Date: 4/23/24 2:11 am From: Logan Kahle via groups.io <logan...> Subject: [EBB-Sightings] Alameda County Big Day 4/21, 200 species (!!!) (long) Calliope Hummingbird, Dusky Flycatchers, Gray Flycatchers, continuing Costa's Hummingbird, etc
Hi all,
As those who have done a healthy number of big days learn, some days things just line up. There are days where everything seems to go like clockwork, and every spot produces more than you anticipate. Yesterday was one of those days.
At midnight of 4/21, Alex Henry, Dessi Sieburth, Lucas Stephenson and I undertook an all-out Alameda Big Day, starting at midnight and ending shortly after 8pm. We drove 210 miles. With Alex's incredible understanding of the ins and outs of Alameda, Dessi's ever-present eyes, Lucas's enthusiasm, and my ability to drive past the intended pullouts on Mines road, we were setup well from the start. Over the course of the day, we saw an amazing 200 species, breaking the previous record of 173 set by myself and Alex on Friday 4/19, which in turn broke the record set on 4/22/2011 of 172 species by Zach Baer, Dominik Mosur and Michael Park.
We started off the day at 11:25pm, dropping a car in Piedmont before continuing down redwood road for Owling. Sometimes the owls can take a while here, so we started listening at 11:45. At a little after 11:50, a Saw-whet started calling away, but promptly shut up before the day. We waited, and held our breath, unsure if it would start up again. Then, at 12:01, the NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL started hooting away, our first bird of the day. Ideal. While we were leaving, Dessi heard a WESTERN FLYCATCHER.
We blasted off to the bayshore to look for shorebirds. A couple days prior, I scouted out to see if I could find any true high tide roosts at night and, well, I couldnt! But I did have some scattered. So, we headed to Garretson Point at a place Alex knew that shorebirds roost along the bayshore. It was largely quiet, but we added the first few bay birds of the day: a calling DUNLIN, SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, and, importantly, a SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER. While we would hear several at night, we never did hear one in the daytime. As we were leaving a GREAT HORNED OWL, astoundingly one of only two all day (!) was perched on a lightpost.
Heading on to Arrowhead Marsh, we added a diversity of waterbirds, including WESTERN GREBE, BLACK-NECKED STILT, AMERICAN AVOCET, MARBLED GODWIT, a night-flying BARN SWALLOW (presumably kicked up from a nest?) and the main target, a cacophony of RIDGWAY'S RAILS. As we were leaving, a lone BARN OWL winged its way overhead. Driving briefly to Elsie Rohmer we added few birds, but among them BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER and LEAST and WESTERN SANDPIPER.
We then went to the cornerstone spot of the night, where we were hoping to find most of our nocturnal highlights: Coyote Hills. Arriving to the region around 1:35, a parking fumble cost us about 20 minutes. Regardless, we arrived at our desired location in the marsh a while later, and eventually heard the "kikidoo" of one of the BLACK RAILS Alex and I had staked out in scouting. Continuing down the trail we stopped briefly at a specific slough and happily added a calling COMMON GALLINULE. Farther down the trail, several VIRGINIA RAILS and a single SORA, different from the one we'd staked out, sounded off. The sound of pumping AMERICAN BITTERNS echoed all around us. As we were walking around the trail, an odd night-singing RING-NECKED PHEASANT bellowed its bizarre croak. We heard more when we returned in the evening, but it was great to get out of the way early. We then had to make a decision. We could either try for snipe, in the dark, now, or wait for later. We knew we'd probably see them but also wanted some real time to try for our unscouted Grasshopper Sparrows after. After about 5 minutes of restless deliberation we ran out into the field that had had almost 10 snipe on Friday and, sure enough, a WILSON'S SNIPE kicked up.
Continuing on to Garin Regional Park, we were ready to try for an unscouted Grasshopper, partially encouraged by team DMZ's strategy back in 2011. Alex claimed it was "just a bit up the hill" and "it would probably take about 10 minutes". I'd scouted enough with him to be leery of such statements, but nonetheless we started running up the hills here. After what seemed like an eternity we crossed a gate and were apparently near the spot. Well, it was only 9 minutes after all. We got to the area and started listening. Silence. I had to peel off for a second and walked a little ways away from the group. As I waited, a GRASSHOPPER SPARROW started sounding off. I ran over to get the group, and as luck would have it it stayed singing for a while longer. We were off.
