Coyote Hills, 22.09.2013

Another exciting birding experience with the Golden Gate Audubon Club. The birding area was the residence of the famous Great Horned Owl, Coyote Hills.

I definitely missed spotting the resident Great Horned Owl, but saw a string of new species on my second birding experience in the US. The entire list:

1. Canada Goose - 1

American Bushtit

2. Mallard - At least 15
3. Northern Shoveller - 9
4. American White Pelican - Large flocks of 30+
5. Black-Crowned Night Heron - 2
6. Turkey Vulture - 2 Soaring
7. White-Tailed Kite - 3
8. Red-Tailed Hawk - 1
9. Red-Shouldered Hawk - 1
10. American Kestrel - 1
11. American Coot - 1
12. Killdeer - 2
13. Black-Necked Stilt - 2
14. American Avocet - 1
15. Greater Yellowlegs - 4
16. Lesser Yellowlegs - 2
17. Least Sandpiper - 15
18. Western Sandpiper - 4
19. Short-Billed Dowitcher - 1
20. California Gull - 1

Anna's Hummingbird

21. Western Gull - 2
22. Eurasian Collared Dove - 1
23. Mourning Dove - 2
24. Rock Dove - 6
25. Anna's Hummingbird - 5
26. Downey Woodpecker - 2
27. Acorn Woodpecker - 2
28. Western Wood-Peewee - 1
29. Olive-Sided Flycatcher - 1
30. Pacific-Slope Flycatcher - 5
31. Black Phoebe - 3
32. Western Kingbird? - 1
33. Hutton's Vireo - 2
34. Steller's Jay - 2
35. Western Scrub-Jay - 25+
36. American Crow - 3
37. Common Raven - 1 nest
38. Barn Swallow - 25+
39. American Bushtit - 4

Greater Yellowlegs

40. Hermit Thrush - 2
41. American Robin - 4
42. Northern Mockingbird - 2
43. European Starling - 3
44. Orange-Crowned Warbler - 1
45. Yellow-Rumped Warbler - 1
46. Song Sparrow - 20+
47. Savannah Sparrow - 1
48. Golden-Crowned Sparrow - 2
49. Dark-Eyed Junco - 2
50. House Finch - 6
51. Bewick's Wren - 1
52. House Wren - 3
53. Marsh Wren - 2

House Finch

Least Sandpiper

Lesser Goldfinch

Lesser Yellowlegs

Mourning Dove

Red-Tailed Hawk

House Wren

Western Scrub-Jay

Hayward Shoreline, 01.09.2013

My first birding trip after coming to Berkeley! And its the Hayward Shoreline Birding Trip organized by the Golden Gate Audubon Club, headed by the talented Rusty Scalf.

Access : Easy access by BART to Hayward from Berkeley. Fastest way is by car early in the morning. It is a 2 mile walk along the shoreline which starts from the end of Grant Avenue in Hayward.

A list of the birds spotted:

American Avocet

1. Canada Goose - 3 flying across the Bay
2. Clark's Grebe - 1 far into the Bay
3. Double-Crested Cormorant - several in the lakes
4. American White Pelican - 1 flying overhead
5. Brown Pelican - 2 flying over the Bay
6. Great Egret - 2 in the mudflats
7. Snowy Egret - 4
8. Turkey Vulture - 3 soaring overhead
9. White-Tailed Kite - 1 juvenile and 1 adult flying across
10. Northern Harrier - 1 flying across
11. Cooper's Hawk - 1 perched
12. Red-Tailed Hawk - 1
13. Black-Necked Stilt - Many in shallow ponds
14. American Avocet - 5
15. Black-Bellied Plover - Flock of 10 resting
16. Willet - Hundreds in large flocks
17. Whimbrel - 2

Black Phoebe

18. Long-Billed Curlew - 5
19. Marbled Godwit - 25 to 30 foraging
20. Ruddy Turnstone - 2 resting among a flock of Willets
21. Sanderling - Large flock of over 50 among Willets and Marbled Godwits
22. Least Sandpiper - Hundreds resting
23. Western Sandpiper - Many throughout
24. Wilson's Phalarope - 1 solitary individual
25. Ring-Billed Gull - Many flying across the Bay
26. California Gull - Common along the shore
27. Western Gull - Very common
28. Forester's Tern - 10 to 15 along the shore
29. Osprey - 1 perched on a floating log in the middle of the Bay
30. Mourning Dove - Several in the counties
31. Barn Swallow - Group of 5

Least Sandpiper

32. Anna's Hummingbird - 2 at the beginning of the trail
33. Allen's Hummingbird - 1
34. Northern Flicker - 1
35. Black Phoebe - 4 towards the end of the trail
36. Song Sparrow - 3
37. House Finch - 1 near bushes
38. American Crow - 6
39. California Towhee - 4 near counties
40. Dark-Eyed Junco - 1 on the way back near Berkeley
41. Northern Mockingbird - 1
42. Western Scrub-Jay - 1 at the end of the trail

Marbled Godwit

White-Tailed Kite

A good place to visit at high tide to watch the shorebirds! A must for birders at Berkeley. Apparently, its much better in winter with greater bird populations and diversity. Will visit again!