• We Are Not Powerless Against Climate Change

    World Wetlands Day February 2, 2019
    and the Ramsar Convention

    by Maureen Lahiff

    Our San Francisco Bay is not only a designated Important Bird Area, it is a Wetland of
    International Importance under the Convention on Wetlands, often called the Ramsar
    Convention. This treaty on the conservation and sustainable use of the world’s wetlands was
    put into final form on February 2, 1971 at a meeting in Ramsar, Iran.

    Arrowhead Marsh by Rick Lewis

    The Convention defines wetlands broadly, as “areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether
    natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh,
    brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed
    six metres.” The Convention places wetlands in a comprehensive and holistic context, but it
    does recognize the key role of birds, as its full name is the Convention on Wetlands of
    International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat. By waterfowl, the Convention
    means any bird species ecologically dependent on wetlands. BirdLife International is one of the
    five major partners.

    Common Goldeneye by Bob Gunderson

    The materials for World Wetlands Day 2019 emphasize the role of wetlands in “stabilizing
    greenhouse gas emissions and blunting the impacts of climate change.”  Wetlands, especially
    peatlands, are natural absorbers of carbon. More carbon is sequestered in peatlands than in
    the world’s forests. As sea levels rise, wetlands can dampen storm surges and protect near-by
    lands from flooding. As the materials point out, 60% of the earth’s population live and work
    along coastlines. In sum, “Wetlands are a natural solution.”

    Worldwide, we have lost about 70% of our wetlands, and the loss since 1970 has been
    dramatic. Although we have lost 90% of the San Francisco Bay’s wetlands, we have been saved
    from the disaster of a largely filled-in Bay, thanks to the courage and commitment of Esther
    Gulick, Kay Kerr, and Sylvia McLaughlin, who founded Save the Bay in 1961.

    Nelson’s Sparrow photo at MLK Jr. Restoration Day by Rick Lewis

    The creators of the Ramsar Convention express confidence that wetlands can be conserved
    and restored within a context of sustainable development. I would go even further: unless
    wetlands are protected and restored, we cannot be successful in the sort of development
    envisioned for the world’s people in the Millennium Development Goals and their successor
    the Sustainable Development Goals.

    Almost 90% of the United Nations’ member states are contracting parties to the Convention.…

  • Cinnamon Winter Beach Beauty

    By Miya Lucas

    The Marbled Godwit is one of my favorite birds and one you can easily identify walking on a beach on a winter day in the Bay Area. Marbled Godwits are large, beautiful orange colored birds, easy to spot on the shoreline. They stand 18 inches tall, with long gray legs and their extended pencil-thin, bi-colored beak makes them easy to see. They are the largest of all the godwits. (Black-tailed Godwit, Bar-tailed Godwit, Hudsonian Godwit)

    Marbled Godwit on the shoreline by Miya Lucas

    It is unclear how the Marbled Godwit obtained it’s name. The “Marbled” part is easy to understand and it’s a good description of their tawny coloring, but the second part, “Godwit” is a mystery. From what I can gather, in Old English, god meant good, and wit or wiht, meant creature. In Spanish, they are called cinnamon needle, Aguja Canela.

    The Marbled Godwit seems fearless to me,  I call them the gentle giant of the shoreline beaches. They seen unaffected by the often frenzy flights by the smaller shorebirds, sometimes hundreds of them who fly away –  startled by who knows what – then readily return to continue forging on the shoreline. Meanwhile, the Marbled Godwits, stand their ground and just continue feeding, grooming or sleeping.

    The Marbled Godwits are social birds. Except for breeding season, you rarely see just one Marbled Godwit. They fly in flocks and will feed in flocks. With a one syllable high pitched call, they will let the group know if one is leaving or arriving. Their long elegant lines are often juxtaposed to their call, they have an annoying high pitch loud erking sound almost like a two year old ready to throw a tantrum.

    Flock of Marbled Godwits by Bob Gunderson

    Both sexes look alike, both have the bi-colored bills, pink at the base with a black end. However, the females have a bill about 2cm longer than the male. Also, the female weighs about 20% more than the male. Sometimes, if you are an astute observer, in early August you may see the Marbled Godwit in it’s breeding plumage.  During breeding season, the male’s bi-colored bill becomes more orange in color, although the black outermost tip remains the same, and the breast will be more barred.

    In flight by Miya Lucas

    The Marbled Godwit spends the winter along most of the Western or Eastern American shoreline, including Central America.…

  • Year-end Countdown: The 2018 Oakland Christmas Bird Count

    Eric Schroeder

    For this year’s Oakland Christmas Bird Count I was allowed to sleep in. It turned out that co-organizers Bob Lewis and Dave Quady had decided to turn over the early morning owling duties in Redwood Regional Park to Maureen Lahiff, who was the count leader for that area. So unlike last year when we met near the Claremont Hotel at 3 AM, those of us owling with Bob and Dave were told we wouldn’t need to be there until 4. By 4:10 seven of us were piling into two cars—Dave was joined by Jon Altemus and me; Bob Lewis was joined by Margaret Strubel, Whitney Grover, and Rob Aramayuo. We headed up into Claremont Canyon, the heart of our count area.

