SAN BENITO COUNTY BIRDING: SANTA ANA & PANOCHE VALLEY

Howdy, Birders,

This is a brief report for Panoche Valley, Paicines Reservoir and Santa Ana Valley, birding in San Benito County, California for Sunday, January 29, 2012. It was a gorgeous day for birding — I couldn't resist getting out there!

PRAIRIE FALCONS continued at all three locations. Birders who were already at Paicines Reservoir when I arrived, said that a Prairie Falcon had just been there. Look on the "H" shaped telephone poles on the west side. The Prairie Falcon, below, was along Santa Ana Valley Road.

By now you, dear reader know how much I love shades of brown. This tangle of oak branches easily conceals an adult GOLDEN EAGLE, below. This eagle repeatedly let out a plaintive call while sitting in this tree. It could have been calling for its' mate.
Sadly, one of my most favorite barns went down with the last storm. GREAT-HORNED OWLS have nested in this barn for the past 12 years.

At PAICINES RESERVOIR I found 1 EURASIAN WIGEON, 2 CACKLING GEESE, 5 WHITE-FRONTED GEESE, one 4th year BALD EAGLE in the morning and one adult MALE BALD EAGLE in the late afternoon, 1 SPOTTED SANDPIPER and an assortment of waterfowl. For some reason, this BUSHTIT, below, popped up, chattering and scolding, on the fence right in front of me while I was standing at the dirt pullout, scoping waterfowl at the reservoir!

On PANOCHE ROAD I found the "usual suspects," including PHAINOPEPLA, RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW, HERMIT THRUSH, etc. Quite a few singing CALIFORNIA THRASHERS, WRENTITS, OAK TITS, etc. as is normal for this time of year. Two HOODED MERGANSERS were at the pond at Summit Ranch. Be sure to look on the duck house! (I failed to find the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker which had been around for several weeks). At the intersection of Panoche and Recalde Roads, a MERLIN was present. Sixteen MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS were along Recalde Road. On Panoche Road from Silver Creek Ranch to Jackass Pass at least 28 MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS were in mixed flocks with House Finches. Unusual birds included one SAGE SPARROW and one male NORTHERN HARRIER. A FERRUGINOUS HAWK was hunting here, also.
Continuing with my love of old barns— this one, above, is located on Panoche Road. A CALIFORNIA THRASHER, below, was — well, thrashing away at the Miller Ranch. Thrashers are singing and on territory about mid-December. This one was no different. When it wasn't thrashing, it was singing from the tops of trees!
Large flocks of mixed sparrow species can be encountered on Panoche Road. This LINCOLN'S SPARROW, below, was with a large flock of WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS near McCullough Ranch.
A female, AMERICAN KESTREL, below, near the intersection of Panoche and Little Panoche Roads.
MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS, a male below, were scattered on the Panoche Valley floor— near Silver Creek Ranch on Panoche Road and on Recalde Road.
An immature RED-TAILED HAWK, below, was on Panoche Road near Jackass Pass. Flocks of HORNED LARKS and AMERICAN PIPITS were also in this location. However, I did not locate a single MOUNTAIN PLOVER.
A LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE, below, hangs around Shotgun Pass on Little Panoche Road.
It has been a good year for finding BURROWING OWLS in San Benito County. They can be found in both Santa Ana Valley and Panoche Valley.
Returning from Panoche Valley, I always take Quien Sabe Road just south of the small town of Tres Pinos. The presence of six YELLOW-BILLED MAGPIES in the image below indicates that the adult GOLDEN EAGLE (look closely— it is the hump in the middle), had just consumed some prey item, likely a ground squirrel.

Sunset began with pinks and purples.

Late evening shot of a SAY'S PHOEBE, below, a grassland specialist.

Sunset colors begin to change to oranges.

Ravens head to their roosts on the tower powers of Santa Ana Valley.

The boldest colors of sunset over the grasslands that I love.

Happy Trails,

Debi Shearwater

San Benito County Birding

All images, copyright, Debi Shearwater. Please ask permission to use.

THANKSGIVING: SEVEN WILD WOMEN GO BIRDING

THANKSGIVING DAY

NOVEMBER 24, 2011

From Santa Ana Valley to Panoche Valley, a party of Seven Wild Women enjoyed a fabulous day of food, birding and fellowship. Above image, copyright Jennifer Green, Panoche Valley.
The Rhapsody of Raptors continues at Santa Ana Valley. Above, "Chocolate & Vanilla", dark and light morph FERRUGINOUS HAWKS on Santa Ana Valley Road, San Benito County. For the day, we would find 7 Ferruginous Hawks, 3 SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS, 4 WHITE-TAILED KITES and 1 BURROWING OWL. Images above and below copyright, Sophie Webb. Below, a RED-TAILED HAWK takes flight from a gnarly perch. We observed most of the usual grassland species of birds, including many LOGGERHEAD SHRIKES, 5 GOLDEN EAGLES, AMERICAN KESTRELS. Stopping at the Summit Ranch Pond, we found 2 HOODED MERGANSERS.
Upon entering the floor of Panoche Valley, we found 43 LONG-BILLED CURLEWS.

