Date: 1/6/26 9:18 pm From: Alexander Henry via groups.io <awhenry...> Subject: [EBB-Sightings] Heron Bay/Tony Lema/San Lorenzo Creek Mouth Avian Fiesta
This afternoon/evening, Sharon Jue and I visited the Heron Bay/Tony Lema Golf Course area, as accessed from the end of Lewelling Boulevard. There was simply an exceptional level of bird activity, and the outing became arguably one of the best birding sessions either of us have ever had in the East Bay.
When we arrived, the tide was very high (7.5 feet or so), though not quite as high as the king tides of the previous few days (when there were 8+ foot tides in this area). There were many hundreds of shorebirds roosting in ponds in the marshes. This included a Lesser Yellowlegs, as well as several Greater Yellowlegs, over a dozen Long-billed Curlews, a couple dozen Stilts, over 250 Avocets, over 400 Dowitchers, and a few Willets and Calidrids. There were also good numbers of dabbling ducks throughout the marsh, including Shovelers, American Wigeons, Mallards, and Green-winged Teals.
Tony Lema Golf Course was hosting incredible goose diversity and abundance, as least by Alameda County standards. There were over 100 Greater White-fronted Geese and Canada Geese, 50-100 Cackling Geese, and 11 “white geese”. The variety of “white geese” was quite nice, and fun to study. There were 8 Snow Geese, a mixture of adults and juveniles and one juvenile “Blue Goose”. There was also 1 clear Ross’s, 1 probably Ross’s, and 1 possibly a hybrid. It seemed like a bit of a spectrum. Were we just overanalyzing 3 Ross’s Geese? Definitely an interesting and somewhat confusing flock to study.
There were also 3 Blue-winged Teal and some Cinnamon Teals in the big golf course pond.
By the time the sun was setting, the tide had fallen quite a bit, and expansive mudflats around the San Lorenzo Creek Mouth were beginning to be exposed. Thousands of shorebirds and gulls coated these mudflats; the number of gulls seemed at least 5 times as many as normal.
Around this time, rail activity picked up quite a bit. A dusk chorus of Ridgway’s Rails and Soras filled the air, with the occasional Virginia Rail grunting. We didn’t see any Virginia Rails, but we saw 3 species of rail plus Coots ;). Some sparrows were also somewhat active around dusk, and we heard a Swamp Sparrow calling at dusk. A Barn Owl was flying over the marshes at dusk while a Snipe flew around calling.
Overall, it just seemed incredibly birdy. The gulls at San Lorenzo Creek Mouth and geese at Tony Lema Golf Course especially seemed exceptional. Hoping this area can get some more coverage in the coming days or weeks! And would love to hear other people’s opinions on the “white geese” flock.
