• The Sights, Sounds, Tastes, and Birds of Oaxaca

    Editor’s Note: Want to experience the birds of Oaxaca in person? You can! We have spaces available on our December 2019 trip. For more go to goldengatebirdalliance.org/travel

    By Julie Stokstad
    Photos by Julie and Bob Stokstad

    Home again, and the wonderful trip to Oaxaca is like a dream. On the trip we saw 230 different species of birds and learned about the rich culture of Oaxaca, ate great food and enjoyed the gracious hospitality of our Mexican hosts.  It’s been one of our best trips ever. As I think about why I loved it so much, Mark Pretti is a big part of it. His enthusiasm and skill in finding the birds and stories made the trip for me. Mark shared with us such interesting information about the birds, plants, insects and reptiles we saw. He was curious and he cared about nature and that made me care about everything we saw.

    Day 1 – Birding, Weaving and Food
    The day began at breakfast at 6:15 am.  The stars were still out and it was chilly on the roof terrace, but hot coffee and a lovely breakfast nourished us. It was a 45 minute drive to our first stop – a grassy hillside in the foothills above the Oaxacan valley.  Along the way Mark talked to us about the biogeography of the region and the various habitats we’d visit. We saw many birds (Vermillion Flycatcher, endemic Gray-breasted Woodpecker, Lark Sparrow, Inca Dove, Curve-billed Thrasher, Rufous-capped Warbler, White-throated Towhee and more) and learned about the cactus and trees growing in the area.  We learned about which birds eat what and where and when to expect them (when their food source is ripe).  After a couple of hours, we drove to a small creek spotting a variety of birds there – lots of flycatchers and warblers.  The morning held yet another habitat – a small lake behind a dam.  There I spotted a Berylline Hummingbird, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Dusky Hummingbird and many of the usual suspects for lakes (Egrets, Coots, Sandpipers, Killdeer and Least Grebes).  For lunch we drove into town – Teotitlán Del Valle – a small thriving Zapotec community where many weavers live and work. We chose from a menu of local foods – Mole negro, Mole coloralitos and hulaypo (Oaxacan pizza).

    After a relaxed lunch (birders never hurry at lunch), we went to a local weaver and had a fabulous demonstration of natural dyeing and spinning and weaving.…

  • Making a Difference with Monofilament Recycling

    By Karen James

    I spend a lot of time at Heather Farm Park watching the wildlife that lives and visits the lake, gardens and wild areas. Over the past many years, I have felt privileged to see otters, foxes, several species of ducks, cormorants, grebes, coots, hawks and other birds of prey, as well as small mammals and fish.

    Double-crested Cormorant at Heather Farms Park

    The Park has a fishing pond and recently I have noticed that several animals including a cormorant and a duck that have had the misfortune of encountering discarded fishing line. Unfortunately, the cormorant was hanging from a tree from the fishing line and did not survive. More recently I was able to capture a female Mallard that had line attached to one of her legs making it difficult for her to move. Fortunately she was not injured and I was able to untangle her and release her.

    It was sad and disconcerting to see a cormorant hanging by its neck from discarded fishing line one afternoon while I was watching otters in the natural lake. I then became angry and decided I needed to do something to help protect our wildlife from this dangerous unseen menace. I wanted to find a way to deal with the issue of loose fishing line around the fishing pond at this park.

    So I set about finding a solution to this problem. I contacted the Mt. Diablo Audubon Society who put me in touch with the Golden Gate Bird Alliance. GGBA was very helpful. They went above and beyond what I expected. They provided me with several monofilament recycling containers and the materials that went along with them. I was also put in touch with the California Coastal Commission which partners with a program called “Reel In and Recycle”. The program marks where all monofilament containers are located in California. A part of this program is collecting the line, weighing it and sending it off to a recycling facility in Iowa.

    Monofilament recycling receptacle built by GGBA volunteers.

    Many fishermen are passionate about the environment and know the value of preserving the places where fish and other wildlife live. Fishing organizations give tips on how to recycle fishing line, minimize fishing waste and protect the natural environment. Most marinas have fishing line recycling containers and management plans but more education and information is needed in urban parks where ponds are stocked on a regular basis.…

  • Bird Passports: A Collaboration

    Text and photos by Alisa Golden

    Editor’s Note: This blog originally posted at https://makinghandmadebooks.blogspot.com/2019/04/new-collaboration-letters-of-transit.html

    I met Dianne Ayres through the Live Chat group that accompanies GGBA’s Osprey nest camera at sfbayospreys.org. Also known affectionately as the WWOC, it has been a community of people with a sense of humor who want to learn, and a place for kind people who care both about birds and about one another. Dianne and I met in person at a GGBA chalk art event where she was drawing a Red-tailed Hawk, and we got to talking. Our love for the Ospreys and
    our mutual interest in textiles propelled us on to weekly walks by San Francisco Bay, where we scanned the sky, slough, and bay for birds to watch and photograph.

    Richmond and Rosie, March 27, 2019

    A book art call for entries that suggested both stitching and collaboration was the catalyst for long talks about how we might do a project together. Book art generally features a combination of art, text, and object, creating a tactile reading experience where all the parts communicate together. What could we make?

