• Celebrate autumn with a birding class

    ByGGBA

    Are you curious about the birds in your backyard or neighborhood park? Do you know a little bit about birds but want to learn more? Or are you an experienced birder who wants to take your enjoyment and knowledge to a whole new level?

    Whatever your experience level or interest… we’ve got a birding class for you this fall!

    In addition to our usual line-up of excellent and convenient East Bay classes, we’re delighted to offer a Beginning Birding class in San Francisco for the first time in several years.

    Birding class at MLK Shoreline in Oakland / Photo by Ilana DeBare

    Choose from the following classes:

    Beginning Birdwatching (meets next to Ashby BART in Berkeley)

    Wild Birds of the Bay Area (for beginning and intermediate birders, meets at Fort Mason in San Francisco)

    Appreciating Birds: Journaling and Field Sketching

    Raptor ID in a Day (meets in Marin Headlands)

    Birds of the Bay Area

    Avian Treasure Hunt: Fall Migration

    Birding By Ear

    Registration opens for some of these classes on August 9, and for the rest of them on August 16. For dates, details, and registration links, see our Classes web page.

    Our instructors are expert birders who share their passion in a welcoming, accessible manner.  Expand your understanding of the wildlife all around us… explore beautiful natural areas… meet new friends… and make autumn 2017 a season you’ll remember.…

  • Our nest cam Ospreys hatch their second chick!

    ByGGBA

    Now we have two Osprey chicks!

    Richmond and Rosie, the Osprey pair at the center of our live video feed in Richmond, hatched their first chick on Friday morning, May 12! Then their second hatched on Sunday, May 14, Mother’s Day. Osprey fans suggested and voted on names for the two youngsters — Whirley (in honor of the Whirley Crane where the nest is sited), and Rivet (in honor of the nearby Rosie the Riveter memorial).

    Here’s a clip of the first chick and parents shortly after it hatched:

    And here are some photos from the video feed of new the new arrival:

    The new chick is already holdings its head up and demanding food! Shirley, the older chick, receives bits of fish from one parent while the other stands watch on May 12. Note the second egg nearby, which had not yet hatched.

    “Ospreys are successfully nesting along the edges of San Francisco Bay for the first time in recorded history,” said Cindy Margulis, Executive Director of Golden Gate Bird Alliance. “The presence of these charismatic raptors highlights the environmental progress that’s been made in our region, and underscores the opportunities for people to help Ospreys prosper here. We believe that witnessing the life of an Osprey family along our urban shoreline can inspire the whole community to protect Ospreys and other Bay Area wildlife.”

    Nest and wildlife cams have become a media phenomenon in recent years: Last year, a nest cam focused on Bald Eagles in Washington D.C. drew over 63 million views. The Bay Area’s Peregrine Falcon cameras have been popular for a while too. However, the unique vantage point of the Whirley Crane nest will thrill wildlife watchers as the Ospreys are raising their family on historic real-estate, with a commanding view of the Bay and the S.F. skyline from the nest camera.

    Night image with infrared camera

    Ospreys are one of nature’s wildest raptors, yet they are now choosing to breed near people – even using human-made structures like the Whirley Crane. While Ospreys historically nested along Northern California lakes, none had been documented nesting on the Bay’s edge before the 1990s. Their numbers started growing in the 2000s, and by 2016 there were 42 known Osprey pairs nesting and 51 new Osprey fledglings joined the summer population last season.

    Golden Gate Bird Alliance’s new Osprey nest cams operate 24/7, with infrared cameras allowing night viewing without disturbing the birds. …

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    Summer 2017 Gull is available

    ByGGBA

    The new edition of The Gull newsletter for Summer 2017 is now available online.

    Learn the story behind the Bay Area’s first live Osprey nest cam, which has drawn over 44,000 viewers.

    Also get the latest news on Oakland herons, the results of Birdathon 2017, and the distinctive California Thrasher.

    Of course this issue of The Gull also includes upcoming GGBA events and the calendar for our Speaker Series in July, August, and September!

    Click here to read it: Gull_Summer_17.

    P.S. If you’re a GGBA member who receives the printed edition of The Gull by mail but would like to switch to online delivery by email, contact our office at ggas@goldengatebirdalliance.org. It saves postage and paper, plus you’ll get your copy earlier than by post.…

  • Docents explain Lake Merritt’s birds

    ByGGBA

    Take a stroll around Lake Merritt this spring and have our friendly docents help you learn about the birds! Golden Gate Bird Alliance volunteers will be stationed on the north edge of the lake (near the nesting islands and Rotary Nature Center) every other Saturday from 10 a.m. until noon:

    Saturday March 25
    Saturday April 8
    Saturday April 22
    Saturday, May 6
    Saturday, May 20
    Saturday, June 3

    They’ll help you identify the Double-creted Cormorants and other birds nesting on the islands, as well the ducks, herons and other birds that frequent the lake.

    Originally an arm of San Francisco Bay, Lake Merritt  was designated as a wildlife refuge by the state Legislature in 1870 — the first wildlife refuge in the country. At that time, the lake still had thick wetlands ringing its shores and providing habitat for thousands of water birds.

    Lake Merritt before urban development. Photo courtesy of Oakland Public Library.

    The late Paul Covel, a Golden Gate Bird Alliance activist, became the City of Oakland’s first naturalist in the mid-20th century and oversaw construction of a sanctuary for injured birds at the lake and construction of the Rotary Nature Center.

    Today the lake is healthier than in past decades, since bond funds allowed the city to widen the channel connecting it to the Bay and admit more tidal flows. Species commonly found at the lake include Double-crested Cormorants, Black-crowned Night-Herons, Snowy Egrets, Ruddy Ducks, Buffleheads, Greater and Lesser Scaups, White Pelicans, and grebes.

    Read more about Lake Merritt’s birds and history on our blog. Then come out and visit with our docents!

    Birding at Lake Merritt today / Photo by Ilana DeBare

     …

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