I have generally regarded summer as the worst season for birding, and I didn't go out as much in the summer last year as I should have. I now have realized that even though summer may be the slowest of the seasons for birding, it does provide some amazing birds for observing, and that I should take advantage of that.
Summer is the season for nesting, and breeding passerine residents, like Western Bluebirds, Chestnut-backed Chickadees, and Oak Titmice can be found in many places. Birds that migrate into our county just to breed, like swallows and swifts, Ash-throated and Pacific-slope Flycatchers, Western Kingbirds, Bullock's and Hooded Orioles, and Warbling Vireos can be found as well. Our two most common shorebird species, American Avocets and Black-necked Stilts, mate and rear their young by the bay, providing great photo opportunities. Rarer birds, like the Least Tern and Snowy Plover, also breed in our county. Don't pass off summer as the slowest season, and miss all the good birds it has to offer!
One thing that I have already realized about birding is that even though I may like racking up large lists and keeping track of them, it is important to enjoy the birds themselves: to observe them, and learn more about them. I don't think its right to just see a bird, identify it, say, "I'm done with that one!" and never pay attention to it again. I must admit that the big year has made me do things like this. Even though I don't have to see the bird after I first check it off, I need to remember to enjoy those birds when I see them again, because each bird is special in its own way, and offers many new things to learn about it each time. That's what I'll try to do this summer.
Also, I've learned not to set expectations too high before my trips. If I think I'll see all the warblers out there on one trip, and not find a single one, I'll be disappointed. But if I just know what I could see, and not necessarily expect to see it, I'll be happy even if the trip isn't the best. Again, I can be be both appreciating the common birds, seeing new ones, and racking up a yearlist.
Anyways, enough of my views on how to make birding more enjoyable for me during the second half of the year. My first birding outing after getting back from Arizona was my favorite hotspot, Santa Teresa County Park on Monday, the 21st of June. I didn't find any new birds, but highlights included refinding (and getting photos of the female) the Phainopeplas birders had seen earlier, my second Wrentit of the year, Western Kingbirds, breeding Western Bluebirds, and new park birds White-throated Swift, Brewer's Blackbird, and Hooded Oriole.
Summary:
Birds seen: 33
New birds: 0
Big year count: 165
On the 25th, my grandma drove me to Almaden Lake and the Los Alamitos Creek Trail at six in the evening to do some casual birding. As soon as my grandma dropped me off, my trip started off on a high note, as I found an accipiter in one of the trees near the lake's shore. Its small size threw me at first, but I soon noticed its light nape and long, rounded tail, making it a male Cooper's Hawk. In summer, these are much more common in our county than their smaller counterparts, the Sharp-shinned Hawk.
Birds on or near the lake included Great and Snowy Egrets on the rookery island, American Robins and Western Bluebirds, and way too many Canada Geese. Soon, Almaden Lake will undergo a major change. The SCVWD has noticed that mercury is being changed into a toxic substance (methyl-mercury) at the deepest parts of the lake, that the lake is acting as a barrier to cold-water fish trying to get upstream to spawn, and that the lake is contaminated by waste from geese and gulls. Over the next few years, the SCVWD plans to transform the lake into a restored Alamitos Creek, separated from the new, smaller, shallower lake by a levee. The City of San Jose also takes geese eggs out of their nest, stops embryo development, and puts the eggs back in the nest (called addling) to control the goose population. A site for more info: http://almadenlakeproject.wordpress.com/
Here's what the new park might look like:
Back at Almaden Lake, the first birds I saw were a pair of Caspian Terns, one of my targets for the trip today. These were yearbirds for the county, and I really didn't remember them being so big! I watched them for a few minutes before they flew off up the Guadalupe River (the SCVWD pond has completely dried up). Other birds seen included a Brown-headed Cowbird, a Killdeer, and a White-breasted Nuthatch near the lake. I got an OK shot of an American Robin, as well as several of the scenery:
Summary:
Birds seen: 36
New birds: 1
Big year count: 166
An interesting fact about phalaropes is that not only are all three species sexually dimorphic (the females are bigger and more brightly colored), but that the females actually assume the "male roles." The females choose their mates and fight other females for them. The females may mate with several males during the breeding season, and then migrate south, leaving the males to incubate the eggs and care for the young!
