[EBB Sightings] Big Break and Marsh Creek Trail-04-01-2007

Big Break and Marsh Creek Trail-04-01-2007
Some of the birds seen: Bonaparte?s Gull, Western Kingbird, American
White Pelican Common Merganser. 

Blair and I made a test run bicycling from Oakley to Brentwood.
Directions:
Take the CA-4 exit just before the Antioch Bridge and go toward
Stockton. In about 2.2 mi turn L on VINTAGE PKY then R on WALNUT
MEADOWS DR, L on FETZER CT, R on FETZER LN and stop at JORDAN LN. The
trailhead is between 1230 and 1238 Fetzer Ln. Only street parking.

A short distance from the trailhead are the sewer ponds of the
Ironhouse Sanitary District. Here we saw a large number of Bonaparte?s
Gulls, many of which already had the black head and some still had the
white head with the black spot behind the eye characteristic of the
winter bird. The bright orange legs could be seen on those standing on
the islands in the pond. On the return trip there were also quite a few
Cinnamon Teal and Black-necked Stilts.
At about 1 mi. is a toilet (the only one in 10.6 mi.) and a few picnic
tables; from here we could look out to the bay and see White Pelicans.
Here we saw a Western Kingbird on the way back. 
The fields had Red-winged Blackbirds singing and Northern Harriers
swooping low. American Goldfinches could be seen or heard at many
locations, and the egrets and Great Blue Herons were seen along a good
part of the creek. Civilization has crept up to the corridor of Marsh
Creek but it was a pleasant ride with quite a few birds; there were two
sightings of Belted Kingfishers. 
There are several parks with benches or tables along the way. The trail
now ends at Concord Ave in Brentwood where there is a staging area. The
EBRPD map indicates that there are plans to extend the trail south to
the parking for Round Valley Regional Preserve.
43 Species seen:
American White Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Canada Goose
Mallard
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
Greater Scaup
Common Merganser
Turkey Vulture
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel	
American Coot
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt
Greater Yellowlegs
Bonaparte's Gull
Mourning Dove
Anna's Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Black Phoebe
Western Kingbird
Tree Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow	Marsh Wren
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling (I)
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Cassin's Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow (I)



kathy jarrett
kathy_jarrett at yahoo.com


 
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