SFBBO Fall Birdathon Big Day Trip Report, 26 September 2006
"The Jack Sparrows"
Barry & Ginger Langdon-Lassagne
Our plans were humble: this was not going to be an all-out get-all-the-birds type birdathon. We were going to enjoy the birds, and we were going to have a good time out in nature together. For the spring birdathon we had arranged sleepovers for the kids for both the night previous and the night following. This time we had daycare during the day, but our children were ours for both nights, and for lunch, and we would have to retrieve them at 7pm (right about when it was getting dark).
We had set a personal goal of 100 birds, which we thought might be do-able as we had seen 125 species in the spring birdathon. But we weren't sure; fall birding is different. The birds are in drabber plumage, many are still in confusing immature plumage, and they aren't calling on breeding territory. On the plus side, there are probably more actual birds as all the birds born in the spring wouldn't have had to tough out their first migrations and their first winter yet. Our rough plan was: Start in the western foothills at Arastradero Preserve, followed by hitting all the great baylands parks, followed by lunch with the kids, then more baylands, then Ed Levin Park for east-hills birds, then Calero Reservoir and then if there was time, some of the ponds along Los Gatos Creek and a bit of urban parks as we picked up the kids. Then, if our energy was still up, some owling in the west hills with kids in tow. As it turned out, we had to skip several baylands, didn't make Calero Reservoir at all, and only managed a quick run through the ponds on Los Gatos Creek. Still, we beat our goal, totalling 106 birds seen or heard for the day.
List Key:
√ = counted for the birdathon
h = heard only
h,s = heard first, seen later
(G) = Ginger only saw
Home 12:00am to 5:00am - 1 bird
Ginger was up just past midnight, and before coming to bed she went outside and stood in the stillness - no birds called, no owls flew over; the Cooper's Hawk that had been disturbed from its sleep at 11:30pm was back in its slumber.
I awoke a little after 5am. It was quiet and still outside then as well. Then, after Ginger got up around 5:30, we both heard our first bird of the day: killDEER killDEER killDEER! out in the cornfields at the Corn Palace.
√ h,s Killdeer
We packed up the car and headed to our first stop: Arastradero Preserve. We saw no birds on the drive, nor did we hear anything even though we rolled down the windows (and turned on the heater) for a good section of the drive.
Arastradero Preserve: 6:30am to 8:30am - 39 birds
Okay, there's a big problem with starting a birdathon at Arastradero preserve. We arrived at 6:30am to the locked gates of the parking lot. A sign indicated they would be open by 7:30am, but we were already "late" at 6:30. The sky was getting light, and the dawn chorus had likely already started in the hills, where we would need to hike.
We continued driving a short ways down the road, and at the end of the park property a road leading to a stable had a spot that didn't look too illegal for parking. So we stowed the Prius there and headed up the closest trail: the Portola Pastures Trail. As we approached the trail, we heard some scolding, but coulding tell if it was a wren, or a Wrentit, or something else, so we didn't count it. But as we turned the first corner of the trail, we heard the distinct 'chip' of the California Towhee.
√ h,s California Towhee
Then we heard a Spotted Towhee call, followed by a Song Sparrow. Nothing spectacular, just easy to identify calls. We later saw both birds on many occasions.
√ h,s Spotted Towhee
√ h,s Song Sparrow
Immediately following the towhees, Ginger heard the clucking of a California Quail, but I didn't notice it until the quail burst up out of the bush to fly over our heads - the first bird sighting of the day.
h,s California Quail
Then, of course, the flock of bushtits came through. It was still too dark to get good looks at anything. A Mourning Dove took off from a willow branch above us.
√ h,s Bushtit
√ Mourning Dove
We hiked up the trail, hearing and seeing nothing for several minutes. We were passed by two mountain bikers. Somewhere in the distance we heard an American Kestrel. The Kestrel showed himself not long after, perched on a stick out in the grasslands.
h,s American Kestrel (saw @ 7:47am)
Then we heard a sound coming from some coyotebush directly ahead of us. We stopped to investigate, and saw several sparrows leap in and hide. We waited and watched for several minutes, and got one brief view of what was our first White-crowned Sparrow of the day.
√ White-crowned Sparrow
A Wrentit called off in the hills - a call like a ping-pong dropping on a table. Up the hill from the sparrow bush we saw a pair of Western Bluebirds land. There was enough light now that their colors were nicely visible even at a distance.
