[SBB] SFBBO Team DeDUCKtions results

All,

My team "The DeDUCKtions" toured portions of Santa Clara County yesterday. We concentrated on two major areas: the eastern hills beginning at Alum Rock, and then Ed Levin Park, and after that, the bay, making several stops in Alviso before continuing to Shoreline where we finished birding. Sounds reasonable enough, but our original plan also included the western hills... oh, well.

Our team included myself, Kelly Dodder, Eric Goodill, Leonie Batkin, Ashutosh Sinha, Geoff Baum, Phil Lacroute, Janet Hanson, Janice Smith and Sandy Moore.

We gathered at Alum Rock Park at 7:00 where our first bird Wild Turkey was seen along the entrance road. Within minutes we had also logged Band-tailed Pigeon, California Towhee, Acorn Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Dark-eyed Junco and both Crowned Sparrows. Despite a long walk through the sulfur springs area, no additional birds were seen in that area.

We hiked up the chaparral trail from the parking lot where Rufous-crowned Sparrow was easily coaxed out of the underbrush. As we climbed both Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks were seen overhead. Also in this area were Spotted Towhee, California Thrasher and Song Sparrow. We continued up to the eucalyptus grove where we encountered Hutton's Vireo, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Yellow-rumped and Townsend's Warblers, Anna's Hummingbird, California Quail, Hermit Thrush and Fox Sparrow. A Red-breasted Sapsucker flew into one of the tall trees, representing a FOS bird for many of us. Returning to the lot, we crossed the stone bridge toward the visitors center and found several more species, most notably a Wilson's Warbler, Hairy Woodpecker, and several Brown Creepers.

Sensing it was getting late (close to 10:00 now), we relocated the cars to the Rustic Lands picnic area. We walked along the road back to the rock wall by the overpass, hoping to see an Owl in the crevices or a Rock Wren, but neither appeared. We returned to the cars via the picnic area and began to worry about the birds we had not yet seen... American Robin and White-breasted Nuthatch. Turkey Vultures were now circling over the ridge. Yeah!

Next stop was Ed Levin Park where surprisingly little was added to our list. We hiked up to the sycamore grove where perhaps we would find something lingering in the trees. Lincoln's Sparrow was seen in the fennel on our way, but otherwise it was spooky how quiet it was. Say's Phoebe, Belted KIngfisher, American Coot, Mallard, American Kestrel, Golden Eagle were all seen eventually. but it was obvious that we should move on and cut our losses. Before we left altogether, we did a circle around the lower picnic area where we found evidence of Owls, like feathers and pellets, but we couldn't count those unfortunately.

We made our way to Alviso where we had several stops on the itinerary. The Environmental Education Center was a perfect place for our lunch at 1:00, and as we drove in nine or more species were suddenly added to the list. Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Killdeer, American Avocet, Black-necked Stilt, Western and Least Sandpipers. As well there were Loggerhead Shrike and Osprey. The covered observation area was a nice place to regroup and while we ate an adult Peregrine Falcon buzzed by at low altitude, frightening the various smaller birds. Northern Harrier coursed over the marsh and Double-crested Cormorants criss-crossed the sky. Next we walked the boardwalk finding Willet and Dunlin as well as all of the earlier Shorebirds. Once on the levy we were able to get a good look at the Gull mob and identified Western, Ring-billed, California and Thayer's. We also had fly over Herrring and Glaucous-winged Gulls. White Pelicans were numerous and a string of 14 Brown Pelicans flew beyond the distant shore. Ducks were now a frequent sight with Northern Shoveler and Ruddy Ducks dominating the group. Cinnamon Teal, Gadwall and Mallard were present as well. We continued in a clockwise direction, stopping near the marsh grass. Common Yellowthroat was seen briefly, but we could not find any Marsh Wrens... curious. A Barn Owl was visible (with difficulty) in the nest box in the trees over the channel. It was now after 3:00. Yikes.

We opted to drive slowly back toward the entrance and walk the tracks. Nothing unusual new was located here however, save several Black-bellied Plovers. So it was off to State and Spreckles next where the "Peep-show" was astounding. Least and Western were abundant, numbering many many hundreds of birds, as were Dunlin. Again, nothing new in that order, but both Wilson's and Red-necked Phalaropes were represented by a single bird each. We also had a single Barn Swallow perched on a wire near the maintenance facility. Dean Manly pulled up to look at the birds and several members spoke with him, discovering that he had not been able to find the Cattle Egret earlier in the day. That gave us cause for concern, but we were still planning on giving it a try.

We made a quick loop through town, visiting the Alviso Marina to pick up anything we could. Another Barn Swallow and a new Cliff Swallow, as well as Clark's Grebe.

