Exploring Nature in the San Francisco Bay Area
Join Donate
All Topics

Midpeninsula Open Space District Launches Geocache Challenge

For some folks, just going out and hiking a trail in a local park doesn’t have quite enough allure to compete with the virtual world of smart phones and laptops, Facebook and video games.

But what if exploring a local park meant using a high-tech gadget to search for hidden treasure and earn collectable “geocoins” — all while trekking through the real, wild world of a wilderness park?

That’s the idea behind the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District’s new Preserve Circuit Geo-Challenge, kicking off this Saturday at Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve, — to use geocaching to turn people, especially young people, on to the hybrid game-hike-sport.

The program is designed to bring together existing geocachers with newcomers who are interested in learning about the game. Geocachers of all skill levels are invited to participate in the geo-challenge.

“Geocaching is an activity that is reintroducing families and their kids to our natural spaces,” says Steve Wood of Recreational Equipment, Inc (REI). “It’s doing it in a way that is engaging all generations of the family so that everyone gets to go out and participate and learn what being in the outdoors is all about.”

Wood started geocaching himself in 2003 because it was an interesting way to explore the outdoors with his kids. Wood has worked closely with Williams to launch this Saturday’s event. REI will be offering guided hikes at the event for families new to geocaching.

On July 9, MROSD will release the list of coordinates for 22 caches in their preserve circuit. Geo-Challenge participants download map coordinates from geocaching.com onto a GPS unit and head out on a quest to find caches hidden along the trails.

A cache will often contain a logbook and objects for trade that appeal to young geocachers. If you take object from a cache, you need to replace it with an item of equal or greater value. Be sure to sign your name in the logbook and put the cache back the way you found it. When you get home, log on to geocaching.com with your user name and record the items you found and share your experience.

“All [caches] within our program will be full size and will be placed in a way that the newcomers will be able to find them without too much difficulty,” says Jennifer Williams of MROSD.

MROSD will also be handing out “preserve passports.” A unique stamp is placed inside the caches of this particular preserve circuit. With the stamp, you mark the corresponding preserve page on the inside of your passport. After the passport has been filled, you can submit it to MROSD to earn collectible geocoins, each imprinted with a serial number (you can keep the coins or leave them in a cache, and then follow the serial number later to see where the coin travels).

The goal of the program is not only to connect with the existing geocaching community but also to get kids out from behind their TV or computer screens and interacting with nature.

In 2007, MROSD formally recognized policies and guidelines for geocaching, which has allowed people to place caches in the district’s preserves and search for them.

Williams says a couple hundred people have said they’re coming to the event this Saturday, and the three geocaching clinics for newcomers have been filled.

But she still encourages newcomers to RSVP, a requirement for the event, and join in on the outdoor adventure. To RSVP, email vdavis@openspace.org or go to openspace.org/geocaching.

Bird Rescue Volunteer Finds an Old Friend

A few weeks ago, Cindy Margulis, a volunteer with International Bird Rescue, was watching a snowy egret at a rookery on Bay Farm Island in Alameda.

It’s no surprise that there’d be an egret at an egret rookery, but this turned out to be a special bird — and a lesson in just why researchers put bands on birds in the first place.

“I noticed the band when he flew into a tree [a few feet away] while he was trying to get material to build his nest,” says Margulis. “Typically with nest building, the female selects the site that she wants, but it’s the male’s job to go get her the building materials.”

When Margulis noticed the silver glint on this egret’s leg, she decided to investigate. Over several sightings, she took photos of the bird’s band and was able to piece together the number imprinted on it.

And that was the key to turning just another snowy egret into a small but satisfying success story for International Bird Rescue.

After looking through her own records and then cross-referencing them with official records, she was able to confirm that she had seen this same bird released up the road from Bay Farm at Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline last year, after it had been rehabilitated at International Bird Rescue’s San Francisco Bay Area Center in Fairfield.

Jay Holcomb, Bird Rescue’s emeritus director, said the group bands every bird that is successfully rehabilitated. “The band is the only clue we have to let us know if our job was done and if we are helping them or not.” And it’s actually not that often that a volunteer manages to spot a rehabilitated bird again in the wild.

This young bird ended up at Bird Rescue’s facility after a local found him on the ground in poor health near a rookery that sits right on a busy street in Santa Rosa.

