Natural History Wanderings

Today I went on a Golden Gate Audubon birding field trip to Tilden Park in the Berkeley hills.   Our rather large group of about fifty walked from the nature center/little farm area to Jewel Lake. I counted 30 species that I saw and/or heard. There were more species that other group member saw including a Red-breasted Sapsucker. The personal highlight was the good looks at the Allen’s Hummingbird. No photos today as the autofocus and auto exposure on my old 70 to 300 telephoto lens seemed to die after one shot. With fifty people I didn’t get very close to much anyway. Click on read more to see today’s list.

Tilden Regional Park-Nature Area to Jewel Lake
Mar 2, 2012 8:30 AM – 10:30 AM
Golden Gate Audubon Walk led by Alan Kaplan
30 species

Mallard  X
Bufflehead  X
Turkey Vulture  X
White-tailed Kite  X
Cooper’s Hawk  X
Red-tailed Hawk  X
American Kestrel  X
Anna’s Hummingbird  X
Allen’s Hummingbird  X
Nuttall’s Woodpecker  X
Hairy Woodpecker  X
Northern Flicker  X
Black Phoebe  X
Hutton’s Vireo  X
Steller’s Jay  X
Western Scrub-Jay  X
American Crow  X
Common Raven  X
Chestnut-backed Chickadee  X
Bushtit  X
Red-breasted Nuthatch  X     Heard Only
Bewick’s Wren  X     Heard Only
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  X
Hermit Thrush  X
American Robin  X
Varied Thrush  X
Yellow-rumped Warbler  X
Townsend’s Warbler  X
Song Sparrow  X
Dark-eyed Junco  X