I did not see these in the same location, of course!  Yesterday, as I was
leaving Alviso where my beginning but intrepid Birding Basics class and I birded
for four hours and found 50 species including a Burrowing Owl on the way in, I
saw two of those owls on my side of the fence less than 12 feet from me!  We
had already seen what I am pretty sure was another, single Burrowing Owl behind
the fence earlier.  (I saw three behind that same fence a week ago.)



Today I drove to Santa Teresa Blvd. and Laguna only to spot a Ferruginous Hawk,
a male American Kestrel, a Great Egret and a field full of Western Meadowlarks
in less than ten minutes.   At first, the hawk was hunkered down in the dirt
field some distance from me, but it soon got up and turned sideways so I got
excellent views through my scope.  After several minutes it flew off.
 Coincidentally, I happened to see what I think was the same bird return 45
minutes later when I also returned from birding a bit more on Santa Teresa Blvd.
 It was definitely a Ferruginous Hawk, and it settled back down in the field
once again. Very exciting for this birder!



    Raptors Seen Today:  



-1 (2?) Ferruginous Hawk(s)



-3 American Kestrels (1 male; 2 females) on overhead wires



-1 White-tailed Kite  (kiting over a field)



-5 Turkey Vultures



-1 Red-tailed Hawk (on a pole)









That nicely complements the 



Raptors seen yesterday20at Alviso:



-1 Peregrine Falcon - on a tower



-1 Red-shouldered Hawk - on another tower



Turkey Vultures

-1 Cooper's Hawk - flying

Red-tailed Hawks




Eight raptors in two days.  I'll take it!




Anne Creevy















[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Today in the meadow area north of the airfield and adjacent to the
freeway  there was a good sized and very healthy looking red
shouldered hawk in a low bush. It was a beautiful bird and let us have
a very long look and take many photos before flying away.  I was
surprised by the paleness of his head. We see red shouldered hawks in
this area constantly, of course, but typically with a much darker
head.  Would you think that this is a juvenile bird or is this just a
variation in plumage that is pretty normal and I just have not noticed
it before? Everything else about the plumage was completely standard.

Thanks for your thoughts,
  Beth Hamel

Hi all:

Highlights of a field trip today to Ed Levin Co. Park:

White-throated Swifts  30
The cloud cover and something invisible and tasty kept the swifts at low
elevation over Sandy Wool Lake and the Elm picnic area for at least an hour.

Bald Eagle -- Adult
One seen soaring due east of the Elm Picnic area over the eastern ridge line.
After the field trip was over I drove south on Calaveras to see if there was any
activity at last year's nest site. One adult Bald Eagle was perched inside the
nest. I scanned the visible power towers and oaks for a 2nd bird (no such luck)
and looked back at the nest and the Eagle was gone. I drove down Marsh Road and
scoped back up to the nest and the Eagle had returned. Hope springs eternal.

Ferruginous Hawk, adult -- Marsh Rd. 3/4 of the way out to the reservoir.

A digi-scoped photo of the Eagle in the nest can be seen at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14935921@N00/

Good birding,

Bob Power
McClellan Ranch

This morning at about 11:00 I counted 7 CHIPPING SPARROWS at the usual
spot in Jeffrey Fontana Park, at the end of Ostenberg. A RED-SHOULDERED
HAWK was nearby in the park, despite the fair crowd of people and dogs.
Earlier in the morning there was a pair of interacting RED-BREASTED
SAPSUCKERS at the SCVWD facility off Via Monte. I didn't find the
Black-throated Gray Warbler at SCVWD nor the Glaucous Gull at Almaden Lake.

-Jim Thomas

Midday Sunday I wandered across the bike/foot bridge from San Mateo
County to check the west end of the Palo Alto minicipal golf course.
With the Canada Goose flock here were 2 Greater White-fronted Geese.
Both were apparently adults.
 								 Al Eisner

Arriving at Arastradero Preserve around 9 this morning, I had a distant
view of a soaring adult GOLDEN EAGLE being harassed by American Crows. I
then saw one of the WHITE-TAILED KITE pair that has been building a nest
up by the golf course boundary chasing off a Common Raven. The top sight
of the morning was a copulating pair of RED-SHOULDERED HAWKS on one of the
telephone poles near Gate A -- I've posted a distant picture of this
action, and also a better picture of a juvenile NORTHERN HARRIER overhead
near the Kite nest.
  http://www.pbase.com/tgrey/latest