During scouting Alex had brought up a very reliable Pygmy-Owl spot in Sunol. We tried during scouting and did find Pygmy-Owls, so we decided to give it a shot before going to Mines. Also in scouting, we'd found poorwill on the road in. So, we pulled off on Calaveras road, and in the distant sage-covered slopes we heard a lone COMMON POORWILL. At Welch Creek road, we quickly added a single WESTERN SCREECH-OWL. We rolled up to the Pygmy-Owl spot and listened. Nothing. We played a few toots. Nothing. Just the rushing of the river. We moved to a slightly quieter vantage. After a bit of waiting, the chiming of a NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL echoed through the hills. Perfect. We were off.
We arrived at Mines road somewhat earlier than we needed to, around 5:25. While we drove up, I stopped along the road in residential livermore and heard our first dawn singer: a single DARK-EYED JUNCO. The idea with mines was that we would try for Hermit Thrush first thing, but that we would ideally score the singing Say's Phoebe even before that. Well, we blasted by the Say's Phoebe road without thinking. But stopping at some sagebrush patches for Hermit Thrush at 5:30 did net us some more Common Poorwills. Then, we were ready to really try for Hermit Thrush (which often sound off at this kind of late date in the early early morning and not later). We got to one patch. Nothing. Tried another. Nada. Then after a few month I heard the chupping of a HERMIT THRUSH!! We were giddy. Nearby, dawn chorus had started, and a cacauphony of birds like ACORN WOODPECKER, NORTHERN FLICKER, CALIFORNIA SCRUB-JAYS and many others had started to form. Nearby, a RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW sang away. We had a select list of species we were hoping to see before leaving Mines (and possibly returning, which we hadn't decided yet), and we set off to see as many as possible. Down the canyon, a WILD TURKEY called, and our initial spurt of birds like CALIFORNIA QUAIL, NUTTALL'S WOODPECKER, ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, OAK TITMOUSE and WHITE- and GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROWS, among others, made their presence known. We pulled up to a certain house and quickly found the breeding SAY'S PHOEBE. At a nearby patch of chaparral a BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER sounded off, and we heard another Hermit Thrush.
We rolled up to a flowering patch of Mimulus that had been loaded with Rufous Hummingbirds all through scouting. As expected, oodles of Rufous Hummingbirds, including a couple nice males, whirred all around us. Lucas soon called out "Calliope!". We all scrambled trying to get on the hummer, and quickly Dessi also got a good view. Alex and I were both coming up dry, but after a while Alex spotted the beautiful female CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD perched on a snag. We were starting to have seen almost everything we really wanted to on Mines. Birds like BAND-TAILED PIGEONS and PINE SISKINS flew by overhead, and we were still adding some new birds on the ground too. But the only serious issue bird was Phainopepla. We tried at several areas that looked good and came up dry. Then, on a ridge surrounded by valley oaks loaded with mistletoe, a single PHAINOPEPLA sounded off. We found a few others at a consistent area down the road, but we were just relieved to have one in the bag. The last bird we were really missing now was MacGillivray's Warbler. Earlier in the morning, Dessi and I heard what sounded perfect for Mac in an area that looked perfect but the bird only called a few times but it just wasn't conclusive enough and it wouldn't call more. So, we decided to head to Mendenhall for migrants.
We got to Mendenhall later than hoped, around 7am, which I knew would be bad for looking specifically for macs. Nonetheless, migrants were instantly apparent. In one of the first patches of oaks, we found several WESTERN TANAGERS, a small ground of CHIPPING SPARROWS, a CASSIN'S VIREO, and a reclusive HERMIT WARBLER. Farther down the road, we scored our second COOPER'S HAWK of the morning, along with a calling HAIRY WOODPECKER. Cooper's was one I was genuinely very worried about, but we ended up seeing 5 through the day! At the next major patch of oaks we found another group of migrants, this including our first of 6-7 (!) HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHERS on this road, as well as a WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE. Overhead, a GOLDEN EAGLE cruised by and landed in a dead oak and a LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCH called overhead. Our only real migrant we still needed was Townsend's Warbler and we were frantically trying to turn one up. We heard a singing Townsend's/Hermit and looked around until, lo and behold, a male TOWNSEND'S WARBLER popped into view. We were ready to roll.
