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GGAS Field Trip Report

July 9, 2021 – Coyote Hills Bike and Bird

Trip Leader(s):

Kevin Schwartz

Date/Location:

July 9, 2021
Coyote Hills

Trip Info:

Number of Participants: 8
Number of Species: 66

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, the gorgeous morning sun, and a light breeze. Today, It only heated up as high as 80 degrees, which is fantastic considering much of the rest of California cooked in the triple digits. Our trip was booked full which is awesome, but we did have a few no shows. The rest of the group consisted of lots of positive, great people, including some long time and even some brand new GGAS members.

Before we left the parking area we already had seen 20 species. The Alameda Creek Regional Trail and the Staging Area often have great bird activity and we weren’t disappointed. Bushtits bounced all around us. Next we headed up to the levee greeted by our first Black Phoebe of the day and watched Cliff Swallows going in and out of their nests under the bridge. Heading west towards Coyote Hills Regional Park we picked up a number of other species including Barn and Tree Swallows, and American White Pelicans. An adult and juvenile White-tailed Kite greeted us right next to the trail. By 7:30 am, we had already hit our day’s target of 40 species for the day, with good looks for most of the species as well. We watched some Common Gallinules, heard a Virginia’s Rail, and briefly saw an adult Ring-necked Pheasant flying (he continued to make a fair amount of noise even after we saw him).

We looked for the resident Great Horned Owls in the Eucalyptus around Hoot Hollow and tried for Rock Wren and Blue-gray gnatcatchers in the California Sagebrush and Radiolarian Chert outcrops, but came up short. Fernando the Chilean Flamingo also did not make an appearance, but the plethora of Nuttall’s Woodpeckers (10 in total) and amazing views and weather made up for it. We were surprised we did not see or hear any other woodpecker species today. There was so much to see between Alameda Creek Regional Trail Staging Area and the hills around the visitor center which remained the focus of the first part of the trip. Most folks left at the official ending time of 10:30 am, having seen 54 species. Ebird:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S91507324

Those remaining started a new list and headed out west to the former salt ponds and National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). Once we reached the NWR, we biked the levee all the way to the Bay seeing an additional 11 species, including: Least Sandpipers, Marbled Godwits, Willets, Caspian Terns, Forster’s Terns, and Brown Pelicans. Peaceful and beautiful, the bike ride all the way to the Dumbarton Bridge and then circling back to the Bay Trail all along the western edge of the Coyote Hills reminded us of how fortunate we are that folks had the foresight to protect and preserve these important habitats and create these fantastic trails for us to explore!!

https://ebird.org/checklist/S91507228

Upon returning to my car after everyone had left, a male Bullock’s Oriole greeted me and bid me a bon voyage et à bientôt!

https://ebird.org/checklist/S91507265

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,

Read More »

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. 

Read More »

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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Contact Us

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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All photos on this site belong to the photographers and may not be used without written permission.
  • About Us
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    • GGAS StrategicPlan
    • GGAS in the News
    • Job Opportunities
  • Education
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      • Past Speakers
    • Classes
      • Rotary Nature Center
    • Eco-Ed for Kids
  • Volunteer
  • Conservation
    • Bird-Friendly Coffee Club
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    • The Gull Archives
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