Tom Grey
http://www.pbase.com/tgrey
http://www.geocities.com/tgrey41

Bill Bousman writes:

The composite list reached 197 for the end of January, about 2
species above our normal 195.  As expected, we added some of our more
common birds after 1 Jan, including 5 "1's", 5 "2's", and 11 "3's".
Three of these species were unusual overwintering bird, including a
CHIPPING SPARROW in the Diablo Range on 8 Jan (a "3"), a HOUSE WREN
in closed refuge ponds on 10 Jan (a "2"), and a female BLACK-THROATED
GRAY WARBLER at the SCVWD ponds on 22 Jan (a "3").

We found 12 "4's" for the month.  A GLAUCOUS GULL was in the Palo
Alto estuary on 2 Jan and the same day a wintering RED-BREASTED
NUTHATCH was seen at Lake Cunningham.  Rare geese piled up over a
four-day period with 3 adult GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE at Shoreline
Park on 7 Jan, an adult ROSS'S GOOSE in Byxbee Park on 9 Jan, and a
juvenile SNOW GOOSE at Shoreline Park on 10 Jan.  Also on 10 Jan, a
RED-THROATED LOON was seen on Pond A9 in Alviso and a number of
SANDERLING were found in both closed and open ponds in Alviso.  A
SHORT-EARED OWL was at the Palo Alto Baylands on 11 Jan.  A couple of
ROCK WRENS were at the Coyote Reservoir dam on 17 Jan.  On 19 Jan,
1-2 PILEATED WOODPECKERS were heard in Sanborn Park and an AMERICAN
DIPPER was seen along Stevens Creek above Mt. Eden Road.  The last of
the "4's" were 3 SNOWY PLOVERS found in closed refuge ponds on the
last day of the month.

There were 8 "5's" for January, some stakeouts and some new.  A big
surprise was a SOLITARY SANDPIPER at Lake Cunningham on 5 Jan, only
our 2nd winter record.  Two NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH were found at the
Charleston Road marsh on 6 Jan, where they have been since fall.
Similarly, one of the wintering SWAMP SPARROWS wintering in the Palo
Alto Bayands was seen the same day.  Rounding out 6 Jan, a female
GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE was found at the Coyote Creek GC.  A PALM
WARBLER in the Palo Alto FCB on 8 Jan was the same bird as first
found there in December.  A male RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER was seen on
private land off San Felipe Road on 16 Jan.  Two RED KNOTS were found
at the Stevens Creek mouth on 22 Jan.  Less likely in winter than the
fall, a CLAY-COLORED SPARROW was seen along the Guadalupe River Trail
north of Blossom Hill Road on 26 Jan.

The only "6" of the period was the continuing EASTERN PHOEBE at Lake
Cunningham.

As always, if you notice any errors on this list, please contact me (
barlowi@... ).

In February, we typically find about 8 new species for the month, go get 'em.

Bill



The complete list can be found at:
South Bay Birders Unlimited (SBBU)
http://www.stanford.edu/~kendric/birds/

--
Kendric C. Smith
927 Mears Court
Stanford, CA  94305-1041
650-493-7210
http://www.stanford.edu/~kendric

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Folks:

This morning, 2/9/09, I stopped by Lake Cunningham and Stevens Creek
CP.  At Lake Cunningham, I found an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER on the
west side.  I counted 70+ VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS over the lake, but no
Trees or Barns today.  I saw two flocks of CACKLING GEESE, one of 4
and the other of 8.  The 4 landed near where I was beside the lake
shore and included 3 _leucopareia_ and 1 _minima_.  The other flock
flew over and had both subspecies, but I did not make an accurate breakdown.

At Stevens Creek above Mt. Eden Road, I saw one AM. DIPPER below bridge #2.

Bill Bousman
Santa Clara County records compiler

Rancho San Antonio was beautiful this clear cold morning, and pretty good
for handheld bird photography along the Rogue Valley trail. I heard
several HUTTON'S VIREOs singing from the oaks along the way, and I finally
broke down and got one to pose by playing a song back at him. Other birds
photoed were a perched RED-SHOULDERED HAWK (a pair was courting overhead),
WESTERN BLUEBIRDS (I saw two pairs engaged in courting behavior), and one
of the omnipresent STELLER'S JAYS, which offered me a pose. Other birds
seen but not photoed included HAIRY WOODPECKER (among 4 woodpecker species
seen) and BROWN CREEPER.

