Rosita and I traveled to Alameda after some business in Oakland this morning. Elsie Roemer was thick with birds all the way to the Doolittle Drive bridge to Bay Farm Island. We did see the continuing

Saw 2 Lawrence's Goldfinches (an apparent pair) in the south parcel of Sycamore Valley Regional Open Space Preserve, between San Ramon and Danville this afternoon. This is the first time I've seen thi

This morning on private property near where Marsh Creek Rd. intersects Camino Diablo, I had one male Blue Grosbeak which I watched for a short time while it called from atop a dying cottonwood at abou

This morning, while Nancy and I were having our coffee on the patio and watching the small flock of about twenty-five American Goldfinches at our feeders, we heard the very distinctive call of a Red-b

I biked the west half of Black Diamond Mines today. The highlight was watching a scrub jay catch and subdue a 10 inch long ring-necked snake longer than the jay. (These snakes have a beautiful red bel

I heard my first this year in Strawberry Canyon this morning. It was on the other side of the fence in the UC Botanical Garden. A FOS for my yard Wilson's warbler has been gleaning insects all afterno

The Wood Ducks were making the photographers happy this morning, first walking under the big oak across from the wooden railing and the parking area, then swimming out in front of the island. The larg

No rare species to be found either in Wildcat Canyon Gorge or at Lake Anza today, but I did see an Mallard with a single duckling. It looked very young to me, but was able to swim in tight formation w

It seemed fairly quiet for me today, as the Canada Geese were not making all of their noise chasing each other. In fact, there did not seem to be many of them around the ponds. There were also only a

The morning offered up some fine birding, and I was happy to take advantage of it. A few yards beyond the entry gate to Castle Rock park, right where the creek passes beneath the paved road, I found a

After I did some cleaning in the garage, Nancy and I decided to go to BDMRP for a picnic lunch. Along the entry road near the ranch buildings of the old Moeller Ranch , we spotted a Western Kingbird h

April 6. I was at Arrowhead Marsh around noon today and spotted a Yellow Bird that didn’t match any in my photo list. It was hoping around in a tree eating something. The most instructive photo showin

Today, as Nancy and I were driving along the road to the entrance kiosk we saw two courting Western Kingbirds on the adjacent fence. When we arrived at the boat launch area, we heard and then saw at l

Yesterday was my first time at Point Pinole Regional Shoreline, and I was amazed at all the birds I saw. Most notable was a nesting osprey pair. On the pier, facing the water (not the park), look at t

Saturday afternoon at the top of Flag Hill a kingbird perched and darted about in the trees above the cows near the stone "Flag Hill" sign. By the time I dug out my book it had flown off, so I could n

Migrant activity is beginning to tick up nicely as my outing to Diablo Foothills, this morning, was to reveal. Walking through the Castle Rock recreation area ( where I began a little after 7am), I no

Despite being Easter Sunday and wearing lots of clothes, when I saw Ted R as I was leaving I told him I was becoming cold. Still, I had some interesting bird sightings. The Downy Woodpecker male is on

Since these birds have been mentioned in other posts, I suppose I should report that in our Walnut Creek neighborhood I had a White-throated Sparrow feeding on the ground with a few Golden-crowns on T

About 3 pm today about a mile north of Lake Anza in Wildcat Canyon Gorge there was a opening in the trees with some Wilson’s Warblers feeding. Only of note because I have been watching for them and fi

Today I spent quite a bit of time at Tilden around Jewel Lake and the nature area. Wilson's Warblers were abundant and vocal. Orange-crowned Warblers were heard more than seen but the bonus was that o