[EBB Sightings] Elegant terns

Tonight between 7-8 PM, I went to the wetlands at the base of the Bay Bridge 
to look for the Elegant Terns reported in the last 2 days.  Though not in 
the numbers reported on Fri and Sat, there were 15-20 Least Terns on the 
beach near the old shacks, along with a mixed flock of Sanderlings, 
hundreds of Willets, Dowitchers, Dunlins, Avocets, Whimbrels, and gulls. 
Along the road to the marsh, a Peregrine Falcon was feasting on a small 
mammal at the top of a snag.  There were also Common Yellowthroats and Song 
Sparrows in the Coyote Brush and gumweed.  It's a very interesting place, 
though rather isolated in the evening.

Directions: From eastbound 580, take the Grand Ave exit, the last before the 
Toll Plaza.  Before you go up and over the overpass, there is a sharp right 
turn that takes you under the approach and along the north side of the 
freeway.  Go all the way to the end of the paved road  to the gravel and 
park.  You can walk out into the marsh, and look towards the shacks and the 
old wooden pilings.

Patricia Bacchetti