On the way in I checked Gate of Heaven Cemetery, and found a pair of
RING-NECKED DUCKS and two female HOODED MERGANSERS in the pond -- pics.

Photos at http://www.pbase.com/tgrey/latest .

Tom Grey
http://www.pbase.com/tgrey
http://www.geocities.com/tgrey41

Folks:

This afternoon, 2/10/09, I walked around the Stanford Dish
circuit.  Along the southwest side I saw an adult GOLDEN EAGLE
skimming the grasslands, checking to see if the ground squirrels had
their routes and timing current.  At about the same point, I saw a
TREE SWALLOW flying over the grasslands there.  Down near the
entrance at Piers Lane, I saw a 1st-winter male BULLOCK'S ORIOLE
foraging in the blossoms of a large white-flowering eucalyptus.

Bill Bousman
Santa Clara County records compiler

Mary Kelly and I caught up with the Clay-colored Sparrow this morning, Tuesday
2/9/09, at 9:15 am.  We parked just off Blossom Hill Road (east of Almaden
Expressway) on Blossom River Drive and walked past the white rocks about 100
feet until we could see the small rounded tree between the trail and the creek,
now leafless but just coming into bloom with white flowers.  As we were admiring
a Lincoln's Sparrow on the tree through our scope, the Clay-colored Sparrow
joined two White-crowned Sparrows on the top right of the tree, where all three
stayed quietly in good view for at about 5 minutes.
 
When the sparrows departed we noticed a Green Heron to the left of the tree and
on the other side of the creek fly in and catch something in the creek that
appeared hard to swallow, followed by a second and third meal of fish, one of
which was about 1.5 times longer than the heron's beak and about half the
heron's beak wide, and which was dark gray with black bars with a buffy patch by
its gills.  We showed the bird (scope view) to a passerby who then mentioned
that the creek (Guadalupe River) was scheduled to be cleared out in the next few
months to improve runoff, so we hope they will leave some vegetation intact.
Martha O'Neal
Millbrae
 
 

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

photos at
http://www.sailinsteve.com/album/displayimage.php?album=58&pos=3
http://www.sailinsteve.com/album/displayimage.php?album=58&pos=1
you can navigate to several more...

This year I'll be out of the country this time so wanted to let some
folks know, maybe you can whitness this great sight.
Also one of the pix available in this issue of the Bay Nature
magazine.

Folks:

This morning, 2/11/09, I visited Shoreline Park.  I scanned the lake
from the east shore and found most of the ducks seen there over the
last month or so including a male and two female BARROW'S GOLDENEYES
in the northwest corner.  The one surprise was a late adult BROWN
PELICAN flying over the lake and towards Pond A1.  At the kite flying
area, I noted 5 CACKLING GEESE.

Bill Bousman
Santa Clara County records compiler

Don Starks, Janna Pauser, and a bunch of tough birders braved cold and rain to
bird the
Coyote Valley in the afternoon. The day started at Calero Reservoir with an
adult Bald Eagle
being a highlight to begin the trip (about 2:30 PM). We then made it over to
Laguna Avenue
(both sides of Santa Teresa Blvd) to look for a variety of raptors and whatever
else might
show itself. White-tailed Kites, Red-tailed Hawks (in various plumages),
Northern Harriers (in
various plumages), and a number of American Kestrels. We also saw Yellow-billed
Magpie,
Say's Phoebes, Loggerhead Shrikes, Western Meadowlarks, and the two common
species of
blackbird. Janna, Phyllis, and I saw Tricolored Blackbird on Monday but not
Wednesday. One
of the target birds was Ferruginous Hawk and we saw two standing in the field as
is their
habit. To finish the day's birding Phyllis saw a bird standing in a plowed
(disced?) field that
many determined to be a Burrowing Owl. Some, with some retrospection, figured it
to be a
female Northern Harrier. This bird needs to be seen by others. As you are
heading south on
Santa Teresa turn left onto Laguna and immediately on the right is the plowed
field. The bird
was seen sitting in this field near the corner of Laguna and Santa Teresa. In
the rain and low
light it did look like the owl because of the light coloration and owl-like
appearance of the
face. Then why the possibility of a harrier? Well, why standing in a field which
was not the
preferred habitat of Burrowing Owls? Some saw yellowish legs (I
couldn't/didn't). The owl-
like face also fits the harrier. So, I'm thinking maybe a harrier after all even
though I did buy
into the owl. This bird needs more study with better/closer looks.

