This is the second in an occasional series of reviews of Bay Area birding locations. Do you have a favorite site you’d like to share? Email idebare@goldengatebirdalliance.org. 

By Marissa Ortega-Welch

The average jogger running around Lake Merritt or average family picnicking on its shores doesn’t realize that Lake Merritt isn’t actually a lake. Most Bay Area birders, however, know that this gem of a birding spot smack dab in the middle of Oakland is actually a tidal lagoon, connected to the greater San Francisco Bay.

Local birders who want to view wintering waterfowl without driving all the way to the South Bay or the Sacramento Valley are rewarded with our annual vagrant Tufted Duck, Ring-necked Ducks, the occasional Redhead, and the rare Barrows Goldeneyes if we can pick them out from the Scaups, Canvasbacks, and over ten other species of waterfowl that raft on the lake’s waters.

Lake Merritt is an arm of the greater Bay estuary and the mouth of many creeks draining the surrounding Oakland hills, most notably Glen Echo and Indian Gulch Creek. Before Oakland grew up around it, the lagoon was a wetlands ecosystem like much of the Bay, with large fauna such as deer and elk grazing nearby, abundant fish, and thousands of waterfowl calling the place home for the winter.

Islands created for birds in Lake Merritt / Photo by Ilana DeBare Rafting waterfowl in front of the Embarcadero and fountain / Photo by Ilana DeBare

After Spanish colonization and the Gold Rush, Oakland developed as a city and so did the shoreline of what was then called “Laguna Peralta.” The homes along the lagoon dumped their sewage directly into its waters, which seemed convenient until the tide went out and residents were left with the nasty sights and smells of their own domestic discharge. The mayor of Oakland, Samuel Merritt, was one of these homeowners and had a grand plan to remedy this unsightly problem. He petitioned the City Council for help, and used both tax dollars and his own money to build a dam on the outlet of the lagoon, along today’s 12th Street, limiting the tidal changes so that the sewage would remain submerged and out of sight.

But another problem remained for homeowners like Merritt – hunters who were attracted to the lagoon’s waterfowl. The story goes that Merritt got tired of poachers on his land and bullets zinging through his property.…

By Phila Rogers

While others are thrilled with Pine Siskins visiting their feeders, I experience mostly foreboding.  Several years ago, when the siskins were on the move and visiting my feeders, I began seeing sick birds.  The problem then appeared to be a finch eye disease where discharge was effectively sealing up their eyes.

After an absence of several years, Pine Siskins began showing up again at my deck feeders in the Berkeley Hills. Last week, I noticed a lethargic bird, feathers puffed up, who was reluctant to fly off at my approach.  Because there appeared to be no discharge around the eyes, I decided that this might be an injured bird suffering from an impact with one of the surrounding windows.

Each time I saw the bird it appeared weaker until finally I discovered it dead in the tray feeder.  I tenderly put it in a baggie and then the freezer to give it my birding buddy who volunteers each week at the Lindsay Wildlife Museum.

Pine Siskin / Photo by Bob Lewis

My injury theory evaporated when I discovered two more sick siskins.  Sounding the alarm, I heard first from the birds’ best friend, GGBA field trip leader Rusty Scalf, who in turn put me in touch with the very-knowledgeable Veronica Bowers, director of the Native Songbird Care and Conservation group in Sebastopol.  She assured me that I was doing the right thing by bringing in and sterilizing both the feeder and the nearby bird bath.  My Google search indicated that the birds were probably the victims of an outbreak of salmonella, which Veronica says is hard to treat.

The worst news for me – an ardent window-watcher — was that I shouldn’t rehang the feeder for at least two weeks because of the highly contagious nature of the disease.

This sad tale got me to thinking about the responsibilities we take on when we feed birds.  Because our feeders encourage congregations of birds, communicable diseases are more easily spread.  If seed is allowed to get wet, mildewed seed can make birds sick.  Also seed attracts unwanted guests like squirrels, rats, and even skunks.  Roaming cats attuned to congregating birds can extract their toll,

So here’s my strategy: Once I rehang my feeder, I will bring in the feeder each night and sweep up scattered seed to discourage rat visits, and following Veronica’s suggestion, buy another feeder or two so I can change and sterilize them regularly. …

By Ilana DeBare

GGBA Volunteer Coordinator Noreen Weeden was birding recently at Pier 94, the old San Francisco dump site that we’ve restored as wetlands habitat, when she found an unusual piece of washed-up trash….

A plastic candy box covered with Japanese writing.

Noreen wondered if this might be debris from the March 2011 Japanese tsunami. She contacted NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which monitors marine debris.

It turns out that tsunami debris began washing up on beaches in the Pacific Northwest last winter. Although most of it is still concentrated out at sea, NOAA predicts that some debris will start reaching the rest of the West Coast this winter. (See chart at bottom of this post.)

The agency couldn’t say for sure if this particular plastic box came from the tsunami. Buoys and litter from Asia end up on U.S. beaches all the time.

Japanese candy box found at Pier 94 / Photo by Noreen Weeden

But Noreen’s mystery is a reminder about our modern, self-inflicted plague of marine debris. Most common plastics don’t completely break down in water. Instead, they shred into little particles that are eaten by fish, turtles and seabirds.

