Pyle Workshop
Advanced Ageing and Sexing of Passerines

Gina Barton and Howard Higley examining a bird. (photo by Bill Hepburn)

Join the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory and Ventana Wildlife Society’s Big Sur Ornithology Lab in cooperation with the Institute for Bird Populations for an action-packed week from May 14 – 18. Biologists use various techniques for accurate ageing, sexing, and identification of birds in the hand and the field. Understanding these concepts is crucial to data collection and analysis, and participants will receive instruction on these methods.

Cost is $650 for early registration; limited to 10. Workshop takes place at CCFS and Big Sur. For workshop information and registration, go to www.sfbbo.org/ccfs/LandbirdWorkshop.htm 

Bird Observatory Events

Birding the Bay Trail with Bob Lewis (Hayward Regional Shoreline), Feb. 11, 8 - 10 a.m.
Join Bob Lewis on a bird walk at the Hayward Regional Shoreline where retired salt production ponds and tidal marsh provide unique birding experiences along the Bay edge heavily modified by human activity. RSVP to outreach@sfbbo.org. General walk information available here.

Birding the Bay Trail with Eric Feuss (China Camp State Park), Mar. 11, 8 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Join Eric Feuss to explore the waterfront on the San Francisco Estuary. Many ducks and waterbirds work the shoreline and deeper waters, while landbirds inhabit the grasslands, forest edges, and mixed oak habitat. RSVP to outreach@sfbbo.org. General walk information available here.

Coyote Creek Field Station Update
Notes from Biologist Gina Barton

We ended 2006 with a skunk foraging for food on the levee for at least 2 hours. S/he must’ve found something particularly good that day, because we passed by virtually unnoticed on the way to check nets every half hour. 2007 started with a record number of Varied Thrush – 14 birds, one of which was a recapture. We captured 169 birds of 21 species, with 36 birds/100 net hours. Read more...

Good-bye 2006, good-bye skunk!

News on the Fly
Birding is fastest growing hobby

Bird Observatory experts gave the low-down on chasing vagrants in a recent article by Paul McHugh in the San Francisco Chronicle. Executive Director Janet Hanson, Science Advisory Board Chair Scott Terrill, and Biologist Alvaro Jaramillo all put in their two cents. Read all about it here!

Paul McHugh, "Add this to your life list: Birding among fastest-growing hobbies," San Francisco Chronicle, (Feb. 1, 2007), D8.