San Francisco Bay Area – Alameda Point Environmental Report

New generation of Great Blue Herons born in cypress rookery

The cypress trees in the wetland near the proposed DePave Park at Alameda Point have served as a safe and secure nesting site for Great Blue Herons for many years. This year is no exception, despite the trees having died and barely standing. On May 7, Audubon Society bird observer Dawn Lemoine counted 13 juveniles in the nests.

The wetland around the cypress trees provides the ideal landing spot for the young herons’ first flight and subsequent adaptation to life outside the nest. They can be seen for the first week or so after leaving the nest hanging out in the wetland preening and sunning themselves. Continue reading “New generation of Great Blue Herons born in cypress rookery”

Bay pipefish indicates eelgrass in Alameda Point harbor

A Snowy Egret caught two Bay pipefish in quick succession along the shoreline next to the Hornet Soccer Field on Sunday, November 24. This sighting of the Snowy Egret catching a pipefish is evidence that eelgrass, a special status marine vegetation, is present in the harbor east of the ferry maintenance facility. Pipefish “do not wander far from the eelgrass bed where they were born,” according to Bay Nature magazine. Eelgrass is pipefish habitat, in part, because pipefish are able to avoid predators as their slender bodies blend in with the narrow blades of eelgrass. Continue reading “Bay pipefish indicates eelgrass in Alameda Point harbor”

Great Egret stalks a lizard

Great Egrets are commonly seen wading along a shoreline, in marshes and wetlands waiting for fish to come near before catching them with a quick thrust of its bill.

Great Egrets primarily eat small fish. However, their diet can also include reptiles such as lizards, amphibians, birds, small mammals, shrimp, worms, dragonflies, beetles, water bugs, and grasshoppers.

This particular Great Egret decided to stroll into the old campground at Alameda Point in search of food. It walked slowly up to a Rosemary bush and stood there for about five minutes, occasionally making slight head movements, before plunging its head into the bush to catch a lizard.

After holding the lizard in its bill for a few minutes, it gulped down the lizard and proceeded very slowly to another bush.

Continue reading “Great Egret stalks a lizard”

Birds on the rocks – 2018

Pelican and cormorant on top of jetty at entrance to Seaplane Lagoon.

California Brown Pelican, juvenile, one or two years old, as indicated by all brown head, with Cormorant on Seaplane Lagoon jetty.

Continue reading “Birds on the rocks – 2018”

Osprey Family Thrives in Face of Adversity

Ospreys returned again this year to nest at Alameda Point’s Seaplane Lagoon. But midway through the rearing process, the female became the sole provider and protector of her three chicks, after the male became entangled in fishing line. Such osprey single parenting is unheard of.

Male osprey with fishing line and bobber. Credit: Phil Dauber.

Continue reading “Osprey Family Thrives in Face of Adversity”

Great Egret fishing at Breakwater Beach

Photos of a Great Egret foraging for Yellowfin Gobies in the shallow mudflat next to Breakwater Beach at the southeast corner of Alameda Point. After catching a Goby, the Egret would then have to fling the little fish into the air to maneuver the fish back to its mouth. Photos are from Friday, February 9, 2018.

Continue reading “Great Egret fishing at Breakwater Beach”

VA project adds to legacy of letdowns on airfield

A legacy of disappointment continues on the aircraft runway area at Alameda Point. In the nearly 20 years since the Navy ended operations there, the community has lost 74 acres of open space that was once slated to become city property. The community has also lost the possibility for a 550-acre national wildlife refuge and a state-of-the-art community hospital to be run jointly with Alameda Healthcare District to serve veterans and non-veterans.

There is still no groundbreaking scheduled for the veterans’ clinic and columbarium.

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) plans for outpatient clinic, medical and benefits offices, and a national cemetery at Alameda Point. San Francisco in background.

The only recent expenditures on the 624 acres of federal property, now owned by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), have been to fund landscaping over an underground dump and the management of the endangered least terns that nest on 10 acres, which includes the widespread application of herbicides and vegetation removal on 300 acres of pavement at the direction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Mitigating the loss of wetlands appears to be the only planning underway. Continue reading “VA project adds to legacy of letdowns on airfield”