Mines Road, 5/2/99
03 May 99 12:07:02 -0700
From: Les Chibana
Sunday was breezy, cold and drizzly along Mines Rd. from south Livermore to San Antonio Valley Rd. just past the Junction. Del Puerto Rd. was comparatively warmer and dry.
I took part of my class on a trip down this route, including a stop at Del Valle Reservoir. Some highlights:
Alameda County:
Both adult Great Horned Owls were with their nestlings in the sycamores at the Murrietta Wells Winery. One male Wood Duck rested on a rock in the creek. A single Wild Turkey was seen within a mile south of this stop.At Del Valle, 2 Caspian Terns hung out with the Forster's Terns. A Wilson's Warbler foraged along the East Shore Trail between the boat launch ramp and Hetch Hetchy Campground. 5 Common Mergansers (2 male, 3 female) were on the lake as well as 1 or 2 Clark's Grebe and 1 Western Grebe. Only 1 silent Rufous-crowned Sparrow was seen about 200 yards north of the boat launch ramp.
A pair of Phainopela were in the vicinity of mile 4.22.
At milepost 6.26, we found 2 singing Lazuli Buntings, 1 appeared to be a 1st spring male. A Golden Eagle soared by, as did a Prairie Falcon. On the far side of the canyon below us were 2 gray foxes, digging and foraging near the dirt road.
Santa Clara County:
A male Phainopepla, a couple of Lawrence's Goldfinches, several heard-but-not-seen Sage Sparrows were near the cattle guard north of San Antonio Junction. One female Selasphorus hummingbird joined the throng of Anna's Hummingbird at the feeders at the Junction.1 Wood Duck, 1 or 2 Bufflehead, and a pair of Mallard were in the long pond just south of the Bill Gherli Bridge.
1 Wood Duck was in the pond (Mallison?) just east of the Junction.
Stanislaus County:
1 male Costa's Hummingbird hung around the last bits of tree tobacco and other shrubs along Del Puerto Rd. before I-5 at about 3.8 miles from the freeway. 1 Burrowing Owl about 1.5 mile west of I-5, also on Del Puerto Rd.Bullock's Oriole and Western Kingbird activity was high in many spots. At one point, near mile 4.0 on Del Puerto Rd., 6 to 8 kingbirds flew overhead, does that make it a flock? :-)
Because it was late in the day, we didn't try too long for Lewis' Woodpecker, checking between the YL Ranch and the Junction and east to the pond. We didn't see the Bald Eagles, but a couple of Boy Scout leaders said that they saw 2 of them on Saturday, in the same area, across from the Hetch Hetchy Campground.
Les
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Les Chibana, Palo Alto
[SBB] Monterey Deep-water Pelagic - 5/16/99
Mon, 3 May 1999 22:22:52 -0700 (PDT)
From: Graham Etherington
Thought people might be interested in this Pteradroma trip.
Graham
Subject: [SBB] Monterey Deep-water Pelagic - 5/16/99
Date: Mon, 3 May 99 18:23:00 -0700
From: Steve Rovell
To: South Bay Birds, MBB, Central Valley Birds, Peninsula BirdsHi Birders -
Those wishing to have a chance at Short-tailed Albatross, Pteradromas, Horned Puffin and other deep-water species should join us Sunday, May 16th. Steve Bailey and Jim Booker will be leading an 18-hour pelagic trip from Monterey. Cost is $165 with an $80 refund if the boat returns at 1:00 PM. Otherwise, the trip departs at 3:00 AM from Sam's Fishing and returns at around 8:30 PM. Call Jim Booker at (831) 899-4452 to reserve a space. We need four more people to make this trip fly, so your reservation is critical. The April 25th trip was cancelled due to a lack of participation. That day was beautiful and windless. Jim's next trip is Saturday, July 31st, a trip to the outer Monterey Sea Valley. Cost for that trip is $65.
