2024 Birdathon Teams

Whether you are on a team or just watching from home, there are many ways you can join the fun. Check out Birdathon Stories, a special place to post your Birdathon adventures and read about other teams. You can also share your stories through Instagram (#scvas and #scvasbirdathon), Facebook, Twitter and the south-bay-birds mailing list. If you’re looking for past Birdathon champions, check out our Birdathon “Hall of Fame” page.

Please consider sponsoring one or more of the teams below. Your donations support SCVAS’s work, especially our education programs.

To create a team of your own, please read the event Rules and Guidelines then simply click “Form a Birdathon Team,” fill in the required fields and we’ll get back to you with more information. See all the great trip types below for inspiration. We will follow all restrictions issued by Santa Clara County to help reduce the spread of COVID-19.

If you are a team leader or participant and wish to add a photo or fundraising goal you can do so by signing into your account here with the email we communicate to you with.

teams by date

You can click on each team name to see a full description and join or sponsor your favorites.

teams by name

Almaden Eagles

Golden Eagle: Chuq von Rospach

DISTRIBUTED: 10-HOUR

This all-women team has been a proud mainstay of our annual birdathon, and this year the Eagles have expanded their ranks! Covering areas across the Calero-Morgan Hill CBC circle, this team will be counting more than Bald and Golden Eagles on their day of birding.

We now have 6 women on the team: Janna Pauser, Kirsten Holmquist, Bobbie Baker, Marion Farber, Linda Sullivan, Ann Verdi.

Team Leader: Ann Verdi
Birding Level: Intermediate to Advanced
Date and Time: FRIDAY, April 19; all day

The Almaden Eagles is a private team.

 

Averazzi

Lawrence’s Goldfinch: Teresa Cheng

PHOTOGRAPHY: 4-HOUR

Join us for a springtime Photowalk and Birdathon at Ed Levin Sandy Wool Lake. We'll spend time photographing birds around the lake and hike into the nearby hills searching for migrants and cooperative subjects to photograph. Time permitting, we'll also scour the nearby Spring Valley area. The Birdathon will be from 7:30 AM to 11:30 AM. This team is open to anyone interested in photographing birds.

Note: Participants are encouraged to donate and/or fundraise at least $50 to participate in this team.

Team Leader: Chris Johnson
Birding Level: All
Date and Time: SUNDAY, April 21; 7:30-11:30 AM

 

Backyard Birds & Coffee

Bewick’s Wren: Molly Graham

DISTRIBUTED: 4-HOUR

Discover the joys of birding close to home while supporting Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society’s education programs! Join me on March 30th by birding for at least 15 minutes (longer if you want) while in your yard, looking out your window, walking around the block, or hanging out at your neighborhood park. Keep track of the bird species that you see, then email your list to me. I’ll compile the results then send them out to everyone who joins this team.

Optional: We can all meet for coffee at 1 pm and talk birds.

Note: Participants are encouraged to donate and/or fundraise at least $25 to participate in this team. No team limit size.

Team Leader: Eve Meier
Location: Anywhere. Optional Meet for Coffee: TBD but near Vasona County Park
Birding Level: ALL
Date and Time: SATURDAY, March 30; 8AM-12PM

 

Birdcassos

DISTRIBUTED: 10-HOUR 

Join our “sketch-a-thon” in its fifth artistic year! We will spend any portion of our 10-hour window to draw or paint the birds around us. As a “distributed team” we do not need to meet in one location, but can draw our avian subjects wherever we happen to be—your back yard, your neighborhood, a nearby park, or wherever… I’ll let you know where I will be if you wish to draw with me. So sharpen your pencils and dampen your paintbrushes and get in the mood to create. Don’t worry about your technique or whatever the world believes to be talent, just look for birds you want to record and set your pencils and brushes to paper. The goal will be to draw or paint as many birds as possible during the 10-hour window… No experience is necessary and any style portrait will be celebrated. The only caveat is that our portraits must be properly identified. After all the drawings are assembled, We will feature them on our website. Contact Matthew Dodder for details. director@scvas.org

Note: Participants are encouraged to donate and/or fundraise at least $200 to participate in this team. TEAM LIMIT OF 10.

Team Leader: Matthew Dodder
Birding Level: ALL
Date and Time: FRIDAY, April 5; 8:00AM – 6:00PM

 

The Bobettes

Dark-eyed Junco: Tom Grey

TRADITIONAL: 4-HOUR

Donna Meyer and Linda Sue Johnson will be birding their favorite hotspots in Santa Clara County in support of Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society’s education and advocacy programs. Help support these long-time SCVAS members raise funds to support our programs!

