#337-339 at Arastradero
Sunday I again joined the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society, this time heading north to Palo Alto and the Arastradero Preserve for a trip led by Frank Vanslager. The group was meeting at 8:00 A.M., but I got there an hour early. This was fortunate because my Fox Rent-A-Car had a slow leak in the right rear tire, and it had gone almost flat. I needed the extra time to find a gas station and fill the tire. Fortunately California gas stations are quite friendly, and I had no trouble getting some air.
I arrived at the preserve about 7:30. The gates weren’t open yet, so I drove down the road and picked up Western Bluebird and some sparrows. Driving back I found the ranger opening the gate so I parked. The others soon arrived. From the parking lot we spotted Red-winged Blackbird, Western Bluebird, American Robin, Red-tailed Hawk, and various other birds.
It had been drizzling all along, but at this point it got serious. We wandered over to some half-finished buildings that showed clear evidence of owl infestation. However no owl was seen. We birded from the porch for about half an hour picking off a few birds in the trees across the street or flying over the meadow behind us, before we decided the rain wasn’t going to let up.
There were two choices left: get wet or go home. I’d come 2500 miles for this trip so I wasn’t going home. Fortunately the rest of the group felt the same way so we took off in the rain.
Birding in the rain is not the best, but this was at least California rain: not especially cold or heavy. It wasn’t nearly as bad as 2005’s Bronx Bird Count. We headed across the road and up the hill, spotting our first California Towhee.
As we turned the corner, and passed some Golden-crowned Sparrows, someone spotted a Hutton’s Vireo. This was my first life bird of the day so I hung out until I saw it, and then jogged to catch up with the group which fortunately hadn’t gone far. I didn’t get such great looks (and never got a picture) but I saw several more later in the day. Essentially it’s exactly what a Ruby-crowned Kinglet would look like if a kinglet were a Vireo instead of Kinglet.
Interestingly, I also spotted a Ruby-crowned Kinglet a little later. Normally I’d be worried I was misidentifying the Kinglet as a Vireo. However, this kinglet was actually displaying its ruby crown. They almost never do this. I’ve only seen that once or twice before. Most birds were named by ornithologists who had birds in the hand, not birders scoping birds in the bush. Another example is the Orange-crowned Warbler. I’ve seen this bird once (at Point Lookout in New York) and I heard it several more times on this trip, but I’ve never seen the alleged orange crown.
At this point the sun came out, and we had some really beatiful weather. Naturally I was still wearing my bright red poncho; and we’d come way too far to run back and drop it in the car, so I pressed on. Several Western Bluebirds were flying around in some oaks including this pretty lady:
We came to a medium pond that had a few Ruddy Ducks, Buffleheads, Ring-necked, Duck, and American Coots. Along the berm behind the pond, I actually saw a Bewick’s Wren. They’d been calling throughout the day, and yesterday at Ogier Ponds; but this was the first one I’d seen one on this trip. I did get really familiar with the call of the Bewick’s Wren this trip, to the point where when I went to see Date Movie Sunday night I recognized one calling during the wedding scene. Possibly now I’ll start hearing them on every channel like I now hear American Crows and Red-tailed Hawks.
Continuing along past the pond we picked up Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Lesser Goldfinch, Bushtit, and Band-tailed Pigeon! my second life bird of the day. A band-tailed pigeon look a lot like a Mourning Dove, only twice as large. (It also has yellow feet and bill.) Conveniently a Mourning Dove had chosen to perch in the same tree so facilitating comparison.
Around 11:00 the sky was threatening so Frank decided to skip the lake and head up the hill for the parking lot and home. This was a lucky decision since along the route we passed through some blooming oak trees that were harboring numerous feeding birds: White-breasted Nuthatch, Orange-crowned Warbler, and Townsend’s Warbler. I only had a quick look at it, but it was obviously no warbler I had ever seen. My third life bird for the day!
We reached the top of the hill and headed down, picking up a Great Blue Heron and Hermit Thrush along the way. We reached the parking a lot around 11:30, and I headed home along El Camino Real to check into the Hyatt and then exchange my rental car for one that wasn’t leaking air.
Total count: 46 species including three lifers: Hutton’s Vireo, Band-tailed Pigeon, and Townsend’s Warbler.
| Location: | Palo Alto Arastradero Preserve |
| Observation date: | 3/12/06 |
| Number of species: | 46 |
| Canada Goose | X |
| Mallard | X |
| Ring-necked Duck | X |
| Bufflehead | X |
| Ruddy Duck | X |
| Double-crested Cormorant | 2 |
| Great Blue Heron | 2 |
| Great Egret | 2 |
| Turkey Vulture | 2 |
| White-tailed Kite | X |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | X |
| Cooper’s Hawk | X |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | X |
| Red-tailed Hawk | X |
| American Kestrel | X |
| American Coot | 2 |
| Rock Pigeon | X |
| Band-tailed Pigeon | 4 |
| Mourning Dove | X |
| Anna’s Hummingbird | X |
| Nuttall’s Woodpecker | X |
| Northern Flicker | X |
| Black Phoebe | X |
| Hutton’s Vireo | X |
| Western Scrub-Jay | X |
| American Crow | X |
| Chestnut-backed Chickadee | X |
| Oak Titmouse | X |
| Bushtit | X |
| White-breasted Nuthatch | X |
| Bewick’s Wren | X |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | X |
| Western Bluebird | X |
| Hermit Thrush | 1 |
| American Robin | X |
| European Starling | X |
| Orange-crowned Warbler | X |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler | X |
| Townsend’s Warbler | 1 |
| Spotted Towhee | 1 |
| California Towhee | X |
| Song Sparrow | X |
| Golden-crowned Sparrow | X |
| Red-winged Blackbird | X |
| House Finch | X |
| Lesser Goldfinch | X |
