[EBB Sightings] Mitchell Canyon , 5/5/08

Out of county report for Penbirds. Mitchell Canyon at north end of Mount
Diablo State Park.

We had a beautiful day at Mitchell Canyon. While it was chilly at the start,
in the shade, with a light wind, the weather became perfect by 11 a.m., as
jackets and fleeces started to come off. We hiked the Mitchell Canyon Trail
to the Red Road, which we hiked to the summit. There is a spring near the
top, with a few ancient oak trees, which was very birdy. On the way back
down, the group split, with some taking the Globe Lily Trail, and some
returning on Mitchell Canyon. We birded from 7:45 am to 2:10 pm.

In addition to the list below, birds seen by some members of the group
included White-tailed Kite, Rufous Hummingbird, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and
possible Calliope Hummingbird (our target bird).

There was a juvenile Western Rattlesnake on the Globe Lily Trail. There were
many butterflies, but only Variable Checkerspot and California Sister posed
for ID.

Location:     Mitchell Canyon
Observation date:     5/5/08
Notes:     Participants, Miss Otis Egrets: Richard Drechsler, Sonny Mencher,
Ginny Marshall, Elisabeth Koster, Anne Kelley, Rob Cullison, Norma
Tannenbaum, Mel Meyers, Laurie Graham & Jeff Fairclough
Number of species:     51

Wild Turkey     9
California Quail     7
Turkey Vulture     15
Cooper's Hawk     1
Red-tailed Hawk     6
Mourning Dove     7
White-throated Swift     1
Anna's Hummingbird     15
Allen's Hummingbird     3
Acorn Woodpecker     8
Nuttall's Woodpecker     4
Hairy Woodpecker     2
Olive-sided Flycatcher     4
Pacific-slope Flycatcher     2
Ash-throated Flycatcher     13
Western Kingbird     11
Cassin's Vireo     1     heard only
Hutton's Vireo     4
Warbling Vireo     5
Steller's Jay     4
Western Scrub-Jay     10
Common Raven     1
Tree Swallow     12
Violet-green Swallow     8
Chestnut-backed Chickadee     2
Oak Titmouse     7
Bushtit     1
White-breasted Nuthatch     2
Bewick's Wren     3
House Wren     4
Western Bluebird     5
Swainson's Thrush     3
Wrentit     9     7 heard only
Northern Mockingbird     1
European Starling     5
Orange-crowned Warbler     6     showed orange crown!
Townsend's Warbler     2
Wilson's Warbler     8
Western Tanager     3
Spotted Towhee     7
California Towhee     8
Rufous-crowned Sparrow     1     heard only
Lark Sparrow     2
Dark-eyed Junco     24
Black-headed Grosbeak     8
Lazuli Bunting     12
Red-winged Blackbird     9
Bullock's Oriole     6
House Finch     6
Lesser Goldfinch     23
American Goldfinch     3

This report was generated automatically by eBird
v2(http://ebird.org/california/)