• Surveying Brown Pelicans at the Alameda Wildlife Reserve Breakwater Island

    NOTE: Updated post with additional photos.

    By Taylor Crisologo

    The pelican moved slowly, stretching out its great wings in one fluid motion. It lifted its long bill to the sky and opened it briefly, then quickly snapped it shut. Our boat continued to move parallel to the pelican’s resting place, our movement causing me to crane my neck to keep sight of the individual.

    As the pelican drifted away from my binocular’s view, I turned my attention to another individual and scanned its legs for bands. The only sounds that could be heard were the hum of our boat’s engine and the long calls of gulls from the breakwater’s rocks.

    “140 total,” called a voice behind a pair of binoculars. The voice belonged to John Luther, who was in charge of keeping the total count of pelicans per section for our count.

    “14 brown heads,” followed Emilie Strauss, who was counting the total number of younger birds per section. The younger birds have brown heads – as opposed to the adult birds’ light golden heads – making them discernible in the group.

    First Light by Deborah Jacques

    Breaking my focus on watching the pelicans momentarily, I wrote the numbers on my record sheet and repeated the data back to our team for confirmation. Leaning my head into the ship’s main cabin where Judy Irving stood recording behaviors, I alerted her of the start for the count of the subsequent section. Beside me, Jennifer Walton stood diligently, recording any banded individuals we witnessed. (The next morning by daylight, biologist Debora Jaques re-sighted 15 pelicans wearing bands at the Breakwater!)

    All 4 BRPE Band Programs represented at Alameda Breakwater Band Collage by Deborah Jaques

    It was a breezy September evening. The vessel Sparky, captained by Jim Labbe, slowly moved parallel to the Alameda Wildlife Reserve Breakwater Island, allowing us a clear view of the roosting pelicans without disturbing them. Leora Feeney, along with Deborah Jaques, assessed the pelicans coming and going to the breakwater from shore.

    Leora counting from shore by Deborah Jacques

    Leora, our team’s organizer, was instrumental in orchestrating our efforts for the task at hand: counting the thousands of pelicans currently roosting at Alameda Wildlife Reserve Breakwater Island. Luckily, our team’s local knowledge of the area is vast. Since 2004, Leora and John have coordinated their own efforts to monitor the breakwater’s pelicans twice a month as part of the All Bird Surveys done at Alameda Wildlife Reserve.…

  • Monterey Pine Egret Colony in Alameda – A Photo Blog

     

    Text and photos by Gerry Traucht

    “Once almost hunted into extinction for the value of their feathers – an ounce of feathers surpassed the value of an ounce of gold – these birds were saved by the landmark Migratory Bird Treaty Act passed in 1918. In celebration of the MBTA centenary, 2018 has been named the Year of the Bird.”

     

     

     

    A Great Egret, a majestic white bird with a five-foot wingspan, takes to the air. One might imagine that this elegant large creature inhabits only exotic settings, but in fact this egret lives at the heart of the extremely urban San Francisco Bay Area. This bird belongs to an egret colony on Bay Farm Island off the southern tip of Alameda.

     

     

    A Monterey pine leans over the lagoon on Bay Farm Island in Alameda, home to a San Francisco Bay Area egret breeding colony. Nesting begins as early as February and continues through August. The egrets and the tree are almost hidden. After the chicks are born and they begin to grow, the tree will resound with the rhythmic clacking of egrets.

     

     

    Due in large part to Golden Gate Bird Alliance, the removal of a dying tree is postponed until after the egrets’ breeding season.

     

     

    In March 2018, ten Great Egrets arrive. Soon they are joined by another four. Two weeks later, a pair of Snowy Egrets arrive.

     

     

    https://goldengatebirdalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/5_Tree-video-June-16-3mb.mp4

    By June the colony is noisy and full of life. But the tree is not as healthy as its inhabitants.

     

     

    A Great Egret brings a gift of a branch to woo his mate and repair their nest.

     

     

    And then there are chicks!

     

     

    It is feeding time for the chicks. The parent’s bill and most of the head are inserted into the chick’s mouth and down the throat.

     

     

    Chicks build biting strength and coordination, as they nip the parent’s beak.

     

     

    Fledgling egrets, now as large as their parents, experience quick changes between harmony and raucous battles in the nest. They are stretching their wings and learning to fly.

     

     

    New egret life abounds in the dying tree. By summer the pine’s green needles have disappeared leaving a clear view of the abundant breeding season.

     

     

    Now in September the egrets are gone. The Monterey pine is dead and scheduled for removal soon.…

  • Art and Ospreys

    by Alisa Golden

    When San Francisco Center for the Book asked me to submit a design for Roadworks, their annual steamroller printing festival, it didn’t take long to choose a subject. What could be better than an Osprey three-feet high? I was smitten with Rosie and Richmond, the Osprey pair visible on the GGBA web camera, so Osprey seemed a natural choice. I looked through screenshots I had taken from the camera and chose a dramatic image of Richmond with his wings up from May 15, 2018, 7:30pm.

     

    The screenshot image

    You can see Rosie behind him, keeping the days-old chicks warm. For the square format, it seemed best to focus just on Richmond, so I drew him on a nest of books. It had to be reversed for the carving. My rough drawing was accepted; Richmond it would be! I enlarged my drawing, divided it up, printed it out, and taped it together.

