By Bob Lewis
February is a great time to explore the refuges in the Central Valley, and Merced National Wildlife Refuge is especially interesting right now.  The Bay Area Birds class that I co-teach with Rusty Scalf finished up the quarter with a weekend visit.   A check with the ranger at the refuge revealed that there are 35,000 Snow and Ross’s Geese currently present.  The majority are Ross’s Geese, spending the winter in the corn fields grown on the refuge specifically to feed the waterfowl.  They’ll shortly depart for Northern Canada and their nesting grounds.  We had a chance to observe some White-fronted and Cackling Geese too, but their numbers are dwarfed by the white geese.
Mixed in with the geese are majestic Sandhill Cranes, mostly just taking advantage of the food in the fields, but a few are beginning to “dance,” bouncing on their long legs and flaring their wings – establishing or renewing pair bonds.  They’ll also soon be heading north to their nesting grounds.  Some of the Greater race nest in Sierra Valley, where our Birds of the Sierra class gets to observe the rusty-colored chicks with their parents.
Snow Geese by Bob Lewis
Sandhill Cranes by Bob Lewis
Sandhill Cranes by Bob Lewis
Not to be forgotten are striking White-faced Ibis.  They’re in their non-breeding plumage now, but in March they’ll get their white faces.  Even in their less striking plumage, the green iridescent wing coverts contrast with their red-brown body plumage, adding to the already notable image of a large bird with a decurved bill.  They feed along the marsh edges, probing for worms, insect larvae and snails.
White-faced Ibis by Bob Lewis
Ross’s and Snow Geese by Bob Lewis
Bushtit by Bob lewis
Add to the list raptors (including Swainson’s Hawk and Bald Eagle), ducks (all three species of teal) and  shorebirds (Wilson’s Snipe) all wintering in the refuge and a variety of residents like Marsh Wren, Bushtit and blackbirds and Merced Refuge is really worth a visit!
Our class list is on EBird at ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S21868063.
Directions and information about the refuge are at fws.gov/refuge/merced/.

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Bob Lewis, a Golden Gate Bird Alliance board member and chair of the Education Committee, will co-teach Birds of the Bay Area again in the fall. There are still spaces available in the first session of his Birds of the Sierra class, which takes place over a three-day period in June in the Sierra.…

Note: This is the second in a series of occasional blog posts by GGBA member George Peyton about his other half Lani Rumbaoa’s effort to see over 600 bird species in the Lower 48 states in 2015.
By George Peyton 
We flew to Boston on January 21 intending to look for wintering birds from the far north that would be difficult to see in other areas during Lani’s Big Year. As soon as we arrived in Boston around 9 p.m., we started hearing about a major snowstorm headed there, so that was always on our minds as we birded for the next four days. Not wanting to drive in snowy and icy conditions, we had fortunately arranged for local Boston area birders to take us out in their cars.
At 6 a.m. the next morning we were met by Wayne Petersen, a senior staff member at Massachusetts Audubon Society, driving his Prius.  (In fact, all three of our bird leaders in Boston drove a Prius. California is not the only state with the conservation ethic.) Wayne is not only an exceptional birder and guide, but somewhat of a legend in the Massachusetts birders’ world. He is in charge of the Important Bird Areas Program in that state and other major tasks, including recently managing 600 contributors to the Breeding Bird Atlas for Massachusetts as its Chief Editor. In addition to having led many international bird tours for Mass Audubon (he has just left for Tanzania), he was a bird guide for Field Guides Bird Tour Company for over 20 years.
All of this background showed in our day birding together. First, Wayne found three separate Snowy Owls for Lani while birding on Plum Island, perhaps the most famous birding location in eastern Massachusetts. This was a life bird for Lani, and absolutely gorgeous birds. In all, Wayne found 17 new Year Birds for Lani that day, including species not found in California like Razorbill and Black Guillemot. We were fortunate with cold clear weather all day.
Razorbill, one of the closest living relatives of the extinct Great Auk / Photo by Steve Garvie
While seeing birds is the priority in a day out birding, food is also important. Wayne introduced us to Bob’s Lobster for lunch, a favorite hangout for birders on Plum Island with delicious lobster rolls, and we finished off with excellent locally-made ice cream. As we drove back to Boston after dark, Wayne stopped at Prince Pizza north of Boston, a popular spot for birders to congregate for pizza and draft beer after a long day of birding.…

