2018 Annual Report
In 2018 we had another successful year of conserving birds and habitats through science and outreach. Below you can read about our Waterbird Program, Plover Program, Habitats Program, and Landbird Program. This year, in addition to a written annual report, we are highlighting our volunteers in a testimonial video created by students at San Jose State University's Dwight Bentel Hall Student Agency. Below you can also find information about our Outreach Program and our Financials.
Waterbird Program
Our Waterbird Program is the most extensive and robust set of research projects at SFBBO, and each has its own impact. Our Shorebird Survey adds critical Bay Area data to an annual survey of the more than 1 billion shorebirds that winter along the Pacific Flyway from Canada to Peru. Our California Gull Surveys provide groundbreaking data about the exponential growth in breeding gulls in our region and the impact they have on other species. Our Landfill Surveys track the success of new strategies to decrease gull and corvid use of our landfills without harming the birds. Our Avian Disease Prevention Program prevents the spread of avian diseases in the Bay Area. Our Managed Pond Surveys help regional restoration groups like the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project understand the importance of these manmade ponds to local birds. Our Colonial Waterbird Program documents nesting success at more than 70 colonies throughout the Bay Area and engages hundreds of volunteers in avian research and conservation in their neighborhoods. We understand that the first step in conserving birds is counting them, and in 2018 we continued to play a critical role in waterbird conservation through these diverse projects.
Annual Shorebird Survey - In 2018, we again participated in the annual Pacific Flyway Shorebird Survey. Biologists and community scientists surveyed 40 sites across the South Bay. The SFBBO team counted 151,630 shorebirds and also collected data on habitat conditions. Our data collected for this multi-partner monitoring program provided a Flyway-wide assessment of shorebird communities that is used to identify conservation needs along the Pacific coast.
California Gulls Surveys - California Gulls are the most abundant nesting waterbird in the South San Francisco Bay and SFBBO has been monitoring the growth of the breeding population since 1980. In 2018, during all day walk-through surveys from May 9 to May 15, biologists and community scientists surveyed ten colony locations in Palo Alto, Alviso, Hayward, and Fremont. They documented 46,766 nesting California Gulls in the South Bay and re-sighted 32 banded gulls.Thirty-one of these birds were banded at the A6 colony at the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge near Sunnyvale from 2008 - 2010. One was banded at A6 in 1985 and it is one of the oldest California Gulls on record. Band resighting data from this project provides insight into gull lifespan, dispersal, and the potential impact of encroachment into breeding areas for other sensitive species.
Landfill Surveys - SFBBO staff have surveyed gulls at a local landfill since 2007, and expanded this project to include a local recyclery and the survey of corvids in 2014. Gull counts in 2018 pointed to the effectiveness of the multi-approach abatement. In 2018, the abatement program, continued by Wingmaster Falconry, appears to have maintained a dramatic decrease in the number of gulls using the Landfill and Recyclery since their initiation in February 2012. Reducing landfill use by nuisance species limits population growth and their potential to negatively affect other local ground-nesting waterbirds.
Managed Pond Surveys - Since 2005, SFBBO biologists have conducted surveys of the waterbirds that use managed ponds around the Bay (as well as water quality) that are associated with the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project. These surveys covered 82 ponds extending across the Alviso, Newark, Mowry, Ravenswood, and Hayward Eden Landing Ecological Reserve complexes. In 2018, Waterbird Program Director, Max Tarjan, and former Lead Waterbird Biologist, Victoria Heyse, used existing data to evaluate survey protocols to improve project efficiency and better align data collection with project goals. These methods are used to survey over 20,000 acres of managed ponds in the South Bay and to count more than one million birds over the course of the year. The resulting trends in bird counts guide the restoration efforts of the project and enable our partners to maintain ponds that support the needs of multiple local species. SFBBO participated in meetings of the Science Advisory team for the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project. Results from the final report were used to update the survey approaches for 2019, allowing for more efficient surveys that can be further adapted to better capture trends of key waterbird species.