Bay Farm Island, though not exactly wilderness, is a much better spot for egrets. “I went and saw the snowy egret with Cindy a couple of weeks ago,” said Marie Travers, International Bird Rescue’s assistant center manager. “It was really fantastic to see one of the birds we had rehabilitated back out there and trying to breed.”

Margulis explained that since egrets typically congregate during their spring and summer breeding season, rescue workers released a small group so that together they can acclimate to life in the wild. The egret she spotted probably found his way to the rookery on Bay Farm Island by following other egrets.

Three times a week, Margulis spends one to two hours at the Bay Farm rookery. With her binoculars and spotting scope she has been able to take a closer look at more than 25 egret nests that fill a single pine tree. She says she’s spotted another egret with a band but hasn’t been able to track it to verify whether it might also be one of the birds released on the same day.

The work it takes to save an individual animal “is validated in part by being able to find out how they do and where they are seen after they are released,” said Travers.

Holcomb is the person authorized to band birds at the International Bird Rescue. He logs the band information into an online database, and then submits it to the Bird Banding Lab. Volunteers and citizens who find a bird with a band number can go to the Bird Banding Lab website to fill out an online form and get information about the bird, such as the conditions under which the bird was admitted to the rescue and when it was released.

The International Bird Rescue’s San Francisco Bay Area Center takes in an average of 500 birds a year during the spring and summer and every bird is banded before it is released into the wild.

But only a small percentage of these birds are ever seen and recorded again.

Thanks to Margulis, one snowy egret has turned from a data point of rehab and release into a story of success and survival.

A Day with the Eagles

When the LA Times was looking to do a story about the perils of wind energy for birds, including condors near the Tehachapi Mountains, they traveled north to visit Doug Bell and Joe DiDonato, two long-time East Bay biologists who have spent decades studying raptor fatalities at the wind turbines at Altamont Pass. Last week, I got to head out into the field to see how this work is done.

As we drove east toward Livermore, DiDonato laid out the big picture. “Alameda County has the highest density of nesting golden eagles anywhere in the world,” he explained, “which is surprising for being in the Bay Area.”

Doug Bell with Scope
Bell and DiDonato set out with minimal gear at first, to locate a nest. Photo by Isaura Linares.

But the center of that eagle density is not the urban wilds of Oakland, but rather the open grasslands in the eastern part of the county. Those open spaces around Altamont Pass are rife with ground squirrels, prime eagle prey, but they are also dotted with windmills–which you might call prime eagle predators.

Bell is the Wildlife Program Manager for the East Bay Regional Park District, and DiDonato, who also served with the park district for almost 20 years, is now an independent biologist and wildlife photographer.

Eaglet in nest
This eaglet, about six or seven weeks old, is in a nest in the crook of an oak tree, seen here from the steep slope that rises above the tree. Photo by Isaura Linares.

The two scientists are working on a study that aims to determine how those wind turbines are affecting golden eagles because an alarming percentage of the population has been killed due to the proximity of turbines to the eagles’ nesting area.

As we drove along La Costa Creek, through San Francisco Water Department property, the first thing I noticed was that the rolling hills were studded with grazing cattle. DiDonato took the opportunity to explain how their grazing related to the birds we were about to see: cows eat long grass, which helps native plants sprout and sustain ground squirrels that feed birds of prey.

Bell climbs to the nest
Using a rope and harness he retrieved from the truck, Doug Bell climbed the tree, and carefully took the eaglet by the legs, put it in a cloth bag, and lowered the bird to the ground using a rope. Photo by Isaura Linares.

When we arrived at the site I realized we were not going to hike a clearly marked trail, as I had thought. We were going to scale the nearly vertical side of a giant mountain. For Bell and DiDonato, this was all in a light day’s work, but I am certainly not used to heading off-trail straight up a mountainside through thickets of poison oak. Especially for novice hikers, bushwhacking with biologists is a sobering experience.

And Bell and Didonato were not sure if we were going to be lucky enough to find the nest in the mountain’s woodland area, so they left much of their gear behind, opting for a backpack and a single machete.

DiDonato holding eagle
DiDonato examines the eaglet after it has been lowered to the ground and removed from a cloth bag. Photo by Isaura Linares.

Just like that, without any further hesitation, off we went into the grasslands. I spent most of the hike trying to gain the mental (and physical) strength needed to keep up. DiDonato even offered a sturdy fallen branch for me to use as a hiking stick, which I happily accepted. They were more than patient with me; cracking jokes with one another (sometimes even at my expense) for the entire duration of the hike, which helped calm my nerves as I was convinced that every step I took was going to be my last.

