WINGBEAT!

Go Birding, Celebrate, and Win Prizes!
California Fall Challenge ends Oct. 15, but the Party is on Oct. 29!

Los Gatos

SF Silver Fox Charters

Don't forget to set back your clock on the 29th for Daylight Savings!

Annual Meeting, Oct. 29, 9 - 10 a.m. (free)
If you haven't gone on a bird-a-thon trip yet, you still have time! Organize your own trip or join a guided trip. Exciting Fall Challenge Prizes will be awarded at the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory's Annual Meeting on October 29th at Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve from 9 - 10 a.m. Join us for program updates, stories with fellow birders, and CFC prizes! Refreshments and good company for all! RSVP to jchow@sfbbo.org or 408 946 6548.

Anniversary Party, Oct. 29, 10 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. ($14/$18)
Don't leave too soon! We'll be holding our 25th Anniversary Party from 10 a.m. to 2:30 at Jasper Ridge on the same day. The party includes a birding tour of the preserve and a catered lunch. $14 for members; $18 nonmembers. Register (download CFC registration form) or call 408 946 6548 by October 16. Please remember to carpool! More information here.

View the full prize list for top CFC fundraisers!
You could be the proud owner of a Leica Televid 77 scope or the next adventurer on a Monterey Bay pelagic tour...Remember to ask your sponsors to make their checks payable to "San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory" and to write your name on the memo line.

Venture Out into the Urban Wilds

"Science of Birds" Walk: Power Lines and Birds, Oct. 7, 8 - 10 a.m.
 Bird collisions with power lines, wind turbines, and towers have been well documented, but what is being done to prevent them here in Silicon Valley? Join Bird Observatory Field Assistants Caitlin Robinson and Corina Jung on a walk along power lines around Coyote Creek as they explain a project studying the use of markers to deter birds from power lines. Free for members; $10 nonmembers. RSVP to jchow@sfbbo.org or 408 946 6548.

CFC "Pedalling for Plovers" Guided Trip, Oct. 7, 9:00 a.m. (half day), $35
Join Ann Murphy and Cynthia Padula for a morning of birding! We will be biking out to the salt ponds, to the marsh, and along Alameda Creek to view an amazing variety of waterbirds. Register for CFC! More information about this guided trip here.

CFC "Gallinago Go Go's" Guided Trip, Oct. 7, 7:00 a.m. (full day), $50
Lisa Myers and the Gallinago Go Go's will bird all parts of Santa Clara County looking for a minimum of 100 species. Register for CFC! More information about this guided trip here.

CFC "DeDucktions" Guided Trip, Oct. 8, 8:00 a.m. (full day), $50
Matthew Dodder will lead birders on an all-day experience in a variety of habitats within a roughly 10-mile radius of the Bird Observatory headquarters. Register for CFC! More information about this guided trip here.

CFC "Warblequest" Guided Trip, Oct. 15, 8:00 a.m. (half day), $35
A slow, careful stroll along Gazos Creek in October with Garth Harwood often turns up migrating warblers and other songbirds--some well away from their typical ranges. Register for CFC! More information about this guided trip here.

Coyote Creek Field Station Update
Notes from Biologist Gina Barton

You may wonder why the Scrub Jay is holding a pen. Maybe you think it’s trying to record its own data?  Although that would entertain us, Scrub Jays love to grab onto you while you are banding them, so giving them a pen to hold onto keeps them from digging their claws in you. Read more...

Heron and Egret Atlas
Through the help of countless volunteers in the Colonial Waterbird Monitoring Project, the Bird Observatory began collaborating with Audubon Canyon Ranch in 1991 to create a Heron and Egret Atlas. The historical atlas provides bay-wide data extending from the outer Pacific Coast to the Central Valley of California in the north and the Santa Clara Valley and interior East Bay subregions in the south. It has just been completed and is available online at http://www.egret.org/atlas.html. Thank you to all who helped make this atlas possible!

NAOC 2006 Conference: Wings Without Borders
I am participating in this year's North American Ornithological Conference in Veracruz, Mexico. My talk on "Tidal marsh restoration and implications for colonial waterbirds in the San Francisco Bay"  will be part of the "Colonial Waterbirds on Urban Islands" symposium. More information about the talk will be available in an upcoming issue of the "Stilt."  

News on the Fly
Canning Sardines? Nope, Packing Boxes of Data, Books, and Office Supplies!

Thanks to the Sobrato Foundation, the Bird Observatory has found a new temporary home in Milpitas and will be moving in late November. We will need help organizing and packing November 13 - 17, 18/19, or 25/26, so let us know if you're available to help out on any of those days for a few hours.	Good-bye, Bayside Canning Co!
Please contact Outreach Specialist Juliana Chow at jchow@sfbbo.org or call 408 946 6548 if you would like to be contacted to be part of our "packing crew" or if you would like to donate boxes. Thank you to volunteers who have already offered to help!