Colonial Waterbird Program - The Colonial Waterbird Program (CWB) is one of SFBBO’s long-standing community science programs, initiated in 1982 to monitor waterbird nesting colonies in the San Francisco Bay. For 36 years, teams of biologists and community scientists have monitored herons, egrets, terns, and other colony nesting waterbirds through our Colonial Waterbird Program.The program has engaged hundreds of community scientists in waterbird nest-monitoring activities and introduced hundreds of local community members to the presence of these birds and their needs for protection and management. Trained community scientists work independently to collect observational data on nesting status, timing of breeding, waterbird behavior, and evidence of disturbance at selected colonies each year. The CWB emphasizes community engagement and community science in order to: 1) increase monitoring capacity across a large geographic area, and 2) generate public interest in protecting waterbirds and their habitats. Many of the colonies monitored by SFBBO community scientists would not otherwise be tracked. The 2018 team, led by Waterbird Program Director Max Tarjan and Outreach and Communications Director Kristin Butler, monitored 62 colonies across 52 sites, all of which became active breeding colonies, throughout the Bay Area from February to August using observational methods. Community scientists recorded the number of adults, chicks, and nests they saw and also noted conservation threats such as predation and human disturbance. Thank you to these community scientists for donating more than 912 hours monitoring colonies.
Annual Shorebird Survey - In 2018, we again participated in the annual Pacific Flyway Shorebird Survey. Biologists and community scientists surveyed 40 sites across the South Bay. The SFBBO team counted 151,630 shorebirds and also collected data on habitat conditions. Our data collected for this multi-partner monitoring program provided a Flyway-wide assessment of shorebird communities that is used to identify conservation needs along the Pacific coast.
California Gulls Surveys - California Gulls are the most abundant nesting waterbird in the South San Francisco Bay and SFBBO has been monitoring the growth of the breeding population since 1980. In 2018, during all day walk-through surveys from May 9 to May 15, biologists and community scientists surveyed ten colony locations in Palo Alto, Alviso, Hayward, and Fremont. They documented 46,766 nesting California Gulls in the South Bay and re-sighted 32 banded gulls.Thirty-one of these birds were banded at the A6 colony at the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge near Sunnyvale from 2008 - 2010. One was banded at A6 in 1985 and it is one of the oldest California Gulls on record. Band resighting data from this project provides insight into gull lifespan, dispersal, and the potential impact of encroachment into breeding areas for other sensitive species.
Landfill Surveys - SFBBO staff have surveyed gulls at a local landfill since 2007, and expanded this project to include a local recyclery and the survey of corvids in 2014. Gull counts in 2018 pointed to the effectiveness of the multi-approach abatement. In 2018, the abatement program, continued by Wingmaster Falconry, appears to have maintained a dramatic decrease in the number of gulls using the Landfill and Recyclery since their initiation in February 2012. Reducing landfill use by nuisance species limits population growth and their potential to negatively affect other local ground-nesting waterbirds.
Managed Pond Surveys - Since 2005, SFBBO biologists have conducted surveys of the waterbirds that use managed ponds around the Bay (as well as water quality) that are associated with the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project. These surveys covered 82 ponds extending across the Alviso, Newark, Mowry, Ravenswood, and Hayward Eden Landing Ecological Reserve complexes. In 2018, Waterbird Program Director, Max Tarjan, and former Lead Waterbird Biologist, Victoria Heyse, used existing data to evaluate survey protocols to improve project efficiency and better align data collection with project goals. These methods are used to survey over 20,000 acres of managed ponds in the South Bay and to count more than one million birds over the course of the year. The resulting trends in bird counts guide the restoration efforts of the project and enable our partners to maintain ponds that support the needs of multiple local species. SFBBO participated in meetings of the Science Advisory team for the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project. Results from the final report were used to update the survey approaches for 2019, allowing for more efficient surveys that can be further adapted to better capture trends of key waterbird species.
Colonial Waterbird Program - The Colonial Waterbird Program (CWB) is one of SFBBO’s long-standing community science programs, initiated in 1982 to monitor waterbird nesting colonies in the San Francisco Bay. For 36 years, teams of biologists and community scientists have monitored herons, egrets, terns, and other colony nesting waterbirds through our Colonial Waterbird Program.The program has engaged hundreds of community scientists in waterbird nest-monitoring activities and introduced hundreds of local community members to the presence of these birds and their needs for protection and management. Trained community scientists work independently to collect observational data on nesting status, timing of breeding, waterbird behavior, and evidence of disturbance at selected colonies each year. The CWB emphasizes community engagement and community science in order to: 1) increase monitoring capacity across a large geographic area, and 2) generate public interest in protecting waterbirds and their habitats. Many of the colonies monitored by SFBBO community scientists would not otherwise be tracked. The 2018 team, led by Waterbird Program Director Max Tarjan and Outreach and Communications Director Kristin Butler, monitored 62 colonies across 52 sites, all of which became active breeding colonies, throughout the Bay Area from February to August using observational methods. Community scientists recorded the number of adults, chicks, and nests they saw and also noted conservation threats such as predation and human disturbance. Thank you to these community scientists for donating more than 912 hours monitoring colonies.
