[SBB] Monte Bello OSP Owls & Woodpeckers

["Karen DeMello" <[[email protected]]>]

This morning Kay Partelow & I led an early morning walk at Monte
Bello Open Space Preserve with midpen docents Debbi Brusco & Jan
Hintermeister (docents and a permit are needed to hike at a preserve
when it is dark outside).   We met at the main parking lot at
4:30 AM, listening to coyotes howling crazily from the hills. 
There was no fog this morning, so the starwatching was great with Orion
and the Seven Sisters above, plus we saw several Shooting Stars.  Once
the coyotes quit howling it was silent.  No planes, no trains, no
automobiles -- the crickets weren't even singing!  Ahhhh, early
morning is such a magical time of the day.

It was a good morning for owls.  At 5:15 AM near the sag pond we
heard a BARN OWL twice (not sure if it was 2 owls or the same
one).  A little further down the Canyon trail at 5:40 AM we heard
a WESTERN SCREECH OWL with a lengthy bizarre bark then becoming the
normal toots that are expected; it repeated this sequence several times. 
At the first trail junction a little before 6 AM we heard GREAT HORN
OWLS with their low hoots dueting with high screams that we suspected
might be GHOW branchers (the young ones crying out "feed me!", the
adults calming saying "give me a minute").   Kay and Debbi were
really hoping to see a Northern Pygmy Owl, but that wasn't in the cards
today.

Darkness faded as dawn arrived a little after 6 AM, and then the crickets began to
sing.  A single plane flew by at 6:15, reminding us of how lucky
we were to be out in the morning (evenings have planes flying over and
distant car noises constantly).  We listened to the dawn autumn
chorus as the birdlife began to wake up.

The highlight of the day was woodpeckers.  ACORN WOODPECKERS
were making all sorts of commotion high above in the trees.  We
heard 2 PILEATED WOODPECKERS calling back and forth.   A
nearby NUTTALLS woodpecker called out loudly.

Towards the northern end of the Stevens Creek Nature Trail we started
thinking about waffles and pancakes for breakfast when Kay spotted a
male PILEATED WOODPECKER high up on a California Bay Laurel tree. 
Its brilliant red head was illuminated by the early morning sun as it
chiselled intently.  Afterwards it preened a bit, then it swooped
right over our heads to the top of a nearby Madrone tree.  We
watched it actively flit from tree to tree over the trail, flying over
us every now and then.  After watching this awesome bird for a
good 20 minutes we decided that the grumbling noises from our tummies
were urging us to move on and head to town for breakfast.  
When we got back to the parking lot a little after 9 AM we realized
that we'd seen no other people on the trails for the 4-1/2 hours we
were out there.  What a way to start the day:  coyotes,
stars, silence, owls and woodpeckers!

Our walk was part of SFBBO's California Fall Challenge which runs from
today thru October 15th.  There are many interesting guided trips
being
offered by SFBBO (see below), or you can form your own team to
participate in the California Fall Challenge.  All proceeds
support our local San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory.   For
details see
http://www.sfbbo.org/cfc/ 

Karen DeMello
Mountain View


Upcoming SFBBO Guided Trips:
9/16  "Cliffsweepers" led by Phil and
    Pat Gordon
    9/16  "Intrepid A-to-Zers" led by Karen DeMello
    and Kay Partelow
    9/24  "Janet's Gannets" led by Janet Hanson and
    Mike Mammoser
    9/30  "Varied Twitchers" led by Mike Rogers
    9/30  "Fighting Fledglings" led by Francis
    Toldi
    10/1  Guided Trip led by Scott Terrill
    10/7  "Pedalling for Plovers" led by Ann
    Murphy & Cynthia Padula
    10/7  "Gallinago Go Go's" led by Lisa Myers
    10/8  "DeDucktions" led by Matthew Dodder
    10/15 "Warblequest" led by Garth Harwood




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