This year the Oakland bird count day fell on Sunday, December 20. The weather was pleasant allowing the 200 participants a good day in the field. The first Oakland count in 1938 drew three participants. Now, 29 teams, two on boats in the Bay, fan out over the count circle which is centered at Lake Merritt in Oakland. The circle takes in Alameda, Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville, most of the new Eastshore State Park, and spans over the hill to include parts of Lafayette, Moraga, and Orinda. The wide variety of habitat yields up around 173 species.
Lillian Fujii and her husband Steve Hayashi lead the team which covered the UC Berkeley campus, Strawberry Canyon and the surrounding hills (including LHS on the northern edge). Though final totals aren’t yet in, the Strawberry Canyon team counted seven California Thrashers, one of the Botanical Garden favorites.
The count day ends with a count dinner with expert birders and experienced compilers Bob Lewis and Dave Quady presiding. “The Bob and Dave Team” provided plenty of merriment along with the serious business of recording the sightings. Six-year-old Laz, the youngest participant, began his day at 4:30 a.m. on Dave’s owling team. The “best bird” prize went to the Knowland Park team who saw the rare (for this area) Gray Flycatcher.
Though the number of species has remained somewhat constant over the years, the number of individual birds shows a long-term downward trend, even taking into account variations in the weather on count day and the number of people in the field.
Check out the local Golden Gate Audubon website for more information. The March issue of The Gull will include Dave Quady’s count report.
--Phila Rogers
Phila Rogers is a Lawrence Hall of Science neighbor who has lived on the hill for 58 years. Until retiring, she was a science writer at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory where she also wrote “Nature Note” for the weekly publication. As a volunteer with the UC Botanical Garden she co-leads quarterly bird walks. She is also one of the founding members of Save Strawberry Canyon.
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