Birding at MLK Shoreline

The other weekend K and I went birding at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Shoreline. The walk was advertised as accessible and for beginning birders, and was led by Clay Anderson and others from the California Center for Natural History. We saw a Cooper's hawk, great blue heron, lesser egrets, pelicans, and more. But the thing that got the more experienced birders excited was seeing a Ridgway's rail (formerly known as a clapper rail), a bird which is a near-threatened species. It's also less common to see because of its nature—it spends most of its time in long marsh grass. So you'll hear them more than you'll see them, at least once you recognize the call.

Check out more birding walks with the California Center for Natural History and with the Rotary Nature Center at Lake Merritt.

More photos from our birding walk.

California magical (and natural) history tour

Last week K and I took a short camping trip. In the past we've done camping trips of a week or longer, but we've both been busy with work and other commitments and scaled this year's trip down to four nights. We split that between two locations, Manresa State Beach near Monterey, and Pinnacles National Park, near, well, not much of anything most people have heard of.

It was an amazing trip. Near Manresa we saw dolphins, whales, otters, California brown pelicans, quail, and various seabirds and shorebirds, including endangered snowy plovers. We also spent a lot of time just walking along the beach, watching the waves, and lamenting the the lack of bear boxes as we watched some raccoons eat the rest of our lasagne that was supposed to be lunch on day 2. After two nights there our reservation was up, so we headed to the east side of Pinnacles National Park. Our route went through historic San Juan Bautista, so we stopped to check out the mission and had a great vegan lunch at the Natural Wonders Health Food Store Deli. San Juan Bautista was also on the route of Juan Bautista de Anza and his historic journey leading some of the first European settlers to the Bay Area.

Once we got to Pinnacles, we picked out a campsite, set up our tent, and got the lay of things. It's not a big park by national park standards, but there's a lot to see. Even just around our campsite there were tons of birds to watch, including quail, wild turkeys, acorn woodpeckers, and turkey vultures. The next morning we drove further into the park and went on a short hike. A relatively short hike took us through caves that are home to several species of bats, and California red-legged frogs, and to a small reservoir where we got an amazing treat. While we sat on a rock enjoying the view, a juvenile peregrine falcon landed 10-15' from us and looked us over for a while before flying off. There are only two nesting pairs in the park, so they're even less common than the 25 or so California condors that call the park home. Seeing one is a treat; having it land next to you for a close look is unbelievable.

We hiked around more and enjoyed the views, then returned to our camp to relax during the worst heat of the day. At dusk, we got another treat as we watched a bobcat stroll 25-30' from where we were sitting. After dinner we waited until full dark. We could see a lot of stars and the Milky Way galaxy from our campsite, but the light from the campground was a bit of distraction, so we went to a nearby viewpoint where we could get true darkness. My attempts at astrophotography were OK, but I really think seeing the Milky Way live in the night sky is something everyone on earth should see.

It wasn't until we hit some traffic in San Jose that we turned on the radio and heard about the earthquake in Napa. It's always a bit jarring to return from extended time in nature to the metropolis of the Bay Area, but it was doubly so with the strange news.

Lots more pictures from the trip:

photo of the week: Wilder Ranch State Park

Kand I needed a break from things and wanted some fresh air, so inspired by a tweet from @ProfCritic, we spent the day at Wilder Ranch State Park outside of Santa Cruz. Still super-hazy down there, but the air felt cleaner, and we saw amazing scenery, harbor seals, dolphins, a whale, and tons of birds.

The dolphins and whale were quite a ways from the shore and the sightings were brief, but we spent quite a while watching the waves, birds, and seals. I think the seals spent a lot of time watching people in return. We had dinner in Moss Beach on the way home, watched some of the Warriors game on TV, and spotted an Oaklandish shirt.

More pictures from the coast:

birds of Lake Merritt

For a variety of reasons, the last couple of weeks I've been spending more time than usual around Lake Merritt. Which is a nice thing, because the lake is beautiful spot, truly a gem of Oakland. Besides seeing beautiful sunsets, people watching, and enjoying the scenery, the lake is also a great place for bird watching.

Many people think mostly about the Canada Geese, which are known for their pooping, honking, and other anti-social behavior. But there are numerous species of birds in and around Lake Merritt, some year-round residents, and some just passing through. I recently added pictures of a variety of the birds to the Oakland Wiki page, Birds of Lake Merritt. But there are even more, which I haven't photographed yet. What interesting birds have you seen at the lake? And have you seen Hank?

More Lake Merritt bird photos:

photo(s) of the week: Lake Merritt

Lake Merritt was its usual, beautiful self, with people walking, running and biking around it. Meanwhile the sunset helped the lake put on a gorgeous show. So today you get two pictures for the week.

photo of the week: fall colors

One of the best returns on investment we've gotten was the $10 or so of materials to make a birdbath. K and I and the cats are entertained by it daily, whether it's sparrows or crows. Yesterday afternoon, the bath was back lit by a Japanese maple tree changing colors, making for an even more striking scene.

photo of the week: arachnophobes beware!

