Date: 5/5/25 9:48 am From: Bruce Mast via groups.io <cathrasher4...> Subject: [EBB-Sightings] Mount Diablo Big Day Hike results
Good morning birders,
Yesterday I completed my second annual Mount Diablo Big Day Hike for Golden
Gate Bird Alliance Birdathon. My hike started in Mitchell Canyon at 4 am
and ended at the Castle Rock Parking lot at 6 pm. I tallied 78 species
total, compared to 72 in 2024. Total hike was 14.6 miles, with a net
elevation change: 2150 ft up, 2425 ft down. Special thanks to my wife
Juliet, who shuttled me to and from my start and end points.
Highlights
• 3 owl species (Great-horned, Western Screech, and American Barn), plus
Common Poorwill before dawn
• Continuing Black-chinned Sparrow, first reported by Sam Talarigo on April
12
• At least 1, probably several lingering Calliope Hummingbirds
• One Golden Eagle soaring over Eagle Peak
• 8 different Cooper’s Hawks throughout the day
New additions compared to 2024 results
• Wild Turkey—Pine Canyon
• Sharp-shinned Hawk
• Red-shouldered Hawk—Castle Rocks picnic area
• Barn Owl
• Western Screech-Owl
• Peregrine Falcon—Castle Rocks breeding pair
• Western Wood-Pewee—calling from the ravine below Angel Kerley Road. Not
where I would have expected it!
• American Crow—distant caws at dawn
• Phainopepla—Pine Pond. Not where I would have expected it!
• Lawrence's Goldfinch—multiple locations
• Black-chinned Sparrow—stakeout
• Western Meadowlark—grassland pastures above Stage Road
• MacGillivray's Warbler
• Yellow Warbler
• Western Tanager
Missed species from 2024
• White-tailed Kite—Margot reported it earlier in the morning but I
couldn’t refind it
• Hammond's Flycatcher
• Brown Creeper—surprising bird last year
• Northern Mockingbird—surprising bird last year
• White-crowned Sparrow—getting late
• Golden-crowned Sparrow—getting late
• Bullock's Oriole—not at Pine Pond this year
• Nashville Warbler
• Black-throated Gray Warbler
Other birds reported the same day at Mitchell Canyon that I missed:
Northern Harrier, Rock Wren, White-tailed Kite, and Rufous Hummingbird. A
few people reported some surprising species that could use some
documentation: Black-chinned Hummingbird, Chipping Sparrow, and Hermit
Thrush.
