By Burr Heneman and Janet Visick

We did our first high country trip in a long time in early August, and we took three of the best possible companions along with us: Ted Beedy, Ed Pandolfino, and Keith Hansen. They accompanied us in the form of their entertaining, informative, and beautifully illustrated and produced new Birds of the Sierra Nevada – Their Natural History, Status, and Distribution.* Thus armed, we set off in search of the elusive Gray-crowned Rosy-finch.

Let’s get out of the way what this book is not. If you have a copy of Discovering Sierra Birds** and know that Birds of the Sierra Nevada started out as a revision of the earlier book, you should forget there is any connection. This is an entirely new work with new and expanded information covering more species and a greater geographical area. The Introduction explains its “stronger focus on status, distribution, and conservation of Sierra birds.”

Birds of the Sierra Nevada

And it is graced by Keith Hansen’s illustrations of each of the 276 species that occur most regularly in the Sierra Nevada. (In his preface to the book, Rich Stallcup said of Keith’s artwork, “the precision of every detail is simply amazing. How does he do that?”)

Birds of the Sierra Nevada is not a field guide. If you’re not interested in the mass of behavioral, status, and habitat information in Birds of the Sierra Nevada, just stick with your Sibley guide or whatever you use. If you’re like us, you won’t lug this book into the field. It’s for enjoying in the car on your way to and from the high country, and in the evening as you recover from a day’s exploration at higher elevations than you may be used to.

Three features — the species accounts (310 of the book’s 430 pages), the strong chapter on ecological zones of the Sierra, and the unique chapter on population trends of many species over the past 40 years — make it an excellent resource on the Sierra Nevada avifauna.

The chapter on Ecological Zones and Bird Habitats is more informative than most such chapters in natural history guides. Example: it has long been known that blue oaks are not regenerating well in the oak savannas of the Sierra foothills, and grazing has received the blame. But did you know that recent research shows competition with non-native weed species may be as important, and that simply removing cattle can make that problem even worse?…

Sharp Park Golf Course is located in Pacifica but owned and operated by the City of San Francisco. For several years, Golden Gate Bird Alliance has been advocating for conversion of the golf course to a more natural park that supports wildlife. This is an update on the issue by our allies at the Wild Equity Institute. 

By Amy Zehring and Rachel Carter

Closing Sharp Park Golf Course and transforming Sharp Park into part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area is a win-win-win situation. We can save taxpayers money, improve recreation in San Francisco — including access to affordable golf — and protect habitat for the two endangered species that the golf course threatens.

Golden Gate Bird Alliance has partnered with Wild Equity since the Restore Sharp Park campaign began in 2009. Together, we’ve had many successes, but the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department (RPD) is still blocking long-term habitat restoration and expanded recreation opportunities at Sharp Park.

What is Sharp Park Golf Course? 

Located along the Pacific Ocean, Sharp Park contains a wetland and coastal lagoon system that provides habitat for two imperiled species: the threatened California red-legged frog and the endangered San Francisco garter snake, our nation’s most beautiful and imperiled serpent.

Tropical Kingbird at Sharp Park / Photo by Joe Morlan

Sharp Park is also home to an incredible diversity of birds. The San Francisco (or Salt Marsh) Common Yellowthroat , a California Species of Special Concern, breeds at Sharp Park.  The rare wetland and coastal lagoon ecosystem attracts rarities and vagrants every year, like this Tropical Kingbird that Joe Morlan photographed near the boundary of Sharp Park’s wetlands.

Unfortunately, in the 1930s — long before environmental review and planning codes existed — San Francisco decided to build a golf course at Sharp Park.  The city spent 14 months trying to dredge and fill Sharp Park’s wetlands and lagoon to create enough dry land for the golf course, and surrounded the remaining natural areas with golf fairways and greens. San Francisco also destroyed the natural dune system that protected Sharp Park from ocean storms so that golfers could observe the sea while they played.

This decision was one of San Francisco’s great ecological and financial mistakes — a mistake that today’s environmental laws would have prevented. Today, Sharp Park Golf Course is San Francisco’s worst performing golf course, both environmentally and economically.

Environmental Failures 

California red-legged frog

San Francisco garter snakes, which hunt in the cool waters of Sharp Park’s remaining wetlands, must bask in the sun to stay warm.  …

By Patricia Bacchetti and Mark Rauzon

Fifteen years ago, Sausal Creek wouldn’t have been even an afterthought on most Bay Area where-to-bird maps. Running from Joaquin Miller Park in the East Bay hills down to the Oakland estuary, the creek was long confined to concrete channels, with its tree canopies cloaked in ivy.

But in 1996 volunteers from the newly-formed Friends of Sausal Creek (FOSC) together with the City of Oakland began to liberate the creek along its run through Dimond Canyon. Since then, thousands of cubic yards of invasive plants have been removed and local-to-the-watershed natives have been added to the creek’s banks and its tributaries in the hills. As the riparian vegetation began to mature, animal life emerged, and the creek now hosts an increasing list of breeding and migrant birds, currently at 120 species.

If you follow Sausal Creek as it meanders from the hills down to the estuary, you encounter the full range of urban birding in the East Bay.