√ h Wrentit
√ Western Bluebird
We hiked downhill on the Meadowlark Trail, approaching Arastradero Creek. There we heard Western Scrub-Jays calling and Ginger heard a selasphorus (Rufous or Allen's) hummingbird whiz past. A Red-shouldered Hawk flew overhead, calling loudly as he headed toward a perch on the far side of the creek. Acorn Woodpeckers took up their "raca-raca" call in a dead tree, A pair of American Crows called in the distance. We saw White-tailed Kites flying and hovering in the morning light. Nuttall's Woodpeckers did their double 'pik-pik' and rattling call near the creekbed, and we also heard the single 'pik' call of either a Downy or a Hairy Woodpecker. Our first Black Phoebe called as well.
√ h,s Western Scrub Jay
√ h selasphorus hummingbird
√ Red-shouldered Hawk
√ h,s Acorn Woodpecker
√ h,s American Crow
√ White-tailed Kite
√ h Nuttall's Woodpecker
√ h Downy/Hairy Woodpecker
√ h, s Black Phoebe
We arrived at Arastradero Lake to find construction workers there (another reason not to start a Big Day at Arastradero this fall). They had likely disturbed anything that had spent the night. A small flock of Starlings flew over. We stopped at a big oak tree to watch a Chestnut-backed Chickadee and to look for warblers. We got a brief glimpse of one warbler, but not enough to identify. An Oak Titmouse flew about in the upper branches of the oak. A Red-winged Blackbird perched on the telephone wire above us. On the pond all we saw were American Coots and Pied-billed Grebe. Nothing unusual.
√ European Starling 7:01am
√ h, s Chestnut-backed Chickadee
√ Oak Titmouse
√ Red-winged Blackbird
√ American Coot (pond)
√ Pied-billed Grebe
We hiked a ways past the pond, hoping to get a couple new birds, but there seemed to be a lull. We found a few Anna's Hummingbirds atop the bushes. We brightened at the sound of a Belted Kingfisher flying above us somewhere out of sight. Then a smallish hawk flew over - like the Red-shouldered before, it called as it flew overhead. That pegged it as a Cooper's Hawk. We continued a ways, but the birds just weren't out and we were itching to get to the next spot, so we turned around after getting a decent look at a Song Sparrow and some really brief glimpses of what were probably young Wrentits.
√ Anna's Hummingbird
√ h, s Belted Kingfisher (seen at Sunnyvale Baylands, Freshwater Wetland)
√ Cooper's Hawk (calling in flight)
On the hike out we found a Bewick's Wren and saw deer for the first time in the day, but nothing else.
√ Bewick's Wren 7:44am
(Deer)
We arrived at the parking lot around 8:00am (it was now open) and hiked along the trail back towards the car. Along the way there was a flock of sparrows and finches, so we stopped to identify them. Many were White-crowned, which we had already seen, but we also saw Lesser Goldfinches and many House Finch. Ginger found an American Goldfinch, which I did not see. We found our first Savannah Sparrow of the day. One sparrow, smaller than the young White-crowned Sparrows, but with similar plumage, gave us trouble. However, we decided our sparrow-identification abilities were not up to the task, so we headed on toward the car. We wanted to get a look at Felt Lake with the scope before we headed off to the baylands.
√ Lesser Goldfinch
√ House Finch
√ American Goldfinch (G)
√ Savannah Sparrow 8:10am
As we jogged up the hill, scope in one hand, binoculars in the other, a Great Blue Heron flew overhead. We never managed to get a Great Blue Heron on our spring birdathon, so this was a moment of rejoicing. Then we stopped to see a Rock Pigeon perched on a tin rooftop outside the park boundaries. At that point I took a look at my telescope - the eyepiece was missing! We were already at the top of the hill, closer to the lake than the car, so we decided to just tough it out at Felt Lake with binoculars.
