[EBB Sightings] Little Blue Heron - Alameda Creek

Hi birders:

I had the day off today so Barbara and I decided to follow up on
Kathy's report.  After milling around a while trying to find parking
close to Sequoia Bridge with access to the creek we gave up and went
to the Isherwood Staging area at 10am.  Barbara quickly found the
adult Little Blue Heron under the Isherwood Bridge.  We were able to
observe it for the next 30 minutes as it foraged up to 200 yards west
of the bridge.  It then flew east; we re-found it about 11am close to
the spillway just west of Sequoia Bridge where Stephanie Floyd joined
us.  The bird called a few times and again we were able to watch it
for about half an hour before it flew east up the creek and we lost
it.  Stephanie found us a nice Green Heron before she continued east
in pursuit of the Little Blue Heron. Barbara and I returned home.
Some fuzzy photos here:
http://bob.brandriff.home.comcast.net/LittleBlueHeron

Good birding,

Bob Brandriff
Berkeley, CA

On Thu, Jul 31, 2008 at 10:46 PM,   wrote:
> Hi birders,
> Based on a fourth-hand report  that I received yesterday, I went out to
> Alameda Creek in Fremont mid-day today  to look for a Little Blue Heron that was
> seen on 7/22 just west of the Sequoia  Bridge.  I birded up and down the creek
> between the bridge and the  Isherwood staging area (this section of the creek
> is adjacent to Quarry Lakes  Regional Park). When I was on the south side of
> the creek, about mid-way between  those two points, the bird flew past me up the
> creek (east).  As reported  by the original person, this was an adult bird.
> Unfortunately, with trees  in my way, I was unable to follow its progress up
> the creek to see where it  landed.
> I continued east as far as the large spillway where the BART and  railroad
> tracks cross the creek, but I could not relocate the bird.   Looking for waders
> along most of this portion of the creek can be difficult  --  the tall, thick
> vegetation prevents one from seeing the near bank, and  sometimes obscures the
> entire creek where it's narrow, depending which side of  creek you're on.
> This is the second Little Blue Heron I have seen on  Alameda Creek.  The
> other bird, also an adult, was present from July 10 to  at least July 23, 2001, in
> the area of Niles Community Park.
> Good  birding,
> Kathy Robertson
> Hayward, CA