[EBB Sightings] Pileated Woodpecker and Pygmy Owl on the Peninsula

These sightings are somewhat afield of the East Bay but worth mention for
those who want to burn some gas and bridge tolls in search of lifers.

During the Palo Alto Summer Bird Count Saturday, Ashutosh Sinha and I
came upon a pileated woodpecker and a northern pygmy owl at Wunderlich
County Park, which is located along Hwy 84 south of Woodside. We got
good long looks at both birds on the Bear Gulch Trail in a area of
old redwoods that had never been logged.

The pileated woodpecker, a mature male, was on the ground, tearing apart
a badly decayed log. The log was so soft that we couldn't hear the
woodpecker drumming. After about 10 minutes of watching this show, we
tried to inch closer to get photos and spooked the bird, which flew a
few yards off and climbed the trunk of a redwood.

A couple of hundred yards farther down the trail, we found the pygmy
owl sitting  on the bare limb of a redwood about 10 feet off the ground
right by the side fo the trail.

As unusual as it may be to get such good looks, there's reason to believe
these birds are regulars in the area. Wunderlich is popular among people
who ride horses. (There's a private stable by the parking lot and ranger
station.) Two people on horses whom we met on the trail -- not hardcore
birders -- asked us if we had seen the pileated woodpecker or pygmy owls.
Both birds are apparently local celebrities well known to area residents
who ride that trail.

Sadly, there's no distinctive feature along that stretch of trail to
pinpoint the exact locations of our sightings. It's 1.4 miles from the
parking lot up the Bear Gulch Trail to the junction of the Redwood
Trail. We saw the pygmy owl about 1.0 miles from the ranger station
and saw the pileated woodpecker about 1.2 miles from the ranger station.

BTW, the main entrance to Wunderlich -- which has never been well
marked -- is closed for bridge repairs. There's an alternative entrance
about 100 yards south that is even less adequately marked. There's
nothing more than a paper sign on a saw horse to mark the temporary
entrance.

    --

Dean Manley reported that he checked that stretch of trail Sunday
morning and found the norrthern pygmy owl again in the same general
area at 11:30 a.m. It sounds like he found it a few hundred yards
closer to the Redwood Trail junction than our sighting.

Dean said he had the owl in clear scope view for nearly 10 minutes.
He said the owl had just taken a bird, probably junco, and after
resting a bit, plucked away at the victim before taking  off with
his lunch.

Although Dean was unable to see the pileated woodpecker, he said
he heard the call at some distance.


                                                 -- Ron Wolf