Sycamore Canyon Field Trip Report March 19, 2016

After postponement from the previous week, we were treated to a thick layer of coastal clouds all morning as we hiked to the Serrano Trail rockfall, nearly two miles up Sycamore Canyon. The rain of the previous week had certainly kept the canyon green and encouraged early blooms from a number of species. Vetch, Monkey Flower, red and blue Bush Lupine , Phacelia, Morning Glory, Jimson Weed were all in bloom. There were a couple of slopes covered with Parry’s Phacelia and Blue Dicks that merited a photo or two. The White Pincushion was an added,  after-fire treat. Since the cloud cover persisted into the early afternoon, relatively few smaller passerines were observed browsing in the the budding Sycamores or sprouting Coast Live Oaks. We did, however witness at least one Canyon Wren at the rockslide along the Serrano Trail, our turn-around.

Parry’s Phacelia

Surf Scoter  7
Red-throated Loon  1
Eared Grebe  1
Red-tailed Hawk  5
Western Gull  6
Mourning Dove  2
Anna’s Hummingbird  3
Acorn Woodpecker  1
Nuttall’s Woodpecker  4
Northern Flicker  1
American Kestrel  3
Nanday Parakeet  13
Black Phoebe  1
Western Scrub-Jay  8
American Crow  11
Common Raven  2
Oak Titmouse  2
Bushtit  6
Canyon Wren  2
Wrentit  4
Western Bluebird  5
Northern Mockingbird  2
European Starling  1
Orange-crowned Warbler  3
Common Yellowthroat  2
Yellow-rumped Warbler  16
Dark-eyed Junco  1
White-crowned Sparrow  5
Golden-crowned Sparrow  2
California Towhee  5
Bullock’s Oriole  1
House Finch  18
American Goldfinch  2
33 species

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S28435621
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
[Lucien Plauzoles]