Saw plenty of shorebirds along an actual shore this morning. It is often true you see Killdeer in a parking lot, Curlew or Willet in a pasture, or even sagebrush, phalarope on the ocean, Black Oystercatchers on a sea stack…but today shorebirds were all ashore as I led a Golden Gate Audubon Filed Trip along the edge of the Albany (CA) mudflats. There was an even dozen species present on just a few acres of mudflat at low tide.
These first two images show a truly black bellied Black-bellied Plover. Most arriving migrants of this species have already molted out of this bright breeding plumage.
Black Oystercatcher.
Eight-foot tall goddess of mud.
One of two Osprey fishing in the Bay.
Albany Mudflats, Alameda, California, US
Sep 2, 2015 8:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.5 mile(s)
42 species
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 25
Gadwall (Anas strepera) 1
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 30
Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) 12
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) 20
Greater Scaup (Aythya marila) 8
Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis) 1
Western Grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis) 1
Clark’s Grebe (Aechmophorus clarkii) 7
Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) 1
Pelagic Cormorant (Phalacrocorax pelagicus) 1
Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) 1
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) 2
Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) 5
Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) 1
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) 1
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) 2
Black Oystercatcher
American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana) 40
Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola) 30
Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus) 10
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) 6
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) 2, Spotted Sandpiper
Willet (Tringa semipalmata) 50
Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus) 20
Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa) 20
Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri) 15
Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus) 2
Common Murre (Uria aalge) 1
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 1
Western Gull (Larus occidentalis) 60
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) 1
Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte anna) 6
Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) 1
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) 25
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) 1
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 1
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 1
California Towhee (Melozone crissalis) 4
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) 100
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) 40
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