• Fast-paced fun: a first-time Birdathon story

    By Eric Schroeder
    My wife and I have been members of Golden Gate Bird Alliance for about five years, but until last year we had only been marginally active, occasionally attending the monthly talks in Berkeley. Then last year I enrolled in a year-long Master Birding Program that was co-sponsored by GGBA and the California Academy of Sciences, and, as a result, I was very excited when I received the list of Birdathon outings. Two in particular caught my eye.
    The first was the Big Six Hours in Oakland trip—six hours of birding in Oakland (!) with the chance to see over one hundred species. Frankly, it was the preposterousness of the claim that hooked me. How could anyone see one hundred species of birds in Oakland? Let alone in six hours?
    But trip leader Glen Tepke knows his Oakland. The day seemed much more like a whirlwind than a marathon, with stops at Sibley Regional Park, Joaquin Miller Regional Park, Lake Temescal, Lake Merritt, Middle Harbor Shoreline Park, Garretson Point, and Arrowhead Marsh. Highlights for the day ranged from a pair of Golden Eagles to a Cassin’s Vireo. At 1:15 p.m., Glen had 101 birds on his official Birdathon list and I had done a respectable job of keeping up, recording 95 species on my personal list.
    Big Six Hours in Oakland teamThe 2016 team for Big Six Hours in Oakland, with Glen Tepke in front
    Cassin’s Vireo by Bob Lewis
    My second Birdathon event was the 146 (!) Birds in a Day in the East Bay Parks event. I call this trip an “event” because I’m not sure there’s a more appropriate term for this marathon outing. When I arrived at Del Valle Regional Park at 5:45 a.m. for the dawn chorus, I was surprised to see that there were already about a dozen people there—and some, it turned out, had been there for almost an hour. (Now THAT’S dedication to birding!)
    Led by East Bay Regional Park District biologist Dave “Doc Quack” Riensche, this trip visits many of the gems of the East Bay Parks system, including Del Valle, Shadow Cliffs, Sunol, Garin, and Coyote Hills. And whereas the Oakland trip had featured a pair of Golden Eagles, this one featured a pair of Bald Eagles: At sunrise the pair were spotted bringing food back to their nest for the chicks that had been born earlier in the month.
    146 Birds in a Day trip in 2015, at Coyote Hills / Photo by Ilana DeBare
    Least Tern at Hayward Regional Shoreline, one of the sites visited in the 146 Birds in a Day trip / Photo by Rick Lewis
    These two Birdathon trips were highlights of my 2016 Big Year.…

  • Five years of Snowy Plover habitat help

    By Corny Foster and Matthew Zlatunich
    This March marks the fifth anniversary of Golden Gate Bird Alliance’s Snowy Plover Habitat Maintenance Program at Crissy Field. During monthly volunteer sessions, we’ve learned a lot about the habitat and avian residents at Crissy Field beach. We’ve also learned a lot – maybe more than we wanted – about the trash that shows up there.
    To mark the fifth anniversary, here’s a history and progress report on this successful grassroots effort.
    The Crissy Field Wildlife Protection Area — a favorite winter roosting site for threatened Western Snowy Plovers — is in the Presidio of San Francisco, and extends from Torpedo Wharf through the Crissy Beach West Dunes.
    Before March, 2012, maintenance activities within the Crissy WPA were informal and irregular. They included efforts organized by the National Park Service and GGBA, as well as by individuals on their own, to collect trash, remove invasive weeds, plant native vegetation, and provide outreach/education to the public. But we knew a better job could be done.
    Map of the Crissy Field Wildlife Protection AreaThe Crissy Field Wildlife Protection Arela
    In February, 2012, we worked with Laura Elze, Volunteer Coordinator for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area’s Facilities Management Division, to establish a monthly program aimed at stewardship of the Crissy WPA as suitable habitat for Snowy Plovers.
    Objectives of the Snowy Plover Habitat Maintenance Program are to support the mission of the National Park Service, to support the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Western Snowy Plover Recovery Plan, to promote individual stewardship of natural resources, to engage people and build community around the ideals of ecological stewardship, and to help visitors see and appreciate a natural beach on the shoreline of San Francisco Bay. 
    Beach cleanup for Snowy PloversGGBA volunteers hard at work
    Golden Gate Bird Alliance volunteers at Crissy Field beachAnother productive clean-up session!