√ Great Blue Heron
√ Rock Pigeon
When we got to the lake, we discovered another reason not to start a fall birdathon at Arastradero - the lake was really low; the closest water was far away, in distant binocular view. I decided that we would need the scope after all, so I unscrewed one of the eyepieces from my binoculars and put it into the eyepiece holder. It worked! We started scanning what little water we could see: a Great Egret was easily identifiable, as were the Mallards. A Forster's Tern was sitting by the water on the far side. As I scanned, Ginger said "what's that large hawk?" It flew over us headed toward the Dish on the other side of the freeway. I tried to look at it with my now one-eyed binoculars, but it was not a satisfying view, so I turned the spotting scope in its direction. "It's a Golden Eagle!" she said, just as I got it into view. I had great looks at the bird as it turned and glided over the fields. Not long after that, a Red-tailed Hawk came to harass the eagle. Red-tailed Hawks are pretty big hawks, but it looked tiny compared to the eagle.
√ Great Egret - Felt Lake
√ Mallard
√ Forster's Tern
√ Golden Eagle 8:30am
√ Red-tailed Hawk (harrassing the much-larger eagle!)
After much scanning of the dessicated lake, we found a couple Killdeer (the bird we had first heard before dawn), one of which we thought might be a Semipalmated Plover, but at the far distance and with heat shimmer and an eyepiece that wasn't exactly made for the scope we decided not to count it. We did hear a Western Meadowlark in the hillsides, but that was it for Arastradero Preserve. Time to head for the baylands! The eyepiece for the scope turned out to be in the trunk, right where we were hoping it would be.
√ h,s Western Meadowlark (saw at Sunnyvale Baylands)
One of the nice advantages of birding on a weekday is that you have the parks and preserves practically to yourself. On the way to the baylands though, we were faced with one of the big disadvantages: rush hour traffic. It wasn't as bad as we had feared, but we had visions of what we might hit later in the day: lunch rush, schools letting out, evening rush hour, and we wondered how we could adjust our plans so we didn't spend too much prime birding time staring at a bumper in front of us.
Palo Alto Baylands 9:00am to 10:45am - 41 birds
Palo Alto Baylands is a feast for birders: so many species in so little space; you just eat them up in large handfuls. You see species far faster than you can write them down. We had planned to only spend an hour there so we would have time for Charleston Slough and the wetlands between, but we ended up spending our entire morning time budget there.
On the roadside before the park we found our first American Robins. At the entrance sign was perched a Northern Mockingbird and a White-crowned Sparrow. A Golden-crowned Sparrow was in a bush next to the sign. House Sparrows were perched nearby. A Common Raven flew over our car, calling along the way. This was still the "slow" part, as we hadn't even gotten into the park.
√ American Robin
√ Northern Mockingbird - on sign at entrance
√ Golden-crowned Sparrow
√ House Sparrow
√ Common Raven 9:01am
At the first pullout we could see that the mudflats were covered in birds. We were originally planning on heading straight to "Rail Alley" by the visitors center, but we decided on a "quick" stop here just to see what was out there. Ducks and gulls and shorebirds were scattered all over the mudflats. Okay, this is where the birds started coming in waves, so I'll just let the list speak for itself:
√ Northern Shoveler
√ American Avocet
√ Marbled Godwit
√ Canada Goose
√ Marsh Wren
√ Green-winged Teal
√ Semipalmated Plover
√ Long-billed Curlew
√ California Gull
√ Western Gull
√ Snowy Egret
√ Common Yellowthroat
Our second stop was the visitor's center parking lot. We saw a Black-necked Stilt and took the time to identify Western Sandpiper (droopy bill, black legs) among the "peeps" along the shore. A Willet stood in the mud nearby and a Ring-necked Pheasant trolled the parking lot.
√ Black-necked Stilt - on way to Rail Alley
√ Western Sandpiper
√ Willet
√ Ring-necked Pheasant
At the visitor center it was somewhat eery to see all the swallow nests with not a single swallow in sight. The Barn Swallows had already left their breeding grounds. Out over the boardwalk we saw a Northern Harrier hunting.
Birders create names for popular birding locations. Some are so well known that they can be used without any modifiers. "Rail Alley" is one of those - it's a spot so well known for its population of endangered California Clapper Rail that its name does not need to be embellished with "along the boardwalk near the visitor center at Palo Alto Baylands". Everyone knows what you mean when you say "Rail Alley." Anyway, as we approached "Rail Alley" we heard our first Clapper Rail...then our second, and then a third! At Rail Alley itself we watched a rail walk away from us in the muddy slough. It's always exciting to see this bird, and we watched it until it hiked out of sight. The boardwalk and pickleweed had its share of Savannah and Song Sparrows, but those we had seen earlier.
