Oaklandside reporte
The shorebirds that look like ‘little angels hovering above the waves’ have been on the endangered species list since 1970. A wildlife biologist with the park system and 8,000 volunteers have created nesting habitats in Oakland and Hayward.
The small island in an Oakland marsh is almost entirely covered in cudweed, and that’s not how the California least tern likes it. Though the patches of vegetation are less than a foot high, this native tern is even smaller, the smallest of the North American terns, about the size of a robin. The tiny shorebird has been on the endangered species list since 1970, and for this patch of shale to be attractive for nesting, they need clear sight lines to evade gulls, crows, and other predators.
That’s why more than two dozen volunteers met one Saturday morning in late January at the Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline, tucked between the Oakland Coliseum and the Oakland Airport, for a day of weeding. Here, as you walk along the shoreline’s paved pathways, you’re apt to see both geese and airplanes take flight.
Read more Can the East Bay Parks help save the California least tern?
Posted in Birds | Tags: Least Tern
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