[SBB] weekend 7-8 May 05

["Michael Mammoser" <[[email protected]]>]

On Saturday, 7 May 05, I visited Montebello OSP with Gina Barton. We had a
WESTERN SCREECH-OWL fly up off the road on the way up and had spontaneously
calling GREAT HORNED OWLS once in the preserve. We tried to get in there at
dawn, but got a later start than we should have and, as a consequence,
missed out on any chance for Common Poorwill. The dawn chorus was nice,
producing virtually all the expected species. We heard a couple calls from
PILEATED WOODPECKER coming from down in the canyon. Migrant flocks seem to
consist mostly of TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS, but we managed to pull out a female
HERMIT WARBLER that was in with them. A few WESTERN TANAGERS were also
present along the Canyon Trail. It took us some time, but we eventually
found a BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER, which surprised me as they are resident
up there and I expected to find more of them than the Townsend's. 

After dropping Gina off at home, I headed over to Ed Levin Park, where I
found Al Eisner working the Elm Picnic Area. We checked the area for owls
roosting in the pines, but had no luck finding any. A couple of TOWNSEND'D
WARBLERS and WARBLING VIREOS were in the northeast corner of the picnic
area, as were a male and 2 female WESTERN TANAGERS. 

Up Sierra Road we had a couple of HORNED LARKS at the corral, and I saw a
couple more further down the road when leaving. A GRASSHOPPER SPARROW sat up
on the fence line for quite some time well up the hill, but allowed us to
watch it through our scopes for many minutes. It would lean back and throw
open its mouth, as if singing, from time to time. Al was able to hear it
once in a while, but I never did. A family of WESTERN BLUEBIRDS at the
corral included 3 young birds being fed by the adults. A LARK SPARROW made a
drinking stop at the rainwater pond. 

On Sunday, 8 May 05, I went to the Ogier Ponds to see what might be
lingering. All the ponds were devoid of ducks, with the exception of a
couple MALLARDS and a flyby male WOOD DUCK. All of the common local swallow
species were out and about, foraging quite low over the water. A pair of
ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS were interacting (pleasurably, it seemed) in a
sycamore tree along the road. Soon, they were being dive-bombed by a TREE
SWALLOW, who evidently recognized them as a cavity competitor. Humorous was
a COMMON RAVEN flying by being attacked by a pair of AMERICAN CROWS. It
seems that the corvid reputation is not wasted on corvids themselves. A
female YELLOW WARBLER was in the willows across the creek from the entrance
of the model airplane park. 

A drive through the Coyote Creek Golf Course had nothing of note, except for
3 FORSTER'S TERNS that had taken possession of a small water hazard pond. 

At the Coyote Ranch Marsh I watched NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS course
low over the water and perch on an overhanging branch, while raindrops
dappled the pond's surface beneath them. A female MALLARD had a couple of
downy young chicks here as well. YELLOW WARBLERS were singing from the trees
along Coyote Creek, where they have bred in past years. South of Coyote
Ranch Road, where the bike path crosses the creek, I ran into a flock of 6
WESTERN TANAGERS (all males). One was singing its burry Black-headed
Grosbeak-like song. When I heard a second song, I was sure there was another
tanager. But when this song departed from the usual notes and became more
varied, I decided to track it down, and found it being produced by a very
cooperative CALIFORNIA THRASHER. On my way back to the car I spied a PRAIRIE
FALCON soaring overhead.

My last stop of the day was at the north end of the middle pond of Parkway
Lakes. Here I found 4 more WESTERN TANAGERS (3 of them females). The GREAT
BLUE HERON colony here consisted of 4 nests in a large cottonwood on the
east side of the dam. Two of the nests had large young (3 in one and 2 in
the other), one nest had an apparent incubating bird (but I couldn't
actually age it), and the last had an adult actively pecking at another
adult perched nearby in an effort to convince it to move away (which it
finally did). 

At lunch time today, 9 May 05, I went to Sunnyvale Baylands Park. I watched
an AMERICAN CROW course over the low vegetation in the wetlands area, to be
met with fury by a half dozen RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS that dove upon it,
pecking and kicking at it. The crow responded with twists and squirms and
hoarse croaks, but persisted in spite of it. It went to the ground at one
point and came up with an egg in its beak, with the red-winged cloud still
hanging over it. Corvids are not easily deterred.

In the wetlands themselves, I had a couple female RUDDY DUCKS with 6-7 young
birds. The 2 females were hanging with each other and the young seemed to be
comprised of 2 different broods (one was about 1/2 grown and the rest were
about 1/3 grown). There was also a male NORTHERN SHOVELER on the water.

Michael Mammoser




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