Trip Reports

Lake Merritt

December 22, 2010

Leader(s): Hilary Powers and Ruth Tobey

# of participants: 8

# of species: 45

Brush clearing on the islands is well advanced.  Most of the ducks have gathered at the far end of the lake.  We found the Ring Necked Duck and several Common Goldeneye.  We had excellent looks at a Nuttall’s Woodpecker, but only fleeting glimpses of Townsend’s Warbler and Oak Titmouse.  A male Anna’s Hummingbird put on an excellent diving display.

Corona Heights

December 17, 2010

Leader(s): Hilary Powers and Ruth Tobey

# of participants: 6

# of species: 29

We had an overcast, cold and sometimes rainy morning.  Highlights included a wintering sparrow flock (100+), an “ orestera” Orange-crowned Warbler and a mixed flock of American Robins/Cedar Waxwings.

Valle Vista/Upper San Leandro Reservoir (EBMUD)

December 4, 2010

Leader(s): Steve and Carol Lombardi

# of participants: 8

# of species: 60

Despite a cloudy, drizzly day we found a good number of species including Wood Duck, Ring-necked Duck, Hooded Merganser, American Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Acorn Woodpecker, Western Bluebird and Cedar Waxwing.  Note that an EBMUD trail permit is required to bird in this area.

Jewel Lake

December 3, 2010

Leader(s): Dave Quady

# of participants: 6

# of species: 19

We had a cool, overcast morning for a two hour walk to the lake.  Few birds were seen or heard.  The highlight was a male Varied Thrush seen by all. Other birds included Red-shouldered Hawk, Northern Flicker, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Brown Creeper and Red-breasted Nuthatch.

Lake Merritt

November 24, 2010

Leader(s): Hilary Powers and Ruth Tobey

# of participants: 8

# of species: 49

We had a cold but brilliantly clear morning.  The hybrid Barrow’s x Hooded Merganser is back on the lake again this year. Along with large mixed flocks of Barrows and Common Goldeneyes.  We found the Ring-billed Duck, but the Tufted Duck eluded us this month.  The woods were brimming with birds including an unusual number of Oak Titmice and Townsend’s Warblers.  Three male Nuttall’s Woodpeckers were traveling with one female.

Garretson Point, MLK Shoreline

November 21, 2010

Leader(s): Laura Gobbi

# of participants: 1

# of species: 46

The Burrowing Owl is back in the enclosure.  We saw twelve duck species including Blue-winged Teal, and five species of Grebe, some Cackling Geese and  Common Yellowthroat as well as a good assortment of shorebirds.

Corona Heights

November 19, 2010

Leader(s): Brian Fisch and Dominik Mosur

# of participants: n/r

# of species: 39

It was an overcast, cold and drizzly morning. …

Lake Merritt & Lakeside Park

December 23, 2009

Leader(s): Hilary Powers and Ruth Tobey

# of participants: 10

# of species: 43

 

A juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk was perched  in a tree on one of the islands to greet us as we arrived.  This is a new bird for our Lake Merritt monthly walk.  Common Goldeneyes continue in good numbers.  We found one and possibly two female Downy Woodpeckers and four species of Grebes:  Pied-billed, Clark’s, Western and Horned.

 

Mori Point and Sharp Park

December 6, 2009

Leader(s): Eddie Bartley

# of participants:

# of species: 62

 