    Claremont Canyon/Lake Temescal CBC group by Eleanor Briccetti

    It turned out, though, that Dave had actually begun his own personal owl search earlier at 2AM. When he was scouting earlier in the week, he had noticed some dumpsters on Telegraph Avenue and thought that they probably attracted a lot of rats and hence they might be a good place to find a city owl. As he drove down Telegraph towards the dumpsters that morning, he thought he heard the distant shriek of a Barn Owl. He stuck his phone out the window, hit play on the Barn Owl call, and within seconds, one of them buzzed his car. The 2018 Oakland Christmas Bird Count was underway.

    Barn Owl by Bob Lewis (not taken at the CBC)

    The owling in Claremont Canyon didn’t begin quite as auspiciously. At our first site, Dave played calls for both Western Screech Owls and Northern Saw-Whet Owls. Nothing. But things picked up at our second stop—nearby a male and female Western Screech Owl returned Dave’s greetings. And then further down the canyon two Great Horned Owls flew overhead. Things were looking promising.

    The weather in particular was a worry. Heavy rain had been predicted for Sunday but so far the early morning remained dry and warmer than expected. After chasing down another Great Horned Owl at the top of Skyline Drive, we returned to our original meeting place at the Peet’s by the Claremont, made plans for the next couple of hours, and divided up into three teams. Since I had served as his scribe last year, Dave was happy to claim my services.

    Bob and Dave by Eleanor Briccetti

    Leaving the coffee shop, Dave and I went over the hill to Lake Temescal.…

  • Bird Mural in Downtown Oakland

    By Pam Consear

    Downtown Oakland has a new mural! Actually, most of a city block full of murals, emblazoned with flying herons and egrets and post office-related paraphernalia (which I’ll explain later).

    I was honored to be hired as the lead artist on this mural project. Here’s how it all came about:

    In 2015 I painted a series of vintage-style postcard murals on three separate buildings in Oakland’s Dimond District. The postcards—which are permanent installations; go have a look!—come in pairs, with a “front side” picture that highlights a special feature of the neighborhood, and a “back side” that includes a postage stamp, address, postmark, and a handwritten message from the community. Those murals caught the attention of Raymond Connell, Development Manager at Holland Partner Group. Ray appreciated the friendly, whimsical, and informative nature of the artwork.

    Murals at Loard’s Ice Cream

     

    Mural at Club 2120

    In 2017, HPG was making plans to build an apartment complex on the formerly barren parking lot at 14th & Alice Streets, where families of snowy egrets and black-crowned night herons had been nesting for years. As many locals are aware, these winged residents have been both beloved by, and a nuisance to, the human residents and workers in the area. And their living conditions present many hazards for the birds themselves—especially for the youngest members of the flocks.

    Ray deserves credit for many things, including working with Golden Gate Bird Alliance to help safely relocate the birds, and reaching out to me to help convey a visual message to the surrounding community. He and his associate at the time, Jacqueline Morrone, approached me about creating postcard-style murals that would be written “from the birds” to inform their downtown neighbors about the new homes that were being prepared for them at Lake Merritt.

     

    Sketch of Postcard Front

    Besides just the pair of postcards, however, Ray and Jackie asked me to come up with a way to embellish all of the 8-foot-high plywood construction fencing that would surround three sides of the city block between 13th and 14th Streets, and Alice and Jackson Streets.

    Artist Lindsey Kernodle, and former GGBA intern, created playful, pun-filled images of members of the bird families. We thought her work would look great styled as Polaroids—a set of (bird) family photos to let the neighbors know how the kids were doing, so to speak.

    Lindsey Kernodle creating bird art at GGBA office by Cindy Margulis

     

    One of Lindsey’s pieces.…

  • Watershed Warriors

    By Leslie Weir

     

    “Why is there so much trash?”

    “Why do people throw so much trash in the water?”

    These are the questions GGBA Youth Programs Manager, Clayton Alexander, most often hears when his Eco-Education students first see the unending line of trash that appears along the San Francisco Bay shoreline as the winter rains flush garbage and debris through the watershed. This line of inquiry is full of opportunity for Clay. It allows him to take his students on a journey of exploration that starts with their neighborhood storm drains, travels along creek beds, through wetlands, and ultimately ends at the Pacific Ocean.

    GGBA Youth Programs Manager Clay Anderson on a field trip with Eco-Ed students

    Over nearly two decades, Golden Gate Bird Alliance has inspired close to 20,000 young people to take better care of their local watershed through Eco-Education and the program continues to win hearts, minds, and awards. Eco-Education was the recent recipient of the Alameda Watershed Confluence Award for Best Youth Program. It is a past recipient of the Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership (GEELA) Award and the Outstanding Service Award from the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE). But, most importantly, the restoration focus of the program has helped transform Pier 94 in San Francisco, Arrowhead Marsh in Oakland, and other sites around the Bay Area, into vital and diverse wildlife habitats. The US Geological Survey acknowledged Eco­-Education participants for restoring upland habitat for the endangered Ridgway’s Rail at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline.

    Eco-Ed students on a bird walk

    In the Bay Area, despite their proximity to the San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean, many children from under-resourced neighborhoods and school districts in Oakland, Richmond, and San Francisco, have little contact or awareness of the natural world around them. These children often lack opportunity to encounter the ecosystems and biodiversity within their local creek, wetland and ocean habitats. Through Eco-Education they begin to understand the positive role they can play in helping wildlife. GGBA’s multi-dimensional Eco-Education Program empowers children and their family members to explore nature with joy and to cherish coastal habitats and the unique cohort of wildlife their own local watershed supports. Providing young children from under-served areas with the education, exposure and information about the watershed and coastal habitats inspires them to become active environmental stewards and to continue to apply those lessons in the future.…