Walking San Francisco Bay: South Hamilton Park

Walking the Bay Exhibits, Events

Oct. 5, 2019 - Free "Bay Day" Nature Walk, Palo Alto Baylands. Time: 10:00 - 11:15 a.m.. Meet in lobby, Lucy Evans Baylands Nature Interpretive Center.

Feb. 27, 2018 - "Instinct Extinct: The Great Pacific Flyway" photos + talk on Feb. 27, 2018, at Los Altos History Museum.

Oct. 1, 2016 - Free "Bay Day" Bay Trail walk, Palo Alto Baylands. Time: 9:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. Meet in front of Lucy Evans Baylands Nature Interpretive Center.

Sept. 15 - Oct. 12, 2016 - "Walking the Bay 2" exhibit of photos and Bay Day (Oct. 1) event 12-4 p.m. at Keeble and Shuchat Photography, Palo Alto, CA.

April 2012 - "Walking the Bay" Canessa Gallery, San Francisco. Exhibit of photos taken on the Bay Trail (during 1,000 mile walk (2009 - 2011), and a series of roundtable discussions. Thank you to Zach Stewart, Colleen and Julie.

Also featured: selected works from water artist Linda Gass and photographer Bill Scull; maps by Reineck and Reineck Design. Bay Trail art installation (map on floor) by Tim Armstrong.

What's This All About?

I'm walking around San Francisco Bay, a few miles at a time, following the San Francisco Bay Trail, for the third time.

My first walk around the bay (2009-2011) was 1,000 miles, and took almost two years. The second walk, begun in late 2011, included a few new segments. I started a third round-the-bay walk in 2019.

I also continue to visit other bay trails (in Alaska, Cuba, Hawaii, Iceland, Ireland, and other locations).

Thank you to all the great people who've joined me on Bay Trail walks in the past several years. Walking these great waterside trail(s) with others makes it twice as fun.

For more information on the San Francisco Bay Trail Project and an interactive Bay Trail map, go to www.baytrail.org.

Wildlife Sightings, Walk #2, v. 8/15/13

Praying Mantis - 0
Raccoon - 0
California yellow-billed magpie - 0
Crane - 0
California Clapper Rails - 2
Small Table - 0
Feral dogs - 0
White Marbles - 0
Pigs - 0
Cicadas - 0
Live Crabs - 1
Kingfishers - 1
Water Voles - 0
Plastic ride-on toys - 0
Giant Mechanical Claws - 0
Green Herons - 0
(Live) Skunks - 0
Plovers - 5
Owls - 1
Couches - 0
Gray, Other Grasshoppers - 0; Crickets - 0
Llamas - 0
White Swans - 7
Pheasants - 2
Mattresses - 0
Gray Foxes - 0
Barking farm dogs - 0
Black OysterCatchers - 2
Chairs - 3
Kites - 10 birds; 2 fabric kites; 0 paper bag kites
Sandpipers - 118
Mice - 1
Turkeys - 0
Sea Lions, Seals - 20
Deer - 11
Snakes - 0
Godwits - 0
Black beetles - 1
White-fronted geese - 10
Robins - 31
Hubcaps - 2
Pillbugs/Sowbugs - 1
Feral/Abandoned cats - 12; Domestic cats - 6
Quail - 0
Rabbits/Hares - 6
Black-Crowned Night Herons - 14
UFO grebes, loons, other divers - 33
Great Blue Herons - 11
Hummingbirds - 41
Blue Jays - 6
Rusty Screws - 5
Horses - 3; Ponies/Miniatures - 0
Mosquitos - 2 indivs. + 0 small groups + 0 massive swarm
Unidentified flying bugs - 0 + 0 clouds + 1 cloud blk ones
Bumblebees - 25
Willets - 123
Mockingbirds - 11
Balls - 30
Ladybugs - 2
Hawks/Kestrels/Falcons - 21
Dragonflies - 15
Lizards - 5
Sheep - 0
Doves - 30
White shelled and brown snails - 6
Turkey Vultures - 46
Terns - 7
Egrets: 57 Great; 113 Snowy
Killdeer - 32
Starlings - 100
Western/Clarks Grebes - 120
Ground + other squirrels - 63
Pelicans - 63
American Avocets - 699
Cormorants - 156
Coots - 667
Butterflies/Moths - 26
Black-Necked Stilts - 160
Cows - 0
Crows, Ravens - 551
Swallows - 12
Red-winged blackbirds - 78
Pigeons - 459
Canada Geese - 753
Unidentified Brownish Shorebirds (UBBs) - 1,961
Ducks - 3,427
Little Brown Jobs (LBJs)/Songbirds - 1052
Sea Gulls - 1,717
Ants - uncountable; in 0 spots
Ankle-to-eyeball gnats - uncountable; 6 diff. spots
Tiny ground gnats and flies - uncountable in spots

Wildlife Sightings Walk #1 (2009 - 2011)

Praying Mantis - 1
Raccoon - 1
California yellow-billed magpie - 1
Crane - 1
California Clapper Rail - 1?
Small Table - 1
Feral dogs - 1
White Marbles - 1
Pigs - 2
Cicadas - 2
Live Crabs - 2
Kingfishers - 3
Water Voles - 3
Plastic ride-on toys - 3
Giant Mechanical Claws - 3
Green Herons - 4
(Live) Skunks - 4
Plovers - 4
Owls - 5 (live)
Couches - 6
Gray, Other Grasshoppers - 9; Crickets - 9;
Llamas - 5
White Swans - 5
Pheasants - 6
Mattresses - 7
Gray Foxes - 9
Barking farm dogs - 9
Black OysterCatchers - 11
Chairs - 12
Kites (birds) - 15; fabric kites - 15; paper bag kites - 7
Sandpipers - 12
Mice - 12
Turkeys - 16
Sea Lions, seals - 19
Deer - 20
Snakes - 20
Godwits - 24
Black beetles - 27
White-fronted geese - 29
Robins - 30
Hubcaps - 36
Pillbugs/Sowbugs - 39
Feral Cats - 34 + Domestic Cats - 40
Quail - 38
Rabbits/Hares - 39
Black-Crowned Night Herons - 42
UFO grebes, loons, other divers - 46
Great Blue Herons - 50
Blue jays - 50
Hummingbirds - 49
Rusty Screws - 64
Horses - 63; Ponies/Miniatures - 20
Mosquitos - 28 indivs. + 2 small groups + 1 massive swarm
Unidentified flying bugs - 77 + 4 clouds + 1 cloud blk ones
Bumblebees - 76
Willets - 76
Mockingbirds - 86
Balls - 96
Ladybugs - 100
Hawks, falcons - 120
Dragonflies - 156
Lizards - 162
Sheep - 179+
Doves - 191
White shelled and brown snails - 202
Turkey Vultures - 203
Terns - 255
Egrets: 203 Great; 483 Snowy
Killdeer - 299
Starlings - 307
Western and Clarks Grebes - 324
Ground + other squirrels - 341+
Pelicans - 374
American Avocets - 415
Cormorants - 444
Coots - 527
Butterflies/Moths - 550
Black-Necked Stilts - 557
Cows - 594
Crows, Ravens - 909
Swallows - 1,127
Red-winged blackbirds - 1,184
Pigeons - 1,239
Canada geese - 2,052
Unidentified brownish shorebirds - 3,134
Ducks - 3,389
Little Brown Jobs (LBJs)/Songbirds - 3,999
Sea Gulls - 4,034
Ants - uncountable; in 8 spots
Ankle-to-eyeball gnats - uncountable; 38 diff. spots
Tiny ground gnats and flies - uncountable in spots