Far-flung Western Sandpiper spotted in San Francisco

This bird traveled a long way to get here. Pete Dunten of Mountain View snapped this photo of a Western Sandpiper at the end of April in the San Francisco Bay. Dunten originally traveled to the Alviso Marina in hopes of spotting a Little Stint. “Looking for one small peep, similar in appearance to the hundreds of other small peeps at the same spot, is a lot like looking through the 'Where's Waldo?' books,” Dunten said of the Little Stint. While in search of the stint, he spotted a few Western Sandpipers instead and was excited to see that one of them was banded. 

After a bit of searching for a key to the band colors, he determined that the sandpiper was probably from Panama and posted the sighting to Audubon Panama’s Facebook page to confirm his suspicions. He sent the photo to a bird banding lab and received a certificate of appreciation from them for helping to track the bird.

Monterey Audubon highlights controversial beach development in Los Angeles Times

Our good friends at Monterey Audubon today help Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez kick off his tour of the California Coast, through which he intends to highlight the ongoing controversy involving the California Coastal Commission. In recent articles, Lopez has shed light on a number of instances where the Commission seemed to be holding the interests of developers above those of coastal protection, and his visit to Monterey is another example. In 2014, the Coastal Commission gave initial approval to a proposed "ecoresort" on nearby Sand City, which numerous public and private agencies said would definitely interfere with endangered Western Snowy Plovers.

Interesting new research on the demise of the Passenger Pigeon

GrrlScientist wrote an excellent piece on Medium, "Passenger pigeon extinction: it’s complicated," about new research behind what led to the extinction of the Passenger Pigeon. It's an interesting look at the how population fluctuations and human-based causes led to the demise of a once abundant bird. There are certainly lessons to be learned and correlations to our own campaign to save the Tricolored Blackbird from a similar fate.

Read the story here.

Madrone Audubon Society BirdSeasons program featured in Petaluma Argus Courier

Madrone Audubon Society are involved with a phenology program designed by Sandy DeSimone of Starr Ranch Sanctuary. Their local paper, The Petaluma Argus Courier, recently intervied chapter members about the volunteer program.

Beginning last month, a group of 10 volunteers armed with clipboards, binoculars and data sheets began to observe the changes and behaviors of a handful of plants and birds as well as an animal at Paula Lane Open Space Preserve, logging their findings into the USA National Phenology Network “Nature’s Notebook” database, which gives scientists access to aggregated data from participants around the nation to inform their research.

A team of about five volunteers is also undergoing monthly observations of the migratory cliff swallow population that makes its home each year at the Petaluma River Bridge from March until August, according to Susan Kirks, a Petaluma resident who’s spearheading the local efforts sponsored by the Santa Rosa-based Madrone Audubon Society...

As part of the project that kicked off the week of May 16, trained volunteers spend about an hour and a half at the preserve once a month to record observations on nine bird species — including several that have been identified by the National Audubon Society as being threatened by climate change — as well as four native and non-native plant species, while also tracking the behavior of the mule deer that populate the land, Kirks said.

Read the rest of the article here.

Before and after at the Salton Sea

A picture says a thousand words, as the saying goes. The above postcard from the 1950s shows a bustling Salton Sea Marina, a center of fun and recreation.San Bernardino Valley Audubon's Drew Feldman recently visited the exact same location and took the photo below, which shows just how much things have changed over the years.