Arrowhead Marsh
Fri, 18 Jan 2002 13:25:10 -0800
From: J. D. Kay
Hi everyone ... happy Friday. I took a walk out at Arrowhead Marsh [in Martin Luther King Jr Regional Shoreline, Oakland] this morning, from 9:00 to 10:30 or so, and there was quite a bit of activity. A little chilly but beautiful.
Western Grebe
Eared Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Canada Goose
Mallard
Northern Pintail (looking particularly stunning)
American Wigeon
Green Winged Teal (15 to 20)
Canvasback
Lesser Scaup
Surf Scoter
Common Goldeneye
Bufflehead
Clapper Rail
American Coot
Black Turnstone
Marbled Godwit
American Avocet
Black-necked Stilt
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
Western Sandpiper
Forster'sTern
Herring Gull
Anna's Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher (very active)
European Starling
White-crowned Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
American Robin (a flock of 200 to 300 ! in the trees and bushes on Pardee Ln)
Looking around at all the "stuff" surrounding this area (airport, offices, highway, roads, manufacturing, etc.) it really is astonishing how much life this small area supports. It blows one's mind to think of what it must have been like 100, even 50 years ago.
Have a good weekend.......
J.D. Kay
A Varied Thrush at last, in Tilden
Fri, 18 Jan 2002 14:51:43 -0800
From: Bob Hole
Greetings,
I have hunted all effusive
for that prey that's sure ellusive.
Through the redwoods and the creeks,
enduring sneezes and some freaks,
I have traveled roads so narrow
they'd be trouble for a barrow.
Now at last, thanks to ya'll
I'm no longer under thrall.
Today with wing flaps in a rush
I did find my Varied Thrush.
At Lake Anza up in Tilden
by the pumphouse it was hidden.
On a path below the dam
a male was perched - it was no sham.
From the ground up he did fly
to branch level with my eye. Fifteen paces off he stood
with stripéd breast and stripéd hood.
But wait, there was a little catch
A few steps farther was his match.
A female too I did see
and up leapt quiet shouts of glee.
Other things were in the area,
ducks and jays that brought hysteria.
It was all a gleeful time
but that's what fits this silly rhyme.
Bob
Robert Hole, Jr.
Original Message More Complete Report Subject Index
Arrowhead Marsh and Lake Merritt
Fri, 18 Jan 2002 19:39:29 -0800
From: Mike Ezekiel
I birded Arrowhead Marsh (Martin Luther King Jr Regional Shoreline, Oakland) in mid-afternoon and can only add two birds to the earlier report posted. There were both Barrow's and Common Goldeneye in the slough and a fantastic Peregrine Falcon which flushed great clots of shorebirds and then gulls on strafing runs over the Mitigation Marsh - seemingly without success. But there were lots of feathers around its customary perch on the log in the middle of Mitigation Marsh so it has had some success.
At Lake Merritt in Oakland, there are lots of the usual ducks - scaup of both stripes, Canvasback, Ruddy Ducks - and lots of Goldeneye - both Barrows and Common - although most had heads well tucked in. I arrived too late to look for the Dusky-capped Flycatcher - and didn't check the duck pond area for the Cattle Egret which was present several days ago when I last looked.
Still no sign of a Tufted Duck?
Mike Ezekiel
Oakland
Lake Anza, Tilden Regional Park
Fri, 18 Jan 2002 22:33:32 -0800
From: Bob Hole
In my earlier report on today's trip to Lake Anza [Tilden Regional Park, Berkeley Hills], I mentioned I saw other birds besides Varied Thrush. One of them was, to me, notable:
Overhead a very dark Red-tailed Hawk circled for awhile. Its head and shoulders, underwing coverts, and all it's breast and belly were dark. I mistook it at a glance for a Turkey Vulture, as the light was in a similar pattern. Even the red of the tail seemed a dark, but it was definitely a redtail.
Others seen (10:30 to 11 AM):
Dark-eyed Junco
American Robin
Steller's Jay
Double-crested Cormorant (two on lake)
Hermit Thrush (at least two)
Ring-necked Duck ("pair" on lake)
Turkey Vulture
Oak Titmouse
Anna's Hummingbird (lone male)
A quick stop at the Inspiration Point parking lot gave me three "normal" Red-tailed Hawks - two who sat together for awhile on a power tower; two Turkey Vultures and a Golden-crowned Sparrow.
Bob
Robert Hole, Jr.
Earlier Partial Report Subject Index