Martin Luther King Jr Regional Shoreline
Thu, 05 Aug 1999 18:05:21 -0700
From: Courtenay Peddle
Hello folks,
At Mitigation Marsh [newly restored marsh near Arrowhead Marsh in Martin Luther King Jr Regional Shoreline, Oakland] this afternoon I had excellent looks at two molting juvenile Red-necked Phalaropes. The birds apparently haven't learned phalaroping yet, because they were walking around the shallows and pecking like peeps. The really neat thing was that they were only about 15 yards away, just beyond the fence near the bridge over San Leandro Creek. Otherwise, I saw only the usual suspects, with more dull, gray birds every day, as the Willets and Dowitchers molt.
Good birding!
Courtenay Peddle
Thursday morning at Coyote Hills
Thu, 5 Aug 1999 18:26:03 -0700
From: Larry Tunstall
This morning (August 5), Ore Carmi and I visited Coyote Hills Regional Park in Fremont, primarily to look for the Little Blue Heron that has been reported there earlier in the week. We did see the heron in the northwestern part of the Main Marsh near Lizard Rock Trail. This is a young bird in the process of molting from the early white plumage to the darker adult plumage. It is a bit farther along in this molt than the "calico phase" bird shown in the American Bird Conservancy guide, giving in the distance the general impression of a half-sized Great Blue Heron (though the details are quite different). While we were watching that bird and scanning the eclipse-plumaged Mallards for other duck species, a Black Skimmer made a few dives over the marsh. Another birder said that the skimmer had been skimming on the marsh earlier in the morning (we got there just after 8 AM).
Another highlight of our morning was a small family of Pied-billed Grebes near the intersection of the DUST Trail with Chochenyo Trail. The young birds were about as large as the adults but still showed stripes on the head. We watched as a young bird begged and was fed. The marsh was full of calling (but not singing) Marsh Wrens.
We walked around and through the marsh and made a brief visit to Hoot Hollow before the morning was over. The morning was heavily overcast, with a very light drizzle beginning to fall as we left just before noon. The birds were perhaps less active than usual in the cool and dim morning, but we still saw quite a few species.
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) - with immatures
Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
Great Egret (Ardea albus)
Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)
Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea) - immature in "calico phase"
Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) - ducklings of various sizes
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
California Quail (Callipepla californica)
American Coot (Fulica americana)
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)
Dowitcher sp. (Limnodromus sp.) - probably mostly Long-billed
Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger)
Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)
Selasphorus hummingbird (Selasphorus sp.)
Nuttall's Woodpecker (Picoides nuttallii)
Pacific-slope Flycatcher (Empidonax difficilis)
Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans)
Western Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica)
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus)
Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris)
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)
Orange-crowned Warbler (Vermivora celata)
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus) - heard only
California Towhee (Pipilo crissalis)
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)
Hooded Oriole (Icterus cucullatus)
House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus)
American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis)
In addition, other birders told us that they had seen Common Moorhen and Sora earlier in the morning.
Good birding, Larry
Larry Tunstall
El Cerrito CA
Reply #1 Reply #2 Reply #3 Reply #4 Subject List
Alameda County Little Blue Heron
Thu, 05 Aug 1999 19:35:48 -0700
From: Mike Feighner
East Bay Birders:
I was about to remark that no one has posted anything over EBB on the Alameda County Coyote Hills Regional Park Little Blue Heron. Well, Larry, you beat me to it.
I arrived at Coyote Hills regional Park at about 3 PM. Entrance fee is now $3.50 [per car].
I was originally thrown off track by the BirdBox report that placed the location east of the paved path. So, I headed east and ended up eventually at the dirt parking lot from where I hiked to the alternate marsh area at the southern portion of the park. From here I headed over to the bay-side ponds where a Peregrine Falcon was working the hillside.
I eventually ended back at the west-most pond near the visitor center where I ran into Jean-Marie Spoelman. I asked Jean-Marie if she had seen the Little Blue Heron. "Oh, it's right over here behind those reeds.". Maryann Danielson was a few feet away taking pictures of the heron. For me this is the most advanced juvenile Little Blue Heron I have ever seen.
This was the precise same location where Anna Wilcox had discovered it last Sunday, August 1st.
Other birds I saw not noted by Larry were:
Turkey Vulture
Peregrine Falcon
American Kestrel
American Avocet
I don't recall hearing of a Little Blue Heron reported for several years in Alameda County. Does anyone know when the last record was?
Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA
Original Message Next Reply Subject List
Re: Martin Luther King Jr Regional Shoreline
06 Aug 99 10:00:01 -0700
From: Les Chibana
Courtenay Peddle wrote:
At Mitigation Marsh this afternoon I had excellent looks at two molting juvenile Red-necked Phalaropes. The birds apparently haven't learned phalaroping yet, because they were walking around the shallows and pecking like peeps.
I have seen adult Wilson's Phalarope and Red-necked Phalarope forage by wading, too. This may be a function of food availability rather than age.
Just a hunch,
Les Chibana