From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Tue Jan 28 18:58:38 2003 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.6/8.12.2) with ESMTP id h0T2uN4x019811 for <[[email protected]]>; Tue, 28 Jan 2003 18:56:23 -0800 (PST) Received: from conure.mail.pas.earthlink.net (conure.mail.pas.earthlink.net [207.217.120.54]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.6/8.12.2) with ESMTP id h0T2tbSE019769 for <[[email protected]]>; Tue, 28 Jan 2003 18:55:37 -0800 (PST) Received: from pool1006.cvx24-bradley.dialup.earthlink.net ([209.179.213.241]) by conure.mail.pas.earthlink.net with esmtp (Exim 3.33 #1) id 18diNO-0003VC-00 for [[email protected]]; Tue, 28 Jan 2003 18:55:00 -0800 X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express Macintosh Edition - 4.5 (0410) Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 18:52:41 -0700 From: "Jim Danzenbaker" <[[email protected]]> To: [[email protected]] Mime-version: 1.0 X-Priority: 3 Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Message-Id: <[[email protected]]> Subject: [SBB] Owls, PIWO 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]] All, Spurred on by Mike Rogers' successful owl foray, I journeyed up to Montebello this morning to try my luck. Unfortunately, I forgot my watch so don't have the times when owls started and stopped calling but I believe the timing was very close to Mike's. I arrived at about 5 am (having seen a rare three dimensional Striped Skunk wandering across the road) and started hiking down the Canyon Trail. Not much responded until I reached the Stevens Creek Trail junction. Several WESTERN SCREECH OWLs finally responded. I walked down the Stevens Creek trail a bit and had two close calling Western Screech Owls although I did not see them. Afterwards, I returned to the Canyon Trail and headed further down. I finally heard a NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL near the Indian Trail junction. This was the first of four calling NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWLs. It was just before dawn and as I listened to two of the Saw-whets calling, a PILEATED WOODPECKER started to call - WOW! However, I figured I wouldn't see the woodpeckers since they seem not to get along well with me (I tried to see/hear them 7 times last year without success). Further along the trail, several GREAT-HORNED OWLs called and finally, a far-off NORTHERN PYGMY OWL tooted several times but stayed a fair distance away. A variety of passerines joined in for the dawn chorus including BROWN CREEPER, TOWNSEND'S WARBLER, PURPLE FINCH, VARIED THRUSH, and CALIFORNIA THRASHER. On my way back, I heard the Pileated Woodpeckers several times but they stayed hidden. Finally, at the sag pond, I heard a woodpecker tapping and was astonished to see the female PILEATED WOODPECKER searching for her breakfast. I got several good but brief views of her. Moments later, I realized that two woodpeckers were there and I was treated to a brief but very rewarding view of the male. This was only .1 miles from Page Mill Road and the time was somewhere around 7:50-8:10. Good luck if you choose to try for these things. It was a fun morning! Jim Danzenbaker San Jose, CA 408-264-7582 (408-ANI-SKUA) [[email protected]] Falcon's Eye Guiding ---------- >From: "Dr. Michael M. Rogers" <[[email protected]]> >To: [[email protected]] >Subject: [SBB] owls, PIWO, and WTSP >Date: Mon, Jan 27, 2003, 5:13 PM > > > All, > > Thinking that the warm weather might encourage some owls to call, I > decided to check Monte Bello OSP before dawn on Sunday 1/26/03. I > started hiking in on the Canyon Trail at 5:15am and managed to get a > response from a WESTERN SCREECH-OWL before reaching the sag pond. > Persistent taping for a Northern Saw-whet Owl near the Stevens Creek > Trail junction elicited little response, but eventually another > WESTERN SCREECH-OWL spoke up. I headed partway down the Stevens Creek > Trail toward it and heard a nearby NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL respond to > the screech-owl! After that, I headed back out the Canyon Trail to > the meadow and waited. I didn't have to wait long, as a NORTHERN > PYGMY-OWL began calling at 6:19am and kept going incessantly until > just after 7am. A second bird joined it, calling briefly at 6:32am. > What was presumably the same NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL called occasionally > from back where I had heard it until 6:25am. At least 5 additional > WESTERN SCREECH-OWLS were also calling from the meadow edges. > Finally, at 6:47 a distant GREAT HORNED OWL began hooting. Another > pair directly below me across the canyon hooted from 7:01 to 7:12, ten > minutes after a CALIFORNIA THRASHER had begun singing and 7 minutes > after a WINTER WREN began singing loudly from the drainage below me. > Guess the Great Horned Owls are too busy with nest preparation to be > as vocal as usual. > > I stayed at the meadow until 7:45am, listening and looking for new > species to show themselves. Several BAND-TAILED PIGEONS were > "singing" from the tree tops and flying up the canyon. Flocks of > COMMON RAVENS and AMERICAN ROBINS commuted to the northeast, the > latter with an occasional CEDAR WAXWING among them. VARIED THRUSHES > called from the woods. AT 7:11am, I heard a calling PILEATED > WOODPECKER. Over the next half hour continual calling and drumming > was heard from at least 2 PILEATED WOODPECKERS as they worked their > way up the canyon, last being heard from near the Stevens Creek Trail > junction. > > Heading further down the Canyon Trail, I located a few PURPLE FINCHES > flying overhead, 3 TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS, another singing WINTER WREN > (about a tenth of a mile beyond milepost 1.3), and heard several PYGMY > NUTHATCHES. Hiking back, I refound both PILEATED WOODPECKERS about 0.4 > miles from Page Mill Road. They flew from a wooded drainage over the > scrub by the "Coyote" interpretive sign to a leafless tree at the > other end of the clearing. Here I got great looks at the pair before > they flew further to the sag pond; shortly thereafter I heard one > calling as it flew over Page Mill Road into San Mateo County. > > Since so many good birds have been seen at Edenvale Garden Park > lately, I decided to check some urban parks in the northern part of > the county. I started with Bowers Park in Santa Clara and Fair Oaks > Park in Sunnyvale, both of which have had overwintering Palm Warblers > in past winters. Highlights from just under an hour and a half at > Bowers Park and adjacent Saratoga Creek included a perched adult male > MERLIN (apparently a pale columbarius), a female TOWNSEND'S WARBLER, > 2 FOX SPARROWS, and 3 female-plumaged PURPLE FINCHES. In twenty-five > minutes at Fair Oaks Park I found an adult male TOWNSEND'S WARBLER and > an adult tan-striped WHITE-THROATED SPARROW. The sparrow was with a > small flock of Zonotrichia near the north end of the canal on the east > side of the park (where the water goes underground). In twenty-five > minutes at Martin Murphy Junior Historical Park at N. Sunnyvale and > Central Expressway in Sunnyvale I found two more TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS > and an out-of-place BEWICK'S WREN. > > Mike Rogers > _______________________________________________ > 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/jim%40falconseye.com > > This email sent to [[email protected]] _______________________________________________ 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]]