Contra Costa county eBird hotspot consolidation and management
Logan Kahle
Hi All, If you are not a user of eBird or interested in topics related to the subject, no need to read on. If you are a user of eBird and bird in Contra Costa county, the following changes may slightly effect your birding. In the past week I have been thoroughly examining some of the more controversial hotspot regions in Contra Costa county, and merging them as seems fit. I have also been elevating certain localities into hotspot status. So, here are a few changes that may change how you bird around the county a bit: Castle Rocks Park and Diablo Foothills RP: These spots are now merged. The Definition of Castle Rocks Regional Recreation area extends just .6 miles past the parking lot. I looked at about 50 checklists from this park, and well over half were between 1.5-3 miles in distance, which IMHO clearly means the lists were outside of the park boundaries. As such, there was no meaningful distinction between the two spots' usage. On a similar note, the Pine Canyon Hotspot remains in tact, and should be used if a birder hikes far enough up the trail to leave the area of Diablo Foothills RP, about 5 miles each way. Keep this in mind during all-day hikes. Jewel Lake/Tilden Nature Area: The Tilden Nature Area--vicinity of Little Farm area and the Packrat Trail have both been merged with Jewel Lake. This is because the area commonly referred to as "Jewel Lake" (from the parking lot to the lake and vicinity) includes these hotspots. The jury is still out on the larger Tilden Nature Area hotspot, but so far it looks like most checklist in this region are used to detail a list to Jewel Lake as well, and not the larger area of the Tilden Nature Area as a whole. Big Break Area: This region's hotspots now pertain to three main areas: 1) Big Break Regional Shoreline--Observation and Fishing Pier . This is the area around the visitor center and the pier proper, not the Big Break trail. 2) Big Break Regional Shoreline--Big Break Visitor Center to Jordan Lane. This newly-created hotspot is supposed to cover every area west of Iron House along the Big Break trail. 3) Iron House Sanitary District. This refers to any area along the trail east/north of the Jordan ln entrance. The general Big Break Trail hotspot still exists, but I urge that people please use one of the other three locations when birding this area. The trail hotspot is all-encompassing, and as such much less precise than the other hotspots. Additionally, I have been trying to make new hotspots in places that have received coverage. So, locations like Discovery Bay, Concord Naval Weapons Station, and Vasco Caves, to name a few, now all have hotspot markers. If you have eBirded at any of those locations, it would be very much appreciated if you could merge your current list with the hotspot at the designated spot. I'm happy to answer any questions or concerns about these changes, but may be unreachable for the next couple weeks. Good birding,
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Richmond 1/30 rare Scoters, continuing Winter Wren
Logan Kahle
Hi all,
I have visited Pt. San Pablo several times in the past week and found a couple locally interesting birds. 1/23 (primarily searching to see if the Albatross would pass under the Richmond Bridge) Red-throated Loon-54 Brandt's Cormorant-1 Full eBird list here: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S42186445 1/28: Great Horned Owl-1 Peregrine Falcon-2 seemed like a pair. Maybe nesting on the Richmond Bridge? Tree Swallow-1 appeared to be a spring migrant Winter Wren-1 Full eBird list here: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S42326825 1/30: Yesterday I did a tour around Richmond and some other areas of Western Contra Costa. With light NE winds and no marine layer I opted out of Pt. Isabel and the southern Bayside and instead worked mostly around the northern parts of richmond. I started the morning at Point San Pablo. I started at the oaks, worked down to the marina and up some of the adjacent slopes and trails, back through the oaks spending a good amount of time searching through the large Scoter mass that has accumulated north of the point, stopped