Coyote Lake County Park Trip Report, 9/7/2013

    Here goes my second trip report, to Coyote Reservoir County Park. This time, I'll include some photos.
    Coyote Reservoir is a dammed lake on the Coyote Creek, which also flows through Anderson Reservoir. My mom and I would walk the Lakeside Trail through mixed (but mostly oak) woodland, and then walk the Coyote Reservoir Road along the lake itself, also surrounded by forest. We would also pass by mudflats at the south end of the lake.
    As soon as we got to the trail, I spotted some small bird flitting around in the bushes. I pished for a bit, and a BEWICK'S WREN popped out for several seconds. Bewick's Wrens were numerous on our hike; here are some photos of others seen later:

Bewick's Wren

     As we moved down the trail, I saw several WESTERN-SCRUB JAYS in the scrub adjacent to the trail. We also had some narrow misses with Poison Oak. I heard several unknown bird calls come out of the foliage, and I pished several times, but the best (and only) birds that came out were SPOTTED TOWHEES,  a SONG SPARROW, and several more Bewick's Wrens. Further down the trail, I noticed several small bird in a tree that was very close to the trail. Focusing my binoculars on them, I found that they were HUTTON'S VIREOS. It was the third time I had ever seen them, and all were in the last two months. Usually when I have seen a bird three times, it loses its "new bird" appeal. However, some birds I will always like, for example: Orioles, Warblers, Tanagers, Kingbirds, the Ash-throated Flycatcher, and some raptors. Even though the vireos were close, sadly this is the best shot I got, with a branch covering the head:

Hutton's Vireo

   

    I also got a great (for me) shot of a CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE:

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

    

    I tried to get a shot of an OAK TITMOUSE, but to no avail. Oak Titmice would be some of the most numerous birds on our trip. I also heard and saw through binoculars several NUTTALL'S WOODPECKERS, but they were usually obscured by dense foliage, so I couldn't get a shot. Deer were plentiful:

White-tailed Deer

 
    We moved on to the road and tried to find the Lakeview Picnic Area, described in Birding at the Bottom of the Bay to have trails leading toward riparian habitat, but we didn't find the picnic area. We did enter the campground, though, and found several birds, including CALIFORNIA TOWHEES, DARK-EYED JUNCOS, WESTERN SCRUB-JAYS, ACORN WOODPECKERS, BLACK PHOEBES, and VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS. 

California Towhee

Western Scrub-Jay

Acorn Woodpecker

Acorn Woodpecker

Black Phoebe

Violet-green Swallow

    Now I see why Birding at the Bottom of the Bay describes Coyote Reservoir as one of the best places in Santa Clara County to see Western and California specialties. All the birds I have described above are Western specialties! We moved out of the campground and toward the mudflats, which were supposed to hold extraordinary numbers of shorebirds during fall migration. I was disappointed - the mudflats held only several KILLDEERS that I first thought were Semipalmated Plovers. Swallows were swooping over the mudflats, one of them a BARN SWALLOW. We moved back onto the road, from which I saw a STELLER'S JAY.

  
     As we walked down the road, I kept my attention to the woods on the non-lake side of the road. I saw a flock of BUSHTITS, and Oak Titmice and Chestnut-backed Chickadees were also present. When I turned my attention onto one of these mixed Chickadee and Titmouse flocks, I noticed a bird alight onto a trunk of a nearby tree. I knew what it was before I even focused my binoculars on it - my FOY, lifer, nemesis, most-wanted, etc. bird - the BROWN CREEPER! My stomach seemed to plunge down into my feet - that's what I love about birding - the excitement of finding a new bird. The Brown Creeper also provided me with a great photo opportunity. Click! Where's the bird? Apparently, I hadn't caught it in the first photo. Aim, focus, click! Dang it! I missed the that little creeper the second time too! On the third time, I finally managed to get a decent shot of it hanging upside down. Thank you Brown Creeper for cooperating!

Brown Creeper

    Elated with my find of the Brown Creeper, I set off down the road again. Soon I came to a tree in which several - guess who? - Oak Titmice were in. I also noticed another, slightly smaller bird in the tree. Once I focused my binoculars on it, the ID wasn't very difficult - a WARBLING VIREO. The ID was the easy part, and the photo was the hard one. The vireo was flying from branch to branch and flycatching. These are the best photos I got:

Warbling Vireo

Warbling Vireo

 Also in the same tree were another Hutton's Vireo and an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER. Continuing down the road, here are some views of the lake:

Coyote Reservoir

Coyote Reservoir

    I turned off to the right near a picnic area and found an AMERICAN CROW in a pine tree, while TURKEY VULTURES glided overhead.

American Crow

Turkey Vulture

    In another small turnoff into the woods, I found a Dark-eyed Junco, and California and Spotted Towhees.

Dark-eyed Junco

California Towhee

Terrible shot of a Spotted Towhee

    Soon, we got to the place where our car was parked, and our dad and brother were fishing for carp. We were greeted by more Acorn Woodpeckers.

Our Honda Odyssey

Acorn Woodpecker

Acorn Woodpecker

The view from the fishing spot...

... and the catch of the day! Two nice-sized carp.

 

 

 

 

Overall, a great day. From now on, I'll be doing a "Bird of the Day" section in my trip reports.

Trip Stats:

# Birds Seen: 28
Lifers: 1
FOYs: 0
Bird of the Day: Brown Creeper, of course!

Updates:

ABA Yearlist: 125
ABA Lifelist: 145

World Yearlist: 160
World Lifelist: 178

Good Birding,
Sergey