By request

Howdy, Birders,
In San Benito County spring begins in Panoche Valley with fields of golden flowers, wintering birds hanging around and resident breeders gearing up for the nesting season. I drove through the valley (March 3 & 4) en route to the tricolored blackbird workshop at San Luis NWR on Saturday. The valley is just stunning right now. Highlights were many.
Near the school at Panoche and Norton Roads, there was a pair of CASSINS KINGBIRDS, MERLIN and a PRAIRIE FALCON carrying large prey. A flock of 475 AMERICAN PIPITS were in the dense grass along the sides of Norton Road.
Near the intersection of Panoche and New Idria Roads, a beautiful dark morph FERRUGINOUS HAWK was present. Continuing along New Idria Road toward the BLM picnic spot, I saw a few LAWRENCES GOLDFINCHES and MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS. It is not often that one finds these two species in the same location at the same time. The goldfinches might be found anywhere in the valley where the fiddlenecks are blooming. Two RED-SHOULDERED HAWKS, very uncommon on the valley floor were in the dense eucalyptus grove (the backside of Douglas Ranch). A flock of about 175 LARK SPARROWS were closer to the BLM picnic site. One TURKEY VULTURE, rare in winter, but suspected breeder in the caves along New Idria, was soaring overhead.
Another pair of CASSINS KINGBIRDS were near the entrance to Douglas Ranch along Panoche Road. Just a bit down the road, in the large stacks of hay, some 1200 TRICOLORED BLACKBIRDS, 99% MALES, were feeding on the seed heads on March 3. When I returned on March 4, I counted 200 FEMALE TRICOLORED BLACKBIRDS at the same location. As far as I could tell, they had just arrived. I also photographed one banded male.
I am very interested in as accurate as possible counts of these blackbirds. If you watch them from your vehicle which is the best way to not flush them you will notice that parties of 50 to 300 take off, heading toward the Panoche Creek. If you are there at dusk (5-5:30 pm), youll see all of them fly toward the creek. They are in the process of making settlement and it is quite spectacular to HEAR. You cannot see them in the creek area, but you can hear the noise of the colony. This is the males calling. Time will tell if they nest, or not.
I continued along Panoche Road, passing Silver Creek Ranch, up to the summit of Jackass Pass (county line for San Benito and Fresno Counties). A few more MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS were near the corrals. One LINCOLNS SPARROW and more LARK SPARROWS were along the creek crossing area. A pair of NORTHERN HARRIERS were coursing the creekbed.Further along the road, I stopped to watch a MERLIN furiously pursuing a female Mountain Bluebird which I really thought she would nail until the bluebird dived into an ephedra shrub! One solitary VESPER SPARROW was along this section. A flock of nearly 2000 STARLINGS at a distance, could easily have been mistaken for blackbirds! I scoped them because this was not a typical place for such a flock of starlings. Just after dark, I saw one SHORT-EARED OWL which was previously photographed in this area.
Along Little Panoche Road, generally near Mercey Hot Springs, I saw another FERRUGINOUS HAWK, a few MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS, one VESPER SPARROW, a small flock of HORNED LARKS, a ROCK WREN, and a male BURROWING OWL guarding his burrow. (Fresno County for all of these sightings.) I did not have time to get up to the BLM Panoche Hills area.
All roads in Panoche Valley and leading into the valley are drivable although you might need a front-end alignment after driving the roads in San Benito County. The larger, deeper pot holes are outlined in red paint, presumably to be filled. Bridge work continues along Little Panoche Road, but it is open. There is a flagger person to help navigate the mess of one lane. All creek crossing are possible, including Panoche Creek at Silver Creek Ranch. The Mountain Plovers have departed. It is truly beautiful and worth a visit. The Panoche Inn was open while I was in the valley.
Please use the individual eBird hot spots rather than the General Panoche Valley hot spot, if you eBird. Im especially looking for reports about the tricolored blackbirds.
Happy Trails, Debi Shearwater
DEBRA SHEARWATER Shearwater Journeys, Inc. PO Box 190 Hollister, CA 95024 831.637.8527 debi@... www.shearwaterjourneys.com www.shearwaterjourneys.blogspot.com
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