[SBB] Heckuva morning at MB05

Hello All,

This morning 8/31/2007, one of the first birds to turn up at the willows that border the little pond below Monte Bello Preserve's Gate 5 was a crisply-plumaged adult Sage Sparrow, a first for the pond area, at about 7:45 AM. I had been wondering if they would turn up here, with so many sightings at nearby chaparral patches this summer. And better yet, after a minute or so a juvenile-plumaged SAGS followed the adult upward into the willows (without begging). There were other birds that stayed better hidden in the willows too, so who knows? The whole family could have been present.

But the fun was just beginning. Other finds in the willows included, appropriately enough, a Willow Flycatcher, a species also seen here last fall; an adult Black-throated Gray Warbler; two Chipping Sparrows (at least one still with rusty crown, though the white supercilium has faded to buffy); and a Green Heron. A Sora walked the waterline and a Grasshopper Sparrow was in coyote brush along the trail. Two Savannah Sparrows were the first I'd seen here in months.

At about 8:15 I began hearing occasional Vaux's Swift calls from somewhere high up, and a swirling flock of 40-50 individuals soon dropped down and attempted to drink on the wing for about 15 minutes. With so many of them so close, they actually made a fair amount of noise just with their wings. Among them were 2 White-throated Swifts and just a couple of Violet-green Swallows (although I had seen up to 1,000 VGSWs on telephone wires a couple of miles to the west a bit earlier.)

On my way out I noticed that the Open Space District is apparently closing the area off for the big weekend - my guess is due to fire danger. Ironic considering how close the location came to being a controlled burn area earlier this summer!

Best regards,

Garth Harwood