√ Northern Harrier
√ Clapper Rail 9:32am (also heard at SFBBO hq, 3:01pm)
Next we hiked to the end of the boardwalk to the only place on our birdathon where we would see the San Francisco Bay proper (everything else would be marshes, sloughs and salt ponds). We were hoping the tide wasn't too low for there to be water visible on the bay, and we weren't disappointed. We found many Northern Pintail swimming, flying and calling over the bay. There were also Northern Shovelers and other ducks. We found a pair of Black-bellied Plovers out on the mudflats in scope view as Ginger was trying to get a closer look at the one White Pelican resting out there. While she was looking through the scope, I saw more pelicans fly in, only these were Brown Pelicans, which are much less usual on the bay than at the coast. We followed the flock of six as they flew off toward the Dumbarton Bridge. A Ring-billed Gull flew overhead.
√ Northern Pintail - on the bay
√ White Pelican
√ Black-bellied Plover (juvenile. White rump, streaky chest, eyestripe)
√ Brown Pelican (6, flying over bay; 3 adult, 3 juvenile, 9:45am)
√ Ring-billed Gull
Back at the visitor's center we saw our first Double-crested Cormorant fly over. The peeps along the slough turned out to be Least Sandpipers, and a Black-crowned Night-Heron conveniently flew over us. In the marshes to the north of the parking lot we got a Greater Yellowlegs while in the parking lot itself we found a largeish flock of Brewer's Blackbirds (but no cowbirds, as we were somewhat expecting).
√ Double-crested Cormorant
√ Least Sandpiper
√ Black-crowned Night-Heron
√ Greater Yellowlegs
√ Brewer's Blackbird
We drove out to the Sailing Station, where we found many Dowitchers (we didn't try to distinguish Long-billed from Short-billed, and none of them obliged us with a distinctive call) feeding along the water's edge and a single Turkey Vulture soaring above the marsh.
√ Dowitcher - at the pier
√ Turkey Vulture
We were almost out of time before our lunch rendevous with the children, but we figured we had five minutes to spare for a stop at the duck pond where we hoped to pick up a different gull or two, and maybe some scaup ducks. The pond was boring, as Ginger figured out before me. She wandered over to the ranger station where she immediately started seeing warblers in the trees. The only new bird I got on the pond was Ruddy Duck, after which I joined Ginger. She had just seen a vireo with obvious "spectacles" which makes it likely a Cassin's Vireo, but we called it a "Solitary" as that's what it was called in our early birding years, before it was split off from the very similar Plumbeous and Blue-headed Vireos, and the look wasn't good enough to be sure it wasn't one of the others. Ginger also saw a Pacific-slope Flycatcher, which I only got the briefest glimpse of (I saw one much better later on). Together we saw Yellow, Yellow-rumped and Orange-crowned Warblers flying about the treetops.
√ Ruddy Duck - on duck pond
√ "Solitary" Vireo (Likely Cassin's) (G)
√ Pacific-slope Flycatcher (G, B later saw at EEC)
√ Yellow Warbler - at ranger station
√ Yellow-rumped Warbler
√ Orange-crowned Warbler
We zoomed off home for lunch, making it there right at our appointed 11am.
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Lunch@Home 11-12
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Sunnyvale Baylands - 2 birds
For the past couple weeks, Sunnyvale Baylands has been turning up great rare birds such as Tennessee and Blackpoll Warblers, and vast numbers of Yellow and Orange-crowned Warblers. Also, it's close to our home, so of course we had to stop there. In the line of poplars where all the great warblers have been, we found a Swainson's Thrush who flew from one tree to another giving us good looks of the spots on his chest and the uniformly-colored tail (to make sure we didn't mistake him for a Hermit Thrush). In the other line of poplars, the ones heading out to the boardwalk, we found a small flock of Yellow Warblers and at least one (but likely two or three) Warbling Vireos feeding and moving from tree to tree. We headed out to the boardwalk in hopes of a Say's Phoebe (we've seen one there almost every other winter), but no luck.