Plastic can damage the digestive systems of fish and seabirds. Or if plastic remains in their gut, they may feel full and stop eating, leading to malnutrition or starvation. Researchers estimate that nearly all of the 1.5 million Laysan Albatross on the Midway Islands have plastic in their gut. About one-third of the albatross chicks die, many from eating plastic debris that their parents mistake for food.

Meanwhile, large pieces of plastic debris such as bags or nets can trap fish and other sea life. And there are still other unknown effects from the release of chemicals like PCBs that are components of plastic — and that travel up the food chain as fish are eaten by larger predators.

That’s why we support efforts to limit the use of disposable plastic bags, like the Bay Versus Bag campaign run by our friends at Save the Bay. They estimate that more than 1 million plastic bags enter the San Francisco Bay each year.

And that’s why our Eco-Education staff makes it a priority to teach students about plastic debris.  In 2011, we were able to send one of our high school interns  to the 5th International Marine Debris Symposium in Hawaii.

When our Eco-Ed staff lead elementary school families on field trips to the beach, they have the kids collect garbage and try to guess the decomposition timeline for each piece.…

By Pamela Clark

As in real estate, we know location is everything in birding. I recently attended the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival for the second time. This festival is based in subtropical South Texas in the town of Harlingen and for me represents total immersion birding. I was in the field by dawn and birded until heat, hunger, or the seminar schedule enticed me inside.

Last year, I was excited to be seeing so many life birds and birding in such new places. This year, I focused on activities to improve my general birding skills. Throughout my stay I was struck by the differences in the most commonly seen bird species — what I refer to as the “usual suspects”.

Here in the Bay Area, the usual suspects often include House Finches, American Crows, Common Ravens, Robins, American Goldfinches, and Mallards. In Texas, most of these species are sparse.

Instead Black-bellied Whistling Ducks replace Mallards on the ponds and House Sparrows are seen in places where I would expect House Finches. In my two visits, I have never seen American Goldfinch, House Finch, American Robin or Song Sparrow. The valley specialties that can be seen almost every day include Great Kiskadee, Green Jay, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Plain Chachalaca, and the omni-present Great-tailed Grackle.

Fulvous and Black-bellied Whistling Ducks / Photo by Robert Clark Great-tailed Grackle / Photo by Kelly Smith

Checking my email in the evening, it was funny to read Bay Area birding list emails about the few Great-tailed Grackles being seen at Lake Merced and Lake Elizabeth. The Texas locals think of Grackles as nuisance birds, but I found them fascinating with their blue-black feathers (males) and raucous calls and whistles.  I also enjoyed getting to know the whistles of the Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, which can be seen in town as well as on the trails. The distinctive calls of the Green Jay and Great Kiskadee soon became as familiar to me as the calls of our California Towhee or Western Scrub Jay.

Some of my favorite Valley birds include White-tailed Hawk, Harris Hawk, Least Grebe, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Altamira Oriole, and the doves. I loved watching all the different doves, from the large, plump White-winged Dove to the delicate, intricately-patterned Inca Dove. In the right place, I could watch six species of doves vying for space at the feeder or water drip.

Inca Dove / Photo by Robert Clark White-tailed Hawk pair / Photo by Robert Clark

On South Padre Island, I saw Reddish Egret and Tri-colored Herons, along with migrating warblers, such as Northern Parula, American Redstart, Tennessee and Black-throated Green. …

This post is reprinted from Audublog, the blog of Audubon California. GGBA’  incoming Executive Director Mike Lynes helped draft Audubon California’s comments to the California Fish and Game Commission on the importance of protecting forage fish — small species that are eaten by larger fish and other predators.

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Small fish are a big deal for seabirds like the Brown Pelican and the Black-footed Albatross. That is why Audubon California and other conservation groups are applauding the California Fish and Game Commission’s unanimous approval [in early November] of new policies governing the harvesting of small fish – such as anchovies, sardine, herring and squid – that are vital to the survival of birds and wildlife.

“Seabirds and other marine wildlife in California are safer today as a result of this new policy,” said Anna Weinstein, seabird program manager for Audubon California. “These small fish are the heartbeat of our coast and ocean, supporting our diverse array of seabirds and other marine wildlife.”

The policy comes at a critical time. Forage species have gone from 40 percent to 80 percent of total landings in commercial fisheries in California. Market squid is now the most lucrative commercial fishery in California, reflecting increasing global pressure on forage species as larger fish have declined or disappeared.

Brown Pelican / Photo by Rick Lewis

“Seabirds are especially sensitive to changes in prey abundance, and their populations have crashed and not recovered in areas where overfishing takes place,” added Weinstein. “Now, the state of California, which manages a substantial part of the range of many wide-ranging birds and wildlife, has gone far to ensure that in the future there will be sufficient prey for our marine wildlife.”

The policy prevents the expansion of existing fisheries or the initiation of new fisheries until more is known about the needs of predator species such as seabirds, sharks, tuna and sea otters, and that these needs can be explicitly included in fisheries management plans. Catch quotas on currently fished species such squid and herring will not increase without first ensuring enough is set aside for predators.

Brown Pelican / Photo by Rick Lewis

The policy puts similar conditions on the development of new fisheries on currently unfished species such as sand lance, an important prey item for California breeding seabirds like Common Murre, Tufted Puffin and Marbled Murrelet.

The policy adopted by the Commission was submitted by a working group comprised of fishing industry representatives and conservation groups, including Audubon California, Oceana, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Ocean Conservancy.…