• Good news on Snowy Plover habitat

    By Mike Lynes
    This week the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service designated 24,527 acres along the Pacific Coast as critical habitat for endangered Western Snowy Plovers — an important step towards ensuring the species’ recovery and ultimate survival.
    The FWS action ends several years of legal conflict over how much land would be designated as critical habitat for the plovers, and doubles the acreage initially proposed in 2005.
    While the FWS didn’t include any habitat along the San Francisco coastline, its action will benefit the Snowy Plovers that over-winter at Ocean Beach and Crissy Field by protecting their breeding grounds along the Pacific Coast.
    The Snowy Plover — a six-inch shorebird weighing up to two ounces — was first listed under the federal Endangered Species Act in 1993. Its major nesting sites had dropped from more than 50 to fewer than 30. Today, approximately 2,500 plovers remain breeding along the Pacific Coast.
    This week’s action by the FWS is aimed at protecting sufficient habitat to improve the plovers’ reproductive success and ultimately remove them from the threatened and endangered species list.  The new rule designates 47 sites in California, nine in Oregon and four in Washington. It doesn’t affect land ownership or create any refuges, but alerts federal agencies to take the plovers into consideration when planning or funding activities involving its designated habitat areas.
    The benefits of this ruling go beyond Western Snowy Plovers. Habitat set aside for plovers also benefits other shorebirds such as Godwits, Long-billed Curlews, and Western and Least Sandpipers.
    The new critical habitat designation is actually a revision of prior efforts.  The Western Snowy Plover was first granted 19,474 acres of critical habitat in 1999. In 2005 the Bush administration illegally reduced the critical habitat to 12,145 acres, eliminating protection for thousands of acres scientists believed necessary for the snowy plover’s survival and abandoning key habitat areas crucial for recovery.
    In 2008 the Center for Biological Diversity sued over the unlawful reduction of the plover’s habitat protections, leading to a settlement agreement with the Service and this week’s revised designation. Those of us who love Snowy Plovers and want to see their population survive owe a debt of thanks to the Center for pressing this issue.
    There will certainly be critics of this habitat designation:  It has the capacity to affect other recreational users along some stretches of the Pacific coastline.  But we hope that these areas can, where appropriate, be managed for multiple uses in a way that accommodates reasonable use of the beaches while protecting the Snowy Plover.…

  • Return of the Terns

    By Ilana DeBare

    The cement stretched for acres around us, cracked and neglected, weeds springing up every few feet through the cracks. It reminded me of a scene from some post-apocalyptic science fiction movie, or from Alan Weisman’s fascinating book The World Without Us, in which he extrapolates what would happen to the planet if humans were to suddenly vanish.

    NOT your stereotypical wildlife refuge / Photo by Ilana DeBare

    But it wasn’t anything quite so dramatic. We were crossing an abandoned runway at the former Alameda Naval Air Station.

    And we were riding in, of all things, an old-fashioned yellow school bus – on the annual Return of the Terns tour.

    Each June, the East Bay Regional Park District joins with other groups including Golden Gate Bird Alliance to host bus tours of the breeding colony of endangered California Least Terns at the old Alameda naval air station.

    The area is normally closed to the public to prevent disruption of the tern nests. But on Saturday, we were able to drive within yards of the tern colony, provided we didn’t get off the bus or make loud noises.

    This may be one of the most unusual birding sites in the world. Forget images of birding in leafy groves or reedy marshes.  Least Terns traditionally nest on flat strips of sand or gravel — wide-open surfaces that seem frighteningly vulnerable but give them a good view of potential predators.

    Decades ago, the terns apparently decided that the airstrip’s tarmac would be a good substitute for their vanishing beaches. They started returning and nesting here each spring despite the constant takeoffs and landings.

    These were California Least Terns — the West Coast subspecies of the smallest kind of tern, which were placed on federal and state endangered species lists in 1970. So the fact that they were trying to breed here was a big deal.   Over the past 30 years, volunteers with Friends of the Alameda Wildlife Refuge — a committee of Golden Gate Bird Alliance — have worked with East Bay Regional Parks, the Navy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to nurture and protect the colony. (GGBA is still pushing to get the nesting area declared an official wildlife refuge.)

    Tern on nest (behind wire fence) near marker for monitoring nests. The terns return to the Bay Area each April to breed, then fly south in July or August.…

  • Bushtits in the acacias

    By Dan Murphy

    A few years ago I noticed an unfamiliar species of acacia at North Lake in Golden Gate Park.  Acacia is one of those woody plants between a shrub and a tree.  It has little needle-like leaves and yellow flowers.  What actually caught my eye about it was that fall-migrating insectivores were using it.

    That’s pretty odd for acacias, which are usually shunned by most local birds. About a year later, I observed that it was growing and spreading rapidly.  I asked the gardener about it and she referred me to her foreman.  He said it was part of the Recreation and Park Department’s plant palate for Golden Gate Park.  I thought that was pretty odd, but not a battle I wanted to start.

    More recently, my wife Joan and I were birding at North Lake at the end of May when we spotted a lot of activity at the top of one of those acacias. I checked and spotted a Bushtit at its nest.  Suddenly there was a second Bushtit and then more! The baby birds were exploding from the dirty-sock-like nest.

    Bushtit nest in an acacia / Photo by Dan Murphy

    The adults returned several times to move more chicks into the world.  There was a buzz of activity around the nest until the last of the chicks made it out and the flock moved off.  In all, we counted nine birds, but surely there were more.  One weak flier landed in bushes where we didn’t see it emerge.  I wonder now if it made it.

