Bay Area Bird Blog

As I’ve mentioned before, my wife and I are very proud of our backyard wildlife habitat and we like to brag when we see a new species there. On Saturday I saw an Audubon’s Warbler, a first for our yard! Actually I’m only about 85% sure that that’s what it was — the blotches of yellow are in the right places but it was much less black than in some photos and bird books. But warblers are pretty variable, so that’s not a big surprise. At any rate, whatever it was, it was new to me!

2 Comments »

After decades of neglect, and refusal (by state and federal government, over many years) to create a species recovery plan as required by the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. jaguar population had long ago fallen to nearly negligible levels. Now the last U.S. jaguar, “Macho B”, is dead. The story of his death is sad, but it’s the loss of the whole species that is tragic. Perhaps someday jaguars can be imported from Mexico (as wolves have been imported from Canada) to re-establish this magnificent species in the U.S.

2 Comments »

In the last month, hundreds of sick and disoriented brown pelicans have been discovered along the West Coast from Southern California to Oregon. Researchers are still trying to determine the exact cause of the widespread and mysterious illness.

If you encounter a sick, disoriented or dead pelican, please call the California Wildlife Hotline at 866-WILD-911. Read more about the sudden illness of pelicans on the West Coast.

1 Comment »

Over the sixteen years I’ve lived in the Bay Area, I have driven past Olompali State Historic Park — on US 101 about fifteen miles north of the Richmond Bridge — over 150 times.  At least thirty of those times, my wife and I have agreed that “we really have to stop by this place sometime.”  Yesterday, we finally did…and I’m sure we’ll be back a few times every year from now on.  There are some historic buildings ranging from 80 to 150 years old, with several interesting stories attached…that alone would be enough to make a single visit worthwhile; for example, there are some remains of the adobe house of the last Miwok Indian leader, dating from the mid-1800s.  (The documented history of the place goes back to 1600, when Francis Drake stopped by, but as some interpretive displays in the visitor’s center make clear, there were people living here since before the dawn of civilization.)

There is also a small “Miwok village,” though it doesn’t intend to really recreate a village.  It does have a house made of reeds, and a storage shelter made of bark. (There is a sign that suggests that there used to be a “longhouse,” too, but there’s no sign of it.  Most interesting to us was the garden of native plants, mostly dormant at this time of year, with signs telling how they were used for food or medicine.  Someday I may try to make a meal from the plants in my backyard; it’s clear that the Miwok would have had no problem doing so, even though not a single one of them is what we would now consider a food plant.

The buildings, history, and Miwok village were interesting, and I could imagine going back at a few different times of year simply to see how the Miwok garden grows, but the real highlight was the scenery and the birds.  Over the course of a five-mile walk, including all of a loop trail, plus part of the climb up a small mountain, we saw: a flock of acorn woodpeckers; a pair of varied thrush apparently building a nest; several ruby-crowned kinglets; a winter wren; a couple of hawks that we couldn’t definitively identify; a cedar waxwing; and of course many other birds that are more familiar to us, such as towhees and robins and hummingbirds (not sure exactly what variety).  Most the walk is through beautiful oak woodland, interspersed with buckeyes and bay trees.  Really beautiful.

3 Comments »

According to the terrific local group Wildcare, “An outbreak of Salmonella is killing songbirds throughout the Bay Area, and WildCare needs your help to stop the spread!”  They give specific advice on their website .  The take-home message for me: I should be cleaning my feeders way more often and way more thoroughly than I do.  Maybe I shouldn’t have them at all!  I will definitely give this some thought, and if I keep the feeders I will definitely clean them better and more frequently.  Please do the same. 

No Comments »

From the SF Chronicle article: 

On the outer edges of Rossmoor, the retirement community nestled between Lafayette and Walnut Creek, a war has been waged for seven years pitting man against woodpecker. The woodpeckers are winning.

