[SBB] S.C. Co. Bird List, September 2007

    I've done a little clean-up for the year. Eurasian Collared-Doves are still rare in the county, but what really confounds our observations is the apparent release (multiple?) of flocks in Morgan Hill. Nonetheless, we have had birds that are apparently separate from the released flocks and this year was no exception with one seen in Morgan Hill on 27 Mar away from the released flocks. So that brings the August total to 263 birds, only one below the long-term average.

    September is one of our best months, typically with 10 new species and this month we had 11, which is pretty good. This gets our September total up to 274, which is 1 above the average.

    The only 4 this month was a COMMON TERN on Pond A16 in Alviso on 14 Sep. Over the next week or two a few more birds, both adults and juveniles, were on the nearby ponds.

    We had six 5's this month. A PARASITIC JAEGER was on ponds A10 and A11 on 19 Sep. On 20 Sep, a BLACKPOLL WARBLER was found in the Sunnyvale Baylands Park and before the month was out another Blackpoll was along Alamitos Creek and one was on the Guadalupe River at the Ulistac Natural Area. The next day, 21 Sep, a PALM WARBLER was also found in Sunnyvale Baylands Park and was seen there almost to the end of the month. Another bird was found in Gilroy later. On 23 Sep, an AMERICAN REDSTART was found along the Guadalupe River near Montague, and a VESPER SPARROW was along the Alviso Slough Trail. The last of the 5's was a GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE that came to a feeder in a Los Altos yard on 24 Sep and remained until the 28th.

    Four 6's in the month was an excellent yield. The big news was a subadult BROWN BOOBY found in the Alviso ponds on 13 Sep. This bird is our second county record, the first was a flyover at the Mountain View Forebay on 29 Aug 1992. The booby, although not always cooperative, thrilled many. It is still on the salt ponds, but has been missed more frequently in recent weeks. On 19 Sep, 2 BLACK TURNSTONES were found on Pond A13 (by a misoriented booby searcher). For the passerines, a CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER was found in Guadalupe Oak Grove Park on 20 Sep and a MAGNOLIA WARBLER was seen along Stevens Creek below La Avenida on 27 Sep.

    It is interesting that birders chasing the Brown Booby found the Black Turnstones, Common Tern, Parasitic Jaeger, and Vesper Sparrow. This is a not infrequent result of many birders getting out to see rare birds, sometimes referred to as the "Patagonia Picnic Table" effect.

    Typically, in October, the fall passage tapers off and we find about 4 new birds. But already this month (as of 11 Oct) we've found at least 5 new birds, so maybe the rest of the month will be as productive and boost our totals a bit more.