Re: [SBB] Pileated Woodpecker and Northern Pygmy Owl at Wunderlich

[Dean Manley <[[email protected]]>]

Hi All,

I was uncertain about posting due to county jurisdictions but after a
communication it seemed to be appropriate in this case.

I found the PA Bird Count NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL at around 11:30 Sunday
morning. I had the Pygmy-Owl in unobstructed scope view for nearly 10
minutes.  The Pygmy-Owl had just captured a bird (apparently a Junco) and
after he rested a bit he plucked away furiously. Then some more waiting
before he took off with his load, heading in the uphill direction.

My location, at Wunderlich Park, was about 0.2 mi down Bear Gulch Trail
from the Redwood Trail junction, making it at about 1.2 mi up from the
ranger station. There is a unoccupied large twig raptor nest here that's
easy to see, about 30 feet up in a tree. The nest tree is at the edge of
the trail (right side of trail when going down hill).  The Pygmy-Owl was
about 60-70 feet straight out (perpendicular to trail) on the nest tree
side of the trail. I imagine this owl has a certain range so the above is
another data point to determine a range to search.

I didn't see a Pileated Woodpecker.

Dean Manley



>During the Palo Alto Bird Count Saturday, Ashutosh Sinha and I came
>upon a pileated woodpecker and a northern pygmy owl at Wunderlich
>County Park, which is located along Hwy 84 south of Woodside. We got
>good long looks at both birds on the Bear Gulch Trail in a area of
>old redwoods that had never been logged.
>
>The pileated woodpecker was on the ground, tearing apart a badly decayed log.
>The log was so soft that we couldn't hear the woodpecker drumming.
>After about 10 minutes of watching this show, we tried to inch closer
>to get photos and spooked the bird, which flew a few yards off and
>climbed the trunk of a redwood.
>
>A couple of hundred yards farther down the trail, we found the pygmy
>owl sitting  on the bare limb of a redwood about 10 feet off the
>ground right by the side fo the trail.
>
>As unusual as it may be to get such good looks, there's reason to
>believe these birds are regulars in the area. Wunderlich is popular
>among people who ride horses. (There's a private stable by the
>parking lot and ranger station.) Two people on horses whom we met on
>the trail -- not hardcore birders -- asked us if we had seen the
>pileated woodpecker or pygmy owls. Both birds are apparently local
>celebrities well known to area residents who ride that trail.
>
>Sadly, there's no distinctive feature along that stretch of trail to
>pinpoint the exact locations of the sightinge. It's 1.4 miles from
>the parking lot up the Bear Gulch  Trail to the junction of the
>Redwood Trail. We saw the pygmy owl about 1.0 miles from the ranger
>station and saw the pileated woodpecker about 1.2 miles from the
>ranger station.
>
>BTW, the main entrance to Wunderlich -- which has never been well
>marked -- is closed for bridge repairs. There's an alternative
>entrance about 100 yeard south that is even less adequately marked.
>There's nothing more than a paper sign on a saw horse to mark the
>temporary entrance.
>
>
>-- Ron Wolf
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