From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Sun May 23 17:28:15 2004 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id i4O0QWUu004901 for <[[email protected]]>; Sun, 23 May 2004 17:26:32 -0700 (PDT) Received: from flamingo.mail.pas.earthlink.net (flamingo.mail.pas.earthlink.net [207.217.120.232]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id i4O0O9D6004851 for <[[email protected]]>; Sun, 23 May 2004 17:24:09 -0700 (PDT) Received: from user-2ivflfs.dialup.mindspring.com ([165.247.213.252]) by flamingo.mail.pas.earthlink.net with esmtp (Exim 3.33 #1) id 1BS3G9-00042I-00; Sun, 23 May 2004 17:24:06 -0700 Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v609) To: [[email protected]] Message-Id: <[[email protected]]> From: Matthew Dodder <[[email protected]]> Date: Sun, 23 May 2004 17:28:06 -0700 X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.609) Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.5b1 Cc: East Bay Birders Circle <[[email protected]]> Subject: [SBB] Mines Road/Del Puerto Canyon 05-22-04 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]] All, I led my Palo Alto Adult School group on the Mines Road/Del Puerto Canyon loop this weekend. The weather was much cooler than expected, with heavy overcast skies until 11:00. Around noon it became warm and bird activity increased somewhat. Overall, species were scarce and difficult to locate, but we still found many of our targets. Our first stop, Murietta Wells, produced good looks at American Kestrel on a nest, both Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawk as well as two White-tailed Kite. Other birds of note were Bullock's Oriole and Western Tanager, the first of several for both species. Yellow-billed Magpies were logged here too and were seen throughout the day. We were fortunate to find a few Barn Owl feathers clinging to a palm tree, but could not approach the bird or its apparent nest. No trespassing! This was frustrating at first, to know the bird was probably visible if we could only get closer, but rules must be observed. We stopped before the Del Valle Road junction to investigate a road kill. It was a beautiful male Barn Owl that had no objection to our close-up observation. We admired it for a few moments and nearby we could see telltale bleaching and owl pellets indicating a favorite perch. Directly above these clues, we found two more Barn Owls, these, were still very much alive. A moment later, they flushed from their hiding places and we watched them fly and land in full day light. This wonderful view more than made up for the private property bird... A bit farther, and after the Del Valle junction, the bridge where we usually find numerous Flycatchers, Swallows, Orioles, and Phainopepla was relatively quiet and produced little in the way of new species. Conditions were very dry there and may partly explain the lack of activity. As we continued up hill we spotted a Greater Roadrunner from the road but lost it quickly up slope. Later we would see four more in Del Puerto Canyon, apparently a family. Before we reached the summit we stopped in a lush creek area to locate Yellow Warbler, Black-headed Grosbeak, several Bullock's Orioles and a singing Rufous-crowned Sparrow. Lark Sparrow as present in a few places, but was most easily observed below the summit. Then we went up into the sage brush habitat and down into the Valley. We worked the cattle guard area, hoping to find Sage Sparrow. Several of the birds were heard on both sides of the road, with brief looks at individuals as they perched on the tops of shrubs. Joan Leighton found a curious bird high in the branches of a pine. A telescope view of the bird revealed it to be a singing male Sage Sparrow! Uncommonly good looks at this bird were satisfying but puzzling. It seemed an unusual spot for such a shy, low-to-the-ground bird. The volunteer firestation trees afforded us great looks at Bullock's and a single Hooded Oriole, Western Kingbird, Ash-throated Flycatcher and nesting Lawrence's Goldfinches. We broke for lunch before continuing down the road to find our Lewis' Woodpecker. It flew overhead quickly and disappeared in the distance. Oh well, at least we got a look... We then retraced our steps and turned at the junction to begin our long drive through the Del Puerto Canyon. A few birders gathered by the side of the road clued us into the presence of several Wood Ducks and Mallards on the small pond. We viewed the birds for several minutes before returning to our cars. Both Canyon and Rock Wrens were heard and seen in the rocky areas of the canyon, as well as a nest with three Common Raven chicks in the same place they were the year before. Owl Rock lived up to its name with two more Barn Owls, a female and a male, but the hoped-for Costa's Hummingbird did not appear. As consolations another Rock Wren, a Loggerhead Shrike and a Say's Phoebe were located. Finally, we drove through the wide grassy hills before Hwy 5 and stopped to search for the Blue Grosbeak of the previous year. No luck with that one; it was far too dry to support a nesting pair. Numerous Western Meadowlark, Western Kingbirds were present and a lone Cassin's Kingbird was also found. That's all for now, Matthew Dodder http://www.birdguy.net Pied-billed Grebe Great Egret Green Heron Wood Duck Mallard Turkey Vulture White-tailed Kite Cooper's Hawk Golden Eagle Red-shouldered Hawk Red-tailed Hawk American Kestrel Wild Turkey California Quail American Coot Killdeer Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Greater Roadrunner Barn Owl Anna's Hummingbird Belted Kingfisher Lewis' Woodpecker Acorn Woodpecker Nuttall's Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Northern Flicker Western Wood Pewee Pacific-slope Flycatcher Black Phoebe Say's Phoebe Ash-throated Flycatcher Cassin's Kingbird Western Kingbird Tree Swallow Violet-green Swallow Northern Rough-winged Swallow Cliff Swallow Barn Swallow Steller's Jay Western Scrub Jay Yellow-billed Magpie American Crow Common Raven Chestnut-backed Chickadee Oak Titmouse Bushtit White-breasted Nuthatch Rock Wren Canyon Wren Bewick's Wren House Wren Western Bluebird Wrentit California Thrasher Loggerhead Shrike European Starling Hutton's Vireo Yellow Warbler Western Tanager Black-headed Grosbeak Spotted Towhee California Towhee Rufous-crowned Sparrow Lark Sparrow Sage Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Red-winged Blackbird Western Meadowlark Brewer's Blackbird Brown-headed Cowbird Hooded Oriole (seen by 2) Bullock's Oriole Purple Finch House Finch Lesser Goldfinch Lawrence's Goldfinch American Goldfinch House Sparrow -end _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. 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