briefly at the pond, hit the neighborhoods, and finally the county park. At dawn, the continuing WINTER WREN was sounding off around the hairpin turn at (). The bird has been pretty dependable here my last few visits, but seeing it remains nearly impossible. There is a large oak with a hollowed understory on the left (east) side of the road here that you can climb into and theoretically see the bird. Highlights here included: Lesser Scaup-2 WHITE-WINGED SCOTER-1 or possibly 2 in with scoter swarm. Without a very good scope, at the distance of these scoters it is very hard to pick through them on the water. When they fly, however, it is much easier. LONG-TAILED DUCK-1 female in with scoter flock Red-throated Loon-12 Brandt's Cormorant-23 on West Brothers Island Sharp-shinned Hawk-1 Black-bellied Plover-4 Semipalmated Plover-1 was my first here this winter Killdeer-2 Black Turnstone-11 Dunlin-104 Least Sandpiper-1 Western Sandpiper-8 Spotted Sandpiper-1 Peregrine Falcon-1 WINTER WREN-1 continuing bird Full eBird list here: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S42367027 An interesting phenomenon in the past week or so has been the concentrations of RED-THROATED LOONS around the Richmond area. In the past, I have once noted numbers like this, but never for sustained periods of time. I have not spent large chunks of time baywatching, but the largest period (1 hour) on the 23rd produced 54 Red-throated Loons, and most scans of the bay for 10 minutes or so in recent visits have produced upwards of 10 birds. To the best of my knowledge, this is a very very large influx of this species into Contra Costa, and possibly unprecedented in the entire East Bay. According to brief checks of local listservs and eBird, the only concentrations of this magnitude I could find on the Bayside were Ron Thorns tallies from Coyote Point, which got up to 90. Anyway, I continued on to Miller/Knox, where I was surprised to see very few birds on the bayside offshore. I guess everything is up by Pt. San Pablo! Anyway, highlights here included: Eurasian Wigeon-2 on the pond Red-throated Loon-23 in 10 minutes on the bayside Brandt's Cormorant-1 Sharp-shinned Hawk-1 Killdeer-11 Least Sandpiper-1 Allen's Hummingbird-4 Common Yellowthroat-1 was a good bird for the park Full eBird list here: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S42368774 Continuing to Sandpiper Spit, I decided to count the cormorants roosting on the Brook's Island Jetty. Interestingly, essentially all seemed to be Double-crested, quite a difference from the West Brother's Island Roost. Red-throated Loon-5 Common Loon-1 Brandt's Cormorant-2 Pelagic Cormorant-1 Double-crested Cormorant-2700 Full eBird list here: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S42369268 From there I headed to Canal Boulevard to try to get a better look at the birds past Brook's Island. There were well over 1000 gulls and as many ducks just past the island. Brant-13 Bufflehead-550 Full eBird list here: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S42369775 From there I decided to check out a park I'd never covered before: Kennedy Grove on the north shore of San Pablo Reservoir. The area was quite birdy, with several mixed flocks scattered around, but no goodies mixed in. The reservoir, on the other hand, had plenty of activity: Northern Shoveler-2 Gadwall-3 American Wigeon-1 Ring-necked Duck-68 was a nice count Bufflehead-1 Common Goldeneye-3 Spotted Sandpiper-1 Band-tailed Pigeon-1 House Wren-1 California Thrasher-1 Pine Siskin-22 in a single flock Full eBird list here: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S42371345 I then tried to access the south end of San Pablo Reservoir just to find that the area was CLOSED! Apparently they open up again on friday. On my way back west, I decided to make a quick stop at Jewel Lake. Highlights here included: Allen's Hummingbird-2 Acorn Woodpecker-1 Downy Woodpecker-1 Pacific Wren-1 Varied Thrush-1 https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S42373059 Overall a nice tour of west county with 105 species detected. Good birding, Logan
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Re: Pt Pinole winter wren
Whoops I meant pt San Pablo.
