Yesterday (Sunday) at Ballena Bay was amazing. About 170 Elegant Terns lined the seawall waiting out high tide. In addition on the seawall and nearby were (approximately)- Forster's Terns - 40 Black T

With a heads-up from Judi Sierra I went to Elsie Roemer this afternoon to see the amazing gathering of Elegant Terns. Here is a photo of them flying as a cloud to land on another beach. https://bit.ly

A pair of Black Oystercatchers has nested for years on an section of boat decking moored as a bird refuge next to a seawall. The Ballena Bay Marina was purchased by a new company and they have removed

A White-faced Ibis was foraging on the far side of the first vernal pond as you drive into Arrowhead Marsh (5/17/19). Here's a distant photo- https://www.flickr.com/photos/vnelson/47875765631

Yesterday afternoon (12/12) I was fortunate to see two male Great-tailed Grackles at Coyote Hills Regional Park in Fremont. What elegant birds they are! Several times they landed for easy views in a t

I photographed this duck yesterday at Ballena Bay in Alameda, but am confused as to what it is. It seems to combine a female Surf Scoter and possibly a Goldeneye. Or, it might just reflect my lack of

On August 10th I photographed a banded Caspian Tern feeding in the waters of Seaplane Lagoon at the former Alameda Naval Air Station. I sent this photo to the USGS Bird Banding Lab who in turn sent it

The Common Loon I reported several weeks ago is still hunting the waters surrounding the Osprey nest at (the former) Alameda Naval Air Station. It has progressed to breeding plumage. I regularly monit

I spotted a pair of Wigeons mating on the pond yesterday. It's a surprising sight if you haven't seen it before. https://bit.ly/2uR516W

A pair of Ospreys, probably the ones from last year, has begun repairs to the weather damaged nest from last year that is on a "tower" at the end of a protected jetty at the south end of Monarch Stree

Yesterday, I saw a Common Loon in transitional breeding plumage at the southern end off Monarch Street in Alameda on the former Naval Air Station. Picture: https://bit.ly/2FZu5xH This is also the annu

A pair of Wilson's Snipe were feeding openly in the shallows next to fence by the road yesterday. They show up every year but are usually more reclusive and their camouflage feathering makes them hard

Wigeons are seasonally monogamous and the female chooses her mate during January and February. I photographed what some call a courtship flight of the female swirling around the pond with three males

Gail West was able to get the complete number off of the band of the snow goose I reported at Arrowhead the other day. She got information back from the USGS. INFORMATION FROM OUR FILES: Species: Less

For the past two days a Ross's and three Snow Geese have been feeding with Canada's in the meadow next to the second parking lot at Arrowhead Marsh (MLK Shoreline RP). The one white mature Snow Goose

Well, I did say they are transient visitors. I bicycled the lagoons on Bay Farm this afternoon and there was no sign of the Mergansers.

For three days now, I've seen FOS Hooded Mergansers on the Bay Farm Island lagoons in Alameda, one male and three females. They are often transient visitors this time of year. Here's a picture of the

You might think a shorebird's beak is rigid, but part of it is not. They can flex the upper end of their beak like pincers to grab prey buried below in the mud and wet sand. It's called distal rhyncho

Yesterday at Doolittle Pond, three of our common waders - a Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, and a Snowy Egret - were standing in close proximity waiting for the low tide and fishing to begin. There are

Ironically, a Ridgeway Rail at Arrowhead Marsh this morning took advantage of the heat wave to bathe in the warmed shallow waters of the retreating tide. http://bit.ly/2ruhtmA