Thursday, October 15, 2009

Belmont, O'Neil Sloughs; Oct. 14, 2009





Walking Distance: ~ 2.5 miles (guesstimate)
Walking Time: 1 hour, 35 min. (4:30 - 6:05 p.m.)
Start & End Point: Island Park, across street from Oracle, near Highway 101

We had our first big storm of the season, with lots of wind and rain yesterday. Today, the Belmont Slough looked empty; however, as I walked further (toward O'Neill Slough (sp?)), I saw a very large number of egrets (great and snowy), crowned herons, and all sorts of birds. I wasn't sure how far I could walk this part of the trail (shown as a purple line here) before finding a bridge and being able to cross over to walk the opposite shore (no line shown here on opposite shore, but there is a path). Answer: you have to go up to Hillsdale Blvd. before there is any kind of crossing or bridge. I'll check that out later. In the meantime, it was great to find such a treasure trove of birds. (Oh look, an egret on a duck.)

Wildlife Sightings:
2 great blue herons; 14 great egrets and 15 snowy egrets; 4 black-crowned night herons; 3 crows; 6 Canada geese (on Twin Dolphin Drive - blocking traffic); 12 black-necked stilts; 20 ducks; 1 dragonfly; 1 ground squirrel; 10 little brown jobs (LBJs); and 10 unidentified brownish shore birds.

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