[SBB] Palo Alto CBC - Region 2, Party 2

[Bill Bousman <[[email protected]]>]

Folks:

My sector yesterday, 6/3/06, was Shoreline Lake, Mountain View Forebay, a 
part of the Palo Alto FCB, and Salt Ponds A1 and A2W.  The salt ponds are 
fun in that they are normally closed, but the refuge lets us on for the counts.

I started off by cycling through the Mountain View light industrial area 
near Shoreline.  A family group of OAK TITMICE was at a Google building 
with landscaping of coast redwood and liquidamber, but nary an oak.  One of 
the adults was gathering food.  The forebay was hard to survey with the 
construction and there was nothing much there (Mike Mammoser later had a 
nice GREATER YELLOWLEGS, however).  Shoreline Lake is back to its job as 
the "old diving ducks rest home," with a male GREATER SCAUP and four SURF 
SCOTERS (1 m, 3 f).  The scaup has been there for years.  Numbers of 
scoters vary over the last few years, but these are all injured.  No sign 
of the basic Common Loon here on Thursday or Friday, or the alternate bird 
seen a week ago.  Nor was Garrett Lau's sub-adult Golden Eagle found.  One 
GREEN HERON was moving about, but no proof of nesting this year.  A pair of 
copulating WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS over the lake was a kick ("ladies, cover 
your children's eyes").  TREE SWALLOWS are again nesting in the box on A1 
and had young in the nest.  Puzzling were two calling VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS 
foraging over Shoreline Lake--they must be nesting nearby, but where?  I 
then went out along Adobe Creek and checked the Palo Alto FCB.  A female 
AMERICAN WIGEON was probably the best find, as well as three male NORTHERN 
SHOVELERS.  Out past the end of Charleston Slough in the outer FCB, the 
CALIFORNIA GULL colony seemed a bit larger, perhaps, than last year.  No 
skimmers in with them this year.  On Salt Pond A1, there are almost no 
nesting birds on the island in the southeast corner.  The water may be too 
high.  In the northwest corner, the California Gull colony seemed to be 
doing well, although perhaps a couple of weeks later compared to previous 
years.  I saw no fledged young and only a few larger precocial young; lots 
of little guys, though.  The DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS in Salt Pond A2W 
have moved west to occupy a tower at the edge of A2W and one in A1.  Outer 
A2W had a few less expected waterbirds, including two WESTERN GREBES, two 
alternate EARED GREBES, and a female/immature BUFFLEHEAD.  On the mudflats 
I saw 32 WILLET and 45 MARBLED GODWIT.  Somewhere, there is usually a flock 
of SY birds that are nonbreeders.  Pretty day.

Bill Bousman
Santa Clara County records compiler 


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