[EBB Sightings] Summer Camp Birding

Our summer started late this year, and things have been slow in the heat, 
with average variety falling a good ten species below normal levels during 
mid-July.   Last Monday, we found a single juvenile Grasshopper Sparrow along the 
ridge top at the south end of Wildcat Canyon Park, while last Wednesday, we 
found a Hermit Warbler in the pines along the Big Springs trail in Tilden.   

This week, thing have picked up a bit.   On Monday, we found two female or 
young Bullock's Orioles where the Packrat trails come together behind Jewel Lake 
in Tilden.   On Tuesday, at the Albany Bulb, we saw fifteen Am. White 
Pelicans flying southward parallel to I-80, and also spotted an Osprey and two 
White-tailed Kites in the area.   We also found our first seven Greater Scaup of the 
season in the company of our first ever Lesser Scaup, at close enough range 
that the kids could see the difference in size, head and bill shape, and 
coloration.   Today we had returning shorebirds, as two Wandering Tattlers, five 
Black Turnstones and two Long-billed Dowitchers were along the beach that 
stretches between the Berkeley Meadow and the racetrack.   Three kites and another 
Osprey were nearby as well.

Throughout July, we've seen multiple Brown Pelicans on every day we ventured 
to the waterfronts, when we usually see only a handful all summer, attesting 
to the great numbers that John Luther reported a few weeks ago.   Ospreys and 
kites have also been in good evidence in both Albany and Berkeley.   On the 
down side, Western Grebes are very few, while Clark's Grebes and Ruddy Ducks have 
disappeared from our locales.   We're hoping the heat might trigger some 
early migration before the return to school.
Brian Fitch & crew
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