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GGAS Field Trip Report

November 27, 2019 – Lake Merritt

Trip Leader(s):

Ruth Tobey
Hilary Powell

Date/Location:

November 27, 2019
LAKE MERRITT

Trip Info:

Number of Participants: 19
Number of Species: 23

Venturing out right after the year’s first rainstorm and what was probably right before the second, we enjoyed most of a morning of fine weather for such a day – overcast and cold, but good light and no wind. So we were spoiled. When a big fat rain cell opened up on us at 11:40, the last 20 minutes of the trip (under the Lakeside Park trees and with the garden gate near the boathouse blocked off) just couldn’t compete with the prospect of shelter and dry feet. Loss of most of the land birds brought the species count for the day down to 39 – lowest for the month in years –  but we enjoyed every bit of what we saw… except maybe the 8-inch sewer geyser pouring up out of a manhole cover near the globe cage at the end of the morning…. Nah, that was fun too, for those not required to fix it.

As has become usual, the expected winter visitors put in an appearance at the lake, but in numbers much lower than was typical even a decade ago. We did get a Western Grebe, the first November sighting since 2015, and there were enough nearby scaup to identify both Lesser and Greater – though far from enough to turn the surface black with birds as it should be. The Ruddy Ducks, Bufflehead, and Common Goldeneyes were out in force, relatively speaking, along with the usual crowd of  American Coots, but we completely dipped on the rarer Barrow’s Goldeneye.

A pair of Red-breasted Mergansers overflew the islands near our meeting spot as we were gathering, and another of the species swam on the Embarcadero side of the islands. We see these birds occasionally in the late fall or winter, but only once before in November, in 2016. The day’s other relative novelty was a Glaucous-winged Gull that perched on the roof of the Arts & Science Center long enough to give everyone a good look.

At the beginning of the walk, the floats that block the islands and the Embarcadero end of the lake from boat traffic were crowded shoulder to shoulder – or wingtip to wingtip, anyway – with Double-crested Cormorants, mostly this year’s birds. If they were all born here, the rookery was way more successful than it looked; a quick estimate put the population somewhere north of 250 birds. But perhaps they started elsewhere, as they’d almost all vanished a couple of hours later, leaving the floats to the gulls and the odd Brown Pelican and no feeding flotilla in sight (though they mighta been around behind Children’s Fairyland, where we didn’t go).

So it was another entertainment-packed day at Lake Merritt, where every day is a good day even when the sewers leap up to meet the falling rain – after which your correspondent scuttled off to catch a train to Sacramento for the impending holiday.

More Reports

March 25, 2020 Lake Merritt

The March 4th-Wednesday Golden Gate Audubon walk was cancelled, like pretty much everything else in this first month of the recognized pandemic, but I strolled

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February 26, 2020 Lake Merritt

“That’s the bird of the day!” sang out one participant, looking up at a catalpa tree across from the Garden Center. As always when approaching

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February 16, 2020 Chain of Lakes Golden Gate Park

We had a very productive morning with pleasant, mostly sunny weather, a bit cool in the shade, and an enthusiastic group of about 15.  Our

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February 16, 2020 Fort Mason

Today’s field trip participants were able to see most of the overwintering special birds, including the male ORCHARD ORIOLE, a YELLOW-SHAFTED NORTHERN FLICKER, an Intergrade

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February 15, 2020 Patterson Pass

14 of us including Carol and I had a great time pounding the back roads of Eastern Alameda County on a delightful, windless, faux-spring day. 

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February 12, 2020 Hilltop Lake Park

Eight of us had a very nice walk on a sunny, warm winter day.  Birds are getting ready for spring and were super active.  Ducks

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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 Allen’s Hummingbird by Robert Ho. Home page photos rotate on a monthly basis. If you have a Bay Area bird photo you would like us to consider, email us at mramos@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, Wednesday and Thursday, 9 a.m. to 12 noon, or by appointment

Email: ggas@goldengateaudubon.org

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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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  • About Us
    • About Our Staff
    • About Our Board
    • Our Commitment to Diversity
    • GGAS in the News
  • Education
    • Speaker Series
      • Past Speakers
    • Eco-Ed for Kids
    • Adult Education Classes
    • Rotary Nature Center
  • Conservation
    • Bird-Friendly Coffee Club
  • Volunteer
  • Bird With Us
    • Field Trip Information
    • Travel with GGAS
    • SF Bay Ospreys
    • Birding Resources
      • Authors
    • Christmas Bird Counts
    • The Gull
    • Golden Gate Birder Blog
    • GGAS’s Birdathon
    • Corporate Partnerships
    • Member Login
  • GGAS Archives
    • Trip Reports by Year
    • Past Speakers
    • The Gull Archives
    • GGAS Press Releases
    • Travel with GGAS – Past Tours
  • Contact Us
    • Join/Renew
    • Other Ways to Give
    • Planned Giving
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