Driving along Disc Drive were finally able to locate Western Meadowlark, as well as Burrowing Owl on the field to the right of the road as we drove toward Jubilee Church. Eager to pick up any rare, or recently reported birds, we stopped in the Jubilee Church lot to look toward Arzino Ranch. It was difficult to see much because of the tall grass and the fence obscuring our view, but we were finally able to see the Cattle Egret as it occasionally popped its head up above the growth, and eventually flew to an open area. At this point, the sun was about two hands above the horizon, so we knew we'd better start moving faster. As we made our way to Hwy 237 a large flock of dark birds, European Starlings we surmised, was balling up in mid air in defense maneuver as a Cooper's Hawk shot back and forth in attack. Very exciting. It's after 4:00.

We were all tired now and the walk out to the radar station at Sunnyvale Water Pollution Control Ponds (SWPCP) was a little daunting. The channel on the left is now completely drained, leaving little habitat for Green Heron or Common Moorhen, while on the right side of the levy, the water was abnormally high. We saw Common Moorhen further out, near the pumps, but Green Heron eluded us. Once at the pumps we saw Mary Ann Allen there who reported the she had not seen the Franklin's Gull. We looked anyway, finding Forster's Terns and a single Mew Gull in the large pond. Northern Pintails were now added to the list as was Green-winged Teal. Thanks Mary Ann!

The light was visibly getting golden and we made a quick decision about what to do next. Our original plan was now completely out the window, and maybe it wouldn't matter. We weighed the options we had and the species we still lacked. Steven's Creek Park was too far and offered only small numbers of new, easily seen birds. McClellan Ranch would have to be sacrificed as well. We'd already gotten Barn Owl, and we doubted we could locate Wood Duck quickly. Swifts were just chance... maybe at Hoover Tower. Finally, Shoreline Park was where we decided to wrap things up.

Once at the Shoreline Park Golf course, we parked quickly and deployed. White-tailed Kite and Burrowing Owls from the road. A walk to the lake produced what we expected Surf Scoter and a very welcome Greater Scaup. The large salt pond beside the lake contained nothing we hadn't seen, despite all our efforts to find Wigeons. But the marsh in Mountain View Forebay contained several Black-crowned Night Herons and two Sora. We returned to the golf course via the lake and decided it was too dark to do any birding beyone Owling and we were all very hungry and tired. So we caravanned to Thai City in Palo Alto and had our dinner there, after which we all went home and slept.

Thanks to everyone on our team, it was a great day! We ended up seeing 116 species, and we enjoyed everyone of them.

Matthew Dodder

http://www.birdguy.net

Pied-billed Grebe

Eared Grebe

Clark's Grebe

American White Pelican

Brown Pelican

Double-crested Cormorant

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Snowy Egret

Cattle Egret

Black-crowned Night Heron

Turkey Vulture

Canada Goose

Gadwall

Mallard

Cinnamon Teal

Northern Shoveler

Northern Pintail

Green-winged Teal

Greater Scaup

Surf Scoter

Ruddy Duck

Osprey

White-tailed Kite

Northern Harrier

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Cooper's Hawk

Red-shouldered Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Golden Eagle

American Kestrel

Peregrine Falcon

Wid Turkey

California Quail

Virginia Rail

Sora

Common Moorhen

American Coot

Black-bellied Plover

Killdeer

Black-necked Stilt

American Avocet

Greater Yellowlegs

Lesser Yellowlegs

Willet

Long-billed Curlew

Marbled Godwit

Western Sandpiper

Least Sandpiper

Dunlin

Short-billed Dowitcher

Long-billed Dowitcher

Wilson's Phalarope

Red-necked Phalarope

Mew Gull

Ring-billed Gull

California Gull

Herring Gull

Thayer's Gull

Western Gull

Glaucous-winged Gull

Forster's Tern

Rock Pigeon

Band-tailed Pigeon

Mourning Dove

Barn Owl

Burrowing Owl

Anna's Hummingbird

Belted Kingfisher

Acorn Woodpecker

Red-breasted Sapsucker

Nuttall's Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Black Phoebe

Say's Phoebe

Loggerhead Shrike

Hutton's Vireo

Steller's Jay

Western Scrub Jay

American Crow

Common Raven

Barn Swallow

Cliff Swallow

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Oak Titmouse

Bushtit

Brown Creeper

Bewick's Wren

Marsh Wren

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Hermit Thrush

Wrentit

Northern Mockingbird

California Thrasher

European Starling

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Townsend's Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

Wilson's Warbler

Spotted Towhee

California Towhee

Rufous-crowned Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow

Fox Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Lincoln's Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Golden-crowned Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Red-winged Blackbird

Western Meadowlark

Brewer's Blackbird

House Finch

Lesser Goldfinch

House Sparrow

--end