Hi Birders-
 
I stopped at the Alviso EEC during lunch today. There was a Glaucous Gull on
the pond A16 levee about 200 yards past the boardwalk ramp. Probably the same
bird I saw a couple of weeks ago. On the snipe island at Spreckles /Los Esteros
there were at least 15 Wilson's Snipes.
 
Dave Weber,
Milpitas

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I went out to Shoreline Park yesterday morning, 02/11/09. It was cold,
but at least the sun was out and I hoped to get in a couple of hours
of shooting before the clouds came. As soon as I got past the
playground area, I spotted what I took to be a Barrow's Goldeneye, my
first of the year. After taking quite a few shots over the next twenty
minutes, I was disappointed to realize that the wind was picking up
and the sun was behind the clouds. My shooting time was shot, at least
at Shoreline.  As I got closer to home, I remembered  that Tom Grey
had gotten a great shot of a female Hooded Merganser at Gate of Heaven
Cemetery in Los Altos. So I drove on hoping to find some bird activity
there or at Rancho San Antonio. Lucky for me, the sun was out, the
female mergansers were still in the pond and a male had joined them.
After I got home and took a closer look at the "Barrow's Goldeneye"
shots, I was noticed that the male goldeneye had a green head. Being
uneducated in the field of bird hybrids(one of the many fields in
which I'm uneducated), I tried to find information on the web. I
didn't find much to help me but I did find various references to a
Common X Barrow's Goldeneye in recent SSB digest posts. I've posted
the goldeneye and merganser photos at:


http://www.pbase.com/rfredrick/latest_pictures

For comparisons sake, the male goldeneye is also posted at:
			    http://www.pbase.com/rfredrick/goldeneyes

It's posted directly above a Barrow's Goldeneye(with an actual purple
head) photo that I took in December of 2006.
I've identified the goldeneye as a "possible" Common X Barrow's
Goldeneye until hopefully I hear from one or more of the experts from
this group.
Thanks for any help you can give me.



			 Ron Fredrick
			 http://www.pbase.com/rfredrick

On 2/1, three of us docents scouted this open space preserve (with
permit) for an upcoming night hike. During dusk, we heard this soft song
that seemed to be coming from up the wooded hill. A plane went by, the
song stopped (why sing if nobody can hear you?). We couldn't figure out
who was singing, as it wasn't anything familiar.
We had Spotted a Towhee in the underbrush (not much brush as it was
mostly leafless) near us, on the flat area down from the hill before the
plane went by. Then there were two, and the song resumed from the area
where they were. Here's a clip:

http://moonlittrails.com/sounds/LS100157_SPTO.mp3

Debbi Brusco
Hayward

I had some free time this morning so I drove up to Redwood Shores to
do some birding before having to go into work. On the way, I made a
side trip to check out the duck pond area and see what activity was
going on. It's still early, today I could only find two black-crowned
night herons (one male, one female) in the palms, none elsewhere in
the normal nesting areas. Those two were widely separated. No signs of
any egrets yet. There was a really large red-tailed hawk hanging out
on the scout building, later harassed into the trees by a couple of
crows. I didn't notice any crowned sparrows at all, but I didn't
wander away from the pond to look hard. the blackbirds were bellowing
in the fennel, and while I was watching, I had a small group of house
finches and a flock of about 15 bushtits wander through the rookery
area. Along with the finches was a bird that I thought at first was a
pine sisken, but since it was a single and the light was bad, I
declared it to be a house finch...

I've been commuting up and down the 280 for a couple of years now
(tomorrow is my last day! I'm back in SCCO starting monday, 5-10
minutes from my favorite birding spots), which gives me plenty of time
to watch the birds along the way. For the last couple of years,
there's been a pair of white-tailed kites nesting somewhere just south
of Alpine (in SCCO) and they tend to hunt along the freeway, sometimes
together. I noticed one kite hunting about 10 days ago, and again
earlier this week, when it was actually hunting the center divider.
You rarely see both, but once in a while they hunt in tandem, but they
seem to be back.

