June 2010: Wingbeat
Monthly enewsletter of the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory

In this Issue...
Snowy Plover Nest Predators
Coyote Creek Field Station
Silent Auction Items!
Workshops with Alvaro Jaramillo
Upcoming Events
Volunteer Opportunities

Snowy Plover Nest Predators

San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory biologists recently documented a Ruddy Turnstone depredating a Snowy Plover nest. This occured in an area where we placed oyster shells as part of our Snowy Plover habitat enhancement study. The video of the turnstone and other nest depredation events in the salt ponds are posted on the web at: http://vimeo.com/11724291. Warning: This footage includes disturbing and graphic images of nest predation events.

Donate to CCFS and Double your Gift!

Our Coyote Creek Field Station (CCFS) is the center around which much of the mission and activity of SFBBO revolves. At CCFS, we use the science of bird banding to track avian response to restoration and urbanization, as well as document long-term demographic trends.

We are challenged this year to raise $28,000 to operate the CCFS facility.  As of today, our generous supporters have donated $10,000. We are at 36% of our goal. Please help us raise $18,000 by June 30.

Thanks to a matching grant of $5,000 from The JiJi Foundation, donations we receive for the Coyote Creek Field Station (up to $5,000) will be doubled. Your contribution today will go twice as far! Please be as generous as you can so we can reach our goal. 

Seeking Donations for our Silent Auction!

The San Francisco Bird Observatory Annual Membership Meeting will be held at Hidden Villa on Sunday, October 17, 2010. We will be hosting a silent auction fundraiser to fund ongoing avian research. We are currently seeking donations for the auction, including: Birding Excursions, Artwork, Timeshare Use, Binoculars and Optics, Vacation Packages, Event Tickets (Sports, Theatre, Movie), Gift Certificates (Spas, Restaurants, Airlines), Electronics (e.g. iPods, Kindles, bird song software, bird cams), Signed Celebrity Memorabilia,  Professional Services, Antiques, empty baskets (baskets filled with goodies are welcome, too!), etc.

Contact us at (408) 946-6548 or email mkimbel@sfbbo.org to donate a special item, or to be an event sponsor.

Workshops with Alvaro Jaramillo

These workshops incorporate ecology, evolutionary biology, behavioral ecology, and natural history to complement bird identification.

RSVP
Fall Shorebirds
Tuesday, Aug. 31st and Thursday, Sept. 2nd (instruction), 6:30 – 9:00 pm
Sunday, Sept. 5th (fieldtrip), TBA
San Francisco Bay is one of the world's most important migration stop-over areas for shorebirds. Shorebirds can be difficult to identify, especially in fall, when duller juvenile and non-breeding plumages are seen. In order to identify these fall shorebirds, we will dig deep into bird behavior, physiology, ecology, and everything else that is relevant to this season and your enjoyment of migrating shorebirds. This is an opportunity for you to create depth to your shorebird identification skills, have a great time, and view many shorebird species.

Upcoming Events

Saturday, June 19th, 8:30 – 10:30 am
RSVP
A Bird in the Hand
SITE: COYOTE CREEK FIELD STATION (MILPITAS)
Tour the Bird Observatory's banding station and learn about the Bird Observatory’s bird banding research at the Coyote Creek Field Station. You will have the opportunity to see several different species as they are banded. We will tour mist nets, watch a bird banding demonstration, and explore a restored riparian habitat. Please join us and learn why bird banding is so important for protecting birds and their habitats. RSVP required. We will meet at the Borders bookstore parking lot in McCarthy Ranch, Milpitas. More information about the Coyote Creek Field Station can be found here.

Saturday, June 26th, 7:45 am– 10:30 am
RSVP
Birding an Urban Sanctuary
SITE: HELLYER COUNTY PARK
Why would birds want to live in the big city? Join Eric Feuss on a leisurely bird walk along middle Coyote Creek, a natural sanctuary in central San Jose. We will explore the variety of bird species that thrive in the urban riparian habitat at Hellyer County Park. Come out and see how the Bird Observatory studies the city birds, and why this habitat is important to our ecosystem! Information about our walk policies are here.

Saturday, July 24th, 7:45 am– noon
RSVP
Walk Through Fire
SITE: RUSSIAN RIDGE OPEN SPACE PRESERVE
Eric Feuss takes us on a birding trip to one of the Bird Observatory's most scenic field sites - Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve into he Santa Cruz Mountains. Take a walk through this beautiful grassland, where Bird Observatory biologists study the response of avian communities to grassland fires. Nesting season will be over, but we should see adults and young birds preparing for migration. Information about our walk policies are here.

Volunteer Opportunities
See all opportunities on our volunteer opportunities page.

Avian Disease Prevention Field Volunteer
Join Bird Observatory biologists on the South Bay sloughs and channels to help monitor for botulism outbreaks. Surveys occur weekly from late-June to mid-November and require that volunteers spend 4 -5 hours in a small boat. Participants are guaranteed to get muddy and/or wet! Must be willing to handle (with proper protection) sick, injured and dead wildlife. A commitment to at least 1 survey per month over the season is required. Contact Caitlin Robinson-Nilsen at cnilsen@sfbbo.org to sign up or for more information. Please see a complete job description here.

Coyote Creek Field Station Bird Bander
Are you an experienced bird bander? If so, we want you to volunteer at the Coyote Creek Field Station. You must have experience ageing and sexing passerines, using the Pyle Guide, extracting birds from mist nests, and recording data. All volunteers will need to be approved in the field by our master bander. We operate the nets on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Nest open a between 5:00-6:40 a.m. and close between 10:00-11:40 a.m. We ask for a 2 day per month commitment from our volunteer banders. If interested, please email a resume detailing your banding experience and contact information for 2 references to Josh Scullen at jscullen@sfbbo.org. Please see a complete job description here.

Bird Observatory Librarian
The Bird Observatory library provides a wealth of information on ornithology. We are looking for volunteers interested in organizing and cataloguing our books and journals. Volunteers need great organization skills, motivation, computer skills, and ability to work independently. Knowledge of cataloguing databases or experience in library science a plus. If interested, contact Jill Demers at jdemers@sfbbo.org. Please see a complete job description here.

The San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory is a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to the conservation of birds through science and outreach.

Please click here to donate to the Bird Observatory!