    Maintenance Mondays

    Meeting on the second Monday of each month as a volunteer-driven program without the attendance of Park Service staff, we began our work in March, 2012. We remove debris and non-native vegetation, inspect signage and fences, and report needed repairs. We also monitor and document wildlife usage of the WPA. Regular participants are uniformly attired in Park-issued hats, vests, and nametags.
    We use the SFSnowyPlovers Yahoo Group to communicate with interested parties, provide automated reminders of workdays, and to house documents and pictures related to the snowies and the program.
    Since the WPA is small, we wanted to keep the head count at around six people per work day To do this, we list the volunteer opportunity at GGBA but not through the Park.…

  • Positive compromise over Sharp Park

    By Ilana DeBare
    Golden Gate Bird Alliance and allied conservation groups reached a compromise with San Francisco city officials on Tuesday, in which we agreed to support the city’s new Natural Areas Plan in exchange for removal of a harmful project component at Sharp Park golf course.
    The Significant Natural Resource Areas Management Plan (SNRAMP) had been under development since 2006, with countless hours of community input. It is aimed at creating a framework to manage the city’s natural areas over the next 20 years.
    Golden Gate Bird Alliance had long been involved in helping formulate the plan and strongly supported the concept of a master plan to protect and enhance the city’s natural areas.
    But the plan hit a stumbling block when, late in the process, the city added the controversial Sharp Park golf course redevelopment project to SNRAMP. Sharp Park is home to two endangered species – the California red-legged frog and San Francisco garter snake – and the city had plans to raise the height of the fairways in a way that would jeopardize their habitat.

    GGBA and its allies mounted a campaign urging the Board of Supervisors to remove the Sharp Park project from SNRAMP so the golf course redevelopment could undergo its own separate, comprehensive environmental review.
    On Tuesday, shortly before the Board of Supervisors was set to vote on SNRAMP, Supervisor Aaron Peskin forged a compromise in which the city agreed not to raise the height of the Sharp Park fairways. In exchange, GGBA and our allies (including Wild Equity, Sierra Club, and National Parks Conservation Association) agreed to drop our appeal over inclusion of the golf course project in SNRAMP.
    With this compromise in place, the Board of Supervisors voted 9-1 to let the SNRAMP move forward.
    Enactment of SNRAMP is a significant milestone for the City of San Francisco. It’s one of the country’s most thoughtful and progressive plans for promoting wildlife and habitat in an urban area. It establishes a framework to protect and enhance 32 areas where city dwellers can enjoy the beauty and solace of nature.
    Red-tailed Hawk in Glen Canyon Park, one of the natural areas included in the plan, by Lee Hong Chang
    2014 CBC in McLaren Park, one of the areas included in the Natural Areas Plan / Photo by Marissa Ortega-Welch
    Golden Gate Bird Alliance is pleased to see this plan – so long in development, with so much community input – finally approved.…

  • Behind the scenes at IBR – a Birdathon highlight

    By Beth Moseley
    The dictionary defines “behind the scenes” as:
    1: working or happening privately without being known or seen by the public
    As in:

    • Experience the amazing behind-the-scenes operations of International Bird Rescue (IBR).
    • Get a behind-the-scenes tour of IBR’s specialized facilities and meet experts in water bird care.
    • Enjoy great birding at a behind-the-scenes surprise destination.

