[EBB Sightings] Ellis Creek and almost Waterfront Park.

Greetings all,

    Yesterday I made a trip to Ellis Creek, in Petaluma, in the morning to 
do a little birding, with my target birds as Blue-winged Teals and Clapper 
Rails.  I saw the Blue-winged Teal but missed the Clapper Rail, although I 
did hear one lonely Clapper rail call coming from the Southern most pond 
with the most reeds in it.  Twas cool early, but warmed up with a clear blue 
sky around 10AM or so.  Following is my list of birds for Ellis Creek.  A 
nice day for birding.

    After leaving Ellis I headed home, but then decided to check out 
Waterfront Park in Martinez.  As I crossed under the freeway on Marina Vista 
Ave. heading East, I saw a large grouping of Egrets on the north side of the 
road, in the small marsh area just over the railroad tracks.  I hung a 
u-turn and parked in a graveled area just beside the road.  I had never seen 
large numbers of Egrets in such a concentrated spot before and decided to do 
an actual count.  There were 92 Snowy Egrets, 12 Great Egrets, 9 
Black-necked Stilts, 4 Lesser Yellowlegs, and 13 Long-billed Dowitchers.  I 
did count the Snowy Egrets twice to be sure, but because of the reeds in 
some areas, the count might have been more for all the species there.  An 
unbelievable sight  to behold, indeed.

Good Birding to all,
Paul Brenner,
Martinez

      Mute Swan
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Green-winged Teal
Common Teal
Canvasback
 Bufflehead - female
Pied-billed Grebe
Western Grebe
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Turkey Vulture
White-tailed Kite
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Sora
Common Moorhen
American Coot
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Least Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Snipe
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Anna's Hummingbird
Black Phoebe
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Bewick's Wren
 Marsh Wren
American Robin
European Starling
American Pipit
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Common Yellowthroat - female
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Brewer's Blackbird
Red-winged Blackbird