2024 California Fall Challenge - Supporting Our Work
For more than 40 years, the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory has worked to promote sustainability in the Bay Area and beyond by engaging communities in avian science, habitat restoration, and education.
Our California Fall Challenge (CFC) is our largest fundraising campaign each year from September through October to raise money to to support our work to carry out our Strategic Plan to INFORM, INSPIRE, and INVOLVE more communities in our work. Read below to learn how you can take the challenge!
Our California Fall Challenge (CFC) is our largest fundraising campaign each year from September through October to raise money to to support our work to carry out our Strategic Plan to INFORM, INSPIRE, and INVOLVE more communities in our work. Read below to learn how you can take the challenge!
Tee Up for Conservation
2024 CFC T-Shirt
2024 CFC T-Shirt
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Donations of $80 or more to the 2024 CFC are eligible to receive a 2024 SFBBO T-shirt. The estimated value of the shirt ($15) is not tax deductible. We are taking pre-orders in September and October and will order the shirts from the printers in early November and mail them out when they are ready (late November or early December). These shirts will not be available after Oct. 2024, so order yours today!
CFC T-Shirt Theme: The 2024 CFC T-Shirt artwork (pictured) was designed by Anastasia Nguyen, is on a Vintage Navy shirt, and showcases Wilson's Phalaropes, a species we've studied for two decades in our salt pond surveys and more recently through our community science phalarope. research program. Earlier this year SFBBO Director of Waterbird Science Dr. Nathan Van Schmidt traveled to Argentina to attend the International Phalarope Working Group and later co-authored a letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service asking the agency to add the Wilson's Phalarope to the Endangered Species List. This is an example of the kind of impact we are able to make for birds thanks to support from the community and we hope people will wear their shirt to help spread the word about this declining species. |
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Donate Today! Donations can be made by clicking on the red and white button below. They can also be made by check to San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory, 524 Valley Way, Milpitas, CA 95035. If you are interested in a shirt, after you make a donation please write to [email protected] and let us know what style and size you would like.
Shirt Size Charts: Womens Relaxed Fit Tee, Unisex Jersey Tee
Donate Today! Donations can be made by clicking on the red and white button below. They can also be made by check to San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory, 524 Valley Way, Milpitas, CA 95035. If you are interested in a shirt, after you make a donation please write to [email protected] and let us know what style and size you would like.
Shirt Size Charts: Womens Relaxed Fit Tee, Unisex Jersey Tee
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Bird Photo Big Day
Join SFBBO for the Bird Photo Big Day on Saturday, September 21, 2024. The goal is to capture photos of as many bird species in one day, all as one distributed team. All levels of birders and photographers are welcome!
Don't want to take photos but still want to participate? The team needs folks to watch the number of species grow during the day, help identify bird species, and cheer the team on. Once the photos are uploaded, the organizers will tally the species on Sunday! Click here for more details about the event. CFC T-Shirts: Donations of $80 or more are eligible to receive our 2024 CFC T-Shirt (photo of the shirt above). Click here to make a donation. Checks can also be sent to San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory, 524 Valley Road, Milpitas, CA 95035. These shirts will not be available after October 2024, so order yours soon! |
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Band-a-Thon for CCFS
Participate in our 2024 Band-a-Thon to support our bird banding research at the Coyote Creek Field Station (CCFS). Pledge to donate a certain amount per bird caught at CCFS during a month from Sept. 14-Oct. 13 (you can put a cap on the amount you give).
Since 2003, captures during this period have ranged from 379-1026 birds. Send an email to [email protected] to make a pledge. Or you can donate a straight lump sum donation to support the Band-a-Thon. CFC T-Shirts: Donations of $80 or more are eligible to receive our 2023 CFC T-Shirt (photo of the shirt above). Click here to donate, checks can also be sent to San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory, 524 Valley Road, Milpitas, CA 95035. These shirts will not be available after October 2024, so order yours soon! |
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Special Updates: All Band-a-Thon donors will receive special quarterly updates about our CCFS field station for the next year to learn about the impact of your support.
CFC Birdy Hours
Join our special owl-themed CFC Birdy Hours with Jane Kim and Stephanie Ellis and get inspired to donate to help birds thrive.
