Golden Gate Audubon Society

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Habitat Restoration Opportunities

The following activities support our habitat restoration sites in San Francisco and the East Bay. Work is done on a monthly basis, so if you miss one, come to the next one! These are drop-in programs, so no need to RSVP,  unless you are an organized group.  If we have a large amount of individuals or groups attending a workday, we will post them as FULL.  Directions are not always posted.  If you need directions, or want to schedule a group workday, please contact the Volunteer Coordinator.

Harding Park,  San Francisco

Each month Golden Gate Audubon sponsors workdays where volunteers help restore habitat for the California Quail, the official bird of the City and County of San Francisco and of the State of California. We plant native species, remove invasives, and do general maintenance at Harding Park, next to Lake Merced.  We just finished up a year of TogetherGreen Volunteer Days where 200 new volunteers came out to the site to pull radish and other invasives, as well as put over 60 new shrubs and trees in the ground.

Next Workdays: TBD

Directions: Meet in the large parking lot where Sunset and Lake Merced Boulevards meet. You will find us by the statue.

Pier 94, San Francisco’s Southern Waterfront
As part of our ongoing efforts to restore wetlands in San Francisco Bay , we will continue our efforts at Pier 94, throughout the year. Activities include invasive plant removal, trash pickup, monitoring, and planting in the fall. The site is home to native California Sea-blite, as well as nesting shorebirds. This program is currently a part of a National Audubon program called Together Green Volunteer Days, inspiring people everywhere to take action to improve the health of our environment.

Next Workdays:

• Saturday, September 25, 9 a.m. to noon: Coastal Cleanup! – FULL
• October – no public workday in October.
• Saturday, November 6, 9 a.m. to noon.
• Saturday, December 4, 9 a.m. to noon.

Directions: Find your way to 480 Amador St. in San Francisco, which is a temporary office for a neighbor. Just ahead of you, you will see a small sign next to the left of white barriers. This is the entrance to Pier 94. Park in front of the barriers.

Public Transit: The Muni Metro T-Line stops at Marin, which is located a couple blocks before Cargo Way on Third Street. Please visit www.511.org for a transit planner from your location. Follow the directions above from Third Street turning onto Cargo Way.

Martin Luther King Jr. Shoreline, Oakland
Work to plant native shrubs and weed out the invasives at our site adjacent to Arrowhead Marsh in East Oakland. Arrowhead Marsh is a one-of-a-kind area to work.  Northern Harriers and Brown Pelicans swoop down and Clapper Rails chatter in the marsh.

Next Workday:

• Saturday, September 25, 9 a.m. to noon: Coastal Cleanup! Meet at the Oakport Soccer Field about 1/4 mile north of 66th St. on Oakport in Oakland at MLK shoreline.
• Saturday, October 16, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Saturday, November 20, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Saturday, January 15, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Directions to our site: Find your way to the intersection of Pardee Dr. and Swan Way.  Turn left onto Swan Way,  and enter at the Park District’s brown entrance sign on the right. Head all the way down the road to the last parking lot by the observation platform.

Proposed Alameda Wildlife Refuge, Alameda
Home to the endangered California Least Terns, who have left the site until next summer. Work with the Friends of the Alameda Wildlife Refuge to prepare habitat by removing invasive shrubs and groundcovers. Adults must be present to work with anyone under the age of 15, unless given special permission.

Next Workdays:

• Sunday, September 12, 9 a.m. to noon
• Sunday, October 10, 9 a.m. to noon
• Sunday, November 14, 9 a.m. to noon
• Sunday, December 12, 9 a.m. to noon
• Sunday, January 9, 9 a.m. to noon

Directions: Meet at the main refuge gate at the northwest corner of the former Naval Air Station in Alameda. Find your way to 2501 Monarch St. in Alameda, then drive toward the gates to the left of the Creative Technologies building.  The far gate will be open, where a volunteer will have you sign-in.

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Other Conservation Opportunities

In addition to habitat restoration, we also offer the following opportunities in conservation.

