Berkeley Backyard Bird Blog: November 2013

Turkeys strutting down the city street

Just another urban bird / cat encounter?

Flock of Turkeys just before the cat encounter

During a stroll in fading daylight at 4:30 pm, I turn a corner a block up from our lovely neighborhood creek, Codornices, and come upon a few mature male wild Turkeys foraging in a curbside garden.

Kitty about to get out of her league

To many, meh, what's a couple of dumbf**k Turkeys. But to a lover of birds, this is totally COOL!

Wild Tom up in the hills

On the eve of this hallowed Thanksgiving holiday, the Turkeys' presence is a manifest symbol, a visceral reminder of the sad treatment of these delightfully quirky birds, whose 16 pound bodies will sate the ornithophagus palates of nearly 90% of Americans tomorrow.

Family of Wild Turkeys on the move at Mount Diablo State Park

Outnumbered 254,000,000 (raised) to 7,000,000 (wild) nationwide, the small wild Turkey contingent of Berkeley, hallelujah, freely roams, is fully protected, and blissfully ignorant of the fate of 46,000,000 of their overfed kind, most of them factory-farm produced, artificially bred with antibiotics and hormones, often mistreated, and pumped out as grotesquely deformed creatures for mass consumption.

Range free beautiful bird

Our Turkey friends are nonchalantly browsing, perturbed by nothing, not passing cars, not us, not even by a young black cat eyeballing their every move intently in semi-stalk mode. I stop to observe what might happen next.

No city kitty but bobcats and coyotes will hunt Wild Turkeys

The too young to know better cat is entranced, probably first time in her little life she's seen the big ol' obstreperous Meleagris gallopavo, thinking, maybe, how delicious-looking, but forget about taking one down . . .

Fantailing indicates defensive high alert

Suddenly emboldened, she pounces toward one, approaching shyly, then backs off the second defensive partner who raises a threatening head and furiously fans his tail as pretty as a Peacock's.

These guys are being protective of their poults

Retreating under a car, the cat maintains her intense vigil, twice emerging to confront the grazing Turkeys, but never brave enough to engage in deadly battle. But this same cute precious kitty would not hesitate to engage in, and win overpoweringly, a confrontation with a helpless and endangered songbird.

Poult on the move to keep up with mama

Finally, the Pavo brothers have had enough, and intimidate the cat into permanent retreat with feather-ruffling histrionics and threatening pokes of their armored beaks.

Kitty probably has eye on a songbird

I know, I know, you probably had to be there . . .

Turkey pair foraging in Tilden Park

You never know what you'll see on the streets of Berkeley, where wild Turkeys and deer forage, raccoon and possum prowl about, mountain lions stalk, Cooper's Hawks lurk, and birds of many a feather find city living quite convenient and enjoyable.

Deer in the middle of the sidewalk

Thanks to the many forested parks and creeks

to be found in the East Bay

and all of the Bay Area.

Trees
capturing the golden light

White-crowned Sparrow taking a break

On the other side of the Berkeley Hills, snaking down Wildcat Canyon Road, a tiny parcel of protected watershed land shelters, in the poetic words of Walt Whitman:

"I was here" - Rocky Raccoon

" . . . unseen buds, infinite, hidden well."

San Pablo Creek's hidden magic

The keen observer of nature might have said as well:

Wouldn't you know it: a Varied Thrush

" . . . unseen birds, infinite, hidden well."

Enchanted forest path

At the Orinda Connector Staging Area, where Wildcat Canyon and Bear Creek Roads meet super-busy San Pablo Road, with tony suburban communities sprawling in all directions, I ditch my bike in a thicket and sign in at the East Bay Municipal Utility District's check station.

EBMUD sign-in station

(Note to welcome visitors: please pay your EBMUD permit fee and carry it with you when passing onto watershed district land. And always obey the rules.)

Thank you, EBMUD

Unknown to most who pass this way (thousands of cyclists and motorists), some of EBMUD's 27,000 acres of vast and varied East Bay landscape lies hidden just below this major juncture.

Wild Turkey foraging in grassland

Head out on a short or all-day outing exploring recreational reservoirs (San Pablo and Briones) and old Salmon run tributary streams (Bear and San Pablo Creeks), accessed via miles of hiking and equestrian trails.

