Date: 7/18/26 7:34 pm From: Ethan Monk via groups.io <z.querula...> Subject: [EBB-Sightings] East County misc.
Today I spent the morning walking the levee at Clifton. The highlight came in the form of a Black Tern foraging over the south end of the forebay. I am not sure the species has ever been found in July in Contra Costa County. Other noteworthy birds included a pair of Goldeneye, a pair of Common Mergansers, ~3 (+?) Semipalmated Plovers, 41+ Long-billed Dowitchers, and 9 Godwits.
On Monday, I did the same walk as this morning but a bit more pressed for time. I saw the same two Goldeneye, but did not see the Mergansers (which I think are new arrivals), also a Bank Swallow, a pair of dancing Clark's Grebes and a Forster's Tern being trailed by two brownish begging young.
Otherwise today I checked a number of other spots in East County. The first solid evidence of passerine migration-- I found 3 Western Tanagers, 2 Western Flycatchers and a Warbling Vireo. At Byron WTP I found a Say's Phoebe (I did not find them anywhere in this area in June) and a Peregrine, and I ran into Erica Rutherford and John Colbert on Bethel Island who pointed out some Cattle Egrets.
