Visitors 31
Modified 1-Nov-23
Created 1-Nov-23
54 photos
Bair Island is a jewel. Saved from proposed developments, resurrected from salt ponds, the wetlands today offer myriad gifts to the people, birds, other animals, and surrounding ecosystems. Where to start? On a regional basis: a stop on the Pacific Flyway for migrating water birds, a place to rest and refuel; a natural horizontal dike, protection from storm surges and rising sea levels; cleaning the air; absorbing carbon dioxide from our air and sequestering it long-term. More locally: a refuge for local birds and other animals; a refuge for the soul of all of us who visit this preserve, so close to the hustle of much of Silicon Valley. A place to take a deep breath and unwind.
THANKS to all who have made this possible over the years. Save the Bay, Green Foothills, Peninsula Open Space Trust, and other cooperating nonprofits. The Federal government: Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge, where we walk today, and the Bair Island Ecological Reserve on the Middle and Outer Islands. Voters of Redwood City, which passed a citizens’ referendum in 1982 (by 44 votes!) to stop the planned development of 4000 houses on this land. (Just imagine protecting these homeowners today from storm surge and rising seas.) People of all walks of life, over the years, who enjoyed, appreciated, fought for, and voted to restore these wetlands back toward their original condition. [My apologies to anyone I have left out: please leave a comment to add your appreciation.]
On this Tuesday morning, overcast skies allow wan sunlight as the morning unfolds. We walk a short distance along two trails. Our guides, Diane and Peter Hart, point out items of interest – especially the birds. Others contribute as well. Thanks to Diane and Peter, and to POST for arranging this visit!
Shorebirds are active, plus others who range more widely. POST has compiled an impressive bird species list, along with some nice bird photos from Peter and Diane Hart. Here are a few of my bird photos, birds in action as well as a few “record shots” rendered obsolete by Peter's. My adventures here include Double-crested Cormorants, perched on a transmission tower, wings spread to dry; foraging Great Egrets and a cousin, the Great Blue Heron; many water birds, including a flock of Black-necked Stilts joined by a foraging Lesser Yellowlegs; Least Sandpipers congregated in a waterside bank of nests, joined by their larger cousin, a Spotted Sandpiper; and several birds at home here over the water as well as in the grasslands across Bayshore Freeway. Diving birds are fun to watch: here is a Tern (Caspian??), cruising back and forth, preparing for a sudden dive for an unlucky fish.
A nearby gallery is devoted to the adventures of a Brown Pelican, who abandoned the usual high steep dive from a midair pause, in favor of skimming over the surface, with sudden quick dives. Pelicans are my eye candy.
THANKS to all who have made this possible over the years. Save the Bay, Green Foothills, Peninsula Open Space Trust, and other cooperating nonprofits. The Federal government: Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge, where we walk today, and the Bair Island Ecological Reserve on the Middle and Outer Islands. Voters of Redwood City, which passed a citizens’ referendum in 1982 (by 44 votes!) to stop the planned development of 4000 houses on this land. (Just imagine protecting these homeowners today from storm surge and rising seas.) People of all walks of life, over the years, who enjoyed, appreciated, fought for, and voted to restore these wetlands back toward their original condition. [My apologies to anyone I have left out: please leave a comment to add your appreciation.]
On this Tuesday morning, overcast skies allow wan sunlight as the morning unfolds. We walk a short distance along two trails. Our guides, Diane and Peter Hart, point out items of interest – especially the birds. Others contribute as well. Thanks to Diane and Peter, and to POST for arranging this visit!
Shorebirds are active, plus others who range more widely. POST has compiled an impressive bird species list, along with some nice bird photos from Peter and Diane Hart. Here are a few of my bird photos, birds in action as well as a few “record shots” rendered obsolete by Peter's. My adventures here include Double-crested Cormorants, perched on a transmission tower, wings spread to dry; foraging Great Egrets and a cousin, the Great Blue Heron; many water birds, including a flock of Black-necked Stilts joined by a foraging Lesser Yellowlegs; Least Sandpipers congregated in a waterside bank of nests, joined by their larger cousin, a Spotted Sandpiper; and several birds at home here over the water as well as in the grasslands across Bayshore Freeway. Diving birds are fun to watch: here is a Tern (Caspian??), cruising back and forth, preparing for a sudden dive for an unlucky fish.
A nearby gallery is devoted to the adventures of a Brown Pelican, who abandoned the usual high steep dive from a midair pause, in favor of skimming over the surface, with sudden quick dives. Pelicans are my eye candy.
Dan Quinn