I love citizen science. It seems so utterly appropriate for a site focused on participatory democracy - science doesn't have to be something that you just read about, you can get out there and do it yourself! Most of us don't have the means of doing particle physics, but we can contribute to the natural sciences like astronomy, botany, marine science and of course... ornithology. ( ">
Dawn Chorus reflects that - guest hosts and I have written about Christmas Bird counts, Project Feeder Watch, the Great Backyard Bird Count and eBird, and many other programs have been discussed in comments. But the citizen science program nearest and dearest to my heart, for nearly 20 years now, has been the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory (GGRO). This weekend, GGRO is celebrating its 25th anniversary - and here's what makes it worth celebrating.
Adult male Sharp-shinned Hawk, one of the many raptors I've been privileged to work with over the years.
I'll be out there today, helping host our open house and doing a raptor banding talk mid-day - if you live in the Bay Area, stop by and say hello.
The seeds were sown in the 1970s, when a researcher at the California Academy of Sciences began to notice the number of raptors passing by the academy's building in Golden Gate Park each autumn. The researcher, Dr. Laurence Binford, searched for a concentration point to observe this migration and ultimately published a paper about counts that he made from what is now known as Hawk Hill, just north of the Golden Gate Bridge in the Marin Headlands.
Looking to the bridge from the Marin Headlands, from near the base Hawk Hill. One of the perks of volunteering is seeing sights like this regularly - in fact it was much like this when we went out yesterday.
A few years later, Judd Howell, a biologist with the National Park Service (which oversees the Golden Gate National Recreation Area), and Will Shor, a long-time bander (and falconer) looked into the possibility of setting up a banding station in the Headlands to study this migration. They set up a single blind with a few traps in 1983, and managed to band enough hawks to show the area's potential.
Cooper's Hawks are one of the three most commonly banded species at GGRO, along with redtail and sharpies. About 95% of the birds we band are juveniles, like this one.
1n 1984, they recruited 75 volunteers to establish a banding program, regular citizens who were trained (with some help from the San Francisco zoo) to trap and handle hawks. Remarkably, some volunteers from that first class of banders are still with the program. In 1985, with Judd Howell's encouragement, the banders created an ongoing program and got some initial funding from the San Francisco Foundation. That allowed them to hire a director for the operation, Allen Fish.
Northern Harriers have been losing a lot of habitat over the years. By taking part in a long-term monitoring project like the GGRO, I hope I'm able to do a small part to help these stunning birds.
In 1986, the group began a hawk watch, complementing the banding program with a hawk count. Carter Faust, a retired teacher, worked with Allen to develop the hawkwatch program, based on counts he'd been conducting from Hawk Hill for several years. Another group of volunteers was recruited to conduct the count. Four years later, a group of volunteers (both watchers and banders) came together to create a telemetry program, to radio-tag and track a small number of hawks each year. The following year, the program hired Buzz Hull (who was one of the first group of banders) as research director, overseeing the data and providing support for the banding program.
In 1993, another member of the "Class of '84" banders happened to be one of my art teachers. He noticed I'd turned in few bird-themed pieces for our assignments, and mentioned a recruitment meeting for the GGRO.
I was hooked.
Merlins are among the birds we encounter regularly - two visited me yesterday... I'll add their photos in the comments once I've had a chance to download.
16 years and 1000+ hawks later, I'm thrilled to be taking part in our anniversary celebration. If you live in the Bay Area, I hope you can join us - more info, including directions, can be found here (scroll down to Raptor Fest). If you can make it to the banding talk at 1:00 on Hawk Hill (I hope to have a wonderful bird to show you), please say hello and introduce yourself. It's always fun to meet you.
Here's a listing of talks being given today at the open house:
Oct 25, 10 am–4 pm, SUNSET Building 1054
10:00 am Welcome & Putting Hawk Hill in Perspective
10:15 am Overview of GGRO’s Research: Banding, Counting, Radiotracking
10:30 am Hawkwatch Results
10:50 am Banding Results
11:10 am Radiotracking Results
LUNCH BREAK (11:30 am - 1:00 pm)
1:00 pm The Stories Bands Tell
1:20 pm Raptors and Avian Malaria
1:40 pm West Nile virus
BREAK (2:00 - 2:20 pm)
2:20 pm Accipiter ID Study
2:40 pm Cooper’s Hawk Nest Surveys
3:00 pm Combining Methods to see the Bigger Picture:
Red-tailed Hawk movements at the Golden Gate
3:40 pm Wrap-Up and Closure
Even the ravens want to hang out and watch the hawks.
This is part one of a two-part diary. It should have been posted last weekend (to give more advance notice of the events), but an unfortunate combination of tree and power line near our cabin precluded that.