[SBB] San Jose Christmas count coverage - 12/17/06 (belated)

[[[email protected]] (Mike Rogers)]

All,

On 12/17/06, I covered the area around the Alviso Marina and the ponds north of 
the marina to Coyote Slough (A9 through A15) for the San Jose Christmas Bird 
Count. The thawing frost on the dikes made them just a little too wet to drive, 
so I had to walk 9 miles to cover the area. As usual, most of the birds were on 
the outer ponds A9 and A10, which are mostly outside the count circle. 
Nonetheless there were some goodies inside the circle for the count. Surprising 
was the low number of gulls. I tallied just under 5000, which is less than a quarter 
as many as in some past years.

Seven SORAS and 8 VIRGINIA RAILS called from the reeds around the marina. 
A flyover SEMIPALMATED PLOVER was a surprise, and later I saw another one over 
on pond A8 while scoping from the levee behind the cannery building (below an 
adult PEREGRINE FALCON perched on a telephone pole). A BELTED KINGFISHER
flying by was a bit unexpected. The sparrow flock contained the usual suspects, 
including 5 FOX and 4 LINCOLN'S SPARROWS. A LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE was perched
up over the reed beds and 3 TREE SWALLOWS flew by to the east at 8:24am; another 
TREE SWALLOW followed later at 9:16am. A small feeding frenzy was taking place in
southwestern A12, with 260 DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS, 25 FORSTER'S
TERNS, 4 BONAPARTE'S GULLS, and many EGRETS. Also on A12 were a single
RED-BREASTED MERGANSER and a HORNED GREBE (in the southeast corner).

Pond A13 was loaded with 366 MEW GULLS, 620 EARED GREBES, 235 LESSER SCAUP,
59 BUFFLEHEAD, 2 COMMON GOLDENEYES, and a RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. On
southeastern A15 were 62 more MEW GULLS mixed in with a roughly equal number of
CALIFORNIA GULLS. Some 800 (mostly HERRING) GULLS on the A13/A15 dike included
4 THAYER'S GULLS. A pair of adult PEREGRINE FALCONS was showing off overhead.
A big shorebird roost in northwestern A15 included 2400 WESTERN SANDPIPERS,
2335 AMERICAN AVOCETS, 302 WILLETS, 300 DOWITCHERS (inlcuding at least
20 SHORT-BILLED and 12 LONG-BILLED), 220 MARBLED GODWITS, 220 DUNLIN,
138 LONG-BILLED CURLEWS, 110 LEAST SANDPIPERS, 47 BLACK-NECKED STILTS,
and 20 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS. Along the levee north of pond A15 were many feathers
from a recently killed VARIED THRUSH - a really surprising bird for New Triangle Marsh!

Pond A14 was mostly empty, with only a few BUFFLEHEAD, RUDDY DUCKS, and WESTERN 
GREBES.

A mouthwatering assortment of waterfowl covered pond A9, but within the count 
circle in the southeast corner were much smaller numbers. These did include 6 of 
the 149+ REDHEAD on this pond though, and also 106 GREEN-WINGED TEAL
roosting on the levees. The eastern portion of A10 added 4 more REDHEAD (with
11 more just outside the circle), 325 CANVASBACK, 560 RUDDY DUCKS, 83 EARED
GREBES, 80 LESSER SCAUP, 19 BUFFLEHEADS, 19 PIED-BILLED GREBES,
15 RED-BREASTED MERGANSER, 5 GREATER SCAUP, and 2 COMMON GOLDENEYES.

Pond A11 was full of birds - all entirely within the count circle! My tallies 
included 880 RUDDY DUCKS, 174 SCAUP (mostly LESSER, but including at least
24 GREATER), 139+ REDHEADS, 82 BUFFLEHEAD, 30 RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS,
12 CANVASBACKS, 10 COMMON GOLDENEYES, 6 SURF SCOTERS, and 2 HORNED GREBES.
At least 62 AECHMOPHORUS GREBES included 18 WESTERNS and 11 CLARKS'S, two
of which were involved in full-blown courtship display, rising up and paddling in tandem 
across the pond.

Pishing my way back along Alviso Slough bolstered the number of marsh 
passerines, growing the day's totals to 26 MARSH WRENS, 32 AMERICAN PIPITS,
9 YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, 11 COMMON YELLOWTHROATS, 49 SAVANNAH
SPARROWS, 122 SONG SPARROWS, and 31 HOUSE FINCHES.

After completing my coverage of the salt ponds, I stopped by the entrance road 
to the EEC at 3:30pm. There was no sign of the Ruff, but a single LESSER 
YELLOWLEGS was still present there.

Mike Rogers
Sunnyvale

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