I spent Tuesday morning birding at Wildcat Marsh and the Landfill Loop Trail in Richmond. I’m writing because I think this may be an underutilized area. I did not see a single other trail-goer during

Yesterday (Sunday) during high tide I could see 4 Wilson’s Snipes at Meeker Slough with binoculars. They were located on the “island” adjacent to the bridge (on the bay or west side) that links the sl

Correction: The bird that I thought was a white-winged scoter turns out to be a female surf scoter, and many thanks to Jerry Ting and Joseph Morlan for helping me to see this. Superficially the bird d

I was birding yesterday (Dec. 17) in the Damon Slough and Arrowhead Marsh areas of the MLK Regional Shoreline. In the channel between the Marsh and the Slough were a White-Winged Scoter and a Red-Thro

Thanks to Alan Kaplan for another excellent GGAS outing on Friday Nov. 14 at the Berkeley Pier to observe and learn about gulls. I saw Western, Ring-Billed, Glaucous-Winged, and Heermann’s. In additio

Many thanks to Laura Look and others who posted about the Lewis’s Woodpeckers seen from the Oursan Trail along the north border of Briones Reservoir (EBMUD permit required). When I visited yesterday m

Many thanks to Steve and Carol Lombardi for a fabulous GGAS outing yesterday at EBMUD Valle Vista. Another of the highlights was great views of American Kestrels (at least 3 that I saw). Here is a kes

Sorry, I mean Forster’s terns (not Foster’s). Lee

Birding at high tide on Sunday at Meeker Slough, I saw Elegant Terns (and Foster’s Terns, and a Belted Kingfisher, among others) on the wooden pilings on the bay side north of the 51st extension and b

Like others on this list, I have been enjoying seeing the arrival of our fall visitors. While watching some Golden-Crowned Sparrows with Song Sparrows this morning at my home in north Berkeley, I also

While birding from about 10-12 this morning at Eastshore Park beginning along the Virginia Street extension, I saw a pair of shore birds on the rocks at the water’s edge that I hope I’ve identified co

Due to some technical glitch, the posting from Alan Kaplan below intended as the final “beetle” message before the thread closed did not appear. Alan identifies the weevil in the photo as Gonipterus s

This message is to close out on this list serve the issue of the Eucalyptus Tortoise Beetle raised during yesterday’s GGAS outing in Tilden Park. Three experts viewing the insect photo independently w

Many thanks to Emilie for a great outing. If anyone would like to see a photo of a hermit warbler peeking out, it is here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/99583878@N06/14937935861/ My reason for posting

Lee Friedman

Following up on Jeff Acuff’s posting, yesterday (July 22) I visited the Waterbird Regional Preserve and Waterbird Way Pond (just down the street from the Preserve) in Martinez. The Wilson’s Phalaropes

Many thanks to Alan for another great GGAS outing. Just wanted to add that many of the birds are striking in their breeding plumages at this time. Here are two examples: Western Bluebird: https://www.

Yesterday I was walking from Tilden Park into Wildcat Canyon Park via Wildcat Creek Trail. Just past the border into Wildcat, there is a section on the uphill side of the trail that has almost no tree

At EBMUD Valle Vista yesterday, I saw a pair of Caspian Terns (my FOS). They were visible from the King's Canyon Loop Trail shortly past the horse area on a small sandbar close to the near shore. Othe

There were about a dozen Ring-Necked Ducks at Lake Anza this morning, clustered close to one another near the south end. It’s about time for them to depart until next fall (judging by ebird data), in