[EBB Sightings] Of Ibises and Grackles

I spent an hour this morning at Coyote Hills in pursuit of the elusive
Ibises without finding any. My search was a bit exhausting, perhaps, but far
from exhaustive.

However, I did find three, for sure, and possibly four, grackles at the
industrial pond on Central Avenue in Newark. Parking and access to a viewing
area are a bit tricky, but doable. The pond is located on the south side of
Central Avenue between Central Court and Filbert Street. The northeasterly
corner of the pond is approximately opposite Filbert Street. About 100 yards
further east, on the south side of Central Avenue, are two driveway cuts
(depressions in the concrete curb) that allow access to the fenced waterway
that flows along Central at this point. There is plenty of room to park
without blocking the gate and I didn't see any signs prohibiting parking.
>From there, one may walk along a narrow path between the chain link fence
and the south side of Central Avenue for about 100 yards to the opposite
side of Filbert Street. At one time, Filbert Street appears to have extended
south along the edge of the pond to Morton Avenue. Although fenced, the
former street is still paved and has an unlocked gate and an absence of "No
Trespassing" signs. There is an area about 100 feet square that is open to
the street and is not posted. Viewing the pond is still somewhat problematic
as most sight lines are through two six feet high chain link fences. The
grackles were in a dead tree in the island (perhaps levee) in the middle of
the pond. I was only there for about ten minutes and the grackles were
visible for only about a minute of that time. They seemed to like to hang
out lower down out of sight and pop up into the tree now and then.

For the record, I am very conservative when it comes to trespassing or
otherwise infringing on private property rights, especially when it comes to
birding. I'd rather miss a rare bird than be disrespectful of private
owner's rights. The parking and viewing areas described above were either in
public right-of-ways or were in open areas without posting. However, much of
the land in the immediate vicinity is clearly posted as "No Trespassing" and
curbside parking is not allowed on most of the streets in the area.

Happy Birding!

Mike Stanley
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