[EBB Sightings] Bird Sightings from Briones Regional Park and Lafayette

Hi-

Rebecca Green and I went for a short walk into Briones Regional Park on 
November 26.  We started at about noon from the Bear Creek entrance and 
walked up the Old Briones Road Tr.  At about 0.6 miles  just past the Black 
Oak Trail jct., we saw a flock of 200 Lesser Goldfinches, 2 Pine Siskins, 5 
Western Bluebirds, and a Say�s Phoebe get attacked by an immature 
Sharp-shinned Hawk.  At 0.9 miles we took a right onto the Valley Trail.  
Turning over over a board along the creek we found a California Newt.  After 
another 0.9 miles we took a right onto the Briones Crest Trail. At several 
places along our walk I pished in large multi-species flocks of birds that 
often contained a surprise like the Townsend�s Warblers, Golden-crowned 
Kinglet, or Hutton�s Vireos.  Near the Sunrise Trail jct, we saw a flock of 
60 Band-tailed Pigeons in the top of a tree, possibly feeding in a bay.  
Flipping a log here, Rebecca found a California Slender Salamander.  We 
decended via the Crescent Ridge Trail back to Bear Creek.  The entire bird 
list is posted below.

Also of note, Rebecca and I saw a female Wood Duck on Thanksgiving Day on 
Las Trampas Creek in Lafayette.

Good Birding,
Jim Tietz

3 Turkey Vulture
1 White-tailed Kite
1 Sharp-shinned Hawk
4 Red-tailed Hawk
2 American Kestrel
60 Band-tailed Pigeon
3 Anna�s Hummingbird
3 Acorn Woodpecker
3 Nuttall�s Woodpecker
3 Northern Flicker
3 Black Phoebe
1 Say�s Phoebe
2 Hutton�s Vireo
10 Steller�s Jay
5 Western Scrub-Jay
5 American Crow
6 Oak Titmouse
15 Chestnut-backed Chickadee
40 Bushtit
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
6 Bewick�s Wren
3 Wrentit
1 Golden-crowned Kinglet
15 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
5 Western Bluebird
3 Hermit Thrush
1 Cedar Waxwing
3 Yellow-rumped Warbler
5 Townsend�s Warbler
3 Spotted Towhee
3 California Towhee
1 Rufous-crowned Sparrow
20 Golden-crowned Sparrow
4 Fox Sparrow
2 Song Sparrow
25 Dark-eyed Junco
30 Western Meadowlark
10 House Finch
2 Pine Siskin
300 Lesser Goldfinch