[EBB Sightings] Berkeley shore Friday

Hi, all.
  Spent some time at Berkeley Aquatic Park and in the
wooded area east of the pier yesterday afternoon.
  I was rather surprised to discover a dead marbled
godwit along the side of the frontage road between
I-80 and the northern pond. It didn't show obvious
signs of predation, which I would have expected with
its being that far from the pond shore.
Others seen: 
yellow-rumped warbler (of course they're just about
any 
     place I go these days),
snowy egret,
great egret,
American coot,
black-necked stilt (a whole flock resting in the 
  shallows, with one or two juveniles stumbling around
  
  on the uneven pond bottom),
godwit (alive),
miscellaneous other peeps, 
brown pelican,
belted kingfisher,
pied-billed grebe,
horned grebe,
Forster's tern,
black phoebe,
green heron (hiding in bushes).
Over near the pier:
chestnut-backed chickadee,
red-shafted flicker (definite red underwing, but with
  both red malar & red on nape. Is this unusual?
Sibley
  notes that red-shafted lacks the nape, whereas  
  yellow-shafted has it and no malar),
house finch,
California towhee,
red-breasted nuthatch (possible--just had a quick 
  glance),
ruby-crowned kinglet? (bill seemed longer and eye ring
more prominent than shown in Sibley).
  Enjoy this gorgeous weather!
Cheers,
Alan Howe
North Oakland


 
____________________________________________________________________________________
Cheap Talk? Check out Yahoo! Messenger's low PC-to-Phone call rates 
(http://voice.yahoo.com)