equoia Bulletin of the Sequoia Audubon Society San Mateo County Volume 51, No. 1 eedles September, 2000 This Month's .......... From the President Program ~ -~ Changes are coming to our Chapter starting this Tom Ryan, biologist with the ~Lf A~ fall! National Audubon is implementing the Member- ship part of its Strategic Plan. According to the plan, Santa Clara Valley Water District, will present a program on those aptly each part ofNAS must be financially self-sufficient and the Membership part is not. NAS attributes this to the fact that the cost of named birds, SWIFI'S, THEIR acquiring new members is so great. NAS has determined that they can no NATU- longer give the Chapters a share of the dues until NAS has recouped these RAL .... recruitment costs. The end result of this is that our Chapter income from HIS- National will suffer a 75% decline by the end of three years. This income TORY AND from National has always been close to what is needed to fimd the print­ IDENTIFICATION. - ~~~~r. - • ing and mailing of our Chapter Newsletter, the Needles. Tom was formerly SO - This year we will be sending out a full Needles once each chiefbiologist with the .... .._ quarter and a one page flyer for the other months. July and August will San Francisco Bay Bird _ continue as currently, without a newsletter of any kind. At the same time Observatory, has worked ' ...,.101 we will be revising and expanding our Web page so current information in South America and has will be available at all times. Audubon-California has been hosting us on given extensive time to their website, but National Audubon has decided not to host Chapters after studying these highly ma- October 31, 2000. We will be responsible for designing, financing and neuverable insect catchers. Thursday, September 14 at maintaining our website this year. I know that every one doesn't have the San Mateo Garden Center on Parkside at home access to the Web, but our libraries do. Give it a try when you go to Alameda. • check out books!!! Mystery Members! Sequoia Audubon has about 1700 members, Next Month's Program but many of you are a "mystery" to me! I know and interact with some 200 of our members and we receive generous donations from many others This meeting will be held on the Coastside in­ that I don't know personally. But what about the rest of our membership? stead of at our usual location. We will meet at the ranger headquarters at the end of Kelly Street in Half I assume you support the Audubon idea of enjoying and preserving Moon Bay at the State Beach. A park ranger will pre­ birds and their habitats. Do you read the Needles? Will you miss receiving sent a birding program. See next month's Needles for it each month? What things can Sequoia Audubon do to encourage you to more information. become more active? Please call me at 325-3306 or our office, 345-3724 and share your ideas and concerns. Writing about birds is fun, so I'll close with my latest sighting. An Eating Machines adult and a young California Thrasher are holding forth in my front gar­ Sea anemones look like pretty flowers. Actually den. I love watching them scurry in and out under the flowering shrubs they are very efficient predators. They will ingest al­ searching for insects. The young one keeps focused on its parent and begs most anything offered. They have tentacles armed rather piteously whenever mom or dad finds a tasty morsel. When the with minute stinging structures. If a crab or small fish adult isn't paying attention, the young thrasher finds his own tidbits and touches the tentacles, the anemone will gobbles them down. No sharing there!! sting the organism and draw it towards The young bird is very curious and not very wary of humans. He its mouth. An anemone will quickly walked right up to the dog and stood beak to nose until mom or dad saw digest any food, and "spit out" any in­ him and unleashed a stream of scolding chatter that sent him running digestible shells or bones. away and under cover. It wont be long before he's on his own. I hope he decides to live in my yard and sing to me in the spring. -Robin Smith Sequoia Audubon Society 1 Septelltber, 200tJ ~TIIUJOO)AY,SEYIEMBER7--::::s:a=A~~BER7-BAIRISLAND DIRECfORS.MEETING -7:30PM-At the -Here's a chance to bird in the newest part of the Sequoia Audubon office. All members are welcome. Call ahead Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. to make sure that there will be enough room. Sequoia Audubon volunteers work at Bair Island in various ways. You can become one of the volunteers, too, or you can just SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, BEGINNERS/ FAMILY enjoy birding at Bair. Take 101 to the Whipple Avenue exit in TRIP- SEA CLOUD PARK-This is the first of the Redwood City. Go east on Whipple across the frontage road monthly trips, held on the second weekend of the month , espe­ There is a parking area here, but WATCH OUT for the frontage cially designed for beginners and fiunilies. We have plenty of road traffic! Meet at 9 AM at the refuge sign inside the gate. binoculars to share. Besides looking at the birds we will discuss LEADER ROBIN SMITH 325-3306 binoculars, field guides and the basics of bird identification. Questions gladly answered! To get there take Hillsdale Avenue THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12-GENERAL MEETING- - east from 101 and make a right turn on Edgewater Blvd Go 1.3 AT STATE PARK HEADQUARTERS IN HALF MOON miles, turn left on Pitcairn Drive. Look for the park entrance on BAY. Birding program to be presented by ranger personnel. The the right. We'll meet at the fur end of the parking lot at 9 AM. Headquarters building is on the coast at the end of Kelly A venue LEADER ROBIN SMITH 325-3306 in HalfMoon Bay. Go south from the intersection of Highways One and 92 and take a right at the first light. Follow it to its end. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 14-GENERAL MEETING The park building will be on the right. Informal get-together at -SWIFTS, THEIR NATURAL HISTORY AND IDENTI­ 7:30 with the meeting beginning at 8 PM. FICATION. -Presented by Tom Ryan, former chief biologist of the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory and currently a biolo­ SATURDAY, OCfOBER 14-SEA CLOUD PARK­ gist with the Santa Clara Water District. At the San Mateo Gar­ BEGINNERSIFAMIL Y TRIP. The second of our monthly den Center on the Alameda at Parkside. Informal get-together at trips designed for beginners and families. Besides looking at the 7:30 with the meeting beginning at 8 PM birds we will discuss binoculars, field guides and the basics of bird identification. Questions gladly answered! Sea Cloud Park SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 16-POINT REYES in Foster City is reached by taking Hillsdale Avenue east from We will be looking for filll migrants, vagrant species and those 101 and making a right turn on Edgewater Blvd. Then go 1.3 early arriving winter residents in one of the premiere birding miles and turn left on Pitcairn Drive. Look for the park entrancA destinations in the state. Our trip will take us to the outer point, on the right and meet at the far end of the parking lot at 9 AM. Y unless we try for reported vagrants in another location. Expect LEADER ROBIN SMITH 325-3306 some moderate Walking. Wear layered clothing since the weather at Point Reyes is extremely changeable. We will meet at SATURDAY, OCTOBER 21- SAN FRANCISCO ZOO. the Bear Valley Visitor Center at 8:30AM. To get there take Bird the Zoo!! David Anderson, Director of the SF Zoo, will I 01 north across the Golden Gate Bridge and exit at San An­ lead us in searching for local resident birds and any migrants or selmo. You will travel west on Sir Francis Drake Blvd. to even vagrants. We may be able to see a Bald Eagle in flight, part Olema. Turn left at the stop light and make the first left turn of the Zoo's rehab/recovery program. A $6 donation per person onto Bear Valley Road. The next left will be for the Bear Valley is expected. Park on Herbst Road and enter through the service Visitor Center. Park near the rest rooms in the upper (left) park­ gate by 9 AM. To get to Herbst Road: Take 280 North to 19th ing lot. Avenue, 19th to Sloat Blvd. Turn left on Sloat, and then left on LEADER JUDY SPITLER 3S5-9362 Skyline Blvd. From there turn left on Herbst Road OR Take 280 north to Brotherhood Way, follow it to Lake Merced Blvd, turn SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, PHIPPS COUNTRY- This left on Lake Merced Blvd., cross Sunset and continue on Lake combination produce stand, berry-pickin' farm and barnyard Merced Blvd and cross Skyline Blvd on to Herbst Road menagerie, formerly known as the Phipps Ranch, has become a LEADER BARBARA STEWART 359-3899 favorite birding spot with rare and unusual birds turning up an­ nually. To get there take Hwy. 1 to Pescadero Road Follow SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28-CRISSY FIELD- Bird the Pescadero Road through town until you come to the farm stand. New Marsh! Explore an area newly restored, including a tidal Park away from the farm stand so as to leave the nearest spaces marsh, in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San for customers.