[EBB Sightings] tree-top birding in the Oakland Hills

After a long and lovely hike yesterday through the
freshly dampened woods, I encountered a mixed species
flock of passerines, feeding in a venerable oak, just
below the entrance to Huckleberry Preserve. But I had
a dilemma: my neck and shoulders have been painfully
tight for a couple of weeks, and peering straight up
at the birds was definitely counter-indicated. Should
I just (sob) walk on by? 

Then I noticed a big Bay, with two main trunks, just
above the trail. I had perched on its saddle before; 
why not try and bird there? I crept up the slick,
leaf-coated incline and tried to quietly and
discretely throw my leg over, all the while draped
with my binocs, pouch, water bottle and raincoat. It
wasn't pretty. Once I was astraddle the fat limb, I
leaned back and looked across at the oak canopy.
Ah, sweet relief! And sweet birds, too. 

My tree top perch was alive with puny passerines.
Townsend's warblers, both bright and dull, flashed in
and out of sight amongst the crowded leaves. A RC
Kinglet flicked from branch to branch, so nervous it
made ME nervous. More bits of bright yellow were
provided by a male Wilson's warbler. A plainly gray,
tufted Oak Titmouse dashed in and out of view,
repeatedly gathering, then pounding, tidbits on an oak
limb. CB chickadees, absent from the Bay Area before
the sixties, but now one of our most common birds,
completed the mix; all from a Bay tree perch, above
the trail, just barely below the level of the feeding
birds, with a comfy, big Bay headrest and a moss
covered saddle, where I sat, wrapping my legs as tho I
were astride the barrel-bodied back of a horse. The
birds ignored me as they went about their lives,
hopping, flying, feeding and fussing. Now that's MY
kind of birding.

Debbie Viess