Prairie Falcon at Tilden
Fri, 6 Jul 2001 20:32:10 PDT
From: Brian Fitch
Today in Tilden Regional Park [Berkeley Hills], we saw a Prairie Falcon soaring low over Vollmer Peak. The bird was heading south along the ridge at around 10:40 AM. Vollmer is at the southern tip of the park, at the intersection of South Park Dr and Grizzly Peak Blvd. There was also a small flock of Pygmy Nuthatches wandering the pines from the peak down to South Park Dr.
Brian Fitch
Skimming Forster's Terns
Sat, 7 Jul 2001 12:24:35 -0700
From: Mike Ezekiel
In the last several days, I have seen a Forster's Tern at Lake Merritt in Oakland doing "skimmer" feeding - flying just above the surface and dipping its bill down, apparently trying to catch a fish.
Although it does not keep its lower mandible in constant touch with the water and drag it thru the way Black Skimmers do (it dipped the tip of the bill several times during its low-level flight just above the water), I have never seen this behavior before.
Anyone else?
Mike Ezekiel
Oakland
Birds
Sat, 7 Jul 2001 23:59:00 PDT
From: Anthony Fisher
Took my little girl to the mud flats at Crab Cove in Alameda. There were lots of cool Lugworm egg cases and castings. The tide was very low, leaving many puddles in the shallow depressions in the mud. Many of these puddles contained Sea Lettuce or other seaweeds and a fish fry or two. The little fish contained in the puddles were the focus of 20 hovering, swooping and swirling Least Terns. We watched a juvenile tern on the flats calling for food as its parents busily hunted overhead. A single Black Oystercatcher was among the roosting gulls.
At Radio Tower Beach next to the Bay Bridge toll plaza, I stumbled upon a solitary juvenile Snowy Plover today. Laying in the dunes to steady my binoculars, under sun and wind and the sound of lapping waves drowning out the traffic, I dozed to the smell of some pungent dune plant. When I awoke the plover was gone and the tracks of a man and his dog were in the sand.
Peace -
Ant
Re: Skimming Forster's Terns
Sun, 08 Jul 2001 18:46:16 PDT
From: Peter Dramer
Mike and All
The Forster's Terns at Hayward Regional Shoreline sometimes do a flycatching routine when flies are on the water. While I can tell what they are doing I can never actually see the particular fly that they are chasing.
Peter
Original Message Subject Index
Black Skimmers at Hayward Shoreline
Sun, 8 Jul 2001 21:26:12 PDT
From: Bob Richmond
Today at the Hayward Shoreline while doing a Tern and Skimmer count for San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory, 12 Black Skimmer's were seen. This included 2 young birds but the rest were adults. This included only 1 confirmed nest (another was abandoned) and several possible nests.
Good Birding
Bob
Meeker Slough in Richmond on Sunday
Mon, 9 Jul 2001 01:47:00 -0700
From: Mike Ezekiel
Sunday afternoon between 4 and 6 PM I walked from Point Isabel in Richmond towards Miller/Knox Regional Park, ending at the Meeker Slough area. Although it was quite windy on the Bay and "high tide"ish, there were a fair number of shorebirds. I hadn't been to this area with a scope before - although most of the flats were covered by the tide, it should be a nice area when there are more birds and mudflats to view them on. However, no Black Skimmer or Clapper Rail, if this is the area which was referred to last month.
Long-billed Curlew (at least 20)
Short-billed Dowitcher
lots of Willets
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpipers
Killdeer
Marbled Godwits
Forster's Terns
Caspian Terns
Western Gulls
California Gulls
Also, in no particular order
Pied-billed Grebe
American Coot
Double-crested Cormorants
Snowy Egret
Great Egret
Ruddy Duck
Mallard
Red-winged Blackbird
family of Black Phoebe
Lesser Goldfinch
Turkey Vulture
Common Raven
House Finch
Mike Ezekiel
Oakland
RFI: Hooded Oriole
Mon, 09 Jul 2001 19:35:18 -0700
From: Judi Cooper
I would like to see a Hooded Oriole if there are any still around. I would appreciate knowing about any current sightings.
I live in Moraga.
Thank you,
Judi
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