The Bobettes are a private team.

 

Curious Clickadees

PHOTOGRAPHY: 24-HOUR

Shweta and Vinayak will be back for their third year in the SCVAS Birdathon this time as a distributed team. Like previous outings, our aim is to see and photograph a diverse set of bird species, catch some of the spring migrants arriving in the county and hopefully, capture any interesting behavior - all the while remaining curious!

From sunrise to sundown, we will be visiting places like Joseph Grant County Park, Palo Alto Baylands, Coyote Valley OSP, Ed Levin County Park and also look to bird in some new hotspots. You are welcome to bird in your favorite spots in the county or join us at any of the hotspots we'll be visiting. Photography is not a requirement to join the team - feel free to bird with or without a camera. At the end of the day, we can have a virtual or in-person meet to tally the birds we spotted and photographed.

Note: Participants are encouraged to donate and/or fundraise at least $50 to participate in this team.

Team Leader: Vinayak Hebbagil
Birding Level: All
Date and Time: SATURDAY, April 20; all day

 

DeDUCKtions

TRADITIONAL: 10-HOUR

A county-wide “big day”. We will bird in key habitats and search for seasonal targets, we expect the group to retrieve at least 120 species. The exact itinerary, including start and end time TBD. Contact Matthew Dodder for details. director@scvas.org

Note: Participants are encouraged to fundraise (or donate) at least $200 in contributions to participate in this team. TEAM LIMIT OF 10.

Team Leader: Matthew Dodder
Birding Level: Advanced
Date and Time: FRIDAY, April 19; ALL DAY

DeDUCKtions is a private team.

 

Double Trouble

Marbled Godwit and Northern Shoveler: Sushanta Bhandarkar

DISTRIBUTED: 4-HOUR

We plan to divide our team into two groups that will bird at the same time (8:00AM till noon). We will meet at 8 AM at the Terminal Blvd. entrance to the Palo Alto Baylands to cover Casey Forebay, Charleston Slough, Shoreline Lake, Soap Pond and more. We will compete to see which group finds the most birds, and the most unique birds. Nothing like a friendly competition to spur us on.  We may find owls, lots of ducks and shorebirds, and gulls.  We plan to walk about 4 miles (without much elevation change) over 4 hours. After birding we plan to meet for lunch and compare notes and stories!

Team Leader: Bob Bolles & Ellyn Corey
Birding Level: ALL
Date and Time: WEDNESDAY, March 27; 8:00AM-12:00PM

 

Double-counted Cormorants

Double-crested Cormorant: Carol Ann Krug Graves

PHOTOGRAPHY: 4-HOUR

Carol Ann & David Graves will be participating in their second Birdathon, trying to count and photograph as many species as possible in four hours. They’ll be birding somewhere in Santa Clara County, and are still deciding the date for their trip. How many species will this intrepid pair be able to document before their time runs out?

Team: Carol Ann & David Graves
Date and Time: TBD

The Cormorants are a private team.

 

Fledglings

Black-necked Stilt: Audrey Nicklin

TRADITIONAL: 4-HOUR

Stir up a shorebird storm with the Santa Clara Valley Young Birders Club! We will bird Shoreline Lake and the Palo Alto Baylands, strolling the sloughs for waterbirds, spring migrants, and more. Starting at Charleston Slough, we’ll explore the diverse wetland environments of Shoreline Park and the Palo Alto Duck Pond. Afterwards, we’ll celebrate with pizza and snacks.

This fun, casual birding team is designed for young birders, though parents and siblings are welcome to attend! Young birders aged 10-21 may join on their own, while birders aged 5-10 years old should join with a parent or guardian. Loaner binoculars are available for participants. TEAM LIMIT OF 20.

Team Leader: Allison Cheng
Birding Level: ALL
Date: SATURDAY, April 27; 8AM-12PM

 

Hot Spotters

TRADITIONAL: 4-HOUR

A county-wide “mini-big day”. We will bird in a selection of key habitats and search for seasonal targets, we expect the group to retrieve at least 100 species. The exact itinerary, including start and end time TBD. Contact Matthew Dodder for details. director@scvas.org

Note: Participants are encouraged to donate and/or fundraise at least $200 to participate in this team. TEAM LIMIT OF 10.

