By Ilana DeBare

We recently had a fascinating encounter with a kite at Pier 94 – not a White-tailed Kite, but a camera kite.

Cris Benton is a former Berkeley architecture professor who has built a second career around kite aerial photography – using cameras attached to kites to document landscapes. On August 4, we were delighted to welcome Cris and his colleague, microbiologist Wayne Lanier, to our restoration site at Pier 94.

If you’re not familiar with it,  Pier 94 is a five-acre parcel of shoreline wetlands near Hunter’s Point, owned by the Port of San Francisco. Surrounded by industrial uses such as a gravel processing facility and a rendering plant, it’s an unlikely wildlife habitat. But over the past ten years, Golden Gate Bird Alliance volunteers have planted over 500 native plants, pulled 80 cubic yards of non-native weeds, and removed 1,500 gallon bags of trash.  Pier 94 today is home to Bank Swallows, American Avocets, Killdeer, gulls, cormorants, pelicans, sandpipers and even a nesting pair of Osprey.

Wayne Lanier and his field lab / Photo by Ilana DeBare

On August 4^th, Cris and Wayne joined us at our monthly volunteer work session. Wayne brought his field microscope – a mini-lab that fits in his orange day pack – and showed us how to test the tidal ponds for salinity and microorganisms.

Cris brought his set of eight kites – each designed for a different amount of wind – and his Canon SLR camera with a 10-22 mm zoom. Cris rigs the camera to a kite with a system recently rediscovered from 1912 — the “golden age” of kite photography, before the advent of planes, helicopters and satellites.

The camera sits in a metal cradle with insectlike legs that cushion it from occasional rough landings. It hangs from a stabilized cross that attaches to the kite line in two places, looking a bit like a spider suspended on a couple of threads. Cris controls the camera with a modified model-airplane remote: One hand holds the kite string and the other uses the remote to angle the camera and take pictures.

Cris Benton sends up his kite camera / Photo by Ilana DeBare

Kite photography is ideal for aerial views that are closer and more detailed than anything taken from a plane or helicopter.  “I own the space between 10 feet and 300 feet,” Cris says proudly. “A fixed-wing aircraft trying to photograph at 300 feet has to rush by.…

By Phila Rogers

Whether it’s the Bay sparkling in the morning sun, a mountain lake in a granite bowl, or the clear sky itself, the color blue is both refreshing and soothing.

To see an azure-blue Mountain Bluebird open its wings and spread its tail as it lifts lightly from the ground is a sight not easily forgotten.  Of course, there is no such thing as a blue bird – only certain birds whose feathers reflect the light in such a way that the bird appears to be blue.

Among the blue birds in our region, only several species – the Mountain Bluebird, the Blue Grosbeak, and the Indigo Bunting — are mostly blue.  Steller’s Jays, a resident bird in much of the west, are blue-black.

Mountain Bluebirds are most apt to show up in the winter in the grasslands in the eastern part of Alameda County, while the Blue Grosbeaks are neotropical migrants who breed along brushy areas and streamsides away from the coast.  The Indigo Bunting is rare in our parts, seen only infrequently in the summer months.  Where lacking a member of its species, Indigo Buntings sometimes interbreed with a more common Lazuli Bunting.

Indigo Bunting / Photo by Bob Lewis Lazuli Bunting / Photo by Bob Lewis

And then there are those blue birds who combine their blue with areas of chestnut and white.  Think of the Western Bluebird, and the Lazuli Bunting, whose exquisite turquoise back and head are reminiscent of the semi-precious gemstone.  And the shaggy-crested Belted Kingfisher whose blue verges on gray in some light, and the common, aggressive Scrub Jay, its blue tempered by gray, brown and white depending on the subspecies.

Scrub Jay / Photo by Bob Lewis Steller's Jay / Photo by Bob Lewis

Two swallows come to mind – the Barn Swallow with its blue-black back and head and the Tree Swallow with its blue-green back and head.

Of course, not all blue birds behave alike.  The jays are aggressive by nature and are raucously vocal, while the bluebirds are quiet except for almost inaudible call notes.  As they hover above a field watching for insects, they are delicacy itself.

Mountain Bluebird pair at nest hole / Photo by Bob Lewis Western Bluebird / Photo by Bob Lewis

Some species save their blue to be used in small areas as a kind of exclamation point.  Consider the bright blue touches on several of our water birds – the blue-green wing patch on the Blue-winged Teal, and the breeding Brandt’s Cormorant’s startling electric-blue throat patch. …

This is the first in an occasional series of reviews of Bay Area birding locations. Do you have a favorite site you’d like to share? Email idebare@goldengatebirdalliance.org. 

By David Anderson

My first impression of Upper Tennessee Hollow was an unfinished project. The plant growth seemed low, much of it very fresh, stakes still de-marking plant lines. Then, as I walked further along the El Polin Spring, the centerpiece and focal point, I heard the distinct mcWEEdeer call of an Olive-sided Flycatcher, followed by a Red-tailed Hawk’s shrill cry, a cacophony of finch calls, Violet-green Swallows overhead, and an Ash-throated Flycatcher(!) perched on the west slope. Oh boy, oh boy, this was a place for the birds.

Situated at the southern end of MacArthur Avenue in San Francisco’s Presidio, the El Polin Spring and the Upper Tennessee Hollow have recently been restored. However, it turns
out half the growth is quite mature, and the flanking Monterey pine and redwood groves are long settled. The year-round spring and the varied habitat make it a bird magnet. The archaeological excavations (from a Spanish/Mexican settlement there in the early 1800s) and ample graphics complement nicely as an added point of interest.