After being treated to a briefing by Brent Plater on the status of the Sharp Park restoration plan we ventured over to the pollywog pond spotting crowned sparrows, Northern Flicker, Pygmy Nuthatches, thrushes, warblers and three Red-legged Frogs. Returning to the main trail there was a Say’s Phoebe perched up on a home satellite dish diligently dashing out to clean the adjacent roof of spiders and then Brent discovered a male Common Yellowthroat in a mixed flock in the chaparral. Next we braved the cold winds and drizzle whipping across the newly restored pond system and someone mentioned a snipe hunt then lo and behold a Wilson’s Snipe magically appeared feeding very near but way out in the open for the whole world to see. Low temps and a serious head wind kept us from lingering very long in the open so we headed to the west side of Laguna Salada where a bit of cover made things a tad more tolerable. The usual suspects here, most of them dozing away. A very lightly colored second cycle Glaucous-winged Gull was auspicious and a flock of 8 Killdeer wheeled in to bath at the lakeside.Back up on the eroding levee we turned our attention seaside where there were huge numbers of Red-throated Loons with some Pacific’s mixed in. On the rocks at the southern end of the beach we were able to find Black Turnstones, Surfbirds, Black Oystercatchers and Pelagic Cormorants amongst the Western and GW Gulls. A hike up Bootlegger Steps warmed us up considerably and took us to some of the best sightings of the day out on the cape of Mori Point. Howard spotted three BLACK SCOTERS which we scoped and then another gull drifted into the same view that turned out to be a hatch-year SABINE’S GULL. While the head of this very interesting Sabine’s was still in juvenal plumage the flight and body covert feathers as far as we could see had already molted to first adult plumage.…

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Lake Merritt

December 24, 2008

Leader(s): Hilary Powers and Ruth Tobey

# of participants: 3

# of species:  40

Moderate rain  tapered off and we were able to get good close-up views of the Redhead and Ring-necked Duck.  We had good close-up comparisons of Greater and Lesser Scaup.  We had excellent scope views of a large mixed flock of Cedar Waxwings and American Robins feasting on berries.  A noisy flock of American Crows kept the airspace interesting, but the low clouds forced the Oakland Airport planes low overhead, drowning out most of the usual natural sounds.

 

Arrowhead Marsh, MLK Shoreline

December 12, 2008

Leader(s): Bob Lewis

# of participants: 30

# of species: 49

Today was the highest tide of the year: eight feet at about 10:30 a.m.  This gave us outstanding opportunities to view the marsh birds without their usual cover.  Imagine an eight inch wide, five foot long raft of marsh reeds with two Sora and three Clapper Rails standing on tip toe!  Common Yellowthroat, Marsh Wrens and two Virginia Rails also had nowhere to hide.  Today’s total was conservatively 45 Clapper Rails and 20 Sora.  Other highlights included a Wilson’s Snipe in the restoration area as well as a Merlin and a Peregrine Falcon.

 

Point Pinole

December 9, 2008

Leader(s): Bob Lewis

# of participants: 5

# of species: 31

By far the most common species today was Greater Scaup; about 400 were scattered in groups around the bay.  We heard a Red-shouldered Hawk calling.  Other species included Canvasback, American Wigeon,  Brown Pelican, Osprey, American Kestrel and Spotted Sandpiper.

Lake Merritt

November 26, 2008

Leader(s): Hilary Powers and Travis Hails

# of participants: 15

# of species:  32

Light rain turned to heavy rain, so our trip was cut a bit short and restricted only to the lake area.  We had good sightings of the Ring-necked Duck as well as Common Goldeneye and Barrow’s Goldeneye.  There were five Grebe species: Pied-billed, Horned, Eared, Western and Clark’s.  We also saw five species of Gulls and Forster’s Tern.

 

Bodega Bay

November 23, 2008

Leader(s): Rusty Scalf

# of participants: 23

# of species: 60

The clear highlight of today’s trip were  the stunning views of a Yellow-billed Loon.  There were also hundreds of Brant and three additional species of Loon:  Red-throated, Pacific and Common.  We found seven species of Gulls, as well as an excellent assortment of shorebirds.…

Sweeney Ridge

December 26, 2007

Leader(s): Eddie Bartley

# of participants: 4

# of species: 29

The California Thrasher was a clear highlight of today’s trip. We had a good variety of scrub birds: Bewick’s Wren, Hermit Thrush, Wrentit, Spotted Towhee and others. The habitat also offers an excellent study of the San Andreas fault line.

Lake Merritt and Lakeside Park

December 26, 2007

Leader(s): Hilary Powers and Ruth Tobey

# of participants: 20

# of species: 38

Two Wild Turkeys surprised our group as we neared the lawn bowling green; they were a first-ever sighting for our monthly walks. We had four species of Grebe and great views of mature and immature Black-crowned Night Herons. Greater and Lesser Scaup are in great abundance with excellent close-up opportunities to study the differences.