    On our walks we began noticing migration patterns, how some birds were here for a specific period of time, how others were here year-round. We wondered where the birds came from and where they went. At the same time, U.S. borders were becoming tougher for human beings to cross, so migration was on our minds from all angles and emotions. Migration is a mixed bag as it is, carrying the risk of an arduous journey in the hopes of finding a home and freedom. Birds as a group have that freedom of crossing (unless humans mess it up). Bird passports evoke a record of their life paths. We researched some of the birds we had seen and designed visa stamps. How could we also portray their individual natures? Eggs could represent individual beings. Consulting the nest and egg books I got last year for my birthday: Nests, Eggs, and Nestlings of North American Birds and A Field Guide to Western Birds’ Nests, I painted wooden eggs.

    Top (L to R): Osprey, Black Oystercatcher, Mallard Bottom (L to R): Green Heron, White-tailed Kite, Anna’s Hummingbird, American Coot

    We read that certain bird behaviors are embedded, but certain human actions can adversely impact the birds, confusing or changing the environment on which they rely: water, air, and earth.…

  • Birds and Chocolate

    Editor’s Note: We wanted to share one more trip reflection before Birdathon comes to a close. If you want to join Birdathon’s closing celebration you can register here.

    Text and photos by Marjorie Powell

    We gathered slowing at one of the two platforms at the Elsie Roemer Preserve at the edge of the Bay and later  wandered down the path to the second platform. Between the two platforms, we spent two hours looking at birds as the receding water exposed the mud of the shallow shoreline, providing more and more feeding space for those birds that poke in the mud. In that time, members of the group saw 28 different species of birds (I missed 3 of those 28), with more than 100 of some species (Western Sandpiper, Dunlin) and only a few of other species (Caspian Terns, Avocets, Anna’s Hummingbirds). Our leaders, Sharol Nelson- Embry and Joyce Mercado, helped us identify birds, described field markings, and looked up birds in their field guides to help newer birders identify differences between similar birds. Some of the Black- bellied Plovers were molting into their breeding plumage, making it easier to understand their name. The Avocets, also, showed the start of their breeding plumage – Sharol reminded us that they breed in the Bay area, unlike other birds we were seeing which migrate north to their breeding areas.

    Because Sharol was entering our list into ebird, we discussed estimates of how many of the more abundant species we were seeing. Some were easy, like counting the Double-crested Cormorants on the breakwater; others were harder, like the estimate of how many Western Sandpipers we had seen at both platforms, or how many Dunlins. We all marveled at the patterns as the Sandpipers flew up and swirled over the water, back and forth, then slowly landed after the Hawk that spooked them had disappeared – they flashed dark and then light as they turned away from, and then toward, us.

    After a full morning, we walked up the block to the beach where we found a make-shift table on which we ate our lunches and shared stories of places we liked to see shorebirds.

    After lunch, we went inside for the promised chocolate tasting. An initial set of questions kept us occupied while people slowly settled in – when did chocolate come to San Francisco? Can you name an early San Francisco chocolate manufacturer? Who in the group has eaten chocolate in a foreign country and what country?…

  • Birdathon Pinnacles

    Editor’s Note: If you want to hear more Birdathon stories like this one, please come to our Birdathon 2019 Garden Party and Celebration on May 19. Learn more here.

    by Ryan Gilpin and Melissa Orozco

    Golden Gate Bird Alliance organized a birdathadon trip in Pinnacles National Park with a goal of seeing the elusive California Condor.  The condor is one of those birds that probably we’ve seen before, but we could never be certain because they were so far away.  Fortunately for us, Rusty Scalf quickly and effectively led us on a great hike with amazing views of condors.

    A beautiful day in Pinnacles National Park

    A small group of birders met at 9 AM on the east side of the park at the Visitor’s Center.  The weather was mostly sunny and warm with temperatures in the upper 60s.  We scanned through the Turkey Vultures soaring above while Acorn Woodpeckers called and flew back and forth between the oaks in the parking lot.  As the group gathered up we had good views of a Bullock’s Oriole, Western Kingbirds and Western Bluebirds with Golden-crowned Sparrows and Spotted Towhee calling around us.

    Bush poppies (Dendromecon rigida)

    We consolidated in cars, drove up to Bear Gulch and started up the Condor Gulch Trail.  The dense blue oak (Quercus douglasii) and gray pine (Pinus sabiniana) forest made for an easy hike up the ravine.  Orange-crowned Warblers and Anna’s Hummingbird were calling and zipping back and forth.  The first part of the walk was easily more about the wild flowers and plants than the birds.  Rusty pointed out many great plants throughout the hike such as the big berry manzanita (Arctostaphylos glauca), California poppies (Eschscholzia californica), bush poppies (Dendromecon rigida), streambank springbeauty (Claytonia parviflora) and pipestem clematis (Clematis lasiantha).  The wild flowers were great; it wasn’t a super bloom, but the wildflowers were reason enough for the walk.

    Streambank springbeauty (Claytonia parviflora)

    As the trail started getting steeper and the vegetation cleared, we had great views of the distinctive rhyolite cliff faces.  Suddenly, “Condor!”  and a bunch of pointing around us.  Three birds flew over our heads, one went to the right where we lost track of it, while the other two flew to the cliffs.  We got the scope on the rounded rock where they landed and found a fleshy face visible just over the top of the rock. …