Tag Archives: Elaine Miller Bond
Lynxes of the bird world: Cooper’s hawks nest in Berkeley
They’re secretive, stealthy and quick. Allen Fish, director of the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory, calls them “feisty.” Cooper’s hawks, he says, are “the lynxes of the bird world” that pounce on pigeons and swoop between buildings. And, though Cooper’s hawks are hard to find, we know, at first fleeting glance, that we’ve seen something wild and unusual.
Until about 15 years ago, these woodland hawks made rare appearances in cities like Berkeley, and nesting here was practically unheard of. This spring, however, Fish estimates that Cooper’s hawks are constructing between five and 15 nests across the developed areas of Berkeley and Albany (excluding the hills) — evidence of their great swooping strides towards overcoming their bad reputation as “chicken hawks.” … Continue reading »
The mystery and thrill: Shorebirds enjoy winter in Berkeley
A wide variety of shorebirds winter in the San Francisco Bay waters, and in Berkeley in particular. A few, like the whimbrel (a type of curlew), migrate from as far away as the Arctic. Elaine Miller Bond, whose work on local wildlife we have been delighted to publish before, recently spent time photographing shorebirds at the Berkeley and Emeryville tidal zones and mudflats in the company of Rusty Scalf, a teacher and trip leader for the Audubon Society.
According to Scalf, these shorebirds have “high odometer readings.” Yet, for foraging, they rely heavily on the fragile, narrow, often muddy habitat between dry land and water — a zone that is increasingly imperiled by global climate change.
Here, we publish a selection of Miller Bond’s gorgeous photos with extended captions written by her describing the birds and their habits. … Continue reading »
Sitting on the dock of the bay: Birds throng Berkeley pier
On Wednesday, author and photographer Elaine Miller Bond captured this shot of an amazing spectacle down at the Berkeley Marina.
“There were many hundreds, probably thousands, of seabirds (mostly cormorants) flocked together, feeding on the water,” she said. “Within minutes, the entire flock had taken flight and landed here, on the old pilings at the far end of the Berkeley Pier. Though we humans no longer use these derelict planks, birds can certainly be seen, ‘sitting on the dock of the bay.’” … Continue reading »
In Tilden Park’s Jewel Lake: Spotting a rare river otter
By Elaine Miller Bond
Camera in hand, Jen Joynt goes out to Bay Area parks, “looking for excitement.”
On a day last winter she started from the Tilden Nature Area, just looking for what she could see. She hiked up Wildcat Peak, where she found and photographed a pair of coyotes. As she headed back, she happened to meet birdwatchers she knew from previous outings. And they turned her afternoon of picture-taking into a brush with Tilden history: they asked if she had seen the otter.
“Oh no, I hadn’t seen the otter!”
Joynt’s mind went to the Tilden otters from two years ago — four of them observed for about a week in 2009. Prior to that, river otters had last been sighted in Tilden, according to park records, during the 1940s. … Continue reading »
