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Birding

A Subversive Culture

The Ins and Outs of a Quirky Sport

     Upon researching the term “subculture” and learning that it’s short for subversive culture, here is the abridged version of
the many in-depth definitions: a group of people with a culture (whether distinct or hidden), which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong. They have their own shared conventions, values and rituals, but they can also seem immersed or self-absorbed, a feature that distinguishes them from a counterculture. A subculture is a non-familial social group that refuses the banalities of ordinary life.
     The San Francisco Bay Area is replete with various subcultures, ranging from food-inspired forays to obscure running clubs, and bird watching (henceforth known as birding) is but one of the many local subcultural milieus where one can find an enthusiastic group of like-minded individuals with whom to share some time, knowledge and common ground. Like any subculture worthy of the term, one has to put a little bit of effort into finding the folks who can help one become a birder. In these days of technologically driven entertainment, we aren’t exactly inundated with influences telling us to turn off our electronic devices and go outside, but if you have a modicum of motivation toward becoming a birder, it’s not a huge undertaking around these parts.
      Long before birding became a sport unto its self, Oakland’s Lake Merritt was named the country’s first wildlife refuge, back in 1870. Paul Covel was hired in 1948 as the first municipal naturalist in the nation at Lake Merritt. “He should be at least mentioned in any discussion of birding in Oakland, as he was a remarkable scientist, teacher and enthusiast for Oakland’s wildlife and native ecosystems,” says Leora Feeney, chairwoman of Friends of the Alameda Wildlife Refuge, a group committed to protecting and enhancing the wildlife of the proposed Alameda National Wildlife Refuge. Among its many contributions dating back to 1917, Golden Gate Audubon Society played a pivotal role in helping longtime member Elsie Roemer protect important bird habitat in Alameda, which eventually manifested as the Elsie Roemer Bird Sanctuary. The Bay Area has been a birding hot spot since the 1960s and has held strong to the tradition. Point Reyes Bird Observatory has been involved in ecosystem conservation in the Bay Area for more than 40 years, and similarly, the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory has dedicated its efforts to the conservation of birds and their habitats since 1981.
      With the Bay Area’s copious amount of coastline and maritime weather, a great diversity of birds can be seen here all year round. The California coast is part of the Pacific Flyway, which is one of four major migratory routes used by birds in North America. Because of the San Francisco Bay’s position in this flyway, the area has attracted a considerable number of individuals and organizations devoted to following the winged migrants that pass through this part of the world twice a year.
      Among them is East Bay resident Bob Lewis, a tall, fit, white-bearded man with an easy smile, deep voice and ever-present binoculars strapped to his chest. Recently, I had the pleasure of taking a birding stroll with this local icon in Tilden Nature Area. As we rounded the first bend, I was shushed in mid-sentence by the rustlings of a thrush in the blackberries as Lewis and I both trained our full attention on the prospect of the treasure within. It’s a mannerism that one must become accustomed to if cavorting with bird folk. While we strained and craned our necks trying to catch a glimpse of the illusive little brown fluff ball, a gentleman, also donning a pair of binoculars, approached from the same direction we had. Lewis’ attention was momentarily drawn away from the bird while I still searched. “George,” he chuckled in an it’s-been-awhile tone. It was clear right away that Piedmont City Attorney George Peyton was hip to our subversive activities when he informed us that we were trying to root out a Swainson’s thrush. It was making some miniscule vocalizations, which Peyton was able to key into that neither myself, nor Lewis for that matter, picked up on. A new set of ears never hurt any investigation.
     After visually confirming the thrush’s identity, Lewis and Peyton proceeded to launch into catching up on each other’s lives and sharing accounts of recent birding trips. There were tales of Panama and Botswana, complete with local guide and lodging recommendations. These gentlemen can obviously be put in the “serious birder” category as they travel far and wide to see birds in their native habitats. This year alone Lewis has ventured to Panama twice, Brazil, Belize and Florida solely to catch glimpses of foreign avifauna. His itinerary has been cut short for the rest of the year though, as he’s teaching three bird-centric classes for Golden Gate Audubon Society (visit the Web site, goldengateaudubon.org, and click the classes link in the education drop down menu to see a complete class schedule). Birding is definitely a lifestyle for a few lucky individuals, but it can be just as rewarding to the occasional practitioner. As an added bonus, one of the many lovely things about birds is that they are cosmopolitan creatures. No matter where you are, from the heart of New York City to a tiny island in the midst of the Pacific Ocean, there will be birds.
     Lewis’ beginning birding classes are always well attended. Of his students he relayed, “Many people get their start bird watching in their backyards.” Perhaps it’s a charming American robin that catches their attention, then they notice a house finch tending a brood in a nest it built between their rain gutter downspout and the siding on their house. From there they might venture into figuring out what that brown, robin-sized tweeter is that scratches around under their shrubs and trees. After observing and maybe asking around or consulting a bird guidebook, they would identify it as a California towhee. From there it’s easy to be taken in by the ever-present and frantic Anna’s hummingbirds, emotive mourning doves, raucous American crows and the park-dwelling mallards, Canada geese and red-winged blackbirds in the area. Birds are full of quirky and ingenious traits that one might be charmed by. Others are lured into the birding world by their fellow humans. “Perhaps they got a pair of binoculars as a gift, or a friend co-enrolled them in a Golden Gate Audubon class,” Lewis mentions. There are many ways in which people are sucked into the birding world, but the most important thing to know is that once you’ve ventured in, it’s nearly impossible to escape. Knowledge is a slippery slope.
