Berkeley Aquatic Park, Arrowhead Marsh
Thu, 25 Nov 1999 20:06:24 -0800
From: Larry Tunstall
In late morning, I visited the south end of Aquatic Park in Berkeley. Not as many Bonaparte's Gulls as there were recently, but still quite a few. Generally a good cross-section of water birds. Walking around all the ponds and keeping a close eye on the bushes is generally a good idea.
In early afternoon, I dropped down to Arrowhead Marsh (Martin Luther King Jr Regional Shoreline, Oakland) at extreme high tide. Lots of birds exposed because most of the marsh vegetation was underwater. Hundreds of shorebirds clustered on the marsh boardwalk. The best bird I saw was a male Eurasian Wigeon (at a distance, certain identification only because some other kind birders let me peer through their scope). Those who had been there before me reported lots of Clapper Rails and a Rock Wren, also Killdeer. I saw a single male Barrow's Goldeneye in the channel near the mouth of San Leandro Creek, but there were lots of Common Goldeneye males and quite a few females whose species ID I wouldn't attempt to vouch for (after years of observing goldeneyes at Lake Merritt, I'm not at all convinced that bill color is a reliable species indicator).
Here are my lists for the two sites.
Berkeley Aquatic Park:
Common Loon (Gavia immer)
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)
Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus)
Western Grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis)
Clark's Grebe (Aechmophorus clarkii)
Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)
Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
Great Egret (Ardea albus)
Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)
Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)
Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator)
Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis)
Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) - not quite certain on this ID
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
American Coot (Fulica americana)
Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus)
American Avocet (Recurvirostra americanus)
Willet (Catoptrophorus semipalmatus)
Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri)
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)
Dunlin (Calidris alpina)
dowitcher (Limnodromus sp.)
Bonaparte's Gull (Larus philadelphia)
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)
Western Gull (Larus occidentalis)
Glaucous-winged Gull (Larus glaucescens)
Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri)
Rock Dove (Columba livia)
Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)
Belted Kingfisher (Ceryle alcyon)
Western Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica)
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula)
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
California Towhee (Pipilo crissalis)
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)
Golden-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla)
House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus)
Arrowhead Marsh, MLK Regional Shoreline:
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)
Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus)
Eared Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis)
Western Grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis)
Clark's Grebe (Aechmophorus clarkii)
Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)
Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)
Gadwall (Anas strepera)
Eurasian Wigeon (Anas penelope)
American Wigeon (Anas americana)
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors)
Cinnamon Teal (Anas cyanoptera)
Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata)
Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)
Greater Scaup (Aythya marila)
Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis)
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)
Barrow's Goldeneye (Bucephala islandica)
Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis)
American Coot (Fulica americana)
Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus)
American Avocet (Recurvirostra americanus)
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca)
Willet (Catoptrophorus semipalmatus)
Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus)
Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa)
Black Turnstone (Arenaria melanocephala)
Dunlin (Calidris alpina)
dowitcher (Limnodromus sp.)
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)
Western Gull (Larus occidentalis)
Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri)
Rock Dove (Columba livia)
Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)
Belted Kingfisher (Ceryle alcyon)
Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris)
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Dendroica coronata)
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)
California Towhee (Pipilo crissalis)
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)
Good birding, Larry
Larry Tunstall
El Cerrito CA
Tufted Duck in eastern Contra Costa County
Fri, 26 Nov 1999 16:50:11 PST
From: Steve Glover
Hello everyone,
Today I birded a couple spots in eastern Contra Costa County.
At Iron House Sanitary District in Oakley, I had 71 species. A rather large flock of 125 Killdeers was near the ponds when you first enter. A Black-bellied Plover, unusual here, was amongst them. At least 200 Bonaparte's Gulls were also feeding here and/or swimming on the large pond to the east. Of the 200, all were adult winter birds except for one first winter. A Cattle Egret was just east of the large ponds and a Prairie Falcon was chasing 2 Common Ravens just overhead. In the ponds were 7 Canvasbacks, 90 Common Goldeneyes and a pair of Barrow's Goldeneyes. At Big Break, the large body of water visible about halfway out the trail, there were 12 Forster's Terns (all roosting on some oversized duck blinds, a sight that amused me no end!), a Harbor Seal eating a fish, and an adult Western Gull. This is only the second time I have had this species in east county. Other birds included Mew Gull, Common Moorhen, Cooper's Hawk, Long-billed Curlew, Dunlin, Red-shouldered Hawk and House Wren. Oh yes, a flock of 30 American White Pelicans flew by from east to west.
I then went on to Clifton Court Forebay near Byron on Hwy J-4. I never pass this place up on a calm day. At the end of the road, walk through the gate and walk the levee around the north side of the forebay. Go around just a couple of turns and scope the scaup flock. An adult male Tufted Duck was here today, as were 5 Redheads, a hard-to-find bird in the county. The Tufted Duck showed just a little bit of duskiness on the upper flanks and the tuft didn't really impress me as being as substantial as it will be later but the bird was still easy to pick out. 3 more American White Pelicans were near the intake in the southeast corner of the forebay.
Good luck,
Steve Glover
Varied Thrushes at Joaquin Miller Park
Sat, 27 Nov 1999 15:53:49 -0800
From: Tom Condit
Today Marsha Feinland and I had our first Varied Thrushes of the season on the Sinawik Loop Trail (near the Lookout Point area) in Oakland's Joaquin Miller Park [on Joaquin Miller Rd].
The fog kept most birds down, but we also saw Golden-crowned Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, Chestnut-backed Chickadees, one or two Townsend's Warblers, California Towhees, Mourning Doves, and a Hutton's Vireo. No sign of the Pygmy Nuthatches we were looking for.