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Calendar: General Membership Meetings | July/August | September | October | November | Everyone is invited to attend these free programs. These slide shows cover a diverse range of subjects related to birds and their environment, including trip narratives and discussions of research by local experts. They are held on the third Wednesday of the month. There are no programs in December, July, and August. Note: All meetings in 2011 will be at Cubberley Community Center, Palo Alto (get directions) due to the renovations at the Palo Alto Arts Center. There are no General Meetings in July and August. But our Nature Shop and Headquarters (get directions) are still open! So drop by and say hello! While you are there, browse our wonderful Nature Shop. Our Monthly General Meetings resume in September. Farallon Islands Natural History
Twenty-seven miles west of the Golden Gate are the Farallon Islands. In season, these granite outcrops host the largest seabird breeding colony in the contiguous United States when 300,000 birds of twelve species gather on the islands to nest. In addition, the islands serve as a breeding or hauling out site for five species of pinniped. The islands are a well known stop over for migrating land birds resulting in an island bird check list that exceeds 400 species. The abundance of Farallon Wildlife exists in spite of many years of human depredation. In the early Nineteenth century New England seamen and Russian hunters killed thousands of fur seals for their pelts. During the gold rush egg "pickers" gathered tens of thousands of murre eggs for the San Francisco market. Full protection for Farallon wildlife occurred in the 1960s when the islands were made a National Wildlife Refuge. Our speaker, Peter White, is a member of the Mount Diablo Audubon Society and a former Farallon volunteer. While on the islands Pete assisted biologists in research projects that included migrant land birds, Elephant seals and White sharks. Since his retirement as a manager with the Department of Treasury, he has continued to volunteer and currently works with the National Park Service and NOAA as well as Audubon. The presentation will cover the islands' human and natural history. Pete is the author of the book The Farallon Islands, Sentinels at the Golden Gate. Cavity Nesting Birds, One Person Can Make a Difference
Steve says, "It is hard to look back and reflect on of all the years that I have been going up and down ladders to monitor and band cavity nesting birds. It all started back in 1974 when I built and put up 60 of 100 wood duck nest boxes that I built the first year. I only had 6 wood duck nest attempts, 4 were successful and I only banded 3 female wood ducks that first year and had 28 ducklings hatch, but I was so excited with those humble beginnings. The rest is history as they say, to date I have climbed my ladders over 400 miles and had over 69,000 wood duck ducklings hatch out of my boxes 37 years later. Most years I have captured or recaptured 100% of my incubating hens and have one hen that nested with me 11 years." "At present I am working with a good friend putting my many years of data on the computer with hope to start getting it published. Sitting at a computer all day is not my idea of fun when I would rather be in the field with my birds, but I realize that it is time to get more of my work published." "I have done my work with my cavity nesting birds as a hobby with a full time job teaching until I retired in 2003 having taught 38 years. I have to thank my wife for the many late dinners and being a weekend widow for 37 years. When I look at some of my figures through the years, it is hard to imagine that one person could have accomplish so much. I have had the pleasure to put bands, auxiliary markers on over 30,000 birds over the years and have recapture many thousands of those birds in later years. This wonderful adventure has given me a personal satisfaction of helping Mother Nature and having a better understanding of some of her fabulous creations. One person can truly make a difference to help cavity nesting birds, even if they put up only one nest box." Our Birds and Baja Imagine having the ability to step back in time 200 years, then to preserve the abundant wildlife and natural values of a pristine San Francisco Bay, as it was then, in perpetuity. Impossible, of course, but such is the dream today for another vast wetland on which our birds depend, Mexico's Bahia San Quintin. Opportunities for conservation exist in Baja California that disappeared north of the border decades ago. Landscape scale tracts of prime coastal sage scrub, beaches and coastal bays, deserts, and other wilderness lands on which our migrating coastal birds depend can still be conserved if action is taken soon. Many conservation organizations here and in Mexico are investigating conservation needs and opportunities all across Baja. But a race is on with competing interests, including agriculture, salt mining, industry and recreation, to say nothing of urban sprawl, which has virtually tied Ensenada and Tijuana together. In tonight's program, Jess will describe the work of the National Audubon Society, its California chapters, and other organizations with which he works on these issues. Of special interest is Audubon's International Alliances Program (IAP). In the town of San Quintin, a local constituency is being built to carefully steward the vast biological and economic resources of their wetlands. Other places, too, will be considered, such as Cabo Colonet, proposed site for a new superport to rival LA-Long Beach. Jess serves on Audubon's National Board of Directors, and is the Treasurer for both Palos Verde/South Bay Audubon and the Endangered Habitats League. He is the founder of the Audubon YES! (Youth Environmental Service) Program, which facilitates youth involvement in conservation. And last, but hardly least, Jess is a wildlife photographer, so there will be superb photos of many of the birds we are all working to protect. Panama
Bob and Sue Cossins will present a program on Panama. Check back for the description of the program. |
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22221 McClellan Rd.,
Cupertino, CA 95014
Tel: (408) 252-3747 /
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