[EBB Sightings] Hayward Shoreline

All,

I led my Palo Alto Adult School birding class to Hayward Shoreline  
today. We had fantastic looks at the LAPLAND LONGSPUR on the north  
side of the trail leading out to the bay. As expected, there were  
quite a few HORNED LARKS keeping company with the Longspur. Also  
present on the hilliside were many CANADA GEESE and CACKLING GEESE,  
several of which  showed the obvious white collar of the  "Aleutian"  
race. At one point we had a single SNOW GOOSE fly north over our  
heads, and when we finally reached the bay we found both ROSS'S and  
SNOW swimming together just outside the breakwater. Shorebirds  
included four RUDDY TURNSTONE, about a dozen RED KNOT and many LEAST  
SANDPIPER, DUNLIN, WILLET, BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS and MARBLED GODWIT.  
One BLACK TURNSTONE was spotted and several SEMIPALMATED PLOVER as  
well. An OSPREY flew over the mudflats, scattering a great many  
Shorebirds in its wake. A single dark MERLIN perched near the south  
pond, but  we only got brief looks at it before it was off again.  
Somewhat surprising were the number of Swallows, both TREE and BARN  
SWALLOWS were detected overhead, along with WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS.


Matthew Dodder
http://www.birdguy.net