May 2025
Attending Members: Rajan, Katie, Adi, Maddie, Aidan, Zayn, Julia, Ross, Otto
For the May club trip, we headed to Mines Road in Alameda and Santa Clara counties. We started the day seeing a few Yellow-billed Magpies and a nice heard-only Cassin’s Kingbird. Continuing down the road, we got a Swainson's Thrush, California Thrasher, and Rufous-crowned Sparrow, as well as four beautiful Golden Eagles! When we reached Santa Clara county, Rajan spotted two gorgeous Lewis’s Woodpeckers from the car, and the group also got great looks at some endangered Tricolored Blackbirds. Our next stop was San Antonio Valley Road, where we were hoping to find Bell's Sparrow. While we never found it, Otto discovered a young Northern Pacific Rattlesnake inches away from where we'd been observing a Lawrence's Goldfinch and a Great Copper. Thankfully no one was hurt! From there, we drove to the Lick Observatory, where we found many Northern Rough-winged Swallows and the Mount Hamilton Lomatium (a plant first described in 1998)! Our final stop was Joseph D. Grant County Park, where we were hoping to see the long-staying Vermillion Flycatcher. While we never found it, we saw more Lawrence's Goldfinches, Lazuli Buntings, and Bullock's Orioles. Overall, wonderful day exploring a rarely visited corner of the Bay Area.