GGBA docents showcase birds of Lake Merritt
By Maureen Lahiff
This year, we’re celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Yosemite Grant and California State Parks with much festivity. But Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove were granted to the State of California in 1864 for “public use, resort, and recreation.”
What was the first area in the U.S. set aside specifically for wildlife? Oakland’s Lake Merritt!
In 1870, the Lake Merritt Wild Duck Refuge was created by the California State Legislature.
Today Lake Merritt looks much different than it did 150 years ago. The wetlands that once surrounded it are gone. But it is still a wintering spot for thousands of migratory waterfowl and a year-round home to a great variety of resident birds.
Every other Saturday morning from March through early June, GGBA provides docents at Lake Merritt in partnership with S.F. Nature Education. We set up a spotting scope and information table near the artificial islands, along the path just east of the Rotary Nature Center. I love serving as a docent there. Ducks come in close to the walkway and offer us good looks and plenty of chances to see them interacting. Gulls drop mussels on the path to crack their shells. Black-crowned Night Herons sit motionless in the trees. American White Pelicans sail by; in spring, we see the “breeding bumps” on their bills.


The Double-Crested Cormorants are one of the highlights for me. Forty to fifty pairs nest in trees on the islands. This time of year, we can actually see their double crests of feathers, and the bare throat skin near their bills — their gular patches — are bright orange-yellow. We saw a male displaying on a nest on March 8th, and several birds carrying sticks to refurbish nests for the current season on March 8th and 23rd. The males and females look alike, and both contribute sticks to the nest building.


At the beginning of March, a lot of the wintering ducks were still there: many scaup (mostly Lesser Scaup), about a half dozen Canvasbacks, some Bufflehead, and Pie-billed Grebes. On March 23, the Canvasbacks were gone and there were fewer scaup.…