[EBB Sightings] Sibley Eagle Nest

[EBB Sightings] Sibley Eagle Nest

Alan Howe
Sun Jul 10 21:10:10 PDT 2005
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    Happy Sunday, everyone.
      A number of folks have asked me what I know of the
    Sibley Golden Eagle Nest--and how to find it. I still
    haven't made it up there again to check things out,
    but, fortunately, I've saved my directions. I'll add
    them at the end of this message.
      Most of my birding the last week or so has been
    confined to the back yard. I changed the seed mixture
    in my feeder and have noticed a wider variety of
    visitors.
      I've got an Oak Titmouse has been showing up fairly
    regularly--a backyard first. He/she has been fun to
    watch because unlike most other birds, which stick
    around the dish until frightened, he/she will pick up
    one seed and fly off to a nearby tree or bush to crack
    and eat it, then return if the coast is clear.
      Among the other visitors, a number of mourning
    doves, including one with a strange bulb on the side
    of its head--probably a permanent bad-feather day, but
    I'm not sure. It also seems to have feathers missing
    or somehow pushed aside on the same side of its head.
    I've also noticed that it has an unusual white
    marking--like it was side-swiped with a paint brush on
    its breast just below the wing (if my memory serves me
    well) and its overall color seems a bit browner than
    usual.
      Also: scrub jays, house sparrows, house wrens, a
    mockingbird or 2, though we don't seem to be in any
    mocker's claimed territory--as we were last year, the
    occasional mob of wrentits and an Anna's hummer or
    two.
      Nothing really unusual, but fun to watch.
    Happy birding, all.
    Alan Howe
    North Oakland
    
      Here are the Sibley nest directions (written last
    year when the nest was busy):
    
    Take the paved road (to the right of the restrooms)
    which goes to the top of Round Top. For quite a ways
    it will go relatively straight. Once it starts
    climbing in earnest, it does an �s� curve, has another
    relatively straight stretch and turns 90 degrees to
    the left (northwest?). At this turn, you can look
    straight ahead to an area of standing snags left from
    a fire some years ago. Kestrels and others can
    sometimes be seen in these dead trees. (If you walk
    across the grassy area toward a fallen log and look
    uphill, angling to the left, you can sometimes see one
    of the adult eagles perched in a dead tree.)
    
    After the 90-degree turn, the road is again straight
    and climbs uphill. Part way up this stretch, you will
    walk right under the nest, but it�s pretty well
    hidden; you can see the bottom edges if you know where
    to look, but it�s not obvious. The road curves to the
    right and straightens some and there is a road sign
    (facing uphill�away from you) on the left. Pretty much
    across from the sign, on the right of the road, there
    is a short path leading to a couple of downed trees.
    
    Here it gets tricky. If you stand on one of the logs,
    look south (?) maybe 30 degrees to the right of
    perpendicular to the logs. You have to look past some
    of the nearer trees and across a semi-open area. (If
    you�re toward the right end of the log(s), you�ll look
    past one sizeable tree on your left and a number to
    your right.) The nest is in one of the farther pines
    (fir?) up a ways in a major intersection of branches.
    It�s easiest to see�and know what you�re seeing�with
    binoculars. It can be hard, at first, to distinguish
    the dark brown of the adult bird from the
    nest�especially if its head is behind one of the
    upward-reaching branches/trunk. As the chicks grow,
    you�ll sometimes be able to see their light down,
    especially when they�re awake and active.
    
    If you�re lucky, one of the adults may swoop in across
    the semi-cleared area to your left and up to the nest.
    I�ve also seen one fly in from the dead trees down the
    slope.
    
    Happy birding, all.
    Alan Howe
    North Oakland
    
    
    		
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