I will likely be flying into the Oakland airport this summer, but I'm on a tight schedule and won't have much time to spend near the Bay itself. EBird seems to indicate that this site has potential for Ridgway's Rail, and it's pretty much next door to the airport. Is it the kind of place where marsh birds are fairly visible from a boardwalk or trail? I assume tides and time of day play a role, but any site-specific guidance would be appreciated.
I've seen the
Burrowing Owl just once, and the Ridgway Rail twice (
1,
2) at Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline. Both are very are much sought after by people who visit, but a very rare sighting since they are both endangered/threatened in addition to being shy. So I wouldn't count on seeing them, unfortunately. But you can always try!
We're getting to the time of year where it's just local birds, most of the migrants have left. Winter we get quite a variety of over-wintering birds. Yes, tides-in is pretty boring as all the shorebirds either leave or go so far out into the marsh as to be nigh invisible even with binoculars or a scope. So intentionally timing for low tide or tide going out is ideal.
For a lay of the land, here's a
close-in map, and a
map relative to the airport. I recommend following the map directions to the farthest parking lot. If the tides are going out, there are
two docks you can walk out onto that have good water views. The one to the West was recently refurbished and re-opened to the public a few months ago, and is a nice way to get out into the marsh.
Yes, aside from the grassy park area, one must stay one the trails since it's a protected preserve (like almost every decent birding spot around here), but there is plenty to see from the trail when the birds are out. I've even seen raptors on occasion. Always lots of ducks (mallards and scaups). The odd scoter or two is still around, coots, ruddys, grebes, pelicans, willets, etc. Basically if you cruise my
gallery, the better bulk of it is from this park.
If you end-up dropping by on a weekend, give me some notice and maybe my girlfriend and I can walk with you. You can give us pointers...we're amateur photographers first, birders a distant second, but still enjoy learning.