Boardwalk and benches at El Polin Spring / Photo by David Anderson

The Presidio Trust went to great lengths to capture the spring as a feature, creating slightly sunken spillways across the path – which the birds use continually for bathing – and creating a series of small ponds with weirs flowing into one another through wetlands. A Great Blue Heron has adopted the uppermost pond, though a Snowy Egret shared it recently. California Towhees, Black Phoebes, American Robins, White-crowned and Song Sparrows, Bushtits, and hummingbirds (Anna’s and Allen’s) all were in abundance.

Cedar Waxwings at El Polin Spring / Photo by Dominik Mosur

On the early June day I visited, fledgling House Finches were lined up in the sun, two Lesser Goldfinch youngsters came to the spring, and a Hairy Woodpecker brought three small, fluffy young to a small oak right by the trail. I had to say “awww!”

Reconstructed watercourse at El Polin Spring / Photo by David Anderson

The upper bowl is partial grasslands, and the Lesser Goldfinches, American Goldfinches, House Finches, and several weeks ago a pair (or trio?) of Lazuli Buntings enjoyed the grasses and seeds.

Pine Siskin at El Polin Spring / Photo by Dominik Mosur

The woods and fringe attract Pygmy Nuthatches, flycatchers and woodpeckers, Western Bluebirds, American Crows, Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Hutton’s Vireos and more.…

By Ilana DeBare

In a dozen years of leading nature trips in Honduras, not once has Robert Gallardo run into another birding group in the field.

“There are just so many areas to go running around here,” he said. “Honduras could hold many groups at one time and they’d never cross paths.”

Gallardo should know. A co-founder of the Honduras Ornithological Society, he has personally added 30 species to the list of Honduran birds and is writing the definitive Field Guide to the Birds of Honduras, to be published in 2014.

Next Thursday August 16, he’ll be sharing his stories and photos of Honduran birds with Bay Area residents at Golden Gate Bird Alliance’s monthly Speaker Series in Berkeley.

The best-kept secret about Honduras, Gallardo says, is that despite years of news about political turmoil in Central America, it is actually quite safe to bird there. Plus the country has an extensive but under-utilized reserve system that doesn’t yet draw the crowds found in places like Costa Rica.

One such reserve includes the Rio Platano — an area of virgin rain forest that is accessible only by raft and is home to tapirs, Great Green Macaws, Scarlet Macaws, monkeys and jaguars.

Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve / Photo by Robert Gallardo

Gallardo first came to Honduras in 1993 as a Peace Corp volunteer. He fell in love with the landscapes, flora and fauna and the opportunity to make a real difference in local avian knowledge and birding. Since then, he’s started butterfly farms and a small eco-lodge, and led numerous birding trips including two sponsored by GGBA in 2011.

Ocellated Qual / Photo by Robert Gallardo

His own favorite bird? The wren family. There are 18 species of wren in Honduras, and sometimes you can find five species living in the same area.

Of the thirty bird species Gallardo has added to the country’s list, three have been wrens.

In-between writing the field guide, conducting eco-tours and speaking to groups like Golden Gate Bird Alliance, he is working on finding a fourth.

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Join us for Robert Gallardo’s slides and presentation on Thursday August 16th.

Birds of Honduras presentation:

 

Date:   Thursday August 16

Time:   7 p.m. refreshments

              7:30 presentation

Place:  Northbrae Community Center

              941 The Alameda (between Marin & Solano) – Berkeley

Cost:   Free for GGBA members, $5 for non-members 

 

 

 …

By Bob Lewis

Grebes have some of the most spectacular courtship displays of any bird, and to top it off, they are doting parents, carrying their young aboard their backs as they explore their marshy habitats.  There are seven species of grebes in North America, and we are lucky to have four breeding near us in northern California, providing great birding and photographic experiences.

My first grebe event this year was with a Pied-billed Grebe family in Sierra Valley.  A pair had built their floating nest in a small ephemeral pond near the road, and had successfully hatched a group of young.  Normally these birds lay about six eggs, and there appeared to be six striped young competing for space aboard mom.

The youngsters are, at first, feathery puffballs unable to dive, due to the air entrained in their down, so the parents fish up crayfish and insect nymphs to feed them.

Adult Pied-billed Grebe with six chicks in Sierra Valley / Photo by Bob Lewis

They carefully hand a morsel to the chick, which then usually drops it into the water and stares at the parent.  The parent patiently dives down and fetches it back up, and the process repeats until the chick finally figures out how to swallow the delicacy.  At the first hint of danger, the young hop aboard one of the parents, who cover them with their wings.  Both parents build the nest, incubate the eggs, and raise the young.

Species two was a surprise for me, a pair of Eared Grebes at Hayward Shoreline, in brackish water in a marshy area with channels running through it.  Eared Grebes generally have three eggs. This pair had two fuzzy chicks, which they were feeding as fast as they could — diving, bringing up small pond creatures, and stuffing them in the chick about every 5–10 seconds.

Two Eared Grebe chicks with adult, one hitchhiking / Photo by Bob Lewis

The Alameda County Breeding Bird Atlas notes that the third nesting record of this species in the county occurred in 1999. Since that time, nesting increased dramatically at Hayward Marsh, and in July 2005 there were over 200 Eared Grebes present. The size of the colony has fluctuated in recent years.  Although these birds are colonial nesters, I only saw one pair.

I was too late to see the courtship displays of the Eared Grebe, which include a variety of behaviors named by ornithologists as the Cat Posture, Bouncy Dive, Ghostly Penguin, Penguin Dance and Habit-Preening. …