Strawberry creek estuary

From this point, look across the inlet until you can find the outflow of Strawberry Creek. Through a concrete rectangle beneath the bridge, the creek enters into the bay. Here is the culmination of a creek’s somewhat tortured journey. This water rolled off the back of the chest of Berkeley Hills. It percolated through the soil wherever the land was not covered by concrete or asphalt. It careened over sidewalks and down spillways into dingy storm drains. Perhaps you have heard it flood past you when you walked through UC Berkeley’s campus, or sat by a charmed spot along the creek at some point in your life. Maybe you have been out on a quiet night in Berkeley when you have heard the water flow beneath your feet in the pipes and culverts. The existence of this creek system is the reason that Berkeley was chosen as the site for the new University. The creek meets the bay here in a way that is, well, mostly remarkable. And yet life has taken notice of the creek’s arrival. On most days, birds congregate around this outlet and use the freshwater for bathing; look around, you might find ducks or gulls rinsing the salt off their feathers in the fresh stream. The sediment-rich mudflats at low tide offer a buffet of invertebrates for the sandpiper and killdeer that dart across their surface at the water’s edge. Dozens of other bird species, some of them exotic and relatively rare, frequent this location depending on the tide and season. Look carefully and find a few birds that you did not at first notice. Watch them carefully and see what they do.