Re: [SBB] Palo Alto SBC, 3 Jun 2006, Very Preliminary Results

["Steve and Heather Rottenborn" <[[email protected]]>]

Bill and others,

I was out counting on Monte Bello Ridge until 8:00 p.m. yesterday, so didn't
make it to the countdown.  I had a good day, with a few birds to add to the
list (highlights being Sage Thrasher and Black Swift).

Pre-dawn owling at Monte Bello OSP was hampered by wind, but I managed to
hear 2 Long-eared, 6 Northern Saw-whet, 5 Western Screech, 1 Great Horned,
and 1 Barn Owl there before heading to Black Mountain.  My main quarry was
Mountain Quail, which for several years at least was heard regularly in the
Black Mountain area; I did not record the species yesterday.  Still, working
the chapparal along the Black Mountain Trail, along a narrow trail on the
north side of the upper Permanente Creek drainage, in the upper Adobe Creek
drainage, and along Monte Bello Ridge turned up large numbers of common
chapparal species (e.g., totals of 104 Spotted Towhees, 163 Bewick's Wrens,
141 Wrentits, 34 California Thrashers, and 25 Blue-gray Gnatcatchers).

After hiking down Black Mountain toward Hidden Villa (picking up a calling
Northern Pygmy-Owl, a Sharp-shinned Hawk, and a Lawrence's Goldfinch
along the way), I worked upstream along Adobe Creek.  While I was rewarded
by flushing a Long-eared Owl along upper Adobe Creek, this leg of the trip
was a mistake, as I ended up fighting my way through dense poison oak and
chapparal, much of the time on hands and knees, to make my way out of the
upper end of the drainage.  Out of water and covered with poison oak, I went
home to take a shower and restock my water before returning to count along
Monte Bello Ridge from Page Mill Road southeast to the edge of the count
circle.

Hiking east (upslope) along the Bella Vista Trail, I picked up a singing
Rufous-crowned Sparrow, a flyover male Lawrence's Goldfinch, and an adult
Peregrine Falcon.  I continued along the Old Ranch Trail to Montebello Road,
which I followed southeast to the edge of the count circle.  Near a small
vineyard on the south side of the road, at 5:30 p.m., I flushed a Sage
Thrasher from the fenceline separating Montebello Road from the vineyard.
I watched the bird for several minutes before continuing along Montebello
Road to the edge of the count circle.  I returned to the area at 5:52 to
find the Sage Thrasher perched on a post within the vineyard.  For the
next 20 minutes, I saw the bird on and off as it foraged within the vineyard
and along the fenceline along Montebello Road.  At times, it foraged on
the ground only 7-8 meters away from me.

While I was recording details on the thrasher, I heard a loud, staccato
twittering, and looked up to see 10 Black Swifts fly fairly low (40-50 m up)
overhead, heading north along the ridgeline.  A Lark Sparrow was also in
this location, singing from posts and wires in and around the vineyard.

I'm not sure of the best way to reach the location where the Sage Thrasher
was.  It's a long hike from Page Mill Road.  One can drive up Montebello
Road almost to this location from Stevens Canyon Road, but the road is
gated off several hundred meters southeast of where the thrasher was, and
I'm not sure that parking is available at the gate.  In any case, if anyone
does try for the bird, the vineyard in question is on the south side of
Montebello Road immediately south/southeast of a small, fenced-in
communications facility (with reflectors and antennas) that is on the north
side of the road.

My totals for the day are as follows:

California Quail 30
Turkey Vulture 21
White-tailed Kite 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 (second-year bird)
Red-tailed Hawk 4
Peregrine Falcon 1
Band-tailed Pigeon 52
Mourning Dove 10
Barn Owl 1
Western Screech-Owl 5
Great Horned Owl 2 (1 seen during the day)
Northern Pygmy-Owl 1
Long-eared Owl 3
Northern Saw-whet Owl 6
Black Swift 10
White-throated Swift 3
Anna's Hummingbird 70 (many on flowers in chapparal/scrub)
Downy Woodpecker 2
Hairy Woodpecker 10 (plus two nests with young)
Northern Flicker 7
Black Phoebe 1
Ash-throated Flycatcher 26
Hutton's Vireo 35
Warbling Vireo 2
Steller's Jay 68
Western Scrub-Jay 48
Common Raven 31
Violet-green Swallow 6
Cliff Swallow 7
Barn Swallow 4
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 43
Oak Titmouse 45
Bushtit 24
Pygmy Nuthatch 1 (Douglas fir in upper Adobe Creek drainage)
Brown Creeper 1
Bewick's Wren 163
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 25
Western Bluebird 7
American Robin 1
Wrentit 141
California Thrasher 34
Sage Thrasher 1
European Starling 8
Orange-crowned Warbler 49
Black-throated Gray Warbler 9
Wilson's Warbler 1
Spotted Towhee 104
California Towhee 17
Rufous-crowned Sparrow 1
Lark Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco 35 (2 nests, 1 with eggs and 1 with young)
Black-headed Grosbeak 16
Lazuli Bunting 11
Western Meadowlark 5
Purple Finch 11
House Finch 9
Lesser Goldfinch 20
Lawrence's Goldfinch 2


Steve Rottenborn
Morgan Hill, CA



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bill Bousman" <[[email protected]]>
To: <[[email protected]]>; <[[email protected]]>
Sent: Sunday, June 04, 2006 7:53 PM
Subject: [SBB] Palo Alto SBC, 3 Jun 2006, Very Preliminary Results


> Folks:
>
> The Palo Alto Summer Bird Count was held on Saturday, 6/3/06, for its 26th
> year.  This count, as you all know, is half in Santa Clara County and half
> in San Mateo County.  Jack Cole has run this count and the CBC in the last
> few years, but could not be at the countdown, so I did the honors.  At the
> pizza dinner, hosted marvelously again by Ruth and Gene Troetschler, we
> did
> our tally and came up with 144 species.  Later, Kris Olson heard a Western
> Screech-Owl in Menlo Oaks, which gave us 145 species.  Of course, as late
> records come in the tally may rise, or, as my addled brain becomes
> steadier, it may decline.
>
> There were no new species this year.  I'll include brief mention of the
> Group 3 species--these are those species that have been encountered on
> fewer than half the counts.  I've ordered the birds by their frequency,
> and
> in parentheses I note on how many years they've been found.  Common Loon
> (3); basic on Felt Lake; Osprey (4), Alpine Pond, increasing (now breeds
> in
> Santa Clara County!); Pileated Woodpecker (4), expanding, both counties;
> Redhead (5), two pairs, two locations; Wild Turkey (6), expanding; Western
> Sandpiper (7), hard to find in June; Black Skimmer (7), this year in San
> Mateo County, but not Santa Clara; Lawrence's Goldfinch (8), some at Monte
> Bello; Blue-winged Teal (9); Peregine Falcon (9); now nesting in South
> Bay;
> Semipalmated Plover (9), 55 birds!; Cedar Waxing (9), extra late spring
> birds this year; Bufflehead (10), female/immature; Vaux's Swift (10), a
> few
> may breed in count circle; and Hermit Warbler (11), a few resident birds,
> probably.  Also, a count week Great-tailed Grackle (1) near Rancho San
> Antonio.
>
> Thanks to everyone who participated.  Many folks have already posted more
> details on the birds I've listed.  If not, please do so for the rest of
> us.
>
> Bill
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> 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://plaidworks.org/mailman/listinfo/south-bay-birds_plaidworks.org
>


_______________________________________________
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://plaidworks.org/mailman/listinfo/south-bay-birds_plaidworks.org