north of Calero, where a GOLDEN EAGLE was sitting on the nest. Heading for the boat launch, I stopped at the dam along the road for a Bald Eagle scan. There was no Bald Eagle in evidence, but a low-flying PRAIRIE FALCON went right over my head. Sweet! I went to the boat launch, scanning the west end of the reservoir, scanning the east end of the reservoir, then scanning the west end again. Old baldy wasn't around. Darn! I went to the southeast entrance, into the Calero Stables, where I found 21 WILD TURKEYS in the horse corral stirrin up the hay. I scanned hundreds of blackbirds here for just one Tricolored. No luck. I walked out to the reservoir, where COMMON MERGANSERS greeted me. A single GREAT BLUE HERON saved me a planned trip to a nearby rookery. No Rock Wren along the feeder creek. Back at the parking lot, I took one more look through the blackbirds. There it was! A TRICOLORED. The only one among hundreds. Heading for Coyote Creek, I thought "Aw, what the heck" and made one more stop at the boat launch. Scanning the west end, there was the BALD EAGLE sitting in the trees. :-) (big grin on my face as I left) At Coyote Ranch Marsh I searched for the pair of Red-shouldered Hawks that have nested in this area, and were here last weekend. Not a sight or sound of them to be had. I slowly drove up the connecting road towards Metcalf and had a GREEN HERON flush off to the north. At Parkway Lakes I counted the AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS on the water. Guess how many there were? (actually, it was 14, but I'm sure the 15th one was just hiding in the reeds) Then it dawned on me, having missed the White-fronted Geese at Arzino, that Cottonwood Lake was just up the road. I hustled over there, finding the immature GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE right along the shore at the parking lot. (drive up birding is such a Big Day help) Tallying my list at this point, I was surprised that I had accumulated 129 species. I just had to find one more. So, it was off to nearby Santa Teresa County Park, where I drove in to the farthest parking lot, walked a short way down the trail to a sagey rock-studded hillside, and pished. Two very concerned RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROWS replied "dear dear dear". Not only that, but a DOWNY WOODPECKER that was hiding in the willows along the creek voiced his consternation too! Very satisfied, but still with daylight left, I returned to Coyote Ranch Marsh to give the Red-shouldered Hawks one final chance. They passed. But a nice immature COOPER'S HAWK, perched quite cooperatively on a telephone pole, added the finishing touch to a 132-species impromptu Big Day. I'm sure that anyone who has done a Big Day realizes that the birds join in some kind of conspiracy to deny you the full advantage of your efforts. This is known as "the Big Misses", and is easily illustrated by returning to some of your spots on the day following your Big Day, where you see species that you were sure on the previous day had to have been there. For instance, on Sunday, 16 Feb 03, I returned to the Palo Alto Baylands at high tide. There on the estuary power tower were both of the PEREGRINE FALCONS that were supposed to have been there the day before. In addition, the small pond next to the Interpretive Center had a group of BLACK-NECKED STILTS (the biggest of misses the previous day) and some dowitchers that included (by voice vote) SHORT-BILLEDS. To add insult to injury, there was a LESSER YELLOWLEGS in the marsh. In all fairness, though, the Clapper Rails still snubbed me. Mike Mammoser _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. 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