Martin Luther King Shoreline, Saturday morning
Sat, 03 Jul 1999 11:07:28 -0700
From: Courtenay Peddle
Hello folks,
Congratulations Len on the season's first peeps!
This morning at Martin Luther King Jr Regional Shoreline in Oakland, in addition to the Usual Suspects, I had:
1 Whimbrel
1 phalarope sp. - needed a scope to confirm it as the likely Red-necked, but was walking the (leashed) dog
2 Bonaparte's Gulls
at least 70 peeps, a mixed flock of Leasts and Westerns - my first for the season
Time to get out birding with a scope, in hope of a Semipalmated Sandpiper or two...
Good birding!
Courtenay Peddle
The Clapper rails at Arrowhead Marsh
Sat, 03 Jul 1999 11:23:41 -0700
From: Courtenay Peddle
Hello folks,
Arrowhead Marsh [in Martin Luther King Jr Regional Shoreline in Oakland] at low tide is an excellent place to see Clapper Rails. At least 30 percent of the time I visit at low tide, I see one, a member of what I call the subspecies, Arrowhead extrovertus. One bird in particular is completely fearless, or incredibly shortsighted! I see it quite frequently, from as close as 25 yards, while my leashed dog digs for ground squirrels. The bird will bathe and preen unconcernedly while the dog jumps around and barks, while joggers, cyclists and walkers pass by. The best place to observe this aberrant behavior is between the fishing pier and the boardwalk over the marsh.
In Oakland, take the Nimitz Freeway to Hegenberger; west on Hegenberger to Doolittle; right on Doolittle; right on Swan Way, then left into the shoreline. Drive to the parking lot at the end of the road (checking for the Burrowing Owl on the left after you pass the middle parking lot). Park and walk toward downtown Oakland, which is on the horizon. As you come to the water's edge, you'll see the fishing pier to your right, and about 50 yards to your left, the boardwalk. Immediately to your left is a narrow finger of marsh grasses separating the narrow mud channel beside the path from a wider mudflat. Often a rail is at the point of the finger, where it likes to preen and bathe in a puddle that remains when the tide drops.
If you have a scope, take it along. Now that the migration has begun, who knows what you might find?
Good birding!
Courtenay Peddle
Lake Merritt
Wed, 7 Jul 1999 16:08:49 -0700
From: Bob Brandriff
East Bay Birders:
Of possible local interest, I've been seeing Least Terns along the west shore of Lake Merritt quite a few times in the last couple of weeks at lunch time. There have been up to six of them feeding at one time; yesterday there were three.
Also, there seems to be a population explosion of Canada Geese. They're all over the place at the lake. I keep thinking about counting them on my walk around the lake but always get side-tracked with one thing or another.
We haven't seen the male Rose-breasted Grosbeak at our feeder for two days now; it may be gone although we haven't spent much time looking recently.
Bob