Alviso and Lake Cunningham

On Thursday January 5th I arrived at the Environmental Education Center in Alviso and spent a good hour scoping from the entrance road. Dowitchers were everywhere, feeding in the muddy water with several Dunlins mixed in. There were plenty of Black-necked Stilts and American Avocets too and a number of Semi-palmated Plovers and Killdeer were on the islands. I also had a Savannah Sparrow and an American Pipit along the road. A group of Mew Gulls were near the railway line and I managed to find Herring Gulls in with the Ring-billed and California Gulls.

Mew Gull

I then walked along the Chicago Marsh boardwalk and found Green-winged and Cinnamon Teal as well as American Wigeon (all new for the year) as well as many Ruddy Duck and Mallards. A Peregrine flew overhead as I returned to leave.

I stopped at Lake Cunningham on the way back but had no luck with Chestnut-backed Chickadees there. Many songbirds - Black Phoebes, Yellow-rumped Warblers (including a Myrtle), California Towhee and Ruby-crowned Kinglets - were active in the park. There were many gulls on the water as well as a few ducks and a single Western Grebe. I did find one target bird, a dozen American White Pelican were on an island in the lake.

This took me to 107 species in 2017, with 103 in Santa Clara County. My previous record date for reaching 100 species was January 6th, set in 2011.