Mostly, though, that's red-tail territory; my high for a single trip
is six. I've started seeing the first snowy egrets along the sides of
the highway -- an indication they're starting to move to the breeding
areas (there are a number hanging out at Radio Roads already); it's
still early for the Great Egrets, but when they start moving into the
rookery, you'll have about ten days where you'll see upwards of a
dozen on the side of the road hunting (more typical number is 3-5) as
they move down the road towards the rookery.



Begin forwarded message:

> From: do-not-reply@...
> Date: February 12, 2009 8:54:10 PM PST (CA)
> To: chuqvr@...
> Subject: eBird Report - Palo Alto Baylands , 2/12/09
>
>
>
> Location:     Palo Alto Baylands
> Observation date:     2/12/09
> Number of species:     15
>
> Canada Goose     X
> Mallard     X
> Northern Shoveler     X
> Northern Pintail     X
> Pied-billed Grebe     X
> Double-crested Cormorant     X
> Black-crowned Night-Heron     2
> Turkey Vulture     X
> Red-tailed Hawk     1
> American Coot     X
> Anna's Hummingbird     X
> Bushtit     X
> Northern Mockingbird     X
> Yellow-rumped Warbler     X
> Red-winged Blackbird     X
>
> This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

Folks:

This morning, 2/12/09, I made a couple of stops in the vicinity of
the Palo Alto Baylands.  Near the Duck Pond, I found a male EURASIAN
WIGEON out in the Palo Alto estuary.  In the nearby marsh, a NORTHERN
HARRIER was doing its "sky-dance" of linked "U's" across the
marsh.  At Geng Road, I found an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER and a YELLOW
WARBLER along the GC edge.  The Yellow Warbler was a female, unlike
the 1st-winter males that Mike Rogers and I have seen there in
January, this is likely the same bird I found there on 1 Jan.  Thus,
there are at least 2 Yellow Warblers wintering there.  An adult
PEREGRINE FALCON was on a tower along San Francisquito Creek towards the Bay.

Bill Bousman
Santa Clara County records compiler

Thanks to Bill Bousman and Garrett Lau for correcting me regarding my
misidentification of the Barrow's Goldeneye photo I posted as a
possible Common X Barrow's Goldeneye. I've corrected the
identification of the photo on PBase and am more educated regarding
goldeneye hybrids than I was earlier this evening.

                Ron Fredrick
                http://www.pbase.com/rfredrick

--- In south-bay-birds@yahoogroups.com, "rfredrick2" <ronmar1@...> wrote:
>
> I went out to Shoreline Park yesterday morning, 02/11/09. It was cold,
> but at least the sun was out and I hoped to get in a couple of hours
> of shooting before the clouds came. As soon as I got past the
> playground area, I spotted what I took to be a Barrow's Goldeneye, my
> first of the year. After taking quite a few shots over the next twenty
> minutes, I was disappointed to realize that the wind was picking up
> and the sun was behind the clouds. My shooting time was shot, at least
> at Shoreline.  As I got closer to home, I remembered  that Tom Grey
> had gotten a great shot of a female Hooded Merganser at Gate of Heaven
> Cemetery in Los Altos. So I drove on hoping to find some bird activity
> there or at Rancho San Antonio. Lucky for me, the sun was out, the
> female mergansers were still in the pond and a male had joined them.
> After I got home and took a closer look at the "Barrow's Goldeneye"
> shots, I was noticed that the male goldeneye had a green head. Being
> uneducated in the field of bird hybrids(one of the many fields in
> which I'm uneducated), I tried to find information on the web. I
> didn't find much to help me but I did find various references to a
> Common X Barrow's Goldeneye in recent SSB digest posts. I've posted
> the goldeneye and merganser photos at:
>
>
> http://www.pbase.com/rfredrick/latest_pictures
>
> For comparisons sake, the male goldeneye is also posted at:
> 			   http://www.pbase.com/rfredrick/goldeneyes
>
> It's posted directly above a Barrow's Goldeneye(with an actual purple
> head) photo that I took in December of 2006.
> I've identified the goldeneye as a "possible" Common X Barrow's
> Goldeneye until hopefully I hear from one or more of the experts from
> this group.
> Thanks for any help you can give me.
>
>
>
> 		 Ron Fredrick
> 		 http://www.pbase.com/rfredrick
>

This morning (Fri, 2/13), two BALD EAGLES were at Calero Reservoir. I also
counted 60 COMMON MERGANSERS at the reservoir.