Phainopeplas and White-throated Sparrow in
Martinez
Wed, 5 May 1999 12:54:00 PDT
From: Denise Wight
Hi E.B. Birders,
Today, 5 May, there were 3 male Phainopeplas near the end of Carquinez Scenic Drive, west of Martinez. They were in the area beyond the green gate (which is about 0.2 mile from end of the road), working the huge mistletoe clumps in the oaks on the hillside.
At least one of the White-throated Sparrow was still visible in the ravine before green gate, where a sign on the left reads "Warning Steep Cliffs".
Denise Wight
Martinez, CA
Fwd: Contra Costa County, Part 1 (the drive to Santa
Nella)
Wed, 05 May 1999 20:55:56 -0700
From: Mike Feighner
Forwarded to EBbird by Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA
Contra Costa County, Part 1 (the drive to Santa Nella)
Sun, 2 May 1999 19:23:51 PDT
From: Mary Beth StoweHi, all.
(This first report is getting out a day late seeing as I couldn't get on-line at the motel in Santa Nella...)
It was a beautiful drive up to Santa Nella (any time you can drive through LA without slowing down is great), being quite birdy not only at the complex before I left (a Wilson's Warbler was calling right outside my apartment, along with Cedar Waxwings in the eucs, the resident Cassin's Kingbirds competing vocally with the newly arrived Westerns, and a Nuttall's Woodpecker across the street), but on the way up as well. Was very happy to catch a Spotted Dove flying across the freeway in the LA area, and picked up the "gotta-get" Yellow-billed Magpies somewhere in Fresno County.
We pulled into Santa Nella early so, seeing that the San Luis Reservoir was so close, decided to take a look. Got waylaid by the O'Neill Forebay Wildlife Area right along highway 33, where you could park and walk in on a good dirt road, which went through grassland, then passed through a little bog with tall deciduous trees (cottonwoods perhaps). It was pretty windy, but did manage to pick up Barn and Tree Swallows for the trip (the latter were nesting in the woods), a White-tailed Kite hanging on to a branch for dear life, plus a Swainson's Hawk battling the breeze!
Heading on down to the reservoir, the habitat was mostly grassland, with a few trees bordering the lake, which was very choppy. Lots of Coots bounced around, with the odd Pied-billed and Eared Grebes, along with a pod of Ruddy Ducks at one end. On the shoreline was a good flock of Western Sandpipers, several of which were bathing and getting washed back up on the shore by the waves in the process! An Osprey dipped down over the water, but the highlight was a very well-fed (judging by his crop) Ferruginous Hawk who I guess didn't wanna head back north just yet! The usual assortment of Meadowlarks and Savannah Sparrows hid out in the grass, plus a Loggerhead Shrike gave good views as well.
Rolled into the motel with 50 species for the day, which is not bad considering it was primarily driving!
Bird List:
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)
Eared Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis)
Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)
Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis)
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
Great Egret (Ardea alba)
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)
White-tailed Kite (Elanus leucurus)
Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus)
Swainson's Hawk (Buteo swainsoni)
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
Ferruginous Hawk (Buteo regalis)
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)
American Coot (Fulica americana)
Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri)
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)
California Gull (Larus californicus)
Caspian Tern (Sterna caspia)
Rock Dove (Columba livia)
Spotted Dove (Streptopelia chinensis)
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)
Vaux's Swift (Chaetura vauxi)
Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)
Nuttall's Woodpecker (Picoides nuttallii)
Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans)
Western Kingbird (Tyrannus verticalis)
Western Scrub-jay (Aphelocoma californica)
Yellow-billed Magpie (Pica nuttalli)
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
Northern Raven (Corvus corax)
Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus)
Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
Cliff Swallow (Hirundo pyrrhonota)
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus)
Orange-crowned Warbler (Vermivora celata)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Dendroica coronata)
Wilson's Warbler (Wilsonia pusilla)
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)
California Towhee (Pipilo crissalis)
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)
Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta)
Brewer's Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus)
Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater)50 SPECIES
Mary Beth Stowe
San Diego, CA