Excerpt from Birding at the Bottom of the Bay

This trip takes you birding high above San Jose in the Diablo range, from the Joseph D. Grant Ranch County Park to the far northeast corner of Santa Clara County-approximately 75 miles round trip from I-680 on very curvy roads. Or, instead of returning, one can continue down through Del Puerto Canyon in Stanislaus County to I-5 (approx. 140 miles round trip), or continue northward on Mines Rd. in Alameda County to the Livermore area (approx. 100 miles). This write-up covers Grant Ranch visitor center and campgrounds. There are restrooms at Grant Ranch.

Directions
From Sail Jose take Alum Rock Ave. east from either I-680 or Hwy. 101 for about 3 miles to Mt. Hamilton Rd. (Hwy. 130). Turn right (south) and proceed about 7.5 miles to the Grant Ranch entrance booth on the right, just past the Qyimby Rd. intersection. Alternatively, take Quimby Rd. from either Tully Rd. or Capitol Expwy. for a shorter but steeper drive to the park. Once past the entrance station (fee required; trail maps covering the first tour sites mentioned here are available), bear left at the first fork and park anywhere alongside the creek.

Grant Ranch
Remember to bird diligently the open areas to the west of the asphalt parking lots before starting out; it is all too easy to overlook Killdeer, Say's Phoebe (winter), Yellow-billed Magpie, Western Bluebird, California Thrasher, and Chipping (summer), Lark, crowned (winter), and other ground-dwelling sparrows, Dark-eyed Junco, and Lesser and American Goldfinches in your haste to bird the oak trees along the stream bed. In winter Hermit Thrush is often seen and heard in the creek underbrush. A short distance along the stream to the east is a path leading toward the Ranch House. This path passes near a water tank and small pond which usually attracts a number of small species that can be "pished" out. California Quail and Yellow-billed Magpie are often heard.

The Ranch House is actually a visitor center, and it is important to bird closely all sides of this building. Around the back are small apple trees that have attracted rare migrants, notably Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Summer Tanager. The tall oaks above the building are frequently a good spot for Red-breasted Sapsucker (winter), as well as the more familiar Acorn and Nuttall's Woodpeckers, White-breasted Nuthatch, and Brown Creeper. The tall pines can have kinglets (winter), Cedar Waxwing (winter), Purple Finch, Pine Siskin and goldfinches working quietly in the upper reaches. Bam and Great Horned Owls have been known to fly close to the amateur astronomers who set up at sunset just west of the building.

A short loop trail just south of the Ranch House is well worth walking. Longer trails also head south from there, one running near the main road leading to the campgrounds and, eventually, the Snell barn where Barn Owls have been seen. Another trail (Hotel Trail) runs more closely parallel to Mt. Hamilton Rd. Off-season these trails may be more for exercise than birding, but in breeding season these can be profitable areas to look for California Quail, vireos, wrens, warblers, towhees, grosbeaks, Lazuli Bunting, Chipping and other sparrows, and goldfinches. One year a colony of Lewis's Woodpeckers nested along Hotel Trail just after it crosses the first ridgeline.

— Frank Vanslager

See more birding opportunities in the Santa Clara Valley in our publication Birding at the Bottom of the Bay.

Last modified on September 8, 2005.