Spotted outside K's office door this morning.

photo of the week: pelican

Yesterday after leading the Oakland Urban Paths walk in Old Oakland and West Oakland, I stopped by the south end of Lake Merritt to decompress, enjoy the view, and call K to let her know my ETA. It's such a different experience than before the Measure DD work was done. Instead of odd smells from the water and the pedestrian underpasses, with traffic zipping past a few feet away, I was treated to a peaceful scene of birds feeding and a variety of Oaklanders out enjoying the view.

photo of the week: pelican

While walking around Lake Merritt on Friday, we were excited to see this white pelican feeding, and able to see it fairly close up. I don't know if it was Hank the Pelican or not, as later we saw five white pelicans together, but it was fun to see regardless.

12th Street Project Update

The 12th Street Project celebrated a milestone on Friday, with a parade of boats marking the opening of part of the channel between Lake Merritt and the estuary. It's part of the larger Measure DD work being done around Lake Merritt, and while there is a lot of work still to do, it was worth celebrating the progress.

Erik Niemann

There were members of the community, local politicians, and various people who have worked on the project on hand to talk about the progress. I was invited by Erik Niemann, who has been tracking the progress of the 12th Street Project on his blog. He was delighted to have lots of people there to check things out, as usually it's just him and the construction crews.

You may recall that Lake Merritt isn't really a lake, but a tidal slough. It was originally more open to the estuary, but was dammed by Samuel Merritt in the 1800s. There have been a long series of engineering mistakes since then, and tearing out "world's shortest freeway" and re-opening some of the channel to the estuary are working to reverse that. The result will be better water flow in and out of Lake Merritt, which will improve water quality, and provide more habitat for fish and birds.

Speakers included mayor Jean Quan; city council president Pat Kernighan; Lesley Estes, Oakland Public Works Watershed Program Supervisor; a representative from the California Coastal Conservancy; Peter Perrine of the California Wildlife Conservation Board; and Dan NcElhinney of CalTrans.

Also on hand were James Vann of the Coalition of Advocates for Lake Merritt (CALM) as well as an architect for the initial proposal; Joel Peter, who was manager of the Measure DD project before he retired recently; people representing the main contractor, McGuire and Hester; and members of the design team, including landscape architects, engineers, and hardscape architects.

The parade of boats included kayaks, stand up paddle boards, a canoe, two dragon boats, the gondolas from Gondola Servizio, and the venerable Oakland Women's Rowing Club. It was a nice bit of symmetry to have the OWRC there, as they were present at an earlier Measure DD celebration, the opening of the Lake Merritt Boathouse back in 2009.

There is still more work to be done, including planting native aquatic plants in the new marsh, landscaping and larger projects like tearing out the culverts at 10th Street, but it was a nice day to celebrate. A larger obstacle is the pumping station at 7th Street, but this is a big step in the right direction.

Additional coverage:
12th Street Blog
Oakland Tribune
SFGate
KTVU (video)
SF Business Times

Lots more pictures from the event:

beautiful backyard visitor

Khad just finished saying how it seemed like we get a bigger variety of birds in our yard since we added a birdbath a couple years back when this beautiful bird landed. It's a female red-shafted northern flicker, which neither of us had seen before. What the picture doesn't show is how large this bird is—about 12"-14" from beak to tail. The northern flicker is a type of woodpecker, and while we haven't seen or heard it feeding, we thoroughly enjoyed its stop for a drink.

photo: run tom, run!

Isaw this turkey seasonal refugee on my ride home up Old Tunnel Road after the Oakland Urban Paths walk in Hiller Highlands. A little while later I saw four more, including two doing the iconic tail feather spread.

Splish Splash

party in the bird bath

The birds were happy about the warmer weather and the break in the rain. A bunch of them celebrated by taking a bath, something they couldn't do during the colder weather because the bird bath was frozen solid. I'd have set up the tripod and taken better pictures, but they came, they splashed around long enough for me to take a couple shots with the point and shoot, then all left at once. It was fun to watch while it lasted, though.

Habitat home dedication

The birds weren't the only ones happy about the warmer, drier weather. I took advantage of the break in the weather to take some pictures over to the Habitat for Humanity office. Saturday was a dedication ceremony at the Edes Avenue building site. Twenty families received the keys to their new homes, and I took pictures at the Thrivent Builds sponsored house. Fortunately the rain held off for the ceremony.

bike full o' beer

On the way home I did some grocery shopping, and did my usual load up of the e-bike. Yes, that's a case of beer on the back. Lucky's (at least the one in Montclair) is having a special on a Gordon Biersch winter sampler. It includes a winter bock, a blonde bock, a märzen, and a Czech-style pilsner. The bocks and märzen are very good; the pilsner is just OK. But for $20.99 for a case of good beer, it's a great deal while it lasts. And while they're not in Oakland like Linden Street Brewery, they are local to the bay area.