By Lisa Eileen Hern 
I can’t remember what year it was when I fell in love with Burrowing Owls, but I clearly remember being at Shoreline Park in Mountain View in the spring, and looking down at green grass with lots of yellow eyes peering up at me from holes in the ground. Owls, in the ground! Once I gazed further into those gorgeous eyes, I knew I was in love. I have since become a docent in Golden Gate Bird Alliance’s Burrowing Owl program in Cesar Chavez Park in Berkeley.
The GGBA program has only a small number of owls in its area – six in the winter of 2012-13, four last winter, and two this winter. So I was very interested when I heard about the large, successful Burrowing Owl conservation program being run by Santa Clara Valley Audubon in northern San Jose.
Burrowing Owls in San Jose / Photo courtesy of Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society
Burrowing Owl in San Jose / Photo courtesy of Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society
Josh McCluskey — one of the leads of the SCVAS owl program — gave a public lecture on January 21 about the 180-acre section of Regional Wastewater Facility buffer lands that they manage for Burrowing Owls in a partnership with the City of San Jose. SCVAS’s ultimate goal is to create, maintain and monitor an ideal owl habitat.
One of their tactics is to provide more burrows. Although Burrowing Owls traditionally adopt burrows made by other species such as squirrels, SCVAS has had great success with artificial burrows — attracting pairs that have produced an average of 4.8 chicks per year (versus about three for other Burrowing Owls in the area).
SCVAS also works to provide fruitful hunting habitat and plentiful prey for the owls by keeping the grass less then one meter high and maintaining an open area without trees but with lots of dirt mounds and rock piles.
Most importantly, they’re trying to limit predation. They set traps for skunks, which are the owls’ main predators. (Other predators include Prairie Falcons, Golden Eagles, hawks, and possums.)
Golden Eagle hunting for Burrowing Owls / Photo courtesy of Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society
SCVAS tries to track the owl population through banding, although this is hampered by the lack of a central repository for Burrowing Owl banding information. Many of the banded owls are never reported again.…

By Pat Bacchetti
When I told friends that I was going to Minnesota in January, the most common response was “Why on earth would you go there then?!”
I started to have second thoughts as well, as I watched temperatures in Duluth dip below zero, with the wind chill reading hovering around -20F. But as a life-long Californian, I was looking forward to experiencing a Northland winter as well as the birds that favor that climate. So off I went to Minneapolis on December 31, with three Dungeness Crabs in tow for a New Year’s party, and many layers of down clothing.
Our first stop was for Snowy Owls, who like the long flat fields around airports to hunt for their mousy prey during the day. As my friend in Minneapolis, Susan, drove us around the cargo area of Minneapolis International, we dodged airport security looking for owls. We were able to finally locate my life-list Snowy Owl, a beautiful pure white male, sitting on a building near the runway. It was a thrill to finally see one of these beautiful Arctic owls. We would see two more at the Richard I Bong Airport in Superior, Wisconsin, but the first sighting is always the most memorable.
A wing-tagged Snowy Owl in Superior, WI, which is just south of Duluth. The researcher dyes the head feathers with a black dye to make them easier to spot in the field. Photo by Patricia Bacchetti
Duluth was the next stop, for a Minnesota Birding Weekends fieldtrip. Duluth is a delightful old port town at the southwest tip of Lake Superior that’s been transformed into a tourist destination, with galleries, cafes, and excellent restaurants. Though ore boats still ply the lake, visitors are more important for its economy these days. Lake Superior held Minnesota’s third state record Common Eider, who has been living near the pier since November. In addition to the eider, a couple of Northern Pintails and American Black Ducks were hanging out with the mallard/goldeneye flock, unexpected visitors in January.
For a Californian, the next target bird was a lesson in perspective: a Golden-crowned Sparrow had been at a feeder for the month of December, and this was a much-desired state sighting for Minnesota birders. After a brief appearance by the sparrow, we headed off to find Hoary Redpolls in the large flocks of Common Redpolls that winter in the area. Kim Eckert, our leader, found a single Hoary Redpoll in a large flock of Common Redpolls.…

By George Peyton
In February, 2005, after reading The Big Year by Mark Obmasick, later made into a popular movie, my other half, Lani Rumbaoa, announced that she intended to do her own Big Year of Birding, but limited to the Lower 48 States rather than all of North America.  I thought she was a bit crazy, but when Lani decides that she wants to do something, she is very determined. So even though we were both working full-time and had limited time for travel outside of the Bay Area, she ended 2005 with a total of 428 bird species.
In 2014, Lani announced that she wanted to do her second Big Year, to compete against her 2005 total, but with a goal of seeing 600 species. I shook my head in disbelief, since I knew that it would be far more difficult seeing 600 species than 428 – but Lani had made up her mind.
So here we are in January, 2015, all geared up for her to see as many bird species as possible.
Here are some specifics. Lani is 53, has been birding for 14 years, including 15 international bird tours, has great eyes for spotting birds, lots of energy, major enthusiasm – and most important, she is absolutely determined to see at least 600 bird species during 2015. One more key factor is that she will be continuing her work as a store manager full five-day workweeks for at least 26 weeks out of the year, which will restrict her ability to drop everything and travel promptly to see some rare bird that has shown up in California or elsewhere.
Lani and George on the Big Island of Hawaii in 2014
In contrast, I am 76, have been actively birding for 66 years, and have organized and escorted over 40 international bird tours. I am not as expert a birder as Joe Morlan or Dave Quady or Bob Lewis, but have many years of active birding experience.
My title is Big Year Coach, Cheerleader, and Primary Bird Guide, but it also includes being Planner and Chief Sherpa, carrying the scope, field guide and pack on our many upcoming days birding in the field.
I have already spent over 300 hours planning where and when Lani should go to see at least 600 species during 2015, as well as making plane, rental car, and motel reservations for our many out-of-state birding trips.…