Find a bird. Take its photo.
Let's see what we can capture together in 1 day!
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Quick links: Bay Area Bird Photo Big Day Facebook Group | 2024 Donation Page
Pigeon Gullemote by Dee Vee
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Since 2020, Bay Area birders have banded together each spring and fall to photograph as many birds as possible for the Bird Photo Big Day.
Our spring and fall big days are slightly different from each other. The spring event focused on our bird photo contest and our fall event on focuses on counting as many bird species as possible in 24 hours. This fall we are also offering free, downloadable family-friendly actvities to enhance the fun! The 2024 Fall Challenge Bird Photo Big Day is on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. Please read below to learn how to join the fun! |
Anna's Hummingbird by Pranav Mehta
How to participate: Head over to Facebook and join the group; that's where all the action takes place. Don't want to take photos but still want to participate? You can join in on the fun, too! We need folks to cheer on the photographers and help identify birds. If you aren't on Facebook, email your pictures to [email protected] and we will post them for you (see rules at bottom of page).
This is also a fundraiser for SFBBO, so we invite everyone to make a generous donation to help SFBBO continue to promote sustainability in the Bay Area and beyond by engaging diverse communities with avian science, habitat conservation, and education.
All levels of birders and photographers are welcome! There are no bad pictures, especially if it's a bird species we need.
This is also a fundraiser for SFBBO, so we invite everyone to make a generous donation to help SFBBO continue to promote sustainability in the Bay Area and beyond by engaging diverse communities with avian science, habitat conservation, and education.
All levels of birders and photographers are welcome! There are no bad pictures, especially if it's a bird species we need.
Thank you to SFBBO docents Bill Pelletier and Kitty O'Neil for designing the Bird Photo Big Day! Their legacy continues. Bill and Kitty met at a bird walk in 2016, began teaching advanced birding classes together, and have since gotten married. They were field trip leaders for SFBBO, the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society, and Santa Clara Open Space Authority and their goal is to blend a wide variety of birding skills in a light-hearted and fun approach to birding. Hear what Bill and Kitty say about supporting SFBBO's bird conservation efforts!
Rules:
- Free to participate, but this is also a fundraiser to support our bird conservation science and outreach programs, so donations of all levels are welcome and appreciated.
- Birds first! Please practice mindful birding and avoid using audio playback.
- Birds must be living in the wild and unrestrained.
- Only photos taken in the 24 hours from midnight to 11:59pm local time on the Bird Photo Big Day date will count.
- Photos must be uploaded to the Bird Photo Big Day Facebook Group or emailed to [email protected] to be included by 12:00pm Pacific time the next the day.
- Please include the species name if you know it and the location where the photo was taken.
- If uploading multiple images to the Facebook group at the same time, please caption each image.
- Submission of images grants SFBBO rights to use the photographs.*
- Follow local laws and rules and please respect property rights.
Bird Photo Big Day Highlights
Species Count: 170
From Kitty and Bill: We appreciate the energy and passion that the SFBBO scientists bring to avian science, critical habitat restoration, and their educational outreach programs. We are proud to be volunteers for an organization that is looking out for the birds we love here in the Bay area.
Read here for further highlights for our inaugural event!
Winning Photos:
From Kitty and Bill: We appreciate the energy and passion that the SFBBO scientists bring to avian science, critical habitat restoration, and their educational outreach programs. We are proud to be volunteers for an organization that is looking out for the birds we love here in the Bay area.
Read here for further highlights for our inaugural event!
Winning Photos:
Species Count: 152
Notable Rarity: Bay-breasted Warbler by Brooke Miller
Winning Photos:
Notable Rarity: Bay-breasted Warbler by Brooke Miller
Winning Photos:
Species Count: 166
Winning Photos:
Winning Photos:
Species Count: 168
Notable Rarities: Grace's Warbler (photographed by Bob Toleno), Lesser Sand-plover (photographed by Barry & Ginger Langdon-Lassagne), Northern Waterthrush (photographed by Susan Weinstein), Blackburnian Warbler (photographed by Sreedhara Alavattam)
From Kitty & Bill: Thank you for joining us and your fellow bird enthusiasts for the Bird Photo Big Day on September 18, 2021! Together we grew the Facebook Team to 239 members and photographed an amazing 168 species in 24 hours! Over 700 photos were submitted to our Facebook group, and we raised over $4,000 for bird conservation and habitat restoration. Well done team! You all put the FUN in fundraiser!
