McClellan Ranch Preserve (Fall/Winter)
by Eve Meier and Unice Chang
McClellan Ranch Preserve in Cupertino is a special place to visit in the fall and winter seasons. The SCVAS bird feeders and baths are being filled regularly, wintering sparrows have returned, and the benches under the SCVAS Nature Shop awnings make a nice place to sit quietly and observe.
Trip Covers: October - April
Key Birds: Anna’s Hummingbird, Acorn Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, California Scrub-Jay, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Oak Titmouse and California Towhee.
How to Bird
This is an easy and yet productive trip for anyone including those in a wheelchair or walking with a stroller. Start your visit in front of the SCVAS office. The best birding is here and I sometimes spend all my time watching the SCVAS feeders while sitting on the benches under the awnings.
Benches at SCVAS Office and Nature Shop
This is a great place for sparrows! Year-round Song Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, California Towhee and Spotted Towhee can be seen under the feeders or nearby. In October, White-crowned Sparrow and Golden-crowned Sparrow start arriving from their breeding grounds. For a new birder, these two sparrows are sometimes hard to tell apart because the first-winter White-crowned Sparrows don’t have a white crown. Look at the bill color. Regardless of age, White-crowned Sparrows always have a light yellow bill while the Golden-crowned Sparrows have a gray bill. To learn more about White-crowned Sparrows, read “When COVID-19 silenced cities, birdsong recaptured its former glory” in Science Magazine or, to learn more about Golden-crowned Sparrows, watch SFBBO’s “Sparrows in the Mist”.
First-winter White-crowned Sparrow. Photo by Carter Gasiorowski.
First-winter Golden-crowned Sparrow. Photo by Carter Gasiorowski.
Other sparrows to watch for here are Lincoln’s, Fox, and White-throated Sparrow. These species are not alway present and are more shy. Like the crowned sparrows, they are usually on the ground, but are often in the shadows and more easily spotted if you are quiet and still.
This is also a perfect location for woodpeckers! Year-round, Nuttall’s, Downy and Hairy Woodpecker visit the feeders while Acorn Woodpeckers can be seen flying from tree to tree while making their loud parrot-like calls. This is your chance to see if you can tell the difference between Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers. To learn more about woodpeckers including identification tips, watch SCVAS Education and Outreach Specialist Carolyn Knight’s Birding Basics: The Woodpeckers.
Other species that can be seen regularly at or near the feeders include California Scrub-Jay, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Oak Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Lesser Goldfinch, House Finch, Bewick's Wren and Pine Siskin. Many of the birds that visit the feeders also visit backyard feeders. For identification help, visit our grid of Santa Clara County Common Backyard Birds.
After you have had your fill of the birds at the SCVAS bird feeders, stroll along the paved Stevens Creek Trail to Blackberry Farm, about 1.5 miles out and back. This trail starts at the parking lot in front of the bathrooms.
Start of Stevens Creek Trail.
Along your walk, listen to the babbling Stevens Creek and enjoy the mature riparian habitat of sycamore, buckeye, walnut, and coast live oak. There are plenty of benches along the whole route. The paved path is sometimes busy with joggers and walkers but not cyclists.
To add to the woodpecker species you’ve already seen at the feeders, watch for Northern Flicker and Red-breasted Sapsucker. Both are wintering visitors. Northern Flickers have a loud call and are easy to identify in flight. You’ll see a flash of red from their wings and the bright white of their rump. Red-breasted Sapsuckers are usually quiet but can be seen feeding at their sapwells (neat rows of shallow holes they drill in tree bark).
Northern Flicker. Photo by Brooke Miller
Rows of old sapwell holes created by a Red-breasted Sapsucker.
Additional wintering species include Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, Cedar Waxwing, Yellow-rumped Warbler and Townsend’s Warbler. Other year-round species to watch out for that you might have not seen at the feeders include Red-shouldered Hawk, Bushtit, Steller’s Jay, American Robin, Black Phoebe, and Brown Creeper. And don’t forget to scan the skies for a circling Red-tailed Hawk or a teetering Turkey Vulture.
Steller’s Jay. Photo by Janna Pauser.
I usually turn around upon reaching Blackberry Farm, sometimes birding the group picnic area across the creek (shown on map), but the trail continues for another ½ mile ending at Stevens Creek Blvd. Upon returning to the parking lot, don’t forget to stop by the SCVAS Nature Shop to say “hello” and pick up any seed or books that you may have ordered.
Ready for More? Try the single track dirt Stevens Creek Nature Trail (shown on map) that runs alongside Stevens Creek or try our trip to the McClellan Groundwater Recharge Pond only 1 mile away. You can also walk to Linda Vista Park by crossing McClellan Rd using the crosswalk directly across from the SCVAS Nature Shop. On the other side of the street, to the right of the crosswalk you can see the trailhead running along the east side of the golf course through a now-always-open gate. The trail is rough and gravelly, so it is not accessible like the Mclellan-to-Blackberry-Farm trail.
Interactive Map
Directions: From I-280 in Cupertino, exit Foothill Expy. Travel south onto Foothill Blvd for 1.3 miles. Turn left onto McClellan Rd and continue for 0.5 miles. Turn left into the preserve parking lot. The SCVAS Nature Shop is located at the preserve entrance. Address: 22221 McClellan Rd, Cupertino, CA 95014. Latitude/Longitude: 37.313072, -122.063695
Parking: Paved parking lot with some ADA compliant spaces. If the parking lot is full, an overflow lot is on McClellan Blvd just west of the regular lot. You can also park at Blackberry Farm.
Fees: None
Park Hours: sunrise to sunset
Facilities: ADA accessible bathrooms and drinking fountain
Trip Mileage: Under 1.5 miles round trip
Trail Conditions: Wide flat paved path
Accessibility: This trips is wheelchair and walking stroller accessible. There are many benches along the paved path. Start your visit in front of the SCVAS office where you can enjoy the many birds at the feeders.
Bikes: Allowed but not recommended for this trip
Dogs: Dogs on leash only on the paved path, not the dirt trail (Stevens Creek Nature Trail) that follows the creek.
More Information
McClellan Ranch Preserve Map
Stevens Creek Trail Map
Visit our page of Common Santa Clara County Backyard Birds
eBird hotspot: McClellan Ranch Preserve and Stevens Creek Trail
Simple checklist for you to use: Common Fall/Winter Birds at McClellan Ranch Preserve
More Resources
For more trips like this one, visit Self-guided Field Trips.
Visit the SCVAS Birding Resources page for more information on where to bird, our birding community, birding identification resources, and more.
Read “What to Look for Now” by SCVAS Executive Director Matthew Dodder.
Banner Photo Credit: McClellan Ranch by Eve Meier
Last Updated: 05/22/2022
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