Thornton Ave. - July 4, 2011

Walking Distance: 4.8 miles
Walking Time: 2 hrs., 1 min. (6:39 - 8:40 p.m.)
Start and End Point: Intersection of Jarvis Ave. and Gateway Blvd., Newark, CA

This evening I walked along Gateway Blvd., Thornton Ave., and Paseo Padre Parkway -- from Newark, into Fremont -- and then back down Thornton, back down into Newark and past the Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge turn-off area until I reached the beginning of a residential development.

Most of this walk (shown as double red lines on Bay Trail Map) was along wide, tree-shaded sidewalks (along Gateway and Paseo Padre Parkway), along light industrial/commercial buildings and open spaces; although a fairly long portion of Thornton Ave. (shown as double yellow lines on map) had narrower sidewalks, or just an unpaved shoulder area for walking.

Tonight was 4th of July, and I could hear crickets and the distant sounds of illegal fireworks (accompanied by a few small puffs of smoke rising above the trees, houses and fields) in Fremont and Newark. As in many places, these whistles and pops were were happening despite the signs posted everywhere warning against illegal fireworks (in part due to high fire danger).

However, most of the birds and wildlife I spotted along this corridor, near the Coyote Hills, seemed fairly unreactive to the fireworks and celebrations in the distance.

Wildlife Sightings:
5 red-winged blackbirds; 12 doves; 12 crows; 21 little brown jobs (LBJs); 9 sea gulls; 3 ground squirrels; 3 mockingbirds; 1 hummingbird; 3 black-crowned night herons; 3 robins; 1 turkey vulture; 1 finch; 4 pigeons; 1 dragonfly; 1 pillbug; 2 small dust-colored moths; 1 kite (bird); 4 starlings; 7 swallows; 1 great blue heron; 1 large black beetle; and 1 cloud/area of ankle to eyeball gnats.