Do you love wildlife? Do you love Bay Area nature? Share your passion with others as a volunteer docent with Golden Gate Bird Alliance. We’re seeking volunteers to be Burrowing Owl docents and Birding the Bay Trail docents, and will hold annual trainings for each of these roles in September.

Birding the Bay Trail Docents:

Docents help people spot birds along the Bay Trail

Share the birds along the Bay Trail with residents and visitors. You do NOT need to be an expert birder — just able to identify one or two common shorebirds or ducks.

Teams of two docents go out to pre-selected sites along the beautiful Bay Trail in Richmond and share spotting scope views of the various ducks and shorebirds that make the Bay Area their winter home each year.  Training and materials are provided.  Volunteers are asked to spend two hours once or twice a month from October through March.  This year’s training is on Thursday, September 28, from  6 to 8 p.m.  at the Golden Gate Bird Alliance office in Berkeley.  If you’re interested in attending the training, please RSVP to Noreen Weeden at 510-301-0570 or volunteer@goldengatebirdalliance.org.

Burrowing Owl Docents 

Burrowing Owl in November 2014 by Miya Lucas

Help us continue a tradition of public education and protection for our local Burrowing Owls, when they return to Cesar Chavez Park in Berkeley for the winter. Experience the joy as people see their first owl through a spotting scope or binoculars.

 This fall the Golden Gate Bird Alliance will be training additional docents to talk with the public about this locally endangered species and to help document information about these owls. Volunteers should be able to spend one to two hours per visit, at least two times a month, from October through March.

Training will take place on Saturday, September 23, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Shorebird Nature Center in Berkeley. Interested? RSVP to Noreen Weeden at 510-301-0570 orvolunteer@goldengateaudubon.org.