Mountain View Shoreline and Bayfront Parks Trip Report, 9/15/2013

    I promised a trip report to the two bayside locations in the last post, so here it is. From now on, lifers will be in bold, as well as capitalized. On Sunday, I went to Charleston Slough, in Shoreline at Mountain View Park for twenty minutes, then to theater class, then to Bayfront Park for ten minutes in Millbrae, and then to pick up our dad form the San Francisco International Airport.

    My main inspiration for going to Shoreline was a Pectoral Sandpiper that had been reported there, and seen by many birders during the past week. It had been hanging around in Coast Casey Forebay. I also wanted to pick up several possible lifers that were easy to find there at this time of year. The problem was: could I do it in twenty minutes?

    I had to act fast, and I did. I shot out of the car with my binoculars, field guide, and camera, and began racing down the trail toward Coast Casey Forebay. As I ran, a small bird flitted from a Sycamore to my left into the brush on my right. As it flew back into the Sycamore, I identified it as a YELLOW WARBLER. No time to get a photo, I thought, as I rushed towards the forebay.

    In Coast Casey Forebay, there were plenty of waterbirds, including BLACK-NECKED STILTS, NORTHERN SHOVELERS not yet out of breeding plumage,  and lifers LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS (ID'ed for me by the people on Whatbird), and LEAST SANDPIPERS. I also saw a flyby GREATER YELLOWLEGS, my life bird #150!

Black-necked Stilt

Long-billed Dowitchers

Least Sandpipers

    As I stood there, I saw many birders also birding the surrounding area, and should have asked them if they had seen the Pectoral Sandpiper, but decided not to. Well, this probably cost me the bird... because I read on my local listserv that someone had seen the sandpiper in the exact same location, fifteen minutes before!

    I moved on to check out the action in Charleston Slough for a few minutes, and saw more Least Sandpipers, AMERICAN AVOCETS, MARBLED GODWITS, LONG-BILLED CURLEWS, and several AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS in Adobe Creek.

    This ends my trip report for Shoreline. I went to my theater class, and then on the way to the San Francisco Airport to pick up my dad, we decided to stop at Bayfront Park in Millbrae for ten minutes, for my mom and brother to watch the planes, and for me, the birds.

    Thinking I would be there for only ten minutes, I didn't take my camera. As I got out of the car, I spotted several WILLETS on the marsh. As I crossed the bridge, I noticed a medium-sized shorebird on the marsh. As I took a closer look, it turned out to be a BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, my lifer number 151. Another bird on the marsh was a WHIMBREL, and FORSTER'S TERNS were fishing offshore. Unfortunately, I had to leave after only ten minutes at Bayfron Park. In all, a great day, with no Pectoral Sandpiper, but four lifers!

# Birds Seen: 20 altogether
Lifers: 4
FOYs: 0
Bird of the Day: Greater Yellowlegs for #150!

Updates:*

ABA Yearlist: 138
 ABA Lifelist: 152
World Yearlist: 163
World Lifelist:  185

*It will take me some time to sync my eBird and actual life/year/etc. lists, but, the two life list numbers are currently correct.

Good birding,
Sergey


P.S. -- My ABA lifelist number is currently at 152 because of a NASHVILLE WARBLER I saw in La Rinconada Park in Los Gatos on September 28. I will not be including a trip report there, but here's the eBird checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S15275345 
 Pretty good, with 23 species and an uncommon lifer!

