From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Sat Jan 3 13:52:35 2004 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id i03LoI2l018552 for <[[email protected]]>; Sat, 3 Jan 2004 13:50:19 -0800 (PST) Received: from mms1.broadcom.com (mms1.broadcom.com [63.70.210.58]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id i03Ln31l018502 for <[[email protected]]>; Sat, 3 Jan 2004 13:49:04 -0800 (PST) Received: from 63.70.210.1 by mms1.broadcom.com with ESMTP (Broadcom SMTP Relay (MMS v5.6.0)); Sat, 03 Jan 2004 13:48:54 -0800 X-Server-Uuid: 97B92932-364A-4474-92D6-5CFE9C59AD14 Received: from mail-sjcw-3.sw.broadcom.com (mail-sjcw-3.sw.broadcom.com [10.20.128.23]) by mon-irva-11.broadcom.com (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id NAA02029 for <[[email protected]]>; Sat, 3 Jan 2004 13:48:18 -0800 (PST) Received: from mail-sjcw-1.broadcom.com (mail-sjcw-1.sw.broadcom.com [10.20.128.21]) by mail-sjcw-3.sw.broadcom.com (8.12.9/8.12.9/SSM3) with ESMTP id i03LmrMW022613 for <[[email protected]]>; Sat, 3 Jan 2004 13:48:53 -0800 (PST) Received: from pc2kmikem (dhcpe1-sjcw-254 [10.20.64.254]) by mail-sjcw-1.broadcom.com (8.12.9/8.12.4/SSM) with SMTP id i03Lmv0N012458 for <[[email protected]]>; Sat, 3 Jan 2004 13:48:57 -0800 (PST) From: "Mike Mammoser" <[[email protected]]> To: SBB <[[email protected]]> Date: Sat, 3 Jan 2004 13:48:29 -0800 Message-ID: <[[email protected]]> MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IMO, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2910.0) X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1165 Importance: Normal X-WSS-ID: 13E9E74C2402855977-01-01 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: [SBB] : 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]] I started my new year of birding rather late on the 1st (had to sleep off the previous night's celebration) by driving in the rain to Calero Reservoir. I couldn't see much from the boat launch, other than a couple AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS, so I decided to drive up McKean Rd to look for the Golden Eagles at the north end of the reservoir. On The way, I stopped at the dam face for a quick scan and was rewarded with the adult BALD EAGLE perched in a treetop towards the northwest side of the reservoir. I failed to find Golden Eagles and so headed for the stables at the south end. Here I found 37 WILD TURKEYS looking dismal as they huddled up in the pouring rain. >From there I headed to Ogier Ponds, where I donned my rain gear for a walk. The pair of REDHEAD were in the same pond as on the CBC. I taped out a SORA on the southmost pond, near the model airplane park, and got a nice look at a VIRGINIA RAIL in the cattails there. I had to work a little bit along the east side of the pond, but eventually was able to flush an AMERICAN BITTERN there. I then drove to Coyote Ranch Road, where I eventually found the SAY'S PHOEBE that has been hanging out there. During the search, however, I also came upon a WHITE-THROATED SPARROW in with a flock of crowned sparrows that were working the pepper trees east of the road. A check of Parkway Lakes produced nothing of interest, so I drove up to the Sunnyvale Sewage Ponds, where my scoping failed to turn up a Blue-winged Teal or Eurasian Wigeon. I was able to find an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER along the edge of the Lockheed ponds. A scope of salt pond A4 produced both WESTERN and CLARK'S GREBES. An adult PEREGRINE FALCON flew by, heading towards the dump and, as I was leaving, a MERLIN flew to perch on one of the power towers. I went to Charleston Slough at this point, where I counted 16 BLACK SKIMMERS on the island. I was also able to find a male BLUE-WINGED TEAL and a male EURASIAN WIGEON in the flood control basin, to make up for missing them at Sunnyvale. A check of Shoreline Lake gave me a single HORNED GREBE, providing a 5-grebe day. On Friday, 2 Jan 04, I joined Mike Rogers on the Mt Hamilton CBC for our annual foray into Isabel Valley. We arrived at Isabel Creek, where it is crossed by Mt Hamilton Road, before light and proceeded to tape for owls. We got 3 GREAT HORNED OWLS, which were calling spontaneously, and 1 WESTERN SCREECH-OWL that responded to a tape. Upon entering the valley we saw an adult FERRUGINOUS HAWK perched in the top of a valley oak and were able to obtain excellent views as it sat and posed in close proximity to us. From the dam at the main reservoir we found an immature PRAIRIE FALCON perched on one of the telephone poles along the runway. One of the best birds of the day was a VESPER SPARROW in the willows along the dam as we scoped out the reservoir. We were able to find only 3 LEWIS' WOODPECKERS on the day, which is a big turnaround from the dozens we had last year. They must have all moved out to Alpine Pond. :-) Working around the reservoir, we had a HOUSE WREN in a bushy tangle along the horse pasture and 4 WOOD DUCKS hiding in the willows along the feeder creek. Most surprising, though, was a beautiful male MANDARIN DUCK in with the Wood Ducks. It is hard to think of this bird as anything more than an escapee from captivity, but it's a wonder as to how it got to this location. As we drove the wet roads around the back of the valley, we found a pair of adult GOLDEN EAGLES perched cooperatively in an oak tree, where they sat as we drove right by, even allowing us to stop briefly for great looks. We saw one, or both, of these birds later, soaring at various times over the valley. A single male PHAINOPEPLA perched in a treetop gave only marginal views, and a RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER was another singleton on a day full of singletons. (I believe we had 19 species represented by a single bird) At another spot Mike's sharp ears picked up the calls of GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS, and 4 were eventually found foraging in the oaks. A pishing expedition in the chapparal brought out 2 SAGE SPARROWS, only one of which I was able to get on. We had a total of 3 MERLINS on the day at various points about the valley, one being quite a dark individual, although it turned out to be a member of the nominate columbarius race. A pair of HOODED MERGANSERS was on one of the reservoirs in back of the valley. Finally, a largish mixed flock of blackbirds back by the main reservoir included at least 6 TRICOLOREDS. We had quite a mixture of weather, starting out clear and cold in the morning before light, turning cool and sunny throughout the morning, and then clouding up and raining in the afternoon. We drove back over Mt Hamilton through the accumulating snow. Mike Mammoser _______________________________________________ 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]]