By Jack Dumbacher
Powered flight is perhaps the most iconic ability of birds. Their feathers and wings have set them apart from other vertebrates, and they have amazing adaptations that have allowed them to master flight, including special lungs and airsacs to capture oxygen incredibly efficiently, and hollow or reduced bones and no teeth to cut down weight.
There are many ways to get into the skies, and birds are not the only vertebrates that have evolved flight. Within the mammals, there are bats. The oldest known bat fossil dates to about 52 million years ago from the Green River formations in Colorado and Wyoming. Although bats are less efficient flyers than birds, bats are more maneuverable. Their wings consist of a thin membrane of skin called the patagium, stretched between their four finger bones and the side of their body. Because their fingers are so long and spread through the patagium, they have superb control of the shape and size of their wings, making them incredibly agile fliers.
But birds have been flying for nearly three times as long as bats. The oldest bird fossils are from Archaeopteryx, found in the Solnhofen limestone quarries of Bavaria, Germany, and these fossils were dated to about 150 million years ago. These fossil bones mark the beginning of birds in the fossil record.
This artist’s rendering of Archeopteryx shows how much it may have resembled our modern birds. / By Nobu Tamara via Wikipedia.
Most of the close dinosaur relatives of Archaeopteryx were covered in feathers and some even had wings. We call this group of dinosaurs “Paraves,” and they include some four-winged dinosaurs (like Microraptor, having feathered forelimbs as well as hindlimbs) and many others that were fierce terrestrial carnivores, like the Velociraptor made famous by Jurassic Park. (The film incorrectly shows Velociraptor with scaly skin instead of feathers!)
Representatives of the most bizarre and largest flying vertebrates were also around at the time of Archaeopteryx. In fact, the first fossil of this group to be described was collected from the same Solnhofen limestone formation of Bavaria that produced the famed Archaeopteryx specimens. That fossil was described in 1784, and is now known as Pterodactylus antiquus, which derives from Latin for “ancient wing finger.”
The pterodactyl is just one of a huge group of flying reptiles called the Pterosaurs. Pterosaurs were capable of powered flight, and species from this group of reptiles lived from 228 to 66 million years ago, dying out along with the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous.…

By Mary Betlach
I’ve walked at Heron’s Head Park on San Francisco’s southeastern shoreline since 2005 and casually observed juvenile Black Oystercatchers there most years. One of our most distinctive shorebirds because of their bright orange bills, oystercatchers are at risk because of the dwindling amount of rocky shoreline they need for nesting. They’re already designated a Species of Special Concern by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and climate-related sea level rise will only heighten their breeding challenges.
This year, Golden Gate Bird Alliance created a Heron’s Head Monitoring Group to gather data on the Black Oystercatchers there – myself, Annie Armstrong, Patricia Greene, and Tim and Alexia Tindol. We had the privilege of watching a pair raise a chick on a dilapidated pier about 65 yards from the shoreline in the center of Lashlighter Basin.
(Another Golden Gate Bird Alliance member monitored Black Oystercatchers at Land’s End in San Francisco in 2015 as part of an ongoing Audubon California survey of the species: You can read about it here.) 
The pier and the oystercatcher family / Photo by Tim Tindol
Heron’s Head Park viewed from the air, showing how it got its name. Lashlighter Basin is the water below (north of) the Bay Trail
We started our monitoring on March 31, observing the shoreline area twice a week in teams of two. We quickly realized that the old pier is an ideal location for a Black Oystercatcher nest. It is close to rich feeding grounds along the rocky shoreline and separated from ground predators by the surrounding water. It’s high enough above the water to avoid flooding, yet both remaining ends of the pier provide a gentle slope to the water. The height of the pier facilitates a 360-degree view of the surrounding area, giving the adult oystercatchers optimal surveillance against airborne predators. The pier has numerous cross beams and other decaying structural features that provide cover for the nest and hatchlings.
There are several potential airborne predators at this site. A Western Gull colony nests nearby on the roof of the Recology building. (Fortunately, the gulls hatched at a point when the oystercatcher chick was most likely too big for dinner).
Other predators were American Crows, which approached the pier fairly closely and were chased by the adult oystercatchers. There were also Common Raven, Osprey, and Peregrine Falcon flyovers. Rock Pigeons also walked the pier and were chased off by the Black Oystercatchers. …

By William Hudson & Ilana DeBare

The new two-mile McCosker Loop Trail in Orinda is a short trail with a long story behind it – a story that could easily be called “Golden Gate Bird Alliance and the 1,300 acres.”

The trail is part of Gateway Valley, an area now known as Wilder, located south of Highway 24 and just east of the Caldecott Tunnel. The area is critical wildlife habitat – a key link in the north-south wildlife corridor that runs from Wildcat Canyon to Lake Chabot. Thanks to GGBA’s expertise, counsel, and resources, over 1,300 strategically-located acres of Gateway Valley were added to our protected wildlands.

The story began in the 1980s, as open spaces around the Bay Area came under increasing development pressure. The northern reaches of Gateway Valley — across Highway 24 from the California Shakespeare Theater — belonged to Ed Daly, owner of World Airways, known for its government contracts during the Vietnam war.

