Little Blue Heron continues at Niles Community
Park
Tue, 17 Jul 2001 09:13:41 -0700 (PDT)
From: Emilie Strauss
The Little Blue Heron was still present yesterday (July 16) in Niles Community Park (Fremont) slightly upstream from the shopping carts. Other species seen in the creek or at the nearby pond included Common Merganser, Spotted Sandpiper, Green Heron, Wood Duck, Bullock's Oriole, and Golden Eagle.
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Rose-breasted Grosbeak continues
Thu, 19 Jul 2001 16:06:22 -0700
From: Judi Cooper
Today, Bingham Gibbs and I viewed the Rose-breasted Grosbeak at Mrs. Casello's home in Castro Valley. She is really enjoying the visitors.
We arrived at 9:00 (having made a reservation) and the bird arrived at 10:28. He ate for 3 minutes then flew away. It was a lifer for me and truly a thrill when he finally arrived and watching all the other birds did make the time pass quickly.
To any of you who have seen him: Is he a young male since his rose breast isn't as large as the books show? Also, it appeared that he had an indentation in the middle of breast which showed some dark feathers.
We did see at least 4 or 5 different Black-headed Grosbeaks and none of them looked like they exhibited any field marks of the Rose-breasted. Therefore, we felt we did not see any hybrids.
We then drove to Alameda Creek and searched for the Little Blue Heron from 11:15 AM to 1:00 PM with no success.
Judi Cooper
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Long-tailed Duck still at Albany Bulb
Thu, 19 Jul 2001 20:21:22 -0700
From: Russ Wilson
Greetings -
Sixty years ago I counted Oldsquaws on the Niagara River for the Christmas Bird Count. That was the last time I saw one, until today. After reading reports posted in EBB about a Long-tailed Duck (formerly "Oldsquaw") being observed in the Albany Mudflat area I decided to search for it. My efforts were rewarded at 4 PM today when I spotted the Long-tailed Duck with its companion - a Greater Scaup. They were close to the eastern shore of the bulb, and then they waddled up onto land.
A good viewing point was from a side trail, about 80 yards before the foot bridge that's on the main trail of the peninsula.
Russ Wilson
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Lil' Blue Heron
Mon, 23 Jul 2001 18:09:03 -0700 (PDT)
From: Emilie Strauss
Yesterday, 22 July, the Little Blue Heron was still present on Alameda Creek at Niles Community Park in Fremont (Alameda County). Turn west on G or H St. in downtown Niles to reach this park. The heron was roosting on an abandoned shopping cart in the middle of the channel.
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Hayward Regional Shoreline
Mon, 23 Jul 2001 19:27:28 -0700
From: Mark Eaton
Apologies if this is old news, but what happened to all of the water at Hayward Regional Shoreline? All of the ponds near the visitor center [Hayward Shoreline Interpretive Center] are completely dry, and appear to have been for some time.
Mark
Tilden Regional Park on Sunday
Mon, 23 Jul 2001 22:55:15 -0700
From: Larry Tunstall
Several EBB subscribers were on Alan Kaplan's birdwalk Sunday morning at Tilden Regional Park, Berkeley Hills. We walked from near the Pony Ride up Meadows Canyon Trail about halfway to Inspiration Point. (This canyon was once known as Sweetbriar Canyon, after the name of the dairy ranch once located here, and this trail was considered a continuation of the SeaView Trail.)
In addition to the expected residents and summer visitors, we had the pleasure of watching a pair of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers nervously flitting about near us for some time. There seem to be a lot of Nuttall's Woodpeckers around this year.
Mark Eaton asked about Hayward Shoreline. The ponds near the Interpretive Center (south end of the shoreline) were drained last winter to prepare for some work on the channels that should improve the habitat and help restore the recently acquired salt ponds. Unfortunately, there were some budget problems, and the construction didn't happen when it had been planned. The hope now is to get it done before the rains start this fall. (I hope I got this story straight. If not, someone down there in Hayward can no doubt correct me.)
In any case, the best shorebird viewing now probably is to park in the East Bay Regional Parks lot near the west end of Grant Ave. Walk north and then west along San Lorenzo Creek to the Bay Trail, then south. The Ora Loma Marsh between Bockman Channel and Sulphur Creek is usually a good spot to see shorebirds when the tide is fairly high (at low tide, they tend to be far out on the mudflats).
You can also reach this spot by parking in the lot at the end of West Winton Ave, walking out to the bay, and heading north.
Good birding, Larry
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