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
John Sterling 530 908-3836 26 Palm Ave Woodland, CA 95695
On Jan 29, 2018, at 6:48 PM, John Sterling <jsterling@wavecable.com> wrote:
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Pt. Pinole Allens Hummingbirds
Sheila Dickie
There were two male Allens Hummingbirds at Point Pinole Regional Shoreline Park yesterday afternoon, January 28. One at the pond off Owl Alley and one on the Sobrante
Trail near the chip pile. The former was on top of a bramble and the latter on Coyote Brush. A White-tailed Kite was also present at the meadow opposite the new Atlas parking lot harassing a Red Tail hawk sitting atop a small tree. Sheila Dickie Richmond
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Pt inole
Sheila Dickie
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Barn Owl at Lake Chabot
Emily Serkin
This evening, a little before 5, a Barn Owl was flying around the meadow just downhill from the Nike Classroom. Emily Serkin Castro Valley
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Nesting Anna's and Ruby-crowned Kinglet with ruby crown showing
George A Suennen
Hello,
Took a walk yesterday afternoon at the Canyon Trail Park in El Cerrito and saw many Ruby-crowned Kinglets, one with his red crown clearly visible. Also saw many Anna's Hummingbirds, with one female on it's next. Seems early in the year for these signs of Spring. Other birds sighted were Lesser Goldfinch, House Finch, White-crowned Sparrow, American Robin, Dark-eyed Junco, California Towhee, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and a White-tailed Kite. At first I thought the Kite was a seagull gliding by overhead, but it circled and flew like a raptor. After looking at the photos I confirmed it was a White-tailed Kite. I posted some photos on my website at http://birds.avianist.com/2018/180127-Canyon-Trail Best Regards, George http://birds.avianist.com
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Three California Thrashers singing along Nimitz Way from Inspiration Point to Wildcat Peak
Lee Friedman
I birded from Inspiration Point to Wildcat Peak along the Nimitz Way this morning. I think the highlight is the beginning seasonal change: three California Thrashers were singing mightily at different points (two on opposite sides of the trail about 100 yards north of the Redwood Grove, the third past the 1.5 mile marker and just before entering the long Eucalyptus strand which ends at the Wildcat Peak cutoff trail). Hearing just one is reason enough for me to go birding. At the 1.5 mile marker there was also a Northern Harrier hovering briefly over a field by the EBMUD-Tilden border. Six Pygmy Nuthatches in conifers near Inspiration Point were sharing the trees with a Ruby-Crowned Kinglet, Hutton’s Vireo, Townsend’s Warbler and Hairy Woodpecker. My reference to beginning seasonal change is also prompted by the singing all this month of the Oak Titmice in my north Berkeley neighborhood—a phenomenon that occurs every year, but usually not until March. Full eBird list of the Inspiration Point outing with 24 species and some photos is here: https://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S42291103 Good birding, Lee Friedman
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Re: Contra Costa county 1/17 WINTER WREN, Hooded Oriole
I looked for the Wren a couple of days ago and heard what I think was a Pacific Wren at that location. I discussed it with Logan. There may be two different birds there so Logan is sending his recording to friends at Cornell to see what they think.
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
John Sterling 530 908-3836 26 Palm Ave Woodland, CA 95695
On Jan 18, 2018, at 10:13 AM, Logan Kahle logan@... [EBB_Sightings] <EBB_Sightings-noreply@...> wrote:
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Contra Costa county 1/22 Herring Run, East county local rarities, etc
Logan Kahle
Hi all,
Spent a great day with Dominik Mosur bouncing around some of my favorite Contra Costa county spots. We hit relatively few spots compared to my average visit, focusing more on thoroughly checking each spot we did hit. The morning started with low fog throughout the bayside, cleared on the bayside but was still overcast for the afternoon in East county. We decided to mix up the route somewhat, skipping Pt. Isabel and Meeker Slough. We started at Vincent Park, checking the channel, harbor, and adjacent shoreline. Duck and diver numbers seemed low to me, but shorebird numbers more than made up for the dearth: Red-throated Loon-1 Common Loon-1 Horned Grebe-20 was a nice count Pelagic Cormorant-4 Black Oystercatcher-3 Black-bellied Plover-1 Long-billed Curlew-2 Marbled Godwit-4 Black Turnstone-50 was a good count in the county, but the flock unfortunately included no Ruddies Sanderling-42 was a good count for the county Dunlin-50 Least Sandpiper-8 "Thayer's" Iceland Gull-1 was mixed in with a large gull group of primarily Ring-billed and California at the lawn at dawn Full eBird checklist here: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S42154778 We proceeded to Canal Boulevard Viewing Platform for another look at the channel. Similarly small numbers of ducks, but many more birds were visible beyond Brook's Island. Highlights