Natural History Wanderings

Today I went birding at the Hayward Regional Shoreline with the Audubon/ Academy of Science Master Birding Class. It is an excellent place to see shorebirds. The habitat is a tidal rocky shoreline, channels and bay and tidal . Plants included Coyotebush, Gumplant and Anise, which were all in bloom.

Today there many shorebirds, especially Marbled Godwits, Willets and Black-bellied Plovers, some of which were still showing breeding plumage. We saw 46 different species. Highlights for me included seeing a Ruddy Turnstone, Peregrine Falcon and immature Forster’s Tern.

Hayward Regional Shoreline

To see the class’s bird list for today click read more

Bird List (compiled by Jack Dumbacher one of the leaders)

>45 species (+1 other taxa)

>Mallard  15

>Clark’s Grebe  1

>Double-crested Cormorant  4

>American White Pelican  3

>Great Egret  4

>Snowy Egret  15

>Turkey Vulture  5

>Black-necked Stilt  30

>American Avocet  3

>Black-bellied Plover  40

>Semipalmated Plover  10

>Greater Yellowlegs  5

>Willet  50

>Whimbrel  10

>Long-billed Curlew  5

>Marbled Godwit  100

>Ruddy Turnstone  1

>Least Sandpiper  35

>Western Sandpiper  15

>Short-billed/Long-billed Dowitcher  50

>Ring-billed Gull  10

>Western Gull  1

>California Gull  40

>Caspian Tern  3      One with bands lt:red over orange, rt: yellow with

>numbers (maybe ending in C379?)

>Forster’s Tern  8

>Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  8

>Eurasian Collared-Dove  15

>Mourning Dove  1

>American Kestrel  1

>Peregrine Falcon  1

>Black Phoebe  4

>Western Scrub-Jay  2

>American Crow  10

>Northern Rough-winged Swallow  1

>Tree Swallow  1

>Barn Swallow  25

>Cliff Swallow  2

>Bushtit  10

>Northern Mockingbird  2

>European Starling  100

>California Towhee  2

>Savannah Sparrow  1

>Song Sparrow  5

>Red-winged Blackbird  1

>House Finch  10