Snowy Plover Program
In 2018, SFBBO continued our long-term effort to recover the federally threatened Western Snowy Plover in the San Francisco Bay. SFBBO staff and volunteers worked diligently to achieve our annual research goals of monitoring all Snowy Plover breeding in the South Bay by tracking nest success and chick survival. The team was led by Plover Program Director Ben Pearl, and included Biologists Anqi Chen and Alex Rinkert, and Intern Anjou Kato.
For the second year in a row, we continued our monitoring program of the endangered California Least Tern, monitoring breeding population, nest success, and chick fledging rates at Eden Landing Ecological Reserve. We continued our valuable partnerships with local agencies and projects, like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project, to achieve species recovery while plover and tern resource needs continue to change in the South Bay. Although historically the South Bay likely only supported a small Snowy Plover Population and no Least Terns, today the South Bay salt ponds support nearly 10% of the rangewide Snowy Plover population, and one of only five Least Tern colonies in the San Francisco Bay Area. These two sensitive species face substantial threats across the Pacific Coast—habitat loss, predation, human disturbance, and imminent sea level rise—making the South Bay a critical habitat for these sensitive birds.
Through these programs, in 2018 our team monitored 269 Snowy Plover nests, including an astounding 145 nests found at pond E14. This pond was treated with an oyster shell enhancement in late 2014 to provide high quality breeding habitat for Snowy Plovers. Since then, it has attracted a large number of Snowy Plovers to breed annually, and breeding Least Terns beginning in 2017. We counted 235 plover adults during the breeding window survey, the second highest count since 2011 when 249 adults were counted. Our biologists banded 31 plover chicks, yet only observed an apparent fledging rate of 19%. Due to the small sample size and our difficulties in resighting banded Snowy Plovers, these numbers should be viewed with caution. We monitored 98 Least Tern nests, with twelve nests confirmed to have hatched at least one chick. An estimate of 1-4 fledglings was produced from the colony. This work was funded by the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge via Facebook, Inc., Cargill Inc., and Alameda County Fish and Game Commission.
For the second year in a row, we continued our monitoring program of the endangered California Least Tern, monitoring breeding population, nest success, and chick fledging rates at Eden Landing Ecological Reserve. We continued our valuable partnerships with local agencies and projects, like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project, to achieve species recovery while plover and tern resource needs continue to change in the South Bay. Although historically the South Bay likely only supported a small Snowy Plover Population and no Least Terns, today the South Bay salt ponds support nearly 10% of the rangewide Snowy Plover population, and one of only five Least Tern colonies in the San Francisco Bay Area. These two sensitive species face substantial threats across the Pacific Coast—habitat loss, predation, human disturbance, and imminent sea level rise—making the South Bay a critical habitat for these sensitive birds.
Through these programs, in 2018 our team monitored 269 Snowy Plover nests, including an astounding 145 nests found at pond E14. This pond was treated with an oyster shell enhancement in late 2014 to provide high quality breeding habitat for Snowy Plovers. Since then, it has attracted a large number of Snowy Plovers to breed annually, and breeding Least Terns beginning in 2017. We counted 235 plover adults during the breeding window survey, the second highest count since 2011 when 249 adults were counted. Our biologists banded 31 plover chicks, yet only observed an apparent fledging rate of 19%. Due to the small sample size and our difficulties in resighting banded Snowy Plovers, these numbers should be viewed with caution. We monitored 98 Least Tern nests, with twelve nests confirmed to have hatched at least one chick. An estimate of 1-4 fledglings was produced from the colony. This work was funded by the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge via Facebook, Inc., Cargill Inc., and Alameda County Fish and Game Commission.
