Birders,
I was just walking the dog at Oak Hill Park in Danville. There's a Snow Goose popping out from the masses of Canada Geese on the lawn. Haven't seen one there in a bit. Hope it stays around, though school's getting out soon and the kids use that area as a thoroughfare.
Happy Birding!
Steve Hutchcraft
Alamo, CA
Thanks Joel, very nice observation. I think at least a few of the Ross’s Geese have been affected. I saw this one just off the northside neck of the Albany bulb on Wednesday (Dec. 10), I think the first eBird observation of the species there:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/99583878@N06/54980298290/in/dateposted-public/
On the same day, Henri Wintz reported 4 of them at the nearby Shimada Friendship Park in Richmond. Generally, sightings of this species by the bay between Emeryville and Richmond are very infrequent (no other recent eBird sightings here).
Good birding,
Lee Friedman
All,
I just got word that the Rock Sandpiper is back at the Cerrito Creek mouth this morning. So if you regretted missing it yesterday, or you just want the opportunity to survey the county line, now is your opportunity.
It’s a great bird by the way, I had prolonged views of it yesterday late afternoon when it was terribly backlit, probably better viewing now.
To get to the bird, park in the vicinity of Central Avenue and Rydin Road, and walk about 3 blocks south along the bike path.
--
eBird protocol is to record the bird from where you stand. That makes the most sense from a data quality standpoint, since the bird is part of a complete checklist. Obviously where the bird precisely is can be somewhat a matter of opinion when you’re 500 feet away. This is just the established protocol and it makes sense.
It makes no sense however to report a first county record (Contra Costa County in this case) if the bird has never physically been in that county. Most birders have the sense to adjust for this by excluding the bird from their Contra-Costa checkllst and creating a separate incidental checklist for the Alameda sighting, using their best effort to locate the pin correctly. This is not however standard eBird protocol. It would make no sense to record a Mexican bird as a US rarity and vice versa. eBird protocol is the better system except with these anomalous situations where a manual adjustment is warranted.
Aaron Maizlish
San Francisco
My feeling is that since eBird's main purpose is citizen science/conservation, I don't think it's the ultimate end-all-be-all authority for things like county record keeping. While the eBird protocol "allows" for counting birds seen from one area while they are in another, that sort of feels against the "spirit" of county/state listing, etc. Obviously, birds don't care about arbitrary geopolitical boundaries, but some of us birders still do! If that's something you care about, the eBird protocol does provide a helpful commentary on using incomplete lists if you are purposefully emitting birds seen in different geopolitical areas:
https://support.ebird.org/en/support/solutions/articles/48001059718-ebird-policies-for-special-birding-circumstances#anchorCountyListing
eBird is still extremely helpful to get a quick snapshot of records of the area, so if one does view the bird in a different county than their actual location, I think it would be helpful to put that in the notes for people who care about such things.
Sammy Cowell
Valley Springs, CA
My reading of the eBird protocols is that good eBirders should be agnostic to political boundaries. From a science data quality perspective, it makes no sense to exclude a bunch of birds from a checklist just because a political boundary runs through the habitat. The Rio Grande is a more complicated case because it's an ecological as well as a political boundary. Lots of Mexican birds range as far north as the river but don't cross the barrier so I can see a rationale for tallying those birds separately.
Of course, county birders and other listers care intensely about political boundaries.Ebird, almost by definition, is a poor guide for how to tally birds at a boundary. So then the question becomes, for listing purposes, do we count birds from where we stand or where the bird is located? I personally subscribe to the latter view (and I believe many county birders do too) for the simple reason that it avoids creating fallacious reports showing the same bird in two different places at the same time. But everyone gets to keep their own list!
BTW, if anyone reading this is tempted to express their moral judgement of listing, just remember, we all have to find our own joy.
Bruce
Expanding on Bruce’s comments, I have a question.
I’ve had the privilege of birding along the Rio Grande in Texas, at places where one can look into Mexico.
The trip leaders did the eBird lists for us, using hotspots in Mexico for the birds we saw on the far shore. So I have 24 birds in Mexico, observed from the US.
Maureen Lahiff
(I’m not a county lister.)
I'm not sure what all the consternation regarding the county line is about. Just treat the ambiguous zone as a DMZ. Per the eBird protocol, it doesn't matter where the bird is, just where you are. So you stand south of the DMZ and tick the sandpiper in Alameda, then walk north of the DMZ, start a new list, and tick the bird again in CoCo. Voila, county bird in both counties! LOL
Bruce Mast
Oakland
Hi all,
A historical note about county lines: I owned a business in western Contra Costa country for many years, and at one point we had to have the property lines surveyed. What seemed like a pretty straightforward job turned into an adventure. The surveying company president called me about a week after we signed a contract and uncomfortably explained that the cost of the job had doubled! The problem was that most of the maps of west county were from the original Spanish land grants and that boundaries were approximate. There were few USGS markers, and often landmarks were based on what ship captains could see from the bay waters. So we got our property lines, sort of, but county planning was used to the situation and accepted the ambiguities. Not sure if this applies to the present situation at the creek, but I thought that it was an interesting historical note in these days of precision.
Wish I was there to see this great bird!
Pat Bacchetti
Hi folks,
As most all are aware, this morning Kevin McKereghan and Tera Freedman found a Rock Sandpiper at the mouth of Cerrito Creek, in the Albany Crescent. While bare part color was suggestive, additional photos of the wingstripe are out and confirm this bird as a Rock, rather than a Purple, Sandpiper. For what it is worth, a number of people have mentioned the underwing color as a diagnostic difference here. I had never heard of this so was intrigued, went home and scrolled through Macaulay for a bit and can now say I observe no difference. But maybe I am missing it.
