Birding the Bulb

Went birding at the Albany Bulb with Sarah this morning. It was raining, but not hard, and there were actually plenty of birds about. Tide looked way out, and the waders were wading, ducks were diving and dabbling, humans were out with their dogs. Highlights were the big flock of beautiful Green-winged Teal, hilariously waddling about the mud flats (definitely not birds built for land), the Pelagic Cormorant and Oystercatchers out at the point, and oh yeah, A NEW SLUG FOR ME! I was sort of just perusing the pools at the point, not really hoping for much, when I cam across what I knew to be an opisthobranch I hadn't seen. Of course, I didn't have a camera with me, it being rainy and me wanting to focus on simply seeing stuff, instead of taking pictures. Looking it up now, I'm pretty certain it was in the genus Haminoea, but it's hard to say which one without a pic. Sigh.

Now I kind of want to go back and look for intertidal critters. Maybe next tide.

Posted on 15 March, 2009 23:26 by kueda kueda

Observations

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

American Wigeon (Mareca americana)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Greater Scaup (Aythya marila)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Description

Lots of scaup, as usual. I'm only assuming some of them had to be Greater. Still can't really tell them apart.

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Dowitchers (Genus Limnodromus)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Slavonian Grebe (Podiceps auritus)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Common Teal (Anas crecca)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Description

There were LOTS of green-winged teal out there, like 20 or so. Kind of amazing. As usual, I started out thinking they were wigeons, but Sarah set me straight.

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Canvasback (Aythya valisineria)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Willet (Tringa semipalmata)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Description

1 female.

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Grey Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Description

There were one or two out here at the tip, and more on the mud flats along the northern shore. Not really sure I've positively ID'd this before, so yay.

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

American Coot (Fulica americana)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Description

One or two pecking and pumping among the rocks.

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Western Grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Clark's Grebe (Aechmophorus clarkii)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Surf Scoter (Melanitta perspicillata)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Purple Shore Crab (Hemigrapsus nudus)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Black Oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Common Seal (Phoca vitulina)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Pelagic Cormorant (Urile pelagicus)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Description

DEVOURING crabs right of the point. Weirdly, it always seemed to come up with a crab that was nearly legless. I wonder if they peck off the legs underwater before bringing it up to swallow.

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Description

Just beginning to get into summer plumage, along with several other species.

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

California Towhee (Melozone crissalis)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Japanese Bubble Snail (Haloa japonica)

Observer

kueda

Date

March 15, 2009 10:28 AM PDT

Description

Oh jeez. I was just looking around in tidepools and under rocks while we birded when I came across this slug... and I didn't have a camera. It was raining, and for once I wanted to just focus on birding instead of photography, so I left my camera at home. Big mistake, because this was a whole new order of slugs for me (Cephalaspidea)! It was just grazing along some algae in a hollowed chunk of concrete. Brown overall with light speckles, internal shell was visible. Looked a lot like the pic of Haminoea vesicula in Behrens & Hermosillo, but Haminoea japonica is also a possibility. The lesson: always bring a camera. Always bring a camera. Always bring a camera.

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