here included: Brant-1 southbound flyby was my first in the county in a while Red-breasted Merganser-1 was a good bird for here Red-throated Loon-5 included 4 past brook's and 1 just 20 meters or so off the platform (!) Black Oystercatcher-2 Black-bellied Plover-3 Long-billed Curlew-2 Marbled Godwit-2 Sanderling-120 was a very good count for the county Dunlin-2 Least Sandpiper-15 Full eBird checklist here: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S42155573 From there we headed to Point San Pablo where we spent a large amount of time exploring the various spots around the point. We started at the Ship Hull overlook where we witnessed a MASSIVE movements of Cormorants into the San Pablo Bay from across the bridge, presumably originating at the Chevron Pier Roost site. We estimated of 9000 Cormorants, which seems to likely be indicative of a HERRING RUN in this part of the bay just off San Quentin. The majority of the Cormorants were streaming to two different feeding sites, one off San Quentin and one just north of the Point San Pablo. While it was just attracting cormorants at this stage (so likely the fish haven't layed yet?) this may turn into a massive multi-family feeding frenzy in the next week, so stay tuned! Anyway, after the Ship Hull overlook we proceeded to the county park, where we spent a good amount of time checking the willows and adjacent areas on the immediate bayside. From there we headed to the pond and briefly checked around the edge. We then spent a good chunk of time walking around the oak ravines. We received one negative comment by a marina resident for parking in spot #3 as described in my Winter Wren post. By the time we got to the oaks activity had already dwindled significantly, and there was just a single main flock. Early morning appears to be best on this side of the peninsula. Anyway, highlights here included: Surf Scoter-1500 was a good count here Red-throated Loon-14 Pelagic Cormorant-30 Brandt's Cormorant-30 Double-crested Cormorant-6000 this was a great count of cormorants for the county, and the largest I know of Cormorant sp-2500 Osprey-1 Sharp-shinned Hawk-2 Red-breasted Nuthatch-4 Brown Creeper-1 at county park was my first for that site ROCK WREN-1 continuing awesome find by Colin, hopping around cement blocks just before road turns near pond Full eBird checklist here: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S42161471 From there we blasted straight out to the bethel island area, briefly checking Summer Lake for any potential Boneparte's Gull concentrations. Highlights here included: Boneparte's Gull-2 Forster's Tern-4 Full eBird checklist here: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S42163219 From there we spent a large amount of time on Bethel Island. We started at Piper Slough, working through the ducks and searching for passerines. We then hit Willowest Marina, Frank's Tract overlook, and ended with an intensive search of the Golf Course in the middle of the island, an area I've never covered in the past. Passerine activity was quite high for the afternoon, and we found a nice assortment of ducks in the channel. Highlights included: Cackling Goose-1 in with White-fronts was unusual to be perched on the island Ring-necked Duck-2 were uncommon for the island RED-BREASTED MERGANSER-1 female-type just off Piper Slough was rare in East county, and my first Ruddy Duck-1080 was a nice count for the county Ring-necked Pheasant-4 in the same spot as last time Sora-1 Common Gallinule-2 on Franks Tract were a good bird for the island American Coot-19000 constituting 9000 from Piper and 10000 from Frank's Tract was a good count Black-necked Stilt-15 Killdeer-46 Least Sandpiper-8 Long-billed Dowitcher-6 Greater Yellowlegs-6 Lesser Yellowlegs-3 Mew Gull-1 Allen's Hummingbird-1 at traditional Willowest spot Prairie Falcon-1 over golf course was a rarity for Bethel HUTTON'S VIREO-1 photographed at Piper is the first documented record for East county BROWN CREEPER-1 well-seen at willowest was the first record for this well-covered island, and one of few for east county "Myrtle" Yellow-rumped Warbler-1 Full eBird checklist here: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S42167915 We ended the day with a brief stop at Clifton Court, scanning from the parking lot. Northing exceptional was noted here, but a flock of at least 25,000 gulls stretched across the eastern shoreline of the forebay. For any larophiles out there, clifton court at dusk could be great in the next few evenings! All in all it was a great day afield with 133 species noted. Good birding, Logan Kahle San Francisco, CA
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Barrow's Goldeneye and Tricolored Blackbird - Contra Loma R. P., Antioch - 1/23
Paul Schorr
At 12:30 today, from Channel Point Parking Lot, we were observing a raft of ~ 15 goldeneyes, when a male Barrow’s popped into view. This was our first sighting of this species at the park/reservoir. In addition, later in the day, there were several large flocks of blackbirds and starlings in the grassy margins of the gravel parking lot directly south of the entrance to Channel Point. Included in the mixed flock of European Starlings, Brewer’s and Red-winged Blackbirds was at least one Tricolored Blackbird.
