[EBB Sightings] An East Bay Spring: birding Huck and Mt. Diablo

  Drought be damned, this is a wet and glorious spring for local plants and birds and butterflies. A brief (!) nine hour walk along the Clayton-side flanks of Mt. Diablo on Wednesday gave me my very best bird sighting right at the beginning: a huge and dramatic Coopers hawk swooping through the oaks at creekside and perching in plain sight, its dramatically banded tail dropped and displayed to advantage. 

Western bluebirds brought their bits of blue sky down to tree level, and oak titmice and chickadees were singing up a storm. Vultures swooped low over our heads, especially as we got slower towards the very end of our very long day...move along brothers and sisters, we ain't dead yet! A tremendous diversity of flowering plants were beyond fabulous, and bees and butterflies of all stripes were taking advantage of the feast. But don't take my word for it; get out there and see it for yourselves!

Another walk yesterday at Huckleberry Preserve revealed a lingering flock of varied thrush (at least six individuals) and a thrilling glimpse of the golden eagle soaring over Roundtop; the leading edge of her wings, as well as her head and mantle were a pale golden color against the sky...fronting into the wind, which is not merely gas but also full of fine particulates, must wear those areas of feathers more rapidly. Anticipating a landing on the com towers, I found a comfy moss-covered shelf along the trail, and settled in to watch the show. But by the time I looked back up, she had disappeared from view. Guess even old "Lunches with Eagles" can't take the sightings of these big birds for granted!

In the last stands of oak before rising back out of the canyon I heard the soft tappings of a downy woodpecker, and along a well-rotted Bay laurel limb some extremely large woodpecker holes...possibly pileated but more likely from a hairy; the holes were huge, but the wood was soft and punky...

Liquid gold dropping through the sun-speckled hazelnuts resolved itself into a pugnacious Wilson's warbler, its face dipped in orange, flitting and foraging and then taking advantage of my attention elsewhere to creep closer and check ME out. Such beady eyes you have, my dear! A handsome female Selasphorus hummingbird peacefully sipped from the huckleberry blossoms until a testosterone poisoned male Rufous, as bright as a errant mylar balloon, got up into her face and drove her off! 

This late spring rain, and yet more predicted, should give our native plants and the animals that depend on them even more of a biomass boost, even if our still depleted reservoirs won't allow for our usual wasteful water practises; at least our local woodlands are getting well washed!

Can't dampen the glorious frenzy of spring, though.

Debbie Viess
Oakland