[SBB] Palo Alto Baylands...

["Chuq Von Rospach" <[[email protected]]>]

Today was absolutely gorgeous, but also errand-running day, so rather
than go out birding, I settled for grabbing lunch and hauling it out
to Palo Alto Baylands, where I sat in my car listening to a hockey
game and seeing what would pop into view...

Driving in there was a nice red-tail on the light post acting as
sentry. When I parked in the lot next to the interpretive center, it
was serious high tied. Ducks were the normal, mostly Northern Shoveler
and Ruddy and Mallard, and the gulls were mostly ring-billed. Looking
over the water towards Byxbee, I noticed the distinctive hunting hover
of a white-tailed kite, which made for fun viewing.

While sitting there enjoy the day and the game (and the burrito) I
first had a juvenile plumage spotted towhee check in, sitting on a
bush and giving me good looks. That was followed by an individual song
sparrow in full voice. Then a small bird popped out onto the ground
and started feeding; I saw flashes of yellow, and the binocs showed it
to be an adult common yellowthroat -- first time I've seen one come
out of the weeds and pretend to be a sparrow.....  He wandered the
path for a good two minutes before a dog walking their owner flushed
him back into the bushes.

once it quieted down again, we had a small flock of white-crowned
(about 15 individuals) pop out of the bushes and feed on the path
along the parking lot, much to the interest of a dog locked in a van,
but they paid him little attention. Only a couple had their white
crowns fully finished.

As I was getting ready to leave, the male pheasant popped out to make
sure everyone knew they were in his territory. Driving out, there was
a second red-tail scouting the mud flats near the airport (I know it
was a second, because the original was still on his light-pole as I
left....)

all in all, not a bad lunch....

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