Last Friday we headed to Pleasanton to participate in our friend Adam’s section of the 2018 Eastern Alameda County Christmas Bird Count. We met Adam and our friend LaReina at a business park along Koll Center Parkway and set out along the creekside Arroyo del Valle Trail.
Though the morning was gloomy and a little windy, we got through the day with just a short sprinkle.
Between the business park offices and the creek, there was a large group of feasting American Robins.
This beautifully vivid Red-shouldered Hawk was tucked in above the creek. From this angle, you can really see where it gets its name.
We hadn’t gone a quarter-mile when a particular Northern Flicker caught our eye. It had a brown face, gray cap, gray nape with a red chevron, and yellow shafts… by golly, those are all the field marks of a female Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker! Northern Flickers in the western United States are normally Red-shafted, and though occasionally “intergrades” (with mismatched field marks of Red- and Yellow-shafted) occur here, a true Yellow-shafted is more rare. A rare bird on a Christmas Bird Count day – we were so excited!
Its “chevron” mark looked like a heart!
The Arroyo del Valle trail led us under a roadway and then into the back portion of a neighborhood with some pretty foliage.
We just loved this plump, puffed-up California Towhee.
What in the world were Teresa and Adam so intently focused on?
Well, it sounded a little something like this….
And looked a little something like this!
Guess you’re never too grown-up for a good old-fashioned lunch swap!
We came across some Purple Finches foraging in the peppercorns.
At times when the wind picked up and pickings were slim, we entertained ourselves with a conversation about how cute bird butts are. Here’s the proof!
The trail wound us through some pretty areas abutting a neighborhood. Wouldn’t you like this view across the street from your house?
One of the last birds of the day was a real gem!
Another successful Eastern Alameda County CBC in the books! Just look at this happy group of birding buddies!
To learn more about the CBC, visit the National Audubon Society’s History of the Christmas Bird Count page.
That was a fun overview of your day. Thanks for the story. Do we get to find out the answer to the quiz? But, but, but….I really don’t know.
Haha, thanks, Brook! We have a Ruby-crowned Kinglet on the left and a Purple Finch on the right. I’m not sure if either of them are ID-able based on just their bird butts! We had fun studying for any discernible field marks from this angle – we noticed that there is a good view of the RCKI’s yellow feet and the PUFI’s unstreaked undertail coverts. – Miles