Lake Merritt: Glaucous Gull - yes;
Tufted Duck - no
Thu, 1 Mar 2001 09:59:24 -0800
From: Mike Ezekiel
Although I don't normally "do" immature gulls, yesterday evening (February 29th) a first winter Glaucous Gull forced itself on me. It was first on the lawn, with the Canada Geese, opposite the duck pond; when I returned to the area after again unscuccessfully searching for the Tufted Duck, it was sitting in the duck pond area.
Classic white primaries, pinkish legs, pink bill with solid black tip and dark eye. Also had the smudgy brown on the back shown in Sibley.
I searched for it again this morning but didn't find it.
The two Egyptian Geese, which have spent the last several months hanging out with a rowdy gaggle of Mallards in the underbrush near the band stand, have returned to the duck pond area - beautiful birds.
Mike Ezekiel
Oakland, Ca
Wildcat Creek Regional Trail & Miller/Knox
Regional Seashore
Thu, 01 Mar 2001 19:41:18 -0800
From: Larry Tunstall
On Alan Kaplan's East Bay Regional Parks birdwalk this morning on Wildcat Creek Regional Trail off the Richmond Parkway, we enjoyed watching a pair of White-tailed Kites. One even perched on a fence and devoured a rodent as we watched (better than "Survivors"). A Red-tailed Hawk was also working the area.
Red-winged Blackbirds were putting on spectacular displays as the early arrivals each tried to claim most of the little marsh. Most unexpected bird of the morning was a Ring-necked Pheasant.
After the walk, I went to Miller/Knox Regional Shoreline in Point Richmond to see if the Eurasian Wigeon is hanging out with the park flock of American Wigeons this winter. I couldn't find it. However, I did find 3 Red-breasted Mergansers and what certainly looked like a Rufous Hummingbird. Around the pond in the midst of vast lawns, it's always a surprise to find Black-bellied Plover, Dunlin, Western Sandpiper, and Killdeer.
A Red-tailed Hawk was the only raptor I could spot across the street on or above the hillsides.
A quick visit to Ferry Point (threading my way through road repaving crews) revealed an amazingly placid bay with very few birds in sight on it. A flock of around 20 Aechmophorus grebes, a few Surf Scoters, a flock of 8 scaup of both species, and a couple of Black Phoebes grabbing insects over the water from perches on bayside rocks. And a couple of Killdeer working the lawns here also. One Brown Pelican flew by just as I was leaving, a nice consolation prize.
Good birding, Larry
Larry Tunstall
El Cerrito CA
Ruff still at Dumbarton
Thu, 01 Mar 2001 22:45:08 -0800
From: Joseph Morlan
Today Robbie Fischer and I saw the Ruff at the Dumbarton Bridge Toll Plaza. Go through the toll plaza, pay the $2 and stay in the right lane. Immediately pull off to the first pond on the right (north) just beyond a large blue dumpster. The Ruff hangs around the near corner of the pond, best seen by staying in your car. If you get out of your car, the bird will probably fly to the far end of the salt pond.
It's been there for several months and is very easy to see. Good luck.
Joseph Morlan, Pacifica, CA 94044
California Birding; Mystery Birds:
http://fog.ccsf.org/~jmorlan/
California Bird Records Committee: http://www.wfo-cbrc.org/cbrc/
Arrowhead Marsh - Semipalmated Plover and
other stuff
Sat, 3 Mar 2001 19:49:44 -0800
From: Mike Ezekiel
Dear EBBers,
This morning March 3rd, in about 3 hours at Arrowhead Marsh, Martin Luther King Jr Regional Shoreline in Oakland, I saw, among other birds, 2 White-throated Swifts (don't think I have seen them there before), 3 Burrowing Owls (this year they are mostly not inside the fence but in ground-squirrel holes on the left side of the road), 2 Clapper Rails and a great assortment of the usual stuff including the birds below.
I stopped again about 5 PM when I realized I didn't have enough time to chase the Ruff, and added the Peregrine Falcon (it seemed to have a bloody/feathery thing at its feet), 2 Semipalmated Plovers (the first I have seen this winter/spring) and a similar assortment of the usual birds. Have not seen the Blue-winged Teals in 2 or 3 visits; also, missed seeing the Red Knots which have been reported recently.
Other birds:
Double-crowned Cormorant
Horned Grebe
Eared Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe
Clark's Grebe
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Canada Geese
Pintail
Mallard
Lesser Scaup
Greater Scaup
Green-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
American Wigeon
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Red-breasted Merganser
Surf Scoter
Ruddy Duck
Canvasback
Least Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Black-bellied Plover - lots - some going to breeding plumage
Dunlin
dowitcher sp.
Long-billed Curlew
Lesser Yellowlegs
American Avocet
Black-necked Stilt
Willet
Marbled Godwit
Black Turnstone
Killdeer
Ring-billed Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Western Gull
Forster's Tern
American Coot
Clapper Rail
Peregrine Falcon
Turkey Vulture
Red-tailed Hawk
White-throated Swift
Northern Flicker
Mourning Dove
Golden-crowned Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Marsh Wren
Black Phoebe
Northern Mockingbird
American Crow
European Starling
and I probably forgot to write more of them down.