Hello,
I just wanted to make a post about the Kingbird situation at Pacific Commons just to clarify.
Checklists and photos/videos from various birders have led me to believe there are at least 3 Kingbirds there.
1 of them is a Tropical Kingbird found by Marjorie Powell on November 22.
Then there are 2 Cassin's Kingbirds, which could be the same ones that bred there over this past summer.
Thank you to everyone who submitted checklists and photos from Pacific Commons recently, for helping elucidate the situation.
If you are going to go to Pacific Commons this winter, please check any Kingbirds carefully, and don't just assume the species! If these Tropical and Cassin's Kingbirds winter, and stay into March and April, we easily could run into a situation where 3 species of Kingbird are present there at once. So please just be mindful about actually looking closely at any kingbirds you see and not making assumptions!
Thanks,
Alex Henry
Berkeley
Join one of the most dynamic Christmas Bird Counts in the country, regularly ranked in the top tier. Last year, we had the first North American CBC record of the Jouanin's Petrel during the Count. We are particularly looking for participants that would like to count in the southern half of the City, and the northern part of San Mateo County. You can register as a Field Observer or Feeder Watcher, and you can also sign-up for the Count Dinner at the links below. Participation is free; the cost of the optional dinner is $35.
Thanks to the generosity of San Francisco Baykeeper, we will have access to a boat to survey birds in San Francisco Bay.
Thank you all for the help! I’m not great with sparrows, so I appreciate the assistance.
And to correct my original message, I saw it just west of the owl habitat, not north.
37.8907578, -122.3160036
I also believe it to be a Grasshopper Sparrow. Interesting timing, begs the question of whether it’s wintering there? Very good bird for the shoreline.
Hello! Today at the Albany Bulb I found what I believe to be a grasshopper sparrow. I didn’t get great pictures, but I’m hoping someone here could help confirm this for me. Seen just north of the fenced burrowing owl area around 3pm today.
Thank you!
Paige
I heard what sounded like a large flock of Greater White-fronted geese or possibly Cackling flying over my house last night at 2:30 AM! I live in Oakland flats near High and Brookdale. The weather was clear with some clouds, very cold.
-Milo Linaman
Similarly, I’ve had one small very high flying flock each of Cackling and Greater White-fronted Geese on my sky watch so far, plus one duck flock. For the past week or so, we’ve had persistent cold northeast winds, which I suspect may be encouraging these waterfowl flights.
Zac Denning
Albany
Just saw and heard 30-40 geese in a 'V' heading southwest directly over our house, one mile from Huckleberry reserve. Not sure what species but not Canada geese since I would recognize that common call. It's really blustery and thick fog up here with no visibility
but they must like the direction of the wind this morning.
Wendy Parfrey
Colton at Heartwood
Hi all,
The 2025-2026 Sherman Island Christmas Bird Count will take place this year on Sunday December 28th 2025. The count covers multiple delta islands (including Sherman, Ryer, Twitchell, Bradford, Bethel, and Jersey) as well as regions around Rio Vista, the Montezuma Hills Wind Farm, and Robinson and Flannery Roads. All ages and skill levels are welcome.
If you are interested in participating in the count please contact me at
shermanislandcbc@...Happy CBC season,
Logan Kahle
Apologies- my info on the wintering range of Lark Sparrows was totally incorrect. I should have checked that before posting. They winter pretty widely in California (though less so in bayside side / coastal areas. Still, a neat bird for Landfill Loop.
Zac
Birding Landfill Loop today with Nat Smale, we had a nice adult (or barely subadult) Lesser Black-backed Gull, standing cooperatively in the shallows close to the trail at (37.9715485, -122.3850165) from about 1:30-2:15pm, beautifully lit.
While technically, Lesser Black-backed Gull is rare, the most surprising bird of the day - and more unusual for this location and date - was a very cooperative Lark Sparrow, which was foraging in the shallow drainage channel that borders the parking lot and the entrance drive to the landfill at about (37.9684635, -122.3797040). Western Lark Sparrows generally winter in far southeast CA, SW Arizona and Mexico, so this is a pretty late lingering bird.
Zac Denning
Albany
Geese again today. At 10:15 this morning, a skein of 100-200 geese flew over Panoramic Ridge/Claremont Canyon. Merlin identified as Cackling Geese. 30 minutes earlier an even larger skein (unidentified) flew over north Oakland, heading south.
