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All, Team DeDUCKtions’ primary goal was to match the generous $3000 challenge grant offered by Leonie Batkin for SFBBO. While all the contributions are still flowing in, it appears we have been successful. The second goal was to exceed last year’s species tally, and we definitely managed to do that. The third goal, or maybe it was actually the first goal, I’m not sure, was to have a good time, and YES that we did that, no problem! The team was made up of the following people: Craig Cummings, Patty McGann, Pati Rouzer, Kay Matthews, Leonie Batkin, Joan and Phil Leighton, Ashutosh Sinha, Eric Goodill, Grant and Karen Hoyt, Kelly and Matthew Dodder, and special guest Caitlin Robinson (world-famous Snowy Plover researcher and KQED personality!) Final tally was 127 species. Thanks to EVERYONE who helped with this great event successful! Friendly birders on SBB whose frequent reports helped us enormously, SFBBO planners and organizers, generous financial supporters and sponsors, and the many helpful well-wishers who couldn't contribute financially... what a great day you've ALL helped make possible! THANK YOU!! We began at 8:00 pm on Friday night with a brief Owling effort that produced a very cooperative Western Screech Owl along Old Pagemill Road. The bird called reapeatedly in the oaks near the back entrance to the quarry. We parked across from the gate and walked back a few hundred yards to where the bird was heard and were able to get it in our lights. We were not rewarded with Great Horned or Barn Owls, but we have found them here on previous occasions. After a few hours of fitfull sleep, as Kelly and I anticipated the 6:30 am start, the team met at Twin Creek’s Sports Facility and walked into Sunnyvale Baylands Park. We located a large flock of Warblers which contained Yellow-rumped, Yellow, Townsend’s, and Orange-crowned Warblers, as well as Bushtits, and Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Elsewhere in the park we found Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Say’s Phoebe, both White-crowned and Golden-crowned Sparrows, as well as Lincoln’s and Song Sparrows. The open field produced Say’s Phoebe, Loggerhead Shrilke, Western Meadowlark, Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, Canada Geese… We were off to a good start! The next area we visited was CCFS (Coyote Creek Field Station) where SFBBO has its bird banding station. The entrance road brought into the station beside willows and other low trees. We found several Fox Sparrows in this area, as well as Lesser and American Goldfinch, House Wren and Bewick’s Wren. Overhead we saw quite a few Violet-green Swallows with a few Cliff Swallows mixed in. At one point we also spotted a Vaux’s Swift. At the banding station we bumped into Rita Colwell, who held a Hermit Thrush in her hand. She pointed out a few important features that would help us recognize a hatch year individual should we see on again. Well, that was the ONLY Hermit Thrush we saw, so unfortunately, it couldn’t be counted… Still, it was exciting to see that one, as well as a Fox Sparrow she was also preparing to release. The area around the station was relatively quiet, except for the occasional calls of Western Scrub Jay and one Pacific-slope Flycatcher. The Shorebird ponds at CCFS had some new birds to offer. We counted our first Gulls, California and Ring-billed. We managed to identify several Long-billed Dowitchers among the group of Shorebirds, as well as Greater Yellowlegs, Willet, Least Sandpiper, American Avocet and Black-necked Stilt. Suddenly, a small Falcon sped overhead toward the bay and we were able to identify it as a Merlin! Cooper’s Hawk was also found, as well as more Red-tailed Hawks. Next we made our way to Alum Rock Park where we hoped to pick up some woodland species for the count. In retrospect, perhaps this was a planning error. We did not find Calfornia Thrasher, Rufous-crowned Sparrow or Hairy Woodpecker, three species I assumed would be easy… Oh, well. We did find White-breasted Nuthatch, Oak Titnouse, Band-tailed Pigeon, Brown Creeper and Spotted Towhee and a brilliant Wison’s Warbler. On the dry uphill hike we found several more Vaux's Swift, as well as White-throated Swift AND two Golden Eagles. The only Great Horned Owl of the day was being held by a member of the park staff, so once again, it wasn’t countable. After a nice lunch beneath the eucalyptus trees at the Rustic Lands picnic area, we continued up Sierra Road. We stopped at the summit by the cattle enclosure, finding Yellow-billed Magpie immediately, and after a while we were able to admire several Horned Larks at close range. One bird appeared to be an immature, the others adults with rufous shoulder patches and clean dark facial patterns. Further along the road we found our only American Pipit of the day. We came down the hill, passing the entrance to Ed Levin park and spotting our ONLY Wild Turkey of the day, as we drove at 40mph to the bottom of the hill. San Jose/Sunnyvale water treatment plant had, as previously reported, a small group of Long-billed Curlew foraging on the lawn. We didn’t even stop because we were eager to get to the EEC. We parked at the small gravel turnout next to the sign for the Don Edwards EEC and walked back along the road to the train tracks. A Red-necked Phalarope and a male juvenile Ruff were foraging in the first big beside the road. The Ruff is still as beautiful as it was last week, when Patty McGann took here fantastic photographs, although perhaps slightly less colorful than before. Still the star of the day! We watched it for several minutes before walking along the tracks. Along the way we flushed up a Burrowing Owl, picked up Western Sandpiper, but nothing else new. The “Stilt Sandpiper Pond” appeared to be pretty dead, although a small group of birders told us they had found Dunlin. We