[SBB] Monte Bello controlled burn area 7/10/2007

[Garth Harwood <[[email protected]]>]

Hello All,

Good news!  The controlled burn at Monte Bello OSP has been officially 
canceled for this summer. Not having heard this in time, however, I 
performed "one last" survey of the area yesterday 7/10 (the burn was to 
occur 7/12). I'm glad I did, because it was a beautiful mild morning 
and the birds were out (highlights below.) Ultimately I had 50 species 
(including 5 seen only at the pond below.) None, however, were in a 
vulnerable stage of breeding within the burn area. Next year, the burn 
may take place again, so perhaps we now have a starting point for 
suggesting a more appropriate time window in that event.

By the green gate that marks the top of the White Oak trail, a group of 
juvenile Grasshopper Sparrows sat on and in a Coyote Bush. A family 
group of Lazuli Buntings were feeding fledged young nearby. I had 
repeated flyovers of small groups of Lawrence's Goldfinches, with the 
high count at any one time being 3 departing from the little pond below 
gate 5. One curious LAGO landed less than 20 feet away and appeared to 
be a juvenile.

Post-breeding dispersants from local breeding sites are beginning to 
show up at MB05. On this occasion, two House Wrens and a juvenile 
Wilson's Warbler were new, as well as an actual count of 199 
Violet-green Swallows on the telephone wires. Two Green Herons were at 
the pond, one of then a juvenile. An Olive-sided Flycatcher could still 
be heard calling to the west (just into San Mateo County.)

Later, I went to the Skyline Ridge OSP, where both Indigo Bunting and 
Sage Sparrow were still present.

One last tidbit: today 7/11 I checked some nestboxes at the Byrne 
Preserve, where everyone (bluebirds and VG Swallows) had finished up 
for the season. I was interested to see a pretty adult male Western 
Tanager flying between trees there, and seemingly in no hurry to leave. 
WETA used to breed at nearby Hidden Villa; perhaps they are still in 
the neighborhood.

--Garth Harwood




_______________________________________________
Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored.
South-Bay-Birds mailing list      ([[email protected]])
Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription:
http://plaidworks.org/mailman/listinfo/south-bay-birds_plaidworks.org