Daly was supposedly in the process of donating his land to the East Bay Regional Park District when he passed away in 1984. His family then sold it to a development group, setting the stage for years of contention. With the later addition of land to the south owned by Daly’s financial officer, the total project area was 978 acres. Homes were the main focus but a 27-hole golf course was included in every proposal until a settlement was ultimately reached, driven by GGBA.

Views from the McCosker Loop Trail, which covers some of the Gateway Valley land that has been preserved from development. Photo by William Hudson

Despite its prime location, the valley had not been developed in prior decades for a good reason. The hillsides were unstable, and studies revealed problems even deeper than expected, with hidden landslides in the underlying bedrock. The extensive grading and drainage needed to support roads and construction could not be done without destroying existing creeks, wetlands, and seeps, and numerous old growth trees, a variety of habitats home to species including endangered California Red-legged Frogs and Alameda Whipsnakes, as well as majestic Golden Eagles.

The valley’s natural attributes made it a resource of national importance. This was significant, because it meant that, in addition to obtaining approval by the City of Orinda, any development had to be also vetted by state and federal environmental agencies, a process coordinated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that provided numerous opportunities to advocate for the environment.…

By William Hudson & Ilana DeBare
The new two-mile McCosker Loop Trail in Orinda is a short trail with a long story behind it – a story that could easily be called “Golden Gate Bird Alliance and the 1,300 acres.”
The trail is part of Gateway Valley, an area now known as Wilder, located south of Highway 24 and just east of the Caldecott Tunnel. The area is critical wildlife habitat – a key link in the north-south wildlife corridor that runs from Wildcat Canyon to Lake Chabot. Thanks to GGBA’s expertise, counsel, and resources, over 1,300 strategically-located acres of Gateway Valley were added to our protected wildlands.
The story began in the 1980s, as open spaces around the Bay Area came under increasing development pressure. The northern reaches of Gateway Valley — across Highway 24 from the California Shakespeare Theater — belonged to Ed Daly, owner of World Airways, known for its government contracts during the Vietnam war.
Daly was supposedly in the process of donating his land to the East Bay Regional Park District when he passed away in 1984. His family then sold it to a development group, setting the stage for years of contention. With the later addition of land to the south owned by Daly’s financial officer, the total project area was 978 acres. Homes were the main focus but a 27-hole golf course was included in every proposal until a settlement was ultimately reached, driven by GGBA.
Views from the McCosker Loop Trail, which covers some of the Gateway Valley land that has been preserved from development. Photo by William Hudson
Despite its prime location, the valley had not been developed in prior decades for a good reason. The hillsides were unstable, and studies revealed problems even deeper than expected, with hidden landslides in the underlying bedrock. The extensive grading and drainage needed to support roads and construction could not be done without destroying existing creeks, wetlands, and seeps, and numerous old growth trees, a variety of habitats home to species including endangered California Red-legged Frogs and Alameda Whipsnakes, as well as majestic Golden Eagles.
The valley’s natural attributes made it a resource of national importance. This was significant, because it meant that, in addition to obtaining approval by the City of Orinda, any development had to be also vetted by state and federal environmental agencies, a process coordinated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that provided numerous opportunities to advocate for the environment.…

By Bill McLaughlin
San Francisco’s western border is Ocean Beach, a fantastic open space for hiking, surfing, fishing, viewing wildlife, and more.  Sloat Boulevard is the southernmost access point, located right in front of the entrance to the San Francisco Zoo.
Today, the Sloat area shoreline has become known as a flashpoint of coastal erosion and climate change. Over the years, the tidal boundary has advanced landward, washing away most of the sandy beach. During winter storms, waves collide against the base of the seaside parking lots, threatening the Great Highway coastal road as well as nearby wastewater infrastructure.
In 1997, 1998, and 2010, El Niño storms triggered emergency-level threats for the infrastructure. This led the San Francisco Department of Public Works to construct large boulder revetment structures on the beach. Erosion has progressed so far that construction fill that comprises the road base routinely spills out onto the beach. Instead of cleaning up all this debris, the City leaves all the rock on the beach to protect the infrastructure. However, this crude form of protection degrades access to the water, covers what remains of the beach, and removes habitat for shoreline birds such as the threatened Western Snowy Plover.  The latest revetment of 2010 even covers part of the Fort Funston bluffs, which contain nesting sites for the threatened Bank Swallow.
Ocean Beach in 2010, with virtually no beach left / Photo by Bill McLaughlin
Rock revetment covering Bank Swallow nesting sites at Ocean beach. Photo by Bill McLaughlin.
Since the late 1990s, Surfrider Foundation and others in the community have been fighting for a plan to clean up and restore this area of Ocean Beach.  To accomplish our goal, we are backing a plan of “managed retreat.” Managed retreat at Sloat would involve long-term planning to relocate threatened infrastructure away from the sea. Sand replenishment in front of the road has been attempted numerous times – with poor results. Recent sand replenishment projects were washed away within three years or less. We believe that managed retreat planning is the best option to effectively safeguard the infrastructure. The additional beach area gained through managed retreat also allows sand replenishment a much better chance to be effective, all while benefiting the near-shore ecosystem.
The good news is that in 2012 representatives from key government agencies and community stakeholders (including Golden Gate Bird Alliance) came together to forge a strategy to solve the Sloat erosion crisis.…