Birds on Pond A16 and in New Chicago Marsh included lots of Black-necked Stilts and American Avocets, American White Pelicans returning in large numbers, a dark morph Red-tailed Hawk, a Common Yellowthroat, and lots of Forster's Terns fishing and simply splashing around in the water (illustrated by the top bird in the photo). Anybody know why they do that? Other than that, it was pretty quiet, with no more yearbirds. Overall, it was a nice (but very windy) afternoon of birding.
Summary:
Birds seen: 26
New birds: 1
Big year count: 167
One more interesting experience of the trip was watching an adult Acorn Woodpecker feed its fledgling in a tree cavity at the campground. The adult would fly between the granaries in the trees and its nest, delivering the acorns to the fledgling. I managed to get a photo of the baby in its cavity. Anyone know what is up with its bill? Is it just not formed completely yet?
Summary:
Birds seen: 38
New birds: 1
Big year count: 168
Good birding,
Sergey Pavlov
Summer is the season for nesting, and breeding passerine residents, like Western Bluebirds, Chestnut-backed Chickadees, and Oak Titmice can be found in many places. Birds that migrate into our county just to breed, like swallows and swifts, Ash-throated and Pacific-slope Flycatchers, Western Kingbirds, Bullock's and Hooded Orioles, and Warbling Vireos can be found as well. Our two most common shorebird species, American Avocets and Black-necked Stilts, mate and rear their young by the bay, providing great photo opportunities. Rarer birds, like the Least Tern and Snowy Plover, also breed in our county. Don't pass off summer as the slowest season, and miss all the good birds it has to offer!
One thing that I have already realized about birding is that even though I may like racking up large lists and keeping track of them, it is important to enjoy the birds themselves: to observe them, and learn more about them. I don't think its right to just see a bird, identify it, say, "I'm done with that one!" and never pay attention to it again. I must admit that the big year has made me do things like this. Even though I don't have to see the bird after I first check it off, I need to remember to enjoy those birds when I see them again, because each bird is special in its own way, and offers many new things to learn about it each time. That's what I'll try to do this summer.
Also, I've learned not to set expectations too high before my trips. If I think I'll see all the warblers out there on one trip, and not find a single one, I'll be disappointed. But if I just know what I could see, and not necessarily expect to see it, I'll be happy even if the trip isn't the best. Again, I can be be both appreciating the common birds, seeing new ones, and racking up a yearlist.
Anyways, enough of my views on how to make birding more enjoyable for me during the second half of the year. My first birding outing after getting back from Arizona was my favorite hotspot, Santa Teresa County Park on Monday, the 21st of June. I didn't find any new birds, but highlights included refinding (and getting photos of the female) the Phainopeplas birders had seen earlier, my second Wrentit of the year, Western Kingbirds, breeding Western Bluebirds, and new park birds White-throated Swift, Brewer's Blackbird, and Hooded Oriole.
Summary:
Birds seen: 33
New birds: 0
Big year count: 165
* * *
On the 25th, my grandma drove me to Almaden Lake and the Los Alamitos Creek Trail at six in the evening to do some casual birding. As soon as my grandma dropped me off, my trip started off on a high note, as I found an accipiter in one of the trees near the lake's shore. Its small size threw me at first, but I soon noticed its light nape and long, rounded tail, making it a male Cooper's Hawk. In summer, these are much more common in our county than their smaller counterparts, the Sharp-shinned Hawk.
Birds on or near the lake included Great and Snowy Egrets on the rookery island, American Robins and Western Bluebirds, and way too many Canada Geese. Soon, Almaden Lake will undergo a major change. The SCVWD has noticed that mercury is being changed into a toxic substance (methyl-mercury) at the deepest parts of the lake, that the lake is acting as a barrier to cold-water fish trying to get upstream to spawn, and that the lake is contaminated by waste from geese and gulls. Over the next few years, the SCVWD plans to transform the lake into a restored Alamitos Creek, separated from the new, smaller, shallower lake by a levee. The City of San Jose also takes geese eggs out of their nest, stops embryo development, and puts the eggs back in the nest (called addling) to control the goose population. A site for more info: http://almadenlakeproject.wordpress.com/
Here's what the new park might look like:
I next walked a bit down the Alamitos Creek Trail. The best birds here included a Red-shouldered Hawk, and a Pacific-slope Flycatcher feeding a subadult Brown-headed Cowbird! The poor flycatcher was being harassed by the cowbird to give it more food. Other than that, the birding was rather slow, but I enjoyed it anyways. It was an unusually cloudy evening:
Back at Almaden Lake, the first birds I saw were a pair of Caspian Terns, one of my targets for the trip today. These were yearbirds for the county, and I really didn't remember them being so big! I watched them for a few minutes before they flew off up the Guadalupe River (the SCVWD pond has completely dried up). Other birds seen included a Brown-headed Cowbird, a Killdeer, and a White-breasted Nuthatch near the lake. I got an OK shot of an American Robin, as well as several of the scenery:
Summary:
Birds seen: 36
New birds: 1
Big year count: 166
* * *
So end the first half of my 2014 Santa Clara County Big Year. I would have done a halftime report, but I'm really behind on my trip reports, so I'll do one at the end of summer instead, outlining what birds I can still see, and summarizing what I've already seen.
