Alameda County Pacific Loon, American Redstart
Thu, 21 Dec 2000 08:57:54 -0800
From: Mike Feighner
East Bay Birders:
Yesterday (20 December) Kay Peterson and I birded the Berkeley Pier and Point Emery [Emeryville] in Alameda County.
Berkeley Pier had no Long-tailed Ducks, but there were three loons, 2 Commons and one Pacific (a good match up to my e-mail mascot...). There was also at least one Clark's Grebe and one Western Grebe, one Horned Grebe. There were numerous Surf Scoters and a few Common Goldeneyes and Bufflehead.
At Point Emery there were about 25 Black Turnstones moving over the mossy rocks keeping in tune with the bagpipe player there.
From Here I left Kay and tried to refind the male American Redstart at the tennis courts on Mecartney Drive (just north of Island Drive) in Alameda. For directions see:
There was lots of activity in the trees closest to the street. Most of the birds were Yellow-rumped Warblers. I picked out two Townsend's Warblers, several Ruby-crowned Kinglets, three Golden-crowned Kinglets, and one heard-only Red-breasted Nuthatch. I was not able to locate the redstart and threw in the towel and went over to Safeway to buy something. I came back and checked the back trees (without binoculars!) and found the male American Redstart apart from all the other birds in the Monterey Pine and lower shrubbery at the northeast corner of the parking lot behind and north of the "green box".
Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA, Alameda County
Reply #1 Reply #2 Reply #3 Subject Index
Nashville Warbler in Alameda
Fri, 22 Dec 2000 18:32:54 -0800
From: Calvin Lou
Hello all,
At noon, I went looking for the American Redstart at the tennis courts on Mecartney Drive (just north of Island Drive) on Bay Farm Island in Alameda (Alameda County).
For directions see:
I looked for the bird for about an hour before giving up. Never did see it.
Other birds found included:
5 Golden-crowned Kinglets
4 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
3 Red-brested Nuthatches
2 Chestnut-backed Chickadees
30+ Yellow-rumped Warblers
5 Townsend's Warblers
1 Nashville Warbler
1 Orange-crowned Warbler
At Arrowhead Marsh:
74 Black Turnstones
etc.
Calvin D Lou
Original Message Next Reply Subject Index
Round Valley & Los Vaqueros watershed
(Contra Costa County)
Sat, 23 Dec 2000 20:58:05 -0800
From: Mike Feighner
East Bay Birders:
I tried this afternoon to track down the two Lewis' Woodpeckers that Otto Haubensak had seen on December 17th in Round Valley Regional Park in eastern Contra Costa County off Marsh Creek Rd.
The actual area to look for the Lewis' Woodpeckers is 1.2 miles from the start of the Miwok Trail where you enter the valley, and the main trail bends left to the south, and another trail heads straight ahead to the west where you pass through a gate. There is a black watertank here as well. There are two other watertanks further along there trail. At 1.92 miles there is a green water tank, and this is the only place where the trail turns to the north. Later I ran into Otto Haubensak and three others who were finishing up their Christmas Bird Count. From Otto I learned where I should have been looking for the Lewis' Woodpeckers. They hadn't seen any either today. I promised I would post something if I thought they may have missed something. They said they saw no Bald Eagle, and I saw none either. So, I don't really know if I saw anything different from what they saw. I actually ended up at Los Vaqueros Reservoir at exactly the same spot I birded two weeks ago where there were two Golden Eagles and an Osprey. Round-trip hike is about 9 miles. Here is my tally for today:
Eared Grebe - about 40
Pied-billed Grebe
Clark's Grebe - 1
Double-crested Cormorant
Snowy Egret - 1
Great Blue Heron - 8
Mallard
American Wigeon - heard only
Northern Pintail - estimate of over 1,000 that took to flight as a small plane flew over...
Common Merganser
Osprey - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 1
American Kestrel - 2
Peregrine Falcon - 1, probably of race anatum, still showing some streaking on the breast, perched at the east end of the mud spit, getting out there is quite muddy, but it can be done....
Killdeer - 1, heard only
Greater Yellowlegs - 1
Long-billed Curlew - 20 (1.72 miles from start of Miwok Trail)
California Gull
Mourning Dove
Acorn Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Nuttall's Woodpecker
Black Phoebe
Oak Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Western Bluebird
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird - 1
European Starling
American Pipit - 1
Phainopepla - single female, 0.25 mile past the last gate before reaching the reservoir
Savannah Sparrow
Western Meadowlark
Red-winged Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
Lesser Goldfinch
37 species
Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA, Alameda County
Original Message Subject Index
Eastern Contra Costa County - Holland Tract
Sat, 23 Dec 2000 22:09:00 -0800
From: Calvin Lou
Hello All,
I went looking for a few birds in eastern Contra Costa County today. I started at Marsh Creek Reservior where I had the following:
Common Merganser (15)
Common Goldeneyes (8)
American White Pelicans (4)
Canvasbacks (120+)
Green-winged teal (4)
At Round Valley Regional Park:
Western Bluebirds
Say's Phoebe
At Holland Tract:
Sandhill Cranes (100+)
Yellow-headed Blackbirds (34+) in flooded field to the north in Tricolored Blackbird flock
Tundra Swan (8 in Contra Costa County, but 1,000 in the total flock - San Joaquin County, I think)
Cattle Egret (2), fly-by heading north
Green Heron (1)
Common Snipe (4) in flooded field
Calvin D Lou