Lake Chabot
Sun, 21 Jan 2001 18:30:00 PST
From: Kathy Robertson
Hello East Bay Birders,
This afternoon I birded Lake Chabot in the Oakland hills for a couple of hours. Birds of note included a female Wood Duck (haven't seen the male for a while) and a Ross' Goose (which has been resident there since at least June 1999). Both of these birds were at the marina. At the boardwalk just south of the marina there was a pair of Purple Finches.
Hiked out East Shore Trail, where I had Golden-crowned Kinglets in pines at the first major curve in the trail where you lose sight of the marina. And at the mudflat/marsh area near the intersection with Cameron Loop Trail, there was Greater Yellowlegs and 9 Common Snipe. The snipe were in water up to their bellies and feeding in a very dowitcher-like manner.
On the way back, I spotted a Great Blue Heron apparently "mousing" up on a grassy hillside opposite the marina. It was getting dark so I couldn't stick around to see what he might have caught.
Good birding,
Kathy Robertson
Hayward
Re: Reeve still at Dumbarton toll area
Sun, 21 Jan 2001 19:32:01 -0800
From: Darrell Lee
I saw the Reeve Saturday morning. It was in the rocks on the west jetty of the first pond, with Dunlin, Least Sandpiper, a Lesser Yellowlegs, and Black-necked Stilts.
Darrell Lee
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Re: Reeve still at Dumbarton toll area
Sun, 21 Jan 2001 19:41:20 -0800
From: Mike Feighner
East Bay Birders:
I believe this is the first Ruff in Alameda County since 1990, or have I missed any records since then? On 4 March 1990 Rich Cimino and I viewed a Ruff in Alameda County at a pond at the north entrance to Hayward Shoreline.
Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA, Alameda County
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Rough-legged Hawk at Coyote Hills on Sunday
Wed, 24 Jan 2001 10:50:29 -0800
From: Larry Tunstall
I'm forwarding the following message for Bill Scoggins, who was having trouble getting it posted:
Subject: Rough-legged Hawk at Coyote Hills
Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2001 19:58:21 PST
From: Bill ScogginsCoyote Hills Regional Park, Southern Alameda County, Fremont, California, USA
On Sunday at noon, 21 January 2001, Carol Donohoe and I were at Coyote Hills Regional Park to check out the immature Bald Eagle seen several times in the last two weeks by different observers, including me, near the entrance kiosk. Carol pointed out that the raptor we were looking at had a smaller bill than a Bald Eagle and that the white bib extended from the throat down past the the breast, much further down than the Bald. The head appears to be white with some dark streaking. Finally it took flight and we clearly saw the under wing which was nearly all white/light and a large black area (carpal patch) about two-thirds the way toward the wing tip from the body. She pointed out that this pattern is consistent with a light morph juvenile Rough-legged Hawk. It had a dark belly and a wide dark band across the tail. There is a drawing of this juvenile on page 125 of the Sibley Guide to Birds. There may be a Bald Eagle at Coyote Hills, but the bird we saw on Sunday was a Rough-legged Hawk. Two photographers sent pictures of the "Bald Eagle" last week; upon closer examination, these photos appear to be the immature Rough-legged Hawk.
In the big pond in the Main Marsh, Carol spotted a female Barrow's Goldeneye with an near all yellow/orange bill and a steeper forehead than a Common Goldeneye male swimming next to it. There were 450+ Canvasback and 80+ Ruddy Duck in the same pond. A Merlin flew overhead and we saw 6 Ring-billed Gull. Also seen were 12 Cinnamon Teal, 2 American Wigeon, and 2 female Nuttall's Woodpecker.
Happy birding,
Bill Scoggins, Castro Valley, CA
Posted to EBbird by Larry Tunstall
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Reeve, swifts
Wed, 24 Jan 2001 11:13:45 -0800 (PST)
From: Vijay Ramachandran
Hello.
This Saturday (January 20), I had excellent views of the Reeve near the Dumbarton Bridge toll plaza in Fremont. I think that there is a way to avoid paying the toll - just before the toll-plaza entrance, there is a turnofff to the right side, which leads to the parking lot where presumably the toll-workers park. I didn't see any signs prohibiting access/parking ... from here, the pond is a very short walk. The downside to this is that one cannot use one's car as a blind.
On Sunday, at Lake Cunningham in San Jose, there was a flock of White-throated Swifts (at least 6, possibly 10+) flying over the lake. Are they expected to be found at this time of the year?
good birding,
Vijay
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Re: Reeve, swifts
24 Jan 2001 12:09:31 -0800
From: Les Chibana
Vijay,
If you park at the toll workers' parking area, are you able to leave without going through the toll booths?
White-throated Swifts have a year 'round presence in the area.
Les Chibana
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Re: Reeve
Wed, 24 Jan 2001 12:13:25 -0800 (PST)
From: Vijay Ramachandran
On the way out, to avoid going through the toll booth, the parking lot is connected to the road (Dumbarton Ave?) which runs alongside the quarry, and joins Paseo Padre Pkwy.
Vijay
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Re: Reeve
Wed, 24 Jan 2001 12:25:41 PST
From: Ed Pandolfino
Regarding access to viewing the Reeve, there may be a free and legal option. I don't know for sure if you can see the bird from here, but it might be scope-able from the walkway above the toll booths. This is accessed by parking at the entrance to the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge Visitors Center on Marshlands Road. You then cross Marshlands Road right across from the parking lot entrance and walk up the trail heading north. This trail leads to the walkway right over the toll booths. Might work.
Ed Pandolfino
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Re: Rough-legged Hawk at Coyote Hills on
Sunday
Wed, 24 Jan 2001 15:33:35 -0800
From: Tom Condit
Well, I didn't bring my scope the other day because I didn't want to cart it up Red Hill, and the bird in question was quite a way from us across a field. I thought it was a Bald Eagle, but that's what I was expecting to see. Certainly nothing in its appearance conflicted with the immature Rough-legged Hawk in Plate 10 of Clark and Wheeler, Hawks (Peterson Field Guides, Houghton Mifflin). In fact, it looked a lot like that. We didn't see it flying. I'll ask Marsha (whose 9Xs are sometimes more useful than my 8Xs for these things) to look at the plates and search her memory when she gets home.
Tom Condit
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