Natural History Wanderings

Yesterday I had a very enjoyable day birding with a number of my friends from the Master Birding Program. We went to Elsie Roemer Bird Sanctuary in Alameda and Garretson Pt., which is part of Martin Luther King Regional Shoreline in Oakland. We found over 40 species at each site.

Elsie Roemer Bird Sanctuary is a salt marsh that is an excellent place to see shorebirds. The highlight at Elsie Roemer was seeing a group of about 30 Snowy Plovers on the beach. There were a couple of thousand Western Sandpipers flying in large groups and beautifully reflecting the light. There were more Long-billed Curlew than most of us usually see. Interestingly we saw Snowy Plover, Semi-palmated Plovers and Black-bellied plovers but no Killdeer. A few members saw a Ruddy Turnstone which unfortunately I missed.

At Garretson Point we were happy to see that the seasonal pond had water in it and Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Northern Shovelers and American Wigeon. We heard but were unable to see three Ridgway’s Rails. A few group members also saw a Common Yellowthroat. We didn’t find Cinnamon Teal or Blue-winged Teal, which both have been reported here recently on eBird.

Much further out on the bay from both locations we could see what were probably 100’s or even 1000’s of waterbirds although all we could make out even with scopes was that many were scaup. Surprisingly scare today were Mallards; only two were seen at Garretson Pt. One other highlight of the day was the Cocoa Banana Bread.

Long-billed Curlew

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Elsie Roemer Bird Sanctuary, Alameda, California, US
Jan 27, 2018 9:00 AM – 10:45 AM
Protocol: Traveling
2.0 mile(s)
42 species (+3 other taxa)

Snow/Ross’s Goose  1     Dead. In water.
American Wigeon  2
Northern Pintail  3
Greater Scaup  4
Greater/Lesser Scaup  X
Bufflehead  4
Common Goldeneye 1 (female)
Red-throated Loon  1
Eared Grebe  1
Western Grebe  1
Clark’s Grebe  1
Western/Clark’s Grebe  X
Double-crested Cormorant  5
Great Egret  1
Snowy Egret  6
Red-tailed Hawk  1
American Coot  30
Black-necked Stilt  4
American Avocet  44
Black-bellied Plover  5
Snowy Plover  30     Hunkered down in the sand on Crown Beach just past the breakwater.
Semipalmated Plover  15
Whimbrel  2
Long-billed Curlew  13
Marbled Godwit  10
Dunlin  30
Least Sandpiper  1
Western Sandpiper  2000
Willet  1
Ring-billed Gull  6
Western Gull  6
Glaucous-winged Gull  1
Forster’s Tern  9
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  X
Mourning Dove  3
Anna’s Hummingbird  3
Black Phoebe  1
American Crow  4
Chestnut-backed Chickadee  1
European Starling  X
Yellow-rumped Warbler  1
White-crowned Sparrow  6
House Finch  6
Lesser Goldfinch  2
House Sparrow  10

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S42289493

MLK Jr. Regional Shoreline–Garretson Pt., Alameda, California, US
Jan 27, 2018 11:10 AM – 12:20 PM
Protocol: Traveling
1.0 mile(s)
43 species (+3 other taxa)

Canada Goose  10
Northern Shoveler  6
American Wigeon  5
Mallard  2
Northern Pintail  6
Green-winged Teal  2
Greater Scaup  4
Lesser Scaup  2
Greater/Lesser Scaup  20
Bufflehead  4
Common Goldeneye  2
Ruddy Duck  20
Horned Grebe  1
Eared Grebe  1
Western/Clark’s Grebe  6
Snowy Egret  1
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Ridgway’s Rail  3
American Coot  30
Black-necked Stilt  2
American Avocet  12
Black-bellied Plover  4
Marbled Godwit  10
Least Sandpiper  6
Short-billed Dowitcher  6
Willet  12
Lesser Yellowlegs  6
Ring-billed Gull  12
Western Gull  6
California Gull  1
Herring Gull  1
gull sp.  X
Forster’s Tern  2
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  X
Anna’s Hummingbird  3
Black Phoebe  1
American Crow  X
Bushtit  4
Northern Mockingbird  1
European Starling  60
Common Yellowthroat  1
Yellow-rumped Warbler  3
White-crowned Sparrow  6
Song Sparrow  2
California Towhee  4
House Finch  2

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S42289456