The Drake’s Beach Sanderlings: Rogue Year!

Dear Friend,

The Bird-a-Thon: Rogue Year has happened! And what a terrific day it was. This year the team consisted of Jonah Benningfield, Max Benningfield, Oscar Moss, Eddie Monson, and Connor Cochrane with Catherine Berner, Ellen Blustein and Aaron Haiman as organizers.    The Drake’s Beach Sanderlings was the first, and is the longest running youth bird-a-thon team supported by Point Blue Conservation Science. Over the past 15+ years, this extraordinary team has helped to foster passion for wildlife and conservation in young people. These young people have then carried that passion and knowledge into the world with them as they have spread into a wide range of endeavors across the globe!

Starting at 5:30 am at the Bear Valley Visitor Center, we heard several owls including a Northern Saw-Whet Owl! From there we began our zigzagging across the county. We found a Swamp Sparrow and a Herring Gull along Bolinas Lagoon; Whimbrel, Parasitic Jaegers, and Northern Rough-winged Swallows at Stinson Beach; found a Blackpole Warbler, a Townsend’s Solitaire, and a Ferruginous Hawk at some of the ranches on the Outer Point, a Horned Grebe and a flock of Sanderlings on Drake’s Beach (yes the Drake’s Beach Sanderlings team watched Sanderlings on Drake’s Beach); a Wilson’s Snipe at Stafford Lake; and we ended with several very cooperative Ridgeway’s Rails calling as we got out of the car; and many, many more. All in all this year, the Drake’s Beach Sanderlings birded for over 14 hours and saw 139 species of bird!

Additional species that we saw included lots of mammals such as Mule Deer, Grey Fox, Coyote, Harbor Porpoise, and Northern Elephant Seal; and insects such as Black Saddlebags, Seven-spotted Skimmer, and lots and lots of Monarchs.

Since Point Blue Conservation Science was not able to organize the bird-a-thon this year, we went out on our own: The Rogue Year! Without support from Point Blue we have had no assistance getting the word out about our event, so we need all the help we can get. And you can still donate to the Sanderlings! By donating a fixed amount (such as $15.00) or an amount per species (such as $0.25/species), you encourage young people to go out and engage with birds, the natural world, and to work for a better future.

Donating is easy! Just mail a check, made out to Point Blue Conservation Science, to me at: 203 Touchstone Pl, West Sacramento, CA 95691 I will collect the donations and send them to Point Blue.

We very much appreciate your support for the Sanderlings Bird-a-thon: Rogue Year. If you have any questions about The Drake’s Beach Sanderlings, the Rich Stallcup Bird-a-thon, or our any other aspect of this event please e-mail or call me at aaron.haiman@deltaconservancy.ca.gov or 510-289-7239.

Sincerely,

Aaron N.K. Haiman

Drake’s Beach Sanderlings Team Co-Leader

The 2017 Drake’s Beach Sanderlings

Read Full Post »

Cassini’s End

Cassini orbiting Saturn

What a spectacular voyage of discovery! Launching the touchdown of the first human-made object on an alien moon on Titan. Imaging a hexagonal hurricane four times the size of earth at the Saturn’s north pole. Skimming within 50 km of the surface of Enceladus to fly through geyser plumes. Tracing the waves and ripples in Saturn’s F ring made by the gravitational forces of the moon Prometheus. All this and more has marked the voyage of the Cassini spacecraft as one of the most fascinating, successful, and awe inspiring missions in the history of space exploration!

An image of Saturn sent back by Cassini

Launching in 1997 on a titan IV rocket, the appropriately named Flagship class Cassini toured the solar system performing flybys of Earth, Venus, and Jupiter before turning toward it’s main goal of Saturn. Arriving in 2004, Cassini is the first spacecraft to orbit Saturn, and it has spent the last 13 years doing just that. A wonderful video tribute to Cassini that appeared in the New York Times tells some of the story of Cassini and has a terrific spread of images.

An image of Enceladus sent back by Cassini

And today, on the 15th of September, 2017, after over a hundred orbits around Saturn, Titan, and other moons, Cassini meets its end. After using all its fuel, and to avoid contaminating any of Saturn’s 62 moons, Cassini performs one last dive down into the atmosphere of Saturn where it will send data back to earth as long as it can before burning up in Saturn’s atmosphere. One final, bright spark in the blazing triumph of science that has been the Cassini space mission.

An image of the ripples in the rings of Saturn sent back by Cassini

Read Full Post »

Open Position at the Delta Conservancy!

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy (the state agency where I work), which is based in West Sacramento, is currently looking to hire a Senior Environmental Scientist (Specialist)! The position is heavily involved with invasive plant work, particularly focusing on Giant Reed (Arundo donax) in the Delta. It will also be quite involved with managing Proposition 1 grants for habitat restoration, water quality improvement, and sustainable agriculture projects.

If you are interested, or know someone who might be, please check out the official job posting here. It is a great agency to work for!

Read Full Post »

Delta Invasive Species Symposium

Along with about 125 other scientists, researchers, and managers, I spent most of last Tuesday attending the Delta Invasive Species Symposium hosted on the U.C. Davis campus and organized by the Delta Stewardship Council, U.C. Davis, and the Delta Interagency Invasive Species Coordination Team.

It was a very interesting symposium that included talks, posters, and a terrific panel discussion. Topics covered a wide range of invasive species ecology, invasive species management techniques and efforts, the effects of invasive species on natural communities and human society, and how invasive species are likely to be effected by climate change.

There are a huge number of invasive species in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. This list includes plants like Water Hyacinth and Giant Reed, vertebrates such as Northern Watersnake and Stripped Bass, invertebrates like Asian Gypsy Moth and Spotted Lanternfly, and many many others.

