Contra Loma Regional Park on 18 Feb
Wed, 20 Feb 2002 06:35:53 PST
From: Jeff Mohamed
45 minutes of birding Contra Loma Regional Park in Antioch from 8:00 AM on Monday (February 18) produced the following:
Red-tailed Hawk
White-tailed Kite
Northern Harrier
American Kestrel
Turkey Vultures (a whole flock feasting on a dead cow!)
Belted Kingfisher
Mourning Doves
American Robins
Golden-crowned Sparrows
White-crowned Sparrows
Common Yellowthroat
Hutton's Vireo
Yellow-rumped Warblers
Western Meadowlarks
American Crow
Red-winged Blackbirds
Brewer's Blackbirds
Northern Mockingbird
Downy Woodpeckers
Western Scrub-Jays
Anna's Hummingbirds
Great Blue Heron
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorants
Canvasback
The road just outside of the park produced a pair of Loggerhead Shrikes, while the lake beside Golf Course Rd had scaups, American Wigeons, Northern Shovelers, Canada Geese and Mallards.
Contra Loma Regional Park abuts the eastern edge of Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve. You can find details and a map at the East Bay Regional Parks website:
Good birding!
Jeff Mohamed
Hayward Regional Shoreline
Wed, 20 Feb 2002 21:24:12 PST
From: Bob Richmond
Seen today at the Hayward Shoreline:
Hutton's Vireo - 1 at Winton Ave trailhead
Black Oystercatcher - 4 at Hayward Landing
Greater White-fronted Goose - 8 in Frank's Dump West, which is now waterfowl habitat, not a high-tide shorebird roost
Eurasian Wigeon - 1 male in Frank's Dump West
Ross' Goose - 2 in the field with the transmission towers (longspur field)
White-faced Ibis - 10 seen in flight southeast of Hayward Landing
Common Snipe - 1 flying near Winton, rare at the shoreline
Snow Goose - 1 at San Lorenzo Community Park
Ross' Goose - 1 at San Lorenzo Community Park
Barrow's Goldeneye - 1 female seen at San Leandro Marina
No Long-tailed Duck was seen today. Most of the ducks were far offshore. The tide was low when I was here, not high like last week.
Good birding
Bob
Barrow's Goldeneyes at Richmond Marina Bay
Thu, 21 Feb 2002 19:24:20 -0800
From: Neil Whitehouse
Today at Richmond Marina Bay, Lina Praire saw 1 male and 5 female Barrow's Goldeneye. They were on the east side of the marina.
Neil Whitehouse
San Pablo Reservoir, Orinda
Thu, 21 Feb 2002 21:20:18 -0800
From: Larry Tunstall
Today from about 11 AM to 3 PM, I walked along the San Pablo Reservoir shoreline near the south end of the reservoir (EBMUD Trail Permit required). I parked at the corner of San Pablo Dam Rd and Bear Creek Rd, walking the Orinda Connector Trail and the Old San Pablo Trail northwest to the Boat Launch. This is a distance of 1.75 miles each way, with an overall elevation difference of 115 feet (uphill coming back). The trail has some quite muddy patches.
I didn't see Bald Eagle or Wood Ducks, but I did see a flock of about 70 Common Mergansers (90% females) and a separate flock of around 50 Ring-necked Ducks (not seen on the way north, but coming out into the south end of the lake as I returned).
Near the Boat Launch, a Golden Eagle flew in at low altitude, and a Red-tailed Hawk emerged from the trees to attack it - I could hear a sharp SMACK so there was real contact. The eagle suddenly remembered something it had forgotten on the other side of the lake, and as it retreated several gulls (California Gulls?) mobbed it.
Also near the Boat Launch, a pair of Killdeer were making quite a racket, and there was a single middle-sized sandpiper that certainly looked to me like a Pectoral Sandpiper, though it probably was actually something more plausible for this date. I didn't get a very good look at it because it flushed when the eagle flew in.
Red-tailed Hawks were interacting in pairs in the air, Bewick's Wrens were squabbling noisily in the bushes, and Double-crested Cormorants were crossing necks and ajar bills and "gronking" on the floats near the Boat Launch. It certainly felt like spring.
Here's my list:
Pied-billed Grebe
Brown Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Canada Goose
American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Ring-necked Duck
Common Merganser
Osprey
Red-tailed Hawk
Golden Eagle
American Coot
Killdeer
Pectoral Sandpiper (?)
California Gull (?)
Anna's Hummingbird
Nuttall's Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Black Phoebe
Hutton's Vireo
Steller's Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
Common Raven
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Oak Titmouse
Bushtit
Brown Creeper
Bewick's Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Wrentit
Spotted Towhee
California Towhee
Song Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
You can check out results from last weekend's Great Backyard Bird Count at
In California there were (reports so far) 18,628 House Finches, followed by 14,763 American Robins:
http://www.birdsource.com/ResultsGBBC/2002/Tables/States/US-CA.html
Berkeley and Oakland are tied for 9th place in California with 89 species reported in each city.
Good birding, Larry
Larry Tunstall
El Cerrito CA
Lawrence's Goldfinch photos in EBB archive
Thu, 21 Feb 2002 21:53:28 -0800
From: Larry Tunstall
About a month ago, Lauri English reported a Lawrence's Goldfinch at feeders in her yard in San Ramon. She got some great photos of it, and two of them are now online at
If anyone else has photos they want to post with their messages in the archive, send them to me. Remember to indicate when the descriptive message was posted.
The list server will not accept attached files, but you can send out a message and have me post the photos on the web.
Good birding, Larry
Larry Tunstall