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| All, I led my Palo Alto Adult School birding class to Stevens Creek Park yesterday. For the first 30 minutes of our walk, the gray sky looked as if it might hold, but then that changed. Within an hour of arriving at the park, it began to drizzle lightly, then more heavily, eventually turning into a very full rain. As a result, and as expected, birds were less vocal and remained somewhat hidden during our tour. We managed, however, to locate several target species, many of which by sound alone. We closed things down an hour early, skipping the picnic we had planned for Pichetti Winery. Immediately after the group gathered at 8:00, our first Ash-throated Flycatcher of the season appeared on a nearby tree, calling several times before it moved on. We also heard the familiar songs of Orange-crowned Warbler from many directions, a jubilant Black-headed Grosbeak performing tirelessly, and somewhat further away, we heard the chatter of Bullock's Orioles. At the far end of the parking lot we detected the halting chet-chet-chet notes of a male Wilson's Warbler, and later were able to find the bird in a small oak. The lower picnic area had many of these same birds, plus the repetitive Hutton's Vireo and a loudly calling Red-shouldered Hawk. We finally got a good look at several Black-headed Grosbeaks and a male Bullock's Oriole. A walk through the woods leading to the open area beyond failed to produce the Olive-sided Flycatchers we often see atop the upper leafless branches, but we did locate a Pacific-slope Flycatcher along the creek. We also tried taping for Northern Pygmy Owl, as the habitat seemed appropriate, and elicited an quick response (from Mike Mammoser) who was birding on the trail above... He had us going for a minute! We then trudged on to the redwood picnic area where we found a pair of Western Wood Pewees near the creek and a Brown Creeper by voice in the dense woodland. Things began to get really wet in the upper picnic area, where we found a few Wild Turkeys foraging among the tables, and breeding-plumaged Yellow-rumped Warblers. This latter species was found in both its "Audubon's" and "Myrtle" form. As it showed now signs of warming up or drying out, some people chose to leave at this point, while others reconvened at the reservoir. There we searched for the Common Loon that Bob Power's team had located a few hours earlier. No luck there, but we did spot a Clark's Grebe, a female Common Merganser as well as a Spotted Sandpiper. It bobbed its tail as it walked along the shore in its usual manner, before taking off with its stiff winged flight. A tame Canada Goose provided us with the opportunity to study the wing feather groups up-close and personal. Several species of Swallow were located over the water, Violet-green, Northern Rough-winged, Barn and Cliff. Cricket and I ended up stopping at the winery after we said our goodbyes at the reservoir. We picked up a 2005 Sangiovese and a Pavone, both quite nice and among their less expensive bottles. The only other birds seen here were Eric Goodill, Jody McGeen, a pair of Smiths, two calling Peafowl, and a singing California Thrasher. Matthew Dodder http://www.birdguy.net Canada Goose Mallard Common Merganser Wild Turkey California Quail Pied-billed Grebe Clark's Grebe Double-crested Cormorant Black-crowned Night Heron Turkey Vulture Cooper's Hawk Red-shouldered Hawk Killdeer Spotted Sandpiper Caspian Tern Band-tailed Pigeon Mourning Dove Anna's Hummingbird Belted Kingfisher Acorn Woodpecker Nuttall's Woodpecker Northern Flicker Western Wood Pewee Pacific-slope Flycatcher Black Phoebe Ash-throated Flycatcher Hutton's Vireo Warbling Vireo Steller's Jay Western Scrub Jay American Crow Common Raven Violet-green Swallow Northern Rough-winged Swallow Barn Swallow Cliff Swallow Chestnut-backed Chickadee Oak Titmouse Bushtit White-breasted Nuthatch Brown Creeper Bewick's Wren Hermit Thrush American Robin Wrentit California Thrasher (Picchetti) European Starling Cedar Waxwing Orange-crowned Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Townsend's Warbler Wilson's Warbler Spotted Towhee California Towhee Song Sparrow Golden-crowned Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Black-headed Grosbeak Red-winged Blackbird Brewer's Blackbird (Picchetti) Bullock's Oriole Purple Finch House Finch Lesser Goldfinch
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