Natural History Wanderings

104 Birds in Six Rainy Hours

In yesterday’s rain I joined the Soggy Sloggers, a group of eight birders attempting to see as many birds as possible in a Big Six Hours in Oakland. It was part of the Golden Gate Audubon Birdathon, which is a much fund-raising activity for the local Audubon Chapter. It seemed like it rained a lot harder and a lot more where ever our group went yesterday than in most other parts of the Bay Area.

The trip consisted of going to six locations and many habitats to see how many bird species we could identify in six hours.. All were in Oakland except for Sibley Volcanic Preserve which was across the street from the city line. The locations included

• Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve
• Lake Temescal Regional Recreation Area
• Lake Merritt
• Middle Harbor Shoreline Park
• Garretson Point in MLK Regional Shoreline
• Arrowhead Marsh in MLK Regional Shoreline

 

Most notable was the persistence of the group (now known as the Soggy Sloggers) in that all seven participants plus leader Glen Tepke kept their spirits up and continued throughout  the day. The official group total of bird species seen or heard for the six-hour period was 104.

Sibley Volcanic Preserve required much birding by ear. It was a good review of what bird sounds I know and how much more I still have to learn.

Highlights for the group included a White-tailed Kite and Lark Sparrow at Sibley; a White-throated Sparrow, Green Heron and Wood Ducks at Lake Temescal; a Caspian Tern at Lake Merrit, a Lesser Yellowlegs at Garretson Point, and a last-minute Ridgway’s Rail at Arrowhead Marsh. The most surprising absentee was that no Turkey Vultures were seen today. Raptors in the sky were scarce due to lack of thermals. Many of the Grebes and Ruddy Ducks, and Shorebirds were showing alternate (breeding) plumage.

The only plant list I did today was for Sibley. 

Maybe most important was seeing a rabbit on Easter Sunday.

If you are interested in participating in the Birdathon there are still trips with openings or you can just support participants at Birdathon 2015 Field Trips | Golden Gate Audubon Society.

 See full bird list and a Sibley Plant list by clicking on Read More

 Official 104 Bird seen during the  Birdathon Oakland Big Six Hours

From 4/5/2015 to 4/5/2015 ~ All Places ~ 104 seen

GREBES

Pied-billed Grebe

Horned Grebe

Eared Grebe

Western Grebe

Clark’s Grebe

PELICANS

Brown Pelican

CORMORANTS

Double-crested Cormorant

HERONS, EGRETS AND BITTERNS

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Snowy Egret

Green Heron

Black-crowned Night-Heron

DUCKS, GEESE AND SWANS

Canada Goose

Wood Duck

American Wigeon

Green-winged Teal

Mallard

Northern Pintail

Cinnamon Teal

Northern Shoveler

Greater Scaup

Surf Scoter

Common Goldeneye

Bufflehead

Ruddy Duck

HAWKS, EAGLES AND KITES

White-tailed Kite

Red-shouldered Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

TURKEYS

Wild Turkey

NEW WORLD QUAIL

California Quail

RAILS, GALLINULES AND COOTS

Ridgway’s Rail

American Coot

AVOCETS AND STILTS

Black-necked Stilt

American Avocet

PLOVERS AND LAPWINGS

Black-bellied Plover

Semipalmated Plover

Killdeer

SANDPIPERS

Dowitcher sp.

Marbled Godwit

Long-billed Curlew

Greater Yellowlegs

Lesser Yellowlegs

Spotted Sandpiper

Willet

Sanderling

Western Sandpiper

Least Sandpiper

Dunlin

GULLS

Mew Gull

Ring-billed Gull

California Gull

Glaucous-winged Gull

Western Gull

TERNS

Caspian Tern

Forster’s Tern

PIGEONS AND DOVES

Rock Pigeon

Band-tailed Pigeon

Mourning Dove

HUMMINGBIRDS

Anna’s Hummingbird

Allen’s Hummingbird

WOODPECKERS

Nuttall’s Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

TYRANT FLYCATCHERS

Pacific-slope Flycatcher

Black Phoebe

SWALLOWS

Violet-green Swallow

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Barn Swallow

KINGLETS

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

WRENS

Bewick’s Wren

MOCKINGBIRDS AND THRASHERS

California Thrasher

THRUSHES

Western Bluebird

American Robin

Varied Thrush

OLD WORLD WARBLERS

Wrentit

LONG-TAILED TITS

Bushtit

CHICKADEES AND TITS

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Oak Titmouse

CROWS AND JAYS

Steller’s Jay

Western Scrub-Jay

American Crow

Common Raven

STARLINGS

European Starling

OLD WORLD SPARROWS

House Sparrow

VIREOS AND ALLIES

Hutton’s Vireo

FINCHES, SISKINS, CROSSBILLS

House Finch

WOOD WARBLERS

Orange-crowned Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

Wilson’s Warbler

SPARROWS, TOWHEES, JUNCOS

Spotted Towhee

California Towhee

Lark Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow

Fox Sparrow

Song Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

Golden-crowned Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

SALTATORS, CARDINALS AND ALLIES

Black-headed Grosbeak

BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, GRACKLES, ETC.

Red-winged Blackbird

Brewer’s Blackbird

 

Sable Plant List 

Native Plants in Flower

Lupine – 2 species

California Poppy

Mule’s Ears

Elderberry

California Buttercup

Wild Cucumber

Poison Oak

California Blackberry

Blue Dicks

Blue Witch

Cow Clover

California Strawberry

Cow Parsnip

 

Alien plants in bloom

Pineapple Weed

Filaree

a pink and white vetch

Scotch Broom

 

Other:

Banana Slug