Headwaters

The creek’s headwaters are in the redwoods along Skyline Boulevard, near Redwood Regional Park. A trip to Fern Ravine (near the Sequoia Horse Arena) offers the opportunity to find nuthatches, Brown Creeper, singing Pacific Wren, and Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers the year-round, and House Wren in spring. There have been sightings of Pileated Woodpecker across Skyline Boulevard near the Chabot Space and Science Center, one of the few places in Alameda County where they can be found.

Sausal Creek near Mountain Blvd / Photo by Alberto Fox

The Fern Ravine wetland is one of the newer areas restored by FOSC, so look for more species to appear as the habitat matures. It is the only spot in the watershed that still hosts California Quail, and a migrating MacGillivray’s Warbler was counted here on the last bird-monitoring survey.

As you work your way down the hill, a short hike up the steep Palos Colorados Trail along Palo Seco Creek in the spring holds the possibilities of Pacific Wren, Hutton’s Vireo, Black-headed Grosbeak, Olive-sided and Pacific-slope Flycatchers, towhees, and migrating warblers. (The trailhead is at the end of Joaquin Miller Court, off Mountain Boulevard.)

Dimond Canyon

The most developed part of the restored creek bank is in Dimond Canyon along Park Boulevard. This stretch of the creek is becoming a reliable area to find breeding riparian species and is a migrant trap in spring and fall. Here the hills meet the flats, and conifers merge with riparian vegetation that surrounds the park.…

Want to learn bird calls but not sure how to start? Here are some tips from Denise Wight, who teaches Golden Gate Bird Alliance’s popular Birding By Ear classes. 

By Denise Wight

1. Learn to listen. While birding, be still and remain silent for a minute or two. Begin attentive listening to the bird sounds around you. Try to stay focused on individual sounds. Repeat often.

2. If you can, watch a bird as it sings or calls. Observe a vocalizing bird for as long as possible. Be aware of the habitat, season, time of day, smells, etc. Let the entire experience burn new path- ways of memory in your brain.

3. Start with the common birds. Get to know the vocalizations of House Finch, chickadee, Mourning Dove, and additional birds you encounter regularly.

4. Record the sound. Even the faintest sound recorded on a cell phone will help you recall the bird’s vocalization. Add comments at the end of the recording if possible.

Photo by Denise Wight

5. Use various techniques to recall bird sounds. Try mnemonics, silly phrases, or line drawings, or record yourself making the call! If “Chicago” prompts you to think “California Quail,” use it. Most of all, use what works for you!

6. Go out with someone who knows bird sounds. Join a GGBA field trip or take classes. You’ll learn much faster. Ask questions, take notes, even ask the leaders what tricks they use to recall the sounds you hear. This may also be an opportunity to find out just what bird species you may be missing due to hearing loss.

Spotted Towhee / Photo by Denise Wight

7. Consult apps and recordings. This can be helpful, but try to listen to the real bird in the field for as long as possible before you listen to recordings. They often sound similar, but sometimes they don’t, for various reasons.

8. Use additional information. Check books and online resources. Many links are on my website, denisewightbirds.com

9. Take a look at sonograms (also called spectrograms). They are bit advanced, but are a great way to visualize bird sounds. Check out xeno-canto.org or macaulaylibrary.org.

10. Just get out and listen! Go out as often as you can, in different locations, weather, time of day, time of year. Listen with a joyful heart and without fear.…

By Ilana DeBare

The San Francisco Airport Marriott has had some unusual guests for the past two springs — families of Barn Owls.

In spring 2012, a Marriott guest discovered a pair of Barn Owls nesting in the recessed ledge outside an 11th-floor hotel room. The pair successfully raised four fledglings.

In spring 2013, a pair returned to that same ledge and raised another three babies. Then the hotel discovered a second pair with another three nestlings on the floor below!

The Marriott was more than tolerant of the owls – it made them part of the hotel family. Cleaning crews monitored the owlets’ progress when they cleaned the rooms; other staff posted photos of the owls around the hotel and on Facebook; some guests made a point of requesting rooms with an owl view. (Because the hotel windows don’t open, there was no risk of disturbing the nests.)

Second Barn Owl family at SF Airport Marriott / Photo by Karla Vogtman

Now Golden Gate Bird Alliance is pitching in too. We worked with local Eagle Scout Matthew Turney on building  a Barn Owl box to encourage future nesting at the hotel. This week, Marriott Director of Finance James Last stopped by our office to pick up the finished box.

Delivering bird boxes isn’t normally part of a finance director’s job description. But he was totally into it.

Marriott Finance Director James Last picks up the owl box / Photo by Ilana DeBare Barn Owl photographed by Marriott guest Harry Ghuman

“It’s been fun watching the owls grow up,” he said. “We’re all wondering if the families will keep multiplying more and more.”

We’re hoping they do! And we look forward to seeing more owlets next spring… either on the ledges or in the new nest box.

Big thanks to Matthew and his family for building the owl box. And big thanks to the Marriott staff for being so welcoming to these amazing creatures.

You can read more about the SF Marriott Barn Owls in the San Jose Mercury News, the Marriott’s Facebook page, or in this blog post by the National Wildlife Federation. The NWF shot a video of one group of nestlings over the summer:

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