[SBB] Rock Wrens in Santa Clara County

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

Folks:

The Penbirds discussion of wandering Rock Wrens is quite 
interesting.  This species is unusual in that its habitat needs seem 
so different from other species.  One finds it in the hot, dry 
interior areas of Santa Clara County, but also above 10,000 feet in 
the Sierra Nevada.  The Sierra birds must surely leave in the winter, 
whereas our Santa Clara birds appear to be resident.

I describe this bird as rare in Santa Clara County, although I think 
if we had easy access to private lands in the Diablo Range, we might 
classify it as uncommon or even fairly common.  In Santa Clara, we 
have a few favorite spots where it normally occurs, including Santa 
Teresa CP (Stiles Ranch Trail), Metcalf Road (across from the 
motorcycle park), the Sierra Road summit, Coyote Lake dam, and the 
old quarry near Anderson Lake Dam.  It can be abundant in forbidden 
areas such as Coyote Ridge.  Occasionally, one or more birds show up 
in other areas.  We've had a few show up near Calero Reservoir and I 
think these are more or less local birds.

Ron Thorn mentions a bird at Stanford (from Dick Stovel) this fall 
and this seems to be a wandering bird, either from our local 
population or from a distant area.  But there are enough records away 
from known breeding areas to suggests that this is a regular 
occurrence.  Here are some from recent years:
9/19/93    1; dike by Salt Pond A9, Alviso, SCL (MMR)
10/22/93   1; Coyote Creek below Hwy 237, SCL (CO); at trailers for a few days.
10/23/93   1 banded; CCRS (fide WGB)
11/25/93   1; Felt Lake, SCL (SCR)
12/19/93   1; CCRS trailers, SCL (MJM, CO)
2/5/94     1; CCRS trailers, SCL (fide MJM)
7/17/94    1; along Salt Pond A14, SCL (SCR, RJe, MJM) [Field Notes 48:986]
2/7/97     1; Alviso, SCL (Tom Ryan); old cannery in wood pile
-3/19/97
5/14/05    1; Coyote Creek, N of Coyote Ranch, SCL (MJM); E of trail

There seems to be a general tendency for these to show up in late 
fall or winter, and a few appear clearly be wintering.  However, this 
doesn't happen every winter.  But what does one conclude about the 
July record along Salt Pond A14 or a May record along Coyote Creek?

Bill Bousman
Santa Clara County records compiler 



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