Images, above and below, copyright, Sophie Webb.

SAY'S PHOEBE, below (Sophie Webb), LOGGERHEAD SHRIKES, 2 ROCK WRENS, mixed flocks of WHITE-CROWNED and LARK SPARROWS were peppered throughout the day.

Another dark morph FERRUGINOUS HAWK (Sophie Webb) in Panoche Valley.

Hundreds of MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS were scattered throughout the valley floor, from McCullough Ranch out to Silver Creek Ranch, Jackass Pass, Shotgun Pass and up to Panoche Hills BLM area. A male Mountain Bluebird, below by Sophie Webb.
Mixed flocks of HOUSE FINCHES and MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS lined the fences, everywhere we looked! (Sophie Webb).
By the day's end, we would tally an astounding 8 PRAIRIE FALCONS, from Santa Ana Valley to Panoche Valley, including one at Paicines Reservoir.

This Prairie Falcon, above and below (Sophie Webb) was at Panoche Valley.

Amongst the many SAVANNAH SPARROWS (below, Sophie Webb) popping up on the fences, we were able to pick out 3 VESPER SPARROWS.

SAVANNAH SPARROW above and PRAIRIE FALCON below, copyright Lisa Hug.
En route to the Panoche Hills we passed through Shotgun Pass on Little Panoche Road. Two GREATER ROADRUNNERS, two ROCK WRENS and 20 CHUKARS were in the pass proper. One NORTHERN HARRIER was cruising the other side of the pass. The view from Panoche Hills BLM area, below. (Debi Shearwater). Two SAGE SPARROWS were the highlight in these sparsely vegetated hills.

Six of the THANKSGIVING WILD WOMEN!

We ended our day with a scrumptious dinner at the Tres Pinos Inn, the perfect place!

The day after Thanksgiving, I was out there, again! Just can't stay away from Santa Ana Valley. I ran into many other birders and photographers watching the raptors. Above, a local family out for an after dinner stroll. I was delighted to meet them!

A female PRAIRIE "richardsonii" MERLIN hunting the fields at Santa Ana Valley Road. Last two images, copyright, Siobhan Ruck.

Happy Trails,

Debi Shearwater

San Benito County Birding

Panoche Valley: Report for November 29, 2009

Hello, Birders,

This is a report for a long day ofbirding in Panoche Valley, San Benito County on November 29, 2009. Don Doolittle and I departed from Hollister about 5:45 am, heading out to Panoche Valley. We saw a GREAT HORNED OWL perched along the roadside. The first MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS we spotted were barely at dawn near the McCullough ranch.

We also found a few MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS on Panoche Road, near Silver Creek Ranch.

A ROADRUNNER, had Don running across the hills to get a photograph!

On Recalde Road, a MERLIN was speeding across the barren fields like lightning. SAY'S PHOEBES were common throughout the day.

LOGGERHEAD SHRIKES were found in good numbers, as well. We found a small flock of 18 HORNED LARKS near Silver Creek Ranch, but no Mountain Plovers.

However, the road to New Idria was where we spent many, many hours. In total, we found about 200 MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS on this road. They were not easy to photograph, often flying just as I slowed the car to a stop. Many of them were feeding out in the fields, making an accurate count difficult. We went all the way to the ghost mining town of New Idria, which is officially closed by BLM. (at least that's what we were told by some locals we met along the way). The buildings, of course, are a real hazard, and warning signs for hauta virus abound. Still, it was interesting to see what was left of the mine. A couple of dirt bikers were riding on the hills, while hunters were shooting ? In the town, we found DARK-EYED JUNCOS, one HERMIT THRUSH, BEWICK'S WRENS and one HOUSE WREN.

We had a picnic lunch on the road, near some cottonwood trees where some WESTERN BLUEBIRDS and a WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH were hanging out.

More Mountain Bluebirds were out on the fences on our return trip back to the valley, along with a PRAIRIE FALCON.

Reluctantly, in the late afternoon, we headed to Mercy Hot Springs where we ran into Donna Kirsacko and Jean Myers who were also birding in the valley. Everyone was practicing photographing the LONG-EARED OWLS.

Jean spotted one of the best birds for the day— a GOLDEN CROWNED KINGLET in the tamarisk trees at Mercy. Unfortunately, as kinglets do, it did not sit still long enough for a photograph. Don managed to get this Ruby-crowned, though.

Jean and Donna put us on to a "stake out" BURROWING OWL. So, we headed back to Panoche Road, just beyond the Little Panoche intersection. Sure enough, the owl was right where they said.

It was a gloriously beautiful fall day for Don to practice photography with his new Canon 7D. The WESTERN WOOD PEEWEE which I found on November 26th was still present.

Happy Trails,

Debi Shearwater

All images by Don Doolittle