√ Swainson's Thrush 12:09. Tail gray, no contrast with black. Spots on chest somewhat blurry, transition smoothly into blank stomach
√ Warbling Vireo - along the line of poplars leading to the boardwalk
Sunnyvale Water Pollution Control Plant - 9 birds
Next we drove a short ways to the Sunnyvale Water Pollution Control Plant (or WPCP as we usually refer to it), where we were immediately greeted by a Say's Phoebe on top of a hill. It was barely recognizeable in my scope, but later it flew over us and landed much closer. The channel provided us with our first Common Moorhen. Ginger saw a different warbler, but we were unable to identify it from the views we had. The West Pond, visible through the scope, showed us American Wigeon and Gadwall. Another White Pelican flew over us and later, to our surprise, several Brown Pelicans flew overhead as well. I said they were ocean birds; maybe they were the same flock we saw at Palo Alto Baylands?
√ Say's Phoebe 1:09pm
√ Common Moorhen
√ American Wigeon
√ Gadwall
The WPCP had been in birding news lately because of a Franklin's Gull that had been seen in the channel between the East and West Ponds, so that was our ultimate destination. It was about a 1/4 mile hike though, so we were hoping for other birds to make the hike worthwhile. We weren't disappointed. First off, we found a flock of Brown-headed Cowbirds (usually we see them in a mixed flock of blackbirds and cowbirds), among the reeds and cattails. Then we easily found the Franklin's Gull among the Ring-billed gulls in the expected channel. We watched the Franklin's Gull for a long time, as it was a new species (life bird!) for both of us. Then we scanned the ponds, finding a couple Horned Grebes and a more distant grebe that was likely a Western or Clark's, but could have been a Red-necked (since it's different from all the other grebes we saw, we're just lumping it as a "different grebe"). On the hike back, a Sora rail called from the cattails. We briefly played the Sora call on my iPod to confirm what we heard, and perhaps to coax it to speak again, but it remained silent.
√ Brown-headed Cowbird (4 in rushes)
√ * Franklin's Gull
√ Horned Grebe - in West Pond
√ Western/Clark's (or Red-necked) Grebe far out in pond
√ h Sora 2:20pm
SFBBO Headquarters - 3 birds
Around 2:30pm we were starting to wonder where all the swallows were hiding. Ginger remembered a report of a Bank Swallow at the headquarters for the San Franciso Bay Bird Observatory (SFBBO, the one sponsoring the birdathon) in Alviso, so we thought we'd give it a try. We were greeted with wonderful views of Barn, Violet-green and Tree Swallows, but no Bank Swallow that we could find. It was suprising that these were the first swallows that we had seen all day.
√ Barn Swallow
√ Violet-green Swallow
√ Tree Swallow
The EEC - 3 birds
Nobody likes to say "Environmental Education Center in the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge", so it is invariably shortened to "EEC". The EEC is a great place for birds. There is a small native garden next to the visitor center, a boardwalk that snakes through salt marsh, and several large ponds that attract multitudes of birds. Also, there's a box in a sycamore that has a very reliable Barn Owl. We got the Barn Owl, but the garden failed to produce a hoped for Fox Sparrow. The ponds gave us Caspian Tern, Herring Gull, more White Pelicans and another Brown Pelican. No phalaropes, no shrike, no skimmers. So, pretty good, but not great.
√ Barn Owl (in its box)
√ Caspian Tern
√ Herring Gull
(another Say's Phoebe, on entrance sign)
State & Spreckels - 3 birds
One of the sites that most commonly produces rare birds, especially in winter, is a place called "State & Spreckels". It's located in Alviso at the intersection of (wait for it...) State & Spreckels streets. Spreckels runs along part of the western border of New Chicago Marsh, which is what attracts the birds. Snowy Plovers had recently been seen there, as had a Ruff or three. We found a Red-necked Phalarope and a few Dunlin, both welcome additions to the list. But none of the rarities that had been making birding headlines. On the drive out of Alviso, we stopped the car and turned back to get good views of a Loggerhead Shrike on the telephone line along Zanker Road.
√ Red-necked Phalarope
√ Dunlin
√ Loggerhead Shrike - Zanker Road 4:30pm
Ed Levin County Park - 2 birds
It was now 4:30pm, we were tired and as we merged onto 237 we feared that we would be stuck in gridlock. But traffic was kind to us and we made it to Ed Levin park in less than fifteen minutes. As we drove into the park, Wild Turkeys could be seen in great numbers (well, a dozen or more) feeding on the golf course lawn and disrupting traffic along the entranceway. We parked in the lower parking lot and wandered around looking for new birds but having little luck. The ground squirrels along the hillside near the reservoir were making alarm calls, which caused us to investigate (sometimes it indicates a bird of prey nearby). What we found was a young bobcat, digging in one of the squirrel holes. The calls became more frantic, and the bobcat emerged with a squirrel in its mouth. He was clearly proud of his kill - his short tail was lifted high and his ears perked forward as he pranced off into the grass, disappearing with his prey.
