This year, we had some help, so HF, CB and I passed on Hidden Lane and Lone Tree Cemetery, and Sulphur Creek Nature Center and Carlos Bee Park and the back part of Don Castro RRA to others.
We started off at 8:24 and got to Don Castro at 8:33. The far end of the lake was dry.
Don Castro RRA
On Friday, I’d only seen one duck, a Ring-necked Duck. There were only a few Mallards on count day, and we missed the two Belted Kingfishers, two Great Egrets, Hutton’s Vireos, Common Ravens, a Red-breasted Nuthatch, and a Townsend’s Warbler from Friday. Conspicuously missing were Cedar Waxwings, and there were much fewer American Robins and Northern Flickers. We heard a “Dairy” woodpecker (my name for an unseen Downy or Hairy), and I guessed Downy because that’s what we saw last year, but I was fooled. Looking back, we did have Hairy in 2009.
We made it halfway down the Ridgetop Trail to the bridge, and turned around to head to Five Canyons. We left the lot at 11:33.
Our next stop was the Shady Canyon Trail, arriving there at 11:49. We made it to the far side of the pond. The female Bufflehead was still there from Saturday. The Varied Thrush were difficult to discern, but we heard at least three. A surprise was another Hairy Woodpecker. Since it hadn’t rained much, there were only a couple small patches of old fungi. I did find a cluster of tiger beetle larvae burrows of various sizes on Saturday, and a Buckeye butterfly. We returned to the top at 2:04 and headed to lunch.
We made our afternoon run through Five Canyons. Our first stop, by accident, was Boulder Canyon at 3:35. This steep hill has a snag that almost always has a raptor, and this was no exception. An American Kestrel, as well as a Northern Flicker, were perched in the snag.
Next, we headed to where we meant to go, Century Oaks. It was almost 4:00 by then, maybe too late in the afternoon, as we found no Rufous-crowned Sparrows or Western Bluebirds. There was a Lincoln’s Sparrow though, and a Bewick’s Wren which had made a nest at the top of someone’s downspout.
We made a quick stop at Crestview Ct. at 4:45 to try to get some bluebirds. We heard none, but did hear at least one Great-horned Owl. A couple of deer were browsing, and a Red-shouldered Hawk flushed out of one of the near oaks. We left there at 4:58, finishing a cold, but dry day.
This year, HF, KP and CB joined me. We left my place at 8:45, having seen one Oak Titmouse at the feeder. It was rainy and around 50F, challenging conditions.
As usual, we headed over to MB’s place. She had previously told me that the birds were down, so we missed some things, but did see two Red-breasted Nuthatch. After about half an hour, we took a drive through Five Canyons. It was drizzling or foggy in parts, so there were some visibility issues. However, that didn’t seem to impact what we did see, which wasn’t a lot. Because of the ornamental pear street trees, there were a large flocks of American Robins and Cedar Waxwings. At the end of Boulder Canyon Dr., we took a short walk partway up the hill, and saw an American Kestrel on the snag. In our section this is probably the best raptor place.
We skipped the Shady Canyon Trail which would have been wet and muddy. On our scouting trip, we heard White-tailed Kite:
and Wild Turkey hens:
plus a couple of Varied Thrush, which we usually seem to miss. There were not as many fungi as last year.
We headed over to Don Castro and got there at 10:30. KP and CB saw a Northern Flicker with yellow shafts, but didn’t get a look at the head. By this time, the rain had stopped so we walked around the lake and along the creek and back around. Waterfowl were mostly Mallards, with a couple of Ring-necked Ducks. It started to rain when we were along the creek, so we turned back. HF spotted a Green Heron as we skirted the lake on the way back. We got back to the lot at noon.
After lunch at the usual spot, we drove through Lone Tree Cemetery at 1:50. A large flock of Rock Pigeons flew around, but we missed the bluebirds and Killdeer.
We continued on to Five Canyons park at 2:05, and got two Killdeer, then revisited Crestview Ct. to see if we could get bluebirds there. They still weren’t around, so we drove to Century Oaks Circle to look for Rufous-crowned Sparrow at 2:25. We missed those too, but the Western Bluebirds were there. We walked a short way up a trail behind the houses instead of walking from the Boulder Canyon entrance.
Close to 3:00 we decided to try some new places. We drove under the overpass on Castro Valley Blvd. for a quick check for any swifts hanging around underneath, then drove Palo Verde Road. This was in someone else’s section, but we did see some Wild Turkeys there.
At 3:15 we went to Carlos Bee Park. I have checked this park out while scouting but we’ve never actually counted birds there while I’ve done this. It did add some birds we didn’t see already, including a Townsend’s Warbler. We were there for about 45 minutes, and it remained dry.
Next, we stopped briefly at Sulphur Creek Nature Center at 4:10 to see if the Barn Owl was in the nest box. Unfortunately it wasn’t. Finally, at 4:30 we checked the back part of Don Castro from the Ursa entrance. There were fewer cattails on this side than there were last year, for some reason, and by 4:45 there were no blackbirds coming to roost. We didn’t hear any, either. KH told me that he had some at Cull Canyon around 4:15.
