| Wild nature is where you find it...and sometimes
you don't even have to leave the 'burbs! The Alamitos Creek Trail provides
a nice case in point. Although hemmed in by hills and houses, it is more
than a just a paved jogging path and exercise course. The riparian habitat
along the trail offers excellent birding, especially in spring, and at
any time of year you can expect a regular cast of characters—ducks, egrets,
herons, hawks, quail, kingfishers, woodpeckers, and a variety of small
songbirds. Deer, squirrels, rabbits, and raccoons are among the other creatures
that have found a refuge in this urban wildlife corridor.
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Our starting point is the parking area on
Camden Avenue near Graystone Lane. From there you can follow trails upstream
or downstream, with good birding in either direction. Let's take
a walk downstream to Almaden Lake (a distance of approximately 2 miles).
As you cross the wooden footbridge check the rocky stream below. Anywhere between here and the lake you could see pairs of Mallards (watch for broods of cute ducklings in spring and summer), Common Mergansers (winter/spring), Great and Snowy Egrets, Green and Great Blue Herons, and Black-crowned Night-Herons. Listen for the shrieking of the Red-shouldered Hawk. A flash of blue and a rattling call announces the sudden appearance and disappearance of a Belted Kingfisher. Before you get very far you are sure to notice a Black Phoebe or two flycatching from streamside perches. From here to the lake they will be your near constant companions. |
| A short distance downstream you will arrive at a wooded picnic area. This is an excellent place for woodpeckers year-round, and for migrant songbirds (especially warblers) in spring and fall. In winter look for neatly patterned Lincoln's Sparrows in weeds and brush near the water. Fox, Song, White-crowned, and Golden-crowned Sparrows also lurk in the vegetation. A rare Magnolia Warbler was along the creek at the picnic area in January of 1999. |
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Watch for several species of swallows over
the water in spring and summer. Among them you might see a few Vaux's Swifts—a
small population summers locally, and larger numbers pass through as migrants
in spring and fall.
As you continue downstream the path skirts other habitats, including chaparral and oak savanna. In spring listen for the songs of resident California Thrashers and Rufous-crowned Sparrows coming from the brushy hillsides. Both species can be elusive and hard to spot. Farther on look for American Kestrels and Acorn Woodpeckers perched atop gnarled oak snags. Woodland birds that can be found along the trail year-round include California Quail, Anna's Hummingbird, Nuttall's Woodpecker, Western Scrub-Jay, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Oak Titmouse, Bushtit, White-breasted Nuthatch, Bewick's Wren, and Spotted Towhee. In more open areas watch for such "suburban" birds as Mourning Dove, Northern Mockingbird, House Finch, and Lesser Goldfinch. |
| Winter brings Red-breasted Sapsuckers, Ruby-crowned
Kinglets, and Yellow-rumped Warblers. Spring is an exciting time, when
the resident species are joined by neotropical migrants and summer visitors
such as Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Warbling Vireo, Lazuli Bunting, and Hooded
and Bullock's Orioles.
Farther on the path and creek diverge, and you will enter a weedy area where bird life is sparser. Still, even here you could find Killdeer on the dry gravel beds. Eventually the creek rejoins the trail, and they closely parallel each other for the final stretch leading to Almaden Lake. |
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| One of the most interesting spots is where
the creek empties into the lake. Common Mergansers like to loaf on the
rocks below the footbridge, and there is sometimes a Green Heron in the
vicinity.
The lake itself can be good for wintering grebes, geese, and ducks, with loons and other rarities frequently present. Even when there are no odd birds around there are the usual flocks of Canada Geese and Common Mergansers. In winter large numbers of gulls raft on the lake and rest on the bar of mud and gravel near the inflow. California, Ring-billed, Herring, and Thayer's are the more common species, but a few Mew and Glaucous-winged are also to be expected, and Western and Glaucous Gulls have been recorded in rare instances. The vegetated island in the middle of the lake serves as a communal roost for Great and Snowy Egrets, Black-crowned Night-Herons, and Great Blue Herons. Check the bare portion of the island for Spotted Sandpiper and other shorebirds. |
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