Heron’s Head Park: Birding Hotspot
By Dominik Mosur
Imagine a complex of salt, brackish and freshwater marshes and associated upland covering hundreds of thousands of acres. Then picture it reduced by 90 percent, with the lost areas converted into modern humans’ idea of development. This is the story of San Francisco Bay. A visitor to Heron’s Head Park in southeastern San Francisco can — with a little patience and focus — transport themselves back a couple of hundred years in the past and observe a tiny slice of what would have once been all around us.
Heron’s Head Park had its genesis in the early 1970s, when the Port of San Francisco started trucking landfill to India Basin to create a new shipping terminal. The terminal was never built, and for a while there was talk of building a new S.F.-Oakland bridge at the site. But that never happened either and, in the meantime, aquatic plants took root and grew into a vibrant salt marsh. In 1993, Golden Gate Bird Alliance successfully petitioned the Port to preserve and enhance the area as a wetland – leading to the second largest wetland restoration project in the city, after Crissy Field.
Heron’s Head Park trail / Photo by Bob Gunderson
Spotted Sandpiper / Photo by Bob Gunderson
A number of agencies contributed to restoration of the area during the 1990s, including the S.F. Public Utilities Commission and the California Coastal Conservancy. The Port removed over 5,000 tons of excess concrete, built a tidal channel to increase water circulation, and added amenities such as a fishing pier and walking paths.
In 1999, the area officially became 23-acre Heron’s Head Park, named for its shape when viewed from above. The resulting tidal marsh and upland has matured into one of the prime bird habitats in the city of San Francisco.
Heron’s Head Park viewed from the air – can you see how it got its name?
View of Heron’s Head Park from a kite camera / Photo by Charles Benton
This became most obvious with Ridgway’s Rails (formerly California Clapper Rails), a federally-listed endangered species. The first Ridgway’s Rail ever documented at the site was reported in 2010. The next summer, two Ridgway’s Rail chicks were discovered there.
This breeding success appeared to be short-lived, however, and only a single Ridgway’s Rail is thought to remain at the site as of 2015. Habitat restoration can only go so far and re-colonizations like the return of Ridgway’s Rails to Heron’s Head face tremendous odds against long-term success.…