Conservation Committee
Get together with other  birders and wildlife enthusiasts on your side of the bay and find out about projects in your community. The East Bay Conservation Committee meets on the Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. at the GGA office in Berkeley.  The San Francisco Conservation Committee meets the first Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m. at the Randall Museum, 199 Museum Way.

Southern Waterfront Monitoring
Golden Gate Audubon is seeks volunteers to census birds roosting and nesting along the Southern Waterfront in San Francisco. This survey will begin again in March 2011.  The survey will be conducted once a week by pairs volunteers.  We need one person with a spotting scope and a person that can record and submit the data collected.  We are looking to capture information on the birds along this area which includes the identification of gull and tern species.  The surveys will be scheduled to avoid traffic 1.5 hours before and after baseball games and other major events.  Please contact nweeden@goldengateaudubon.org if you are interested in this survey.

Volunteers Needed to Help Compile Observations
GGA seeks dependable volunteers to help compile data for the monthly Observations. An interest in bird distribution and movements is essential, but advanced knowledge is not required.Training will be provided and credit given in each Gull. If interested, contact Bruce Mast at observe@goldengateaudubon.org.

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Education Opportunities

Eco-Education Environmental Educators
Once the school year begins, our Eco-Education staff and volunteers will be joining 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th grade classrooms in the fall and spring of 2010-2011 to teach kids about local ecosystems. Every year, Eco-Education staff seeks dedicated volunteers to assist with this award-winning program for field trips to MLK and Pt. Pinole Shorelines in the fall, then creek field trips in the spring. These class trips happen during the week, to coincide with the school day. If you love working with kids and teaching them more about the environment, please contact Anthony de Cicco at adecicco@goldengateaudubon.org.

Birding and Natural History  Field Trip Leaders and Teachers
Golden Gate Audubon just trained over a dozen new field trip leaders this summer! Thank you to all of you who came out with interest and enthusiasm. If you are interested in leading occasional field trips to places of your choosing, or teaching adults about natural history.  We are always seeking field trip leaders and  instructors in bird-related subjects, including beginning birding, bird migration, bird physiology; butterflies; wildflowers; habitats and associated wildlife; insects; etc. Please contact us if you are interested.

Birding the Bay Trail Docent Program
Golden Gate Audubon received support for a new program that trained volunteers to be docents on the portion of the San Francisco Bay Trail between the Albany mudflats and the Richmond Marina. Walkers, joggers, bicyclists, and dog owners, as well as birders, frequent this part of the trail. With scopes in hand, GGA docents showed trail users the resident and migratory shorebirds, shared information about the various species, and inspired people about the wildlife and the bayside habitat. Check out our calendar listings in the fall to see when they’ll be on the trail.

Burrowing Owl Docents at Cesar Chavez Park
Western Burrowing Owls inhabit parts of Cesar Chavez Park in Berkeley. They arrive in the fall and leave in the spring. As they overwinter at the park, Golden Gate Audubon sends out trained docents to show people the owls, and talk about the plight of this locally endangered bird. If you are looking for a new and rewarding experience in burrowing owl protection and outreach, this is the opportunity for you. Training for a new year of Burrowing Owl Docents will happen on Saturday, September 18 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. If you are interested, please contact Frances DuPont at fdupont@sbcglobal.net before September 10.

Speaker Series Refreshments Coordinator
Golden Gate Audubon’s monthly Speaker Series in San Francisco and Berkeley features slide-show lectures by renowned naturalists, photographers, ornithologists, international travelers, and other fascinating speakers. Every other month, the series meets at the Northbrae Community Church in Berkeley, CA. The program runs from 7pm to around 9pm. From 7pm to 7:30pm, we offer a socialization time when audience members can mingle, purchase from the nature store, and snack on refreshments. Golden Gate Audubon provides the refreshments for free, just as the program itself. We enjoy having a volunteer who can put the personal touch to the food and we find that audience members enjoy it more. To learn about the Speaker Series Refreshments Coordinator, click here.

Other Ways to Help
Your skills, knowledge, and expertise can help us in dozens of ways. Lead a field trip, teach children about birds and wetlands, work in our office, write letters to elected officials, or join a habitat restoration work party. Whether you have a lot of time or a little, we welcome your participation. Contact us for more information.