    The drawing enlarged

    After transferring the drawing to the large linoleum using artist’s carbon paper I began to carve, referring back to the screenshot for wing details. It was an exciting and terrifying process. There would be no undo.

    Computer screen and work in progress

    Before I began watching GGBA’s web camera I had never seen an Osprey, didn’t know about them, and last watched a web cam during the Shiba Inu craze of 2008. But I like a good story, and the daily bird behavior fascinated me. After two years of being captivated by the Ospreys, I feel they are family, and this family, like any other, has been through changes, joys and its sorrows. It was quite curious seeing the interaction among the siblings; we missed it last year when one of the two fledglings was injured and did not make it, even after excellent human intervention and treatment. This year we were surprised and amused when one of the fledglings commandeered another Osprey family’s nest at the Richmond Yacht Club; it was a short flight from her original home, a nest on the whirley crane by the Red Oak Victory ship.

    Prior to beginning the large linoleum, as a test of some new carving tools, I made a small print of this year’s brood (currently exhibited at Piedmont Center for the Arts). The three chicks were banded with both silver and blue bands, after which we could identify them more easily: VW (named Roemer, who is the chick in front), VU (Victory) and VV (Brisa, in back).…

  • What happened after one crow’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day

    by Leslie Weir

    Have you ever wondered what happens when a wild bird needs help? Are you curious about what it takes to save the life of a single bird in crisis? I can tell you from recent experience that it takes the commitment of a lot of people with a lot of compassion. It takes a lot of time, a lot of patience, a lot of resources, and often, a little bit of sleuthing. This is the story of an American Crow that one morning in March, made a near-fatal mistake, but thanks to multiple people in multiple places, it has a happy ending.

    Shortly before joining the staff at Golden Gate Bird Alliance, I worked at the Fred Finch Youth Center in Oakland. Driving into work one morning I noticed an unusual bird in the parking lot. It was the size and shape of a crow, but it had a black head and a white body. It quickly became clear that an American Crow had misjudged and landed in a vat of paint (or something.) Hoping to make a rescue, I retrieved a box and a willing co-worker from my office, but by the time we returned to the parking lot the bird had disappeared.

    The employees at Fred Finch weren’t willing to give up. They kept a constant look out, made several sighting and a few attempts at capture, but the crow had enough flight to evade their attempts. Finally, over a week after the first sighting, the crow had lost the ability to escape by flight and four employees banded together, corralling the weakened bird and delivering it to the Lindsay Wildlife Experience hospital.

    Crow on intake

    The crow’s intake exam recorded that the back, wing, tail feathers and an area around the eyes were matted with paint. And, even more worrisome, the bird had a scab and large area of infection on the left side. Initial care required the administration of subcutaneous fluids for dehydration, as well as antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medication. The wound was flushed and bandaged. Further testing on Day 2 showed evidence of parasites, requiring additional medication, and the wound continued to show signs of severe infection.

    By Day 3 it became clear that the crow would need to be placed under anesthesia so that the wound could be debrided (a painstakingly slow process of removing infected and dead tissue) and sutured.

    On Day 6 the Lindsay staff felt the wound was healing well enough and that the crow had regained enough strength to withstand an attempt to wash the paint off the feathers.…

  • Getting to Know the Anna’s Hummingbird

    By Taylor Crisologo

    I’ve always been captivated by the bright allure of hummingbirds. Their beautiful, iridescent feathers and busy demeanors have made them some of my favorite birds to watch. I was even more impressed by hummingbirds when I learned that all hummingbird species are only found in North and South America. This discovery made me feel that much luckier to know this bird, as they are a treasure only found in the New World.

    As a Bay Area native, the Anna’s Hummingbird in particular holds a soft spot in my birding heart. Anna’s Hummingbirds are permanent residents along the west coast of the United States, meaning that our winters in the Bay Area (although very mild to begin with!) are made that much brighter by the presence of the Anna’s Hummingbird. They are also the most common hummingbird on the west coast, making them a universal part of the Bay Area birding experience.

    Anna’s Hummingbirds are a frequent and feisty visitor to my hummingbird feeders, and I’ve often watched territorial individuals perch on a branch nearby the food and chase away any unwelcome visitors. When they’re not feeding on my pre-mixed hummingbird food, I find them visiting the mosaic of native and non-invasive plants in my garden.

    Male Anna’s Hummingbird by Bob Gunderson

    The Anna’s Hummingbird’s ability to make use of some exotic plants found in urban and suburban areas, as well as supplemental sources of food from hummingbird feeders, have allowed them to
    greatly expand their range. While the species once only nested in certain areas of California and Baja California, you can now see this brilliant bird almost everywhere in California and well into the Southwest and British Columbia.

    Rain brings more hummingbird food, namely nectar-producing plants and insects, which is perfect for breeding hummingbirds. Thus, Anna’s Hummingbirds will breed in the winter and
    early spring, timing their nesting season with the rainy season in California. This makes them California’s true winter birds, as some individuals have been recorded breeding in the Bay Area during the annual Christmas Bird Count.

    Anna’s Hummingbird pair by Bob Gunderson

    The courtship behavior of breeding Anna’s Hummingbirds is a sight to see. Males will sing energetically to females and begin an ascent up to 130 feet in the air. Then, the males will dive down towards the female, generating a loud, non-vocal “squeak” sound as air vibrates through modified outer tail feathers.…