Posts
Our weird, almost summery weather took leave of us a few days ago when a low pressure system at last made it in off the Pacific. Today, cold & alternately bright and gloomy with scattered cloud cover. Alone with my dog Sugar & cat Gigi, I read in front of the fire until after noon & decided that I needed to do something at least mildly physical to shake my lethargy. Around 2, I loaded Sugar in her handlebar Jeep bag and we headed for Aquatic Park.
http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=12016
This park is an underused (happily, for me!) gem of West Berkeley that used to delineate the eastern reach of San Francisco Bay in this part of Berkeley. Highway 80/580, on the west border of the park, was built on landfill and miraculously and surprisingly, rather than extend the landfill, three tidal basins were allowed to be created. The north basin enjoys a perimeter path and a pleasant, riparian park on the east side, which is where Sugar a I spend most of our time on our visits which, in nice weather, are almost daily.
Today we came down Bancroft Ave, which leads into the center of the north basin area. Chilly and a little blustery, not much windbreak here from the Bay. Nor many seabirds, other than the ubiquitous winter buffleheads. All the usual suspects. Brown pelicans, pelagic cormorants, western and Clark's grebes, pie-billed grebes, and of course, mallards, coots ant more mallards and coots. Where Strawberry Creek creates a little pond on the west side of the railroad tracks (hidden by cottonwoods, tall poplars and eucalyptus), the water was too high (recent rains) and too opaque to do our usual inspection of the crayfish population. Further along the path, after restraining Sugar from an ill advised go at a Rottweiler, we encountered birders who had heard recent reports of a rare winter tanager, but had had no luck so far. At the end of the north basin, not feeling energized (me) as I had hoped, we turned around and headed out and south to Cafe Trieste. More of which later.
http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=12016
This park is an underused (happily, for me!) gem of West Berkeley that used to delineate the eastern reach of San Francisco Bay in this part of Berkeley. Highway 80/580, on the west border of the park, was built on landfill and miraculously and surprisingly, rather than extend the landfill, three tidal basins were allowed to be created. The north basin enjoys a perimeter path and a pleasant, riparian park on the east side, which is where Sugar a I spend most of our time on our visits which, in nice weather, are almost daily.
Today we came down Bancroft Ave, which leads into the center of the north basin area. Chilly and a little blustery, not much windbreak here from the Bay. Nor many seabirds, other than the ubiquitous winter buffleheads. All the usual suspects. Brown pelicans, pelagic cormorants, western and Clark's grebes, pie-billed grebes, and of course, mallards, coots ant more mallards and coots. Where Strawberry Creek creates a little pond on the west side of the railroad tracks (hidden by cottonwoods, tall poplars and eucalyptus), the water was too high (recent rains) and too opaque to do our usual inspection of the crayfish population. Further along the path, after restraining Sugar from an ill advised go at a Rottweiler, we encountered birders who had heard recent reports of a rare winter tanager, but had had no luck so far. At the end of the north basin, not feeling energized (me) as I had hoped, we turned around and headed out and south to Cafe Trieste. More of which later.
