[SBB] Upper Stevens Cr Co. Park 3/7/05

["Garth Harwood" <[[email protected]]>]

>
Mime-version: 1.0
X-Priority: 3
Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit

Hello all,

I exercised my late-Monday-morning option at work today 3/7/2005 and walked
the Grizzly Flat Trail at Upper Stevens Creek CP. Weather was nothing short
of glorious, and the birds responded to it with reproductive glee. At least
3 pairs of Dark-eyed Juncos were collecting nest material; other DEJU pairs
were exhibiting similar behavior but I didn't wait to see what exactly they
were up to.

The most remarkable observation of the walk was two pairs of Pygmy
Nuthatches excavating - yes, excavating - nest cavities. The first pair I
noticed caught my attention due to their hammering on a fir snag - I thought
I was looking for a woodpecker, but was amazed to find the rather heavy
noise was being produced by this tiny bird. Once I found them, I saw that
the PYNU were working on the exact same tree that my summer bird count team
watched last June as they fed near-fledglings at the nest. They would peck
vigorously at the entrance area, then poke their bodies in to gather loose
bits and dump them outside. The harder-working member of the pair had a
large pale patch on the top of its head - perhaps from the abrasion involved
in repeatedly squeezing into the tiny opening it was creating.

Another pair of PYNU perhaps 1/2 mile higher up the mountain was also
excavating a broken topped fir snag. In this case the snag was only 5-6" in
diameter at the 20 foot elevation of the nest cavity (as opposed to 16" at
15' on the other tree). These two had nearly finished the task and could
enter the cavity entirely at which times I could hear excavation work from
inside the tree.

At least 4 other PYNU were heard during this walk. Red-breasted Nuthatches
were surprisingly abundant as well, with a minimum of 14 heard calling, all
in the upper 2/3 of the 2-mile trail. Varied Thrushes also continue to be
abundant in the area, with more than 20 observed today, mostly feeding on
the ground in tan-oak litter. Pine Siskins seem fewer, but 4 groups included
at least 42 individuals. I had just one Townsend's Warbler and one
Orange-crowned. A Pileated Woodpecker called repeatedly from various points
along the lower trail; at times it also seemed to be calling from the Table
Mtn area just to the south. Four Winter Wrens were concentrated near the
bottom of the trail near Stevens Creek.

Wishing you all a little quality time outside this week,

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/list_fred_archives%40plaidworks.org

This email sent to [[email protected]]