Find a bird. Take its photo.
Let's tell the stories of birds and water together in 1 day!
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Quick links: Bay Area Bird Photo Big Day Facebook Group | 2023 Donation Page
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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. In celebration of World Migratory Bird Day, which is May 13th this year, our theme for the Spring 2023 Bird Photo Big Day is Water: Sustaining Bird Life. This year, our spring and fall big days will be slightly different from each other. The spring event will focus on our bird photo contest with some interesting new categories to spark creativity. In addition, we'll be looking for photos of any quality that share the story of birds' relationship with water. From riparian to bayside to seaside and beyond, we need you to help us document the many ways birds rely on water. In honor of our updated mission statement, for the first time we are also inviting people from all over the world to participate in this Bay Area event by adding a new photo contest category: World Birds. After the event, SFBBO will use the photos you've shared to tell the story of the issues birds face and what we all can do to help. 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 post their own stories about what they've done to help birds be resilient in the face of climate change and other issues. If you aren't on Facebook, email your pictures or stories to slao@sfbbo.org 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 telling an important story about birds and water. Once all the photos are uploaded, the organizers will organize the photos and judges will pick a winner in each category. The photo contest winners will be announced Sunday, May 14, 2023, on the Facebook group and via email. |
Bird Photo Big Day Photo Contest
May 13, 2023 Water: Sustaining Bird Life Photo Contest Categories:
Winning photos will be highlighted on SFBBO's website, social media, newsletter, and a press release to the media. *In honor of our renewed mission to engage communities in sustainability work, the Humans Helping Birds category can include water-themed photos showing any example of birds benefitting from human help, or photos of humans taking action to make sure birds have the water resources they need (such as bird baths, restoration projects, or any creative idea you can find). Photos in this category will be judged on how well they tell a story about how humans help birds rather than on the artistic quality of the photo. **The World Birds category can be pictures of birds in any of the above categories focused on birds and water that are taken outside of the Bay Area counties (see rules). |
NEW: Join us for field trips on the Big Day!
We are hosting free bird outings on May 13th to teach people about how our local birds depend on water and to inspire them to take great photos that tell important stories about these birds. Space is limited and registration is required, so reserve your spot today!
We hope you'll join us and share your photos and stories!
- 10am-12pm: Charleston Slough in Mountain View with Dr. Lynne Trulio, SFBBO board member and SJSU professor
- 1pm-3pm: Byxbee Park in Palo Alto with Colin Urmson, teen volunteer and avid birder and photographer
We hope you'll join us and share your photos and stories!
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 on Saturday, May 13, 2023 local time will count.
- Photos and stories must be uploaded to the Bird Photo Big Day Facebook Group or emailed to slao@sfbbo.org to be included in the contest by 12:00pm Pacific time the next the day.
- Please include: the species name if you know it, the location where the photo was taken, and which contest category you are submitting your photo(s) for.
- 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.*
- Except for the World Birds category, birds must be photographed in these San Francisco Bay Area counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, and Sonoma.
- Follow local laws and rules, including COVID-19 regulations, and please respect property rights.
Bird Photo Big Day Highlights
May 13, 2023: Water - Sustaining Bird Life
The theme this spring was Water 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!
2020-2022 Bird Photo Big Days led by Kitty O'Neil and Bill Pelletier
May 16, 2020: Inaugural Event
Species Count: 170
Check out this summary of our first ever Bird Photo Big Day!
Check out this summary of our first ever Bird Photo Big Day!
Sep 26, 2020: Strike a Pose
Species Count: 152
Notable Rarity: Bay-breasted Warbler by Brooke Miller
Winning Photos:
Notable Rarity: Bay-breasted Warbler by Brooke Miller
Winning Photos:
Apr 10, 2021: Shoot the rainbow
Species Count: 166
Winning Photos:
Winning Photos:
Sep 18, 2021: A Day in the life
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:
Apr 30, 2022: Spring into Action!
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:
Oct 1, 2022: A Day in the Life
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:
Header photo by Melani King