[SBB] San Antonio Valley

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

Folks:

Today, 4/7/06, I made a trip to the San Antonio Valley, birding from the 
Santa Clara County line on Mines Road to the summit of Mt. Hamilton.  I 
found a pair of LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCHES along Mines Road in the Arroyo Mocho 
drainage and then again, a pair in the valley oak grove in San Antonio 
Valley just where the road turns west and climbs towards Mt. Hamilton.  The 
female of the latter pair was struggling to pull off some fine hair from a 
barb wire fence for her nest.  The pair flew to the blue oaks to the west 
of the road.  At the pond at the Digger Pond Ranch I saw a VIRGINIA RAIL, 
which was a first for me, although they are occasionally recorded on the 
Mt. Hamilton CBC.  At a pond lower down on this creek, part way to the 
cattle guard that is north of the junction, I counted 9 RING-NECKED 
DUCKS.  Although these birds are regular in winter in more remote ponds in 
the valley, these birds are seldom found anywhere after late March.  Two 
SAY'S PHOEBES were at the Mallison Ranch and are likely a nesting 
pair.  Two CHIPPING SPARROWS, one singing, were found in the valley oak 
grove where the second pair of Lawrence's were found.  I saw a single SAGE 
SPARROW singing along Mines Road north of the culvert at Colorado Creek, 
but none were found near the cattle guard or closer to the junction.

San Antonio Valley normally has a delayed spring compared to areas at the 
same 2000-ft elevation elsewhere, perhaps because the cold night air tends 
to sit in the valley.  None of the oaks showed any swelling of buds 
(although the black oaks on the east side of Mt. Hamilton at 3000 feet and 
well away from the valley are already leafing out).  A few willows in wet 
areas in the valley were showing small leaves.  Some summer residents have 
arrived, albeit in very small numbers, including WESTERN KINGBIRD (2), 
HOUSE WREN, BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK, and BULLOCK'S ORIOLE (2).

I found no Lewis's Woodpeckers at places that they have used historically, 
or anywhere else, for that matter.  Jerry at the Junction Cafe said that 
there were no acorns last fall.  We found no Lewis's on the Mt. Hamilton 
CBC in early January either, so it appears that these birds have moved 
on.  Whether they will return when insects come out remains to be 
seen--they have nested every summer for the last 25 years and probably over 
the past century.  Acorn Woodpeckers, also dependent on oak mast for winter 
survival, were down in numbers, particularly, in the valley.  Most of those 
that were found were up in the Coulter pine belt on Mt. Hamilton.

A count of 8 Yellow-billed Magpies is slightly below the average of 9 that 
I've recorded over the past two years.

Jerry is no longer filling the hummingbird feeders at the Junction Cafe so 
the only lunch time show are the customers.

Bill Bousman
Santa Clara County records compiler 


_______________________________________________
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