By George Peyton

It was not long ago that undertaking a Big Year of Birding was fairly rare. Today carrying out Big Years of all types — from small areas like the City of San Francisco to larger areas like the State of California, the Lower 48 States, or the ABA Area of North America north of Mexico, which includes Alaska – is not that unusual.

For those unfamiliar with the term “Big Year,” it refers to an effort to see as many bird species as possible within a specific area during a calendar year. Lani Rumbaoa and I undertook a Lower 48 States Big Year in 2015, and I can tell you from experience that advance planning is absolutely crucial to ultimate success. Considering that Lani had to work at her job at least 26 weeks of the year, her final total of 641 bird species was very good. (The maximum ever seen in the Lower 48 is 704 species).

Here are my personal recommendations for planning a Big Year:

Start Early

I strongly suggest starting your planning at least a year in advance, and under no circumstances less than six months before the start of your Big Year. There are an incredible number of details that need to be pinned down — not just when and where to go, but airline, rental car, and motel reservations, registration for Birding Festivals, signing up for key birding tours such as the Colorado Chicken Tour (for difficult-to-find Prairie Chickens, Grouses, and Ptarmigans), and possibly hiring professional birding guides in certain key areas. The earlier you start your planning, the better the results will be.

Lesser Prairie-Chicken by Tony Ilfland (USFWS)

Read About Other Big Years

Many people who have carried out a Big Year want to write about their experiences, so there are a reasonable number of books published about Big Years of Birding. In the last few years it has also become common for someone conducting a Big Year to create daily or weekly blog posts about where he has been and what birds he has seen. A number of these blogs are still accessible long after the Big Year is completed.

Some suggestions for Big Year reading:

The Big Year by Mark Obmasick (2004), about an unofficial competition between three avid birders to see the most species in North America north of Mexico during 1998. It not only became a bestseller, but was also made into a popular movie with Jack Black and Steve Martin.…

By Sharon Beals

It could have been the El-Nino-green willows billowing in the bird-songed breeze, or the buckeyes, their branches still full of stunning white blooms. Or maybe it was simply being out of school, and instead, standing on a tall-grassed path alongside a pooling creek, that inspired a round-faced eight-year-old boy to lower his binos and beam at me: “This is just so BEAUTIFUL!”

I’m still replaying this shared moment of joy in my mind, along with many others collected during two recent field trips to Arroyo Viejo Creek in Oakland with Golden Gate Bird Alliance’s Eco-Education program.

The children – third graders from the Korematsu Discovery Academy — were there to learn about their local watershed, and I was there to document what might be some of GGBA’s most important work: providing environmental education to children in the underserved communities of East Oakland, North Richmond, and Southeast San Francisco where funding for science education in schools often falls short.

Marissa Ortega-Welch of GGBA and the Korematsu students. Photo by Sharon Beals

GGBA collaborates with teachers to introduce third, fourth, and fifth graders to the ecology of their local environments, first in their classrooms and schoolyards and then on field trips to nearby creeks, wetlands, and finally the Pacific Ocean. Students’ families are also invited on the trips to the ocean, and for many it is a first-time experience. Over the course of the year, the children get hands-on experience with habitat restoration. Since its start in 1999, the program has served over 15,000 students, plus thousands of family members.

Marissa Ortega-Welch, who has been leading Eco-Ed field trips for six years, was our teacher and guide for the day. She arrived with an eager tribe of children, teachers, aides, and a few parents via city bus. (GGBA’s tight budget can’t afford chartered buses.) In clearly enunciated Spanish and English, she introduced the Audubon volunteers who would aid and abet their curiosity that day and prescribed a few ground rules. Both of these outings were great lessons in science and nature vocabulary for this lapsed Spanish student!

The students were sorted into two groups that would rotate between the day’s activities. The nature walkers were shown how to use binoculars (find the bird first, then raise the binos to your eyes). They clustered around folding field guides showing local birds with the same fascination they might have given a new video game.…

By Leslie Lakes

Nearly eleven years ago, a friend told me about a special art auction that was being held by the Fortune Society in New York. What made this auction unique was that all the works were by incarcerated individuals – men and women serving sentences in prisons throughout the United States.  The artwork could be seen either on an online auction site, or at a live exhibition on the Upper East Side in Manhattan. Approximately 250 pieces of original artwork in various media and sizes were available for sale via a bidding process for a period of five days.

I was living in New Jersey at the time and, as an artist myself, was intrigued. As I found out, the Fortune Society began in 1967 when David Rothenberg produced a play — Fortune in Men’s Eyes, about the harsh realities of living in prison – that mesmerized the audience and generated public discussion. Rothenberg went on to found the Fortune Society to support successful reentry of prisoners into society and alternatives to incarceration.

I perused the artwork in the auction and was amazed at the depth of sensitivity, skill, creativity, and ingenuity. The artists often relied on such minimal “art supplies” as hand-made paintbrushes fashioned from human hair, pigments made from dyes in M&M and Skittle candies, “oil paints” made from mixing peanut butter with candy dyes, and “washes” made from coffee and tea.

