I fully expected to be sent on detour on my way up to Inspiration Point this morning. Centennial Drive and Grizzly Peak Boulevard have been closed for holidays involving fireworks for many years, being both the best places to watch from and extremely vulnerable to fire. But although Centennial was posted closed from 5 am this morning to 5 am tomorrow, at 5:30 am I met no impediment. I started down the trail just about sunrise, very windy but clear. Last time I wasn't sure whether EBMUD had mowed or whether the grass had simply dried up, a natural subsidence, but by this morning they had seriously graded the entire fire trail. That largely took care of the ticks and the big cracks in the dry ground that made it tricky to walk with a stick. However it also meant that they had cleared away the fallen tree debris, including the log I've been using as a bench for the last few months. Oh, well. It wasn't an exciting morning but a few cool things happened. As I stood at the top of the slope down to the big oak, a Cooper's Hawk made a pass up the road towards me. There were small birds and a rabbit on the road but they didn't take anything. At the north end of the trail the huge dead tree was temporarily alive with very small birds, Chestnut-backed Chickadees and Pygmy Nuthatches as far as I could tell. I'd never seen it so well-used. ( The list: )

No MacGillivray's. I didn't stay as long as usual, less than three hours, and as always I didn't want to go home, so I parked the EBR Botantic Garden and sat on the bench at the top of the garden for forty minutes or so. My list there was a bit different, as the garden is sheltered and has a creek through it. The Swainson's Thrushes were singing and the American Robins were rushing around presumably feeding families. Right across a lawn from me there was almost certainly a Black-headed Grosbeak nest from all the adult activity. I even heard a Western Bluebird! I haven't had one on Inspiration Trail in some time. ( The list: )

I should do that more often. I drove home the long way, all the way through Tilden and down Spruce, avoiding possible roadblocks.

There was sunshine not long after I got there, which was very welcome. Nothing exceptional turned up until I started up the Canyon. To my surprise the Red-breasted Nuthatch nest was still being attended; this time I saw two adults coming to the hole. Other juveniles noted were a couple of fledgling Wrentits, no longer chasing parents but sitting on bare twigs right out in the open as their parents would never do - I guess they have to learn to be skulky - and a Spotted Towhee, fluffy and still brownish and spotted. ( The list: )

No Common Ravens! It was very strange. They are always around and vocal.

After birding the parking lot, which is always a fun beginning to our morning - the Great Blue Heron was there again - U and Chris climbed up the slope while I took Jewel Lake Trail, which I had not done since I began going up into Wildcat Canyon instead of staying in the Nature Area. It was fun to go there again, but omg the poison oak is looking amazing.:( The Anna's Hummingbird nest at Jewel Lake was indeed empty, but there were several hummingbirds in the area, feasting inside a large swarm of gnats. An all you can eat buffet! And I watched two individual Brown Creepers slip into the nest under the bark of the tall snag. ( The list: )

The Orange-crowned Warblers have gone silent, as they seem to do later in the breeding season, but the Wilson's Warblers are still singing as are the Swainson's Thrushes.

The weather wasn't quite as nice as I'd hoped, but by 7:30 or so it was getting hot, which was unusual so far this year. I was at my preferred spot at sunrise although by this point in the season many birds aren't visible/audible that early. Best birds of the day were a Northern House Wren, should be regular but isn't; my first Ash-throated Flycatcher on the trail this season, and they even let me see them; and a pair of Lawrence's Goldfinches! There were foraging in the trail not far from where I heard them a few weeks ago, and have been reported five times since May 29; twice three were reported, so perhaps they nested, which would be fantastic. Of course they are peripatetic and one never knows where they will turn up next. ( The list: )

The MacGillivray's Warbler this week was singing the song I expect; I have no idea what was up last week!