But now, the battle is about to go to a whole new level. Homeowners in Rossmoor received a yearlong permit in June from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to kill up to 50 of the pesky birds in an attempt to shoo away the others. Under the terms of the permit, the homeowners must continue to seek nonlethal methods of ridding the homes of the birds, said service spokesman Al Donner.

I hope lots of people object to this..including you, if you are reading this article.  The article mentions some things that the homeowners have tried — some of them are ridiculous, like a fake spider that moves up and down in response to noise — but it doesn’t say that they’ve tried some of the obvious things, like (1) leaving deadwood (dead branches and trees) standing if it is not a threat to fall on someone’s house, and (2) covering the part of the house under the eaves, which the woodpeckers favor, with a piece of tin.  

The Chief Executive’s Office at the Rossmoor retirement community is at 925-988-7712, why not give them a call and ask them to contact the Mount Diablo Audubon Society for help?

Brian Murphy of Audubon has some good ideas; he’s at 925-937-8835.  If you want to get involved in a bigger way than just calling the Rossmoor CEO, give Brian a call. 

1 Comment »

BBN News has a story about a recent article in the medical journal “The Lancet.” It says:

When the records of more than 366,000 people who died between 2001 and 2005 were analysed, it revealed that even tiny green spaces in the areas in which they lived made a big difference to their risk of fatal diseases.
Although the effect was greatest for those living surrounded by the most greenery, with the “health gap” roughly halved compared with those with the fewest green spaces around them, there was still a noticeable difference.

So, support your local parks!

No Comments »

Iraq, banks, Wall Street, Main Street, Afghanistan, blah blah blah.  What about the really important question: what does this mean for birds and nature?  National Audubon Society President John Flicker (good name!) says: 

Presidential Appointments:

·      President-elect Obama should start by appointing to key environmental positions within his Administration qualified leaders who will defend our clean air and water, protect habitat and endangered species, aggressively address global warming, and steward our great natural heritage for future generations.

 Scientific Integrity:

·      The Department of the Interior should systematically review and reverse decisions made by the past Administration under the Endangered Species Act that were influenced by political considerations and not based on sound science.

·      President-elect Obama should send a clear signal to everyone in his administration to restore and respect scientific integrity in all environmental decisions.

Global Warming and Renewable Energy:

·      President-elect Obama has said that: “We cannot afford more of the same timid politics when the future of our planet is at stake.”  He’s right.  We welcome the opportunity to help him deliver his promised $150 billion plan for clean energy technologies that would protect our environment and stimulate the economy, creating up 5 million new green jobs.

·      The Congress should pass legislation providing significant incentives for development of renewable energy such as a strong Renewables Portfolio Standard and a long-term extension of the Production Tax Credit, and pass significant legislation to address global warming with a comprehensive cap-and-trade program.

·      The new Administration and Congress must lead a transformation in American energy production and use through investments in energy efficiency and clean energy technologies. This can minimize the fluctuation of gas prices while protecting our beaches, coastal ecosystems and the Alaskan landscape from the threats of oil and gas drilling.

 Endangered Species Conservation:

·      We’ll work with the Administration to secure reversal of the Bush administration’s weakening of the Endangered Species Act, such as the controversial decision to allow agencies to self-consult regarding the impacts of federally-approved projects on endangered species.

·      Congress should pass new tax incentives to encourage private landowners to work toward recovery of endangered species.

 Bird and Habitat Conservation:

·      The Administration and the Congress should reinvest in the National Wildlife Refuge System and address the unacceptable $3.5 billion maintenance backlog crippling this critical tool for conservation.

·      The Congress should pass legislation to conserve neotropical migratory birds and address the steep declines in America’s common birds that are disappearing from parks, farms, and backyards across the country. 

 Ecosystem Restoration:

·      The Administration and the Congress should fund significant new restoration projects to improve the status of America’s great natural ecosystems: The Mississippi River, the Everglades, Long Island Sound, and the Great Lakes.

 =========

The man (Flicker, I mean) talks a good dream, doesn’t he?  Let’s hope some of this happens!

No Comments »