Date: 4/13/25 11:47 am From: Liam Murphy <liammsf...> Subject: [MBBIRDS] Trip Report: SCBC @ Schwan Lake
Hi birders and happy Sunday,
Earlier today I led a field trip for the Santa Cruz Bird Club at Schwan Lake. Even though the morning started with thick fog, we had a lot of singing birds throughout the morning, and ear birding tided us over until the fog began to burn off and things began to move around more actively.
Highlights of the morning included:
- close flybys from a pair of BALD EAGLES, one adult and one immature/subadult, which appear to be nest building. Nesting efforts here last spring were abandoned, but we can remain cautiously optimistic about the possibility of a mid-town nest this year, for now
- two WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS, one of which sang once and provided nice looks. The second bird was drabber and streakier, suggesting a one-year-old, and confusing enough in the field to require ID from photos after the fact
- all five expected species of swallow: BARN, TREE, VIOLET-GREEN, CLIFF, and NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED
- close looks at a vocal WESTERN FLYCATCHER
- an adult male HOODED ORIOLE
Other birds heard singing were resident OAK TITMOUSE, BEWICK’S WREN, DARK-EYED JUNCO, SONG SPARROW, SPOTTED TOWHEE, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, and ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, recently arrived WILSON’S WARBLERS, and soon-to-depart YELLOW-RUMPED and TOWNSEND’S WARBLERS.
