The Wrong Terns is a Birdathon team composed of SCVAS’s Ed Committee, members of the Wetlands Discovery Program, and whomever else we can convince to go birding with us. While we typically bird together and finish the day off with a potluck lunch, in 2020 and 2021 we’ve adapted to a distributed format, to the benefit of our species count and the disappointment of our taste buds.
This year the Terns finished their 4-hour day with 128 species, some great pictures, and hope that we’ll be able to bird together again next year.
Diane Hart and Jim Liskovec
We wandered by car up Steven’s Creek Canyon Road, stopping along the way to bird seldom visited paths and picnic areas. Along the way we encountered mostly familiar birds, both visitors and year-round residents. Rounding a curve near the Steven’s Creek Reservoir, we were stopped by the sight of a turkey vulture flying low across the road. Within minutes we were looking at half-a-dozen vultures in a nearby tree, all talking among themselves. The object of their attention was a flattened ground squirrel that clearly hadn’t looked both ways before crossing the road.
For Jim, the scene brought to mind a Far Side cartoon featuring two vultures sitting in a tree. One was clearly hungry, saying to the other, “Patience my foot. I’m going to kill somebody!”
Ginny, Jerry, Linda, Alan, and Kitty
This group of Terns explored Alviso and Ulistac to find 49 species in their 4 hours! While they didn’t get lost, they did manage to pick up another birder on the way, with Kitty and her friend joining them for the last leg of their journey!
Craige Edgerton and Rick Herder
Rick Herder and I started the day at 8 AM at Smith Creek in Grant Ranch County Park. If you've never been there, it is one of the most beautiful creek walks in the county, even if not looking for birds. For birds, it is a hotspot, especially seasonal migrants. We got 29 species along the creek, including WARBLING VIREO, ORANGE CROWNED WARBLER, BLACK HEADED GROSBEAK, HAIRY WOODPECKER, (all HO), CASSINS VIREO, NORTHERN ROUGH WINGED SWALLOW and WILSONS WARBLER, . Rick taught me a lot about calls and songs. There was almost constant singing the entire 1 mile of the creek.
Next was the Twin Gates parking lot where got 6 more species including WESTERN TANAGER, BULLOCKS ORIOLE, LINCOLN SPARROW AND YELLOW RUMPED WARBLER were the highlights.
The third stop was Grant Lake with the best species being FOX SPARROW, VAUX SWIFT, all four swallow species, GADWALL, BUFFELHEAD, RUDDY DUICK, and WESTERN SANDPIPER.
We wrapped up the day at the Ranch House were we missed the VERMILLION FLYCATCHER, but did get GOLDEN EAGLE, WHITE TAILED KITE, ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, PINE SISKIN, and AMERICAN GOLDFINCH. For the day we totaled 67 species.
While in the parking lot at Grant lake, a cyclist asked what we were doing and then commenced to tell us about the ROAD RUNNERS he has seen occasionally on the trail. He said they were much smaller than the ones in Arizona and Rick and I looked askance at one another. A short while later we encountered a CALIFORNIA THRASHER racing across the trail in front of us and concluded that the "small road runner" was most probably the CATH.
We concluded about 12:30 PM, tired, hungry, and exhilarated!
Ginger Langdon-Lassagne
Ginger’s birding effort was offset by 3 days from the rest of the Wrong Terns, but she still felt part of the bigger effort. Covering two county parks and OSA lands along McKean Road in the southern San Jose was very fun on the warm, sunny day that Thursday provided. One highlight at Rancho San Vicente were the very vocal Grasshopper sparrows that buzzed continuously from the dry grass behind the parking lot restrooms! Also, numerous Rock Wrens, calling on territory and carrying insect prey to hidden sites among the rocks, surrounded by purple lupines and golden fiddlenecks. Stile Ranch trail provided the expected Rufous-crowned Sparrows and the unexpected, high-flyover, adult Bald Eagle. Target bird! Calero Reservoir was an exciting mix of Caspian and Forster’s Terns and flamenco-dancing Western Grebes on the water, but the big surprise was the Tricolored Blackbirds visiting the cattails on the lakeshore. Ginger ended the four hours with forest birds picked up at the Calero Park headquarters building: Ash-Throated Flycatcher, Band-tailed Pigeon, Oak Titmouse and Tree Swallow were all new for the day in the final few minutes. Four hours never seemed to short!
Carolyn Knight
My day started off at Oka Ponds with a flurry of swallows. Violet-green, Northern Rough-wing, Barn, and Cliff, all zipping over the ponds, with Vaux’s Swifts spiraling up above them. It would have been a great chance to just sit and watch these little aerialists, but with the clock ticking away moved away from the ponds nearly the parking lot to go across the creek in search of some more species. Most of the ponds are nearly dry right now, but a lone Green Heron was skulking under an oak tree towards the bridge over Los Gatos Creek, and a flock of Cedar Waxwings up in the sycamores were chattering.
American Dipper mid blink at Los Gatos Creek
My next stop was taken at a bit of a run, literally, for one species in particular. I overshot this little guy on my way down Los Gatos Creek trail, but managed to find it on my way back. The American Dipper was perched on the very edge of the concrete channel, right above a drop in in the creek.
I spent the rest of the day in Santa Teresa CP, enjoying the weather, the cows, and the Tree Swallows that finally showed up for my list. The turkeys were displaying on the hills, and the meadow by the Pueblo Day Area was filled with Western Bluebirds and a few Lazuli Buntings. A California Quail was calling from the rocks, and I spent a very satisfying fifteen tracking down the Ash-throated Flycatcher that was calling from the Santa Teresa Creek Trail.
All told it was a 60 species day.
Dwight Agan
Dwight Agan explored the Emily Renzel Wetlands and captured some amazing pictures to share with us of the birds he found, including a Common Tern!
