Oka Ponds Blitz

        On the weekend that I visited Stevens Creek County Park, there was a Solitary Sandpiper reported at Oka Ponds. Because of the drought, the Oka Percolation Ponds (and several other bodies of water, like the main SCVWD pond) were dried up by the Santa Clara Valley Water District, exposing mudflats, allowing for shorebirds. The Solitary Sandpiper was a pretty big deal, because it was a county code 5 and an eastern bird, and very close to my school. After school ended, my brother and I decided to blitz Oka Ponds only with binoculars looking for the rare sandpiper and an unlikely pair of mergansers that had been reported there yesterday: a female Red-breasted and a juvenile male Hooded, the latter of which would be new for the year for us.

       We started off near the main parking lot, seeing the famous (uncountable) Mute Swan, Great and Snowy Egrets together with Double-crested Cormorants on the island in the biggest pond (which hadn't been dried up yet), a California Gull, Mallards, and Pied-billed Grebes on that same pond, singing Red-winged Blackbirds in the reeds on the shore, and Cliff and Tree Swallows swooping over. The second pond was much the same as the first. However, the third was partly mudflats, and partly water, which contained four feeding dowitchers, an American Wigeon, and two Gadwalls. The mudflats had at least six Killdeer, but no Solitary Sandpiper in sight.

      On Ponds 4,5, and 6, which were almost completely dried up, there wasn't anything interesting, except for Black Phoebes calling from the creek, five Cedar Waxwings flying over, and a Green Heron near the dam's spillway under the bridge.

      We circled around the third pond, and stopped at a better vantage point to check out the shorebirds. I couldn't identify the dowitchers because they were far away, the lighting was bad, dowitchers are hard to ID, and... OK, I'll stop making excuses: because I'm still not that skilled of a birder (even though the first three were also true). I also found a Least Sandpiper together with the Killdeers, and an unidentified peep. Still no Solitary Sandpiper...

       At that moment, I realized something was weird about two of the Killdeers - they were only a bit bigger that the Least Sandpiper, and had only one black chest band! Then, it hit me that these weren't Killdeers at all, but Semipalmated Plovers! I couldn't believe that I hadn't picked them out at once, even though this was my first time seeing them! Closer inspection also showed the small, bicolored bills of the plovers. My brother and I were running out of time, so we decided to forget about the Solitary Sandpiper.

        As we were walking, we were hissed at by two Canada Geese parents, who were undoubtedly trying to protect their recently fledged young that walked close by them. We avoided the geese, and were about to head back to the car, when we noticed a pair of birds floating on the second pond. An adult Red-breasted Merganser and a juvenile male Hooded Merganser, to be precise!

Two yearbirds (one of which was also a lifer) in thirty minutes isn't bad at all!

Summary:
Birds seen: 30
New birds: 2
Big year count: 159 

Good birding,
Sergey Pavlov

Finishing Up Spring Break

       After the very successful trip to Santa Teresa County Park, I didn't go birding for several days, working on my history research paper and attending my theater classes. On Thursday, however, I made a short trip at around noon to Edenvale Garden Park (an oak woodland park near Hayes Mansion) with my brother. I didn't expect to pick up anything new, but was (very) pleasantly surprised.

      I arrived at the park first, and began walking around the perimeter path. Soon, I heard chattering calls, looked up, and saw two White-throated Swifts! These two were new for my big year, but not for my yearlist - I'd seen them in Joshua Tree in February, also flying high and chattering.

       Then came the biggest surprise of the vacation's birding. One thing I love about birding is how I often find the best birds not at hotspots, but in average parks, like this one, doubling the excitement. The bird I now observed in the top of a pine tree was mostly gray, with a dark vest, and light underparts - an Olive-sided Flycatcher! The Olive-sided Flycatcher is a county code 3 most often found singing on top of conifers high in the Santa Cruz Mountains, not in city parks! I was elated at having found this bird here, which was a lifer, as well. The flycatcher even caught an insect for me to watch, but never sang its "quick, three beers" song.

