[EBB Sightings] Tufted Duck Continues at Clifton Court Forebay

At 3:15 p.m. today, I saw the handsome male Tufted Duck, in full tuft  
so to speak, at the forebay in eastern Contra Costa County. The bird  
is in the same location where Amy McDonald found it on January 3 and  
where others have seen it since.

Going north on Byron Highway from Tracy, Clifton Court Road is a  
right turn. If you come to Byron Hot Springs Road to the Byron  
Airport, you have gone too far. The road ends at the forebay and  
leads to a peninsula used by anglers. As Amy and others reported, the  
Tufted Duck is in the channel alongside the peninsula among the  
scaup. The scaup seem to concentrate at the end of the peninsula. I  
found the Tufted within about a minute after getting out of the car.  
It could be the easiest rarity I'll see this year.

In addition to countless scaup, the large forebay held 100-plus  
Common Goldeneye and a scattering of Buffleheads and Ruddy Ducks. I  
did not stay long, as the low, dense fog hampered visibility, and the  
temperature was cold, even bitter. Some of the diehard anglers were  
starting to pack up and head home.

Judith Dunham
Berkeley