Habitats Program
San Francisco Bay contains habitats of hemispherical importance, meaning they are required by millions of individual migrating birds from dozens of species (in addition to the thousands of birds from many species that live here year round). Habitats once found along the edge of San Francisco Bay have been almost completely destroyed by human activities. In fact, over 90% of the estuary is levied off from either part of its historic extent or from upland habitats that are needed by many species.
In a nutshell: SFBBO’s Habitats Program studies methods to improve conservation of the estuary’s margin. We strive to:
When the Habitats program began this research about a decade ago nobody was intensively studying habitats along the estuary’s margin. A push by endangered species biologists to get these habitats included in the conservation of tidal marshes began in the 1960s. This started to finally sink into the region’s conservation groups around two decades ago, and now these habitats are a component of conservation throughout the estuary.
We support this push to conserve more of the estuary’s habitats through several of our research programs. The primary one is our ongoing work to develop methods and materials for creating functional plant communities along the edge of the bay. We are seeing good results from our work at Bair Island in Redwood City, where we started our fourth restoration phase in 2018. We also saw good results from our third year of work on the Habitats around Pond A17 in Alviso.
Both of those sites are collaborations with the USFWS Don Edwards SF Bay NWR, which manages the lands for wildlife. The Bair Island site has been funded by POST, but also through grants raised by DU. The Pond A17 site was funded by a Climate Ready grant from CCC, and through our partnership with the SCVWD in their Clean Safe Creeks & Natural Flood Protection Program, as well as funding raised by the South Bay Salt Ponds Restoration Project.
Another important research program of ours is a collaboration with Brian Fulfrost & Associates on mapping the upland transitional topography around the estuary and ranking their likely value to conserving the estuary’s habitats. Initial funding came from The USFWS Coastal Program; additional funding came from the CCC Climate Ready grant and SFBJV & SFEP, which have adopted our methods for mapping these habitats and our data as a conservation baseline.
In 2018 the team was excited about continuing our testing of soil amendments to improve the recruitment of native plants. We learned that wood chips were particularly adept at improving the establishment of plants at the Pond A17 site, likely due to increased water retention in the wood fibers vs other amendments. We tested this further at Inner Bair Island, by adding over 400 cubic yards of wood chips to Phase 4 in several different ways to refine our understanding of this technique and improve our recommendations to our partners.
In a nutshell: SFBBO’s Habitats Program studies methods to improve conservation of the estuary’s margin. We strive to:
- Develop feasible methods to create, restore, and enhance functional habitats,
- Conserve biodiversity across scales: from local genetic diversity up to whole ecosystems, and
- Collaborate with the region's wide variety of conservation groups.
When the Habitats program began this research about a decade ago nobody was intensively studying habitats along the estuary’s margin. A push by endangered species biologists to get these habitats included in the conservation of tidal marshes began in the 1960s. This started to finally sink into the region’s conservation groups around two decades ago, and now these habitats are a component of conservation throughout the estuary.
We support this push to conserve more of the estuary’s habitats through several of our research programs. The primary one is our ongoing work to develop methods and materials for creating functional plant communities along the edge of the bay. We are seeing good results from our work at Bair Island in Redwood City, where we started our fourth restoration phase in 2018. We also saw good results from our third year of work on the Habitats around Pond A17 in Alviso.
Both of those sites are collaborations with the USFWS Don Edwards SF Bay NWR, which manages the lands for wildlife. The Bair Island site has been funded by POST, but also through grants raised by DU. The Pond A17 site was funded by a Climate Ready grant from CCC, and through our partnership with the SCVWD in their Clean Safe Creeks & Natural Flood Protection Program, as well as funding raised by the South Bay Salt Ponds Restoration Project.
Another important research program of ours is a collaboration with Brian Fulfrost & Associates on mapping the upland transitional topography around the estuary and ranking their likely value to conserving the estuary’s habitats. Initial funding came from The USFWS Coastal Program; additional funding came from the CCC Climate Ready grant and SFBJV & SFEP, which have adopted our methods for mapping these habitats and our data as a conservation baseline.
In 2018 the team was excited about continuing our testing of soil amendments to improve the recruitment of native plants. We learned that wood chips were particularly adept at improving the establishment of plants at the Pond A17 site, likely due to increased water retention in the wood fibers vs other amendments. We tested this further at Inner Bair Island, by adding over 400 cubic yards of wood chips to Phase 4 in several different ways to refine our understanding of this technique and improve our recommendations to our partners.