√ Wild Turkey 4:43pm
(young Bobcat takes a ground squirrel)
(jackrabbit, by the playground)
Sandy Wool Lake had nothing but coots and mallards on it. Hiking up the hillside produced only White-crowned Sparrows and another confusing sparrow we couldn't identify. We did see more Loggerhead Shrikes though, which was nice. When we came back down, Ginger got into the car to get something out of her eye. I went over to the lawn where the Killdeer were calling, to see if I could find any warblers in the trees. The ground was pretty swampy, which I suppose is what attracted the Killdeer. As Ginger caught up to me she said "what are you seeing?" I was watching with binoculars a small flock of Killdeer that were acting weirdly. I said "Killdeer...and a Snipe?!?" I thought for at least two seconds that I saw a bird with stripes on its head and a long straight bill, moving with the flock of Killdeer. They went behind a tree trunk and eventually the Killdeer emerged, but no sign of the Snipe. Then I saw a Northern Flicker on the next trunk over and started to doubt my sighting. We wandered around near the tree, and drove along the roadway, but no sign of any strange birds. We were out of time, so I had to let the sighting go - it was just too strange. Needless to say we made several "Snipe hunt" jokes on our way out of the park.
(Snipe?)
√ Northern Flicker
Los Gatos Creek County Park - 2 birds
It was 6:00pm. We had one hour left. There would be no stopping at Calero Reservoir, which was too far south of us. As we merged onto 680 we hit our first real rush hour traffic. It was stop and go pretty much until the 101 interchange, which ate up almost all spare time we hoped to use at urban ponds. But Los Gatos Creek Park was situated between us and where we had to pick up the kids, so we decided to give it a quick try.
The first pond had nothing new. The dead tree that used to be frequented by an Osprey was long gone. We decided to walk to the far edge in hopes of getting a warbler. As we rounded the edge of the pond we startled a Green Heron. The "warbler" trees were full of House Sparrows. We sprinted to the second pond - a few fishermen, and a lovely pair of Belted Kingfishers, but no new birds. We headed to the third pond and, in the weird percolation pond thingies on the other side of the trail we had a bounty of ducks: Mallard, Gadwall, teal...all repeats for the day except for one: a female Wood Duck. A wonderful bird to end on, assuming it was our last. We were really out of time, so we ran back to the car and headed off to pick up the kids.
√ Green Heron 6:29pm
(2 kingfishers here too)
√ Wood Duck (female, in the waterworks between the big ponds and Dell Avenue) 6:40pm
John D. Morgan Park - 1 bird
The kids were enjoying the afternoon at John D. Morgan Park. We managed to arrive a couple minutes before 7pm, so we birded the redwoods by the parking lot in the fading light. There we heard, and got a brief glimpse of, Dark-eyed Juncoes. They quickly roosted in the trees and by 7:15pm there wasn't a single bird moving or making noise in the park.
√ h,s Dark-eyed Junco 7:05pm
We asked the kids if they were up for owling and took their "I guess" response as massive enthusiasm, so we drove up Mt. Eden Road and down Stevens Canyon Road in the western foothills in hopes of hearing a hint of Western Screech-Owl or Great Horned Owl. We saw a skunk on the drive and a lovely deer with antlers, but the owls were nowhere to be heard. By this time everyone was really tired, so we headed home to bed.
There are a lot of things we'll do differently next time around. We won't start at Arastradero, since there's nowhere to park. We won't hike to Felt Lake since the water's gone. We won't plan a route that cuts through the urban landscape during rush hour (which is essentially all day long on weekdays). We'll plan to pick up the kids at 9pm or later so we can stay at the last park until the very last moment. And we'll plan our route more carefully and do more preparatory birding (assuming we can find the time). We learned a lot of lessons this time around, we exceeded our 100-bird goal and we accomplished our goal of having a great time together. And because of all our great sponsors we raised money to support SFBBO's science and conservation programs. So we count this as a very successful birdathon, and starting right now we're saving up our energy for the next birdathon!
Sincerely,
Barry & Ginger Langdon-Lassagne
a.k.a. The Jack Sparrows
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