[EBB Sightings] Blue-gray gnatcatcher and rock wren at Coyote Hills RP

Rich Nicholson spotted a blue-gray gnatcatcher at Coyote Hills Regional Park yesterday.  I re-found the bird around 8:15 this morning in the bushes above the footpath that runs parallel to the parking lot about halfway up the hillside above the picnic sites at the Quarry staging area. The bird is easy to locate by listening for its soft "pwee".  I continued climbing up the Muskrat Trail past the hillside picnic ramada to the top of the hill.  On the jumble of orange lichen-covered rocks before reaching the Big Rocks, a rock wren was busy foraging near a small flock of golden-crowned sparrows. Upon entering the park, I had also seen a male ring-necked pheasant in the thin line of trees south of the entry kiosk. 

Stephanie Floyd
Fremont