From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Fri Dec 3 22:29:19 2004 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id iB46QilG012979 for <[[email protected]]>; Fri, 3 Dec 2004 22:26:45 -0800 (PST) Received: from mail.coastside.net (iris.coastside.net [207.213.212.14]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id iB46PkYK012928 for <[[email protected]]>; Fri, 3 Dec 2004 22:25:46 -0800 (PST) Message-Id: <[[email protected]]> Received: (qmail 15558 invoked by uid 88); 3 Dec 2004 22:25:44 -0800 Received: from unknown (HELO ?66.81.74.185?) (66.81.74.185) by mail.coastside.net with SMTP; 3 Dec 2004 22:25:44 -0800 X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express for Macintosh - 4.01 (295) Date: Fri, 03 Dec 2004 19:04:19 -0800 From: "Garth Harwood" <[[email protected]]> To: South Bay Birds <[[email protected]]> Subject: [SBB] Grasshopper Sparrow, Saw-whet Owl, Monte Bello X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5b1 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]] > Mime-version: 1.0 X-Priority: 3 Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Hello all, I got lucky on an unpromising evening walk at Monte Bello today 12/3/2004 and found a big mixed sparrow flock at the top of the White Oak Trail in scattered coyote brush and dry grasses. This was after sunset but still with good light, about 4:50PM. It seemed too cold for foraging, but there they were... The bulk of the flock was juncos and Golden-crowned Sparrows, with a couple of towhees and at least 3 Lincoln's Sparrows mixed in (actually, two of the LISP were outliers in separate nearby shrubs). Once the flock relaxed more birds emerged from cover, including a Grasshopper Sparrow which allowed repeated excellent views at 25-30 feet over a 10 minute period, from all angles. A truly beautiful bird when seen so well - especially the warm buttery-orange wash across its unstreaked breast, which seemed to glow in the fading light. I believe David Suddjian's GRSP of last December was close by this spot (just about where the power lines cross over the trail.) As I returned to my truck I heard a Northern Saw-whet Owl begin an extended series of rapid toots at 5:15 from the tiny wedge of Santa Clara County which crosses over Page Mill Rd. into Coal Creek Preserve near Skyline (Region 7 of the PA-CBC). Speaking of the PA Bird Count of 12/20, I could still use a few counters for Region 7 sites, if anyone's interested. --Garth Harwood _______________________________________________ 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]]