Reports to the Northern California BirdBox, transcribed for BirdWest by Adam Winer.
ALAMEDA COUNTY
31 January In Berkeley, 3 Redheads were on the south pond by the radio tower in Berkeley Aquatic Park. Jean Richmond27 January In Berkeley, there are now at least 12 male Redheads in the North Sailing Basin [between the marina and Hwy 80]. In Oakland, the male Eurasian Wigeon is still in Martin Luther King Jr Regional Shoreline, at the end of Edgewater Dr. Rick Renault
26 January In Berkeley, 2 male Redheads and a Merlin have been in the North Sailing Basin between the Berkeley Marina and Hwy 80. [Take University Ave west from Hwy 80, turn right on Marina Blvd, park near where the road turns left and walk around the edges of the basin]. Jamie Good
19 January In Oakland, a male Barrow's Goldeneye was at the southwest corner of San Leandro Bay, near Doolittle Dr & Swan Way[, just inside Martin Luther King Jr Regional Shoreline]. A Eurasian Wigeon and a male Blue-winged Teal were seen from Garretson Point at the end of Edgewater Dr - look north across the small channel. A pair of Blue-winged Teal were at Arrowhead Marsh. Travis Hales
15 January In Fremont, a Sedge Wren was seen at the San Francisco Bay Wildlife Refuge. It could not be refound in the afternoon. Begin at the Visitor Center parking lot (access via Marshlands Rd from Thornton Ave in Newark). Walk across the street, past the green building, down the wooden stairs, and onto the trail that leads into the salt marsh. It was seen in a greenish plant called a gum plant at the beginning of the boardwalk. Check all gum plants. Please stay on the trail. Cin-ty Lee
15 January In Berkeley, 3 Red Phalaropes were along the frontage road between University Ave & Ashby Ave. Joe Eden
12 January In Oakland, a "Yellow-shafted" Northern Flicker was in the oak grove across from the Rotary Nature Center at Lake Merritt. Cin-ty Lee
6 January In Albany and Richmond, a Eurasian Wigeon, a Peregrine Falcon, a Merlin, and an Osprey were along the Albany mudflats just north of the Golden Gate Fields racetrack. These birds were best seen from Central Ave (in Contra Costa County), going along the path near the freeway from the northern end of the mudflats (the county line is at the creek). Leora Feeney, Joe Morlan
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
25 January In eastern Contra Costa County, 5,000 Snow Goose and at least 3 Ross' Goose were at the west end of the second marina at the end of Orwood Rd. In the wet field were 25 Sandhill Cranes. A blue-morph Snow Goose (first county record) and about 25 White-faced Ibis were on Bethel Island, seen looking north from the end of Bethel Island Rd. Steve Glover18 January In Richmond, 2 Black Oystercatchers were at the East Brother Light Station [at Point San Pablo] past Point Molate. Another 3 were on a breakwater visible from the end of Central Ave, next to the water treatment plant near Point Isabel - look toward Golden Gate Fields. In northeastern Contra Costa County, 19 Cattle Egrets were on Jersey Island Rd, about 0.5 mile from the intersection with Cypress Rd. Kevin Hintsa
9 January In Richmond, a male Harlequin Duck was inside the mouth of the Richmond Yacht Harbor near the end of Marina Way. In eastern Contra Costa County, a Cattle Egret and a Lesser Yellowlegs were at Delta Rd, in the large field before a sharp bend in the road just before the bridge to Holland Tract. Kevin Hintsa
6 January See entry for Alameda County above.