From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Sat May 15 16:12:45 2004 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id i4FNAGUx027114 for <[[email protected]]>; Sat, 15 May 2004 16:10:16 -0700 (PDT) Received: from imo-m22.mx.aol.com (imo-m22.mx.aol.com [64.12.137.3]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id i4FN93D6027073 for <[[email protected]]>; Sat, 15 May 2004 16:09:03 -0700 (PDT) Received: from [[email protected]] by imo-m22.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v37_r1.3.) id o.147.29bbfe2d (3940); Sat, 15 May 2004 19:08:51 -0400 (EDT) From: [[email protected]] Message-ID: <[[email protected]]> Date: Sat, 15 May 2004 19:08:51 EDT To: [[email protected]], [[email protected]] MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: 8.0 for Windows sub 6803 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.5b1 Cc: Subject: [SBB] Summit Ridge from Loma Prieta to Mt Madonna 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]] Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by plaidworks.com id i4FNAGUx027114 I surveyed birds along Summit Ridge early this morning (May 15). The weather was excellent...light to calm winds, nice and comfortable temps in the mid-50s, and there was hardly a bug to bother with. About 35 min. before sunrise I heard single COMMON POORWILLS calling from both north and south (SCZ and SCL) of the junction of Summit Road and Loma Prieta Ave. Neither was very close to me. The rest of my survey consisted of a series of stops along Summit Road beginning 0.8 mile southeast of Loma Prieta Ave. The day began with a jaw dropping sunrise -- interesting orange clouds spanning the sky over a fog-filled Santa Clara Valley, with the waning crescent moon hanging over the Diablo Range. I heard MOUNTAIN QUAIL calling in two spots, both new locations, as (to my knowledge) there was only one prior report (last spring) from Summit Road southeast of Loma Prieta. Today's birds were on the SCZ side about 0.5 mi. northeast of Maymens Flat, and on the SCL side at Land's End. I encountered 10 YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS at nine stops, most of which I suspect were on breeding territories. Six were singing males. Nine were in the knobcone pine forest areas, but one was singing in redwood forest about 1.3 miles west-northwest of Mt. Madonna Road, an area where I first encountered breeders in that habitat two years ago. Why they are in redwood forest in that area is still an enigma to me, as I know of only one other area where they nest in that habitat in the Santa Cruz Mountains (an area on Ben Lomond Mountain), but of course the habitat is quite widespread. I had 12 RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES from the vicinity of Maymen's Flat to Croy Ridge Road, all in knobcone forest. A PILEATED WOODPECKER was calling very near the road from the SCZ side at the head of Gamecock Canyon (a first for the watershed) about 3.4 miles northwest of Mount Madonna Road. Another was calling from the SCL side about 200 meters downslope of the ridge 0.6 mile from Mt Madonna Road. An OSPREY flew north from SCZ to SCL low over the summit ridge about one mile northwest of Mt Madonna Road. Three female WILD TURKEYS were on the SCZ side in that same area. COOPER'S HAWKS were "kekking" in SCZ about 1.4 mile from Loma Prieta Ave. and then on the SCL side near the big radio tower. The road runs along the margin of the area burned by the Croy Fire in fall 2002 for about a mile just east of Croy Ridge Road. This area was quite lively with birds, although I found nothing out of the ordinary. Last spring it was not lively at all, but then the ground was mostly still bare, and there was just minor root crown sprouting. Now it is fairly lush with 2-3' tall vegetation (mostly bush poppy, and sprouts of ceanothus and manzanita). Two HOUSE WRENS in this area liked the post-fire conditions, as they were absent there prior to the fire (indeed they are generally rare along Summit Road now, and those were the only ones I had today). Obvious migrants were not too plentiful along my route. Among those that I thought were migrants up there this morning were 3 SWAINSON'S THRUSHES, 2 WILSON'S WARBLERS, 1 HERMIT WARBLER and 4 TOWNSEND'D WARBLERS. Among the local breeders, I was disappointed to not have any WESTERN WOOD-PEWEES, just one CASSIN'S VIREO, and only a few WESTERN TANAGERS. David L. Suddjian Capitola, CA Santa Cruz Bird Club Bird Records Keeper [[email protected]] Santa Cruz Bird Club website:  www.santacruzbirdclub.org _______________________________________________ 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]]