Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!uwvax!oddjob!ncar!ames!oliveb!oliven!mjm
From: mjm@oliven.olivetti.com (Michael Mammoser)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: Birding (NOT parrots)
Message-ID: <18531@oliveb.olivetti.com>
Date: 21 Mar 88 21:18:41 GMT
References: <6@nmtsun.nmt.edu>
Sender: news@oliveb.olivetti.com
Distribution: na
Lines: 65
Keywords: seasons, Northern California, southwest New Mexico
Summary: stevens creek park

In article <6@nmtsun.nmt.edu>, john@nmtsun.nmt.edu (John Shipman) writes:
> 
> My favorite
> summertime birding in Northern California was the coast.  Try
> Pescadero Rock for Surfbird, Wandering Tattler, maybe a Rock Sandpiper
> if you're lucky.  Moss Landing and Bodega Bay are also great.

	Rock sandpiper only in winter. The Bay Area is about the southern
limit of their wintering range. One has been spending the winter this year
at Princeton Harbor at the north end of Half Moon Bay.

	Moss Landing tallied 214 species in this year's CBC. Maybe, for once,
we will beat out Freeport, Texas for high species count. 8-) 
 
> And for you Silicon Valley birders, don't miss Stevens Creek Park.
> I like the first turnoff to
> the left (below the dam), which leads to two parking lots---both the
> lower and the upper have their merits.  Areas 3 and 4, well above the
> dam, are good for hiking in cool shade.  Anywhere in this park you
> might hear the subtle but glorious song of the California Thrasher.

	I bird this park a lot and the California Thrasher is quite common
here, but it can be difficult to see unless it is singing from the top of a
low bush or tree. It is very spooky and will generally flee when it catches
sight of you. This is also home to the Wrentit, which can be heard singing
all year round. It is much easier to see than the thrasher and can usually
be enticed into view by "pishing". My technique is to walk the trails until
I hear one just off the side of the trail. Then, standing quietly, I give a
few "pishes" and the bird will generally move towards me and into view to
check me out. Besides the "dropped-ping-pong-ball" song, the Wrentit also
issues a soft, low, "purring" sound (probably to maintain contact with its
mate). The best response I ever had was when I "pished" up 4 Wrentits at the
same time. I was walking along a trail when I heard one "purring" just off the
trail, whereupon I "pished" it up. It was quickly joined by another, which
was not surprising to me as mated pairs will generally travel around together.
After a minute or so of watching them, I heard a noise behind me and, turning
around, saw 2 more on the other side of the trail. They quickly crossed the
trail and joined the other 2. Since Wrentits are sedentary and non-gregarious,
I assumed that this was a family unit (2 parents and 2 recently fledged young).

	Also found at this park are: Anna's Hummingbird, Hutton's Vireo, 
Nutall's Woodpecker, Allen's Hummingbird, Rufous-crowned Sparrow (very diffi-
cult), and California Quail. Be very careful with Hutton's Vireo in winter,
as this place is loaded with wintering Ruby-crowned Kinglets.

> We saw Bendire's Thrasher on a dirt county road from Steins to Summit,

	A Bendire's Thrasher has been in Lodi, just east of the Bay Area,
all winter.

> Taxonomic note: I have heard rumors of possible splits in two
> species, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher and Brown Towhee.  In both
> cases, the California forms are reputed to be distinct.  Anybody
> heard anything concrete?

	I've heard that the Black-tailed Gnatcatcher will be split. There
was a good article on them in a recent issue of Birding magazine. The A.O.U.
suggests the name Plumbeous Gnatcatcher for the California form; however,
another source suggests California Gnatcatcher as there is a tropical gnat-
catcher that already has the species name of Plumbeous. I saw "California"
Gnatcatchers recently on the Palos Verdes penninsula in L.A. They respond
quite readily to a tape.

Good hunting,
Mike