      As soon as my brother came, I called him to come look, but the flycatcher had flown off already. After walking around the park and looking for it for about twenty minutes, we finally found it sitting close by where I had first seen it. Unfortunately, we couldn't get any good photos. After this short venture to Edenvale Garden Park, which netted me two yearbirds (one of which was a lifer), we would wait till Sunday, when I would take a trip to Stevens Creek County Park to look for migrants, and to visit Stevens Canyon Road - the American Dipper's famous residence.

Summary:
Birds seen: 17
New birds: 2
Big year count: 156

* * *

       My dad, brother, and I started out birding the Chestnut Picnic Area, where there were many unknown songs and calls coming from the riparian habitat. Eventually, I picked up a call I knew, and it didn't take me long to locate a pair of Ash-throated Flycatchers, complete with what I beleved to be a nesting cavity!

       The majority of the songs I was hearing turned out to be skulking Warbling Vireos, which I found only after several minutes of scouring the treetops. The day was slightly cloudy, so overhead, there was a swallow flock, with several Vaux's Swift mixed in. We then moved on to the dam of Stevens Creek Reservoir.

       From the slopes of chaparral above the reservoir, I heard several Wrentits calling their bouncing-ball calls, but these would not count on my yearlist. Wrentits are a county code 1, but I, still, as of June 3rd, have not seen them (I have heard them several more times, though). On the shore, there was a lone Spotted Sandpiper, and on the water were several Mallards and some Double-crested Cormorants. This time, I caught a White-throated Swift flying with the swallows. The results of the drought were profoundly visible on the reservoir:

       Next, we drove to the south side of the reservoir, where Cooley Picnic Area is located. I walked along the creek, looking for recently reported Wilson's Warblers, but found only Song Sparrows, Oak Titmice, and Steller's Jays, as well as Black-headed Grosbeaks in the trees above the parking lot. I also scared up a Green Heron and a Black-crowned Night Heron from the trees. We walked a bit down the Zinfandel Trail, and I thought I saw a bird land on one of the tree trunks. After following it for a few seconds, I finally saw the bird, and realized it was a Brown Creeper! I hadn't seen these little guys yet this year, so it was a nice treat to see two of them (another joined in soon after) creeping on the mossy tree branches. The lighting was way too dark for a good photo, but I managed to snap one.

      

       On the way back to the parking lot, I heard a woodpecker tapping, and looked up to find a male Hairy Woodpecker in plain sight on a snag! This photo shows one of the ways to separate it from a smaller Downy: no black spots on the outer tail feathers, as well as a large bill. It's rare to see one completely out in the open, but this one was:

  

       This juvenile Dark-eyed Junco was very photogenic:

       We then drove down Stevens Canyon Road, checking under the three bridges for signs of a nesting Ouzel, but we ended up dipping on the American Dipper. :) The only birds of note on Stevens Canyon Road were numerous Band-tailed Pigeons, and Acorn Woodpecker high up in the conifers. When we got back to the Cooley Picnic Area, I tried pishing for any warblers to come out near the bridge, but instead, I got brief looks at a gorgeous male Western Tanager flying around in the trees around the creek, as well a lingering Yellow-rumped Warbler. 

Summary:

Birds seen: 38

New birds: 1

Big year count: 157

         Well, that pretty much sums up my spring break, birding-wise. I added nine new birds for my big year, which included one lifer. It seems that the months this year seem to go in a pattern: hard, easy, hard, etc. January had finals and preparing for the HSPT and ISEE, and February had winter break, during which we went to Southern California. March had too many projects, as well as preparing for my Russian theater plays, while April had less work and spring break. Following this pattern, May was a tough month with little time for birding, and June should be a piece of cake - except for finals week, during which I also have my piano recital. After this weekend, though, I'm probably going late-migration birding atop Loma Prieta, Joseph D. Grant County Park, Mt. Hamilton, and San Antonio Valley. On Friday the 13th (;D), I'm graduating from middle school, and moving on to high school at BASIS Indpendent in fall. After graduation, I'm going to Arizona, which includes visiting Chiricahua National Monument (super excited!), and possibly to Crater Lake in Oregon. 

        Well, that's pretty much my plan for the first half of my big year. I hope to get to 170 birds, in order to have only 30 birds to knock off in the summer and fall. It's already June, and I haven't done all my trip reports from April yet. Time to start working on those! 

Good birding, 

Sergey Pavlov

Santa Teresa County Park - Great Day!