Edenvale Garden Park Fallout Trip Report, 9/21/2013

    Here's a bare bones trip report of a fallout check-out I did last Saturday, the 21st. As I said last time, there will be no photos in this report.
    In birding, a fallout is when after a storm or rain, migrant birds seek shelter near the ground instead of continuing their migration. Edenvale Garden Park is a park near the historic Hayes Mansion in South San Jose, near my house. That day, a small amount of rain had peppered San Jose in the afternoon. This isn't enough for a major fallout occurrence, but I was hoping for some warblers in this oak woodland park.
    After going swimming, we drove to the park and I started birding. The first several minutes were quiet, with nothing but a BEWICK'S WREN, but my first one observed for this park. I walked to the playground, seeing ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRDS and CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES in a row of pines. Near the playground, picnic area, and tennis courts, I watched an OAK TITMOUSE in a tree with a smaller bird. Focusing my binoculars on it, I found it to be one of the most beautiful birds for me, and a lifer... TOWNEND'S WARBLER! Now that's one bird that I was not expecting to find here! Scanning the oaks above the picnic area, I found several more Townsend's Warblers. As I worked my way around the back of the tennis courts, I found many DARK-EYED JUNCOS, two WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, WESTERN SCRUB-JAYS, and BUSHTITS. No new birds were found on the way back to the picnic area, but more TOWAs were seen. As of now, the Townsend's is still my favorite warbler. I also found EUROPEAN STARLINGS sheltering in the giant park Eucalyptus tree. As I walked through the midst of the trees, crossing the park to get back to the car, I found my second warbler of the day: a solitary YELLOW WARBLER high up in a tree. Almost at the car, I found some more Chestnut-backed Chickadees. As I was walking away, a slightly different bird alighted in the top of a nearby tree. This merited a closer look in binoculars. I first thought it was just another Townsend's Warbler, but I noticed the striped pattern was different and there was no yellow on the breast. I also noticed a tiny, yellowish spot close to the beak, making this bird a... BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER! This was a lifer and my third warbler species for the day (setting a new record of three warbler species in a single day), but most importantly, a really cool bird and an amazing find for a suburban park. The BTGW is now the best bird I have seen in the park, beating TOWA and Western Tanager (seen previously here this June). With this great find to seal off my fallout day, I returned to the car, exultant with the day's finds.

Trip Stats:

# Birds Seen: 17
Lifers: 2
FOYs: 0
Bird of the Day: Not necessarily the best/rarest bird seen, so I'll go with my favorite warbler, the Townsend's.

Updates:*

ABA Yearlist: 129
ABA Lifelist: 147
World Yearlist: 163
World Lifelist:  180

*It will take me some time to sync my eBird and actual life/year/etc. lists, but, the two life list numbers are currently correct.

Good birding,
Sergey

P.S. - Stay tuned for a Shoreline at Mountain View/Bayfront Park Trip Report, with lousy pictures of lifers!

Sunnyvale Baylands Trip Report 9/15/2013

    Here's my third trip report - to Sunnyvale Baylands Park in - you guessed it - Sunnyvale! I went on 9/15 looking for Western migrants in the park. Here is a view of the park entrance:

Sunnyvale Baylands Entrance

    I had very high expectations for the park - mostly because of the rare warblers reported here every once in a while. I had hoped to be at the preserve by around 7:30 (still a late start). However, I started my walk along an alley similar to the one in the above photo, but narrower. In fact, here it is, on the right.

Double Cottonwood Alley

    As I walked along this double row of Cottonwoods and also scanned the Eucalyptus trees to the left. The tops of the trees were abuzz with YELLOW WARBLERS, but they were much too high for a photo. As I continued past the picnic areas, I saw a female WILSON'S WARBLER. Unfortunately, it was low tide on the marsh, so no birds were present. As I approached an observation deck over the marsh, I noticed a robin-like bird sitting on one of the railings. Upon training my binoculars on it, I identified it as a SAY'S PHOEBE! I'd seen one before at Santa Teresa County Park in May of this year, but finding a not-so-common bird out of season is pretty cool! I remembered the YRWA I found out of season at Vasona last month. What am I, Mr. Out-of-season-winter-birds? In fact, there were two phoebes over the marsh and adjoining fence. 

Say's Phoebe

Say's Phoebe

Say's Phoebe

Sunnyvale Baylands Scenery

   

I moved on to the test garden, near another parking lot. As I approached the garden, I noticed a medium-sized bird in one of the berry trees, that turned out to be a SWAINSON'S THRUSH. In fact, there were several of them scattered in and around the garden, along with BEWICK'S WRENS, DARK-EYED JUNCOS, a WESTERN TANAGER, WARBLING VIREOS (new photo nemesis - I swear, as soon as I focus the camera for a good shot, it flies off), and PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHERS. Unfortunately, no Willow Flycatchers were found - only a drab Pac-slope. I'll finish off this bare bones (sorry) trip report with photos from around the test garden. 

Black Phoebe

Swainson's Thrush

Swainson's Thrush - caught in the act!

Swainson's Thrush

Drab Pacific-slope Flycatcher (unfortunately not a Willow)

Bright Pacific-slope Flycatcher

Large flock of American White Pelicans overhead

A nice day exploring a new place. No lifers, but one FOY and some cool birds!

Trip stats:

# Birds Seen: 25

Lifers: 0

FOYs: 1

Bird of the Day: Tossup between Say's Phoebe and Swainson's Thrush...

PICK ME!!!

