The Baldwin gull flock - a birders delight! The most recent reports are listed first. Not all trips have write-ups. Swanton Road Area, January 23, 2008 Billowing cumulonimbus clouds on the western horizon glowed with the sunrise as ten of us gathered at Davenport. The weather forecast had threatened rain, but with blue sky overhead, calm winds and gorgeous cloudscapes, we were a happy bunch. The sky did cloud over by mid-morning, but the rain never came. We began with three stops along the coast, checking Davenport Bluffs, Scott Creek Beach and Greyhound Rock. Loons, cormorants, and Red-breasted Mergansers made up the standard ocean faire, but we did not see even a single alcid. At the old Davenport Pier a forward thinking Brandt’s Cormorant had made a pile of seaweed to start a nest – a bold move for January. At Scott Creek we added Snowy Plover to the Big Year list in a big way, with a big flock of 133 (!) arrayed on the beach. At Greyhound Rock, the rising tide had gathered a flock of 30 Black Oystercatchers in the lee of the rock. We headed up Swanton Road, visiting pine forest, grassland, and the riparian along Scott Creek. All these habitats were mostly quiet for birds, but we enjoyed several kestrels, Say’s Phoebe, and some nice looks at Winter Wrens (singing, too). A calling California Red-legged Frog was a highlight at Last Chance Lagoon. Western Bluebird failed to appear. Swanton Pond had a nice flock of 36 Ring-necked Ducks, with a handful of Common Goldeneyes and a Greater Scaup. The newly snow clad Santa Lucia range seemed to float on the horizon far to the south. At Swanton Berry Farm several hundred Tricolored Blackbirds fed in very wet field, lifting in a swirling mass now and again. It was near the end of our trip, but new species for the day kept turning up as we scanned over the fields. Bernadette Ramer took the crown for spotting – and correctly identifying – birds at the limit of conjecture. Among the far-off treats was an adult Peregrine Falcon perched on a pole. An adult Red-tailed flew toward it from hundreds of yards off, eventually displacing it and sending it our way. The falcon flew right over us, giving a stunning look at its barred underparts. Beautiful! The last new bird of the day was a swirling flock of about 60 White-throated Swifts feeding over Davenport. David Suddjian Forest Owling at Henry Cowell, Januar 19, 2008 We began our walk into the woods before sunset to allow time to get out to good owling areas when the night owls would be getting active, and to experience the transition from day to night. The 10 participants included some who had never before gone owling and others with more background in the endeavor. We had a chance for five species of owls. The weather was clear and calm and a waxing moon gave its light. Walking out Pipeline Road, several song birds gave voice to close the day, including a singing Dark-eyed Junco and a ticking Winter Wren. We paused at sunset for my orientation, and a Great Horned Owl began to hoot in the distance. Farther on, about 20 minutes after sunset, I whistled for Northern Pygmy-Owl, and one responded right away, tooting and trilling to our delight. It was fully dark when we reached the Rincon Gorge overlook. A Northern Saw-whet Owl began to call spontaneously. Using recordings of their calls, we began to work for close encounters with the Saw-whet and Western Screech-Owls. We would end up hearing five Saw-whets and four Western Screech-Owls. After a time we had a Screech-Owl calling close by. We never had a look at it, but it gave a nice (and typical) vocal show. It began to respond two minutes after I had played a recording of the species’ primary call, speaking up quietly at first with soft, abbreviated primary calls. It then gained volume, giving primary calls for several minutes, switching to the “double trill” for a minute, then back to the primary call. We left it calling as we walked on. Returning to the area where we had heard the Northern Pygmy-Owl near sunset, and I was surprised when it replied to my imitation of a Saw-whet. It was now 2.5 hours after sunset, and I have hardly ever heard this crepuscular/diurnal species more than an hour after sunset. And its calls now had a different quality and pattern than the typical renditions we enjoyed earlier. A short way down the road, a boldly calling Saw-whet drew us in our pursuit. We positioned ourselves near it, catching it in the flashlight beam as it flew from perch to perch around us, and I had the light on it as it perched in view for a short time. As wonderful as it is to get a look at these owls, it is equally exciting to listen to them at close range, entering into their world of sound. A hooting Great Horned, perhaps the same one we’d heard earlier, was the last owl of the walk, nicely framing the evening. Four species of owls marked a successful owling field trip; Barn Owl was the only possibility we missed tonight. David Suddjian San Lorenzo River, January 18, 2008 The wintering CLAY-COLORED SPARROW was a highlight of this  morning's Santa Cruz Bird Club field trip to the San Lorenzo River in Santa Cruz.  We found the sparrow along the west levee between Riverside Avenue and the lower river bend, foraging with a flock of (mostly) White-crowned Sparrows.   