Natural History Wanderings

Yesterday I went birding at Aquatic Park in Berkeley.  The highlights were seeing Forster’s Terns diving and fishing and watching a Kingfisher hover and dive.   It was still early for water birds so I didn’t get to see many species. There was a fair amount of bird calls in the trees, but I couldn’t id the sounds and the birds stayed hidden except for a couple of White-crowned  Sparrows.  I had a total of 17 different birds today counting the hybrid ducks that seem to always be hanging around begging for food with the Mallards. See the list at Berkeley Aquatic Park Bird List 9/30/13

Two days ago I had 14 species in my backyard in the Berkeley flatlands including Mourning Dove, Anna’s Hummingbird, Western Scrub Jay, American Crow, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Oak Titmouse, Red-breasted Nuthatch, American Robin, California Towhee, Fox Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, House Finch, House Sparrow, and the bird of the day a Downy Woodpecker (first sighting in our backyard).