The Farallon Islands are the most important seabird colony in the US Pacific Coast south of Alaska. Hundreds of thousands of seabirds breed there, and others forage nearby. We are lucky in the Bay Area, that Southeast Farallon Island is accessible on a one day boat trip, as it is approximately 27 miles from shore.

Common Murre by Alvaro Jaramillo

It is never truly comfortable to go anywhere on a boat, and sometimes it is more of an adventure than other times. But the prize of seeing hundreds of thousands of breeding Common Murres, Tufted Puffins, hundreds of Pigeon Guillemots, the largest Western Gull colony on earth as well as shearwaters, whales and hundreds of noisy sea lions and Northern Fur Seals makes it all worthwhile.

Join us on an outing to the Farallons, starting from Half Moon Bay, and returning through the deep offshore waters outside of the continental shelf. One of the world’s natural history gems is right outside our doorstep. If you (or your stomach) don’t like boats, this is a way to see what all the fuss is about!

Alvaro Jaramillo is a lifelong birder, biologist and book author. He runs Alvaro’s Adventures, a birding tour company based in Half Moon Bay, CA.

This event will take place online via Zoom and last approximately 60-75 minutes. Registrants will be sent a link and password to access the Zoom. The session will be recorded, and registrants will have access to the recording on the web for two weeks after the event, regardless of whether they attend the live presentation.

Registration will close at noon on March 29.

Registrants: If you didn’t receive or misplace the Zoom link, email birdathon@goldengatebirdalliance.org or call Ilana at (510) 301-5573. …

This virtual voyage will take you beyond the locked gates of Skaggs Island to learn about its many raptors — eagles, hawks, owls, kites, falcons, and more. A former naval base, now a part of the San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge in the North Bay, Skaggs island is a favored habitat for many birds, especially raptors.

Photo by George Eade

George and Anne will share photography and natural history stories about the unique biodiversity, the wintering birds and the history of this unique area.

Anne Ardillo teaches raptor classes for Golden Gate Bird Alliance. George Eade has surveyed raptors at Skaggs Island for over 7 years and reports to the USFWS and the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory.

This event will take place online via Zoom and last approximately 60-75 minutes. Registrants will be sent a link and password to access the Zoom. The session will be recorded, and registrants will have access to the recording on the web for two weeks after the event, regardless of whether they attend the live presentation.

Registration will close at noon on April 1st.

Registrants: If you didn’t receive or misplace the Zoom link, email birdathon@goldengatebirdalliance.org or call Ilana at (510) 301-5573. …

This virtual 65-mile round trip will explore all of Mines Road plus connecting portions of San Antonio Valley and Del Puerto Canyon Roads. They all run through the East Bay’s Diablo Range in an area virtually devoid of humans, but not of birds. Our virtual tour will take place in early spring, when summer residents are returning and nesting activity is heating up. Highlights will include:

Phainopepla by Bob Lewis

Study of area specialties, like Phainopepla, Lewis’s Woodpecker, Lawrence’s Goldfinch, and Greater Roadrunner (a bird that’s elusive in person, but easily seen virtually).

 A drive around Lake Del Valle searching for Bald Eagle, breeding Western Grebes, and several species of nesting swallows.

Views and sounds of the expected chaparral and scrub species, like California Thrasher, Western Kingbird, and Rufous-crowned Sparrow.

We’ll include discussion of the various eBird hotspots along our route, plus tips for visiting the area in person. It will be a 3-county hat trick!

Steve Lombardi, Field Trip Coordinator for Golden Gate Bird Alliance, has led springtime Birdathon field trips to Mines Road for years.

This event will take place online via Zoom and last approximately 60-75 minutes. Registrants will be sent a link and password to access the Zoom. The session will be recorded, and registrants will have access to the recording on the web for two weeks after the event, regardless of whether they attend the live presentation.

Registration will close at 3 p.m. on April 5.

Registrants: If you didn’t receive or misplace the Zoom link, email birdathon@goldengatebirdalliance.org or call Ilana at (510) 301-5573. …

Spring is here—the perfect time to brush up on your ID chops! Need to recalibrate on the difference between female House and Purple Finch? Is the jury still out on whether that’s a pewee or a dreaded empidonax?  Oliver and Adrian will break down a series of notoriously subtle identification challenges, using side-by-side visual comparisons of look alike species that frequent the Bay Area in Spring. Bring pencil and paper—and come ready to test your perception with fun pop Zoom quizzes.

House Finch by Pam Young

Adrian Hinkle recently moved to California to study water issues as a UC Berkeley grad student. He enjoys leading field trips, exploring under-birded places with friends, and volunteering as an eBird reviewer and regional editor for North American Birds.

Oliver James got his start birding on Golden Gate Bird Alliance field trips as a kid in Berkeley, CA. Today, he’s a grad student at UC Berkeley and serves on the Board at GGBA. He’s also the author and illustrator of Birds of Berkeley (Heyday Press).

This event will take place online via Zoom and last approximately 60-75 minutes. Registrants will be sent a link and password to access the Zoom. The session will be recorded, and registrants will have access to the recording on the web for two weeks after the event, regardless of whether they attend the live presentation.

Registration will close at noon on April 7.

Registrants: If you didn’t receive or misplace the Zoom link, email birdathon@goldengatebirdalliance.org or call Ilana at (510) 301-5573. …

Stopping at the Hayward visitors center to pick up a key and enjoy the Barn and Cliff Swallows collecting mud, we’ll make our way to the gate to the Hayward freshwater marsh just beyond. We’ve been coming here for about 10 years now, and we always see something special.  We hope we see Least Terns and Black Skimmers on the sandy islands, and one or two (one year THREE) species of Phalaropes on their way to their breeding grounds!  Some rarities may fly by—Black Scoter or Laughing Gull perhaps?  Join us on a very pleasant spring walk via Zoom to a special place, full of birds!

Cliff Swallow feeding young, by Bob Lewis

Bob Lewis is a long-time Bay Area birder, photographer, and birding instructor, and a new-time Zoomologist, giving bird-related talks to senior homes, Audubon groups, libraries and Photo clubs.

This event will take place online via Zoom and last approximately 60-75 minutes. Registrants will be sent a link and password to access the Zoom. The session will be recorded, and registrants will have access to the recording on the web for two weeks after the event, regardless of whether they attend the live presentation.

Registration will close at 5 p.m. on April 10th.

Registrants: If you didn’t receive or misplace the Zoom link, email birdathon@goldengatebirdalliance.org or call Ilana at (510) 301-5573. …