Berryessa RB

Boy, what a glorious day! I started off annoyed with myself because I was running late and didn't get to the starting point by sunrise, and I didn't even have a firm starting point decided upon: John Sterling's early write-up suggested birding Howell Mountain and Pope Canyon Roads in addition to the north side of the lake and beyond, but my instincts were telling me that would take forever (at least doing it the way *I* do it). And in retrospect I'm glad I didn't include Howell Mountain because, as wonderful coniferous habitat as it had, it also had constant traffic, so that wouldn't have worked. I ended up starting somewhere along Pope Canyon around eight, once I noticed that we were somewhat out of civilization (probably around Cedar Roughs Wildlife Area; we were definitely along a creek) and added the usual oak/chaparral fare: lots of titmice, Scrubbies, Robins, goldfinches, Bewick's Wrens, Cal Towhees, Butterbutts (including a few Myrtles), WB Nuthatches, and Acorn Woodpeckers; in lesser numbers were Wrentits, Nuttall's WPs, Flickers, Spotted Towhees, kinglets, House, and Purple Finches doing both vocalizations, so I was sure this time!

Scenes along Pope Canyon Road

It was really fun stopping every mile because I could play "tourist" and take a bunch of scenery shots as I went along! As I approached the lake I started to add more water birds (Clark's Grebe was the first), and I should have stopped at the little Putah Creek Campground (where the Hamiltons and I had the White-throated Sparrow in with the other Zonies), as there was stuff by the side of the road (including Cedar Waxwing for the county), but the spot came and went before I could really pull over. A nice Osprey was on top of a pole in that same area as well.

Where Pope Creek comes into the lake

Arriving at East Side Road, I stopped and hiked the same little trail to the cove that we hiked previously, and really hit the species jackpot here: in the tree right there was a mob of snorting Lark Sparrows as well as Lesser Goldfinches and a token House Finch, and the Bicolored Blackbirds were still at it, making their funny strangling sound while trying to bully the Brewer's. In the water had four Common Mergansers, lots of Western-type Grebes, Coots, and wigeon, and as I was scoping a gray bullet went tearing away and up into a tree: my county Merlin! Other waterfowl included Bufflehead, a single Ruddy, and an Eared Grebe, but the prize for me was a Yellow-billed Magpie right there in the oak and not way up in the hills! His mate was behind me as well, but that was a treat!

Trailhead to the cove with Jip

Heading on, there were just tons of Canada Geese around in scattered flocks, so I figured I'd better check them, and good thing I did: in one group were three Greater White-fronted Geese, and in another were about three birds I feel comfortable calling Cackling Geese; at least one of them was half the size of the largest of the Canadas there (I wouldn't be surprised if there were at least two different subspecies represented) and had the small bill and abrupt forehead that's supposed to be typical of Cacklers; a couple of others were small but seemed to have a more sloped look to the head, so I wasn't sure about them. The one Cackler had a narrow ring at the base of his "sock" against a medium-brownish breast; it definitely wasn't dark like an Aleutian.

Canada Geese against the hillsides Three Greater White-fronted Geese joined the crowd!

Several Cackling Geese were mixed in with the Canadas as well; the second bird from the right (in front) might actually be one of the smaller Canada races.

Definite Cackling Goose; note the size difference with the Canada on the right!

Dipped on some of the birds we had before (like Lewis' Woodpecker and Burrowing Owl), but still had lots of Tree Swallows (some were checking out the nest boxes already), a couple of Say's Phoebes, a shrike, a couple of California Gulls, and both Savannah and Lincoln's Sparrows in the grassy stuff. The variety of ducks further down was good as well, picking up lots of Gadwall and Mallards and single Shovelers, Green-winged teal, and Pintail. Headed on past the big "cul de sac" just out of curiosity, and saw why most people turn around there: you get a great view at the top of the hill, but just beyond is a locked gate where you ordinarily could turn around, but it was quite muddy!

More scenes...

Headed out and started up Berryessa-Knoxville Road, and for some reason it went a lot faster this time, even with all the stopping (probably because I was relaxing more this time around)! But stopping was definitely worth it: got wonderful views of the creeks (and there were several different ones that you cross over) and the hillsides; it was glorious! New birds included a pair of yelling Red-shouldered Hawk, Hutton's Vireo, Hairy Woodpecker, and a mess of Fox Sparrows all smacking so much they sounded like one of those crackling high tension wires! Up the hill there's an experimental range with pines and chaparral (up where the road becomes a wide two-laner again), and there's where I had the biggest surprise of the day: a harrier wheeled around the hill followed by an immature Bald Eagle! (He DID appear to be headed towards Berryessa...) Had yet another Purple Finch at this end, doing his little "vireo chortle".