Ring-necked Duck at Lake Merritt, Oakland
Wed, 24 Dec 2003 12:09:38 -0800
From: Derek Heins
Saw a male Ring-Necked Duck at the feeding station at Lake Merritt in Oakland on Sunday. Are they regulars at Lake Merritt?
Derek Heins
Piedmont
American Dipper still at Temescal Regional Recreation
Area
Thu, 25 Dec 2003 21:11:50 -0800
From: Stephen Long
East Bay Birders,
I saw that the American Dipper located by Dave Quady in Temescal Regional Recreation Area (Oakland) was missed on the Oakland Christmas Bird Count, so I figured that I had missed my chance to add this species to my Alameda County list. But, nothing ventured, nothing gained, so I went out this morning (Christmas) to see if it might still be around. I arrived at Temescal (see Dave's excellent directions) at 10:40 AM, parked in the closest spot to the wooden bridge (parking lot expectedly empty), walked over to the bridge and looked upstream. No dipper. "Well, another miss," I thought. But I was prepared to explore a little, and after a grueling wait of approximately 90 seconds, there it was! (#194 on my county list) It was about halfway between the bridge and the culvert outfall that marks the upstream limit of Temescal Creek. It flew to the outfall, and then back downstream, landing about 10 feet in front of the bridge. What amazes me is that this small stream - small in breadth, depth and length - could support a sufficient invertebrate population to keep a dipper plump and happy. Reflecting that a dipper territory on a Sierra stream in the summer can be as much as a mile long, containing hundreds (if not thousands) of nooks-and-crannies for insect larvae to hang out waiting to be eaten by a passing dipper, it boggles credulity that the few dozen invertebrate hiding places on Temescal Creek is enough to keep this bird here.
Stephen Long
Oakland, CA
Hayward-Fremont Christmas Bird Count
Fri,
26 Dec 2003 08:04:49 PST
From: Phil and Pat Gordon
Greetings Birders!
The following represents a brief, preliminary, and quick review of the Hayward-Fremont Christmas Count held Sunday, December 21st.
The weather was good as was the participation, and we thank both! We had a high species count of 173! Highlights of the count includes a Black Rail found by Phil Gordon in the South Baumberg area along the old Alameda Creek channel and a Bald Eagle in the hill area near Don Castro Park spotted by Kevin Hintsa. Steve Glover added Surfbirds along the Hayward Shoreline and Black Oystercatchers now are regulars also along the shoreline, found by the team led by Sheila Junge. Shorebirds were in good numbers including nearly 10,000 Dunlin in Baumberg along with at least 100 Snowy Plovers and other sightings of these plovers in the shoreline area. The Aleutian subspecies of the Canada Goose was reported by several groups. Peregrine Falcons continue in good numbers, which we have too many sightings that will have to be sorted through! There were also several sightings of Osprey along the shoreline and also in the inland areas. A Golden Eagle along the shoreline was also the first in several years. Burrowing Owls were also here and there, squeezed into ever decreasing habitats, surrounded by horrendous development along the shoreline.
The North Dumbarton Bridge-Coyote Hills area, most ably birded by the Ed Pandolfino group, hit an all-time high of incredible 120 species for the area, including Rock Wren. Many Townsend's Warblers and Orange-crowned Warblers were added, along with sightings of these two species in the inland areas also. A White-throated Sparrow was also found in the hill area, and the early-bird owling group found Western Screech Owl, Barn Owl, and Great Horned Owl! Acorn Woodpeckers have moved into our area in Fremont with several sightings and finally a Yellow-billed Magpie appeared. Also found near the count circle center at Whipple and Hwy 880 were two Selasphorus sp. which have been found regularly in past years in the same eucalyptus trees at the Radisson Hotel.
Also, along the shoreline were high counts of Brown Pelicans! (Preliminary count of 43 in one group!). Also exciting was the presence of three species of swallows including Barn Swallows in good number, Tree Swallows, and Violet-green Swallows.
The Don Edwards Refuge personnel shared their numbers from the rail count they conducted on count day, including many Virginia Rails and Clapper Rails and they gave us another Short-eared Owl! Thanks, guys!
The hill area included several sightings of Wild Turkeys which have become regulars! Several groups did comment that the overall land-bird count is down, particularly sparrows. While the final count of duck numbers is not in, they also seem to be in lesser numbers. Notable misses included the "hoodies" [Hooded Mergansers] and "woodies" [Wood Ducks]. Where were they on count day?
One interesting incident included being kicked out of the San Mateo Toll Plaza area because of the Orange Alert initiated on Sunday about noon. The North Baumberg group was told to get back to their cars and away from the toll plaza. Fortunately for us, another team member had driven the bridge in the morning and was able to make a couple of stops along the bridge with Cal Trans' cooperation and was able to count waterfowl on the bay. Pelagic Cormorants were also seen from the bridge.
We would like to extend our thanks to all our counters, recorders, and everyone else who helped make this a very successful count and wish you our best and many birds in the new year.
Sincerely,
Phil and Pat Gordon
Compilers of the Hayward-Fremont Count
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Re: Hayward-Fremont Christmas Bird Count
Fri,
26 Dec 2003 13:08:13 -0800
From: Paul Webster
Congratulations to the teams that completed the Hayward-Fremont Christmas Bird Count with so many good sightings! Concerning the fantastic sighting of a Black Rail, I'm reminded of a note I saw somewhere that claimed the Black Rail is not a bird at all, but rather a member of the order "Invisibilidae." "You may tick one," the source continues, "but nobody will believe you." However, the CBC experts have made a believer out of me.
Paul Webster
Seattle
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Re: Hayward-Fremont Christmas Bird Count
Fri,
26 Dec 2003 19:14:43 -0800
From: Toby and Bill Gottfried
Would appreciate more specific location of the south Baumberg / Old Alameda Creek sighting of the Black Rail. We tried to find it today, but with no success. Did see one female winter-plumaged Long-tailed Duck near the entrance of the Hayward Shoreline Interpretive Center off of Hwy 92 today, Friday December 26th.
Toby and Bill Gottfried
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