Martin Luther King Shoreline, Oakland
Sun, 17 Oct 1999 16:00:19 -0700
From: Courtenay Peddle
Hello folks,
Tim Krantz, of Redlands, and newlyweds Don Schmoldt and Sally Walters and I birded Mitigation Marsh and Arrowhead Marsh at Martin Luther King Jr Regional Shoreline in Oakland Sunday morning. I was there from 9:50 to 12:30. When I arrived, I was treated to a wonderful flyout of birds; all the large shorebirds left, but started to return at about 12:15 PM.
Bird of the day was definitely the Peregrine Falcon. I also saw my first pipits of the season, and the first Bonaparte's Gull since the adults left at the end of August.
I spent a lot of time studying the Black-bellied Plovers and learned that the juveniles have a sandy (but not golden) wash on their bellies. One adult was still molting out of alternate plumage.
Here's the list:
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)
Western Grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis)
Clark's Grebe (Aechmophorus clarkii)
Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)
Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis)
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)
American Wigeon (Anas americana)
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
scaup soecies (Aythya sp.)
Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
Great Egret (Ardea alba)
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus)
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)
Clapper Rail (Rallus longirostris)
American Coot (Fulica americana)
Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa)
Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca)
Willet (Catoptrophorus semipalmatus)
Black Turnstone (Arenaria melanocephala)
dowitcher species (Limnodromus sp.)
Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri)
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)
Dunlin (Calidris alpina)
Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)
Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)
California Gull (Larus californicus)
Glaucous-winged Gull (Larus glaucescens)
Western Gull (Larus occidentalis)
Bonaparte's Gull (Larus philadelphia) - juvenile
Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri)
Rock Dove (Columba livia)
Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans)
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)
Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris)
American Pipit (Anthus rubescens)
House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Dendroica coronata)
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)
California Towhee (Pipilo crissalis)
Brewer's Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus)
Good birding!
Courtenay Peddle
Meeker Slough area, Richmond
Sun, 17 Oct 1999 18:45:58 -0700
From: Larry Tunstall
This morning I walked from the South 51st St trailhead (off Bayview Ave at Hwy 580) to the Bay Trail (Pt Isabel to Miller/Knox Trail), then north to Meeker Slough. At the bridge there, the Bay Trail swings west to Shimada Park and the Richmond Marina, but another paved trail goes generally north, upstream along the slough. This morning I took the time to follow it and discovered that it wanders along the slough for a considerable distance, eventually emerging near the corner of Marina Bay Pkwy & Regatta Blvd. There are willows and a lot of other native plants along the stream, so it provides quite good bird habitat. I saw a lot of the common local species, but there were also birds I didn't take the time to pursue for a visual ID. I'd suspect that you might find some good migrants or vagrants in here, though all I saw for certain were Yellow-rumped Warblers and one bird that I saw clearly but stubbornly remained silent, which I finally decided must have been a Swainson's Thrush.
I returned to the Bay Trail and walked out to the new park at the harbor mouth, then back along the harbor and through Shimada Friendship Park.
By the time I came back to the bayshore, the tide was low enough that most of the shorebirds were gone from the good spot (the "bench behind the coyote brush" at the edge of the small lawn that extends out into the marsh area) - this spot is best an hour or two before or after high tide. There had been about 10 Brown Pelicans hanging around the mouth of the slough from the time I arrived, and they were flying along near the trail as I came back from the harbor. Suddenly I looked back and there were over 40 of them, all diving vigorously into one small area just offshore. A very impressive sight. I don't recall seeing a lot of Brown Pelicans in this area during the few years I've been coming here.
There were a lot of ducks out in the bay, but just far enough to be out of my range for binocular ID.
Here's my list for the morning:
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)
Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus)
Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)
Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
Great Egret (Ardea albus)
Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
American Coot (Fulica americana)
Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca)
Willet (Catoptrophorus semipalmatus)
Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus)
Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa)
Black Turnstone (Arenaria melanocephala)
Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri)
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)
Dunlin (Calidris alpina)
dowitcher (Limnodromus sp.)
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)
Western Gull (Larus occidentalis)
Glaucous-winged Gull (Larus glaucescens)
Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri)
Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)
Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans)
Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus) - heard only
Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris)
Swainson's Thrush (Catharus ustulatus)
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Dendroica coronata)
California Towhee (Pipilo crissalis)
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)
Golden-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla)
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)
Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta)
House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus)
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
Good birding, Larry
Larry Tunstall
El Cerrito CA
Reply #1 Reply #2 Subject Index
Elkhorn Slough - Wow!
Sun, 17 Oct 1999 20:11:14 -0700
From: Michelle Sixta
Spent the morning on a pontoon boat on Elkhorn Slough in Monterey County, near Watsonville.
The guide spotted a total of 56 birds during the 3-hour trip, I can only claim the following, but am very happy about the sightings:
Common Loon - 2
Pied-billed Grebe - 1
Eared Grebe - 1
Western Grebe - 10+
Clark's Grebe - 10+
American White Pelican - 17 soaring above - beautiful!
Brown Pelican - 300+
Double Crested Cormorant - 20+
Brandt's Cormorant - 70+
Pelagic Cormorant - 4
Great Blue Heron - 6
Great Egret - 5
Snowy Egret - 3
Red-breasted Merganser - 2
Ruddy Duck - 5
Turkey Vulture - 1
Osprey - 1
White-tailed Kite - 1
Northern Harrier - 2
Cooper's Hawk - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 2
Golden Eagle - 1 So cool!
Merlin - 1 with prey in talons flying directly over us
Peregrine Falcon - 1 (another flyby directly overhead)
American Coot - 10
Black-bellied Plover - 1
American Avocet - 5
Willet - 3
Spotted Sandpiper - 1
Long-billed Curlew - 3
Marbled Godwit - 35
Sanderling - 1
Western Sandpiper - 20+
Least Sandpiper - 50+
Dunlin - 2
Short-billed Dowitcher - 1
Heermann's Gull - 20+
Ring-billed Gull - 10+
Elegant Tern - 11
Forster's Tern - 2
Rock Dove - 1
Belted Kingfisher - 1
Meadowlark - 1
Brewer's Blackbird - gobs
Michelle Sixta
Reply #1 Reply #2 Subject Index