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.