The lower river also featured four species of grebes (HORNED, EARED, WESTERN, and PIED-BILLED) in close proximity, COMMON MERGANSERS (6 there, plus another 6-8 further up the river), COMMON GOLDENEYES, and  BUFFLEHEADS, and a mixed flock of BLACK TURNSTONES and SANDERLINGS, plus 1 SPOTTED SANDPIPER, working the base of the bluff along the east bank.  A NUTTALL'S WOODPECKER calling just to the east of the river was unexpected (though there seems to be more of those around Santa Cruz this winter than usual). Earlier in the morning a HOUSE WREN was between Water Street and Highway 1.   San Lorenzo Park had one THAYER'S GULL (2nd cycle), the usual tree-perching MEW GULLS, and enough varied WESTERN X GLAUCOUS WINGED GULL hybrids to make us wonder  where the two parent species left off and the spectrum of hybrids began.  Below Soquel Avenue an immature RED-TAILED HAWK was dining on a Common Goldeneye at the edge of the river.  Altogether 62 species of birds appeared for us this morning. After the river we visited lower Laurel Creek and the north side of Neary Lagoon, though bird activity was limited in the warm middle of the day.  We did, however, add two Raccoons and a group of Sacramento Suckers swimming in the shallow waters of Laurel Creek to our mammal and fish lists for the day. Steve Gerow Mid-County Coast, January 16, 2008 A party of six gathered at Aptos Creek mouth in Rio Del Mar, with a couple other birders joining as the day progressed. The gull flock at the creek mouth was a bit shy on variety, but we did have a juvenile Thayer’s Gull to discuss. A White-winged Scoter was spotted as it flew past offshore. From there we left the Mid-County coast for a time to go chase a female Barrow’s Goldeneye that was seen at Pajaro Dunes the day before. We searched all the possible spots there along Watsonville Slough and at the Pajaro river mouth…except one. And, of course, that was where she was, as discovered otherwise by another birder not with our trip! But the diversion was worth it, as we enjoyed studying the Common Goldeneyes, both scaup, Eared and Horned grebes, and we found a smattering of shorebirds, an Osprey, and Say’s Pheobe. Returning to the Mid-County area we checked two areas at West Cliff Drive, hoping for Rock Sandpiper. No luck with that, but we found other rocky shorebirds. The waters around the Municipal Wharf had three or four White-winged Scoters, but we could not find the Black that had been there. Last stops were at the Santa Cruz Harbor and Schwan Lake. Schwan had an amazing flock of about 170 Greater Scaup – far and away a record number for the county! A Heermann’s Gull, impeccable in breeding plumage, was another delight for the eye. David Suddjian Santa Cruz Sea Watch, January 13, 2008 A good group of determined birders dedicated the better part of yesterday morning to seawatching from Terrace Point and Davenport Landing on the SCBC trip.  As expected from this side of the Bay, conditions (storms/winds/feeding frenzies) usually dictate the success of finding pelagics, so we did not find Fulmars or any other shearwaters.  On days like this, we can just barely see activity beyond the limit of scope resolution and for all we know that's where they are.   However, we saw many of the expected species nearshore including Common Murres, and some flyby Marbled Murrelets.  We also studied many common birds in flight like loons, cormorants, and gulls.  Perhaps the only notable birds we had were ducks over the water, including a Common Goldeneye, (5) Scaup sp., and a flock of about (55) NORTHERN PINTAILS flying over the ocean.  I don't usually see large flocks of other land ducks over the ocean, but Pintails seem somewhat expected as such throughout winter and are seen off and on.  Their long necks, large size, dark heads help with ID and their fast duck flight and thinner body profile distinguish them from geese, which they vaguely resemble.   Also notable was a Loggerhead Shrike on the wires at the Pumpkin Patch on Hwy 1 on the way back to Santa Cruz.  And nice to hear many singing birds with the warm weather the last few days. Kumaran Arul Long-eared Owl Stake Out, O’Neill Ranch, Jan. 11, 2008 Long-eared Owl is one of the more elusive of the county’s regularly occurring species, so a chance to view this wonderful species as it left its roost at dusk was a great opportunity for the Big Year. A roost site at O’Neill Ranch Open Space had been discovered in January 2007, when at least two Long-eareds were observed. Then one was seen emerging at dusk in the same spot in November 2007. So we were hopeful for this trip, but mindful of the adage from the children’s book Owl Moon that, “Sometimes there is an owl, and sometimes there isn’t.” Nine of us gathered 40 minutes before sunset and trekked up the steep hill to the ridge west of the playing fields. We ticked handfuls of species as we went along, the best being a White-tailed Kite hunting in the sunset sky. The views from the ridge are wonderful, looking out over the lowlands to the Bay, and up the Soquel valley toward Loma Prieta. Several participants were delighted to visit a new place, and this was the first Bird