From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Mon Sep 27 17:37:28 2004 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id i8S0Z2wO000954 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 27 Sep 2004 17:35:02 -0700 (PDT) Received: from mallard.mail.pas.earthlink.net (mallard.mail.pas.earthlink.net [207.217.120.48]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id i8S0Xn1c000907 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 27 Sep 2004 17:33:49 -0700 (PDT) Received: from user-2ivfk6s.dialup.mindspring.com ([165.247.208.220]) by mallard.mail.pas.earthlink.net with esmtp (Exim 3.33 #1) id 1CC5wA-0001Sz-00 for [[email protected]]; Mon, 27 Sep 2004 17:33:47 -0700 Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v619) In-Reply-To: <003601c4a4cb$b5be9920$[[email protected]]> References: <003601c4a4cb$b5be9920$[[email protected]]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed Message-Id: <[[email protected]]> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit From: Les Chibana <[[email protected]]> Subject: Re: [SBB] Monte Bello OSP - Chipping Sparrows etc. Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 17:35:06 -0700 To: South Bay Birders <[[email protected]]> X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.619) 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]] I recall seeing a Wilson's Snipe fly in to a wet area beside the Monte Bello parking lot one night prior to heading off on a night hike. I think it was in the winter months. I wonder if your un-IDed sparrow might have been a Grasshopper Sparrow? I've had a possible Black Swift fly by a few feet above ground in the northern reaches of Long Ridge OSP, which is a couple of miles south of your spot. But my experience has been the same as yours, I have not seen many swifts in this area either; caveat- while I do live in this area, I don't spend as much time as I should birding, however. For the last month or more, I have heard a PILEATED WOODPECKER calling and/or drumming from an unseen perch behind our house, just north of Skyline Blvd. in Santa Clara County near Portola Heights Rd. I've heard it 1-2 days a week. Les Chibana On Sep 27, 2004, at 12:53 PM, Garth Harwood wrote: > All, > > I have been hanging out at my new favorite "patch" a lot this week, > studying sparrows and being surprised on each visit at the > productivity of a tiny pond in the "high country" at this time of > year. The patch in question is the unnamed pond 1/4 mile down the > dead-end trail from Gate 5 of Monte Bello OSP. (Directly across Page > Mill Rd. from its intersection with Alpine Rd.) The little pond is > usually deceptively quiet as I arrive but I always end up wishing I > had more time to see what keeps emerging from the grasses and shrubs. > It is adjacent to mixed woods with a lot of Doug-fir, too, so a > surprising number of forest species can be detected from this spot. > > This morning's (9/27/2004) surprises included a Wilson's Snipe flying > off as I arrived, two winter-plumaged Chipping Sparrows, four or more > Savannah Sparrows, at least two Lincoln's Sparrows, and, alas, another > pale sparrow with an unstreaked underside which I simply couldn't ID > with the views I had. Another trip in order, I guess. > >> From the nearby woods in the uppermost reaches of Steven Creek I >> heard Pileated Woodpecker several times between 9-9:30, and a >> Red-breasted Nuthatch yank-yanking once. Two Western Tanagers flew by >> to the northwest (?!), one of them still brilliantly colored. A >> Hermit Thrush was the first I'd seen this fall. > > On a briefer stop on Friday afternoon 9/24 at 4:15PM, I had a fast, > pure flock of 27 Vaux's Swifts scoot over the ridge southbound. > Forty-five minutes later I could see at least a dozen milling about > with many swallows in the southerly distance. It was the first time > I'd seen swifts here. > > --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]]