Lights out for spring migration

Lights out for spring migration

ByGGBA

Spring migration starts on February 15 — with more than 250 species of birds moving through the Bay Area! You can help them complete their long journeys safely by joining our Lights Out for Birds campaign.

Bright lights tend to draw birds off their nighttime migratory paths. They often end up colliding with buildings or circling the lights endlessly until exhausted. But you can help… by making sure building lights are off from dusk until dawn between February 15 and May 30.

  • Employees: Turn out lights in your workplace at night, especially if you work in a tall building or one with extensive glass windows. If you need to work late, use task lighting rather than overhead lighting, or draw the blinds.
  • Building owners and managers: Turn off non-essential lights such as exterior architectural lighting. Inside, consider installing motion sensors or timers to keep lights off as much as possible at night. Not only will you save the lives of birds, but you’ll save energy and money. PG&E offers rebates to companies that want to install these devices.

Help spread the word! We have Fact Sheets, posters and sample social media messages you can download and share. We can even point you to an online Lighting Cost calculator to help estimate how much money and energy you’ll save by turning lights out.

Visit the Lights Out for Birds page of our web site for more information.

Thanks to our partners at the San Francisco Department of the Environment and PG&E for supporting Lights Out and our Bay Area bird populations!

Thanks to designer Leslie Laurien for creation of the Lights Out logo.

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New office hours

ByGGBA

Our new office hours are Tuesdays and Wednesdays, from 1 to 5 p.m. Other times the office is open by appointment — contact a staff member to ensure we are here before you come in.

We’re currently seeking volunteers to help make up for our reduced office staff. If you can help with the phones, data entry, mailings etc. please email Volunteer Coordinator Noreen Weeden. With volunteer help, we hope to be able to expand our office hours. Thank you for your patience with us during this transitional time.…

Great Backyard Bird Count – Feb. 15-18

Great Backyard Bird Count – Feb. 15-18

ByGGBA

Get ready for the Great Backyard Bird Count! Co-sponsored by National Audubon and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the GBBC is an annual chance to discover and help the birds in your community.

Take as little as 15 minutes to count the birds in a spot of your choice — your own backyard, a park, etc. Then post your results to eBird or the GBBC web site, to help create a snapshot in time of bird populations throughout North America.

We at Golden Gate Bird Alliance are sponsoring a Kids’ Bird Count at Lake Merritt on Saturday morning Feb. 16 as part of the GBBC. We’ll meet at the Rotary Nature Center by Lake Merritt. Time and more details to come soon.

For information on the Kids’ Bird Count, email Eco-Education Director Anthony DeCicco at adecicco@goldengatebirdalliance.org.

Or to learn about the Great Backyard Bird Count, click here:

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January 2013 Gull is available
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January 2013 Gull is available

ByGGBA

 

The new edition of The Gull newsletter for January 2013 is now available online, with  a report by Bob Lewis on bird population trends in the Oakland Christmas Bird Count, an open letter from former GGBA Executive Director Arthur Feinstein, upcoming field trips and speaker events,  and more.

 

 

Click here to read it in color:  Gull – Jan 2013

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GGBA announces new Executive Director

GGBA announces new Executive Director

ByGGBA

On December 1st, Mike Lynes will succeed Mark Welther as Executive Director of Golden Gate Bird Alliance. Following is a letter from GGBA Board President Carey Knecht welcoming Mike and thanking Mark for his leadership and service to Golden Gate Bird Alliance. 

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Dear Golden Gate Bird Alliance members and friends:

We are announcing a leadership change at Golden Gate Bird Alliance: On December 1st, Mike Lynes will succeed Mark Welther as GGBA Executive Director.

These are challenging economic times for most nonprofits, and GGBA has been making strategic adjustments in order to ensure long-term sustainability. One of Mark’s strongest recommendations was that we streamline our leadership structure by merging the Executive Director and Conservation Director roles, and ask Mike to lead Golden Gate Bird Alliance in its work ahead.

Many of you know Mike as our Conservation Director since 2008. He brings with him the dedication and expertise necessary to engage all Bay Area residents in protecting birds and habitat. A U.C. Davis-trained biologist who studied birds with PRBO Conservation Science, he is also a lawyer specializing in environmental policy. For the past four years, he has been Golden Gate Bird Alliance’s chief strategist and public face on conservation issues.

We extend our respect and deep gratitude to Mark for his leadership over the past three and a half years. Mark guided GGBA to some major victories: a landmark agreement to remove thousands of old bird-killing wind turbines at Altamont Pass, San Francisco’s adoption of Bird-Safe Building Standards, and the expansion of the Eco-Education Program and high school internships into Richmond and San Francisco. Mark will continue to be involved with Golden Gate Bird Alliance as a member and advisor, and he looks forward to getting out in the field more.

We on the Golden Gate Bird Alliance Board of Directors look forward to working with all of you to strengthen GGBA’s conservation and education programs. Your support is what makes possible all of our great activities including advocacy, field trips, guest speakers, restoration days and youth education.

If you haven’t had an opportunity to meet Mike personally yet, you’ll have a chance at our annual Christmas Bird Counts on Dec. 16 and 27. We hope to see you there!

Yours truly,

Carey Knecht,
President, GGBA Board of Directors
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