     As Lewis so aptly put it, “I’ve never met
a birder I couldn’t stand.” The vast majority of birders are so enthusiastic and excited about what they’re doing that they are eager to enlighten willing minds about the particular specimen that you’re observing or try and answer any questions you may have. The Oakland Bird Club is one such group of individuals. The original members banded together a few years ago at the end of a birding class they were all taking. The class, like any good one, was filled with birding field trips. At its end, the students refused to stop birding together, so they formed a club that goes on birding trips with experienced leaders, features guest speakers, organizes potlucks and a book club and enjoys general camaraderie. The members are of varied ages, skill levels and professions and welcome newcomers with their taste for fresh membership and birding fervor.
      Without the opportunity afforded by such a rich local heritage, birding can be just as alienating as it is unifying. There can be a salty, anti-social edge to some birders that may discourage beginners if they’re not used to that sort of behavior. Lewis doesn’t fit into this category but admitted that some of his tribe do indeed posses a certain coarseness. Humans are conditioned to become more akin to the creatures they spend the most time with. Thus, if you spend most of your day among and observing birds as opposed to other humans, it’s not a far stretch to appear a little cagey to your fellow hominids. This phenomenon is largely skirted in the Bay Area because if you show up for an Oakland Bird Club walk or to one of the nearly twenty GGAS trips, it’s already established that you are, or making an attempt to, speak the same language as the people you’re surrounded by. Do not be afraid; once you establish that you’re one of them, the mystery will melt away, and a flood of knowledge and anecdotes will gush forth from any piquant birder that you encounter.
     Once you’ve broken through, you’re apt to learn that depending on what type of birds you fancy, time of year and location are crucial. Wilson’s warblers, tiny olive and yellow birds about 4 1/2 inches long weighing little more than a U.S. quarter, migrate through here on their way to Central America seeking endless sunshine. These pygmy fireballs are willing to make the 6,000-mile round trip on their own 6-inch wingspan every year. Many hawks, falcons and eagles, all part of the group called raptors, travel as far south as Argentina in the winter also in search of eternal summer. Peregrine falcons have been known to travel as far as 15,000 miles in a migratory cycle. Golden Gate Raptor Observatory has been organizing teams of volunteers to count raptors traveling through the Bay Area for 25 years. Community members conduct counts from atop Hawk Hill in the Marin headlands every fall and winter to study movement patterns as well as population status of the various species that fly over on their way to more southerly wintering grounds.
     Spring and fall are the most important times of year to see migrants, but don’t discount summer and winter. There are quite a few birds that are either permanent residents or overwintering visitors enjoying the mild bay summers. Winter brings a great diversity of waterfowl such as scaup, scoters, ruddy ducks, five types of grebe, bufflehead, three varieties of teal and canvasbacks, to name a few. Shorebirds, those scuttling critters you see poking around in the mud or getting chased by dogs on the beach, flock here by the thousands to feed on invertebrates in the bay’s ecosystem. Many gulls and terns choose to snowbird here as well. The raptors and songbirds that stay here for the cold months are easily spotted due to the lack of leaves on their perches. Summer rolls around and brings a whole new suite of shorebirds and is a great time to get familiar with the locals.
     If you’re out for variety, the last week in April is usually the time of year that the broadest diversity of birds is funneling through the East Bay. These pilots have wintered somewhere between the southern United States and Argentina and are on their way north to mate, breed, rear their young, fatten up on fall bounties and head south again to start the cycle all over. Lucky for birders, the East Bay Regional Park District has preserved and restored areas that are prime real estate for catching some of this migratory action. In Oakland and Alameda alone are the shoreline parks of Middle Harbor, Crown Beach and Martin Luther King Jr. and the inland regional parks of Sibley, Huckleberry, Roberts and Redwood. Virtually all of the habitat types available in the area exist within one of these public gems.
     As Lewis and I rounded the south side of Jewel Lake and turned onto a brush encroached pathway much like the stuff of fairy tales, a feeding frenzy of birds ensued. Halfway down the lake, enjoying a small vista of dogwood brush, blackberries, oaks and an old snag near the water’s edge, we were descended upon by a mixed foraging flock. In the span of five minutes or less, we were graced with up close and personal views of two wrentits, a curious warbling vireo, a vociferous scrub jay, a voracious orange-crowned warbler and a little downy woodpecker making percussive inroads on the snag. Then, as suddenly as they appeared, the flock was gone. From the thicket across the trail a sharp-shinned hawk buzzed in to see what all of the chattering was about and busted up the party in the name of lunch. If this genre of entertainment fits into your idea of a good time, and you’re yearning to shake off the banalities of ordinary life, look away from your television and out your window. The birds will be there.

