Work took me to lake Merritt today and I looked at the lake from two areas quickly and saw less than 60 scaup. Intrigued, I looked at ebird Lake Merritt sightings this month and I think the high scaup

An oil spill has occurred in the Point Richmond area and is staining the beach at the east side of Miller Knox per the news. This is the worst possible time for an oil spill as in past years the herri

Since my days doing tallgrass prairie restoration and breeding bird surveys in Illinois a long time ago, I have always enjoyed grasslands. In the bay area, the best grasslands are off Patterson Pass a

Oh No! It’s a Dowitcher! As I look at eBird reports (I am not an eBird reviewer) but I know many of them, I think there is no bigger problem in the birding community of identifying dowitchers. Most pe

The birding gods smiled on me today and allowed me to refind the dipper at Sunol. I watched the dipper for about 30 minutes and at one time, it "fished' within five feet of me - much of the time it wa

My wife and I birded the Delta today. One of the highlights was a large group of almost 200 Sandhill cranes next to the road at the Holland Track. There were also lots of ducks and some geese at the H

In addition to the ongoing White-winged scoter at the Richmond marina (what a great find and a species who's numbers are crashing) at the marina, what appears to be a hybrid scaup is at the marina. I

Clifton Court Forebay has become one of my favorite areas to bike and bird. Today I biked around the forebay and back. On my return, I was watching an orange-crowned warbler in the willows by the euca

I was watching a flock of sparrows feed on the ground, when suddenly, a small bolt zoomed by me, hugging the ground, flying a foot above the ground. A Sharpie! About four feet before the sparrows, the

I have bern birding the delta recently and have seen several male sea lions. Its interesting to see one with fisherman around as they get excited and start making guesses of what it is ranging from “s

A group of three Cassins Finches dropped by the yard for a quick visit today (below Vollmer Peak). The male with the classic red Mohawk. There have been additional reports at inspiration point in Tild

Derek Hines and I biked Mines Road to the Santa Clara county line today. Some notable sightings: 1. Cassins Kingbird - we parked about 1 mile up - starting to gear up and the Kingbird flew into a syca

Derek Hines and I birded and biked Mines road to mile 19. The recent fire borders the road beginning at mile 17. I do not know if the fires bordering the road were back fires or the “fire” but many of

The birding has been good around Vollmer Peak recently. On Monday, I biked to the summit. 20 ft. Below the summit, I saw an empid flycatcher. I got off the bike - and much to my surprise, it was Hammo

This has been a very interesting fall birding the east hills at my home below Vollmer peal and at Vollmer peak, the two areas I bird most. It has been a very slow year for warblers in the hills. Aside

Lots of birds on move today. Two flocks of greater white fronted geese have flown over yard so far - a very rare event! Some raptors - good morning g to get out with winds. Yard birding today amazing.

I found a Green-tailed Towhee at Vollmer peak today. Its off the paved road about 1/4 mile from the trailhead - first seen 5 feet from the "Jack Alroy" bench where the trail levels off. Of interest is

Ann Griffith and I kayaked from Pt. Molate harbor to the red brick former winery building. I was surprised to find an ell grass bed in the cove to the west of the red brick winery - birders should loo

The first hermit warbler of the fall moved through the yard Monterey pines today. Listen for their chip - they like Monterey pines....I have had several tanagers move through the yard already too, but

I remain fascinated by bird behavior at the yard feeders. One of the yard feeders is designed to hold shelled peanuts which I was sure to attract woodpeckers (acorn, hairy and Nuttals woodpeckers are