Dealing with the effects of these invasive species, and attempting to control their populations, costs millions of dollar every year.

Given these high costs, prevention is without doubt the best technique when dealing with invasive species. The costs of measures that are undertaken to prevent an invasive species from entering an area, the Delta for example, are certainly going to be less than the costs of controlling that species once it becomes established. Many efforts are being undertaken in the Delta to keep new invaders from entering. This is especially important because many invasive species are currently found near the Delta, that could become huge problems in they show enter the Delta system. Nutria are an example of this. The Nutria is a large rodent native to South America. A population was established in the southern Sierra in the hope of crating a source for furs, but the furs of Nutria did not catch on in the market place, and the effort was abandoned. The Nutria that had been released were hunted and almost completely exterminated in the 1960s, but small numbers have started showing up along the Merced and  San Joaquin Rivers. If those populations are allowed to grow and spread, they will cause massive damage to the Delta ecosystem because of the feeding habits of Nutria which can leave extensive tracts of wetlands denuded of vegetation.

The next best technique is early detection and rapid responses. If an invasive species is expanding its geographic range, having lots of observations of where it is occurring is immensely useful. Knowing exactly where, when, and how many individuals are out there can mean that, with a swift response, it may be possible to control their numbers. This is where the value of citizen science networks is particularly dramatic. There is no way that professional biologists will be able to cover a whole area at small enough detail and high enough frequency to realistically be able to watch for any and all invasive species. But with online databases and citizen scientists out in the field, there may be enough eyes to pick up on new invasive arrivals. Projects like eBird, Calflora, and others allow individuals to add their observations together to form an enormous and very thorough observation net.

One reason that tracking and responding to invasive species is so important is the effects that they have on native species. Competition with invasive species is the second most common reason for species to be placed on the Endangered Species List (behind habitat destruction), and invasive species interactions are a contributing factor for listing 1/3 of all listed species!

And it is only going to get worse. Global climate change is opening up large areas that used to be unlikely places for invasive species to get a foothold. Alaska is just such a place. Historically, places like Alaska had harsh enough environments that, generally speaking, only species that had evolved with those conditions did well. With the warming climate, these harsh conditions that have protected such areas are becoming less harsh. Elodea is an aquatic plant that is often considered an invasive due its rapid growth rates and its tendency to exclude other species from an area. Historically, it was not found in Alaska at all, but in the past few years has started to appear in parts of the state.

All in all, I learned a lot at the symposium. There are definitely a lot of threats and dangers posed by invasive species in the Delta and many more from invasive species that are not currently present should they enter the Delta ecosystem. But there is also so much that can and is being done by dedicated professionals in the field, and also by communities and citizen scientists who care about the natural ecosystems in which we all live.

Read Full Post »

The Drake’s Beach Sanderlings Bird-a-thon: The Rogue Year!

Parasitic Jeager. One of the early names that the Drake’s Beach Sanderlings tried out was The Jeagers.

Dear Friend,

For more than 15 years, the Drake’s Beach Sanderlings have participated in the Point Blue Conservation Science Rich Stallcup Bird-a-thon. During that time, dozens of young birders have had the opportunity to learn about birds, bird conservation, and ecosystem stewardship.

The Drake’s Beach Sanderlings was the first youth bird-a-thon team supported by Point Blue Conservation Science. Over the years, this extraordinary team has helped to foster a deep seated passion for wildlife and conservation in young people. These young people have then carried that passion and knowledge into the world with them as they have spread into a wide range of endeavors.

Last year, in 2016, the Drake’s Beach Sanderlings birded for over 14 hours, covered over 100 miles zig-zagging across Marin County, saw a total of 131 species of bird, and raised over $3,000!

This year is going to be the same in some ways, and very different in others. Some of the similarities are that the Sanderlings are going out again, this year on the 23^rd of September, to crisscross Marin County. We will be visiting all our favorite spots, and probably a few new ones, to find as many species of bird as we possibly can. One of the biggest differences is going to be that this is not an official Point Blue bird-a-thon! Due to staffing issues, among other things, Point Blue Conservation Science will not be able to support and run the Bird-a-thon. This is only a temporary situation, and Point Blue is fully planning on reinvigorating the bird-a-thon in 2018. However, it means that those of us who are still committed to the bird-a-thon cause are going rogue this year. It also means that we really need your help! With no support from Point Blue, we are on our own conducting outreach, and generating enthusiasm and dollars, for bird research and conservation!

The Drake’s Beach Sanderlings birding Drake’s Beach during the 2016 bird-a-thon.

With the help of sponsors like you, we have helped to raise tens of thousands of dollars for environmental stewardship and conservation of the ecosystems on which we all depend. Your support of the Drake’s Beach Sanderlings encourages young people to go out and engage with birds and the natural world, and work for a better future.

So join us and donate a fixed amount (like $15.00) or an amount per species (like $0.25/species). Your support provides opportunities for young and old to engage in environmental stewardship, experience the rewards of connecting with their environment, and make a real difference in their communities and the world.

And donating is easy! Just mail a check, made out to Point Blue Conservation Science, to me at: 203 Touchstone Pl, West Sacramento, CA 95691

We very much appreciate your support for the Sanderlings Bird-a-thon: The Rogue Year. If you have any questions about The Drake’s Beach Sanderlings, the Rich Stallcup Bird-a-thon, or our any other aspect of this event please e-mail or call me at aaron.haiman@deltaconservancy.ca.gov or 510-289-7239.

Sincerely,

Aaron N.K. Haiman

Drake’s Beach Sanderlings Team Co-Leader

Read Full Post »