opted not to continue, because we thought we’d find them elsewhere… That decision cost us our Dunlin though… we never encountered any others the rest of the day unfortunately. Back at the EEC headquarters we investigated the Barn Owl box and sure enough saw 1, possibly two birds asleep inside. At Salt Pond A-16 we located the adult and juvenile Black Skimmer, and a Herring Gull among the many Western, California and Ring-billed Gulls. Pied-billed Grebe and Double-crested Cormorant seemed to be the only swimming birds in the area. Along the boardwalk we sorted through the large number of Larids, finding all the same species as before plus a single Mew Gull. After some afternoon tea and ginger snaps and a short progress report we made plans for the remaining daylight hours. We oped to skip the Alviso Marina. There just wasn’t enough time to locate the birds we though might be found there. No Brown Booby or Vesper Sparrow, no Parasitic Jaeger or Pelagic Cormorant for us today… We did stop at State and Spreckles however and refound our Ruff. Next to it were both Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs. There was also a Wilson’s Phalarope, more Least and Western Sandpipers. Some member had to leave at this point to feed their cats, dogs, birds of prey… etc. They would rejoin us in a while. A short drive to the Jubilee Christan Church got us our only Peregrine Falcon of the day. It was perched on the ground, perhaps eating one of the nearby Rock Pigeons. We also found another 3 Burrowing Owls. All were quite visible from the back corner of the parking lot. It was getting late. We rushed to Sunnyvale Water Pollution Control ponds. There we found Green Heron very quickly as well as Black-crowned Night Heron. We walked toward the radar station and stoppped at the reedy marsh. We found both Sora and Virgina Rail here. Some people even saw the Sora as it scurried back into the reeds for cover. Over the marsh we also found Barn Swallow. We reversed our course and scanned the the big pond, from the hill. The vast majority of Waterfowl was Ruddy Duck, with small groups of Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail, American Wigeon and both Lesser and Greater Scaup among them. Our only Green-winged Teal of the day, a female, was in the marshy pond on the far side of the hill. On the large pond we also found 4 Clark’s Grebe. Getting dark now. We hoped to explore the L’Avenida portion of the Stevens Creek trail, but a concert at Shoreline Park made both major access points, Inaccessible… Traffic was backed up for a mile and moving extremely slowly. Too slowly for birding! We opted instead to visit Charleton Slough via San Antonio Avenue. We parked at the end of Terminal Way and rushed to end of Shoreline lake. Forster’s Terns were foraging noisily over the water, and on the far shore we spotted a female Belted Kingfisher. Easily located were two Surf Scoters. The slough itself did not produce any new birds but the Mountain View forebay afforded us good looks at both Sora and Virginia Rail, as well as a completely new bird for the day, Cinnamon Teal! Black-crowned Night Herons were flying out to of the marsh insearch of dinner, and so that’s what we did as well. We made our way back to the cars, finding or rather hearing, Wilson’s Snipe, within the marsh. We ate dinner at Thai City on El Camino Real, in Palo Alto and did the count. We ended up with 127 jspecies, a full 11 birds beyond our last year’s count, even with the surprising misses. NO Semipalmated Plover, Dunlin, Short-billed Dowitcher, Hairy Woodpecker, Cedar Waxwing… No American Robin. Maybe next year, OR tomorrow. Thanks again, everyone. Until next year! Matthew Dodder Canada Goose Gadwall American Wigeon Mallard Cinnamon Teal Northern Shoveler Northern Pintail Green-winged Teal Greater Scaup Lesser Scaup Surf Scoter Ruffy Duck Ring-necked Pheasant Wild Turkey Pied-billed Grebe Eared Grebe Clark’s Grebe American White Pelican Brown Pelican Double-crested Cormorant Great Blue Heron Great Egret Snowy Egret Green Heron Black-crowned Night Heron Turkey Vulture White-tailed Kite Northern Harrier Sharp-shinned Hawk Cooper’s Hawk Red-shouldered Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Golden Eagle American Kestrel Merlin Peregrine Falcon Virginia Rail Sora Common Moorhen American Coot Black-bellied Plover Killdeer Black-necked Stilt American Avocet Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Willet Long-billed Curlew Marbled Godwit Western Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Ruff Long-billed Dowitcher Wilson’s Snipe Wilson’s Phalarope Red-necked Phalarope Mew Gull Ring-billed Gull California Gull Herring Gull Western Gull Forster’s Tern Black Skimmer Rock Pigeon Band-tailed Pigeon Mourning Dove Barn Owl Western Screech Owl Burrowing Owl Vaux’s Swift White-throated Swift Anna’s Hummingbird Belted Kingfisher Acorn Woodpecker Nuttall’s Woodpecker Northern Flicker Pacific-slope Flycatcher Black Phoebe Say’s Phoebe Loggerhead Shrike Hutton’s Vireo Steller’s Jay Western Scrub Jay Yellow-billed Magpie American Crow Common Raven Horned Lark Violet-green Swallow Barn Swallow Cliff Swallow Chestnut-backed Chickadee Oak Titmouse Bushtit White-breasted Nuthatch Brown Creeper Bewick’s Wren House Wren Marsh Wren Ruby-crowned Kinglet Western Bluebird Wrentit Northern Mockingbird European Starling American Pipit Orange-crowned Warbler Yellow Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Townsend’s Warbler Common Yellowthroat Wilson’s Warbler Spotted Towhee California Towhee Savannah Sparrow Fox Sparrow Song Sparrow Lincoln’s Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Golden-crowned Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Red-winged Blackbird Western Meadowlark Brewer’s Blackbird Brown-headed Cowbird House Finch Lesser Goldfinch American Goldfinch House Sparrow |
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