Tufted Duck
Tue, 19 Jan 1999 13:19:15 -0800 (PST)
From: Graham Etherington
Hi folks, I had an adult male TUFTED DUCK at Emeryville today. It was just north of that long spit, with the parking area between Emeryville marina and Berkeley marina. I think it's called Point Emeryville. [It's Point Emery, at the foot of Ashby Ave. --Larry] It was asleep with large flock of Scaup and Redheads, but it's easy to pick out due to it's jet black back and long shaggy crest.
Good birding,
Graham Etherington
UC Berkeley
MLK Shoreline, Oyster Bay, Lake Merritt
Channel
Thu, 21 Jan 1999 20:21:20 -0800
From: Larry Tunstall
Thursday morning January 21 with Ohlone Audubon Society at Martin Luther King Jr Regional Shoreline (Arrowhead Marsh, new Erstwhile Marsh, and Garretson Point). Highlights were a lovely male Barrow's Goldeneye swimming back and forth near shore with two females in the mouth of San Leandro Creek, and a Clapper Rail swimming far out in the water (but scampering cootlike over the surface to make a quick exit in the reeds upon seeing dozens of birders rushing to stare at it!). Weather was pleasant but overcast, not windy. My list (which may omit some things seen by others in the group):
Pied-billed Grebe, Horned Grebe, Eared Grebe, Western Grebe, Clark's Grebe, Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Canada Goose, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, Blue-winged Teal, Cinnamon Teal, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Canvasback, Greater Scaup, Lesser Scaup, Common Goldeneye, Barrow's Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck, Turkey Vulture, Clapper Rail, American Coot, Black-bellied Plover, Black-necked Stilt, American Avocet, Greater Yellowlegs, Willet, Long-billed Curlew, Marbled Godwit, Western Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Dunlin, Dowitcher sp, Ring-billed Gull, Western Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Forster's Tern, Rock Dove, Anna's Hummingbird, Northern Flicker, Black Phoebe, American Crow, European Starling, Yellow-rumped Warbler, California Towhee, Fox Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, House Finch.
After the fieldtrip, I made my first visit to Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline for a quick look around. Nice picnic facilities, but otherwise the place is a mess (trails don't match map, no trail signs, a maze of muddy paths around the landfill where it is quite unclear which are park trails and which unofficial ones). I've been told that the landfill has leakage problems and there is current dispute as to who should control the land while fixes are made, and whether public should be admitted, so apparently all further development of the park is on hold. Still, it would be nice to have some signage to indicate where one should or shouldn't go. I didn't walk around the shoreline trail, so got only distant looks at ducks in bad light with no scope and couldn't identify anything except scaups, though there were lots of ducks out there. Highlight was a kestrel harrassing a redtail near ground level and not far from me (the redtail left, and the kestrel stayed in the area below the "wave sculpture"). Here's my brief list:
Canada Goose, Scaup sp, Turkey Vulture, Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, Rock Dove, Anna's Hummingbird, Black Phoebe, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, Northern Mockingbird, Yellow-rumped Warbler, California Towhee, White-crowned Sparrow, House Finch.
On the way home, mid-afternoon by now, I stopped by Lake Merritt Channel to look for the Hooded Merganser. Didn't find it, but there were several dozen goldeneyes, both Common and Barrow's, including quite a few young males of both species looking like females with cheek patches. This channel is a great spot for close looks at the goldeneyes. Here's my list:
Pied-billed Grebe, Double-Crested Cormorant, Great Egret, Canada Goose, Mallard, American Wigeon, Redhead, Greater Scaup, Lesser Scaup, Common Goldeneye, Barrow's Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck, American Coot, Ring-billed Gull, Western Gull.
All in all, a very nice day compared to the quiet outings I've had in the recent damp and cold weather.
Good birding, Larry
Larry Tunstall
El Cerrito CA