[EBB Sightings] Berkeley Meadows census

Dear Birders:

On Saturday, June 3, on a fogless, mild morning, three of us -- Doug Vaughan 
and his wife, Doris Kretschmer did a census of Berkeley Meadows.

In the six weeks since I was there with Bob Lewis and his group, the
meadow's vernal ponds where we saw various shore and water birds including 
three species of teal, have mostly dried up.  Left behind are shallow 
depressions white with probably alkaline and/or deposited salts indicating 
that either the soil or part of the water contains these particular 
substances.

The tallest vegetation are the native willows, elderberry (in bloom), and 
dense, dark-green baccharus.  Seasonal 'weeds' dominated by thistles, 
hemlock, wild radish, and mustard are attractive to large numbers of song 
sparrows, American goldfinches, and house finches.  The willows and cattails 
are the favored sites for red-winged blackbirds which were both vocal and 
numerous with some of the males displaying their red epaulets.

As for breeding activity, none was specifically confirmed, but could be 
inferred by singing and pair activity.

Flyovers included barn swallows, low-flying northern rough-winged swallows 
(one of whom lighted on a fence giving us a good look),  white-throated 
swift, a hovering white-tailed kite, a red-tailed hawk pursued by two crows, 
several noisy patrols of Canada geese, two great egrets -- pure white and 
elegant against the blue sky, and a small group of double-crested cormorants 
including an adult and two grayish juveniles.

The highlight of the morning was surely the group of eight black
oystercatchers gleaning goodies among the rocks along north basin's east 
shore, keeping in touch with loud piping calls.

At this season, the open water of north basin is mostly empty save for a few 
gulls (mostly Western), one confirmed Clark's grebe, a western grebe and 
several grebes that were too far away to confirm.

Phila Rogers