One wing down June 9, 2013

By Phila Rogers

When I fell and broke my right shoulder in April, I felt as if I had lost a wing.  With the arm immobilized in a sling, my balance was compromised. I was deprived of my ability to walk safely which meant no bird walks – a loss not willingly accepted during the most active time of year for most birds.  So I took to my bed.  Not the bed, exactly, but the narrow daybed in my sunroom which has a fine view of the hanging feeder and seed tray on the adjoi…

David Lindo, Urban Birder March 10, 2013

By Ilana DeBare

As residents of San Francisco and the East Bay, we in Golden Gate Audubon are all pretty much urban birders.

But David Lindo is The Urban Birder.

A native of London, Lindo has built a career around extolling the wonder of birding in cities. He’s done books, TV shows, tours and writes a blog called (of course) The Urban Birder.

“I’m all about trying to engage people who haven’t declared an interest in birds,” he said during his firs…

Birding, Miwok-style February 25, 2013

By Ivan Samuels

When was the last time you went birding without binoculars?  Most birders would consider this a bad idea for obvious reasons.  But with experience, you would be surprised how many species you can identify without optics.  Birding by ear, by definition, implies that you don’t even need to see the bird for species recognition.  And in many cases, you already know the species you are watching as you begin to raise your binoculars.

In …

Central Valley birding – go for the goose! January 31, 2013

Editor’s note: We are nearing the end of peak winter birding season in the Central Valley. If you haven’t been there, now is the time! Golden Gate Audubon board member David Anderson offers some tips and routes.

By David Anderson

The sky filled suddenly with a blizzard of snow geese, lifting in waves near and far — ten thousand or more. A thousand undulated in the distance, winging high; a few thousand rose then settled back close by; s…

Birding Hotspot: U.C. Botanical Garden January 27, 2013

This is the third in a series of occasional reviews of Bay Area birding locations. Do you have a favorite site you’d like to share? Email idebare@goldengateaudubon.org. 

By Chris Carmichael and Phila Rogers

Strawberry Canyon has it all – a vigorous year-round stream, lush riparian vegetation that  follows the stream, and surrounding hillsides with native coastal chaparral and open grasslands.

The U.C. Botanical Garden, located on 36 ac…

SF Christmas Bird Count sets record December 28, 2012

By Ilana DeBare

What a glorious day for a count! It started out cool and windy, especially for the teams by the ocean, but by midday the sun was strong and hats came off.

And best of all… we set a new record for the San Francisco Christmas Bird Count.

Eighteen teams counted a preliminary total of 179 species – breaking the prior SF CBC record of 177 species and surpassing this year’s Oakland CBC total of 177. (Not that San Franciscans are co…

Oakland Christmas Bird Count finds 177 species December 17, 2012

Sunday December 16th was Golden Gate Audubon’s 72nd annual Christmas Bird Count in Oakland. About 200 volunteers fanned out in a 15-mile circle, from the Oakland Airport in the south to Point Isabel in the north, and from Lafayette Reservoir in the east to Treasure Island in the West. Here is the initial report by Dave Quady, who organized the count with Bob Lewis. They will have a final report in several weeks.

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