We were there to look for nests; nests that we hoped would be full of eaglets. For the next couple of weeks, DiDonato and Bell will be looking for young eagles to fit with uniquely numbered bands.

If these eaglets are later found, dead or alive, the data collected using the bands could help demonstrate the fatal impacts on the local raptor population. Later this summer, Bell and DiDonato will shift their focus from banding juvenile golden eagles to trapping adult eagles and outfitting them with satellite tracking devices.

Bell with eaglet
Biologist Doug Bell finishes the examination of a juvenile eagle. Data from this work could help in efforts to reduce raptor fatalities at wind farms in the Altamont Pass. Photo by Joseph E. DiDonato, Wildlife Photography and Consulting.

As we hiked, Bell decided to venture off on his own, deep into the woodland area in search of the nest, while DiDonato and I enjoyed some temporary sanctuary in an area less densely populated by poison oak. With his binoculars DiDonato scanned the landscape for the nest while we listened for Bell’s call. After about 10 minutes of tense quiet, we heard his voice in the distance.

He’d found a nest in a tree that was easy enough to get to so long as you overlooked its position: projecting from one of the steepest sides of the mud-covered mountain. When we arrived, the eaglet was resting obliviously, with its back turned toward us. While the size and scale of the nest was impressive, these were obviously cramped quarters for the growing eaglet, which stood at a good 18 inches tall.

After a quick trip back to the car for his gear, Bell slipped into a harness and was ready to climb the tree and capture the eaglet in a special cloth bag. As the eaglet became increasingly aware of Bell’s presence in the tree, I worried it would attempt to escape. Ever the expert, Bell calmly approached the nest, took a few minutes to strategize, and quickly went to work. He reached in for the bird’s ankles and held on tight. The eaglet was startled and began to spread its wings. After a few failed attempts, Bell managed to turn the eaglet on its back and tuck it safely inside the bag. Bell fashioned a pulley out of rope and lowered the eaglet down to DiDonato, who measured and banded the bird.

With the measurements taken from its beak, talons, and wings, DiDonato and Bell were able to determine the eaglet was female and about six or seven weeks old. Bell also took a blood sample to send to a federal laboratory in Alaska, where it will become part of a larger study examining the overall evolution of birds in Western United States. After recording and banding the eaglet, Bell and DiDonato safely returned her to her nest.

For Bell and DiDonato, this was all in a day’s work. But, for me, finding myself so close to an eaglet turned out to be a life-changing experience–made all the more so by seeing DiDonato and Bell tromp fearlessly through poison oak and up steep, muddy slopes to climb a tree and then so delicately handle the baby eagle with care and respect.

Like DiDonato told me before the hike, it was a rare opportunity that not a lot of people get the chance to experience.

Controversial Niles Canyon Project Reopened for Comment

Update (June 9, 2011) – Alameda Creek Alliance (ACA) reports that a judge has issued a temporary restraining order halting Caltrans current work in NIles Canyon.  The judge is expected to rule on June 23 whether to grant a more permanent injunction until the legal issue of whether an environmental impact report must be prepared.

Update (June 7, 2011) – Alameda Creek Alliance has now filed suit against Caltrans, citing inadequate environmental review of the project described below. You can download a PDF of their press release or full lawsuit from alamedacreek.org.

After months of protests from local environmental activists and some government officials, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is reopening the public comment period for one of three controversial Niles Canyon highway improvement projects on Highway 84 east of Fremont.

Caltrans says the project–which involves removing trees, widening roads, and building retaining walls–is needed to reduce traffic accidents in the scenic canyon, where Alameda Creek runs from the town of Sunol to Fremont. But the Alameda Creek Alliance and other critics charge that widening the highway will damage the health of the stream, whose 700-square-mile watershed is the second-largest feeding into San Francisco Bay.

“Removal of the trees will destabilize the stream banks, cause warmer stream temperatures and remove cover and root structures used by trout and frogs to escape from predators,” says Jeff Miller, director of the Alameda Creek Alliance. “Placing retaining walls and rip-rap in the stream channel and floodplain will destroy habitat and accelerate stream flow, causing erosion downstream and on opposite banks.”

Though Caltrans first closed the comment period last October, the public can again comment through July 7 on the second phase of the project, which covers the major construction in the middle of the canyon. That work involves cutting almost 500 additional trees and adding nearly two miles of retaining wall in the creek and floodplain.

