CA weekend - Dream Yr Update
GREGORY.B.MILLER@bge.com
Wed, 7 Oct 1998 09:57:34 -0400
Howdy All!
Another exciting weekend of birding in California, Oct 2-6!
The old adding machine CHA-CHINGs are ever so sweet <happy lister
grin>. Here's an executive summary:
Yellow-green Vireo CHA-CHING! (#704)
Sage Grouse CHA-CHING! (#705)
Least Storm-Petrel air ball...
Oct 1
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Went to the local ATM to get money for my trip. The ATM
promptly ate my card. Aargh. Traveling on $65 cash is not my
idea of a good time...
Oct 2
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Flew to San Jose from Baltimore with a brief stop in
Nashville and a mechanical delay in Los Angeles. Got my rental
and drove to Fort Funston in southwestern San Francisco to try
for the Yellow-green Vireo. Arrived at 3:00pm. Found the grove
of trees along Skyline Rd. Several California birders were
present. Lots of warblers, mostly Yellow-rumped, a few
Townsend's, a Hermit, a Yellow, and in the evening a Blackpoll.
Several Warbling Vireos were present in varying plumages, one
very colorful individual I initially mistook for the
Yellow-green. 4 hrs and no Yellow-green Vireo. Motels full in
Palo Alto. Drove to Mountain View for the night.
Oct 3
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Arrived back at Fort Funston at 7:30am. Chilly. 47 F
overnight. Finally found Blackburnian Warbler at around
8:45am--a new California bird for me. At 9:00am the Yellow-green
Vireo (#704) showed up near where the Blackburnian had been and
was viewed feeding for about 10 minutes. What a treat! I stuck
around until noon, trying to refind the bird for others who had
shown up looking for it, but without any success. I finally left
and headed East through the Central Valley and over the
Sierras--nearly 300 miles. The mountains already had more snow
on them than a month ago. As I came across Sonora Pass on Rt
108, I rounded a hairpin turn and noted that a section of the
valley below was ablaze with intense golden color of fully turned
Aspens. What a breathtaking sight!
As I neared Bridgeport, I saw both Bald and Golden Eagles,
Red-tailed Hawks, Northern Harriers, and a Ferruginous Hawk. For
dinner I headed to one of the local sportsman's bars hoping to
get a confirmation on the info I had for Sage Grouse from some
locals. I was rewarded. The recommendation was the same: Bodie
Ghost Town at dawn.
Oct 4
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Left Bridgeport at 5:15am. A bone-chilling 18 F [I was
unprepared for this!] with a light breeze. Brrrrr. Heavy frost
covered the ground. Arrived at Bodie Ghost Town at the pay booth
at 6:00am in the dark. I parked off to the right. The grouse
were supposed to come out and feed in the road in the early
morning.
In the twilight between 6:30am and 6:45am, four vehicles
passed through leaving my hopes in a disheartened state. I
guessed this would spook the Sage Grouse. I planned to wait
until the park opened at 8:00am and make inquiry about the grouse
with a park ranger. The hills to the West of me started to light
up with a reddish glow as the sun slowly rose in the East at
7:05am. Shivering in my rental, I ate the last of my Southwest
Airlines bag of peanuts.
I noticed a small bird fly up onto one of the westernmost
buildings. I put up my bins, but it was just out of range for
positive ID. But movement in the field of view caught my eye as
I saw the first of seven Sage Grouse (#705) flying to a new
location. They must have been pretty close. I watched them land
in the distance. I stared for 15 minutes hoping to see them
again but to no avail. How could birds so large be so easy to
miss?
The drive back to Bridgeport was absolutely magnificent with
the morning sun hitting the East side of the Sierras. The
grayish color of the sage covered hills gave way to the tan
grasslands in the valley, into forest green color of the
foothills, and eventually faded into the pale purple color of the
snow covered mountain peaks. Awesome! Additionally, I was
delighted to come across a flock of 200 Pinyon Jays near the
8,000 ft level on the way back to Rt 395. Black-billed Magpies
flew across the road on the way back to town.
I headed back into Bridgeport for breakfast and then drove
back through Devil's Gate and Sonora Pass, stopping once with
only Acorn Woodpecker, Red-breasted Nuthatch, and Mountain
Chickadee. I arrived in Santa Cruz for the evening around
5:00pm.
Oct 5
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Met at the dock at the Santa Cruz Yacht Harbor at 7:00am.
It was a full boat. I was delighted to see two Attuvians aboard,
Bill Brooks and Ruth Reames. The trip was pretty slow, however,
and uneventful with one exception--a South Polar Skua. The bird
was sitting on the water and we all got killer views. As we
neared it, it took off revealing its stunning white checks in the
primaries. It then proceeded to bully a Pink-footed Shearwater,
much to the delight of the onlookers. What a show at close
range! All told, I saw 9 storm-petrels consisting of 4 Black, 2
Ashy, and 3 Black/Ashy sp. (views were too brief). We did see
quite a few Black-vented, Sooty, and Pink-footed Shearwaters, a
few Buller's Shearwaters, a couple Northern Fulmars, a
Black-footed Albatross, and better numbers of Rhinocerus Auklets
than had previously been reported. I drove to Milpitas for the
evening.
Oct 6
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Got a late start. Headed toward airport at 5:30am for my
6:30am flight. Stopped for gas and got lost. Got directions and
got lost again. Arrived at San Jose International and turned in
my rental car at terminal C at 6:10am. But where's Southwest?
Ha! It's in the *other* terminal--terminal A. I ran outside and
down the sidewalk waving frantically at the shuttle as it
departed. Sigh. Missed it. I asked a policeman when the next
one would come. 7-8 minutes, but it was only a 9-minute walk
down to the next terminal I was told. I took my chances and
hoofed it down to the gate. I arrived at A1, checked in, and
boarded with only 2 minutes to spare. I was glad I only had two
carry-ons and didn't need to check baggage. Whew! No time for
breakfast--it would be peanuts across America <grin> as I headed
for Baltimore via Phoenix and Nashville. Oh. And I arrived back
in Baltimore with exactly $4.00 for those of you who wondered. I
was aided by a steady diet of fastfood specials ($.39
cheeseburgers on Sunday at McDonalds, groovy $.49 coupons for Big
Macs from MacDonalds, $.99 Whoppers from Burger King, etc
<unhealthy fastfood grin>).
-Greg Miller
Lusby, MD