    So here’s a problem.  We have a relatively newly-introduced tree to which birds have almost immediately adapted.  It grows with little water and is evergreen.  Who could ask for more?

    I guess I could.

    The problem is that this tree is spreading faster than anything I’ve ever seen.  It crowds out other ornamentals.  It’s dense, so it shades out plants that might form an understory.  Remember, there is little native in Golden Gate Park, so I don’t really have a frame of reference for how this plant would act in a native habitat, but among the mostly exotic plants at the Chain-of-Lakes it is an example of a virulent and invasive plant that is just overwhelming everything.

    North end of North Lake in Golden Gate Park, crowded with acacias / Photo by Dan Murphy

    It’s one of those species that — even though it appears to benefit some birds — really should be removed before it expands to the rest of Golden Gate Park and beyond.…

  • A bird sit

    By Phila Rogers

    And just what is a bird sit?  I think of it as sitting quietly and listening intently to bird sounds.  Are you hearing a song declaring territory?  Or is it a call, or series of calls, which might be considered conversational?  Or is it an aggressive vocal display to defend territory?  Perhaps the call is an alarm announcing the approach of a predator. Light calls in the spring might be juvenile birds begging.

    Other sounds may include rustling foliage. Can you distinguish the sound of wind in pines or in other trees?  And what about scratching sounds in dry leaves made by ground-feeding birds?  And then there are the ambient sounds – the collective roar from the cities below, traffic on a nearby roadway, a passing jet.

    While listening for sounds, sitting quietly allows you to watch for the slightest movement revealing the presence of bird activity missed when walking along a pathway.

    A bird sit allows you to soak up by osmosis the larger scene.  What does the air feel like — is it moist or dry?  Does it appear to be marine air coming from the ocean, or dry air coming from inland areas?  What are the fragrances?  Can you sense the mass of the nearby trees, the bulk of the surrounding hills?

    If you are sitting near a stream, can you tell by listening if the stream is flowing over pebbles or around boulders?  Follow the stream with your mind’s eye from where it begins as springs high on the hill, following it through dark culverts, and where it finally joins the Bay.  Are there more birds calling and singing along the stream than elsewhere?

    One of Phila Rogers' favorite places to do a "bird sit" is the U.C. Berkeley Botanical Garden. Photo of California native plants (including "Myrt's blush" Western azalea) courtesy of the U.C. Botanical Garden.

    Stepping back into the past, can you imagine an earlier time before the roads and the introduced vegetation?  Go back a hundred years to grazing cattle and grassy hills when the song of the meadowlark prevailed.

    Or go back 200 years earlier before the arrival of the Europeans, when grizzlies moved up the stream canyons.  Imagine the smell of burning grass and scrub from the fires set by the native peoples to clear the land and to promote the growth of tubers and wildflower seed.

    Looking out over the Bay, imagine that 10,000 years ago the Bay was once a valley crossed by the great inland river, a time when the coastline was out beyond the Farallon Islands.…

  • Magical Madagascar

    By Bob Lewis

    (Note: Bob will present slides and describe the wildlife of Madagascar on June 21 at our monthly Speaker Series in Berkeley.)

    I went to Madagascar in October 2011 with Oryx, a South African photo tour company.  I wanted to photograph some of the endemic families of birds on this fourth-largest island, and experience Madagascar’s other natural wonders.  Madagascar has been separated from other land masses for about 80 million years, and evolution has progressed on the island in a unique way – it has all the world’s lemurs, half the world’s chameleons, and is home to six families of birds found nowhere else.

    Lemur ancestors came to Madagascar about 50 million years ago, and flourished since they have little competition or predation on the island.  There are about 70 species, and they exist only on Madagascar.  This Ring-tailed Lemur travels in small groups, and young are carried for several months.  Most lemurs are arboreal.  These were common near our lodge in the spiny forest of the south.

    Ring-tailed Lemurs / Photo by Bob Lewis

    Chameleons are hard to spot, blending into the green and brown of the forest.  This Parson’s Chameleon is about a foot long, moves slowly, and like the lemurs, lives in the trees.  The exotic pet trade threatens these creatures.

    Parson's Chameleon / Photo by Bob Lewis

    Vangas are one of the families of birds found only on Madagascar.  Their ancestors probably came from Africa, and over time evolved into over a dozen different species, each adapted to a different habitat.  This Sickle-billed Vanga nests high in large trees, and probes cracks and holes in the trunks for spiders and lizards.  Forests on Madagascar are threatened due to the use of charcoal as fuel, and most of the forested area is found around the edge of the island.  The higher, cooler central plateau has been converted to rice paddies and brick quarries, feeding and housing 22 million people.

    Sickle-billed Vangas / Photo by Bob Lewis

    Even with so much habitat lost, Madagascar still holds one of the most diverse, unique and fascinating collection of creatures in the world.

    For more images and stories of cool critters from this distinct ecosystem, come join us on Thursday June 21st in Berkeley, right after Golden Gate Bird Alliance’s Annual Meeting.

    Magical Madagascar presentation:
    Date:   Thursday June 21
    Time:   6:30 for Annual Meeting & refreshments
                7:30 for Bob’s presentation on Magical Madagascar
    Place:  Northbrae Community Church, 941 the Alameda in North Berkeley
                 (between Solano & Marin)
    Cost:   Free for GGBA members, $5 for non-members
     
    …