From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Mon Feb 14 21:22:02 2005 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id j1F5JHGm004818 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 14 Feb 2005 21:19:18 -0800 (PST) Received: from mail.coastside.net (iris.coastside.net [207.213.212.14]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id j1F5HvAf004776 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 14 Feb 2005 21:17:58 -0800 (PST) Message-Id: <[[email protected]]> Received: (qmail 12591 invoked by uid 88); 14 Feb 2005 21:17:55 -0800 Received: from unknown (HELO ?66.81.67.222?) (66.81.67.222) by mail.coastside.net with SMTP; 14 Feb 2005 21:17:55 -0800 X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express for Macintosh - 4.01 (295) Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2005 21:15:24 -0800 From: "Garth Harwood" <[[email protected]]> To: South Bay Birds <[[email protected]]> Mime-version: 1.0 X-Priority: 3 Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Subject: [SBB] Monte Bello OSP 2/14/2005 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]] Hi All, I started the day out this AM (2/14/2005) with a quick loop around the Canyon-Indian Creek-Backpack Camp-Bella Vista Trail loop at Monte Bello OSP, just ahead of the rain. (Sort of rounded out the MB coverage started out by the Rogers et al. team of 2/13, inadvertently.) In addition to some of the birds mentioned by Mike Rogers yesterday, (minus the owls), there were two calling Pygmy Nuthatches at different points along the more heavily forested section along the creek. Going up the Indian Creek Trail I had my most pleasant surprise of the morning, a pair of shy, but ultimately cooperative Rufous-crowned Sparrows at the wide, open, grassy trail corner about halfway up. I check for this species every time I pass this way, since seeing a singing one here during the Summer Count a year or two ago. But no luck until today. This species is not too rare in the county as a whole, but is much more so here in the county's Northwest corner. Near the top, just above milepost 0.5, there was a vocal and active group of 5 Lawrence's Goldfinches, exactly where I last encountered them in late 2004. I believe they're ground-foraging under the dense chaparral canopy there, but I can't imagine what the special resource there may be, to keep them in the vicinity so long. Numbers of winter finches were generally low relative to other trips I've made there this winter. I saw only 6 Red Crossbills at the Page Mill Rd. pines area, but there were probably more - I didn't have time to wait for them to fly (they were actually in the redwood on the Santa Clara side). An adult male Northern Harrier startled me with its beauty as it flew from the ground (or perhaps a low shrub) just below me as I rounded a trail corner on the ridge. Instead of fleeing it glided/floated within 50 feet for a delicious minute or so, still slightly below me, apparently more interested in what it was seeing on the ground than in me. 100+ Band-tailed Pigeons along the Bella Vista trail were more than I'd seen together in the county this season. There were good numbers of Robins too, but they were much more dispersed. --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]]