       "What's you're favorite place to go birding?" I've been asked that question several times this year, but I don't really have a straightforward answer - I like going to lots of places near my house, like the SCVWD, Guadalupe Oak Grove, Vasona Lake, and Oka Ponds. However, if I had to choose just one place, it would probably be Santa Teresa County Park. 

       I guess I have to thank my grandparents for showing me this place - it's also one of their favorite places to go with their friends from their university, or for a relaxing walk. They often take my brother and me there, along with our cousins, when they come from Chicago. I first truly birded the park in June of last year, and got four lifers: Western Kingbird, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Say's Phoebe, and Bullock's Oriole. I birded the park several more times last year, and once this year, and ended up with a park list of 58. Santa Teresa County Park is mostly grassland (with serpentine soil), oak savannah, eucalyptus trees in the Pueblo Picnic Area, and oak woodland in some places.

       I had already decided that I would walk the Mine - Stile Ranch - Fortini Trail loop on Monday, April 21st with my grandfather and brother, looking for spring migrants and two specialty sparrows (both of which I had seen earlier in the park in March, and the day before in Ed Levin - Grasshopper and Rufous-crowned). My brother, also a birder, but not as obsessed as I am, was jealous of my Lazuli Buntings the day before at Ed Levin, and told me he would NEVER go birding with me again if I didn't find him at least one male Lazuli Bunting (I think he was joking, but you never know...) I promised to find him a Lazuli Bunting, even though I knew very well from experiences earlier this year that the birds can be unpredictable. Several of my past posts have contained little or no photos, so they have been a bit more boring than usual. I think this post won't fail to disappoint in the quantity of photos.

       Anyways, our grandfather picked us up at around 8:30 AM at our house, and drove us to Santa Teresa County Park, up to the upper, small parking lot on Bernal Road. It was a pleasant day - not too hot, or too cold. The mustard flowers were in full bloom, and the views were spectacular. In order: view to Coyote Peak, view down Mine Trail to Loma Prieta, and view down Bernal Road to the Diablo Range. 

       The first bird I noticed was a Western Meadowlark singing its bubbling song from atop the hill ahead of us. My first time seeing them in the main part of the park! The next movement I saw was a small bird flitting to the top of a bush about 30 feet from the parking lot. To my surprise, it turned out to be a Grasshopper Sparrow! I'd already seen this sparrow twice before this year, but this was my first really good look at it, in plain sight, with good lighting. I definitely hadn't expected to find a county code 4 right near the parking lot! This would be the only one we would see today. The Grasshopper Sparrow let out its insect-like buzz out several times for both me and my brother to hear. What a way to start the day!

       We began moving down the Mine Trail, but I heard a bird calling from near the parking lot. It sounded a lot like the Lazuli Bunting song I had listened to several times that morning, so I scanned the area with my binoculars, and found a male Lazuli Bunting singing his heart out on one of the poles near our car! Excited, we doubled back on the trail to take some photos of the Lazuli Bunting. During the entire walk, we found, at our estimate, seven Lazuli Buntings, and I more than fulfilled my promise to my brother to find him a Lazuli Bunting. Looks like the one below isn't completely in breeding plumage yet. One way to remember their song is a warbled, "One - one, two - two, three - three."

       Moving down the Mine Trail yielded a Northern Flicker that landed in some branches very close to us, and posed for photos.

       In the first patch of trees on the trail, I heard what sounded spot-on for what I knew to be a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher's wheezy call, but I couldn't track the gnatcatcher down. I hoped to see it later, in the chaparral on the Stile Ranch Trail. At the first intersection, we turned left on the Stile Ranch Trail, where I've never been before, and found more Lazuli Buntings. Tree Swallows were circling overhead: nest boxes had been put up for them here, too, just like in Ed Levin. As we got to where the trail first starts climbing, I noticed a faraway bird sitting on the top of an oak tree. Running to get a better look, I suspected it was an Ash-throated Flycatcher! Once I got a bit closer, it was confirmed to be my first yearbird of the day! Unfortunately, this guy was too far away for a sharp shot.

