After having started my summer job, I haven't had as much time to go birding as I would like. So when I found out I had an entire day off, after dropping off my sister at the Oakland Airport in the morning, I figured I should do some East Bay birding. I decided to go birding at Hayward Regional Shoreline in Hayward. My good friend Logan Kahle came along for the ride, as he was interested in going back to this location. This park consists of salt marshes, muddy shorelines, and dry fields.
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| Hayward Regional Shoreline entrance |
Mid-July is when the shorebirds begin to migrate down from their breeding grounds up north, to their winter ranges in the south. The muddy shorelines there attracted many different shorebird species: Marbled Godwits, Long-Billed Curlews, Short-Billed Dowitchers, Western Sandpipers, Willets, and Black-Bellied Plovers. However, after further scrutinization, we discovered a couple discreet and less conspicuous shorebird species amidst the gargantuan flock. The two other species of shorebirds, that were much less numerous, were a couple Red Knots, and a single Surfbird, both of which were lifers for me. These birds were difficult to find because they were rather distant and the lighting wasn't ideal, but we found them nonetheless!
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| Mixed flock of shorebirds (click on picture for enlarged view) |
We continued down the path and started walking along the edge of the Bay's coast. As we looked at the salt marsh, a conspicuous white bird was perched atop a long wooden pole jutting out of the marsh. The White-Tailed Kite then took off and began flapping, but remained immobile. These raptors, along with several other species, hover to find unaware prey that they can pounce and feed on. Unfortunately, this one left "empty-taloned".
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| White-Tailed Kite |
Once we turned around, and faced the bayside of the park, sparse flocks of Western Sandpipers would quickly zip by and land on the mudflats with the large flock seen previously. Then, we began noticing terns. The majority of them were Forster's Terns, but this park is known for having a rather large Least Tern colony, so we kept our eyes peeled for a smaller tern with a shorter tail and a more erratic flight. Then, not 3-seconds later, we found our first Least Terns of the day, and the first ones ever for me. Some of them came close enough to us that we could see the white lores beneath the eyes and the yellow bill. This was truly a treat.
As we continued down the path, we reached a decently long space of land that extended onto the bay, where we could get better views of shorebirds. And we sure did! The first shorebirds we got good looks of were two Ruddy Turnstones that dwarfed the adjacent Western Sandpipers.
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| One of the two Ruddy Turnstones |
Whenever the large turnstones flew from the rocks and returned, it would stir up the sandpiper flock and send the majority of the peeps flying.
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| Western Sandpipers |
Finally, we had to leave the park and head over to another park. But before we left, we were visited by a curious Northern Harrier that flew ten feet away from us. It didn't seem phased by us at all, and continued on its merry way, as if we were nonexistent.
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| Northern Harrier |
That morning turned out to be rather fruitful, as I finished with 3 lifers: Red Knot, Surfbird, & Least Tern. Despite the extreme heat, this was an enjoyable way to spend my morning.
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