Calero-Morgan Hill Christmas Bird Count - Almaden Quicksilver Sector

I enjoyed this year's Calero-Morgan Hill Christmas Bird Count (CBC) very much. The rains held off until late afternoon just after I finished!

ALMADEN-QUICKSILVER COUNTY PARK

For the 5th time, I worked the northern section of Almaden Quicksilver County Park, covering the entire Guadalupe Trail, including portions of New Almaden Trail, Mine Hill Trail, and Senador Mine Trail... for a total of 6.2 miles of up-and-down hiking. Nothing rare was seen nor heard, yet the usual expected species did show and made their presence felt. This park is filled with woodpeckers... and I observed 6 species, with the Acorn Woodpecker the most numerous by far (I counted 39 different individuals!)

ACORN WOODPECKER

The typical forest birds were all there in good numbers... some examples:

OAK TITMOUSE

RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET

WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH

HERMIT THRUSH

I was fortunate to capture new photos; view the Christmas Bird Count SLIDESHOW to see the pixs, including many not shown here in the blog. Enjoy!

San Jose Christmas Bird Count - Calaveras Sector

Another full-day participating in the San Jose Christmas Bird Count, with starting at early dawn up on Calaveras Road in the eastern foothills above San Jose. This was my 5th year on the Weller Road zone... (I missed last year due to my Antarctica trip in December 2008). The Weller Road zone has lots of open space and huge grasslands and ranches.

Highlights included 3 GOLDEN EAGLES and 16 RED-TAIL HAWKS... and several wild horses which suddenly arrived and surrounded my car while I was birding nearby! One horse kicked the running board under the passenger door, and that was enough for me to send them away.


The count went well and the weather cleared from the early morning fog into a glorious sunny day.