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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kibet" data-source="post: 3495525" data-attributes="member: 126488">Day 8 Friday 25th NovemberUniversity of California Berkeley Botanical Gardens and McLaughlin East Shore State ParkI was in the car park of the UCB Botanical Gardens by 0800, about an hour before it opened. So I wandered around the car park and checked out the trees.  My first bird of the day was not in the tree but under it, a survivor of Thanksgiving, the Wild Turkey. The others that were around were Scrubbies (California Scrub Jay that I started to call them about this time) feeding on acorns, Cal Tows, Golden Crowned Sparrows, House Finch, Northern Flicker and of course, the Anna’s. A Red-Tailed Hawk perched far off on a pylon.Once the garden opened, I planned on spending the day there. The weather was cold and cloudy, with the sun not even making an attempt to break through. Everything was very quiet, considering the amount of activity in the car park, as I made my way through the Deserts of the Americas section. Entering into Asia, it all seemed to have little activity, then I came across a rather startling bird perched on a bench in the lawn at the Chinese medicine garden. With a deep blue body, and black head with a crest. I took a photograph before having a proper look with bins, noticing blue flashy “eyebrows”. Using the benefit of my “beginnerness” to birding (3.5 years), I looked at what family it most closely resembled. Initial GISS (or jizz or Gestalt, whatever you prefer) was that it was a corvid, then it flew and resembled a Magpie, helping to confirm I was on the right track, before it called and removed all doubt. It was a Steller’s Jay (which I later found out on an information post in the California section of the Garden). I stayed in the lawn for a while, with Eastern Fox Squirrel, and American Robin in the tree tops. With no further activity, I entered Australasia to see a single Hermit Thrush.  South America gave a few more views of Steller’s Jay and Anna’s. The Rose Garden gave Dark Eyed-Junco, Golden-Crowned and Cal Tows. Moving up to the Mediterranean section, I was greeted to a skulking Spotted Towhee and a bush of American Bushtits, which were promptly chased away unintentionally by a 3 year old.  Coming back down to the crops section, there seemed to be slim pickings. Heading to the Pine/Oak woodland, it was quieter with less people wandering around (although voices could still be heard, and possibly louder than the Steller’s from earlier). Hoping for insect foragers, I scanned the tree trunks for any form of movement. Nothing, and so I went on to the California section, where I found what looked to be a good place for things to pass through. 20 minutes, and the only thing heard was an Anna’s and the only thing seen was a Fox Squirrel. I left the Botanical Garden at around 1200 and was met with so much bird song outside in the car park. Walking down the hill to the university campus, marveling on how a footpath gets narrower and narrower before disappearing on a bend while hoping that cars slowed down enough to avoid me. I went past the California Golden Bears stadium preparing for a game the next day, and once on campus, I checked out where we would be meeting for tomorrow’s walk. Rather than waiting on a bus, I decided to carry on walking back to the hotel (stopping off at a supermarket for food) as I would be passing the East Shore park again. Passing by the edge of the Aquatic Park, next to the overpass, there was Snowy Egret, American Coot and Canada Goose. Black Phoebe greeted me at the entrance of the East Shore Park, followed by a group of Western Meadowlark, which was about the same number as the day before. I arrived at a bench, where the day before, at around the same time, I had been treated to a display of the raptors. It seemed quieter again, but it was a nice enough place to sit, having something to eat and “not watching” the world go by. Joining onto the Virginia St extension for the shore birds, I noted Sanderlings, Willets, Greater Yellowlegs and a little flock of peeps. The sun was facing me as I was coming up to the small flock foraging, so I walked away from the edge, and did a U, to get a view of them with the sun at my back. They carried on foraging, and turning over stones, as they were Black Turnstones. Incidentally, they did not seem to be selective on the colour of the stones. A couple more American Wigeon than the day before joined the Coots.  I started to do a video, and as I mentioned about the lack of raptors in the sky, I found a White-Tailed Kite hovering behind me. Stopping the video to take some photographs, I restarted the video after it went down, only to notice some doves. Carrying on filming, I showed people back home that it looked like when I viewed something through binoculars, as assumed I finally had seen collared doves. I stopped the video after realising they were not collared but Mourning Doves. I finished off the day with a photograph of an Anna’s feeding, taking a slow shutter speed to show how fast the wings go and yet how still they keep the body.Photographed Species 67/56</blockquote>

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