From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Wed Oct 29 21:06:15 2003 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id h9U51t6V009101 for <[[email protected]]>; Wed, 29 Oct 2003 21:01:56 -0800 (PST) Received: from scaup.mail.pas.earthlink.net (scaup.mail.pas.earthlink.net [207.217.120.49]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id h9U50bMU009033 for <[[email protected]]>; Wed, 29 Oct 2003 21:00:37 -0800 (PST) Received: from user-vcaukc6.dsl.mindspring.com ([216.175.81.134] helo=pavilion.earthlink.net) by scaup.mail.pas.earthlink.net with esmtp (Exim 3.33 #1) id 1AF4vD-0003aJ-00 for [[email protected]]; Wed, 29 Oct 2003 21:00:35 -0800 Message-Id: <[[email protected]]> X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.2.1 Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 21:00:35 -0800 To: [[email protected]] From: Bill Bousman <[[email protected]]> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Subject: [SBB] East of Mt. Hamilton 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]] Folks: Today, 10/29/2003, I journeyed over Mt. Hamilton, down into San Antonio Valley, did a couple of hours in Del Puerto Canyon, and then returned over Mt. Hamilton. Les Lieurance posted a lovely video of Pinyon Jay extracting seeds from Coulter pines on San Benito Mountain and I thought, "Why not here?" Counter pines just about reach their northern extent east of Mt. Hamilton in a band from 3400 to 3700'. There are a few yellow pines mixed in, particularly to the south, but along the road, there are mostly Coulter pines. Well, no Pinyon Jays today, but a lovely time nonetheless. East of the summit, in a gravel pullout that looks over the gorge between Mt. Hamilton and Mt. Isabel I stopped for a while, thinking this was the spot Mike Rogers had his LEWIS'S WOODPECKERS earlier in the month. This is an area of oaks and gray pine just above the Coulter pine belt. With patience I eventually counted about five birds, fewer than Mike had. These are immigrants, as they do not nest here. I didn't find any birds in the Coulter pine belt, but later, on my return, I had at least one bird below the Coulter pines. I walked the road for the extent of the pine belt and enjoyed the Acorn Woodpeckers and Western Scrub-Jays that were so plentiful here. My count of 123 BAND-TAILED PIGEONS is probably low. The most surprising bird was an adult BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER foraging in the black oaks. Few of us bird this area in October, so it is hard to say for certain that this is an unusual record. Arroyo Bayo was quiet, although I enjoyed good looks at a typical RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER feeding on poison oak berries at the Arnold Pond. I stopped in the first valley oak grove in the San Antonio Valley and counted at least nine LEWIS'S WOODPECKERS. They seemed to be doing their usual social thing, with birds flying from oak to oak, flycatching on the way. I didn't notice any antagonisitc behaviors. Further north, just past the dogleg at San Antonio Creek, I found three more birds. Between a quarter or a half mile south of the junction, on the east side of the road where there is a small wooden shed, I found two adult CHIPPING SPARROWS. This is the same spot where I had an adult and a juvenile earlier in the month. About four LARK SPARROWS were in the large (40+) junco flock here. I had at least two flocks of SAVANNAH SPARROWS in the valley, but despite my best efforts, I could not turn any into Vespers. North of the junction, along the pond that is across the road from the Digger Pine Ranch, I dug up a single LINCOLN'S SPARROW. A few birds appear to winter in the valley most years. The best bird of the day were two Coyotes. West of Mt. Hamilton, with sunrise on the telescope domes, but still in deep shade, I spotted a few silhouettes of interest and pulled over (Acorn Woodpecker and Western Scrub-Jay, sigh). A Coyote had just crossed the road and as I stopped the van a second followed. I got out and watched the two animals, pretending to be a tree. Both had beautiful coats and looked quite handsome. The further animal, about 50 m away, had lovely rufous on its ears. I was curious as to whether the two had some social bond. The nearer animal, 25 m from me, stood its ground, but was clearly concerned at my presence. Eventually the further animal came back towards the nearer one (and me) and about a meter from the near Coyote, started this submissive posture where it was almost crawling, with its tail wagging vigourously. The near animal let it approach, and then the submissive Coyote came to it and licked it vigorously all around the muzzle in an enthusiastic manner. It seemed like a Hugo Van Lawick film of jackals in Africa, but there was no voice over narration to explain this relationship. Was it a mated pair or adult and young of the year. Once this interaction was over they stared at me with their cold yellow eyes as to say you do not belong here. And I thought, if I am to find a Pinyon Jay today, I must be on my way. And I left. Bill _______________________________________________ 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]]