NOTE: This trip is now FULL but you may sign up on the waiting list. 

Join Dolphin Charters and GGBA to explore northern San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay, home to thousands of wintering birds.

Led by GGBA birding instructor Bob Lewis, we’ll cruise from Berkeley through northern SF Bay into San Pablo Bay. Leaving from the Berkeley Marina, we will proceed along the old Berkeley ferry pier to see what’s shaking, turn north and head over to Southhampton Shoal, and then on to the Richmond Inner Harbor and Brooks Island and its breakwater.

Surf Scoter / Photo by Bob Lewis

Leaving this area we’ll travel to Red Rock before passing under the Richmond/San Rafael Bridge and our views of East and West Brothers Islands. This trip offers water bird and marine mammal viewing in stunning locations, many of which can only be seen by boat.  In addition to the many ducks, loons, pelicans and gulls that come into the Bay for the winter, we can also expect to see resident cormorants, grebes, terns and murres.

Leaving this area we’ll travel to Red Rock before passing under the Richmond/San Rafael Bridge and our views of East and West Brothers Islands. This trip offers water bird and marine mammal viewing in stunning locations, many of which can only be seen by boat.  In addition to the many ducks, loons, pelicans and gulls that come into the Bay for the winter, we can also expect to see resident cormorants, grebes, terns and murres.

Dress in layers.  Bring liquids and lunch.  Trip is limited to 25 people. If it fills up, there will be an online waiting list.

Date: Saturday November 16, 2013

Time: 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Cost: $85 for GGBA members and $95 for non-members.

Depart and return: Berkeley Marina (directions will be emailed to all paid attendees).

Click here to register.…

What’s it like to sight one hundred birds in six hours — all within Oakland city limits? Oakland magazine provides a vivid account of the Oaktown Ouzels team’s “big six hours” during our April 2013 Birdathon.

Click here to read the online version of the story. And then start planning your own 2014 Birdathon trip!

Oaktown Ouzels at Sibley Regional Park / Photo by Ilana DeBare One of 105 species / Photo by Ilana DeBare Oaktown Ouzels at Lake Merritt / Photo by Ilana DeBare

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Please sign our online petition to prevent the unnecessary drowning of young Peregrine Falcons!

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service recently revoked permission for the rescue and relocation of peregrine chicks from bridge nest sites ion Northern California.

Peregrine Falcons were threatened with extinction in the 1960s and ’70s due to DDT, and remain on the state of California list of Protected species.

Because we have destroyed so much of peregrines’ habitat, they sometimes turn to man-made bridges for nesting. But the chicks then face a risk of drowning as they learn to fly.

The U.C. Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group has been working to support this once-endangered species for decades. They are willing to continue rescuing and relocating falcon chicks from Northern California bridges for free — at no cost to taxpayers.

The Fish & Wildlife Service says the rescues are no longer necessary, that peregrines prey upon other at-risk species such as California Least Terns, and we should “let nature take its course” with falcon fledglings on bridges.

We’re not talking about large numbers here — maybe three or four peregrine chicks each year on bridges in Northern California. The impact of three or four additional falcons on species such as Least Terns is dwarfed by other, larger threats such as human disturbance and habitat loss.

Peregrines bring a bit of wild beauty into our urban lives. They are only recently off the endangered species list, and continue to face man-made hazards such as shooting. We have depleted their traditional nesting sites and built the bridges that seem like attractive replacements — shouldn’t we allow skilled wildlife experts like the PRBG to help them survive?

Click here to sign our petition. Add your comments. And take a minute to read the eloquent comments on the petition site by other people who have signed!…