Winning Photos:
Notable Rarities: Grace's Warbler (photographed by Bob Toleno), Lesser Sand-plover (photographed by Barry & Ginger Langdon-Lassagne), Northern Waterthrush (photographed by Susan Weinstein), Blackburnian Warbler (photographed by Sreedhara Alavattam)
From Kitty & Bill: Thank you for joining us and your fellow bird enthusiasts for the Bird Photo Big Day on September 18, 2021! Together we grew the Facebook Team to 239 members and photographed an amazing 168 species in 24 hours! Over 700 photos were submitted to our Facebook group, and we raised over $4,000 for bird conservation and habitat restoration. Well done team! You all put the FUN in fundraiser!
Winning Photos:
Species Count: 171
Notable Rarity: A probable Gray Flycatcher photographed by Erika Fleniken at Ulistac Natural Area in Santa Clara!
From Kitty & Bill: Wow! Our fifth Bird Photo Big Day was such a big success! We grew the Facebook group to 316 members. And when the Big Day arrived, you all sprang into action and photographed 171 different species all in one day! Thank you to every one of you that went out there and took photos, helped with IDs, cheered us on, and especially those of you who donated. You are the reason that this event was so successful.
Winning Photos:
Notable Rarity: A probable Gray Flycatcher photographed by Erika Fleniken at Ulistac Natural Area in Santa Clara!
From Kitty & Bill: Wow! Our fifth Bird Photo Big Day was such a big success! We grew the Facebook group to 316 members. And when the Big Day arrived, you all sprang into action and photographed 171 different species all in one day! Thank you to every one of you that went out there and took photos, helped with IDs, cheered us on, and especially those of you who donated. You are the reason that this event was so successful.
Winning Photos:
Species Count: 202 - a new record!
Species List:
Species List:
From Kitty & Bill: Wow! Our Fall 2022 Bird Photo Big Day was a huge success and loads of fun! As a team we photographed 202 species all in one day breaking our record of 171 birds by 31 birds! And we raised much needed funds for the wonderful work done by SFBBO! Thank you to everyone! You went out there and took photos, helped with IDs, and cheered us on. You all are the reason that this event was so successful.
Winning Photos:
Winning Photos:
2023 Bird Photo Big Day: Spring Photo Contest & Fall Count
The theme in spring 2023 was Water: Sustaining Bird Life in celebration of World Migratory Bird Day. We focused on the bird photo contest, looking for photos of any quality that share the story of birds' relationship with water. From riparian to bayside to seaside and beyond, people shared photos and stories depicting many ways that birds rely on water. SFBBO will be using these to tell the story of the issues birds face and what we all can do to help.
We ended up receiving photos of nearly 90 species from over 40 photographers! A notable rarity that showed up that day was a Black Tern at Shoreline Lake, first photographed by SFBBO Executive Director Chris Overington. We also received photos from Florida (thanks to Kitty & Bill!), Chile, and Switzerland!
We ended up receiving photos of nearly 90 species from over 40 photographers! A notable rarity that showed up that day was a Black Tern at Shoreline Lake, first photographed by SFBBO Executive Director Chris Overington. We also received photos from Florida (thanks to Kitty & Bill!), Chile, and Switzerland!
Bay Area Species Count: 143
We had 3 additional species photographed from outside of the Bay Area: Mountain Chickadee, American Dipper, and Keel-billed Toucan! This brings our total species count for the day to 146. Even though we didn't beat our previous count record, a number of species were added that have not been photographed in the last two fall Photo Big Days (noted as "rarities" below)!
We also kept data about which species were photographed the most by county. Overall, Anna's Hummingbirds appeared in the most number of counties (6)!
Thanks so much to everyone who participated and to Ceel Craig for her help keeping track of all the data!
Header photo by Melani King