An Exciting Day of Butterflies and Birds at Coyote Hills

​By Guest Blogger Marisa Still

June 3rd was one of those beautiful spring days on the verge of summer - people were out, the sun was out, and a few of us went bird and butterfly watching.

The Bird and Butterfly Festival had the gorgeous backdrop of Coyote Hills Regional Park in Fremont with a stunning marsh where I would help with two nature walks for SFBBO. I met my walk co-leader Jan Hintermeister near the spot where our walk would begin and we both felt optimistic. After meeting our fairly large group, we started our first walk by meeting in the shade ​to play a game I like to play with my ...

students. We all tricked each other by changing our appearance for a partner and then trying to guess what changed as a way to sharpen our observation skills. It was also a nice time to laugh with our newly formed group and break the ice.

We had people of all ages eager to know more about birds and butterflies. It helped that Claudia Munoz from East Bay Regional Parks trailed behind us with a wagon of binoculars and bird guides for people to use.

We saw Snowy and Great Egrets and observed the differences between the two. We saw and heard Common Grackles, glimpsed a Pied-billed Grebe from a platform, and watched Tree Swallows swoop. There was a great show of White Pelicans, too, as we finished the first walk.
 
The second walk was different, which was also a treat. We saw the same things, and different things - I'm always amazed at how long bird watching stays exciting! By the end we all thanked each other and left happy about our great day outside. 
 
Marisa Still is an outreach volunteer for SFBBO and a science teacher at Beechwood School in Menlo Park who is endlessly fascinated by the natural world. To learn about upcoming SFBBO birding activities, please visit our website. ​​​