Club field trip for Debbie Bulger. We took up a position looking over the gulch that hosted the owl’s roost and waited, sharing excitement about the new Big Year experiences, and talking about the habits of Long-eared Owls. Flocks of Mourning Doves (over 100) winged up the ridge as the sun set, aiming for some roost off to the north. Then, eight minutes after sunset, two of us saw an owl move from tree to tree down in the gully. Very soon it was flying out in the open, quartering over the grassland and bushes. A beautiful Long-eared Owl! We watched it hunt for about 20 minutes, flying low over the grass, quickly dropping to the ground, and perching here and there on shrubs and fence posts. Eventually it flew past at close range, dropped over the east side of the ridge, and we lost it to the night. David Suddjian Mission Springs Conference Center, January 9, 2008 Twelve of us gathered on a chilly, foggy January morning to do some forest birding.  And classic forest birding it was; long stretches of relative quiet interspersed with flocks of wintering and resident Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Hutton’s Vireos, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and Townsend’s Warblers.  Brown Creepers and Pygmy Nuthatches made their presence known more by sound than sight and Varied Thrushes by sight more than sound.  Typically, the glimpses of the latter were fleeting; but by the end of the hike, I think everyone was satisfied with getting at least one good look at these cryptic yet beautiful birds.  American Robins and Band-tailed Pigeons flew to a fro, probably in search of nourishment to stay warm on this cold day.  Hermit Thrushes were regular along the trail.   We struck out on our Big Year “target” bird for the day, the Red-naped Sapsucker, despite placing ourselves at the stakeout spot three different times.  I witnessed the bird there on each of the previous two days.  Funny enough, its cousin, the Red-breasted Sapsucker, showed up instead (just as mistakenly advertised in the Albatross!).  While watching a beautiful old snag for woodpeckers, we witnessed 6? or 7? Acorn Woodpeckers fly into the same hole!  I imagined them hunkered down in their cavernous, but crowded dwelling keeping warm.  The last treat of the day was a solo tom Turkey that flew up and perched on a bathhouse.  Thanks to all who braved the damp and cold! Matthew Strusis-Timmer Pajaro Valley, January 3, 2008 Sixteen enthusiastic birders gathered to kick-off our Bird Club Big Year 2008! We were worried about an impending storm, but the day began with only a few clouds and the rain held off until the early afternoon. I decided the official first bird of the Big Year should be the first species we saw when my watch hit the trip’s advertised meeting time of 7:30 a.m.. So we counted down to the moment, and the first species was…Rock Pigeon! It was an inauspicious beginning, but it did leave lots of room for improvement. Indeed, 92 species were tallied before the rain. We focused our efforts of several wetland areas in the Pajaro Valley, and began at the confluence of Struve and Watsonville sloughs, currently the nearest thing our county has to compare with the Sacramento Valley’s Gray Lodge (even replete this day with multiple Eurasian Wigeon!). The birding there really was great, with wigeon whistling, Gadwall quacking, and flocks of geese flying it. There was so much to look at, and everyone was excited by the Big Year theme, calling out the different species to add them to the list. Highlights included four Snow Geese, some 20 Cackling Geese among over 200 Canada Geese, and a few Hooded Mergansers. A male Eurasian Wigeon was elusive among a crowd of other ducks and geese, but later we had better looks at another male. There were White-faced Ibis, Wilson’s Snipe, a Forster’s Tern, American Avocet, Great-tailed Grackles, Hooded Mergansers, and lovely Cinnamon Teal. We moved on to College Lake, finding Eurasian Collared-Doves enroute. The lake was only partly flooded, with lots of birds, and we were able to walk out into the lakebed for closer views. We found a Tundra Swan, eight Ross’s Geese (mostly hidden as they fed among the weeds), four Blue-winged Teal, more Hooded Mergansers, two Loggerhead Shrikes, an Osprey and a hunting Merlin. A Lincoln’s Sparrow and Song Sparrow provided a textbook study, as they perched in weeds one over the other for five minutes. Pinto Lake had a Pacific Loon (rare inland), Common Moorhen, Clark’s Grebe, and distant American White Pelicans. Immature gulls – never to disappoint – provided some ID challenges as we debated Herring and Thayer’s…well, some of us debated, but others tried to ignore the whole gull thing and just ate their lunches. Harkins Slough had four moorhens, 16 White Pelicans, and another shrike and Osprey. The hill overlooking West Struve Slough was the last major stop of the day, before the rain began. Here we enjoyed more looks at more Eurasian Wigeon (very fine views), another Tundra Swan, and more ibis. The award for extra effort goes to Jean Myers who was always pushing the envelope to spot more and different birds for all to enjoy. David Suddjian OTHER REPORTS Trip_Write-Ups.htmlshapeimage_2_link_0