The bird spent much of its time sleeping, originally very close to the grassy edge where it was hidden unless you were to walk out onto the mud, and then later far out on the mudflats. The mud is shallowest north, as you get into Contra Costa County, so when the tide came up, the bird seemed to go south as the northern mudflats vanished more quickly. The creek mouth of Cerrito Creek is most productive at maybe just under a 3ft tide (there is a station at Pt. Isabel). At about 3 feet the habitat is gone, and all is to the south. In the evening the light is horrible, because you are looking west, so I would target a mid tide (~2-2.5 feet) and not later in the day, if possible, and would look from the creek mouth to maybe a thousand feet south of.
At one point today, the bird was on the creek's north bank, but most of the time was a few hundred yards south. There are no records of this species for Contra Costa, so it would be nice to have a record there! The CalTrans signage, on their website and on the highway seem to show the creek as the county line. This includes the actual markers painted on 580 for the road crews, not just the green signs for the drivers. This has been the traditional belief of birders, too, probably because of these conspicuous signs, but as we all know there is controversy here. The Contra Costa County Assessor's Office maps the county line about 130 feet north of the creek (this varies based on where you measure from, and what the tide is doing) but the Alameda County Assessor's Office has their county line about 30 feet north of that! Today at its northmost, a few of us watched the bird maybe thirty feet north of the middle of the creek. So it was not quite there, by the two assessor's offices, but close.
I tried to call CalTrans to figure out where they get their map data from, but I couldn't get to a person at the Oakland office.
Ethan Monk
Central Contra Costa County has had unusually extensive Tule Fog the last couple weeks which has brought many flocks of geese from the Central Valley who wander above the fog. While most of the honking sounded like Greater White-fronted, I have recently managed to get visuals on flocks above the west side of Mount Diablo by getting above the fog or having it start to clear at the right time. About 3/4 of the geese are Greater White-fronted, and the rest are Snow Geese. Flocks are dominated by one species but often have the other mixed in. None of the geese I have seen above the fog have been Canadas or Cacklings, and none of the Snow Geese I have seen were noticeably smaller to be putative Ross's Geese.
Happy fog birding,
Joel Herr
And at Crab Cove now, between us be stairway and the rocks offshore.
When does Oakland CBC count week start? Tomorrow?
I hope this loon stays until Sunday, but you Alamedans should for sure get it for count week!
The Yellow-billed Loon was seen today from Ballena Island on the Bay side across from Pier 29 restaurant. Also near the Encinal Boat Ramp.
Jeff Manker
Alameda
Probably the easiest and closest would be the lot for Neptune Plaza Shopping Center off of Central.
Jeff Manker
Alameda
Neptune Plaza Shopping Center or Criwn Memorial State Beach are options. Parking along McKay allowed after 4 PM.
I parked at a small public parking lot on Crown Dr. just west of McKay Ave. There’s a bike path that leads from there to the point off Crab Cove where the loon was spending most of its time today. Locals may know of a better spot, but that seemed to be the best option since most of Central Ave. had the temporary no parking signs all up and down the street.
Sammy Cowell
Valley Springs, CA
Thanks, Melanie!
Parking along Central can work, though there is long term work (sewers?) on that corridor, too.
On Central a bit past McKay and Sixth St, there is a townhouse condo complex that has a path along the shore open to the public during daylight hours with a few public parking spaces. I think the private road into the complex is Crown Drive.
Maureen Lahiff
Hello,
East Bay Parks has a notice about Crab Cove parking:
"McKay
Parking Lot at Crown Memorial Beach's Crab Cove is currently closed for
street maintenance project. Temporary no street parking on McK[ay] Ave.
until 4 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025"
For those of you who know the YELO location, where would you recommend parking when McKay and its associated lot are closed?
Many thanks!
Melanie Barnett, Sunnyvale
On Tuesday, December 9th, 2025 at 10:41 AM, Karen Miller via groups.io <karenlmiller789@...> wrote:
It is still there. I saw it in the same general area - along the left side of the Rocky Point in Crab Cove, along the metal railed walkway and rocks on the left side. I heard that it has also been spotted on the other side of the Rocky Point, in the Ballena Bay Lagoon.
On Monday, December 8, 2025 at 05:01:15 PM PST, Doug Henderson via groups.io <doughenderson16@...> wrote:
The Yellow-billed Loon was first found by Kevin Dixon, also seen independently by Ron Lindeman
Doug Henderson
On Monday, December 8, 2025, 4:00 PM, Aaron Maizlish via groups.io <amm.birdlists@...> wrote:
Doug Henderson found a Yellow-billed Loon at Crab Cove. Currently eating crustaceans along the rip rap.
Aaron Maizlish
San Francisco
Hello East Bay birders,
The Hayward Fremont CBC is happening this Sunday, December 14, co-compiled by Kate Reed and me. We find ourselves with a need for 1-2 counters on one of our Eden Landing teams. Eden Landing is closed to the public, but we have permission to access it for our count. If you don't already have an assignment for the Oakland CBC and you would enjoy counting tens of thousands of mostly shorebirds and water birds in an area, not usually accessible to the public, please email Kate and me ASAP.
Good birding,
Bob Toleno
Hayward
It is still there. I saw it in the same general area - along the left side of the Rocky Point in Crab Cove, along the metal railed walkway and rocks on the left side. I heard that it has also been spotted on the other side of the Rocky Point, in the Ballena Bay Lagoon.
On Monday, December 8, 2025 at 05:01:15 PM PST, Doug Henderson via groups.io <doughenderson16@...> wrote:
The Yellow-billed Loon was first found by Kevin Dixon, also seen independently by Ron Lindeman
The Yellow-billed Loon was first found by Kevin Dixon, also seen independently by Ron Lindeman