Glimpse into San Pablo Creek's bird-rich back stretches

When in need of some good old-fashion soul-calibrating solitude, nothing beats a few hours alone in this small, rich, biodiverse slice of habitat that instantly enchants with its riparian zones, meadows and woodlands.

Dried-out flood zone rich habitat for Herons and Geese

A matrix of EBMUD trails connect to the greater Bay Area beyond, out Old San Pablo Trail for 5 miles, or test your mettle hiking nearly 15 miles on Oursan and Bear Creek Trails, circumnavigating the 60,510 acre ft. flat-out (hilly-out?) beautiful Briones Reservoir, notably called out by San Francisco Chronicle Outdoors writer Tom Stienstra as:

A dripping wet little unidentified Sparrow

" . . . the bluest body of water in the Bay Area."

Briones Reservoir viewed from the Berkeley Hills

Some may wonder, what's the fuss. And maybe they're right. After all, my sphere of exploratory wandering / casual go-nowhere investigations encompasses an area no larger than a couple of acres. But these couple of acres truly pack in a ton of stimuli!

San Pablo Creek mystique

Ignoring the din of commuter traffic speeding on San Pablo Dam Road toward the Bayshore cities of El Sobrante, Hercules and Richmond, I immerse in my suddenly lush and sylvan surroundings and focus my attention on other things:

Black Phoebe in a bayou-like back stretch of the creek

Such as communing with tall, old sycamore, pine and oak trees, which provide high canopy for a myriad of unseen birds, infinite, hidden well.

Rich tree top canopy provides shelter and food for birds

Secondary understory and dense shrubbery shelters sweet flowing San Pablo Creek. A short stroll reveals open thistle-choked meadow intermixed with scrubland, bordered by thickets of dogwood and remnant apple trees from an old homesteader's orchard.

Biodiverse habitat shelters many animal and plant species

It all makes for a perfect bird sanctuary and all-around nature lover's intimate experience; notwithstanding, the few people I have seen here are always on the move, hiking, running or horseback riding.

Dangling leaf

Very few, if any people stopped in their tracks – "doing nothing" except looking for birds and their presence – nests, feathers, egg shells, bones, mystery tweets deep in the brush or high in tree tops.

Hawk feather

Moi? I choose to stick close by in my wondrous single little acre contained within an miniature paradise. (What's all the fuss about, now?) After signing in, I'm immediately stalled by furious bird activity!

Chestnut-backed Chickadee in the mix

Vivacious Chestnut-backed Chickadees here. Vibrant Ruby-crowned Kinglets there. Juncos, Jays, and ground foraging Sparrows getting in the mix. Then – a novel sight! Can it be? Yes, it’s a Golden-crowned Kinglet, my first ever spotted in the Bay Area and only the second time I’ve ever seen the tiny, hard-to-spot bird.

Golden-crowned Kinglet motionless for less than a second

I'm truly amazed to see a Golden-crowned Kinglet making an appearance, and then hanging around for ten minutes flitting about and – dare I say? – flirting with me!

Lucky capture of the Golden-crowned Kinglet

What’s crazy about the bird’s “mystique” is that it’s a fairly common bird, 100,000,000 strong, and is a frequent visitor to Bay Area coniferous and deciduous habitats . . . and yet, it's almost like a crypto-avian, this elusive little, seldom-seen (by me only?) bird!

Spotted Towhee screeching at something

After that thrilling sighting, what next, I wonder.

Here in the mixed forests of San Pablo Creek and Watershed,

you never know what surprises await.

Hermit or Wood Thrush? (I never can tell!)

San Pablo Creek is a primeval water course that once channeled tons of salmon, which in turn attracted Grizzly Bears and Bald Eagles, but, alas, no more, although San Pablo Reservoir is one of 6 sites in the 40-square mile Bay Area supporting nesting Baldies, which gives you a good idea of this place's nature quotient.

There's just something about San Pablo Creek

Lolly-gagging along the surprisingly swift-flowing creek and diverting up to scrubby meadow edges allows for a field day for spotting my fav birds – over 20 species!

California Towhee hiding out

Mostly common characters, but each of them a joy to encounter, observe and admire as they go about their unseen, infinite, hidden well business in their own private paradise.