From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Wed May 14 13:24:27 2003 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id h4EKJfIt028430 for <[[email protected]]>; Wed, 14 May 2003 13:19:42 -0700 (PDT) Received: from smtp2.Stanford.EDU (smtp2.stanford.edu [171.64.14.116]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id h4EKI7vn028388 for <[[email protected]]>; Wed, 14 May 2003 13:18:27 -0700 (PDT) Received: from [171.66.165.19] (DNab42a513.Stanford.EDU [171.66.165.19]) by smtp2.Stanford.EDU (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id h4EKHwQO012418; Wed, 14 May 2003 13:18:02 -0700 (PDT) Mime-Version: 1.0 X-Sender: [[email protected]] Message-Id: Date: Wed, 14 May 2003 13:17:58 -0700 To: [[email protected]] From: Grant <[[email protected]]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed" Cc: [[email protected]] Subject: [SBB] Weekend birdathon 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]] -- SBBirders--- On Saturday-Sunday May 10-11 I joined Debi Jamieson and Steve Patt for a birdathon trek following the course of Stevens Creek in its entirety, from the source at Monte Bello ridge to the mouth at S.F. Bay. We hiked 15 miles on Saturday and 11 miles Sunday, totalling 98 species of birds. (A detailed and beautifully prepared account of the 2 days can be seen at Steve and Debi's website: http://www.stevenscreek.com/scbirdathon.html.) We tried to follow the creek as closely as possible, but had to divert to nearby city streets in Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Los Altos and Mt. View roughly between Highway 280 and El Camino Real where access is limited. The Stevens Creek Trail provided full access from just north of El Camino to the Bay. We recorded any birds visible from our walking route, most of which could be counted as creek-associated. We were fortunate to experience nice weather, though it was chilly at Monte Bello OSP at 5:30 AM. W. SCREECH OWL and GREAT HORNED OWL were good pre-dawn finds, and the spontaneously calling WILD TURKEY was a nice surprise just after dawn. LAZULI BUNTINGS were singing and we also got W. MEADOWLARK in the grassland before descending into creek habitat. We picked up our only WINTER WREN of the day singing near a bridge down the trail, and a couple miles later Debi found a MACGIILLIVRAY'S WARBLER. WARBLING VIREOS and CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES were plentiful throughout the riparian habitat, even down through the urban areas on Sunday. A few species were conspicuously absent. We'd hoped to hear a Pileated Woodpecker somewhere in Stevens Canyon but not surprised to miss it; however, I was quite disappointed not to detect a single Downy Woodpecker or Yellow Warbler for the entire weekend. (I would be interested to know if other birders are finding Downy Woodpecker and Yellow Warbler scarce in South Bay riparian habitats.) And somehow we managed to miss House Wren, which I'm sure is present in reasonable numbers in Stevens Creek Park. Also undetected over the 2 days was American Kestrel. We had two sightings of AMERICAN DIPPER, each with an adult feeding a young bird. One was across from 17300 Stevens Canyon Rd.; the other was near the "fourth bridge" nest location. I don't know if this represents one or two Dipper families, but I think there was about a mile between the two spots. A HAIRY WOODPECKER was feeding nestlings in utility pole nest at 16531 Stevens Canyon. A RED-SHOULDERED HAWK was easily visible on a nest at the Madrone Group Area. I had been surprised at the absence of CASSIN'S VIREO over the first several miles of Saturday's hike through some prime riparian habitat, but then we had 4 signing birds within a mile or so as we descended into the county park. We finished the first day's "death march" by passing through the abandoned quarry behind the county park where I was hoping to find Rufous-crowned Sparrow in the remnant artemisia habitat, but no luck. I staggered up and over the last hill eating Steve and Debi's dust (they are in great shape!) into Linda Vista Park and down to McClellan Ranch where we picked up HOODED ORIOLE, then went home to collapse. Somehow I dragged myself out of bed at 5:30 the next morning to do it all again. Steve and Debi had done some thorough reconnaissance and knew where we could access the creek, and we ducked under 280 and 85 to get great eye-level looks at WHITE-THROATED SWIFT and N. ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW as they inspected under-freeway nest sites. We then meandered through the suburbs using streets like Phar Lap Dr., Fallen Leaf Lane, and Bernardo Ave. to follow Stevens Creek toward El Camino Real near the junction of Hwy. 85. Steve found the first of several WESTERN TANAGERS at one of these stops, and we had another at the PG & E land near El Camino and 85. After a revitalizing lunch at Burger King, we picked up the official Stevens Creek Trail on the other side of El Camino and enjoyed a lovely walk through Mt. View. Probably the most interesting sighting was a pair of CEDAR WAXWINGS behaving in an amorous fashion just east of the Middlefield Rd. trail crossing. These 2 birds were not associated with a flock, and kept sidling up to each other on a sycamore tree branch. We waited for the apparent courtship behavior to lead to something more exciting, but they must not have wanted us to watch! They flew around together for several minutes in the habitat on either side of the creek. Given David Suddjian's recent discovery of this species' breeding in Palo Alto, it might be worth checking this spot for CEWA breeding in the next few weeks. Downstream past L'Avenida we ran into Mary Wisniewski and Bill Walker who obligingly pointed out where they'd just seen a TOWNSEND's WARBLER near the end of the riparian habitat near Crittenden Lane, but we couldn't find the bird. I was a bit disappointed in the scarcity of waterfowl as we passed Crittenden and hit the wetlands. We had to work hard for the smattering of ducks, including CINNAMON TEAL, L. SCAUP, N. SHOVELER and GADWALL. Three breeding-plumaged EARED GREBES were a treat, and a lone LONG-BILLED CURLEW was about it for shorebirds. As we reached the end of our 2-day journey I was excited to see lots of bird activity on exposed mudflats; unfortunately, they were almost all CALIFORNIA GULLS. We did manage one GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL and a few FORSTER'S TERNS, but couldn't pick up any peeps, dowitchers, etc. in the mudflats. We missed some really common things like Pied-billed Grebe and Great Blue Heron, but agreed that it had been a fantastic experience, hiking the entire lenght of one of the county's major waterways and observing the associated birdlife. As we drove off from the Crittenden Lane parking area I spotted a potential kestrel on a utility wire and we stopped to check it out. Turned out it was a BURROWING OWL, our 98th and final species. 26 miles in 2 days on a total of seven hours sleep was certainly a full weekend of birding for me, but I have a new appreciation for Stevens Creek. I learned a lot about the history and ecology of the area from Steve and Debi, who are very active in preserving local bird habitat. The hike along upper Stevens Creek is gorgeous and I highly recommend it. A note of caution: this trail is very popular with mountain bikers, who are courteous and respectful of hikers but do travel at a good clip. ---Grant Hoyt _______________________________________________ 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]]