Team Leader: Matthew Dodder
Birding Level: Advanced
Date and Time: FRIDAY, April 12; Time TBD

 

Lean Green Birding Machine

TRADITIONAL: 10-Hour

Continuing a long tradition, the Lean Green Birding Machine will attempt to see 75+ species in six to eight hours of biking. We will start again this year at Rancho San Antonio, bike through Rancho, the Gate of Heaven Cemetery, McClellan Ranch, and Blackberry Farm, before heading across the valley along the Stevens Creek Trail to the Bay, taking in Shoreline Lake and, the Palo Alto Baylands as well (an approximately 22M route, with another 11M back to the start after lunch at the Shoreline Cafe).

Team Leader: Steve Patt
Birding Level: Leisurely biking and birding
Date and Time: WEDNESDAY, April 24

 

Loong

Hutton’s Vireo: Dave Zittin

TRADITIONAL: 4-HOUR

Our team may be the first Birdathon team composed of Chinese speakers in SCVAS. We aim to promote birding within Chinese communities and celebrate cultural diversity. In Chinese culture, as spring arrives, people venture outdoors to appreciate the beauty of nature and strengthen familial and social bonds. In celebration of the Chinese Year of the Loong, we're excited to form a special Loong Birdathon team to embrace the beauty of the spring season.

Team Leader: Joyce Zhang
Birding Level: Intermediate
Date and Time: SUNDAY, April 28, morning

Team Loong is full!

 

Los Gatos Birdwatcher

TRADITIONAL: 4-HOUR

Lisa Myers will once again lead team “Los Gatos Birdwatcher”. Birders of all levels are welcome, even if this is your first birdathon. For new birders it is a fabulous & fun way to see new birds. We'll spend our morning birding Los Gatos habitats along the Los Gatos Creek Trail looking for a variety of species from warblers & herons, to ducks and raptors. We will be walking throughout this birdathon on well-maintained trails. The exact Los Gatos meeting location will be confirmed closer to the date. If you cannot join us, we welcome your support as this is a fundraiser! We’ll have a SCVAS Spring Birdathon donation box at the Los Gatos Birdwatcher from March 25 - May 5, 2024.

Note: Participants are expected to donate and/or fundraise at least $50 to participate in this team.

Team Leader: Lisa Myers
Birding Level: ALL
Date and Time: SATURDAY, April 20; TBD

 

Piratical Flycatchers

TRADITIONAL: 24-HOUR

Barry & Ginger Langdon-Lassagne (The Piratical Flycatchers) are doing something different this time: birding OUTside Santa Clara County. Why? Well, we’ve moved! We’re now residents of San Luis Obispo County, so it will be a mystery where exactly we will be birding this year. Please consider supporting us as we embark on our twentieth Birdathon! To read about our previous adventures, go to https://voyageropen.com/natural-history

Team: Barry and Ginger Langdon-Lassagne
Date and Time: THURSDAY, April 18; dawn to dusk

The Flycatchers are a private team.

 

Purgatorial Birds and Lunch

DISTRIBUTED: 4-HOUR

Purgatory Auto Works and Dinosaur Farm is a small private ranch in the East Foothills overlooking all of Santa Clara Valley.  Since purchasing the parcel in mid-2015 we have worked to restore native habitats and now, what was once an overgrazed wasteland is at any given time home to at least 45 different species of birds.  (To date we have documented over 100 species.)

This team* has a magical twist: bird anywhere in the county in the morning and then journey to the ranch to share sightings and enjoy lunch** taking in the views of the entire valley and compiling the final team list. While here you take a short hike up to the well and catch sight of the wrens and warblers, or venture down to the old rodeo ring while watching the swarming swallows and the bluebirds feeding their broods. Additional afternoon activities can include selfie photo ops with our various large outdoor bird and dinosaur sculptures, learning how race cars are built and even basic instruction on the operation of heavy machinery. 

* Team members are expected to fund raise at least $100 each 

**Depending on numbers lunch will either be catered or pot luck or a combination of the two. Details and directions will be sent out prior to team event. Lunch time is served at around 1pm to allow birders time to spend four hours in the morning birding and still have plenty of time to reach the ranch.  Event ends at roughly 3pm.

Team Leader: LC Boros
Birding Level: ALL
Date and Time: SUNDAY, APRIL 28; 8:00AM-12:00PM

 

Quack Pack

TRADITIONAL: 4-HOUR

Duck, duck, goose! Come out and bird with your friendly Field Trip Committee, aka “The Quack Pack"! This is the group of people who organize SCVAS’s field trips. We’ll bird for three hours around the Palo Alto Baylands and Byxbee Park, covering about three miles at a leisurely pace, then have a picnic lunch together. This is a fun and casual bird-spotting event and is wheelchair accessible. We welcome all birders, beginning and experienced, to join our team of "wise-quackers.” Don’t duck out, sign up now, quack, quack!

