[SBB] Jan 1 and 2 CBCs

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

Folks:

On New Year's Day, I participated in the Moss Landing CBC.  A small 
portion of the circle extends into Santa Clara County and I spent a 
half day counting in Mt. Madonna CP and along the Hecker Pass 
Highway.  It seemed an ideal early morning for owling and numbers 
were good, but the variety was lacking.  At dawn, I finished with 8+ 
NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWLS, but no Great Horneds or Northern Pygmys as in 
previous years.
I birded with Dave and Jane Styer and Jan ? for the morning, mostly 
in the Mt. Madonna CP campground.  We had many VARIED THRUSH in the 
undergrowth, probably 90+ over two hours, with just an occasional 
AMERICAN ROBIN.  But for the day, the robins won, since during the 
first half hour at sunrise we counted well over 200 robins flying 
high over the forest from Watsonville towards Gilroy.  The best bird 
of the morning was a WHITE-THROATED SPARROW on the Santa Cruz side of 
Hecker Pass.

The next day, 1/2/2007, I did my San Antonio Valley ramble again; 
this year had perfectly lovely weather.  San Antonio Valley rarely 
has the variety of Isabel Valley, but does manage a few of the 
specialties.  Best bird of the day was surely the OSPREY catching a 
sunfish in a stock pond SE of the dogleg.  Bob Hirt tells me that 
Charles Coston also saw this bird from the road.  One of the locals 
told me the bird had been around for quite a while, plundering the 
stock ponds.  A MERLIN and a PRAIRIE FALCON were also a treat.  The 
Prairie was checking out a flock of Bufflehead in a stock pond, but 
all dived as he passed over--no dumb buffs that day.  It is an 
astounding year for LEWIS'S WOODPECKERS.  I counted 58 on my 
route--the previous high (in 27 years) was the 50 I tallied in 
1983.  Other have reported similar high counts.  If you have ever 
been tempted to make the drive over for Lewis's, now is the 
time.  They are everywhere (but be patient, as they will sit quietly 
for a while).  And stop for a "Jerryburger" at the Junction 
Cafe.  Other specialty birds included two male PHAINOPEPLA, a single 
SAGE SPARROW, and 13 LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCHES.  Included in the more 
common birds, I counted 50 YELLOW-BILLED MAGPIES, well above the 
26-year average of 22.  I saw 26 FOX SPARROWS, of which I identified 
21 as SOOTY'S, and one was a SLATE-COLORED.  The last few years have 
had fewer non-Sooty Fox Sparrows, I'm not sure why.

Bill Bousman
Santa Clara County records compiler 



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