[EBB Sightings] Fall Challenge for SFBBO - Calaveras Catchbirds

Hi all,

Interested in supporting great research about and for birds around the Bay
by SFBBO? If so, I just teamed with 3 other local birders to scour Calaveras
County for birds -- and do we have a deal for you!  You can support our
team, or SFBBO more generally, or any Fall Challenge  team you choose -- for
as little or as much money as you want! The birds win, you win.

Bob Lewis's site has a link about donations:
http://wingbeats.org/events/events.htm
Donations: http://www.sfbbo.org/support/join.php
"Guided Field Trips" that you can participate in when you donate - Oct.
4-12-- and you get a great Tshirt this year:
http://www.sfbbo.org/support/fall_challenge_trips.php


Yesterday, our team spent the day in Calaveras County with Bob Lewis, Dave
Quady (both from Berkeley) and Dave Corman, a birding-by-ear expert
currently residing in Arnold, heart of Calaveras County. We started at 4am
with a Western Screech Owl in Arnold, then Northern Saw Whet Owl in
Calaveras Big Trees State Park, a Northern Pygmy Owl back in Arnold--
putting on a tremenendous show after dawn of diving for birds by a little
pond and resisting the mobbing flock. We ended on Rock Creek Road with a
Barn Owl at 8:45pm. All total we saw 87-89 species--  waiting for the final
total from Bob Lewis. "Best" (aka my favorite) birds, besides the little
Pygmy Owl, were (1) Pileated Woodpecker chatting to itself, hanging upside
on a Flowering Dogwood (leaves gold, tinged with red), eating the red
fruits; (2)Lewis's Woodpecker flycatching by the road; (3) Loggerhead
Shrike; (5) V formation of 50 Sandhill Cranes; (5) flocks of Lark Sparrows;
(6) several Black-throated Gray Warblers providing great looks. The evening
before we saw a Phainopepla and 6 Yellow-billed Magpies, but missed them
yesterday. 

It was a beautiful day in Calaveras -- from 7000' to 200' -- almost
windless, cloudless day. If anyone is intersted, we can send you the
complete bird list. Let me know.

Good birding!
Kris Olson, Menlo Park CA