Clapper Rail at Meeker Slough, Richmond
Tue, 21 Nov 2000 20:51:09 -0800
From: Phil Maynard
This Sunday morning, Bruce Beyaert observed two Clapper Rails only 50 to 100 feet from the Bay Trail on the Bay side of the Meeker Slough bridge (just south of Marina Bay). His attention was caught initially by a bird swimming across the main tidal channel with its head jerking back and forth like a coot - but it had a long bill with a slight downturn. A long-billed coot? No, a Clapper Rail emerged from the water and disappeared into the cordgrass to join its mate. A loud raucous call rose up from the cordgrass and then both appeared and foraged at length along the edge of a small tidal channel.
Please reply (directly back to me) if you have seen Clapper Rail along the Bay Trail from Point Isabel to Marina Bay, other than from the Meeker Slough bridge area.
Phil Maynard, Richmond CA
Thanksgiving Merlin
Thu, 23 Nov 2000 09:54:09 -0800
From: Debbi Brusco
I was just saying to my birding partner the other day that I hadn't seen enough Merlins to be able to tell them from afar. This morning I heard a falcon-like call that I hadn't heard around here before, different from the American Kestrel's. I quickly looked outside to find a falcon-shaped bird on the telephone pole. I grabbed my binoculars, and was able to see the "drool line" and a slight supercilium, besides the heavily streaked breast, despite the poor light from overcast. It sat there for 20 or 30 minutes.
Debbi Brusco
Hermosa Terrace, Hayward
Possible Cassin's Kingbird at Sunol Regional
Wilderness
Fri, 24 Nov 2000 19:10:09 -0800 (PST)
From: David Armstrong
We had 43 species over the course of a 6-hour hike in Sunol Regional Wilderness near Sunol today. I saw a possible Cassin's Kingbird on the High Valley Trail, about 0.25 mile south of Welch Creek Road. The bird was some distance from us and the light was poor due to morning fog; it was a definite kingbird with a darkish head, bill the right length for Cassin's, and no discernible white in the tailfeathers when it flew. It alternated perches between a tree and a fencepost. I didn't have a good or long enough look at it to say for sure.
Other birds of interest included Rock Wren, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Say's Phoebe, and Varied Thrush. The complete list is below if anyone is interested.
David Armstrong
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-Tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
California Quail
Band-tailed Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Acorn Woodpecker
Nuttall's Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Black Phoebe
Say's Phoebe
Cassin's Kingbird (?)
Steller's Jay
Scrub Jay
Yellow-billed Magpie
American Crow
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Oak Titmouse
Bushtit
White-breasted Nuthatch
Rock Wren
Bewick's Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-Crowned Kinglet
Western Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Varied Thrush
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
Spotted Towhee
California Towhee
Rufous-crowned Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Western Meadowlark
Lesser Goldfinch
Pelagic Cormorants near Lake Merritt
Fri, 24 Nov 2000 21:32:29 -0800
From: Larry Tunstall
I'm posting the following message for Cheryl Millett, who was having trouble getting it through the listserver:
On a walk around Lake Merritt midday yesterday, Alexandra Threadgill and I saw the regular winter waterfowl, including 9 pair of Barrow's Goldeneye in among the Common Goldeneye and Eared Grebes by the estuary inflow channel at the Kaiser Auditorium end of the lake. In the channel in Rancho Peralta Park by Kaiser Auditorium, there were another 7 pair of Barrow's Goldeneye among more Common Goldeneye (and quite a few Snowy Egrets and Great Egrets lining the channel). But here's something we'd never seen there before: Continuing toward the bay, in the channel adjacent to the Laney College parking lot that holds weekend flea markets (and just east of Hwy 880), there were two Pelagic Cormorants. One appeared to be an adult and one a first-year bird. Both were diving and feeding in the channel in the 50 meters east of Hwy 880. The younger bird very accommodatingly perched on a concrete block for a couple of minutes.
Cheryl Millett, Biologist
San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory
Alviso, CA
Posted to EBB by Larry Tunstall
Hooded Merganser in Jewel Lake, Tilden Park
Fri, 24 Nov 2000 22:56:33 -0800
From: Larry Tunstall
Fairly early this morning (perhaps 9 AM), there was a female Hooded Merganser in Jewel Lake in the Tilden Regional Park Nature Area (Berkeley Hills). We also saw a Varied Thrush along Upper Packrat Trail.
Larry Tunstall
El Cerrito CA
Common Snipe at Coyote Hills
Sun, 26 Nov 2000 22:08:56 -0800
From: Larry Tunstall
I'm forwarding this message from Gail DeLalla:
There was a common snipe at Coyote Hills [Regional Park, Fremont] this morning on the east side of the Dairy Glen parking area almost adjacent to the vehicle parking spaces. It flew into the denser vegetation as additional vehicles pulled into the lot.
Gail
Posted to EBbird by Larry Tunstall
Re: Puffin in Martinez
Sun, 26 Nov 2000 22:42:00 -0800
From: Richard Mix
Darrell Lee wrote:
A friend and I went looking for the reported puffin November 18 about 9 to 10 AM from Martinez Shoreline Regional Park and didn't see it. Met Denise Wight there, and she hadn't seen it either.
I should have made it clear that the bird in question was a quarter to a half mile west of the first park sign visible from the train, where the tracks run along the water; Ann and I never got back to see if it was accessible by foot. It's a shame no one else reports seeing it but there seems little room for confusion given the enormous beak; does anyone know of winter puffins staying put for any time? I read that puffin is missing on Christmas counts, but seems to turn up late October or early November in Monterey fairly often. Have there been other inland records?
good birding-
Richard Mix, El Cerrito
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