[EBB Sightings] more about the Delta Trip

Hi Ronn:

After telling my daughter about the wonderful trip yesterday, she would
like to have a similar experience.  Do you have any "open days" soon?

Her name is Susan Mayfield and she lives on 14-mile slough.  Her email
is:susan.dollarsaver at yahoo.com.

Phila Rogers


Dear Birders:

Once again Bob Lewis put together a rewarding birding trip. Originally
scheduled for the previous Friday and cancelled because of rain,
yesterday offered up the best of early spring weather.  Thirty of us
spread out over the boat and even before leaving the Antioch Marina
were rewarded with close looks at Moorhens, the males with their
vermillon beaks, a Green Heron standing among the rushes and a bevy(?)
of five river otters who chatted back and forth in small bird- like
chirps,
We travelled east, sometimes with levees close on either side, other
times acrossa open water but always with the double bulk of Mount
Diablo as a point of reference in the flat, watery landscape.  Ahead,
on this clear day, the Sierra Nevada range revealed white snow under
the edge of the clouds.

The best birding views were from the upper deck where Bob directed our
attention to the various birds along the way.  The largest numbers were
the geese, shorebirds, and the long-legged Sand Cranes feeding in the
fields beyond the levees.  Seven species of raptors (see Bob's list)
are always abundant in this rodent-rich landscape. Both returning Tree
and Cliff Swallows always give the sky a certain liveliness.
 
At the helm, Captain Ronn who knows the Delta intimately, provided not
only specific information about bird and plant life (two copies of
Sibley are at the ready on the shelf about the wheel) but fastinating
information about the Delta itself.  

Stepping into the cabin is like entering a well-stocked natural history
library, and a welcome refuge from the bright, breezy open decks.  Come
June Ronn will take his boat up the coast for a series of natural
history trips in Alaska's Inland Passage after some day trips up the
Petaluma and Napa Rivers.






 
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