We reported in January 2011 that Caltrans planned to complete review of public comments by late spring 2011.

In an email, Caltrans spokesperson Allyn Amsk said, “(Caltrans) decided to reopen the comment period for the Niles Canyon II Safety Improvement project in order to consider additional public comments from individuals and organizations who did not respond in the initial comment period but wanted their comments considered and included in the final environmental document.”

Amsk says Caltrans is also planning to hold meetings with stakeholder groups to address specific concerns about the project.

“Throughout this process,” wrote Amsk, “Caltrans has been committed to being a good steward of the Bay Area’s natural resources and strives to balance this commitment with our priority to ensure safe highways for the motoring public, bicyclists and pedestrians.”

A related project in the canyon started early this spring with the removal of close to 100 trees. Caltrans will resume work on June 15 to remove tree stumps and start work on the 1,600 feet of retaining wall in the lower canyon.

Alameda Creek Alliance has a page about its objections to Caltrans’s work in Niles Canyon. You can also download the official documents about the project.

Comments can be submitted to nilescanyonprojects@dot.ca.gov or sent by mail to Caltrans District 4, Attn: V. Shearer, PO Box 23660 MS 8B, Oakland, CA 94623-0660. Comments must be received by 5 p.m. on July 7.

Gearing Up for the Great Bee Count

For the third year in a row, San Francisco State University Professor Gretchen LeBuhn is helping thousands of people pitch in on a major research effort to count bees all across the country.

As part of the Great Sunflower Project, nearly 100,000 participants have signed up to plant sunflowers, count bees, and submit data online. Researchers use the data collected and submitted by citizen scientists across the United States and Canada to map pollinators and pollinator services to see what area bees are doing well and where they need help.

“Most [people] have heard that there is a crisis in bees,” said LeBuhn in an interview for yourgardenshow.com. “If you have a vegetable garden or if you have fruit trees, you need to have bees. If you want to have a productive garden…you have to have a healthy, diverse bee community in your backyard.”.

Bee on yellow flower
A bee visits Florence de Losada’s garden in San Rafael. Photo by Florence de Losada.

To attract bees, participants in LeBuhn’s project plant lemon queen sunflowers or other bee-attracting plants such as bee balm, cosmos, rosemary, tickseed, and purple coneflower in their home gardens. Project participants take just 15 minutes twice a month to observe and count bees that visit their flowers and then submit this data to the Great Sunflower Project. In just 30 minutes a month, they’re helping to save bee populations that have been unexpectedly declining for several decades.

So far, about 5,000 participants have submitted data to the Great Sunflower Project. This year, the organizers hope to increase that number with the Great Bee Count day, set for July 16.

Fred Bove, the project’s outreach director, said that focusing on a single day is intended to motivate all participants to take the next important step and actually submit their collected data.

“It would be really cool to have a whole group of people doing the same thing on the same day,” said Bove. Shortly after July 16, Bove will send information to project members about data collected and how many people participated.

“The goal of our program is education about pollinator service. It is most important that people become more aware of pollinator service in their community and aware of what bees do for us and how we can help preserve them,” said Bove.

Florence de Losada of San Rafael has been part of the project for the past three years. She says she enjoys watching bees come through her small garden, especially in the morning, and spending time outside with her daughter observing bees helps her to feel more connected with nature.

“I just wanted to be part of a very important project, because without the bees, we’d have a lot of problems with growing vegetables and flowers.”

“As we all know, we are losing a lot of bees,” de Losada said. “I just wanted to be part of a very important project, because without the bees, we’d have a lot of problems with growing vegetables and flowers.”

De Losada’s organic garden includes lettuce, snap peas, beets, Swiss chard, tomatoes, garlic, and string beans, but she says that it’s the sunflowers and lavender that the bees keep coming back for.

She actually didn’t see any bees the first year she was trying to collect data for the project, but the number of bees visiting her garden has increased in the past two years.

De Losada was not alone in not seeing bees. “One thing that has surprised me is that about 20 percent of the gardens submitted data that [suggested they] weren’t seeing any bees in 15 minutes,” said LeBuhn. “That was higher than I expected.”

As a result, LeBuhn and other Sunflower Project staff are increasing their efforts to encourage gardeners to grow more and more flowering plants for the benefit of bees and other pollinators. “Doing some real conservation is going to make the Sunflower Project even more powerful,” said LeBuhn.

For more information or to find out how you can get involved with the Great Sunflower Project, visit greatsunflower.org.