The site of America’s first dynamite factory personally licensed by inventor Alfred Nobel and once threatened with alternative uses, including a reservoir, housing development, and viaduct freeway, Glen Canyon Park is a 70-acre urban oasis located in the heart of San Francisco. Learn more about Glen Canyon’s unique history as well as its resident avians on this special walk, co-led by Evelyn Rose, Director and Founder of the Glen Park Neighborhoods History Project (GPNHP) and Megan Jankowski of the Golden Gate Bird Alliance (GGBA). Funds raised during this walk will be shared by the GGBA and GPNHP, the latter in support of the Glen Park Gum Tree Girls Festival being held in Glen Canyon Park on Sunday, July 10, 2022.

Registration will close at 11pm on April 20, 2022.

Registrants: If you have any questions email rnakano@goldengatebirdalliance.org or call Ryan at (510) 227-6190. …

This team is now full. You may register to be on a waiting list in case of cancellations.

Who’s got the best birds—San Francisco or the East Bay? Join Rachel Lawrence, top birder in San Francisco in 2020,  on the San Francisco peninsula in a quest to see over 100 species of birds in a single day, beginning at dawn and going until dusk. Your team will be competing against an East Bay team for the title of “Best Bay Birders.”  Come along for the competition, to impress your friends, or just have outdoor fun. Beginners welcome. May the best birds win!

This trip will require carpooling. Participants will need to have a complete course of vaccination and booster shots and should bring a mask. 

Registration will close at 11pm on March, 29 2022.

Registrants: If you have any questions email rnakano@goldengatebirdalliance.org or call Ryan at (510) 227-6190. …

This team is now full. You may register to be on a waiting list in case of cancellations.

Who’s got the best birds—San Francisco or the East Bay? Join Alex Henry, top Alameda County birder in 2020, on an East Bay quest to see over 100 species of birds in a single day, beginning at dawn and going until dusk. Your team will be competing against a San Francisco team for the title of  “Best Bay Birders.” Come along for the competition, to impress your friends, or just have outdoor fun. Beginners welcome. May the best birds win!

This trip will require carpooling. Participants will need to have a complete course of vaccination and booster shots and should bring a mask.

Registration will close at 11pm on March, 29 2022.

Registrants: If you have any questions email rnakano@goldengatebirdalliance.org or call Ryan at (510) 227-6190. …

Nestled in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Sam McDonald Park features mixed redwood forest and elevated meadows of great scenic beauty. The park is named after one of the towering African-American figures of Bay Area history, Sam McDonald, son of newly emancipated people who became a head groundsman at Stanford University in the early twentieth century, and had the foresight to acquire land in the coastal range. He bequeathed it to the children and nature-lovers of San Mateo County, and thus we can enjoy this undeveloped, isolated gem of a park. 

Hermit Warbler by Bob Lewis

This time of year is ideal for bird song, butterflies, wild flowers, and more. This half-day trip takes place during the annual City Nature Challenge sponsored by iNaturalist and the California Academy of Sciences, so we will seek out all the diversity that this park offers. Special birds we’ll look for include Pileated Woodpecker, Golden-crowned Kinglet, singing Hermit Thrush, Hermit Warbler, and Lazuli Bunting. This trip is an intermediate birder expedition, because much of our birding here will be by ear. But birders and naturalists of all levels can enjoy the haunting beauty of the redwoods and the glorious sun-bathed plateaus that follow. When we are done, it is a relatively easy drive to Pescadero, for those who seek an excellent lunch or more birding opportunities along the coast.

Jennifer Rycenga is Board President of Sequoia Audubon Society, the San Mateo County chapter of National Audubon. She edits the San Mateo County online birding guide (http://birding.sequoia-audubon.org/ ) and loves having birders expand their knowledge to other taxa through iNaturalist and BioBlitzes.

Registration will close at 11pm on April, 20 2022.

Registrants: If you have any questions email rnakano@goldengatebirdalliance.org or call Ryan at (510) 227-6190. …

This trip is now full. You may register to be on a waiting list in case of cancellations.

You’ve been to Hayward Shoreline, but have you been to the locked area with the Least Tern nesting sites? Join us to go beyond those gates for a two-mile walk on level ground. In past years we’ve seen some great birds: Laughing Gull, Red Phalarope (plus Red-necked and Wilson’s), grebes with chicks, Yellow-headed Blackbirds and Least Terns and Skimmers, as well as nesting terns.

Red-necked Phalarope by Bob Gunderson

Registration will close at 11pm on April 27, 2022.

Registrants: If you have any questions email rnakano@goldengatebirdalliance.org or call Ryan at (510) 227-6190. …