You are invited to a celebratory Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge 50th anniversary open house, including guided walks, ranger talks, crafts and activities, refreshments, and fun for all!
Here is the day's activities:
Weeding Party: We invite you to join Santa Clara County Parks Natural Resource Management team, in partnership with San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory, in their efforts to restore the coastal habitat of Alviso Marina County Park.
Volunteers will assist in the removal of invasive plants and the spreading of mulch in preparation for the planting of native plants.
Please bring sturdy gloves, closed toe shoes (boots if possible), and your can-do attitudes! The minimum age is 12 years old.
Dr. Kristen Ruegg will discuss her work to map migratory bird population challenges at this free virtual event. Most populations of migratory birds are now threatened. It is estimated that the populations of 1 out of every 2 songbirds are declining in the Western Hemisphere with impacts predicted to worsen with climate change. However, because migratory birds have breeding, migratory, and wintering areas and may move vast distances between them, understanding where the steepest population declines are occurring has been difficult or impossible.
Join San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory biologists at Eden Landing Ecological Reserve to view one of only six San Francisco Bay breeding colonies of endangered California least terns.
The group at the free event will look for adults incubating nests, young downy chicks being fed by their parents, older feathered chicks running around the colony, and fledglings learning to fly.
Shorebirds are an exciting yet vexing group for birders to identify. At this free virtual event, Jon Dunn and Lara Tseng will discuss sandpipers: not only their identification, but also plumages, structure, molts, behavior, status and distribution. They will also talk about how to look at and study shorebirds – doing so requires some memorization but more importantly patience, love, and understanding of the many varied species in these families.
Amie MacDonald at the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory's Birdy Hour Speaker Series discusses the latest technological approach to tracking bird migration.
David Thomson, founder of San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory's Habitats Program, will discuss upland transition zone strategies and other activities of the Habitats Program during more than a decade of work at SFBBO's latest Birdy Hour.
Join San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory at Eden Landing to help enhance habitat for endangered California least terns!
Volunteers will join SFBBO staff at Pond E14 in Eden Landing Ecological Reserve, which supports one of only six Least Tern breeding colonies in the San Francisco Bay estuary!
Help restore our Bay and get some much needed fresh air at the Refuge.
Join us for the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory's annual event to help enhance habitat for western snowy plovers!
Dave Halsing, Restoration Project Executive Project Manager, will share information about wetlands restoration at a group bike ride along the Bay Trail in Mountain View. Mountain View Council Member Pat Showalter and environmental advocate Lenny Siegel will also participate in the event, which will include information about environmental issues at Moffett Field. The bike ride is sponsored by Balanced Mountain View and the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, with support from Mountain View Coalition for Sustainable Planning (MVCSP) and GreenSpacesMV.
Join the plucky group of volunteers who will meet at Eden Landing Ecological Reserve in Hayward to improve the lot of least terns and western snowy plovers by spreading oyster shells, removing predator perches, and improving foraging habitat for the listed species.
The 2nd annual event at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife reserve is sponsored by the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory.
Volunteers are asked to bring face mask, work gloves, muck boots, and tools such as a shovel, pick, and saw. And, of course, water and snacks.
Refuge Ranger Miguel Marquez and Olivia Poulosthe, an Associate with the Watershed Watchers anti-pollution program, will lead this virtual tour of marsh habitat near the Don Edwards Refuge's Environmental Education Center in Alviso.
The event is part of a celebration o California Biodiversity Week, September 4-13. More information:
Celebrate California Biodiversity Week and learn about the Don Edwards SF Bay National Wildlife Refuge!
Join Don Edwards Refuge Wildlife Biologist Rachel Tertes for a virtual program on South San Francisco Bay salt marsh biodiversity. The event is part of a celebration o California Biodiversity Week, September 4-13. More information:
Celebrate California Biodiversity Week and learn about the Don Edwards SF Bay National Wildlife Refuge!
Join Ben Pearl, an SFBBO science director, for an update on recent Western Snowy Plover conservation efforts in Eden Landing and other parts of Alameda County.
Register here.
Further information:
The San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory's latest Birdy Hour presentation features Dr. Phred Benham, a UC Berkeley post-doctoral researcher, discussing how salt marsh sparrows survive in the harsh edge ecologies of coastal salt marsh, exposed to high salinity, daily coastal flooding, and increasing human pressures on coastal habitats.
The free talk is recommended for ages high school and up.
For more information on the talk and Dr. Benham, or to register, see here.
Project consulting scientist Brian Fulfrost of Brian Fulfrost & Associates shared information on his latest effort to use satellite imagery to map South Bay habitats. His background information on the project:
Watch the recording of this event.
Celebrate World Wetlands Day with us by learning about the largest wetland restoration project on the West Coast!
Interested in learning about the wetland restoration project happening here in the South Bay? Join the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project and San Francisco Bay Wildlife Society for an engaging and educational program featuring our Executive Project Manager, Dave Halsing.
Behind the peaceful Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge and beautiful San Francisco Bay are many fascinating tales: the little rail vs. the big rail, the mouse with the mighty tail, the amazing mistake that led to the discovery of the Bay, the marsh named after Chicago, how the Bay was nearly destroyed (twice!), how three women saved the Bay, why the Refuge was created, and many more! Join docent Larry Rosenblum as he recounts little-known tales that will give you an appreciation of the Refuge and the Bay.