Kay Loughman
Patricia Bacchetti via groups.io wrote:
FYI: Continuing movement of waterfowl this morning, though in lower numbers than two days ago. 77 Cackling Geese, 27 Greater White-fronted Geese so far over Albany. Yesterday, I had no geese, but two mixed duck flocks in the morning, consisting of wigeons, shovelers, and pintails, around 45 ducks in all.
Over my Urban residential neighborhood, any movement of waterfowl at all is notable, so perhaps there’s more stuff moving in coastal or bayside areas.
Zac Denning
Albany
Hi Ethan,
Thank you for the very helpful caution on numbers and sound ID.
For me at least, Greater White-fronteds were almost the only species for the first 30 minutes, then transitioned to progressively more Cackling flocks by about 45 minutes. My 350 Greater White-fronted count might be an under-estimate (I’m in process hand counting birds I photographed). But my current estimate of visually identified goose species is currently 40% Greater White-fronted (which is unusual).
I counted only birds I could identify visually, taking photos when I could. Regardless of the exact proportion, it was certainly an unusually Greater White-front heavy morning (7:30-9am) in Albany at least.
Checklist:
Zac Denning
Albany
Hi all,
While I was locked inside today, not actually seeing or hearing any geese, I enjoyed reading a number of reports of geese moving in the Bay Area. These days are always wonderful! But I wanted to extend a note of caution. Many reports, on listservs and eBird, alluded to being heard only. Considering the stifling, drippy fog over much of the region today, this doesn't surprise me! Yet, while they can be told apart by the experienced ear, Greater White-fronted and Cackling Geese sound very similar, especially in large flocks. I confuse them often, thinking I hear one species, and then seeing another! Reports I read on listservs over much of the day made it seem like White-fronts were in the large majority, however my personal experience is that later season flight days of geese are more often dominated by Cackling Geese, with White-fronts more often in the minority. I also received a number of reports off list from observers that saw more Cacklers than White-fronted, or only saw Cackling Geese. So, while it is totally possible for a Nov. 25th "goose flight day" to be dominated by White-fronts, I just want to make sure we are all being careful when IDing geese, lost in fog over head.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
Best
Ethan Monk
Thanks all for the add-on reports of goose movements this morning. My final estimate over an hour and a half was close to 3,000 geese, estimating mostly by 25s to 50s, with perhaps 400 in the largest group. A good proportion of these were picked up by scanning non-foggy skies / horizons for distant skeins of geese that weren't visible with the naked eye (1-2.5 miles away I'd guess). Those distant birds were added as goose sp, but were at least distinct enough to estimate numbers. I missed a lot as the fog closed in over 50% of the sky overhead for the last 30-40 minutes, and some flocks (uncounted) were heard only through the fog.
Here's an ebird list with photos of some of the flocks and a few recordings:
Zac Denning
Albany
Missed the Tufted Duck, but a Green-winged Teal drake was swimming
in front of the Rotary Nature Center at Lake Merritt late this
morning.
Hope they're both there for the Golden Gate Bird Alliance walk
tomorrow (Wednesday the 26th)....
--
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~ Hilary Powers - Hilary@... - Oakland CA ~
~ www.salamanderfeltworks.com; www.Etsy.com/shop/SalamanderFeltworks ~
~ Now a member of the the Oakland Cottage Industry Collective! ~
~ Needle Felted Sculpture - Real and Fantasy Creatures ~
Thanks Maureen, great tip
Cheers,
Jennifer Fury
Saltwater is the cure for everything, sweat, tears, or the sea 🌊
Heard Greater White-fronted flying above the fog here in Walnut Creek this morning, guessing it was around 8:15 am. Did not sound like a big group.
Lisa Weiss, Walnut Creek
We were up at dawn for an outdoor exercise class in North Berkeley. I heard the geese before the fog lifted, then by 7:15 saw 5
V's of Greater White Fronted Geese (id'd by their high-pitched cries). I estimate that there were 50-100 geese in the skeins I saw.
They were flying very high, like necklaces of tiny dots thrown up into the sky. So full of awe at their stamina and beauty!
Erica Buhrmann