Lake Merritt and Arrowhead Marsh, Oakland
Sat, 13 Oct 2001 22:12:55 -0700
From: Mike Ezekiel
Today, after a shortish vacation in New Mexico where it was too early to see much at Bosque del Apache and not terribly birdy in other areas we visited, I felt the need to check in and see if the fall ducks, et al, have arrived at my local sites in Oakland.
Not much at Lake Merritt - Ruddy Ducks in some number - but only the other gang of coots, Mallards, grebes, egrets, night-herons, cormorants, etc.
Was able to get to Arrowhead Marsh in Martin Luther King Jr Regional Shoreline by about 5 PM - traffic past the Coliseum where the A's playoff game had already started wasn't too bad. It was a fairly surreal experience having the ocean-like rumble - sometimes erupting into loud trumpet blasts - as a background to the shorebirds and gulls calling.
Lots of Clapper Rails - including several in the mud flats and more calling from several areas at the boardwalk. I saw the first Common Yellowthroat that I remember seeing there.
The Peregrine Falcon was seated on the log/stump in Mitigation Marsh which was used by falcons last fall - although it was gone when I looked again at dusk.
Other then that - and several American Wigeon - nothing much unusual - but possibly the Golden Gate Audubon Society walk tomorrow at 12:30 PM can find Red Knots, golden-plovers and other goodies which I couldn't locate.
Mike Ezekiel
Oakland
Brewer's Blackbirds
Mon, 15 Oct 2001 22:14:30 -0700
From: Ruth Bird
I saw two male Brewer's Blackbirds, the first I've seen in months, near the post office on Durant near Telegraph in Berkeley, last Saturday. They did not look well. They were fluffed up on a warm day and not their usual lively selves. I am very concerned because of the sudden absence, after years in the area, of a thriving and friendly flock of Brewer's Blackbirds, often joined by Red-winged Blackbirds in the winter, on Telegraph Ave and on the University of California campus, especially near the food booths. Normally, some but not all leave during the breeding season and return mid-August, spending the rest of the year on Telegraph feasting on pizza and crumbs. I believe a serious and sudden decline and almost total absence of a flock indicates something besides a "non-bird-friendly area". For several years there was a marker, an albino female (what an identity crisis for a blackbird!) so I know it was the same flock. Other birds seem to be present in noticeably smaller numbers, even the unpopular pigeons [Rock Doves]. I'm worried.
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Re: Brewer's Blackbirds
Sun, 14 Oct 2001 22:09:10 -0700
From: Rusty Scalf
I have noticed for years that our urban Brewer's Blackbirds frequently suffer from the Foot Pox virus. This virus results in atrophy of toes until most or all are lost. I don't know if this is causing mortality among the population mentioned here in Berkeley. Certainly infected individuals seem highly stressed.
Rusty
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Tilden hawk-searching
Mon, 15 Oct 2001 22:35:09 PDT
From: Steve Glover
Hello everyone,
Notice that I said "searching" rather than "watching". I spent the past four days at Inspiration Point in Tilden Regional Park [Berkeley Hills] hoping for migrating hawks, but except for one bird the highlights were mostly not hawks. As you may have noticed the winds were coming out of the southeast all four days and this is probably not at all the weather you hope for when looking for raptors in fall.
On Friday I birded from 9 AM to 1 PM and had 43 species of birds, though very few were raptors. Highlights were 2 Lewis' Woodpeckers flying south at 11:05 and an Acorn Woodpecker.
On Saturday I was joined by 6 others and again had very few migrating hawks. I was up there from 7 AM to 4 PM. We did have Osprey and Golden Eagle but they may have been locals. Other highlights were Acorn Woodpecker again, a Lewis' Woodpecker flying east, and four more Lewis' Woodpeckers flying east. I had 63 species.
On Sunday I birded from 10 AM to 4 PM and saw 46 species. The winds were much heavier on this day and the species total dropped because I was able to detect fewer birds by sound. There were a few more raptors on this day but still just 5 Sharp-shinned Hawks and 3 Cooper's Hawks and 3 Ospreys that appeared to be migrating. A single White-tailed Kite was the only one I saw during these 4 days. The highlights were again not raptors: Four Greater White-fronted Geese flew west to east at about 10 AM and two more Lewis' Woodpeckers flew east at 11:46. Two American White Pelicans also flew by west to east at 12:30.
On Monday I birded from 10 AM to 1 PM and had 52 species. A handful of Sharp-shinned Hawks and Cooper's Hawks were seen once again. At least 3 Acorn Woodpeckers were noted but the highlight was an immature Broad-winged Hawk heading south at 11:55. This is only the second time I have seen this species in the county and only the fourth county record.
I believe I had 74 cumulative species during these days which isn't bad since only a handful were waterbirds. Seven species of woodpeckers was also nice. I had more Lewis' Woodpeckers in the last four days than have been found in the county in the last decade.
I think that this will prove to be an interesting spot with more effort when the weather is more conducive to migrating.
Good luck,
Steve Glover
Dublin
Re: Brewer's Blackbirds
Mon, 15 Oct 2001 23:02:38 -0700
From: Larry Tunstall
I know that Lindsay Wildlife Museum's animal hospital recently issued an alert about a disease being spread at feeders in the East Bay, and I believe that it may have been avian pox. I will try to find out tomorrow and pass along what I learn.
Some pictures of avian pox (and avian conjunctivitis) are at
Other references:
http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/facts/avepox.html
http://www.dvrconline.org/avianpox.html
Good birding, Larry
El Cerrito CA
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