- Free to Participate: These virtual events are free and are also fundraisers, so we invite everyone to join the fun and give generously to help birds.
- CFC T-Shirts: Donations of $80 or more are eligible to receive our 2024 CFC T-Shirt (photo of the shirt above). You can make a donation when you register for the Birdy Hour. Checks can also be sent to San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory, 524 Valley Road, Milpitas, CA 95035. These shirts will not be available after October 2024, so order yours soon!
- Raise Money: We hope participants will make a donation to our CFC and take their support to the next level by bringing their friends and family to these special Birdy Hours and invite them to donate to SFBBO, too.
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Drawing Wilson's Phalaropes - Understanding Feather Groups
Birdy Hour with Jane Kim Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024 5:00-6:30: p.m. Register Today! Artist Jane Kim is best known for creating monumental works of public art that celebrate the natural world. From the Wall of Birds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, to From Sea to Sky at Occidental College's Moore Lab of Zoology, birds play a central role in her dramatic story telling. What's her secret to painting birds? Understanding feather groups. Taking participants on a journey through more than a decade of her work, Jane will explkain how understanding feather groups helps her compose her imagery. Sharing lessons from her digital Bird Academy course, "How to Paint Birds with Jane Kim," the artist will present an exclusive demonstration of a species near and dear to SFBBO, the Wilson's Phalarope. |
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Osprey - Egg Incubation, Chick Rearing, and Wild Fostering
Birdy Hour with Stephanie Ellis Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024 5:00-6:00 p.m. Register Today! In 2023, Wild Care's Executvie Director Stephanie Ellis was tasked with incubating two sets of Osprey eggs, raising the chicks, and finding them suitable wild foster nests. This year, she has been placing Osprey eggs (from USDA) into active nests, and working with a local utility company to get chicks into foster nests when they have been displaced by storms and nest fires. In this special CFC Birdy Hour, Stephanie will discuss this intensive process along with two years of successes and challenges. She will also touch upon the history of Osprey on Cape Cod - a true conservation success story, co-existing with Osprey, and the legalities involved in working with Osprey nests, eggs, and chicks. |
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Bid in Our 2024 Online Silent Auction
From Sunday, Sept. 14, through Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, you can bid on wonderful items and experiences in our 2024 California Fall Challege Online Silent Auction!
Auction items and experiences include: packs and clothing from Patagonia; binoculars and spotting scopes; bird walks, nature hikes and pelagic trips; bird houses and bee houses; nest cameras; paintings and other artwork; games and books; note cards, water bottles, hats, totes, stickers, and other bird-themed items for the home and garden; a kayak, and fun, themed gift baskets. The auction link will go live on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. It's easy to participate, just set up an account on the auction site and make your bids, no fiancial inforoation wil be requested. |
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Other Giving and Fundraising Ideas
Personal Fundraising: Help raise money for SFBBO during the CFC by hosting your own personal Facebook fundraiser or asking us to create your own fundraising page on our website (contact [email protected] to learn how). Donations of $80 or more are eligible to receive our 2024 CFC T-shirt (photo of the shirt above). All CFC fundraising volnuteers will be invited to an exclusive, thank you "after party!"
Donate Your Used Vehicle: SFBBO relies on trucks and cars to conduct our field research. If you have a used truck or car in good condition that you are looking to donate, please consider donating it to SFBBO so we can use it in the field. To donate a truck or car for SFBBO to use, please contact Senior Ecologist Cole Jower at [email protected]. If you have a truck or car that is not in good (or running) condition, you can still help by donating it to CARS and we will receive a percentage of the worth of the car.
Other Online Donation Spaces: SFBBO can also receive donations you make through the PayPal Giving Fund, eBay for Charity, and Facebook.
Donate Your Used Vehicle: SFBBO relies on trucks and cars to conduct our field research. If you have a used truck or car in good condition that you are looking to donate, please consider donating it to SFBBO so we can use it in the field. To donate a truck or car for SFBBO to use, please contact Senior Ecologist Cole Jower at [email protected]. If you have a truck or car that is not in good (or running) condition, you can still help by donating it to CARS and we will receive a percentage of the worth of the car.
Other Online Donation Spaces: SFBBO can also receive donations you make through the PayPal Giving Fund, eBay for Charity, and Facebook.