* * *
My next trip, Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge, was already in July. On the afternoon of the second, my mom, brother, and I drove to Alviso to try to find the recently reported Wilson's Phalaropes in the State and Spreckles pond, as well as any other good birds that could be around.
I got lucky with the phalaropes. As soon as I stepped out of the car, I spotted a large flock of what looked like phalaropes far away. I was about to start the long walk towards them, when the entire flock took off, and landed right by a group of American Avocets and Black-necked Stilts standing much closer! I still had to use my camera to confirm the birds as Wilson's Phalaropes, because my binocular zoom wasn't enough. Even though it was fall migration, the phalaropes were still in breeding plumage because it was so early.
An interesting fact about phalaropes is that not only are all three species sexually dimorphic (the females are bigger and more brightly colored), but that the females actually assume the "male roles." The females choose their mates and fight other females for them. The females may mate with several males during the breeding season, and then migrate south, leaving the males to incubate the eggs and care for the young!
Birds on Pond A16 and in New Chicago Marsh included lots of Black-necked Stilts and American Avocets, American White Pelicans returning in large numbers, a dark morph Red-tailed Hawk, a Common Yellowthroat, and lots of Forster's Terns fishing and simply splashing around in the water (illustrated by the top bird in the photo). Anybody know why they do that? Other than that, it was pretty quiet, with no more yearbirds. Overall, it was a nice (but very windy) afternoon of birding.
Summary:
Birds seen: 26
New birds: 1
Big year count: 167
* * *
On the Fourth of July, I joined my dad and brother on a trip to Coyote Lake to attempt to find the Greater Roadrunner being found at the boat ramp. We arrived at the boat launch at seven in the morning, and walked around, looking for the roadrunner, without any luck. However, there was a bird at the boat launch that cancelled my disappointment about not finding the roadrunner.
I noticed a large, dark shape sitting in one of the oaks on the edge of the parking lot. I thought it was a Turkey Vulture at first, but upon noticing its distinctly white head through my binoculars, realized it was a Bald Eagle! Usually, they spend the winter at some of Santa Clara County's reservoirs, but are much rarer when they nest in the summer. It wasn't a yearbird (I'd seen one at Vasona Lake in February), but still a really nice bird.What a coincidence that we found the national bird of America on the Fourth of July! It was still rather dark (the sun hadn't risen from behind the hills), so I couldn't get completely satisfactory shots.
I walked from the boat launch to the place my dad and brother were fishing, but found nothing special except for at least five Ash-throated Flycatchers singing from the oak trees, a Red-shouldered Hawk, and the Bald Eagle flying over us again. Dark-eyed Juncos and California Quail with fledglings were abundant, as were Oak Titmice and Acorn Woodpeckers. Other than that, the only birds were our common woodland ones. On the lake, though, I did find several Western Grebes (as well as some that may have been Clark's, but were too far away to identify), Common Mergansers, and my second Caspian Terns of the year.
After birding for a bit at the fishing spot, I walked all the way back to the mudflats at the southern end of the lake, hoping to find shorebirds. The only one I ended up finding was a lone Killdeer, but there was another pair of birds at the mudflats that would become the second highlight of my day. At first glance, the only ducks I saw were Mallards, but, as I took a close look at the closest pair, I saw that they were Wood Ducks! Because of their drab nonbreeding plumage and distance, I had mistaken them for Mallards at first! This was a yearbird for the county, and a rather surprising one - I had expected to find it on a creek, not on a lake. Also at the marsh were two Caspian Terns.
Summary:
Birds seen: 38
New birds: 1
Big year count: 168
Good birding,
Sergey Pavlov
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