Barwits? In Berkeley?
Fri, 9 Jul 1999 12:01:45 -0700 (PDT)
From: Emilie
According to the Rare Bird Alert, someone from Oregon reported a Bar-tailed Godwit from Berkeley yesterday. The location was somewhat vague but it sounded like the bird was seen at high tide in either of the two coves directly south of University Avenue by the bay. I checked briefly today with no luck.
Arrowhead Marsh
Sun, 11 Jul 1999 15:06:22 -0700 (PDT)
From: Graham Etherington
Hi all,
I went to Arrowhead Marsh [Martin Luther King Jr Regional Shoreline, Oakland] at high tide today (Sunday). Quite a few shorebirds starting their return migration, all of them adults (probably failed breeders getting an early start - expect some juveniles in a few weeks time).
Here are the highlights (most shorebird counts are estimates):
Bonaparte's Gull - 5
Western Sandpiper - 200
Least Sandpiper - 20
Short-billed Dowitcher - 50
Marbled Godwit - 2
Whimbrel - 1
Long-billed Curlew - 4
Black-bellied Plover - 10
Greater Yellowlegs - 7
White Pelican - 18 flew over heading south
Least Tern - 1 fishing off pier
I had a look along Berkeley waterfront for the reported "Bar-wit" [Bar-tailed Godwit], but the area referred to was already pretty high with water and most birds had dispersed.
Good birding,
Graham Etherington
UC Berkeley
Re: Barwits? In Berkeley?
Sun, 11 Jul 1999 15:44:13 -0700
From: Sally Walters
This morning from 10 until 11, Sally Walters, Don Schmoldt, and Courtenay Peddle also checked the Berkeley Brickyard cove area just south of University Avenue during the higher tide and didn't find any godwits. In fact we only found one lone avocet and some black birds. I thought I saw a Least Tern feeding in the cove briefly - it flew out of the area and my pals missed it all together. We moved on to Arrowhead marsh which had good shorebirding though it was really very warm and we left.
Ardenwood, Sunday July 11
Sun, 11 Jul 1999 21:41:43 -0700
From: Sheila Junge
Four adults joined Jessica Sheppard for a summer birdwalk at Ardenwood Historic Farm in Fremont. Highlights of the day were great looks at Downy Woodpecker (both female and male), Nuttall's Woodpecker, and Bewick's Wren. The numerous and varied trees at Ardenwood provide habitat for a wide variety of bird species, wintering Monarch Butterflies, and shade-seeking birders on hot summer mornings like today.
Birds seen by the group included:
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)
Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)
Nuttall's Woodpecker (Picoides nuttallii)
Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens)
Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans)
Western Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica)
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
Bewick's Wren (Thryomanes bewickii)
Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus)
Cliff Swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota)
American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis)
House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus)
California Towhee (Pipilo crissalis)
Bullock's Oriole (Icterus bullockii)
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)
Brewer's Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus)
Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater)
Meeker Slough, Richmond
Sun, 11 Jul 1999 22:06:29 -0700
From: Lillian Fujii
Today at Meeker Slough in Richmond (east of Shimada Friendship Park), Dorothy Furseth, Steve Hayashi and I had 4 Red Knots among other shorebirds, including over a dozen Long-billed Curlews, many Marbled Godwits, Willets and Black-bellied Plovers. The knots fed briefly as the outgoing tide exposed the mudflats, then flew off. We also had a White-crowned Sparrow feeding a cowbird.
Lillian Fujii