Birder-Recommended Spots

Local
Arrowhead Marsh
Lake Merritt
Mountain View Cemetery
Redwood Regional Park
Bay Farm Island
Elsie Roemer Shoreline and Crown Beach
Eastshore State Park
The San Francisco Bay Trail
Middle Harbor Shoreline Park
Joaquin Miller Park
UC Berkeley Botanical Gardens
Tilden Regional Park
Sibley Regional Park

Farther Afield
Golden Gate Raptor Observatory
Point Reyes National Seashore
Audubon Canyon Ranch
Coyote Hills
Garin/Dry Creek Regional Parks
Hayward Regional Shoreline
Mitchell Canyon
Sunol Regional Wilderness

Four Sure-Bet Birding Trips

Winter
Where: Arrowhead Marsh at Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline, Oakland
When: High tide, on the earlier side of the day to avoid the glare of the setting sun
What: Mud flat, bay/lagoon
Who: American wigeon; blue-winged teal; greater and lesser scaups; surf and white-winged scoters; bufflehead; common goldeneye; ruddy ducks; western, Clark’s, horned and red-necked grebes; black-necked stilt; America avocet; greater yellowlegs; willet; long-billed curlew; marbled godwit
Specialties: Clapper rails are forced out of the pickleweed at high tide, and burrowing owls can be seen in nearby fields as they utilize the abundant ground squirrel burrows.
How: From Interstate 880, exit west on Hegenberger Road and go about one mile. Turn right on Doolittle Drive, take another right on Swan Way, and take your first left onto the gravel access road. The parking lot is on the left, and about another half a mile up at the end of the road is another parking area with a viewing platform and restrooms.
More Info: ebparks.org/parks/mlk

Fall/Winter
Where: Elsie Roemer Bird Sanctuary and Crown Beach, Alameda
When: Any tide, on the earlier side of the day to avoid the glare of the setting sun
What: Marsh grasses, sloughs and sandy beach
Who: Marsh wren, song sparrow, black-necked stilt, American avocet, willet, long-billed curlew, marbled godwit
Specialties: Red knots are seen during migration if you time it right, and least terns can be seen in the late summer.
How: From Interstate 880, exit at Alameda/23rd Avenue, take a slight left onto Dennison Street, and continue straight onto Kennedy Street for about a half mile. Take a slight right on 23rd Avenue and continue onto Park Street for a mile and a half until it tees into Shoreline Drive. Park along Shoreline Drive and enjoy the scenery.
More Info: ebparks.org/parks/crown_beach

Spring
Where: Redwood Regional Park, Oakland
When: Morning or evening
What: Redwood, evergreen, chaparral, grassland
Who: Steller’s jay, chestnut-backed chickadee, bushtit, wrentit, Anna’s hummingbird, Pacific-slope flycatcher, Western tanager, black-headed grosbeak, winter wren, Swainson’s thrush, brown creeper, ruby-crowned kinglet, dark-eyed junco, spotted towhee, downy woodpecker
Specialties: Olive-sided flycatcher, warbling vireo, Hutton’s vireo, orange-crowned warbler, Wilson’s warbler, sharp-shinned hawk, Cooper’s hawk
How: From Highway 13, take the Redwood Road exit and go east (uphill). At the top of the hill, you will cross Skyline Boulevard. After about two miles, you’ll see the main entrance, Redwood Gate, on the left. The park office is located there, as well as restrooms and picnic areas. There is a seasonal parking fee at Redwood Gate.
More Info: ebparks.org/parks/redwood

Year Round
Where: Lake Merritt, Oakland
When: Morning and evening
What: Brackish lake, cultivated parklands
Who: Mallard, Canada goose, American wigeon, canvasback, redhead, ring-neck duck, greater and lesser scaup, bufflehead, common goldeneye, Barrow’s goldeneye, ruddy duck, black-crowned night heron, Forster’s tern, pied-billed grebe, horned grebe, double-crested cormorant, American coot, herring gull, black phoebe, Anna’s hummingbird, Nuttall’s woodpecker
Specialites: Wood duck, hooded merganser, greater white-fronted goose, least tern, Allen’s hummingbird
How: From Interstate 580, exit on Grand Avenue and go west. Take a left on Bellevue Avenue and enter Lakeside Park. Park near the Rotary Nature Center. Restrooms are available.
More Info: oaklandnet.com/parks/parks/lakemerritt.asp