Wingbeat Blog

​In September 2004, a new, enthusiastic instructor took over the Beginning Birding class at Palo Alto Adult School, teaching novice birders the art of finding and identifying common birds of the San Francisco Bay Area. The real learning took place on our weekly field trips to local parks, beaches and yes, water treatment plants. Our class went to a bird banding demonstration offered by SFBBO. Some signed up for Alvaro Jaramillo’s SFBBO classes on shorebirds, seabirds and gulls. 

​First of all, I would like to thank the SFBBO donors for providing the Advanced Shorebirds Workshop for those that are from underrepresented backgrounds. I appreciate the time and effort that Mr. Alvaro Jaramillo has put into preparing this educational Shorebirds Workshop. I found this workshop to be informative and it has contributed to my California shorebirds identification skills.

Shorebirds can often be tricky for birders to identify. The type …

​After falling in love with birds at three years old, I discovered birdwatching, a wonderful way for me to experience nature and observe the beautiful diversity and behaviors of birds. As I have gotten older, my love for birds has only increased, along with my thirst for knowledge about them. 

Having grown up in coastal California all my life, I had the chance to appreciate the birds on our shores and waters. This workshop gave me a further opportunity to expand my knowledge about them. Shorebirds have always been a challenging subject for me, considering that their behavior …

​I am a proud graduate of SFBBO’s Introductory Shorebird ID Workshop with Alvaro Jaramillo that took place on the cusp of July and August. Over the course of three days, Alvaro covered the shorebirds (or “waders,” as they’re known in Europe), consisting of Sandpipers, Plovers, Oystercatchers, Avocets, and Stilts.

​More than just their physical characteristics, we learned about the migration patterns of migrating birds such as the Western Sandpiper and other behavioral characteristics, such as nesting patterns relative to the shore. It was powerful to put a name to the birds I had already encountered, and even more so to be introduced to the other members of the shorebird family.

​Identifying shorebirds has long been the bane of my birding existence (other than immature gulls of course). Usually all you have is a fleeting glimpse at a pale colored bird with long legs, taking off on stiff wing beats only to disappear above the waves. More often than not I’d return home with just “shorebird sp.” on my eBird list. However, after getting the opportunity to attend the Shorebird ID workshop hosted by SFBBO and Alvaro Jaramillo on a scholarship, I think I am a lot better equipped to start putting names to many of Nor Cal’s regularly occurring shorebirds!

​Alvaro is a Senior Biologist at SFBBO and runs his own birding tour company, Alvaro’s Adventures. Being the author of several field guides and a published researcher, Alvaro is an internationally recognized ornithologist and the recipient of the Eisenman Medal of the Linnaean Society of New York. It was an absolute pleasure to get the chance to learn from him.

​Shorebirds are a fascinating group which have enlightened me to the importance of wetland and estuary habitats and have informed my understanding of ecological concepts like niche partitioning. Despite my appreciation of these birds, the fact remained that my ability to tell a Lesser from a Greater Yellowlegs was far less than great. If I were to come across a Whimbrel or a Long-billed Curlew, there wasn’t much I could do but begrudgingly write “Numenius sp.” into my notebook. Shorebird identification was not my forte…

Luckily for student naturalists like myself, there are talented educators like Alvaro Jaramillo who can help with this sort of ornithological shortcoming. My mentor and former instructor, Leticia Gallardo, who had guided me through West Valley College’s Ecology, Biodiversity, and Conservation program told me that Alvaro’s Shorebird ID Workshops would be an …

As a falconer, I’ve always loved and admired birds of prey. Observing, photographing, and identifying wild raptors is one of my favorite pastimes. Even just this summer, my family and I spent many weekends driving up to Pacifica to watch the Peregrine Falcons fledge and feed. 

But peregrines are rarely the only birds that we spot upon approaching the shoreline. In fact, we often saw hundreds or thousands of shorebirds scattered in flocks across the area. Even with my binoculars, however, I could hardly tell the different species apart. My shorebird ID skills were clearly quite lacking.

​When my school’s local ecological society told us about this opportunity to learn about native shorebirds from the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory, I was thrilled. 

​This is a blog about birds in books for children; but these are no ordinary times. Some readers may remember the film “South Pacific” and the song that goes,
           
…You’ve got to be taught /To be afraid
Of people whose eyes/Are oddly made
And people whose skin/Is a different shade…
 
The recent encounter between noted birder Christian Cooper, a member of the New York City Audubon Society board of directors and an African American, and a white woman who accused him of threatening her reminds us …

As a Bay Area science teacher, I love finding ways to connect my students’ learning to the natural world around them. I recently had the opportunity to do just that while chaperoning the junior class from Kehillah Jewish High School on an experiential learning program for 3 weeks in Israel. Did I bring binoculars in my tightly packed suitcase? You bet! I even lugged a second pair just in case a student or two wanted to take a closer look at a winged marvel. What follows is a brief summary of some adolescent as well as avian highlights from the trip. 

Our adventure began in Southern Israel at the Negev Desert, where we were rewarded with views of Pale Crag Martins, Fan-tailed Ravens, …

​The season of returning migrants is a good time to look at one up close; and while we’re all sheltering in place, an adventure with a young osprey is a great place to start. In his book “Belle’s Journey: An Osprey Takes Flight,” ornithologist Bierregaard’s introduction calls attention to the curiosity that sparks scientific inquiry and the kinds of questions that have led scientists to develop new means of tracking long-distance migrants.

​On Martha’s Vineyard a young osprey is born. In the same area, a boy and girl walking on the ​beach encounter a scientist and his partner who are …