Speakers

SFBBO Waterbird Research

Dr. Max Tarjan
Online: Thursday, July 16, 2020 at 7 pm

Black-crowned Night Heron by Lucas Piccolo

Learn about four decades of waterbird research and conservation in the San Francisco Bay Area! The San Francisco Bay Area offers important habitat for nesting and migratory birds at the center of the Pacific Flyway. This region also supports a large human population, and has lost an estimated 90% of historic tidal marsh habitat to urban development, industry, and agriculture. For four decades, the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory has worked with Bay Area citizens to study and protect the area’s remaining waterbirds and their habitats. These projects rely on rigorous data collection, citizen science, and local partnerships to understand bird habitat use and inform conservation actions.

Dr. Max Tarjan is the Waterbird Program Director at the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory. Dr. Tarjan has over a decade of experience tracking the spatial movements and populations of birds and mammals in central California.…

Sand Dunes and Salt Flats: A GGBA Trip to Namibia, Africa

Bob Lewis
Berkeley: Thursday, June 18, 2020
6:30 p.m. refreshments, 7 p.m. program

Burchell’s Courser by Bob Lewis

Namibia is one of the least densely populated countries in the world, with 2.6 million residents. It has the largest sand dunes in the world, and it hasn’t rained for over 10 years in parts of the Namib Desert. But it hosts many birds and animals that have learned to survive in this arid place. We spent some time in Cape Town with GGBA friends (Eric and Susan), and then four of us drove to Walvis Bay where we met our GGBA tour group. We’ll show you many of the desert creatures we saw on our tour.

Bob trained as a chemist, but his second career is very avian. He’s served on the GGBA board where he led the Adult Education Committee. He’s an award-winning photographer and world traveler, and frequent public speaker on avian topics at libraries and Audubon Societies. He has co-taught Master Birding, Avian Evolution and Bay Area Birds for GGBA, and his bird life list stands at 5037.…

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.…