When the birds come back to the Bay Area
Yes, the days are getting shorter and the diminishing light is casting longer shadows, but for some of us, this is the best season in the Bay Area because it means the birds are coming back! Which bird do you most look forward to seeing again in the weeks ahead? Let us know!
September’s action in the National Geographic “Year of the Bird” campaign is all about helping migratory birds. They share an article on how better glass can save birds and state that an estimated 600 million birds die in collisions with windows in the U.S. and Canada every year! In the same spirit, Audubon offers three ways you can help birds this fall in this story. And finally, the NY Times recently featured an op-ed by two scientists at Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology on the “Deadly Lure of City Lights” showing how people are making a real difference in reducing bird loss to man-made causes.
And here’s some other bird related news we would like to call your attention to:
- Representative Jackie Speier has re-introduced a version of the San Francisco Bay Restoration Act which, if passed, would authorize an expanded SF Bay Program within EPA – from 5-7 million to 25 million annually for FY19 through FY23. This would be in line with other major estuaries such as Chesapeake Bay, the Great Lakes, and Puget Sound. You can read more about it in this San Mateo Daily Journal article that just came out.
- NABCI just launched a website filled with ‘human dimension success stories’ that show the utility and importance of integrating social science into bird conservation with examples from across the country.
- The Federal Duck Stamp contest was held last weekend in Las Vegas. The winnerthis year was Scot Storm of Freeport, Minnesota with his acrylic painting of a Wood Duck and decoy. The Duck Stamp is a great and easy way to support wildlife and habitat conservation. You can buy yours online here.
- NAWCA small grants are due October 18 and if you are considering applying, contact Beth Huning a.s.a.p. These grants can be up to $100,000 and need at least a 1:1 match. They are nationally competitive, so advance planning is encouraged. And on a similar note, the deadline to apply for the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act grant program is November 6. These projects need to have an international connection to be funded.
- And … if you can’t get outside to go birding right now, you can always geek out on Golden Gate Audubon’s osprey live cam – SF Bay’s first Osprey camera located at the East side of the Richmond Bridge.
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