Previous Message

Sunol Regional Wilderness
Sun, 18 May 2003 18:27:57 PDT
From: Phil Gordon

Greetings EBB'ers,

With my Acalanes Bird Class this morning, 18 May, we walked across the Headquarters bridge and walked downstream just beyond the Flag Hill Trail then walked the Camp Ohlone Trail (road) about half a mile almost to little Yosemite. Between 7:30 AM and 12:30 PM we were looking for nesting evidence. The following species were noted:

  1. Turkey Vulture
    X  Wood Duck (flyby pair, prior Thursday, 15 May)
    X  Common Merganser (flyby pair, prior Thursday)
    X  Red-shouldered Hawk nest - no sign of birds near "Bridge", western sycamore nest)
    X  Red-tailed hawk (prior Thursday)
    X  Prairie Falcon (prior Thursday)
  2. Wild Turkey (a male spread and angled, "directed" his tail toward a female in the Green Barn Parking area - lots of "talking", some gobbling)
  3. California Quail
  4. Band-tailed Pigeon (2 = pair?)
  5. White-throated Swift (twittering & mid-air copulation observed on the prior Thursday)
  6. Anna's Hummingbird
  7. Selasphorus sp. (female, Allen's?)
  8. Allen's Hummingbird (male)
  9. Acorn Woodpecker
  10. Downey Woodpecker
  11. Northern Flicker (possible nesters)
  12. Western Wood-Pewee (3 or 4 heard & seen)
  13. Pacific-slope Flycatcher
  14. Black Phoebe (nest built on outdoor light fixture of building near Green Barn)
  15. Ash-throated Flycatcher
    X  Cassin's Vireo (heard at the Headquarters pedestrian bridge the prior Thursday)
  16. Hutton's Vireo (4 or 5 heard & seen)
  17. Warbling Vireo (3 or 4 heard)
  18. Steller's Jay
  19. Western Scrub-Jay
  20. Yellow-billed Magpie (2 heard in picnic area - Only!)
  21. American Crow
  22. Violet-green Swallow
  23. Northern Rough-winged Swallow (most common swallow = 10+)
  24. Chestnut-backed Chickadee (family of 6, including begging fledglings)
  25. Oak Titmouse
  26. Bushtit (8 = family?)
  27. White-breasted Nuthatch (prior Thursday western sycamore nest hole located in Picnic Area)
  28. Bewick's Wren (one heard)
  29. House Wren (12+ singers, including nests: one in Building woodpecker hole; one in western sycamore branch hole)
  30. Swainson's Thrush (2 or 3 heard in Picnic Area)
  31. American Robin (2 or 3 Only)
  32. European Starling (including 2 or 3 nests)
  33. Orange-crowned Warbler (6 including 2 foraging fledglings)
  34. Wilson's Warbler (3+, heard & including one female)
  35. Spotted Towhee (several in pairs)
  36. California Towhee
  37. Rufous-crowned Sparrow (seen & heard at California sage & bush monkeyflower slope)
  38. Song Sparrow (3)
  39. Dark-eyed (Oregon) Junco (including juvenile)
  40. Black-headed Grosbeak (several, not paired)
  41. Lazuli Bunting (3 males, territorial singing?; same habitat as Rufous-crowned Sparrow)
  42. Brown-headed Cowbird (male, "singing")
  43. Bullock's Oriole (several, including singing female? & 1st year male)
  44. Lesser Goldfinch

Happy Birding,
Phil Gordon
Hayward, Alameda County

Subject Index

Briones Regional Park, Orinda
Sun, 18 May 103 23:56:17 PST
From: Patrick King

Saturday morning, my son and I hiked from the Bear Creek Staging Area of Briones Regional Park, on a loop which included Old Briones Road Trail, Mott Peak Trail, and Abrigo Valley Trail. The peak is about 1,400 feet. Although we weren�t carefully birding, we did see some nice birds.

We had 4 Lazuli Bunting along the lower half of Old Briones Road Trail. Wilson's Warbler & Orange-crowned Warbler, and Warbling Vireo were obvious along there, and a little higher we encountered a Cassin�s Vireo in an oak directly on the trail. Western Wood-Pewee and Ash-throated Flycatcher were nearby. At the top of Old Briones Road Trail and along Mott Peak Trail, we had great looks at Lark Sparrow. Killdeer are breeding up there, and Western Meadowlark are singing from the tippy tops of several trees. Along the lower half of Mott Peak Trail we heard a few Grasshopper Sparrow, including one very cooperative one that flushed up to a lengthy perch on a reed of thick grass. I got a nice recording of that bird for about a minute. Chipping Sparrow and Swainson's Thrush were along the lower half of Abrigo Valley Trail, along with the common warblers. Chipping Sparrow were also in the parking lot.

Subject Index

Next Message

RETURN TO ARCHIVE INDEX