Marie Cerda's birder vest

"I love birding because I love the outdoors and it gives me a way to interact with the natural world that is active and keeps me learning. It's like a scavenger hunt. I started the vest because a friend and I made up birding nicknames when we ran a birding blog and I had a lot of patches from various parks, etc I had visited while birding. I often wore the west while birding anyway and I thought it would be fun to have a sort of birding biker vest."

Marie Cerda
Alameda, CA 
@_primalux_

Brigid McCormack op-ed: It's always a drought for Central Valley birds, even when it's raining

Audubon California Executive Director Brigid McCormack speaks today in Water Deeply about the continuing problems that Central Valley birds face due to a lack of watered habitat:

"Finding habitat in California’s Central Valley wasn’t a problem for migratory ducks and geese 150 years ago. There weren’t wildlife refuges – but they didn’t need any. The Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers created a vast green floodplain that hosted up to 40 million birds.

Habitat for the valley’s waterfowl today – even though their numbers have fallen to around five million – is much harder to find. Water has been diverted. Wetlands have been carved up for farms and communities. Drought has parched the landscape.

The rain we’re getting now will help. But it’s important to remember that, these days, it’s a drought for ducks and geese even when it’s raining."

New bird species seen at Sonoma Creek Marsh

Yesterday was the first survey the Audubon team was able to do since construction ended at the Sonoma Creek Enhancement Project. In the marsh and along the newly formed channel during a high tide (>5’), the group counted:

• 600 small shorebirds (Western/Least Sandpipers/Dunlin);
• 117 Greater Yellowlegs;
• 69 Willet;
• 2 Long-billed Curlew;
• 5 Black-bellied Plovers;
• 1 Wilson’s Snipe. The Snipe was never seen in the marsh during surveys prior to construction.

Later during a ‘low’ tide, the group encountered smaller numbers of birds but spotted a rare Lesser Yellowlegs among a group of Greater Yellowlegs.

The group counted a couple of Northern Harriers scouting the area for meals, as well as a White-tailed Kite.

It's hard to overestimate the importance of the Salton Sea to migratory birds

The Salton Sea is one of the most important migratory stops along the Pacific Flyway. But it’s hard to understand what this means without seeing it visually. So we took a sample of birds and tracked their migratory pathways through California – note the one thing they all have in common. And this is just a handful of the 400 species that make regular use of the Salton Sea.

A few more things to consider:

• The Salton Sea hosts the largest interior wintering population of Western Grebes and 90% of the overwintering population of Eared Grebes.
• 50% of the Pacific Flyway population of Ruddy Duck, Cinnamon Teal, and Northern Shoveler use the Sea.
• It is home to 40% of the global population of the Federally Endangered Yuma Ridgway’s Rail.
• It is the primary wintering area in the interior U.S. for California Brown Pelican and the American White Pelican.
• And this is just the beginning. We'll be talking more about the Salton Sea in the coming weeks and months.

More on the mysterious Phainopepla

We at Audubon California have always had a thing for the mysterious Phainopepla, that silky flycatcher of the southwest. Little did we know that the bird's nickname is the Black Cardinal. Seriously, what could be cooler than that? Anyway, read more about this cool species in this terrific article just posted by the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Tracking nesting Black Oystercatchers in the field

In an effort to support one of California's great marine birds, Audubon California for the last several years has been partnering with Audubon chapters and volunteers to track Black Oystercatcher nesting up and down the coast. Golden Gate Audubon member Jane Turner Hart has been one of the project's most dedicated volunteers and recently shared her observations and photos on the chapter's website. It's an amazing overview of one season in the life of these amazing birds. Check it out. The images are beautiful, and you'll learn a lot.