The Piratical Flycatchers Trip Report

Ginger and Barry masked up at McClellan Ranch

Once upon a time there was a tiny virus that made the whole world stop. And look out the window. And notice birds.

Okay, maybe not everyone became a birdwatcher during the pandemic…some became bread bakers and homeschoolers :-). But almost everyone got a lot more time to sit and reflect, with these circumstances forcing all of us to be more creative, to find different ways to connect with family and friends, to learn new technologies, to plan things we didn’t need to plan before and to adapt to the changed world we now live in.

COVID-19 warning at the Alviso Marina

This is a simple story of a Big Day in which COVID-19 colored everything. Despite the circumstances we still managed to have fun and see a lot of birds.

We decided in light of the stay-at-home orders that we would bird within our own 5-mile Radius (5MR), which meant that we were planning a birding Big Day where we were never more than 5 miles from our house at any point.

Sunrise with sundog at the Bubb Road Percolation Ponds

The concept of a 5MR pre-dates the virus, but the two work really well together. By staying closer to home, we are lowering the risk of exposure in the community. San Mateo County had even made an order saying to stay within 5-miles of your home and we thought there was some chance that Santa Clara would do the same, so planning for it was useful. The question though was: how many birds can we expect to find within our (extremely suburban) 5MR? Last year, Ginger and I set our personal record of 135 species within the county, but we traveled well out of our 5MR. We started by camping in the south county, and we birded both the east and west hills as well as the rich baylands.

Ginger recording birdsong

Well, it turns out even though suburbia surrounds us, we are within striking distance of the West Hills, some percolation ponds, many nice city parks, a couple rivers and the bottom edge of the San Francisco Bay. There are a lot of habitats in our circle, and a lot of eBird Hotspots.

Some of the eBird Hotspots in our 5MR

EBird is a free worldwide database of bird sightings. And it’s huge. Over 45 million checklists from around the world, a half-billion bird observations, all collected via citizen science and available to researches and the public alike. If you want to know where a bird is, you can type in it’s name and see everywhere it was last sighted. If you want to know where to bird, type in where you’re going and see all the best places to go. In addition to basic sighting information, eBird lets you upload photos of your observations as well, or song recordings if you have them. All of the birding we did this day is recorded in eBird (see checklists below).

Ring-necked Duck, Bubb Road Percolation Ponds

In total, we saw 106 species. We were surprised and delighted that we could get over 100 species so close to home. We learned a lot about our 5MR and we barely scratched the surface: we never went to the Guadalupe River or Ulistac Natural Area for example. The portion of Rancho San Antonio that we could have reached was closed for the virus. We skipped several great city parks (Central in Santa Clara, Las Palmas in Sunnyvale, Saratoga Creek Park, etc.). We will be visiting these other parks throughout the year, taking notes and making eBird checklists and improving our knowledge of the nature so close to home. There’s much left to explore!

Black Phoebe at Cuesta Park in Mountain View

eBird Checklists (with lots of bird photos of varying quality):

• Sunnyvale Community Center and Heritage Park

• Bubb Road Percolation Ponds

• McClellan Ranch Preserve

• Cuesta Park, Cuesta Park Annex and Cuesta Park again

• Sunnyvale Water Pollution Control Plant

• Sunnyvale Baylands Park

• Alviso Marina

• Disk Drive

• Neighborhood Birding

• Ponderosa Park

Great Blue Heron and Red-eared Slider (turtle) at the Sunnyvale Water Pollution Control Plant

Juvenile Bald Eagle on Disk Drive

COMPLETE CHECKLIST FOR APRIL 22, 2020, THE PIRATICAL FLYCATCHERS BIG DAY BIRDATHON

Ducks, Geese and Waterfowl
      Canada Goose
      Cinnamon Teal
      Northern Shoveler
      Gadwall
      American Wigeon
      Mallard
      Ring-necked Duck
      Greater Scaup
      Bufflehead
      Common Goldeneye
      Ruddy Duck
New World Quail
      California Quail
Pheasants, Grouse, and Allies
      Ring-necked Pheasant
Grebes
      Pied-billed Grebe
Pigeons and Doves
      Rock Pigeon
      Band-tailed Pigeon
      Eurasian Collared-Dove
      Mourning Dove
Swifts
      Vaux's Swift
      White-throated Swift
Hummingbirds
      Anna's Hummingbird
Rails, Gallinules, and Coots
      Common Gallinule
      American Coot
Stilts and Avocets
      Black-necked Stilt
      American Avocet
Plovers and Lapwings
      Killdeer
Sandpipers and Allies
      Dunlin
      Least Sandpiper
      Western Sandpiper
      Long-billed Dowitcher
      Spotted Sandpiper
      Greater Yellowlegs
Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers
      California Gull
      Caspian Tern
      Forster's Tern
Cormorants and Shags
      Double-crested Cormorant
Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns
      Great Blue Heron
      Great Egret
      Snowy Egret
      Black-crowned Night-Heron
New World Vultures
      Turkey Vulture
Hawks, Eagles, and Kites
      Northern Harrier
      Cooper's Hawk
      Bald Eagle
      Red-tailed Hawk
Owls
      Western Screech-Owl
Woodpeckers
      Acorn Woodpecker
      Nuttall's Woodpecker
      Northern Flicker
Falcons and Caracaras
      American Kestrel
New World and African Parrots
      Mitred Parakeet
Tyrant Flycatchers
      Pacific-slope Flycatcher
      Black Phoebe
      Western Kingbird
Vireos, Shrike-Babblers, and Erpornis
      Hutton's Vireo
      Warbling Vireo
Crows, Jays, and Magpies
      Steller's Jay
      California Scrub-Jay
      American Crow
      Common Raven
Tits, Chickadees, and Titmice
      Chestnut-backed Chickadee
      Oak Titmouse
Swallows
      Northern Rough-winged Swallow
      Tree Swallow
      Violet-green Swallow
      Barn Swallow
      Cliff Swallow
Long-tailed Tits
      Bushtit
Sylviid Warblers, Parrotbills, and Allies
      Wrentit
Kinglets
      Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Nuthatches
      Red-breasted Nuthatch
      White-breasted Nuthatch
      Pygmy Nuthatch
Treecreepers
      Brown Creeper
Gnatcatchers
      Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Wrens
      House Wren
      Marsh Wren
      Bewick's Wren
Starlings
      European Starling
Mockingbirds and Thrashers
      Northern Mockingbird
Thrushes and Allies
      Western Bluebird
      Hermit Thrush
      American Robin
Waxwings
      Cedar Waxwing
Old World Sparrows
      House Sparrow
Finches, Euphonias, and Allies
      House Finch
      Purple Finch
      Lesser Goldfinch
New World Sparrows
      Dark-eyed Junco
      White-crowned Sparrow
      Golden-crowned Sparrow
      Song Sparrow
      California Towhee
      Spotted Towhee
Troupials and Allies
      Western Meadowlark
      Hooded Oriole
      Bullock's Oriole
      Red-winged Blackbird
      Brown-headed Cowbird
      Brewer's Blackbird
      Great-tailed Grackle
New World Warblers
      Orange-crowned Warbler
      Common Yellowthroat
      Yellow-rumped Warbler
      Wilson's Warbler
Cardinals and Allies
      Black-headed Grosbeak