Lake Merritt and Lakeside Park (Oakland)

Trip Leaders: Hilary Powers, hilary@salamanderfeltworks.com; Peggy Rehm, peggydrehm@gmail.com; Katherine Cook, katharinecook14@gmail.com

Date: Wednesday, January 28  --  9:30 a.m. to 12 noon

Description: Come see the peak of the winter season at Club Bird: all the distant breeders are here for their vacation in our warm and (comparatively) gentle clime, and no one has left yet. Scaup and Canvasbacks and Bufflehead and maybe a merganser or three....

Meet beside the Sailboat House parking lot (at 568 Bellevue), on the point of land with all the big rocks to sit on. We will bird around there, then either walk down the lake toward El Embarcadero or go up the paved path toward Children’s Fairyland and loop back through the garden, after which we will cover what we missed. The down-the-lake path is all paved, with gentle slopes up from the dome cage to the road and back down on the other side of the bird paddock. If we go up toward the garden first, it's another gentle, paved rise toward the other end of Bellevue. Coming from El Embarcadero, we're apt to cut across the lawn, but can stick with paved paths if anyone in the group is using a walker or wheelchair.

Regardless of the route, the park offers benches at frequent intervals.

Directions: 

Public transport: Take the 12, N, or NL bus to Grand and Perkins and walk into the park on Perkins. Turn right on Bellevue and walk down into the Sailboat House lot as soon as you pass the Junior Center of Art & Science building. 

Driving: Enter the park on Bellevue from Grand Avenue near Children's Fairyland, buy a basic short-term pass (card payment only; currently $3), and drive around toward the Junior Center of Art & Science for the best spots to leave your car. (There's no parking in the Sailboat House lot itself but plenty along the street. The pass says 2 hours but should be fine for the 3-hour trip.)

Google map: https://goo.gl/maps/mBdvRfnSDZaEBzqq7

Registration opens on Tuesday, December 16, at 1 pm and closes on Monday, January 26, at 11 pm.