Natural History Wanderings

After an early morning yesterday to watch the lunar eclipse, I had an even earlier one today.  I was up at 3:40 AM to listen and look for owls  at Claremont Canyon in the East Bay Hills. It was sponsored by the Claremont Canyon Conservancy and led by Dave Quady, Audubon Christmas Count Leader for this area.  Between 4:30 and 6:15 AM we heard five Great Horned Owls and two North Saw-whet Owls. One person had a quick look at a Northern Saw-whet Owl. We reassembled at 8 AM and birded Claremont Canyon until 11:30.  The most productive area was the intersection of Claremont Av. and Grizzly Peak where we saw or heard 23 species.

Here is a list of all species seen or heard today:

1. Great Horned Owl (M=3;F=2) 2. Northern Saw-whet Owl (2) 3. Anna’s Hummingbird (M) 4. Downy Woodpecker (M) 5. Northern Flicker 6. Black Phoebe 7. Hutton’s Vireo 8. Steller’s Jay 9. Western Scrub-Jay 10. Common Raven 11. Chestnut-backed Chickadee 12. Bushtit 13. Bewick’s Wren 14. Ruby-crowned Kinglet 15. Wrentit 16. Hermit Thrush 17. American Robin 18. Yellow-rumped Warbler 19. Townsend’s Warbler (M) 20. Spotted Towhee 21. California Towhee 22. Fox Sparrow 23. Song Sparrow 24. White-crowned Sparrow 25. Golden-crowned Sparrow 26. Dark-eyed Junco 27. House Finch (M)