Updates From GGBA

Updates From GGBA

Thank you for your continued support of GGBA during this difficult year. Here are some updates to get us through the rest of 2020!

We hope you like our new website! GGBA’s Communications Manager, Melissa Ramos, has been hard at work over the past several months to bring you a refreshed, contemporary and easy to use site. Take a look around at our new content (like our Archives and Conservation sections!). We hope you’ll also enjoy the custom bird-themed artwork by Bay Area tattoo artist, Tex Buss. Are you a bird photographer? We’re looking for beautiful bird photos for our rotating cover image on our main page. Send photos to Melissa at mramos@goldengatebirdalliance.org.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the GGBA office remains closed to the public, however there are plenty of ways to stay connected with us! Check out our social media (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) for daily updates, articles, and beautiful bird photos. And of course, check out our website for daily updates through our news posts and blogs!

Our beloved Speaker Series event has officially been converted into an online format. If you’d like to learn more about our Speaker Series, and take a look at upcoming events, please click here. We are proud to offer our Speaker Series free of charge. Our events can accommodate up to 500 viewers.

Some of our habitat restoration events have restarted, with limitations due to county and Covid-19 rules. If you’d like to learn more about upcoming opportunities, please click here or email our Manager of Volunteer Services, Janet Carpinelli at jcarpinelli@goldengatebirdalliance.org.

We are also pleased to announce that we are planning to move forward with our annual Christmas Bird Count, pending county rules and restrictions. You can learn more about the 2020 Christmas Bird Counts by clicking here.

While we are offering tentative field trips as part of our fall/winter adult education classes, our general field trips are currently on hold until 2021. We hope to see you in the field next year. Until then, keep in touch with us on social media, stay safe, and take care! …

Cancellation of SF and Oakland 2020 Christmas Bird Counts

Cancellation of SF and Oakland 2020 Christmas Bird Counts

It is with heavy hearts that we announce that the 2020 San Francisco and Oakland Christmas Bird Counts have been cancelled due to public health orders. We are grateful to those of you who signed up for our sponsored counts. And of course, we are disappointed that we will have to wait until 2021 to join with you in the next Christmas Bird Counts.  

We are cancelling the counts this year due to the Bay Area’s newest regional stay-at-home orders, which prohibit interaction between members of different households and also has shut down many outdoor destinations. Although we did our best this year to adapt the CBCs to help ensure safety, we are cancelling the event to comply with the Bay Area’s health orders.

In the meantime, here are two online events that we’d recommend for you to participate in.

Project Feeder Watch: Go to feederwatch.org and learn how to create and contribute your report about birds that you see at your feeder. Your reports will be part of a valuable reservoir of data for conservation projects!

Auk the Vote’s Phone Banks for Georgia: The Georgia Senate run-offs determine control of the US Senate. Please join a coordinated effort by Auk the Vote!, Georgia Audubon, and the Environmental Voter Project in a series of non partisan phone banks beginning December 19th. Go to aukthevote.org for more information on how you can participate. 

We can take solace in the beautiful natural environment that surrounds us, and our continued ability to go out in the company of members of our household or just in the company of nature, to enjoy our local birds. We are also optimistic that next year we will be able to enjoy each other’s company during the count and at the celebratory post-count dinner. 

Let’s look forward to the San Francisco and Oakland CBC in 2021! Stay safe and be well.…

GGBA’s Statement on Civil and Environmental Justice

GGBA’s Statement on Civil and Environmental Justice

June 3, 2020

The events of the past few weeks – the continuing, horrific violence against Black and Brown people, the crushing weight of the pandemic, and the economic insecurities entangled in this sickness – have made one thing abundantly clear: we have a moral obligation to make our world a better, and safer place, for everyone. If we believe that birding and nature are for all people, we must set into motion and continue the difficult work of nurturing positive change within ourselves and within our communities. COVID-19 is not the only virus infecting our lives, endangering our health, and threatening our spirits. The disease that is racism harms us too. The disease that is racism kills Black and Brown people in America.

Golden Gate Bird Alliance has been enriched by our inclusive and diverse community of birders, environmentalists, and conservationists of all colors and backgrounds. As we work for environmental justice and protection, we aim to build a society that values all. We do this through our programs that benefit diverse and traditionally underserved communities; we do this through our habitat restoration efforts to make the land healthy for humans and birds alike; and we do this through our actions to stand up for what we believe is right. We know we have more work to do, in our organization and in our communities. We are committed to continuing to strive for equality, especially through the lens of environmental justice and climate change, two issues that intersect and disproportionately affect communities of color.

Black lives matter. We are horrified by the racist treatment Black birders such as Christian Cooper have endured at the hands of individuals who seek to oppress or who act in harmful ways due to ingrained prejudices. We support Black birders and all birders of color. We understand many aggressions are not documented for the world to see. We believe their experiences. As a result, we will continue to make GGBA a safe place for all people by upholding the highest standards of engagement with our community, with nature, and with each other.

We are grieving over the travesty of senseless deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Sean Reed, Dion Johnson, Tony McDade, and countless others. GGBA stands with the commitment to defend Black lives and achieve racial justice. As an organization that cherishes our diverse community, GGBA will always strive to equitably and inclusively share our love of birds and wildlife with every person who seeks the peaceful and enriching gift of nature.…

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