On a cold and wet December day I felt like I needed another Mission Tennis Club fix. Here is another video I shot on the public easement of the club. In the background you can hear the cyclone fence being put up, so this was one of my last views of the club from this vantage point. It really does seem as if one could be in Tahoe, as other members have said.

What is that elusive brightly colored yellow and black bird flitting around? It seems to delight in confounding my efforts to get it on video. Here it is in motion:

Here is a frame grab from the video (click on any picture for a full-size version):

Townsend's Warbler on the Kimber Park Open Space

At last, using my trusty Peterson Field Guide Western Birds I have confirmed that it is a Townsend’s Warbler!

I am always amazed to find warblers, but this Townsend is right at home, per the field guide “Habitat:  Tall conifers, cool fir forests… oaks”.

I have been on a mission lately to photograph some of the less seen but cool birds that make the Kimber Park Open Space home. Pat and Phil Gordon, from the local chapter of the Audubon Society, were here to confirm that White-Tailed Kites were breeding on the Kimber Park Open Space this summer. They published their finding in their November newsletter. I was astounded at their ability to identify birds.

They quickly pointed out the beautiful Golden Eagles which overfly the area. OK, how could we not notice Golden Eagles!

Phil also spotted Hutton’s Vireo, a small and inconspicuous yet pretty olive bird, which I did not even notice and then later what seemed to be a Nuttal’s Woodpecker.

I love woodpeckers, they are so boldly colored and eclectic in their behavior. I cannot believe I never saw them before. The one that Phil saw frequents the pepper tree at the extreme eastern edge of the Kimber Park Open Space. I have stopped by here often to try to photograph this guy. While there on December 13th I caught this pretty female Yellow-Rumped Warbler stopping by.

Yellow-Rumped Warbler

I could hear the woodpecker, but once again he was eluding me. Again. For months on end. Harrumph.

But now, thanks to Frank, one of the horse-keepers for the horses living along the foothill here, I am happy to report that I have at long last gotten a reasonable picture. Frank finished feeding the horses and stopped to ask what I was photographing. Well, I once again had missed the woodpecker (it is very camera-shy) just before he approached, but while talking to Frank it came back for a few seconds, which I was able to take advantage of.

It turns out to be a Red-Breasted Sapsucker.

Red-Breasted Sapsucker

The sapsucker appears to actually be doing just that!

Red-Breasted Sapsucker 2

Another less often seen resident is the Northern Flicker. Here are a couple of pictures of a Northern Flicker on the Kimber Park open space. It is a pretty big woodpecker, unique in appearance and behavior.

Northern Flicker

Northern Flicker showing distinctive white patch.

One of the obvious attractant for the wildlife here are the many large native Coastal Live Oaks, which offer a ready supply of acorns to the birds, squirrels, deer and I am sure other creatures on the property. One of the oaks is apparently already mature in the old Kimber picture from 1939! It is enormous and I would not be surprised if it is well over 100 years old.

Here is the one I am thinking of:

Ancient Oak flanked by Redwoods

Among the big oak tree fans is this Scrub Jay, shown enjoying an acorn on the Kimber Park open space on :November 30th, 2011:

Scrub Jay with acorn

I will close with one of the more well-known Kimber Park open space avian residents, the Red-Shouldered Hawk. This bold hawk has modified his behavior now that the cyclone fence is up. Feeling secure enough to feed on what was once the front lawn of the property (now a mix of mulch, grass and tree-fall), it behaves as shown in these pictures:

Red-Shouldered Hawk on front lawn of the Mission Hills Tennis Club.

Red-Shouldered Hawk looking for food under the mulch.

Red-Shouldered Hawk chomps down on a small meal.

To any readers not familiar with this property or the associated wildlife and woodland, I hope this may help you begin to understand why the neighborhood is so passionate about preserving it. The development plans submitted to the city call for the destruction of 186 trees, mostly Redwoods and Coastal Live Oaks that are over 60 years old. In and of itself this is troubling to consider, but on the mitigating Open Space at the centerpiece recreational facility of a Planned Community in Fremont it is inconceivable.

Ed

It appears as if at least three deer, two mature does and one immature deer are living on the Kimber Park open space, now behind a 6 foot high cyclone fence. These look to be the same deer that regularly came out at twilight when the club was open. It is also very probable that the immature deer is the one photographed earlier this year in July being nursed by its mother.

Here’s the fawn and it’s mother from July 20th of 2011.

Fawn feeds from its mother on the Kimber Park Open Space

Here’s some video of the deer taken the night a stroller first spotted them:

The question was, were they somehow coming and going from the property or were they staying behind the fence? I’ve been looking for deer tracks at likely places in the soil outside of the fence but never found any. Working off a hunch, I went over very early in the morning of November 28th, 2011. Here’s what I saw:

Brush pile on the Kimber Park Open Space

OK, I couldn’t resist, but you have to look very closely. Here’s a closeup of the same picture:

A deer is hidden in the brush pile

If you look closely you can see the deer creeping out of the heavy brush pile behind the trees on the old pond bed. They then came up the slope and were wary enough to focus on the click of my camera’s shutter, as shown here.

Three wild mule deer on the Kimber Park Open Space

The blur in the foreground is the top of the cyclone fence. This is the same fence that is shown in the Turkey post.

Apparently wildlife control says everything is fine. They report that the deer can escape. I am personally very concerned. While the adults may survive a jump over the fence, I hope they choose wisely and don’t injure themselves on the many hazards possible from such an attempt. I am also doubtful that the juvenile can jump the fence while still immature. Wildlife control says it could find one of the gaps and be able to crawl underneath the fence if the adults flee.

For the time being we can enjoy them at our leisure, as they seem to be staying. Hopefully the winter rains and plentiful morning dew will give them enough water.

Help us keep an eye on the deer and make sure that they are doing well.