 

Arrowhead Marsh Bicycle Trip

December 23, 2007

Leader(s): Kathy Jarrett

# of participants: 14

# of species: 56

Starting from East Creek Point Trailhead near the High Street Bridge with cool but sunny weather, we rode south to Arrowhead Marsh and returned via Doolittle Dr. and Fernside Blvd. The trail and its amenities are better than ever and still being improved. Surf Scoters were out in the channel as were Common and Barrow ‘s Goldeneyes; a Eurasian X American Wigeon was seen among a group of American Wigeons on Damon Slough (Zhone Way access). A Red-Tailed Hawk and a White-Tailed Kite were also seen in this area. At the viewing platform at Arrowhead we were able to see two Clapper Rails in the gum plants, and a Long-billed Curlew and Black Turnstone among the Willets and Marbled Godwits on the end of the platform. A circuit along San Leandro Creek and by the seasonal ponds turned up Meadowlarks, a Loggerhead Shrike and a Say’s Phoebe. Near the Plover picnic area we found a Northern Flicker. From Doolittle Drive we saw a couple of Black-bellied Plovers.

 

Coyote Hills and Alameda Creek Bicycle Trip

December 8, 2007

Leader(s): Kathy Jarrett

# of participants: 8

# of species: 67

We had a wonderful day, bicycling 25 miles and seeing 67 species between 9 am and 3 pm. We started by seeing a pair of Red-shouldered Hawks in the large dead tree by the pond near the Fremont BART Station. We stood a long time on Alameda Creek just above the BART overpass, seeing an incredible number of birds including a Spotted Sandpiper and some Wilson’s Snipes.…

Arrowhead Marsh Bicycle Trip

December 31, 2006

Leader(s): Kathy Jarrett
# of participants: 12
# of species: 58

The big news is that we finally saw a Burrowing Owl at Arrowhead Marsh. The owl was about 100 feet north of the parking area for the Kingfisher/Plover picnic site, on the left side and within about 15-20 feet of the road. It was down in its burrow with only its head sticking out. If you go soon, there is a bit of white debris, probably a tissue, just left of the entrance to the burrow. Since it was a high winter tide we also saw lots of Clapper Rails and a couple of Virginia Rails. A Merlin posed in a tree for a long time near the Plover Picnic Area, as did a Flicker. There were lovely close views of Canvasbacks, Buffleheads, Cinnamon Teals, Pintails, Shovelers, Wigeons, Ruddy Ducks and Surf Scoters. We started from East Creek Point trailhead just south of the
High Street Bridge; as we have experienced before, this is a great place to see ducks and scoters on a calm winter morning. It was fairly cold this morning and the sun peeked out only briefly while we were watching the owl. Another visitor reported seeing a Sora just after we left the viewing platform. It was great to have so many people join us for a wonderful morning of bird watching!

Lake Merritt
December 27, 2006
Leader(s): Travis Hails and Hilary Powers
# of participants: 2
# of species: 35

Today was clear, windy and cool. We had a good assortment of grebes, ducks and geese, but our only raptor was a Red-tailed Hawk.

Lake Merritt
December 23, 2006
Leader(s): Travis Hails
# of participants: 10
# of species: 41

We set off under cloudy skies. Five minutes of heavy rain were all we got; we got lucky! The juvenile Coopers Hawk was quite cooperative, allowing us good scope views. It’s that time of year when we can view both Barrow’s and Common Goldeneye, Lesser Scaup and Greater Scaup, Eared Grebe and Horned Grebe.
Other species included Peregrine Falcon, Belted Kingfisher, Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Townsend’s Warbler.

Lake Merritt
December 17, 2006
Leader(s): Travis Hails
# of participants: 10
# of species: 41

We had good looks at a Peregrine Falcon this morning and had close-up looks at Horned and Eared Grebe, Common and Barrow’s Goldeneye, Greater and Lesser Scaup as well as Ring-billed, California, Western, and Glaucous-winged Gull.…