I then drove over the hill and in the geese flock along Bailey Rd opposite IBM,
I saw four GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE and 15 CACKLING GEESE.

Ann Verdi
San Jose


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hello,

I just returned from a walk at Sunnyvale Baylands Park.  There was a Merlin
on top of one of the poles in the ropes course area at the northwest end of
the park.  A Red-tailed Hawk was in the process of building a nest on a
platform on one of the light poles in the ball park area next to the park.
A Say's Phoebe was near the southeast corner of the park along a fence near
the rest room building.

Rosalie Strait

Folks:

This morning, 2/14/09, I returned to the Palo Alto FCB at the edge of
the maintenance facility to look for the wintering PALM WARBLER.  I
found it working along the fence about halfway out the gravel road
from the frontage road to the palm (this is on the northwest side of
the North Pond).  The bird is just starting its prealternate
molt.  Although I did not notice with by bin views, the camera shots
show that a few rufous crown feathers are now showing on the left
lateral crown, very much in the center.  The underpart color is dull
and much the same.

Bill Bousman
Santa Clara County records compiler

We dropped in to look for the Clay-colored Sparrow at Guadalupe River
yesterday afternoon around 16:00. Conditions were far from ideal, but
we located the bird in its usual resting spot on the other side of the
river from the trail, opposite the largest redwood, in a willow with a
group of House Finches. It was windy and the bird was hunkered down
preening in the depths of the willow, but with considerable
persistence we were able to make out all the field marks, so we can
finally tick off this lifer.

--
Peter Headland/Jane Tatchell

Frank V's Wood Ducks were still on Almaden Reservoir yesterday
afternoon. One of the best views we have ever had of this species -
thanks Frank!

--
Peter Headland/Jane Tatchell

Last Sunday (2/8), we went down to Panoche Valley. Sorry this report
is a week late, but it may still be of interest to some. What follows
is not a comprehensive species list, but mentions all the more
interesting sightings (or lack thereof).

The weather was initially drizzly, but brightened up quite a bit later on.

Paicines Reservoir was shockingly low, so it was no surprise that
there was no Bald Eagle or Peregrine around. However, there was a lone
White Pelican.

No owls in any of the obvious holes.

Panoche River (Creek?) was bone dry for most of its length. We feel
this contributed to a noticeable lack of birds. We did get nice views
of Bluebirds at a couple of the bridges.

A few miles in, we had a Golden Eagle fly over, heading west.

We encountered extraordinary (to us, at least) numbers of
Yellow-billed Magpies throughout the valley. One group had at least a
dozen individuals. We hope that this species is beginning to bounce
back from the ravages of West Nile.

We found a large flock of Turkeys in a field beside the road.

Miller Ranch provided excellent views of a male Phainopepla on top of
the big oak tree next to the driveway.

No sign of Rufous-crowned Sparrows on the obvious hillsides.

We had a nice Sukleyi Merlin on the last stretch before the Inn.

Loads of Lark Sparrows were around the Inn and on the road out to
Shotgun Pass. On that same stretch of road, there was a Prairie Falcon
on one of the power poles, plus a large flock of Pipits that seemed to
like to hang out on the wire fences pretending to be sparrows. We had
a Loggerhead Shrike at the parking lot at the foot of Shotgun Pass.

No sign of the Chukars at the pass, but another couple of birders said
they saw two crossing the road earlier in the day.

We paid the "owl tax*" at Mercey Hot Springs and saw six Long-eared
Owls very easily (hey - that's less that $1 per owl). We were told
that a group had found Barn Owl the previous day in the Tamarisk grove
out by the whitish derelict building (actually they're all pretty
derelict these days), but no luck for us. We're sure we remember there
being more Long-eared out there in previous years?

Back up over Shotgun, to find no sign of the Mountain Plovers at their
normal corner. Nor did we see Mountain Bluebird or Roadrunner.

We had very close views of a nice pale morph Ferruginous Hawk on a
power pole out where the road turns to dirt.

