Speakers

Pier 94 Restoration

Mike Perlmutter
San Francisco: Thursday, May 21, 2020
6:30 p.m. refreshments, 7 p.m. program

Killdeer Eggs at Pier 94 by Mike Perlmutter

Since 1997 Golden Gate Bird Alliance has partnered with the Port of San Francisco to enhance shoreline wildlife habitat at Pier 94, located along the south eastern bay shoreline, on property owned and operated by the Port of San Francisco. After completing successful wetland and beach enhancement projects, in 2013 Golden Gate Bird Alliance initiated habitat enhancements in the adjacent upland areas of Pier 94. Through creative partnerships and modest funding, Golden Gate Bird Alliance mobilized materials, equipment, and people to transform a mostly barren area of shoreline rubble and road into a viable place for native plants and wildlife. This project is a model for beneficial sediment reuse – using clean local “waste” sediment from mining, dredging, and excavation projects for habitat enhancement rather than disposal.

Mike Perlmutter is the Environmental Stewardship Team Supervisor for the City of Oakland Public Works Environmental Services Division. The Environmental Stewardship Team supports volunteer cleaning, greening, and beautification projects throughout City of Oakland public spaces such as parks, creeks, and rights of way. Mike holds a Bachelor’s of Science from Tufts University, and a Master’s of Environmental Management from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Mike has worked in San Francisco Bay Area environmental conservation since 1998. His experience includes native plant and wildlife habitat restoration with the National Park Service, wildlife advocacy with the National Audubon Society, regional invasive plant management with the Bay Area Early Detection Network, and urban environmental stewardship with the City of Oakland.

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Native Plants for Birds

Kathy Kramer
Berkeley: Thursday, April 16, 2020
6:30 p.m. refreshments, 7 p.m. program

Anna’s Hummingbird by Bob Gunderson

“Garden As If Life Depends On It – and How the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour Can Help You Do So”

You may have heard about the thirty percent decline in bird populations, and the insect apocalypse. Come learn how you can help reverse these trends in your own garden, and find out how the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour can help you transform your garden into a place that provides food, shelter, and nesting areas for wildlife.

Kathy Kramer has been developing programs that educate Bay Area residents on local environmental issues for over thirty years. The programs developed under Ms. Kramer’s leadership have received local, state, and national awards. Ms. Kramer currently runs the “Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour,” a Bay Area based environmental conservation program.…

Creating Urban Bird Habitat

Amber Hasselbring
San Francisco: Thursday, March 12, 2020
Note: Second Thursday of the month
6:30 p.m. refreshments, 7 p.m. program

Townsend’s Warbler by Bob Gunderson

Note new transit-friendly location: S.F. State University Downtown Campus, 835 Market Street (next to the Westfield Shopping Center, at Powell Street BART station), 6th floor.

Birds need native plants and the insects that feed on them, but how to provide native habitat in our urban backyards and public open spaces? Nature in the City’s Backyard Natives Nursery enlists volunteers to grow native plants in their own yards. Learn how these volunteers engage with each other to harvest seed, clone plants from cuttings, and coordinate large-scale habitat restoration… and how your own backyard birds can benefit from this collaborative effort.

Amber Hasselbring is Executive Director of Nature in the City, whose mission to connect everyone in San Francisco to nature by cultivating and conserving local habitats.…

Rodenticides: The New DDT?

Lisa Owens Viani
Berkeley: Thursday, February 20, 2020
6:30 p.m. refreshments, 7 p.m. program

Red-tailed Hawk with rodent, by Rick Lewis

Are anticoagulant rat poisons the new DDT? Lisa Owens Viani will describe the epidemic of wildlife mortality caused by these poisons. She’ll explain their impacts on birds of prey such as hawks and owls, among many other animals. She’ll summarize proposed legislation to reduce the use of dangerous rodenticides, and what we can do to help beneficial predators thrive and provide us with their free, natural pest control services.

Environmental writer Lisa Owens Viani co-founded Raptors Are The Solution, which educates people about the ecological role of raptors and the danger to wildlife from widespread use of anticoagulant rat poisons.…

Heermann’s Gulls Nesting in California

Byron and Joanna Chin
San Francisco: Thursday, January 16, 2020
6:30 p.m. refreshments, 7 p.m. program

Heermann’s Gull pair bonding at Roberts Lake, by Byron Chin

Note new transit-friendly location! S.F. State University Downtown Campus, 835 Market Street (Westfield Shopping Center, at Powell Street BART station), 6th floor.

Heermann’s Gulls were thought to breed exclusively on small islands in the Gulf of California and off the Mexican coast, where their numbers are declining due to warming seas and overfishing. But in 1999, a few nested on a man-made island on Roberts Lake in Seaside, California—the only known nesting colony of Heermann’s Gulls in the United States. Learn about the natural history of Heermann’s Gulls, the Seaside colony’s growth to 100 individuals, its environmental challenges, and efforts by Monterey Audubon and others to help the colony by monitoring and deployment of a floating nesting island.

Byron and Joanna Chin have been avid birders for over a decade, with a particular love for gulls and other seabirds. They’ve spent the last two years studying the Heermann’s Gull colony in Seaside and have worked closely with Monterey Audubon to conserve them. When not involved in bird-related pursuits, Byron is a patent litigator and Joanna is a pediatrician.…