American Goldfinch by Keith Harward

I was so blown away that I asked the Fortune Society to provide me with the names and contact information of some of the incarcerated artists. That is what started, back in January 2006, my longtime and regular correspondence with artist Keith Harward. To date, I have over 250 letters from Keith, along with a slew of small (approximately 5×7 inch) charming drawings of… birds.

Birds galore. Birds of all kinds. What can I say? Keith loves birds!

Calliope Hummingbird by Keith Harward Baltimore Oriole by Keith Harward Tufted Titmouse by Keith Harward

Keith developed his connection to birds as a child in Greensboro, North Carolina, from backyard feeders and field guides. But before his incarceration, he’d never been an artist. As he phrases it, the only things he’d painted were “cars, houses and ‘the town.’ ”

Then in 1982, as a 27-year-old U.S. Navy sailor, he was charged with murdering a man and raping his wife. The killer was in fact another sailor on Keith’s ship.…

By Patricia Bacchetti

Early May marks the occurrence of Godwit Days, the annual birding festival in Arcata, in Humboldt County. By doing some advance planning this year, I was able to register and attend this well-run event with friends. Be warned: The popular trips fill quickly, so check out the schedule in February if you are planning to attend. The highlight of the trip, in addition to David Sibley’s keynote address Saturday night, was a two-day trip from Arcata to Brookings, Oregon, along a stretch of the coast that I’d never birded before.

One of our first stops was the picnic grounds at Wilson Creek, off Highway 101 just north of the Del Norte County line. A beautiful pair of wintering Harlequin Ducks was resting under the bridge: It’s a species that’s always hard to find in the state, particularly in pairs. They used to breed in rushing streams in the western Sierra, but haven’t been documented for years. This pair was likely heading north to Alaska to breed.

Harlequin Ducks at Wilson Creek, by Patricia Bacchetti

Our next stop was Castle Rock National Wildlife Refuge, one-half mile off the coast near Crescent City. The fourteen-acre rock hosts the second-largest colony of breeding seabirds south of Alaska, surpassed only by the Farallon Islands breeding colony. Common Murres are the most numerous species, and the rock is considered their largest breeding colony on the coast of California. They’re joined by small numbers of Tufted Puffins, Pigeon Guillemots, all three cormorant species, Rhinoceros and Cassin’s Auklets, Western Gulls, and both Leach’s and Fork-tailed Storm Petrels. Northern Elephant Seals and Harbor Seals also breed on the island. Aleutian Cackling Geese have made the island a night roost, and they fly out to the pastures of Humboldt and Del Norte Counties to feed during the day.

Common Murre by Patricia Bacchetti

Castle Rock was privately owned until 1979, when it was acquired by the The Nature Conservancy. Recognizing its importance for breeding sea birds on the north coast, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service bought the island and put it into the National Wildlife Refuge program in 1980. Besides Southeast Farallon Island, it’s the only other off-shore National Wildlife Refuge in California. The rock was an important foraging site for the local Tolowa people in times past, and that history is commemorated at the Point St. George entry site.

Rhinoceros Auklet by Patricia Bacchetti Castle Rock at Point St George / Photo by Patricia Bacchetti

We went to Castle Rock hoping to see Tufted Puffins at their breeding burrows, but because they’re actively feeding in the water during the day, we didn’t find any that day.…

By Ilana DeBare

We’ve got a conservation triple-header happening — and you’re invited!

Right now Golden Gate Bird Alliance has three major opportunities for you to speak out on behalf of birds and wildlife. There’s something for everyone, whether you like to write, to chat on the phone, or to connect in person — and whether you have five minutes to tap out an email, or a full day to explore the inner workings of our state Capitol.

Here’s where we need your help:

Dog management in the GGNRA

This Wednesday (May 25) is the deadline for commenting on the proposed new dog management rules for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. GGBA supports these new rules because they provide more dog-free areas where wildlife can flourish and people can choose to enjoy a park experience without dogs. But off-leash dog owners are lobbying and suing to undermine the rules. Please add your voice by clicking here to file an online comment. (Click here to read more background on this issue.)

Off-leash dog at Ocean Beach / Photo by Jouko van der Kruijssen

Phone bank for Measure AA

Make phone calls to Bay Area voters in support of Measure AA, the $12-per-year parcel tax that will raise $500 million to restore wetlands around San Francisco Bay. There are phone bank sessions scheduled for both San Francisco (Audubon California offices) and Berkeley (Sierra Club offices). Training, snacks, and maybe even a little wine provided. Bring a friend! Click here for dates and details on phone banking in Berkeley. Click here for info on San Francisco. And then remind your friends and family to vote Yes on AA.

The birds can’t phone bank for Measure AA, but we can!

Become a citizen-lobbyist for a day

On June 7, Audubon California will hold its second annual Advocacy Day in Sacramento. I did this last year, and it was both fun and fascinating! You’ll get a thorough orientation and talking points over breakfast, then join other Audubon members to meet with our local lawmakers. It’s a great way to learn about the lawmaking process, to meet Audubon members from different chapters. Plus there will be a lunchtime visit with some live raptors! Click here for info and sign-up.

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Clearly, this is a lot going on at once!  Some months, being involved with GGBA feels like it’s all about the birding. (Like during Christmas Bird Count season!)…