Landbird Program
For over 35 years, SFBBO staff and volunteers have banded birds at our Coyote Creek Field Station (CCFS) located on a restored riparian habitat on City of San Jose property in northern San Jose. Forty-four community science volunteers spent nearly 4,700 hours throughout the year collecting, entering, and proofing our CCFS data. SFBBO and academic partners use these data to track avian responses to climate change, restoration and urbanization, and to document long-term demographic trends.
In 2018, this program was led by Landbird Program Director Josh Scullen with support from biologists Anqi Chen, Alex Rinkert, and Dan Wenny, and education specialist Tonya Anderson. SFBBO interns Danielle Devincenzi and Jessica Kochick also contributed to this program. With our staff, interns, and community scientist volunteers, we captured 3,511 birds of 56 species. This a little below our annual average of 3,900 birds captured per year, but within expected yearly variation.
Burrowing Owl Program - In 2018, SFBBO continued a five-year project funded by the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency to monitor Western Burrowing Owls and enhance, maintain, and restore nesting habitat at the Warm Springs Unit, a vernal pool alkaline grassland that is part of the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. With the help of our community science volunteers, Landbird Biologist Dan Wenny conducted two line transect breeding season surveys, focal burrow monitoring and camera trapping to estimate the population and breeding success of the Burrowing Owls at the 719-acre unit. Through this effort, we recorded three active nests and 5 other occupied burrows. One of the three active nests was successful with five chicks. In addition to many volunteers, SFBBO staff Yiwei Wang, Victoria Heyse, Cole Jower, Alex Rinkert, Eric Lynch, Matt Hinshaw, Emily Cech, Anqi Chen, and Anjou Kate helped with the surveys. We also continued working with the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society on Burrowing Owl habitat management and monitoring in Alviso.
In 2018, this program was led by Landbird Program Director Josh Scullen with support from biologists Anqi Chen, Alex Rinkert, and Dan Wenny, and education specialist Tonya Anderson. SFBBO interns Danielle Devincenzi and Jessica Kochick also contributed to this program. With our staff, interns, and community scientist volunteers, we captured 3,511 birds of 56 species. This a little below our annual average of 3,900 birds captured per year, but within expected yearly variation.
Burrowing Owl Program - In 2018, SFBBO continued a five-year project funded by the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency to monitor Western Burrowing Owls and enhance, maintain, and restore nesting habitat at the Warm Springs Unit, a vernal pool alkaline grassland that is part of the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. With the help of our community science volunteers, Landbird Biologist Dan Wenny conducted two line transect breeding season surveys, focal burrow monitoring and camera trapping to estimate the population and breeding success of the Burrowing Owls at the 719-acre unit. Through this effort, we recorded three active nests and 5 other occupied burrows. One of the three active nests was successful with five chicks. In addition to many volunteers, SFBBO staff Yiwei Wang, Victoria Heyse, Cole Jower, Alex Rinkert, Eric Lynch, Matt Hinshaw, Emily Cech, Anqi Chen, and Anjou Kate helped with the surveys. We also continued working with the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society on Burrowing Owl habitat management and monitoring in Alviso.
Outreach Program
In 2018, our Outreach Program engaged community science volunteers in our research; educated youth, families, college students, corporate groups, and others about bird conservation through science talks, bird walks, banding demos, science nights, and special events; and raised money from the community to continue our work. In addition, Tonya Anderson and Jessica Kochick helped update and implement our Education Module for middle school students, which uses 20 years of data collected at our Coyote Creek Field Station, and brought nearly 500 6th and 7th grade students out to CCFS to learn about population trends and migratory patterns of neotropical and temperate migrants and resident bird species in the Bay Area. Funding for the Education Module development and implementation came from the Measure Q ballot initiative, passed in 2014, and administered by the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority. We plan to continue implementing this module in 2019 with a generous grant provided by Cargill.
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2018 Board of Directors
Jan Hintermeister - Board Chair Lynne Trulio - Board Secretary Anne Hepburn - Board Treasurer Gina Barton - Board Member Denise Mohsenin - Board Member Leah Russin - Board Member Anna Zivian - Board Member Marty Michael - Board Member Christine Zack - Board Member |