Goldeneyes in Tilden Nature Area, Berkeley Hills
Fri, 28 Nov 2003 10:14:24 -0800
From: John Poole
This morning I took a short walk in the Tilden Nature Area (of Tilden Regional Park) in the Berkeley Hills. At Jewel Lake I found two goldeneyes. One was a juvenile Common Goldeneye while the other appeared to be an adult female Barrow's Goldeneye. Yellow bill and forward-sloping forehead. If anyone else finds the Barrow's at Tilden, please let me know if my identification looks OK.
This is a rare sighting for Tilden Regional Park. With any luck it will hang around until Christmas Bird Count week.
Good Birding!
John Poole
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Wild Turkeys near Oakland Zoo
Fri, 28 Nov
2003 12:43:17 -0800
From: Arlyn Christopherson
The flock of Wild Turkeys that lives in and around the small drainage canyon to San Leandro Creek, in the Oakland Hills, on the far side of the Oakland Zoo, has been fragmented since the breeding season, but this morning they all got together. I counted 50 birds and am sure I missed 3 or 4 behind bushes. One wonders just how many birds this area can sustain.
Arlyn, Oakland Hills
Re: Goldeneyes in Tilden Nature Area
Fri,
28 Nov 2003 14:57:07 -0800
From: Bob Brandriff
East Bay Birders:
George Griffeth asked me to forward this note to the list. I ran into George at Jewel Lake; on the way back to the parking lot he pointed out the continuing Yellow-bellied Sapsucker just east of the visitor's center.
Bob Brandriff
From: George Griffeth
Sent: Friday, November 28, 2003 2:44 PM
Subject: GoldeneyeAfter reading John Poole's post, I went to Jewel Lake today and saw two goldeneyes, one of which was a normal dark-billed Common Goldeneye, while the other had a pale bill. The light was a little weak, which I'm using as my excuse for the fuzziness and overall lameness of the shots I was able to get. Anyway, following is a link to the shots I got of the pale-billed one. I'll let folks draw their conclusions (I'm not exactly regarded as a duck-ID expert), but I'll note one field observation that may not come across well in the pictures: the bill mostly didn't look so much yellow as pale, as though bleached-out. The first picture in the set probably gives the best idea of what the bill looked like in the field.
http://universe.housing.berkeley.edu/GGTest/photos/Birds/Water_Shore_Birds/GoldEyeJewelLk.htmWhatever species this one is, it was fun to look at. It certainly was a pleasure to see goldeneyes using Jewel Lake, and I'm sure it will be fun for the North Tilden Christmas bird counters if either or both of these ducks sticks around.
(P.S. My digital camera automatically numbers the shots when it transfers them to hard disk after you pick a name, and the second picture on the page came out as "Goldeneye 007.jpg" ... I suddenly wanted to go see a spy movie, har har har.)
George Griffeth
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Tufted Ducks in Berkeley and Oakland
Fri,
28 Nov 2003 17:24:33 -0800 (PST)
From: Bob Power
Hi all:
The male Tufted Duck seen in the bay just north of Ashby Ave in Berkeley was still with the raft of ducks accumulating there. The flotilla has grown considerably over the last week, but the Tufted Duck seems to be consistently on the shoreline side of the flock and consistently near the Redheads.
The female Tufted Duck at Lake Merritt in Oakland continued to associate with the Lesser Scaup and other wonder-bread eating (I haven't touched the stuff in 30 years - don't look at me) waterfowl near the visitor's center.
Good birding,
Bob Power
Oakland
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