[SBB] Stevens Creek Below La Avenida

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

Folks:

I walked the east side of Stevens Creek this morning, 9/1/06, from 
Crittenden Lane up to La Avenida, and I returned along the west 
side.  The bird distribution was much as Mike Rogers described 
yesterday, although there I saw fewer birds.  I saw an adult and 
juvenile WILLOW FLYCATCHER, but only one "WESTERN" FLYCATCHER.  Other 
migrants included an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, 7 YELLOW WARBLERS, a 
WILSON'S WARBLER, and a WESTERN TANAGER.  An adult female HOODED 
ORIOLE was feeding a juvenile bird (there may have been a second 
juvenile, but I could not be certain).  It appears that Hooded 
Orioles have been nesting later in recent years.  During the atlas 
period (1987-1993), the latest evidence we had of breeding was of a 
fledgling on 8/3/1987 (n = 52 observations).  In subsequent years 
(1994-2005) we have had 17 later records (n = 50), with the latest on 
9/17/1999.  It seems likely that more birds are attempting 2nd or 3rd 
broods.  Families seen in late August and early September have been 
remarked on by a number of observers and it appears that this is a 
widespread and recent phenomenon.

I stopped and watched a Great Egret and a Snowy Egret foraging along 
the creek for about 10 or 15 minutes.  The Great seemed tolerant of 
this small relative, displacing it only once.  During this period, I 
saw the Great catch 7 fish, including what looked to be a sculpin 
that was 6 or 7 inches long (most of the fish it caught were 
smaller).  The Snowy caught none.  The Great often move along where 
coyotebrush drop into the water at the stream's edge and snaked its 
head and long neck in the brush and caught its prey.  The Snowy 
stayed in the stream center.  The Great still had nuptial plumes, 
although they are getting bedraggled.  Later it flew off towards the 
nearby colony on Shorebird Way.

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