Danette's Best Bird

I'm not the birder that gets excited about gulls. They are usually quite frustrating for me. Over the years I have managed to see most of the gull species that inhabit at least the lower 48 and a few of the arctic species as well.  One that has eluded me until today is the world's second largest gull - the Glaucous Gull. Best described as a large, pale arctic gull, their range in the winter brings them just down into Northern California. They are actually seen with some regularity around the coast of Northern California but in the winter gulls tend to congregate in large numbers and finding the unusual one amongst hundreds, sometimes thousands of other gulls, each capable of showing you a variety of different plumages (cycles) depending on how old they are, is enough to send me a little bit around the bend.

Anyway, my wife Danette had an errand to run today up to the lovely hamlet of Chico and I went along because - well, I'm retired and a trip out of town sounded like fun. Once again, thanks to ebird, I was aware of a Glaucous Gull sighting at the Feather River Parkway and Fish Hatchery in Oroville which just happens to be on the way to Chico. Long story short, Danette said that this was the best rare bird sighting she had ever been a part of (we saw the bird before I even turned the car off). Painless, she didn't even have to get out! To her credit she did get out and we spent a few minutes watching and getting some photos. We also noticed why this was a good spot for gulls to congregate. All through the shallows we could see large salmon in various states of decay, some living, some not. They had completed their last journey and done their duty at the hatchery across the river and were now fulfilling their last duty in the circle of life - food for the scavangers.

A fun day out and a new bird to boot! Species number 573.

A Lapland Longspur at the Dump

There is an interesting relationship between birds and garbage dumps. In some cases it is an active landfill where birds (especially gulls) can be found. For example, the Tamaulipas Crow can only be seen within the North American ABA area at the public landfill in Brownsville, Texas. I know, I've been there. But it is the increasingly more common occurrence of birds being found at what was once a landfill but is now capped over and reclaimed land. Some notable examples of this here in my home state are the following:

• The now world famous Arcata Marsh Project in Arcata, CA.
• The American Canyon Wetlands in American Canyon, CA.
• Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline Park in San Leandro, CA.
• Cesar Chavez Park in Berkeley, CA.

These are just a few of the many that I visit with some regularity here in Northern California. Some pretty nice places that cover over the massive amount of waste that we generate. We have since learned to hide our landfills farther away from urban centers in places that are not so environmentally sensitive. Sometimes I wonder if this is a bad thing as we seem to be more disconnected from our garbage and we really don't realize how much of it we create as we no longer have to look at it or smell it near our communities.

All that being said, I found myself at Cesar Chavez Park in Berkeley because of some ebird reports of Lapland Longspurs foraging in the grasslands that now cover what used to be a landfill. Danette and I had been doing some shopping in the area and she agreed to a quick stop to see if they could be located. Lapland Longspurs are sparrow like birds that are regularly seen during the winter months at a few locations around the Bay Area. This is another species that has always eluded my detection so I figured this was a pretty good chance to rectify the situation. As I walked over the grassy area spotting Meadow Larks, Pipits, and Savannah Sparrows, I spotted another birder with a large camera rig and checked in with him. Fortunately, he was camped out right in the middle of an area that they were frequenting and within a matter of minutes there they were. I had good looks at three of them as they foraged and managed to get a few pictures but lighting was not good enough to call them really decent photos. So there we are, Lapland Longspur, bird number 572. Slowly heading for 600.