In addition, we had a seven-raptor species day: Osprey, Red-tailed Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Northern Harrier, White-tailed Kite, American Kestrel and Turkey Vulture. There were also at least 20 Common Gallinules dispersed in different locations on the reservoir Good birding, Paul Schorr Antioch
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Laysan Albatross - Carquinez Strait - Contra Costa County
Eric Pilotte
From 7:40am until 9:05am I watched a Laysan Albatross trying to find its way back to the sea while trapped within the confines of the Carquinez Strait. At times the bird flew along the Contra Costa side of the strait, at others it was seen flying on the Solano side (including within Benicia State Recreation Area). More details, including pix and videos, are in eBird. Unfortunately, the bird had left by 10:30am despite multiple observers.
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S42187795
Eric Pilotte Benicia, CA
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Peregrines
peter dramer
Peregrines have returned to the Campanile at the UC Berkeley campus.
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Wingbar "Oregon" Junco in Concord, CoCo County
albertlinkowski
Several days ago I had the opportunity to photograph this "odd" looking Oregon type of Junco. This one can only be untypical regular "Oregon" type, aberrant one, or perhaps intergrade ( if only possible) of Oregon "with White-winged? All opinions and comments are welcome, Albert W. Linkowski http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S41858598
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Re: White Faced Ibis
Don Bernstein <donb@...>
I stopped by today, and saw 5 Ibis.
Their eye color has been shifting to red over the winter.
On 1/21/2018 9:00 PM, Don Bernstein wrote:
--
Don Bernstein
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Palo Alto Adult School birding classes
Folks, Palo Alto Adult School's birding program continues this winter with three popular classes. There is still room in some classes, so please check the website for details:
Matthew Dodder Mountain View
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Winter Pelagic Feb 24 and Alvaro's Adventures Pelagic schedule 2018
Alvaro Jaramillo
Hello Bay Area and Monterey Bay Folks
Thanks so much for the participation in last year’s trips. We really appreciate it. We saw some awesome birds out there, rarity of the season was the Wedge-tailed Shearwater we photographed near Half Moon Bay. Of course all sorts of other goodies were seen, including our fine regular seabirds which we are always happy to enjoy. We are looking forward to 2018. Here are some news:
We are so looking forward to enjoying the ocean, the birds, and your company! If you have questions, contact me privately. Good birding, Alvaro
Alvaro Jaramillo www.alvarosadventures.com
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White Faced Ibis
Don Bernstein <donb@...>
I returned to Wildcat Marsh (at the end of Parr Blvd) in Richmond
Friday for the first time in a while, and was happy to see the
four first-year Ibis are all still there. On a few trips I had
only seen two or three, so I was worried that one had perished,
but it's just a little standoffish. --
Don Bernstein
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Varied Thrushes - Tilden Regional Park - 1/20
Paul Schorr
During a late morning outing to Tilden Regional Park, we birded along the closed South Park Drive and found at least four Varied Thrushes within the first 200 yards. South Park Drive is closed from Nov. 1 through March 31 to protect migrating newts. Consequently, our walk along the road was very pleasant without the flow of vehicles. We began across from the Botanic Gardens and continued perhaps a quarter of a mile, encountering lots of bird activity in addition to the thrushes.
Other noteworthy species included: Wrentit (heard only) California Thrasher (heard only) Band-tailed Pigeons (~20) Anna’s Hummingbird (nest-building) Good birding, Paul and Nancy Schorr Antioch
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5 Goose day
shuckabone@...
Of local interest this morning between 8:30AM and 9:00AM I drove W. Jack London Blvd in Livermore and had a 5 goose surprise. A single Ross’s Goose was with a flock of Canada Geese in the vacant lot west of the water treatment facility. Further west on W. Jack London I scanned the large flocks of Canada Geese and picked out 1 Snow Goose, 25 Greater White-fronted Geese and 20 Cackling Geese mixed with the Canada Geese. On May School Rd a Prairie Falcon was soaking up the early morning sun on a transmission pole.
Good birding.
Steve Huckabone Alameda County Livermore, CA
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