We'd done so well on Mines that we saw no need to go back. We pivoted over to Lake Del Valle to add a few birds we needed in that region. As we rolled up, we could see part of the lake from the hill above and easily noticed a group of COMMON MERGANSERS along the shore. We stopped at the bridge, quickly adding CLIFF SWALLOWS, a NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW and a flyover AMERICAN KESTREL (one of only two for the day!!). The great author Ed Yong had reported Wood Ducks from this spot so we looked upstream and found nothing. But downstream, sure enough, a male WOOD DUCK was perched surreptitiously at the edge of the stream. Score! Saved us a jaunt to Shadow Cliffs. Proceeding on to the main lake we quickly added the local GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE. We proceeded to a willow riparian belt and found our scouted DOWNY WOODPECKER, a remarkably tricky bird on Bay Area big days. Walking around the shore of the lake some more, a RED-SHOULDERED HAWK started calling. On the lake we found birds like BUFFLEHEAD and PIED-BILLED GREBE (along with a couple more flyby Wood Ducks) but no hoped-for Green Herons.
Rolling on down mines we had some stakeout American Goldfinches in Livermore. On our drive we were hoping for Lark Sparrows. As we drove by Dessi and Lucas thought they heard some Goldfinches so we whipped around and got out. We found no Goldfinches there but did have a single LARK SPARROW! Continuing up the road to Livermore Stockton Loop National Forest Riparian Preserve we gleefully added several AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES that have been lingering in this area.
As we were driving Lucas and I started grilling Alex about Cassin's Kingbirds in the area. It seemed like they might be reasonable a ways down the road on Tesla road, but as we were nearing Cross road Alex said that this was a good region too. Lucas shouted that he had a kingbird so we slowed down. Lucas jumped out of the car and yelled "Its a Cassin's! Oh there are two! They have a nest!!" Sure enough in a big eucalyptus there was a Cassin's Kingbird nest. Amazing.
We continued down Cross road and had a bizarre flock of Band-tailed Pigeons in some trees in the grasslands. Good sign of movement. Alex had mentioned in scouting that on days at Patterson Pass where he was seeing grosbeaks and buntings in the grasslands at the base of the road it was a good sign that the main willows east of the crest would be great. Well, we got to the base and there were grosbeaks and stuff flying around. Good sign.... We detoured west slightly to visit the Tricolored Blackbird colony that had set up shop in the last few days. Dependably, the dozens of TRICOLORED BLACKBIRDS were flying around and making noise. Nearby, a pair of LOGGERHEAD SHRIKES were sitting on the wires.
We proceeded to the main part of Patterson Pass which was maybe the craziest part of the entire day. As we rolled up to the upper willow patch, Lucas spotted a female HOODED ORIOLE in with a group of Bullock's. While we had one later in the day, too, this helped us not stressing about stakeouts earlier in the route. In the willows, we quickly picked up on a RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH hopping around the trees, the only one of the day! (Though we consequently didn't try for the ones in the hills). There was also an out-of-place White-breasted Nuthatch, presumably a migrant. Nearby, a LINCOLN'S SPARROW sounded off, and another Hermit Thrush called in the willows. As we were looking for migrants, we heard a whitting Empid!! Eager to see what species it would be, we chased after it to find a GRAY FLYCATCHER! Then while it was calling, ANOTHER whitting empid started counter-calling! It took a while, but we tracked this one down too--an obvious DUSKY FLYCATCHER!! Not only are Duskies rare here, but this is at the very early end of their expected timeframe in the Bay Area, rarely being recorded before April 20th. Nearby, there was a vocal Hammond's, and at one point the Dusky, the Gray, and the Hammonds were all in the same binocular view!! That is something I may never again see in the Bay Area. We continued working the same patch of willows and it just kept popping up new birds. Not long after, Lucas picked out a male YELLOW WARBLER, and slightly later we found another Gray Flycatcher down the same patch! Lucas also got on a Hummingbird that was almost surely a Black-chinned but the rest of us couldn't get on it so we left it off. As we were birding the willows, a couple HORNED LARKS started singing from above, and a ROCK WREN sounded off on the hillside. There were a few other birds in the willows, such as a few Lark Sparrows and an assortment of other migrants.We went to the lower patch of Patterson Pass and had quite a few more migrants, including ANOTHER whitting Dusky Flycatcher!
