Maybe hard to believe given its urban context, but Lake Merritt was the first wildlife refuge in the U.S. You can find a lot of birds here, particularly during the winter months—aside from run-of-the-mill Canada geese, mallards, gulls, egrets, cormorants, and coots, there's also pelicans (both brown and white), scaups, canvasbacks, goldeneyes, and buffleheads. Here's some night herons: