What do you love about Golden Gate Bird Alliance?
By Ilana DeBare
Last year, while planning for our Centennial exhibit, we conducted a survey of our most active volunteers to learn what they felt was unique about Golden Gate Bird Alliance. Their responses helped us shape the exhibit.
Now, as we enter the final months of our Centennial year, it seems an opportune moment to share some of their answers with you. Today we’re featuring responses about what people appreciate about GGBA. Tomorrow we’ll feature people’s hopes for our next 100 years.
Do these statements strike a chord with you? Do you have other or different ideas? Please leave a comment and share your thoughts!
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What do you respect, admire, or love about GGBA and its work?
The octopus-like involvement in a million things at once, with none of them spread too thin. Something for everyone.
One of the joys of GGBA is the different and diverse bird outings. I enjoy birding and sometimes its a great experience as well as fun to go with other birders.
The members of GGBA are dedicated, hard-working, and enthusiastic birders that want to share their knowledge.
They actually succeed in protecting wildlife and the environment.
Takes guts to stand up to dog owners : – )
It brings together a variety of people from disparate backgrounds around a shared interest in birds.
I admire the conservation and advocacy work, like Leora Feeney working so hard for so long to protect the tern habitat in Alameda.
I am grateful for the lawsuit that led to the restoration of Arrowhead Marsh.
Love the combination of ardent conservation with education and fun, too.
I have loved the enthusiasm and dedication of the teachers and leaders and other birders. It’s a pleasure to spend time with such people.
I am so proud of being involved with an organization that “bats above its weight.” For such a small budget and staff, we accomplish amazing things.
My favorite thing is meeting people from so many different backgrounds with a variety of different skills and perspectives yet a common love of birds.
The class teachers are AMAZING. The Gull is pretty great, too. The conservation achievements are impressive, too.
The Oakland Christmas Bird Counts… all of them, over the years.
GGBA is much more evolved and involved than thirty years ago in what it does to “connect birds and people.”
I’ve supported GGBA since the ’90’s because of its consistently successful advocacy for birds and conservation of their habitats.
The staff, volunteers and class participants are like an extended family to me – a group of people with a common interest that enjoy doing something together, whether it’s a conservation activity or just birding on a nice day.
GGBA reaches out to the community, the kids and people who aren’t rich.
I’m not a birder so I appreciate learning from the speaker series and events in nature.
Proud when GGBA takes action to remedy an environmental threat, persuading people and companies to get involved (e.g. preventing window strikes).
I have learned so much from some of the field trip leaders – and they are so generous with their time and information. This past year the caliber of speakers at the speaker series has been great. I am not a joiner by nature, but I feel totally devoted to GGBA and its mission.
Wonderful, committed staff.
You offer a lot of programs to get people out into nature.
Diverse membership. Approachable and fun GGBA staff! Field trip leaders who are generous with their time, knowledge and expertise.
What do you think? What makes Golden Gate Bird Alliance special to you? Share your comments! And check our next blog post to find out what other folks in the Golden Gate Bird Alliance community are envisioning for our next century.
Have you had a chance to view our traveling Centennial exhibit yet? It is on display at the Tides Thoreau Center in the Presidio through September 28. Then, from October 4, 2017 through January 2, 2018, it will be at Lindsay Wildlife Experience in Walnut Creek. Click here for details.