Unable to believe our luck on this day, we continued to the bottom of the road, where Alex had staked out a Swainson's Hawk nest in a pepper tree in scouting. We pulled up and the nest was....vacant. Uuuuh. Hmmm. We all started looking around and Lucas called out "its right on the post!" Sure enough, the SWAINSON'S HAWK was perched out in the field. Lets roll! We then engaged in one of my least favorite big day maneuvers, leaving the county. And, sure enough, in the 2 minutes we were in San Joaquin we saw a Northern Harrier, a bird we hadn't seen yet on the day. Ugh.
Driving down 580 Dessi spotted another Swainson's Hawk circling around overhead. As we were driving down, Alex yelled "Big white things circling to the left!! They might be pelicans!!" Sure enough, a flock of AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS was circling south of the freeway. Our luck was strong.
We made a brief stop at Frick Lake, adding LESSER SCAUP, a lone GREATER SCAUP, AMERICAN WIGEON, and GREAT EGRET. Continuing to Marlin Pound Wetlands, we found our hoped-for WHITE-TAILED KITE along with the BLUE-WINGED TEAL and CINNAMON TEAL I'd had during scouting.
The next stop was actually a 15 minute detour that had nothing to do with birds: our back window was busted and wouldnt roll up, and we were not nearly brave enough to bird the Alameda Bayshore with an open window. So after switching over to Alex's car, we continued on to Joaquin Miller. As we got there, we decided to look for Allen's Hummingbirds, as they had been a pain for me. Looking for Allen's on big days is one of my least favorite things, as they need to be an adult male to officially count, and you can't just hear them (which you often do with Selasphorus). So, while we did add PURPLE FINCH and PYGMY NUTHATCH along with hearing a calling Hooded Oriole across the street, we left for the forest after 5 minutes after hearing many selasphorus but confirming none as Allen's. Ugh. In the forest, we quickly added a singing BROWN CREEPER. We went up to where Dessi had pinned down a Pacific Wren in a Redwood-lined Canyon and played a couple songs. After a while, the PACIFIC WREN popped up and started singing. We were back to Hummingbird Hell, and I went to a tree I'd seen one midday a few days prior. After about 3 more long horrible minutes, I spotted a male way up, but it wouldnt show its back. After a while, we were all able to get on it and it turned its back--an ALLEN'S HUMMINGBIRD. Onwards!
We only had one real target in the hills left so we headed down Redwood road. Hutton's Vireos had been common in scouting, but I still had made a point to drop a pin for each and every one--I'd imagined exactly this scenario happening. So we went to one pin. Nothing. Another. Northing. Another. A Western Wood-Pewee sounded off but still nothing. Finally, we at the last marked pin that I cared to go to, one sounded off, distantly. We checked on a Ring-necked Duck I'd seen a few days prior but no dice.
We blasted to Lake Temescal, a horrible big day spot but we felt compelled nonetheless. We had two targets here, but neither would be easy. After combating parking hell, we started by running around the lake. this seemed like it would give us a good shot at Green Heron. When we got to the northern shore, Alex spotted one of the nesting BALD EAGLES, remarkably well hidden (for an eagle!) in a pine. As we got back to the car Alex had to split off briefly and while he did Dessi noticed a GREEN HERON perched on the shore of the lake right as Alex was getting back! Amazed at our success, we shimmied out.
We headed upslope to Claremont Canyon, where Dessi had been what turned out to be our most troublesome Berkeley Hills breeder. We arrived the pullout and almost immediately were greeted by a singing OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER. Lets jam!
