[EBB Sightings] Bairds in Berkeley

Marc Better and I birded the East Bay this morning, and turned up a 
numer of unusual birds.
First, we found a BAIRD'S Sandpiper in the small inlet behind the 
produce stand on the SW corner of University and Frontage in Berkeley. 
This was about 9am. The bird was one of a very few shorebirds (some 
killdeer, westerns and a godwit) in the area. He dissapeared at one 
point, reappeared, and then disappeared again. We returned around 1pm 
and the bird still was not there.
South of the Bairds, along Frontage, were 8 RED-NECKED PHALAROPE. There 
were in the small ponds among the pickleweed on the side of Frontage, 
just north of the bay bridge.
Closer to the bridge, in some mudflats accessible from the Grant Ave 
exit just before the toll plaza, were huge numbers of  shorebirds and 
terns. There is a flock of around 2000 ELEGANT TERNS, along with some 
Forsters and Caspian. The peeps include at least 2 SURFBIRDS as well as 
a SNOWY PLOVER, a few sanderlings, and some whibrel.  You can get pretty 
close to the birds walking out through the iceplant via a path which 
enters the fenced off area.

Matthew Schwartz
Berkeley