mjm@oliven.olivetti.com (Michael Mammoser) (12/15/89)
The highest tides of the year occurred earlier in the week and I was down at the bayside enjoying it. I was determined to arrive at the Baylands early enough to get a good shot at Black Rails along the marsh edge. But first I decided to stop at Charleston Slough to check for ducks on Adobe Creek and diving birds on Shoreline Lake. The Mountain View Forebay sported the usual contingent of gulls; Ring-Billed, California, Western, Glaucous-Winged, and Herring. A couple of Soras called from, and stalked through, the cattails with the dozens of Common Moorhens. A small flock of Least and Western Sandpipers foraged at the open end of the forebay. An Anna's Hummingbird sang its squeaky song from the top of a coyote bush. It seems that you can't go anywhere around here without being serenaded by one of these guys. At Shoreline Lake a small number of Common Goldeneye swam and dove just offshore. Word was that a Barrow's Goldeneye was on the lake, but I ran into a birder who had just walked around the lake and hadn't seen it, so I decided not to try. A dozen or so Double-Crested Cormorants swam across the lake in single file as if playing follow-the-leader. Adobe Creek turned out to have all the ducks. The water level was somewhat low and this seemed to bring many of the ducks out of cover. Here I found two Eurasian Wigeons (actually they have been around for some time) and a Blue-Winged Teal. The weather up north must be fairly mild, because the duck populations seem to be low and I haven't seen any Canvasback or Scaup yet. When I pulled in to the parking lot at the Baylands, the Black Rail corner was already crowded. The weather forecast didn't bode too well for an exceptional tide though. The winds were offshore, the atmospheric pressure was high, and there was no rain; but I still picked out a spot along the edge of the road and took up my watch. As I chatted with friends, the Song Sparrows, Marsh Wrens, and Common Yellowthroats flitted in and out of the bushes. Although a Black Rail was seen on last month's high tide, the peak of the tide came this day with no rails. In order to get my rail fix, I strolled out the boardwalk to where the Clapper Rails congregate. There were about six of them within ten to fifteen feet of the boardwalk, posing amicably for the photography buffs. Then I headed for the fresh water outflow channel along the runway of the Palo Alto Airport. Between the channel and the marsh is an area of tall grass where the couple of wintering Sharp-Tailed Sparrows that we usually have like to hang out. The race that we see out here is the Nelsoni subspecies and is one of the more colorful species of sparrow. But if you want to see them, come equipped with plenty of spare time and patience. The usual procedure is for a bunch of people to stand around, heads swivelling as they scan the grass, occasionally yelling "there's one; no, wait, it's a yellowthroat", "there's one; no, wait, it's a Marsh Wren". You know that one has been found when the "there's one" isn't followed by a "no, wait". Then the fun begins, as the person who found it has to give directions to everybody else. "Well, do you see that sprig of green on the other side of the open area? It's in line with that and the yellow flowers out in the marsh". The person standing twenty feet to the side is totally lost. Then it goes down into the grass and you have to wait another twenty minutes before it comes up again. Eventually, though, most people get a look. On this day I hung around to the very end, when there was only four of us left. One guy finally got it in his scope and we all had excellent looks while it sat for at least a couple of minutes. This made up a little for missing the Black Rail for the second year in a row. Oh well, there's always next year. Mike