[EBB Sightings] Breeding White-crowned Sparrows in Oakland

 
 
Hi birders,
 
This past Sunday (6/24/07), I stumbled upon breeding White-crowned Sparrows  
(WCSP) on the Oakland shoreline, a first for me in Alameda County.   Have I 
just missed them before?  I believe they're a relatively uncommon  breeder in 
the East Bay, although I see that the Contra Costa BBS confirmed  breeding in 
several blocks.  Anybody out there know about their breeding  status in Alameda 
County?
 
I saw the birds at Port View Park at the end of 7th St.  I had a  singing 
male at Middle Harbor Shoreline Park, but didn't find any actual  breeding 
activity until I drove down to the other park at the end of 7th.   I immediately 
heard singing, but, unfortunately, the first thing I saw was a  Brown-headed 
Cowbird fledgling being fed by a WCSP, but then I found two  fledgling WCSPs too.
 
This relatively new East Bay Regional Park complex is a  good shorebirding 
location.  The harbor area is off-limits to boats  and the parks are off-limits 
to dogs.  There's a good amount of mudflat and  sandbar exposed at low tide.  
There were lots of Brown Pelicans  roosting on the sandbars and plunge-diving 
in the shallows, and there  were three species of terns (Forster's, Least, 
Caspian).  This early  in the season, shorebirds were low in numbers, but several 
species were  present:  Black-belled Plover, Long-billed Curlew, Willet, 
American Avocet,  Killdeer, Marbled Godwit, and Least Sandpiper (the first I've 
seen this  season).  There was one Black Oystercatcher loafing on a  sandbar.  
And there's a nice view of SF and the Bay Bridge.
 
For directions, go to: _http://www.ebparks.org/parks/midlhar.htm_ 
(http://www.ebparks.org/parks/midlhar.htm)  
 
Good birding
Kathy Robertson
Hayward, CA





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