... I'll go with Swainson's Thrush! ;-)

Updates:

ABA Yearlist: 126

ABA Lifelist: 145

World Yearlist: 161

World Lifelist: 178

Good birding,

Sergey

P.S. Stay tuned for a minor fallout trip report without photos...

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

Big Day Record

    In my last post ,the P.S., I said that my Big Day record was 32. Please disregard that. On August 10, 2013 I attended an Audubon trip to Ano Nuevo State Park, and there we saw 41 birds (15 of which were lifers, and another 2 FOYS). On that day, I also remember seeing an ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD in the morning, making my current Big Day record 42: the answer to life, the universe and everything (and also to the question as to what my Big Day record is.)

Updates:

ABA Lifelist: 144  
ABA Yearlist: 125

World Lifelist: 177
World Yearlist: 160

     In a few days, I will post a Hawaii trip report, where I saw 17 lifers and 1 FOY. The trip report will include not only birding, but also our adventures on the island with photos. This way, I can remember the entire trip when I'm older.

Good birding,

Sergey
  

Vasona Lake Trip Report, 8/23/2013

      This is my first trip report - to Vasona Lake County Park, in Los Gatos, CA, on August 23, 2013. Vasona Lake provides good riparian, oak woodland, and lake habitat. I wouldn't bird the oak woodland habitat on this visit. Species seen are in CAPITALS.
     First, I would be birding the south side of the park along Los Gatos Creek Trail - riparian habitat. Los Gatos Creek originates in the Santa Cruz Mountains, flows through Lake Elsman and Lexintgton Reservoir, through the city of Los Gatos, through Vasona Lake, through the city of Campbell, and finally runs into the Guadalupe River. The first birds I saw were plentiful CANADA GEESE and AMERICAN CROWS on a lawn in the park. In late spring and early summer this lawn hosts plentiful Violet-green and Barn Swallows, but none were to be seen today. The next birds be spotted were some of the most common forest birds in the San Francisco Bay - CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES, along with some calling DARK-EYED JUNCOS. A pair of OAK TITMICE were also seen at the same location. As I worked my way up the creek trail, I found more chickadees, titmice, and juncos. In a tree in the middle of a field to the left of the trail, I heard the familiar trill call of the NUTTALL'S WOODPECKER - a California specialty, but one of the most common riparian birds in the Bay Area. After locating the pair of woodpeckers in the tree, I moved to the opposite side of the field to bird the forest with Eucalyptus trees. Thinking it would be productive to pish here, I promptly did so. Out popped a female HOODED ORIOLE, along with the usual cascade of curious chickadees. After a minute or so, I was rewarded with a female YELLOW WARBLER - my second time seeing one this year, and my first alone (not on a Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society field trip). Also on the field were found a BLACK PHOEBE and four AMERICAN ROBINS. In the creek just before the lake I observed a female PIED-BILLED GREBE feeding her two young. As I crossed the bridge over the creek (with its usual ROCK PIGEONS), I noticed a bird flitting about in the trees on the bank. It turned out to be my FOY (first of the year) YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER! I then moved onto the lake habitat. There were plenty of AMERICAN COOTS on the lake (along with more female and juvenile Pied-billed Grebes), as well as several SONG SPARROWS on the banks. I walked along the east side of Vasona Lake to the dam, spotting many more Black Phoebes, and also watching CASPIAN and FORSTER'S TERNS fish the lake. An interesting observation of mine were several DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS, not perched on the island or telephone wires, but soaring high above the lake. On yet another field, I found several juvenile WESTERN BLUEBIRDS. Near the dam, I found a RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD in the reeds and cattails. Usually, Vasona Lake is one of the best places to go in Santa Clara County for herons and egrets, but I found my only heron today, a GREAT BLUE, perched in a tree as I walked back down the east bank. Nearing our car, I pished one last time in a wooded area near a highway, which produced a BEWICK'S WREN, our most common wren in the Bay Area. This time, I didn't have my camera with me. Next time, I'll try to post some photos. This concludes my report for Vasona Lake County Park.

Stats:
# Birds Seen: 29
Lifers: 0
FOYs: 1

Life List Count: 144
Year List Count: 124

Good birding! 

P.S. - My current big day record is 32. If I could go out now and get my common neighborhood birds, I will most likely break that record. Unfortunately, I don't think this new record will stand long, with fall migration starting...



         

First Real Post

Future blog posts here will chronicle the adventures of a young birder around California, and sometimes other places.