Lake Merritt Winter Bird Walk

George and I often spend Christmas afternoon strolling through the wonderful gardens at the Lake Merritt Garden Center in Oakland. We were very disappointed this year to find the fences locked, but consoled ourselves by walking over to the Lake Merritt Bird Sanctuary instead.

In 1870 the Sanctuary was designated as the country’s first official wildlife refuge, and in 1963 it became a National Historic Landmark. It’s really exciting to see so many different kinds of birds in one location. The birds that hang out at a fenced-in man-made pond near the walkway are used to people, so you can get much closer than in the wild. An adult Black-crowned Night Heron let me get a closeup of his beautiful profile, while other herons perched in the trees. 

My other photographs: we were really excited to see White Pelicans at the Lake for the first time! The pair in my next photo swam and fished together in the small pond.

It was fun to watch Western Gulls trying to open clams. You can see from my next photo that the man-made Duck Islands out in the Lake provide shelter and plenty of tree branches for birds’ nests. If you wait a bit, you'll see strings of Canada geese skidding into the Lake.

How about you – any exciting winter bird sightings to report?