[SBB] Gallinago Go Go's big day for SFBBO

[Lisa Myers <[[email protected]]>]

Hi all -

 

My SFBBO California Fall Challenge team, the Gallinago Go Go's went out birding yesterday as we covered Santa Clara County.  Our goal to find a minimum of 100 species.

 

We all slept in as I started our day at a rather reasonable hour of 7:30 AM.  By 11:00 AM we had 75 species and I learned a lesson (not to get too over-confident) because the following 25 species were hard work!  With #100 being counted at sunset.

 

Some great observations were as follows -

 

California CLAPPER RAIL was visible to all at the Palo Alto Baylands.  I life bird for many. We were able to compare a GREATER YELLOWLEGS with a LESSER YELLOWLEGS as they foraged together in New Chicago Marsh.  An OSPREY eating a fish on top of the power towers going in to the EEC allowed for great looks.  We even watched the Osprey go down to the water afterwards to clean-up.  We missed the Cattle Egret being reported in Alviso, but while there we did add TRI-COLORED BLACKBIRDS and LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE to our list.

 

We headed over to Ed Levin and watched a PRAIRIE FALCON hunting along the east foothills behind the lake.

 

I really wanted to get Yellow Billed-Magpies so we headed to the southern most parts of the county.  But it was quiet at all of our following stops, and we never found Magpies. But a stop on Bailey, turning to the east off 101, allowed for great raptor observations everywhere. We were pleasantly surprised to find a FERRUGINOUS HAWK. Although at a distance, we could see the all white underside, the dark window on the primaries, the large white tail band and rufous coloration throughout the back side. It was here we added GOLDEN EAGLE to our list and were pleased to have a flock of CEDAR WAXWINGS fly over.

 

We stopped at Calero Reservoir and found our team's name sake, as we observed a WILSON's SNIPE probing the mud along the shore with several Willets.  This bird was not the least bit shy.

 

With only two species to go and the sun setting we stopped at SCVAS's McClellan Ranch and added an unidentified, sillouetted swift to our list and were thrilled to see the BARN OWL sitting on the barn, to make #100 for the day.

 

My team put in great efforts, I thank you all, and we had quite an adventure traveling a loop throughout Santa Clara county.

 

Lisa Myers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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http://www.letsgobirding.com

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"Wild beasts and birds are by right not the property merely of people today, but the property of the unborn generations, whose belongings we have no right to squander." Theodore Roosevelt

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