Rolling down the hill through Berkeley I realized we were heading by the UC Berkeley Campus. "Hell, lets try for the Peregrines!" We knew where the nest was but it still felt like a long shot. As we rolled up, it was clear the birds were not on the nest. We started looking around randomly when Dessi said "its up in the sky!" We all were treated to good views of the Peregrine soaring around east of campus. We were off.
Proceeding into Berkeley we decided to look for the Costa's Hummingbird reported continuously for many months. As we got to the spot Alex pointed out which house it liked. Within minutes, the COSTA'S HUMMINGBIRD flew up and perched on the telephone wire.
Rolling out to the Bayshore, we briefly checked Cesar Chavez Park. In the cove there, we added CLARK'S GREBE, GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL nad FORSTER'S TERN along with more Greater Scaup and another Green Heron! Nearby at Seabreeze we found a group of BLACK TURNSTONES and our only WHIMBREL of the day!
Continuing to Emeryville, the shorebird roost was nowhere to be seen (too low tide or maybe they'd been flushed?), but we still added a PELAGIC CORMORANT, BROWN PELICAN and BLACK OYSTERCATCHER on the nearby docks, and to the south on the flats we found a few CASPIAN TERNS and a flock of ELEGANT TERNS. Elegants being a regular sight in spring on the shore of SF Bay is a pattern it will take me a while to get used to!
We continued on to Seaplane Lagoon, where a number of Red-necked Grebes had wintered and been present up until a week ago, but were absent for Alex and I on Friday. On Friday, however, we'd seen a Common Loon. We started scanning the breakwater for cormorants and it took longer than usual to locate a BRANDT'S CORMORANT. We'd seen most of the other targets so were frantically scanning for a Loon or a Spotted Sandpiper. After a while, with no dice on either, we bailed.
At Ballena Bay, we scanned the area where 7 scoters had been for Alex and I on Friday. Today, however, we only found 2 lingering SURF SCOTERS. But all you need is one! We went to the main harbor where we'd staked out Grebes and Red-throated Loons on friday. Nothing. We continued scanning. I walked a little ways down the edge of the harbor and sure enough two RED-THROATED LOONS popped up. No Horned or Eared Grebes though. Hmm. I thought the huge number of people including on kayaks didnt help our cause. Eventually, we helped out, grebeless. I decided to make a quick stop along the east-west shoreline to look for grebes and loons some more. As we got out of the car, a SPOTTED SANDPIPER presented itself on the riprap!
We next went to Elsie Roemer. One of the most frustrating moments of the day was dealing with all the cars and people and stuff here. It was awful. But eventually we arrived in the vicinity of the platform and started scanning. We had basically one target. After about 5 minutes Alex said that he'd found the three RED KNOTS we'd had in scouting. Perfect.
Just down the road we were driving and Alex slammed on the breaks and screamed "PINTAIL!!!!!!!" as a male pintail rocketed over the car. If we thought luck wasn't on our side this was just another confirmation. We detoured briefly to a small park where a Snow Goose had been recently seen, and there was the SNOW GOOSE in a flock of Canadas. Heading down MLK shoreline we detoured to another small park with another resident flock of geese, this one that includes a resident BRANT, which was foraging on the lawn with the geese. This saved us going to Arrowhead Marsh, but we still drove to the fields on the road up to look for Gulls. As we pulled in it seems the prospects were low, but luckily soon Dessi spotted the continuing MEW GULL along the shore of the pond. Score!!
Rolling south, we briefly looked for Cackling Goose at Tony Lema Golf Course before heading to San Lorenzo Creek. Though we had to run out to the spot, we were enticed by a number of potential additions. As we got to the mouth, Alex quickly spotted a LONG-BILLED CURLEW with the mix of other shorebirds out there. In quick succession, a RUDDY TURNSTONE appeared in the group. We were stressed for time, so we rolled out of there quickly. As we were running back to the car, Lucas spotted the evasive GREEN-WINGED TEAL, our last really glaring general bayshore target.