    Golden Gate Bird Alliance’s 2017 Birdathon will include a Behind the Scenes at International Bird Rescue Birdathon trip on Saturday, April 29. I had the good fortune to take part in this trip last year and highly recommend it.
    International Bird Rescue is the world’s leading rehabilitator of wild aquatic birds – cleaning, healing, and returning oiled or injured birds to the wild for over 45 years. The amount of work that goes into running IBR is extraordinary. IBR Executive Director JD Bergeron personally led us on a tour of their Fairfield facility, highlighting the work done by staff, veterinary students, and volunteers, and of course showcasing the rescued birds themselves.
    Juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron in care at IBR / Photo by Beth Moseley
    Brown Pelicans at IBR / Photo by Beth Moseley
    We learned about IBR’s history – its founding in 1971 as a response to oil spills on San Francisco Bay, and its role rescuing birds around the world after oil spills including Exxon Valdez in Alaska, the Treasure oil spill in South Africa, and the BP Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf Coast.
    We also had a chance to view rescued birds in the center’s indoor and outdoor facilities. We saw a veterinary student do a physical exam on one of the rescued juvenile Black-crowned Night-Herons from Oakland. We visited Brown Pelicans in the outdoor pools and pens as they rehabilitated.
    The highlight, for me, of the 2016 Behind-the-Scenes at IBR trip was participating in the release of several rehabilitated birds back into the wild at Fort Baker in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
    I personally got to release a male Surf Scoter that day. What struck me was how light the box felt with the bird in it. I stood on the shore and watched the Surf Scoter take a few initial steps out of its box, then run wildly into the water. I felt so good knowing that I helped to return this bird to where it really wanted to be.
    Beth releases a rehabilitated scoter / Photo by Ilana DeBare
    The scoter takes off / Photo by Ilana DeBare
    One happy scoter / Photo by Beth Moseley
    Of course this year’s Birdathon trip to IBR won’t be exactly the same – different birds, different rehabilitation challenges, and a different “secret birding site” after the tour of the facility.…

  • Spring migration = Lights Out season

    By Ilana DeBare
    Three Canadian scientists set out to study the effect of human light on bird migration. They recorded the vocal activity of birds flying over unlit rural areas near the Great Lakes, and compared that with similar rural areas that had human lights at ground level.
    They found nearly three times the number of calls by birds in the lit areas, according to their report in the May 2016 issue of The Condor, the journal of the American Ornithological Society.
    The study didn’t pinpoint the exact reason for the increased calls. “Birds might have changed their migratory route to pass over lit areas, flown at lower altitudes over lit areas, increased their calling rate over lit areas, or remained longer over lit areas,” the scientists wrote.
    But clearly the lights were affecting migrants in some way, a conclusion that was consistent with previous studies.
    This disruptive effect of urban lights on nighttime migrants is the reason for Golden Gate Bird Alliance’s semi-annual Lights Out for Birds campaign.
    As part of the Pacific Flyway, we have over 250 species — from tiny warblers to large raptors — passing through our region each year. Bright city lights may disorient them or lure them into deadly window collisions. So each spring and fall, we urge Bay Area businesses and residents to dim lights or draw shades at night to help keep these birds on route during their travels.
    How can you help?

    • At home, turn off unnecessary exterior lights between dusk and dawn.
    • At the office, draw blinds if you’re working after dark. Or use task lighting such as a desk lamp rather than overhead lights that illuminate the entire area.
    • Talk to your building owner or manager about turning off unnecessary lights or drawing blinds at night.  Make sure the janitorial crews that serve your office are informed about Lights Out. Our Lights Out web page has flyers you can share with your employer, janitorial crews, and colleagues, as well as info on PG&E rebates.
    • Spread the word on social media! Our Lights Out page also provides some sample tweets and Facebook posts about Lights Out. Use the hashtag #lightsout to help build momentum.

    Lights Out at work is particularly important because large office buildings can create masses of light that are visible to birds at a distance. Plus companies can benefit from adopting a Lights Out policy!  Turning out unnecessary lights saves energy and reduces utility bills.…