Note: Participants are expected to donate and/or fundraise at least $50 to participate in this team.

Team Leader: Eve Meier, Julie Amato, Dan Bloch, Sue Umeda and Teresa Cheng
Birding Level: ALL
Date and Time: Thursday, April 18; 9AM

 

Rock Wrens

Rock Wren: Chuq von Rospach

DISTRIBUTED: 24-HOUR

We will have excellent birders covering eight varied habitat zones in the county. Each zone leader may select a recorder (ebird preferred) to keep track of the birds seen in that zone. The leaders will be in touch if they need help. Results from all teams will be added up to see how many species were found by the team. Count will be all day or a shorter time frame based on leaders discretion. Our target species count for this year’s Birdathon is 160 species!

The Rock Wrens are recruiting! Contact Bob Hirt with interest. Please note, the Rock Wrens are a serious fundraising team.

Team Leader: Bob Hirt
Birding Level: Advanced
Date and Time: SUNDAY, April 21; all day

 

Run for the Hills!

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher: Tom Grey

TRADITIONAL: 4-HOUR

Want to get out of the bustling valley and enjoy the peace and quiet of the Sierra Azuls while still supporting the SCVAS Birdathon? Join me on one of my favorite trails! We’ll have beautiful views of Mount Umunhum and Bald Mountain while we hike along the Woods Rd Trail. This short out-and-back route is along a wide service road and partially shaded by oaks, madrones, and bay laurels until you emerge into open chaparral. We will be looking for warblers such as Black-throated Gray, Wilson's, and Orange-crowned, as well as oak-woodland and chaparral birds like Spotted Towhee, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, House Wren, and California Thrasher. Trail conditions: some hills, some shade, 2-3 miles.

Note: Participants are encouraged to donate and/or fundraise at least $50 to participate in this team. Team limit size: 12

Team Leader: Eve Meier
Birding Level: ALL
Date and Time: WEDNESDAY, April 24; 8:30-11:30AM

 

Song Birds

Northern Mockingbird: Tom Grey

TRADITIONAL: 4-HOUR

Shift the focus of your birding with the Song Birds! Participants will hike the Smith Creek area of Grant park and restricted access areas of Rancho Canada del Oro to make audio recordings of birds. This year we will focus on quality of recordings (quiet backgrounds), rather than number of species. Smart phone and camera recordings are welcome, and participants will be able to use Sue’s parabolic mike to try to capture the cleanest songs possible.

Team Leader: Sue Pelmulder
Birding Level: Intermediate
Date and Time: SATURDAY, April 13; morning

 

Spiderhunters

PHOTOGRAPHY: 4-HOUR

Team Spiderhunters (Vivek and Vayun Tiwari) venture out for bayland birding at Shoreline and Palo Alto Baylands and then rounding off with inland birding at Ed Levin.

Team Leader: Vivek Tiwari
Date and Time: SATURDAY, April 6; 8:00AM-12:00PM

The Spiderhunters are a private team.

 

Subspecies

TRADITIONAL: 4-HOUR

Birding in key habitats and searching for target birds, we expect the group to retrieve at least 100 species. Contact Matthew Dodder for details. director@scvas.org

Note: Participants are encouraged to fundraise (or donate) at least $100 in contributions to participate in this team. TEAM LIMIT OF 10.

Team Leader: Matthew Dodder
Birding Level: Intermediate
Date and Time: FRIDAY, May 3; 8:00AM-12:00PM

 

Winging It

California Thrasher: Tom Grey

TRADITIONAL: 4-HOUR

Join Susan Tenney (one of our awesome field trip leaders!) for a 3-4 mile hike through the woodlands, grasslands, and chaparral of Pearson-Arastradero Preserve! Take in the sounds of spring, and catch sight of courting and nesting birds on this birdathon team for birders of all levels.

Team Leader: Susan Tenney
Birding Level: ALL, especially beginners
Date and Time: THURSDAY, May 2; morning

Wrong Terns

Forster’s Tern: Chuq von Rospach

TRADITIONAL: 4-HOUR

Despite the name, we have lots of faith in the ID skills of the Wrong Terns! Don’t ask for directions, but feel free to join this team for a morning of birding at McClellan Ranch Preserve. We’ll be ending the birding with a potluck lunch, so be sure to bring something to share!

Team Leader: Linda Sue Johnson
Birding Level: Intermediate
Date and Time: FRIDAY, April 19; 8AM-12PM

The Terns are full!

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