[EBB Sightings] Oakland hills 2/23

Highlights of a walk through Dimond and Joaquin Miller parks in Oakland 
today, about half in the rain:

Varied Thrush - 1 on the upper part of the Bridgeview Trail in Dimond 
Canyon, 4-5 on the Sunset Loop Trail in Joaquin Miller.

Winter Wren - 2 singing on the lower part of the Palos Colorados Trail 
in Joaquin Miller; also in this stretch, a pair of Brown Creepers 
staying dry by working the undersides of leaning bay trees, Sooty Fox 
Sparrow and Band-tailed Pigeon.

green-backed male Selasphorus hummingbird - looked like an Allen's on 
territory - Castle Park Trail in Joaquin Miller right below Skyline.

Two weekends ago I was in the upper part of Joaquin Miller and heard a 
Pileated Woodpecker calling near the Sequoia Arena, presumably the same 
bird reported by Bob Power and Alan Howe.  I checked that area today, as 
well as a stretch of the West Ridge Trail in Redwood Regional Park, but 
came up empty-handed.

I returned home to find ~100 Cedar Waxwings staging frenzied assaults on 
a holly tree in our back yard, in the rain.

For anyone looking for Band-tailed Pigeon in Alameda County, I'd suggest 
Hoover Ave. (the street we live on) in the Oakmore neighbor in Oakland, 
which runs between Leimert and Fruitvale.  A good-sized flock frequents 
the area and we see them pretty much every day.

Glen Tepke
Oakland
g.tepke (at) comcast (dot) net
www.pbase.com/gtepke