Alameda, Shoreline Dr. - May 16, '11

Walking Distance: 3 miles
Walking Time: 1 hr., 42 min. (11:08 a.m. - 12:50 p.m.)
Start and End Point: Alameda Towne Centre, Alameda, CA

I'm not finished walking Oakland yet; but I skipped ahead today to walk over in Alameda, along Shoreline Drive (solid red line on Bay Trail map). Thank you to Ken for walking the trail with me today, and for expert photo tips.

We started at the Elsie Roemer Bird Sanctuary. First, we walked southeast along Shoreline Drive to the end of the paved (asphalt) trail; and then we turned around to follow the trail northwest along Shoreline Drive -- as far as the intersection of Westline Dr. and ShoreLine Dr., near Robert Crown Memorial State Beach/Alameda Beach/Park, before retracing our steps back to the Alameda Towne Centre shopping center, where we enjoyed a Greek lunch.

Along the way, ground squirrels popped up occasionally, and there were scenic views of beach grass and flowers in bloom, a long stretch of sandy beach and the San Francisco Bay; and further out, across the water, there were distant city skylines among gray clouds. It was overcast on the day we were walking, and we just missed being rained on by a few minutes. The views were still great -- as I'm sure they would be great on a clear, sunny day, or at sunset, as well.

Wildlife Sightings:
32 sea gulls; 8 cormorants; 4 ducks; 8 pigeons; 3 crows; 8 terns; 2 unidentified brownish shorebirds (UBBs); 2 great egrets, and 2 snowy egrets; 1 dove; 6 ground squirrels; 1 vole; 9 little brown jobs (LBJs); 6 bumblebees + 5 regular bees; 9 Canada geese