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GGAS Field Trip Report

January 22, 2020 – Lake Merritt

Trip Leader(s):

Hilary Powers
Ruth Tobey

Date/Location:

January 22, 2020
Lake Merritt

Trip Info:

Number of Participants: 27
Number of Species: 48

The first thing to strike our Audubon crew (aside from the new fences closing off the area between the dome cage and the lake except for a lockable but open gate) was how very much water there was. The surface looked at least three feet higher than usual… and the level was still rising: threatening to overflow by the Rotary Nature Center a bit before 10 am, and actually onto the path around 11:30 when we were heading back toward Lakeside Park.

Perhaps it was the extra water that lured in our one real lake-rarity: a handsome male Northern Shoveler sat gleaming on the edge of one of the islands like a comic caricature of a Mallard. In all the record-keeping for the trip, he was the first of his kind to appear.

The lake also had virtually all the winter regulars: all five kinds of grebe, both Greater and Lesser Scaup in substantial numbers (for this depleted age), not-ruddy Ruddy Ducks (better called Stiff-tail Ducks for now), and lots of Bufflehead. A party of nine Red-breasted Mergansers clustered in the waters below the islands, including a handsome male in full copper, green, and gray breeding plumage, and the Common Goldeneyes were out in force – unaccompanied by the rarer Barrow’s variety this time, alas.

For those willing to look at gulls (mostly birders bored with sparrows), we had several Glaucous-winged Gulls (gray backs and gray wingtips). They joined some of the duck-sized Western Gulls, a few smaller and yellow-legged California Gulls, and a huge flock of Ring-billed Gulls, the easiest species to identify, having (you guessed it) a clear black band around the bill.

The oaks along the park between the islands and El Embarcadero sheltered most of the birds we usually find across Bellevue and in the garden – crested gray Oak Titmice, Bushtits (also gray and much more mouselike), typewriter-chattering Ruby-crowned Kinglets – plus a pair of Hutton’s Vireos. 

Most of the rest of the forest birds turned up later, though we dipped on robins and House Finches. The prize of the last hour was a really good look at a Downy Woodpecker (one of only two dozen sightings over more than a decade) digging a nest hole at the top of dead pine tree.

For some reason, raptors are the princes of any day list; birders greet them with delight, which is weird when you stop to think about it – they eat the rest of the objectives. It may be a simple matter of relative rarity – predators have to be less common than prey – and birders want rare; crowds headed to Fresno from the Bay Area a few years ago when a real Blue Jay showed its beak in the wrong half of the U.S. Anyway, months go by at Lake Merritt without a raptor sighting, and this trip had two: a beautiful Red-shouldered Hawk, all russet breast and black-and-white checks and stripes, circling overhead long enough for really good looks, and a rosy-breasted gray adult Cooper’s Hawk that landed in a nearby pine tree to give the group the stink eye. 

Adding to the delight, it was sunny and pleasant for what felt like the first time in a long time, and we saw so many species – 48 in all – that there isn’t room for them all here. Yes indeedy, it was a wonderful day at Lake Merritt, where every day….

More Reports

July 9, 2021 – Coyote Hills Bike and Bird

What a beautiful day filled with 66 species of birds! The day started off great at 6:30 am with a perfect temperature of 65 degrees,

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May 26, 2021 – Lake Merritt

Birders have this game. When the day is going well – and more often when it’s going badly – someone will announce “I’d like to

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June 23, 2021 – Lake Merritt

At the start, it looked like a really quiet morning, with the two leaders and one regular so consistent and so well-informed that he amounts

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April 28, 2021 – Lake Merritt

Thirteen happy birders gathered for the still-unofficial April 4th-Wednesday walk at Lake Merritt – not quite so many as in a non-pandemic month, but close. 

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March 24, 2021 – Lake Merritt

The still-unofficial 4th-Wednesday Golden Gate Audubon walk drew 13 birders – much less scary now with so many of us fully vaccinated – and the

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February 24, 2021 – Lake Merritt

Falcon Flies at Lake Merritt! And perches. And looks around. And takes a little circling flight. And perches. And sits looking down at the lake

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Our Mission

The Golden Gate Audubon Society engages people to experience the wonder of birds and to translate that wonder into actions which protect native bird populations and their habitats.

Home page photo of a Bald Eagle by Rick Lewis. Home page photos rotate on an occasional basis. If you have a Bay Area bird photo you would like us to consider, email us at rnakano@goldengateaudubon.org.

Home page bird illustrations by Tex Buss. We are grateful for her generous donation of time and talent!

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Golden Gate Audubon
2530 San Pablo Avenue, Suite G
Berkeley, California 94702

Phone: 510.843.2222

Office hours: Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Golden Gate Audubon Society  is a
not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Our federal tax ID number is 94-6086896

Manage your GGAS account online

Now you can manage all your GGAS business online — renew your membership, update your contact information, view past donations, or sign up for events such as classes, Birdathon or the Christmas Bird Count. Click here to access your account. (You’ll need to create a login name and password if you don’t have one already. If you forget your password, click on the “forgot your password” link.) You can also sign up for our new GGAS Chat to get updates on trips, talk with other members, and more!

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      • Past Speakers
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    • Eco-Ed for Kids
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    • Bird-Friendly Coffee Club
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