From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Wed Nov 12 12:16:02 2003 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id hACKCH6X016990 for <[[email protected]]>; Wed, 12 Nov 2003 12:12:17 -0800 (PST) Received: from rtjones.nas.nasa.gov (rtjones.nas.nasa.gov [129.99.19.30]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id hACKBHMU016944 for <[[email protected]]>; Wed, 12 Nov 2003 12:11:17 -0800 (PST) Received: from rtjones.nas.nasa.gov (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by rtjones.nas.nasa.gov (SGI-8.12.5/8.12.5/NAS-6n) with ESMTP id hACKBFLF151003 for <[[email protected]]>; Wed, 12 Nov 2003 12:11:15 -0800 (PST) Received: (from mrogers@localhost) by rtjones.nas.nasa.gov (SGI-8.12.5/8.12.5/Submit) id hACKBF6h151698 for [[email protected]]; Wed, 12 Nov 2003 12:11:15 -0800 (PST) Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2003 12:11:15 -0800 (PST) From: "Dr. Michael M. Rogers" <[[email protected]]> Message-Id: <[[email protected]]> To: [[email protected]] Subject: [SBB] Henry Coe SP on 11/11/03 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]] All, I took advantage of the Veteran's Day holiday yesterday 11/11/03 to take a long hike in Henry Coe State Park. An OSPREY was seen in transit from highway 101 at the Parkway Lakes. I arrived at the parking lot near the Henry Coe headquarters building shortly after 8:30am and spent the next half hour or so birding around the buildings and parking lot, which were quite birdy. I ended up with 34 species here - and actually only added 18 more on the ensuing 7-hour, 14-mile, and 2200-ft elevation hike. Lots of birds were flying over, including many flocks of AMERICAN ROBINS heading east; among them was a single VARIED THRUSH. Two more VARIED THRUSHES were heard from the drainages up towards the Monument and a brightly colored male was seen heading west over the Springs Trail later in the morning. Also overhead were flyover PINE SISKINS (twice) and AMERICAN PIPITS (2 or 3 birds in 2 groups, heading south). The pipit is not even on the Coe bird checklist, although the first park record was found by Jim Yurchenco and Amy Lauterbach last fall on 10/20/02. Flyover southbound migrants are probably more regular than these records indicate, however. An immature SHARP-SHINNNED HAWK blasted through the parking lot and a late HOUSE WREN provided nice looks near the silver propane tank. Several YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS were about - I ended up with 17+ for the day (all identified being "MYRTLE"). This species can be scarce in the Diablo Range in winter, but the complete lack of November and early December records on the checklist is hard to explain. Heading up the Monument Trail to the Ponderosa Trail and birding the pines turned up 4+ GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS (2+ near the trail junction and 2 south of the Monument) and the day's only RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER. Birds of interest along the Springs Trail included the above-mentioned VARIED THRUSH and an AMERICAN GOLDFINCH with LESSER GOLDFINCHES near Arnold Spring. A large passerine flock across Manzanita Point Road from Bass Pond included 2 HERMIT THRUSHES among many AMERICAN ROBINS, a few NORTHERN FLICKERS, and an immature female TOWNSEND'S WARBLER among the many BUSHTITS, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS, and CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES. The most interesting birds at Manzanita Point were two SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS. The vocal perched immature male eventually chased off the immature female perched nearby. The upper portion of the chaparral field along the China Hole Trail was pretty quiet, but at the start of the lower section I pished in a nice sparrow flock that included three very cooperative SAGE SPARROWS, the day's only WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW, and several FOX and GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROWS. A search of the China Hole area, the Narrows, and rock outcrops and dried our riverbed near Los Cruzeros failed to turn up any Canyon Wrens - in fact YELLOW-BILLED MAGPIE was the only new species seen in these areas. At Poverty Flat I found 2 more HOUSE WRENS (one where Manzanita Point Road crosses Coyote Creek, the other 100 yards further west, where the road begins its steep ascent out of the canyon). These birds at 1200 feet elevation and the one at the headquarters at 2640 feet elevation are remarkably late for these locations; most of our lingering fall migrants hang out in lowland riparian areas. We do, however, have a few records of overwintering birds from the Diablo Range and these birds may be attempting this. The Coe checklist shows this species as present only from March through July, so it is clear that most individuals of this species have departed the park months ago. The trip back up Poverty Flat Road to Manzanita Point Road was fairly uneventful, although it did produce another TOWNSEND'S WARBLER. While working through a large flock of WESTERN MEADOWLARKS along Manzanita Point Road near the junction with the road to Ridge View Camp, I was surprised to flush up a GRASSHOPPER SPARROW. This species breeds in this grassland (near Arnold Spring, with my previous observations being from 7/4/02 and 5/25/03) but is seldom reported in winter anywhere in the county. However, more and more recent winter sightings from the western edge of the Diablo Range suggest that wintering may be more frequent than we realize - it's just that the birds are very hard to detect when they're not singing. 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/south-bay-birds-archive%40plaidworks.com This email sent to [[email protected]]