GGNRA Big Year kick-off to see the Western Snowy Plover at Ocean Beach

Yesterday, I attended the kick-off event for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area Big Year competition. We are trying to see the 33 threatened and endangered species in the GGNRA during the year and connecting that with a personal action to protect them. I encourage others to participate in this great project. Please visit the GGNRA Big Year website: http://www.ggnrabigyear.org/

At the event, we were treated with two raptor species that are success stories of the Endangered Species Act: a Bald Eagle and a Peregrine Falcon. Both raptor species recovered after receiving protection under the ESA and now are no longer listed, which proves that when the ESA is enforced and implemented properly we can preserve wildlife.

A great number of groups and over 250 people participated in the event. The other major highlight of the day was a trip over to Ocean Beach in San Francisco to see the Western Snowy Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus nivosus) that calls the beach home. Up to 100 of about 1,500-2,300 of the total population in California attempt to eek out a life on the busy beaches of San Francisco.

There are two Wildlife Protection Areas (Stairwell 21 to Sloat Ave on Ocean Beach and a section of Crissy Field) that should have limited activities because of the presence of plovers and other struggling shorebirds. In particular, you should ask the National Park Service to keep dogs out of the Wildlife Protection Areas and to have protection year-round, not just July through May. You can submit your comments on the subject by January 22:

By mail:
In the subject of your letter, include a reference to RIN 1024–AD53. Mail your letter to:

Attention: Snowy Plover Protection Rule
Superintendent, Golden Gate National
Recreation Area, Fort Mason, Building
201, San Francisco, CA 94123

Submit comments online at http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main

Look for comment reference RIN 1024–AD53.
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OK, back to birding... Additional new birds for my list seen at Ocean Beach:

Sanderling	Calidris alba
Marbled Godwit	Limosa fedoa
Willet	Catoptrophorus semipalmatus
California Gull	Larus californicus
Western Gull	Larus occidentalis

A Bird Year Resolution

In 2008, I'm making a New year's Resolution to go birding weekly with a focus on learning more about the birds that live here in the Bay Area. Of course, some of my birding adventures will happen outside of the Bay Area, but I'm committed to knowing my local birds better and seeing how many species I can view during my "Little Year" resolution.

What's a "little year"? Well, birders will participate in competitions to have a "big year" or "big day" or the like. Since I'm only in this to challenge myself and to blog my results, I'm calling it my "little year".

As I started off my new year, the first bird I saw as I was driving back from Lake Tahoe was a raven. Once uncommon in the Bay Area, you see them everywhere now because of the impacts development have made urban environments inviting to ravens, but difficult for other native wildlife.

My first official weekly birding outing will be at the kick off event for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area Big Year. It's a great yearlong event to highlight the 33 endangered species that call the GGNRA home and what participants can do to help those endangered species. Participants are challenged to not only find and view the threatened and endangered plants and animals within the boundaries of the GGNRA, but also to complete conservation actions to help those species. The GGNRA Big Year reminds us all that the Endangered Species Act and the National Park System alone are crucial in protecting wildlife from extinction.

I encourage any readers to come to the San Francisco Zoo on January 6, 2008, at 1 PM for the first of many events in 2008. To learn more and to participate, please visit the GGNRA Big Year website: http://www.ggnrabigyear.org/

We will be visiting Ocean Beach in San Francisco to view the Western Snowy Plover, a threatened bird species that struggles to survive on busy urban beaches in San Francisco. This adorable bird deserves a boost in public awareness of how we can all do more to "share the shoreline" with plovers and other shorebirds.