[SBB] Ed Levin and EEC

[michael mammoser <[[email protected]]>]

This morning, 5 Feb 07, I went up to Ed Levin Park and checked many of the eucalyptus areas for hummingbirds, managing only to find the local ANNA'S. Not a lot of blooming in the eucs yet. I did have a day-roosting BARN OWL in a pine tree.

 

I then went down to the EEC in Alviso, where I passed Dean Manley, who was leaving and lamenting the lack of "white-winged" gulls. When I went out to A16 I immediately found a small GLAUCOUS GULL in the water near the first island. It was mostly pure white, with some faint barring on the undertail coverts and even fainter barring on the uppertail coverts. It was slightly smaller than adjacent HERRING GULLS. Otherwise, it had the typical sharply bicolored bill and beady black eye. It flew off to Mallard Slough.

 

Heading down the levee, the third island had 3 more GLAUCOUS GULLS roosting simultaneously, and none of these was the first bird. So, there were 4 of these gulls there at this time. One of the 2 birds that I saw a couple weeks ago was definitely a fifth individual, as that bird had small dusky spots near the tip of each showing primary, which resulted in a line of spots down the folded wing tip. This mark was not shown by any of the birds today.

 

A SANDERLING was also on the third island and the 7 CACKLING GEESE were on the second island.

 

There were a couple thousand gulls on or about A16 today, 2 or 3 times that many on A18, and a cloud of 6000 or more over the dump (no idea how many were on the ground there). These birds feed at the dump and then rest, bathe, and preen around the adjacent salt ponds. When the dump is closed on Sunday, their number seem to be sharply reduced here, as they evidently go elsewhere to feed. I believe that the normal departure of our wintering gulls won't start for another month or more.

 

Michael Mammoser

 

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