[EBB Sightings] Del Valle Grebes - Bad News

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Yesterday (Sun, 8/15) I went back to Del Valle in Livermore to check on the 
breeding Clark's and Western Grebes that I had reported during the first week 
of August.  The two active nests that I knew of have been deserted.  Each 
contains at least three intact eggs.  The apparent reason for this is that the 
inflow to the reservoir (Arroyo Del Valle) has dried up and the lake level is 
dropping dramatically.  Both nests were high and dry, and areas covered in water a 
couple of weeks ago are turning into mudflats.  I could find no grebes of 
either species anywhere on the south end of the lake.

To put a positive spin on this, the mudflats are starting to attract 
shorebirds.  I saw at least three Greater Yellowlegs, gobs of Killdeer, and a Spotted 
Sandpiper.  More species should show up soon.  Last fall there were dowitchers 
and peeps, and even a Wilson's Snipe.

One of the resident Bald Eagles flew over me while I was, quite 
appropriately, in the Eagle's View picnic area.

Good birding,
Kathy Robertson
Hayward, CA

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=3D"SANSSERIF" FACE=3D"Arial" LANG=3D"0">Yesterday (Sun, 8/15) I went back t=
o Del Valle in Livermore to check on the breeding Clark's and Western Grebes=
 that I had reported during the first week of August.  The two active n=
ests that I knew of have been deserted.  Each contains at least three i=
ntact eggs.  The apparent reason for this is that the inflow to the res=
ervoir (Arroyo Del Valle) has dried up and the lake level is dropping dramat=
ically.  Both nests were high and dry, and areas covered in water a cou=
ple of weeks ago are turning into mudflats.  I could find no grebes of=20=
either species anywhere on the south end of the lake.

To put a positive spin on this, the mudflats are starting to attract shorebi=
rds.  I saw at least three Greater Yellowlegs, gobs of Killdeer, and a=20=
Spotted Sandpiper.  More species should show up soon.  Last fall t=
here were dowitchers and peeps, and even a Wilson's Snipe.

One of the resident Bald Eagles flew over me while I was, quite appropriatel=
y, in the Eagle's View picnic area.

Good birding,

Kathy Robertson

Hayward, CA

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