No time to head out up New Idria Road, so no idea what might be out
that way.

We hope that the current storms and concomitant increase in stream
flows will liven Panoche up a bit in the next couple of weeks - it
definitely fell short of expectations on our trip.

* - Unlike some folks, we don't begrudge the owners of the hot springs
their entry fee. We can't imagine how they are managing to eke out a
living out there, and at least they are maintaining the birds' habitat.

--
Peter Headland/Jane Tatchell

Yesterday I saw 3 Western Bluebirds at Byxbee Park in Palo Alto.
There were 2 females and one male on the telephone wires opposite the
water treatment facility. Dirk Thiele

Hi SBBers,

Despite the bad weather that accompanied the Great Backyard Bird Count, at least
one NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW has arrived at the Dam in Coyote Lake-Harvey
Bear Ranch County Park.  I was fairly sure that I faintly heard one on 2/14, but
was only able to verify this today on 2/16.  He is hanging around the snag and
the chain link fence near their nesting holes in the spillway.

The rest of the swallow family had a very poor turnout for the Count.  Although
we were tripping over Tree Swallows and counted at least 42 over the Reservoir
in a single group, we could not get close enough to verify any other species. 
We moved on to several other "Swallow Friendly" locations but did not have any
better success.

Linda Adams in San Martin


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

This morning at the Coyote Valley Golf Course were two female
GREAT-TAILED GRACKLES near the club house, two female HOODED MERGANSERS,
a MERLIN, and, in trees near the creek, a pair of  Red-shouldered Hawks.
Late in the morning, Laguna Rd had two FERRUGINOUS HAWKS (one on each
side of Santa Teresa Blvd), at least five Northern Harriers, at least
four Red-tailed Hawks, a White-tailed Kite, a pair of American Kestrels,
a Loggerhead Shrike, two Say's Phoebes, three Yellow-billed Magpies, at
least four TRICOLORED BLACKBIRDS (in a loose mixed flock of about 200
blackbirds), one Downy Woodpecker, and ten Turkey Vultures. All these
species gathered together, many on the same wire or fence, and brilliant
Western Bluebirds and singing Western Meadowlarks, seemed like a Disney
movie. A singing RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW was along Santa Teresa Blvd at
the top of the hill at the north end of the valley.

-Jim Thomas

March 1 Pelagic Trip for Parakeet Auklets and more


You may be aware that two recent pelagic trips during January in San Luis Obispo
County waters found Parakeet Auklets. Also, the April 2007 pelagic on the 
Condor Express found seven of this species in Ventura County waters.  Thus, a
"chase" trip has been organized for Sunday, March 1, out of Santa Barbara on the
large and fast boat the "Condor Express." The boat would go out for 8 hours, and
the cost is $150. A minimum of 40 people is needed to make the trip a reality,
which is apparently the number that the Condor Express would need to break even.
This trip will also be a good opportunity to see other species such as
Short-tailed Shearwater and Ancient Murrelet.  And when you're out in the deep
waters beyond the islands, there are often other surprises.

Obviously there is a bit of a time crunch to put the trip together, so please
sign up ASAP.

This trip is scheduled for March 1st. We realize that this is a Sunday, but the
chances of us getting a few more participants is much higher compared to sailing
on the Saturday (Feb 28), due in part to another pelagic trip that is sold out
on the Saturday off L.A. Weather permitting, we will be birding in areas that
are underbirded at this time of the year. We will head toward Point Conception,
then Point Arguello. Once we reach this area we will move out to deeper water
and then head south. Again this all depends on the weather. We may also try and
bird out behind San Miguel Island.

If you are interested, the cost is $150 . The trip will leave from the Santa
Barbara Harbor. It will last 8 hours, departing at 7:00 AM and returning around
4:00 PM. We need 40 participants to register by Feb.
21st, or the boat will not go. The leaders will be Todd McGrath, Paul Lehman,
and Wes Fritz. If you would like to go, contact the Condor Express to make
reservations. On the morning of the trip, check in around 6:30 AM and bring your
parking stub and they will validate it for you; it saves you a few dollars

You can reach Sea Landing to make reservations for the Condor Express by calling
(805) 963-3564 or (805) 882-0088.
http://www.sealanding.net/pages/activities.asp?mid=2&tid=0


Thanks,

Richard Jeffers
Santa Clara