We next visited the Winton Avenue pond. I was praying that we would find the Eared Grebe we'd seen during scouting here, so we wouldnt have to go out to the main Winton Avenue Ponds. Shortly after we got out of the car, a COMMON YELLOWTHROAT started singing. After a few minutes, Dessi picked out the EARED GREBE actively diving in the pond. We were off!
Our next stop was another treat from team DMZ figuring this stuff out over a decade ago. We went to Enterprise avenue in Hayward and, after a couple minutes wait, a BONEPARTE'S GULL flew over to go to the WTP.
We proceeded south to Eden's Landing. After a little walk out to an overlook, we tried for a Eurasian Wigeon Alex had scouted out. We'd hoped for an American Pipit too, but we were not seeing any of the ones we'd seen in scouting. Then, after a short while, a lone AMERICAN PIPIT turned up along the road. Farther down, we located the SNOWY PLOVERS Alex had scouted out. We got into better lighting for the duck flock and, sure enough, the male EURASIAN WIGEON was still present. We were off.
We were rolling up to Coyote Hills with plenty more time than we actually needed. But, as we got towards the area we were passing a Goose flock and Dessi and Lucas noted a smaller goose in with the flock. We screeched on the breaks and ran back to find a single GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE with the flock! We couldn't believe our luck. Rolling up to Coyote Hills we still needed two easy birds: Northern Harrier and Common Goldeneye, and we had plenty of time (it was just before 7). Within minutes of rolling up, we saw a single NORTHERN HARRIER coursing over the marsh. We ran out to the goldeneye spot but found nothing. Arex mentioned that we still had options, and that he'd go scout ahead to see if there were any on another pond. So while Alex ran in front of us, the rest of us jogged behind him. About a minute later, Alex came back and said "I think theres one out there!" We all walked up and there was not one but FIVE COMMON GOLDENEYE on a small freshwater pond.
It was only 7:10 and we had to make a decision: stick it out at Coyote and wait til dusk here or try another spot. We didn't have any logical, obvious spots to check. Eventually, Alex mentioned the possibility of going to Coyote Creek Lagoon farther south to see if there were any lingering Herring Gulls. We were torn. No other option seemed more alluring, as even though birds like Sharp-shinned Hawk, Merlin, Lesser Yellowlegs, Ibis, and Vaux's Swift were all /possible /at Coyote, none of them seemed at all likely. Ultimately, we decided to bomb to Coyote Creek Lagoon, arriving around 7:30. There were tons of birds here, and huge flocks of Dowitchers and peeps. We picked through to try to find something more spicy but ultimately failed. A Bald Eagle flew over and a Spotted Sandpiper was in the ditch, both of which felt like they could have been new additions, but weren't.
As the sunlight left the area, we counted up our total and were met with complete awe that we'd crossed what seemed to be an insurmountable number in the Bay Area. We ended the day with only 2 "dirty birds" (both seen by 3/4 team members), Northern Pintail and Hermit Warbler. I want to thank every member of the team for an incredible energy and Alex's incredible knowledge of the region. Also worth a shoutout to Zach Baer for pinning down certain random things with this route over 10 years ago that we gladly borrowed (e.g. Nocturnal Grasshopper Sparrows, Hayward Bonaparte's). This will certainly be one of the most memorable days for me in the Bay Area, and it would not have been possible without the amazing team I had with me.
While this record could be beatable, it seems rather unlikely given how many things lined up on the day, from stakeout rarities to amazing luck with migrants and residents alike.
Like any big day, we had our fair share of misses (about 7 of which Alex and I saw on 4/19 during scouting!) among them Cackling Goose, Canvasback, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Hooded Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Common Loon, Horned Grebe (a big miss), Lesser Yellowlegs, Red-necked Phalarope, Solitary Sandpiper, Surfbird (cleared out a while ago), Black Skimmer (the emeryville flock cleared out about a week before the day), Least Tern, White-faced Ibis, Vaux's Swift, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Greater Roadrunner, Burrowing Owl, Prairie Falcon, Merlin, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Swainson's Thrush, MacGillivray's Warbler (I'd had 3-5 on almost every day of scouting on Mines from April 17-20 and almost certainly had one on the day, too), Fox Sparrow (almost none around this year), White-throated Sparrow, Bell's Sparrow (couldn't find any on route).
