I had found out what the last day of my big year would be: Sunday,
December 14th. On Friday, the 19th, I would fly out with my mom and
brother to Chicago. From there, we would do a road trip down to Orlando,
and then to Miami. I was excited about the potential new birds I could
see, but slightly annoyed that I couldn't finish my big year properly.
Actually, we would be arriving from Miami on the 30th, so I would have
one day (31st) to get any remaining birds, if I needed.
Anyways, on the 1st of December, a Monday I had off as part Thanksgiving Break for some odd reason, I went to Vasona Lake County Park - where it all began on January 1st. My main goal was to see a Cackling Goose associating with the numerous Canadas. It had rained the day before, and I could tell that nature was enjoying itself after the long period of drought. Still plenty of fall colors around.
I managed to record an impressive (for me) 49 species in about two hours, but not one of them was a yearbird. I had scrutinized every single Canada Goose I saw, but to no avail. The highlights included: two Townsend's Warblers in the eucalyptus trees near Oak Meadow Park, a Western Grebe and several Common Mergansers, an astounding 200 or so Double-crested Cormorants on the lake (never witnessed anything like it before), a heard only Brown Creeper, a Hutton's Vireo, three Glaucous-wings among the gulls on the lake, a male and female Hooded Merganser at the dam's spillway, and a Red-breasted Sapsucker in some pines near the YSI building.
It was a great day, but one lacking of yearbirds. There were still some easy ones to knock off, but you never know what could happen when it comes to birding, as I would soon see (for the umpteenth time)...
Summary:
Birds seen: 49
New birds: 0
Big year count: 198
On December 13th, the Saturday before my last day, I got news of a Red-throated Loon juvenile being seen on the largest pond in Los Gatos Creek County Park. Apparently, this bird had blown in from the bay inland to our county. Loons have always been some of my favorite birds, and this one was especially close (and easy to see), so I made the trip to Oka Ponds.
Upon arrival, we spotted a Merlin zooming south through the sky. Great bird! Trust me on this one:
We walked once around the first pond, but to our dismay, there was no loon in sight. We met Bob Reiling, who was also searching in vain for the same bird. That loon must have moved on pretty quickly! The next day, though, I would realize how happy I was not to have gotten that yearbird (more on that later). The best birds on the lake were an Osprey, Belted Kingfisher, Ring-necked Ducks, Buffleheads, Common Mergansers, and Lesser Scaup. The north side of the pond was so dried up that a "land bridge" on which we could walk was exposed.
Summary:
Birds seen: 19
New birds: 0
Big year count: 198
Good birding,
Sergey Pavlov
Anyways, on the 1st of December, a Monday I had off as part Thanksgiving Break for some odd reason, I went to Vasona Lake County Park - where it all began on January 1st. My main goal was to see a Cackling Goose associating with the numerous Canadas. It had rained the day before, and I could tell that nature was enjoying itself after the long period of drought. Still plenty of fall colors around.
I managed to record an impressive (for me) 49 species in about two hours, but not one of them was a yearbird. I had scrutinized every single Canada Goose I saw, but to no avail. The highlights included: two Townsend's Warblers in the eucalyptus trees near Oak Meadow Park, a Western Grebe and several Common Mergansers, an astounding 200 or so Double-crested Cormorants on the lake (never witnessed anything like it before), a heard only Brown Creeper, a Hutton's Vireo, three Glaucous-wings among the gulls on the lake, a male and female Hooded Merganser at the dam's spillway, and a Red-breasted Sapsucker in some pines near the YSI building.
It was a great day, but one lacking of yearbirds. There were still some easy ones to knock off, but you never know what could happen when it comes to birding, as I would soon see (for the umpteenth time)...
Summary:
Birds seen: 49
New birds: 0
Big year count: 198
On December 13th, the Saturday before my last day, I got news of a Red-throated Loon juvenile being seen on the largest pond in Los Gatos Creek County Park. Apparently, this bird had blown in from the bay inland to our county. Loons have always been some of my favorite birds, and this one was especially close (and easy to see), so I made the trip to Oka Ponds.
Upon arrival, we spotted a Merlin zooming south through the sky. Great bird! Trust me on this one:
We walked once around the first pond, but to our dismay, there was no loon in sight. We met Bob Reiling, who was also searching in vain for the same bird. That loon must have moved on pretty quickly! The next day, though, I would realize how happy I was not to have gotten that yearbird (more on that later). The best birds on the lake were an Osprey, Belted Kingfisher, Ring-necked Ducks, Buffleheads, Common Mergansers, and Lesser Scaup. The north side of the pond was so dried up that a "land bridge" on which we could walk was exposed.
Summary:
Birds seen: 19
New birds: 0
Big year count: 198
Good birding,
Sergey Pavlov
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