Climbing farther up the Stile Ranch Trail provided lots of good views of the park:

       As we were descending the first hill we had climbed, I saw two birds flying towards us, fighting in the air. One was an American Crow, and the other, a juvenile Northern Harrier! The crow was harassing the harrier, but, for once, the harrier was fighting back, fifty feet from us! The crow pursued the harrier for several minutes, before finally giving it up. The harrier then coursed low over the chaparral, and scared a bird out of it, which I thought was a California Thrasher, but didn't want to call it for sure.

       We began ascending the next hill, having seen some amazing birds already. We were almost at the top, when I noticed a bird in the top of a laurel tree to the right of the trail. "Western Tanager! Western Tanager in that tree!" I called to my brother, who caught the bird before it flew off after about 20 seconds. This beautiful male, who looks like he's almost done molting into adult plumage, was another yearbird for me, and a new bird for the park.

       To my surprise, we still hadn't seen any Rufous-crowned Sparrows, even though I thought I'd heard several earlier. In knew the last part of this trail was best for them. On the last hill, I spotted a raptor flying over with Turkey Vultures, which turned out to be an adult Golden Eagle! Another raptor was even more unexpected: an Osprey circling high over us!

       The wildflowers were great, and so were the views down to New Almaden and the Santa Cruz Mountains. Eventually, we did find two Rufous-crowned Sparrows among the rock outcroppings, both singing. Neither posed for a photo as well as I would have liked them too, but I still got a really poor shot.

       Even though the chaparral at the end of the trail was supposed to be really good for Wrentit and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, no birds were seen there except for Golden-crowned Sparrows and a pair of California Towhees. We rested a bit, and then set off up the Fortini Trail to the Pueblo Picnic Area. Highlights were a singing California Thrasher and some unseen Bewick's Wrens, and getting all four species of doves/pigeons commonly found here when I saw a Eurasian Collared Dove in the residential area. I also got my first good shot of a Steller's Jay along the creek.

 

Looking back from where we came:

       My brother and I had already had an amazing day, but there were still two birds I wanted to get in the Pueblo Picnic Area: Bullock's Oriole and Western Kingbird, both of which I saw here last year.

       We started off by hearing the resident Red-shouldered Hawk, and some White-breasted Nuthatches. It didn't take us long to find either the orioles or the kingbirds, but it did take longer to get satisfactory looks. After walking around for twenty minutes, we saw a Bullock's Oriole male perching in the eucalyptus where the Red-shoulder sometimes sits, and the Western Kingbird sitting far away in one of the taller eucalyptus trees in the middle of the picnic area.

        The clouds began to roll in, and we headed back toward our car, seeing the only Wild Turkey of the day. The Pueblo Picnic Area:

       Wow! This trip definitely makes up for any slow spring migration trips I had earlier! Surprisingly, I didn't get a single lifer and only two new birds for my big year, but this was definitely my best trip of the year, so far. In fact, it probably gives my checklist at Año Nuevo last year a run for its money as the best checklist I've ever submitted. Which do you think is better?

Año Nuevo: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S14914179
Santa Teresa: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S18012505

       I did miss out on three major targets - House Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and Wrentit, but found some new, rare, and unexpected birds, got some nice photos, and enjoyed being outside in probably my favorite place to bird. In several months, the place will probably be yellow and dry from the summer sun, but that doesn't mean there won't be any birds there. I'll definitely try to visit again on my summer vacation!

Summary:
Birds seen: 49
New birds: 2
Big year count: 154

Good birding,
Sergey


 

Team Fledglings Birdathon at Ed Levin

        I had first heard about the Fledglings through a San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory newsletter about the 2013 Fall Challenge, which included birdathon groups you could join. The Fledglings team caught my eye immediately, because, unlike any of the others, it was made of young birders. I asked to join the team, and went on my first birdathon with the young birders on October 5th. We saw a total of 71 species (still my big day record), and had a great time together. Later, I also joined the Fledglings for an "eBirding party" and for a nature sketching class with the awesome John Muir Laws.

       On April 20th, I went on another birdathon with the Fledglings team. This time, instead of traveling to several different spots, we would be doing a survey of Ed Levin County Park, one of the best birding spots in the county. Again, this trip report won't contain photos, because I generally don't use my camera on birdathons.

