Fwd: Contra Costa County, Part 6: Richmond
area
Sun, 09 May 1999 21:29:18 -0700
From: Mike Feighner
Posted to EBbird by Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA
Contra Costa County, Part 7: Richmond Area
Date: Fri, 7 May 1999 16:09:26 PDT
From: Mary Beth StoweHi, all.
Today was a great wrap-up day: Steve Glover picked me up at the hotel and we hit all the major coastal areas written up in his article. The first area we hit were several stops along Albany Crescent (Point Isabel Regional Shoreline on the map), and as the tide was moving out it opened up good shorebird habitat. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the common scaup here is Greater (I thought the heads looked awfully round), and quickly picked up several trip birds, including Willet, Western Gull, Clark's Grebe, Red Knot (lots), Dunlin, Black-bellied Plover, Marbled Godwit, avocet, Semipalmated Plover, and Whimbrel to the list. A flock of Bonaparte's Gulls flew by, one of which caught Steve's attention cuz it looked like it might have been a kittiwake! A short jaunt from the end of 51st Street (same park) added a scruffy-looking adult Glaucous-winged Gull to the trip list, plus a fleeing California Quail that Steve said he had never seen there before!
My favorite place by far was Brooks Island (or at least the trail from which you can scope it): a wonderful bike trail ran along the harbor in a very nice neighborhood (the landscaping was gorgeous with all the flowers blooming), and there were lots of "nice" people using the trail, so I would have felt very safe even without Steve's company! But there were lots of good birds in the harbor that we didn't see elsewhere; Steve's target was the resident Harlequin Duck (he saw a black blob that could have been it), but among the new birds for me (for the trip) included Surf Scoter, Horned Grebe, Black-crowned Night Heron, Red-breasted Merganser, and Black Turnstone. Steve spotted a Black Oystercatcher on one of the rocks (good thing he had a more powerful scope than I), but while we were there several ended up flying off, giving decent looks. A Spotted Sandpiper joined the original oystercatcher on his rock (all I could make out was the bobbing rear end). Also picked up Osprey for the county, as well as yet another Common Loon in a nearby pond. Not new but still a delight to watch were Caspian and Forster's Terns and Snowy Egrets. Steve also pointed out the nuttalli race of the White-crowned Sparrows that breed there: the song is very different than our "Gambel's" back in San Diego! The entire song (particularly the opening notes) are very sweet and clear, whereas ours have a more harsh quality to them. Almost reminded me of a Vesper Sparrow's song.
After stopping at a market for a snack, we took off for Miller Knox Regional Shoreline. Although fairly quiet this time of year, it's famous for its huge American Wigeon flock that often has a Eurasian in it; there did happen to be a couple of leftover Americans while we were there. Also picked up "park" birds such as Bullock's Oriole, Robin, and Cedar Waxwing (heard a Mockingbird doing a Caspian Tern which was a first), and across the street, a short trail next to a riparian area gave us a cute little Orange-crowned Warbler, but aside from common scrub stuff, nothing else of import.
The last place he took me was Point Molate, where Pelagic Cormorants breed. We found a single bird on the side of the island; all the other cormorants were Double-crested (one "black-crested" individual on a post looked like a little devil as the wind blew his "horns" every which way). Chestnut-backed Chickadees here were good for the day as well.
That was it for Richmond, Steve said (and he was right: Richmond itself may have a bad reputation, but the birding areas themselves are perfectly safe, at least they seemed that way to me). We had a delightful time with great and lively conversations, and after he dropped me off at the hotel, I debated about whether or not to poke around any more (because it was only 11:30). My original plan was to just rest, but after a shower my energy came back and I was compelled to swing out to Point Pinole Regional Shoreline, since it was so close to the hotel. Glad I did: nothing new (Steve said it would probably be rather dead), but it had a nice loop trail of the perfect length and a great view of the bay: just a nice area with more nice people and a nice walk in the "wilderness" (besides, if I hadn't gone I would have been kicking myself the whole time for not at least checking it out).
Unless I see anything horrendous on the way back to San Diego, this will be my last trip report. This is a delightful little county; I highly recommend it!
Bird List:
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)
Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus)
Western Grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis)
Clark's Grebe (Aechmophorus clarkii)
Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)
Pelagic Cormorant (Phalacrocorax pelagicus)
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)
American Wigeon (Anas americana)
Gadwall (Anas strepera)
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
Greater Scaup (Aythya marila)
Surf Scoter (Melanitta perspicillata)
Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator)
Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)
Great Egret (Ardea alba)
Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
California Quail (Callipepla californica)
Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa)
Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)
Spotted Sandpiper (Tringa macularia)
Willet (Catoptrophorus semipalmatus)
Black Turnstone (Arenaria melanocephala)
Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)
Red Knot (Calidris canutus)
Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri)
Dunlin (Calidris alpina)
Black Oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani)
American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana)
Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)
Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)
California Gull (Larus californicus)
Glaucous-winged Gull (Larus glaucescens)
Western Gull (Larus occidentalis)
Bonaparte's Gull (Larus philadelphia)
Caspian Tern (Sterna caspia)
Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri)
Common Loon (Gavia immer)
Rock Dove (Columba livia)
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)
Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)
Allen's Hummingbird (Selasphorus sasin)
Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans)
Western Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica)
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
Common Raven (Corvus corax)
Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris)
Bewick's Wren (Thryomanes bewickii)
Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus)
Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Stelgidopteryx serripennis)
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
Cliff Swallow (Hirundo pyrrhonota)
Chestnut-backed Chickadee (Parus rufescens)
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis)
House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus)
Orange-crowned Warbler (Vermivora celata)
Wilson's Warbler (Wilsonia pusilla)
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus)
California Towhee (Pipilo crissalis)
Bullock's Oriole (Icterus bullockii)
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)
Brewer's Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus)
Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater)74 SPECIES
For the Trip: 153Mary Beth Stowe
San Diego, CA