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Bald Eagle on Valley Oak
25 Feb 2006 at Paicines Reservoir |
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 San
Benito County is a small foothill county dominated by oak woodlands,
chaparral, and — to the east — the expanse of flat Panoche Valley. The
latter site is famed for its wintering raptors and Mountain Plovers (the
plovers sometimes fail to appear, however). The northern part of the county,
around Hollister, is rapidly being urbanized as a bedroom community for
San Jose, but the rest of the county is still very much ranch-land. San
Benito Mountain rises to 5240' elevation in the southeast corner, high
enough for isolated populations of Gray and Dusky Flycatchers.
County birding statistics and links are on Joe Morlan's site. |
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My chosen San Benito County photo is essentially
a habitat shot: a grand, old Valley (or Black) Oak topped with an adult
Bald Eagle. This is presumably one of the adults that recently began annual
nesting near Paicines Reservoir. The photo is in late winter/early spring
— the grass has greened but the oak still has no leaves. My two other county
photos (below) are of more typical species for the widespread oak and chaparral
habitats (Bushtit; left) and the open short-grass plains of Panoche Valley
(Horned Lark; right). The Bushtit picture is one you couldn't take if you
tried for hours — the tiny bird has just taken flight and fills the frame
at close range [the site was the county's historical park just south of
Tres Pinos]. The Horned Lark shot is more stereotyped: a singing male on
his song post.
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| The photo below is from the dry eastern side of San Benito County. It is a view back at Panoche Valley from Shotgun Pass (25 Feb 2006). | ||
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| All photos & text © 2006 Don Roberson; all rights reserved. | ||
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