We arrived back home at 5:00. It was a long, wet, day, but surprisingly, we got more species than we did last year!
The count happened this year on 12/20. HF, KG and I met around 7:30, and headed out around 8:00. Before we left, I checked the feeders, but there were only a couple of House Finches. It was overcast, and chilly.
We got to MB’s house around 8:15. A Red-breasted Nuthatch’s beeping greeted us. We missed Pine Siskin this year, but got a Fox Sparrow and a Hairy Woodpecker, with a total of 21 species.
Around 9:10, we arrived at Don Castro RRA. (In the past we’ve next gone to Lone Tree Cemetery, but my scouting turned up no Western Bluebirds anywhere.) We checked the spillway, then birded the swimming area and parking lot. I had found a way to get down to the pond below the spillway, but there was no point this time.
When I scouted the swimming area, a Red-breasted Sapsucker was chased off a dead tree by a Nuttall’s Woodpecker.
Nuttall
Pine Siskins called in the parking lot, and female Purple Finches foraged underneath some vegetation. A Downy Woodpecker took a liking to a pine just inside the swim area. A Greater Scaup was a little surprise, and so was a Green Heron.
We rejoined, then proceeded over the lawn, checking the corner of the lawn where there are some wooden steps. Last year, a Red-breasted Sapsucker was foraging on the corner tree on the other side of the fence. This year, there were piles of gray and black small body feathers on the steps. Perhaps a coot?
A pile of body feathers
The Shoreline Trail was next. From a high point, we found a Green Heron on the south side of the lake. Reaching the willows next to the creek, we took the inner path, as the one closest to the creek was rather overgrown. We heard Hairy Woodpeckers and Brown Creeper.
On my scouting trip, I watched the woodpecker on a stump. Nearby, I was able to watch the creeper go about its business. I also had heard an excited conversation between Hermit Thrushes.
Since we had gotten the Fox Sparrow at MB’s, and on my scouting trip didn’t see much in the way of new birds (not to mention the time), we skipped continuing on the Ridgetop Trail to the bridge and beyond, at the east end. We turned up the Ridgetop Trail, looping back. On the lawn east of the swim lagoon entrance, there was more activity since now there was sun. Two Oak Titmice came down to the ground near a barbecue. HF spotted a Golden Eagle to the north!
We had walked a little over a mile, plus the loop around the swim lagoon.
Juvenile Golden Eagle
We headed off to Five Canyons Shady Canyon Trail around 11:45, arriving at 12:10. We did not detect much activity, and missed Varied Thrush. There was occasional movement, but it was too dark to tell what they were. We didn’t go as far as the pond, which now has a bridge. On my scouting trip, I went all the way around the pond. There weren’t any birds on the pond, but there were a lot of different mushrooms along the trail. Along with Don Castro, I heard Hutton’s Vireos here, but missed them today.
We walked a little over a mile here as well, and left around 1:15 for lunch at Buffalo Bill’s.
It’s always a dilemma, how to catch the peak activity in multiple places. This year I opted to concentrate on the places where we would get the most variety, then hit the spots where we might get special birds or birds we hadn’t gotten yet.
After lunch and a Starbuck’s stop, we headed back to Five Canyons to try for Rufous-crowned Sparrow above Century Oaks Circle. No luck there, but we usually get some raptors. This time, we had two American Kestrels and a White-tailed Kite. We left around 4:00, having spent around an hour.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Since I wanted to get back to Don Castro in time to watch the blackbirds come to roost, we skipped the other couple of cul-de-sacs in Five Canyons and took a quick drive through Lone Tree Cemetery. Still there were no bluebirds, and we didn’t spot the Red-breasted Sapsucker I’d seen in the morning while scouting.
Around 4:30, we took a new trail for us, off Ursa. There is a good view point of the cattails on the south side of the lake.
While scouting the day before I had arrived at the cattails around 4:20. Sunset was close to 5:00. A pair of Green-winged Teal floated near the cattails. Also that evening, a medium-large sized gray bird with a light band on its wings landed in the eucalyptus across the lake, but once in the tree, I couldn’t find it. I still don’t know what that was.
On count day, we did see two Great Blue Herons flying together. The blackbird flocks were gathering, flying back and forth over the lake, and when some unknown trigger occurred, a batch would dive into the cattails across the lake and right in front of us. The flock would continue to fly back and forth, build up again, and more would dive in. This happened several times, and the more birds in the cattails, the more settling noise and complaints. It was difficult to estimate the numbers while also trying to watch them to catch the light on their epaulets to see how many were Tricolored and how many were Red-winged.
Blackbirds gathering to roost
The last flock, perhaps two, were European Starlings. I could see no color, and they were making a “churr” noise. Once they dove in and everybody was settled, they all began to sing.
This was an experience, and I wished that I had a camcorder. We finished around 5:15.
After summarizing our counts, I headed to the post-count dinner. While we were inside, it had showered. After last year’s rain, we were happy that it had held off for us until now.
More photos here, including lots of mushrooms and fungi.
The bird list for this count is here.
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Next year, we should include Sulphur Creek Nature Center at least for the owl box. We seem to have a difficult time finding our target birds at the Shady Canyon Trail, at least at the time of day we usually end up there.
