Natural History Wanderings

Today I went birding at Elsie Roemer starting just after the King Tide. Elsie Roemer Bird Sanctuary is at the east end of Marsh Beach in the town of Alameda. It harbors aquatic birds and other salt marsh creatures.

There were very large numbers of shorebirds today including Double Crested Cormorants, Willets, Marbled Godwits, Western Sandpipers, Least Sandpipers, and  Dowitchers.  The Willets and Marbled Godwits were likely in the high hundreds and the Western Sandpipers over 1000. The Snowy Egrets were in double digits as well. Probably the most interesting bird today was a Say’s Phoebe, as this is the first time I have seen one at Elsie Roemer. It was the most species (37) I have seen on a visit to Elsie Roemer and yet didn’t include a few commonly seen ones such as Brown Pelicans, Killdeer, Canada Goose or any Grebes or Terns.

Click Read more to see today’s bird list

Elsie Roemer Bird Sanctuary, Alameda, California, US
Dec 12, 2016 10:30 AM – 1:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
1.0 mile(s)
36 species (+1 other taxa)

Mallard  X
Northern Pintail  X
Greater Scaup  X
Bufflehead  X
Ruddy Duck  X
Double-crested Cormorant  X
Great Egret  1
Snowy Egret  X
American Coot  X
American Avocet  X
Black Oystercatcher  X
Black-bellied Plover  X
Semipalmated Plover  X
Long-billed Curlew  X
Marbled Godwit  X
Sanderling  X
Least Sandpiper  X
Western Sandpiper  X
Short-billed/Long-billed Dowitcher  X
Greater Yellowlegs  X
Willet  X
Ring-billed Gull  X
Western Gull  X
California Gull  X
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  X
Anna’s Hummingbird  1
Black Phoebe  1
Say’s Phoebe  1
American Crow  X
European Starling  X
Yellow-rumped Warbler  X
White-crowned Sparrow  X
Golden-crowned Sparrow  X
Song Sparrow  X
California Towhee  X
House Finch  X
House Sparrow  X