       I got there at the meeting time of 7:00, and received a welcome from the our team leader, Pati Rouzer, and the other young birders. We checked off some of the species we saw as we were waiting 30 minutes for the park to open, like Tree Swallow, Wild Turkey, Acorn Woodpecker. As soon as we were let in, we drove to the parking lot near the dog park area. Birds there included several Brown-headed Cowbirds, and both Hooded and Bullock's Orioles.

       Walking up the first stretch of the Agua Caliente Trail yielded Red-winged Blackbirds in the blooming mustard to the right of the trail, and Yellow-billed Magpies on the slope of a hill. Now, we began looking carefully for two species we wanted to document: Grasshopper and Rufous-crowned Sparrows, to see how many there were of each. At the place that the trail turns right for the first time, there was a pair of Western Kingbirds, my #149 for the county this year. What would the next one be?

       It turned out that we weren't disappointed by the number of Grasshopper Sparrows. By our count, there were about seven buzzing their insect-like calls in the grass. Most, however, were pretty far away and backlit. We couldn't find a Rufous-crowned Sparrow, though, even when Vivek Tiwari, one of the Fledgling parents, played it song and call from his phone. We soon came to Sycamore Gulch, a place known for its nesting birds. Ozzie, one of the young birders, spotted a Lazuli Bunting on top of one of the sycamores, and we all got good looks at it. I realized I was 3/4 of the way to achieving my goal of this year! The Lazuli Bunting is a great bird to have for this milestone. Only 50 left, but these are going to be the hardest birds to get!

       At Sycamore Gulch, I found an Anna's Hummingbird on her nest, and Ozzie found another one, about five feet from the trail! A House Finch nest was found, too, and Lesser Goldfinches were everywhere.

       We moved on farther down the trail, and found more Grasshopper Sparrows, but still no evasive Rufous-crowns. We struck gold on the way back, though, when Ozzie found one singing loudly, perching on a fence 20 feet from the trail! Another sparrow flew into Sycamore Gulch.

       Almost at the parking lot, we noticed a Golden Eagle flying over the park. Apparently, before I had got there, a Golden Eagle was seen hunting Wild Turkeys. Too bad I didn't get to see it!

       We carpooled to the Spring Valley Unit, and started to bird the areas around the lake. Ozzie's dad, Steve, noticed a Green Heron on the lake, which was one of my most overdue yearbirds. Good to finally see that one! Tree Swallows were in the air, due to our proximity to nest boxes put up especially for them. There were no sapuckers anywhere: it was too late for them, as we could see.

       We noticed several White-crowned Sparrows at the last Spring Valley parking lot, and we also had some Golden-crowns on the Agua Caliente Trail - they'll probably be gone soon. Also in the eucalyptus at the last parking lot, there was a selasphorus hummingbird. Eventually, it sat on one of the oaks nearby and showed an almost completely green back, making it an Allen's Hummingbird! Well, most likely... The hummingbird never spread its tail to show un-notched R2 feathers, or narrow outer tail feathers (R5), but the almost entirely green back confirmed Allen's.

       We then moved on to another parking lot with several flowering eucalyptuses, dubbed "Oriole-ville" for its plethora of Bullock's Orioles chattering in the foliage above. At one point, there were at least four orioles fighting each other at the same time! Nearby, there was a pair of Western Kingbirds posing so nicely that I couldn't resist taking out my camera and taking a photo, breaking my unofficial rule of not using cameras on birdathons. Of course, it just had to turn away. :)

        
       Other birds we spotted at the Spring Valley Unit included more Acorn Woodpeckers, a White-breasted Nuthatch, two Cedar Waxwings, a Eurasian Collared Dove, and two Red-shouldered Hawks in the surrounding forest. We ended the day with 54 species. Overall, I had an awesome day, netting four FOYs, and seeing some great birds, like Grasshopper Sparrows, and watching nesting hummingbirds.

       We then had lunch, and talked about... you guessed it... birding! As we were getting ready to leave, we met three birders on bicycles: Robert Furrow, his friend (whose name I don't remember), and Logan Kahle, a junior from San Francisco who is doing a California big year, where he will try to see 460 species. He is currently at 327. Good luck!

Summary:
Birds seen: 54
New birds: 4
Big year count: 152 

Good birding,

Sergey