[EBB Sightings] Berkeley Shoreline Gull Sweep

Taking advantage of a beautiful day at the bay with little traffic, I made a survey of Eastshore State Park today from the Albany Crescent to Pt. Emery.  The high tide was at 7:45 AM. When I arrived at 9:30, the mudflats were being exposed and the tide was going out.  The highlights are below.

Albany Mudflats (at the end of Buchanan Street and I80):

1 Eurasian Wigeon male
1 Eurasian X Am Wigeon, photographed by Bob Power
1 male wigeon with white both above and below the green eye crescent-any thoughts as to what that might be?
8 Green-winged Teal
45 Semipalmated Plovers
12 species of shorebirds with total numbers in the thousands

Behind the Seabreeze Restaurant at University and W. Frontage Road:

3 Mew Gulls
1 Glaucous-winged Gull
1 Herring Gull
Ring-billed, California, and Western gulls also present

Cesar Chavez Park (at the end of University Ave):

1 Burrowing Owl
1 Black Oystercatcher
1 Lark Sparrow

Pt. Emery (along W.Frontage Road just south of Ashby Ave):

1 Thayer's Gull
1 Mew Gull
1 Glaucous-winged Gull
1 Glaucous-winged X Western Gull
Westerns and Ring-bills also present


In total, there were 7 species of gulls today, and I'm certain that I missed some hybrids:

Mew, Ring-billed, California, Thayer's, Herring, Western, Glaucous-winged, and a Western X Glaucous-winged hybrid

Seventeen species of shorebirds were seen:

Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Black-bellied Plover, Black Oystercatcher, American Avocet, Greater Yellowlegs, Spotted Sandpiper, Western Willet, Long-billed Curlew, Whimbrel, Marbled Godwit, Black Turnstone, Western Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Sanderling, Dunlin, and dowitchers (it sounded like there were some Long-billed mixed with the Short-billed, so I'll leave it as dowitcher sp).

We have much to be thankful for as Bay Area birders!

Pat Bacchetti
Oakland