Find a bird. Take its photo.
Let's see how many species we can capture together in 1 day!
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Quick links: Bay Area Bird Photo Big Day Facebook Group | 2022 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. The goal is to collectively capture photos of as many species as possible in one day, all as ONE distributed team! 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 watch the number of photos grow during the day, identify bird species, and let the birders in the field know what bird species we are missing! If you aren't on Facebook, email your pictures to slao@sfbbo.org and we will post them for you (see rules at bottom of page). Some of our best birds have come from folks who only took a few shots - but got birds we needed! Any camera will do, and every bird counts! Don't want to take photos but still want to participate? You can join the fun, too! We need folks to watch the number of species grow during the day, help identify birds, and cheer the team on. |
For the first time we are also offering free birding and bird photo field trips to build excitment for the event and for birds and we hope they will inspire people to support our fundraiser. Below is a list of our bird-a-thon field trips on Saturday, Oct. 1st, space is limited so please register today (advanced registration required, no drop-ins please). These walks are suitable for beginners as well as more experienced birders, and we welcome participants of all races, genders, sexual orientations, and abilities.
If you don't want to attend a field trip, you can use the registration link to make a donation to support the trip leader's fundraising teams.
If you don't want to attend a field trip, you can use the registration link to make a donation to support the trip leader's fundraising teams.
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Gallinago Go Gos Field Trip with Lisa Myers and Photographer Sreedhara Alavattam
Time: 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Location: Los Gatos Creek Park in Campbell THIS TRIP IS NOW FULL, but you can donate to support this team! Bird Photography Field Trip with Shubha Tuljapurkar and Bruce Paton Time: 8:00-10:00 am Location: Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve in Palo Alto Register Now! Waterbirds and More Bird Field Trip with Teen Birder Colin Urmson Time: 4:30-6:00 p.m. Location: Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve in Palo Alto, perfect for teens Register Now! |
Pelagic Boat Trip with Chris Overington and Alvaro Jaramillo (boat trip cost not included)
Time: 6:30 a.m. (returning to dock around 4:30 or 5:00 p.m.) Location: Half Moon Bay Register Now! Birding MLK Regional Shoreline with Analicia Hawkins Time: 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Location: Martin Luther King, Jr., Regional Shoreline in Oakland Register Now! Birding Coyote Hills with Bill Pelletier and Kitty O'Neil Time: 8:00 - 10:00 a.m. Location: Coyote Hills Regional Park in Fremont THIS TRIP IS NOW FULL, but you can still donate to support this team! |
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This is also a fundraiser for SFBBO, so we invite people to make a generous donation to help SFBBO continue to conserve birds and habitats through science and outreach. You can also pledge per species. Just let us know how much you want to pledge via the donation page, and then come back at the end of the day when we have the species tallied and donate. Donations of $70 or more are eligible to receive our 2022 CFC T-Shirt (pictured) which showcases Bushtits, a species we often see at our Coyote Creek Field Station. The estimated value of the shirt ($20) is not tax deductible.
All levels of birders and photographers are welcome! There are no bad pictures, especially of a species that we need to add to the count. You may be the only one to get a photo of a certain bird species that day! Once all the photos are uploaded, the organizers will tally the species and judges will pick a winner in each category. The final species count and the photo contest winners will be announced Sunday, October 2, 2022, on the Facebook group and via email. |
2022 CFC T-Shirt draft design (final draft coming soon!)
Donations of $70 or more are eligible to receive the 2022 CFC T-Shirt, which is designed by artist and biologist Anqi Chen and features Bushtits, a species we often see at our Coyote Creek Field Station (CCFS). The estimated $20 value of the shirt is not tax deductible. The shirt is available in women's and unisex styles in small, medium, large, XL, and XXL sizes.
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Thank you to SFBBO docents Bill Pelletier and Kitty O'Neil for organizing these events! Bill and Kitty met at a bird walk in 2016, began teaching advanced birding classes together, and have since gotten married. They are 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. Donations of $70 or more are eligible to receive our 2022 CFC T-Shirt pictured above (the estimated $20 value of the shirt is not tax deducible).
- 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 October 1, 2022, will count.
- Photos must be uploaded to the Bird Photo Big Day Facebook Group or emailed to slao@sfbbo.org to be included in the count by noon the next the day. Please include the species name if you know it and the location where the photo was taken.
- Participants can also compete in the photo contest. One submission per contest category (no limit for photos for the species count) - please indicate which category you are submitting for.
- Submission of images grants SFBBO rights to use the photographs.*
- 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 & Upcoming Events
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 - a new record!
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
Photo contest categories:
- Best Day in the Life of a Bird
- Best Bird In Flight
- Most Extraordinary Photo of an Ordinary Bird
- Birds of a Feather Flocking Together
- Funniest Photo
Header photo credit: Barry Langdon-Lassagne