San Francisco Bay Wildlife Society

If you’re looking for a new outdoor activity this summer, nature journaling can be a rewarding hobby for the whole family to enjoy and celebrate the end of #GreatOutdoorsMonth! Keeping a nature journal can be a creative and mindful way to connect to the nature in your own backyard. So next time you’re out on the trail or just exploring your neighborhood, try recording your experience in a nature journal. This quick guide provides helpful instructions to get you started and is a sneak-peak of just one of the many engaging activities we will be offering at our 2021 Virtual Marsh in Summer Camp starting in August. We are still accepting applications for Summer Camp and the last day to sign up is June 30th. See the link below for additional information: https://sfbws.com//online-marsh-summer-camp-august-2-6-2021

ATTENTION! There is still time to apply for Virtual Marsh-In Summer Camp! The deadline to apply is June 30th! Camp will be held for students entering 1st through 6th grade. Campers will participate in live virtual meetings, watch educational videos, and enjoy fun self-guided activities. See the link below for more information and application instructions: https://sfbws.com//online-marsh-summer-camp-august-2-6-2021

We are honored that Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge was featured for #GreatOutdoorsMonth, along with the beautiful selection of trails available in both Fremont and Alviso. Great Outdoors Month is a time to celebrate our natural wonders and especially our public lands. The Refuge is proud to be fee-free and open for everyone to enjoy! What’s one way that you’ve celebrated the great outdoors this June? Tell us in the comments!

This bright and beautiful pollinator is a common visitor at the Don Edwards SF Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The Anise Swallowtail butterfly catches your attention with it’s black wings, broad yellow stripes across their upper wings, and striking blue spots on the edges of their rear wings. They are found throughout western North America and are common visitors in neighborhood gardens. Anise Swallowtails will perch on clusters of flowers with their long legs and lap up sweet ...nectar for fuel. Did you know that butterflies smell with their feet?! If you’d like to attract Anise Swallowtails to your garden, grow plants in the carrot family like fennel and parsley; their caterpillars love chomping on these food plants. Anise Swallowtails help pollinate a variety of wildflowers. The lifespan of an adult Anise Swallowtail is only 6 to 14 days -- if you spot them flying about, take some time observe and appreciate them this #PollinatorWeek. See more

We are super excited to partner with Saved By Nature and connect with local Boys & Girls Club for the Summer Science Project in July!!

Today’s pollinator is Anna's Hummingbird! Named after Anna Massena, Duchess of Rivoli, Anna’s hummingbirds are marvelous birds that are a joy to observe. Anna’s are native in western coastal regions of North America and are often seen zooming through yards, parks and coastal areas. They can fly up to 60 miles per hour when diving! Hummingbirds are efficient pollinators that have evolved to probe into flowers for nectar. They are attracted to long tubular flowers that are often orange, yellow and red in color like California Fuchsia. Anna’s are also active hunters that eat small flying insects for protein. This #PollinatorWeek, keep an eye out for the hummingbirds that whizz through our world and help to sustain plant populations.

Happy #PollinatorWeek! Did you know that California is home to about 1,600 species of native bees? You may be familiar with non-native European honey bees that pollinate many food crops, but some native bees like the yellow-faced bumble bee are better pollinators than honey bees! Yellow-faced bumble bees are easy to recognize by their large hairy bodies and yellow bands on their backs and abdomens. These bumble bees are generalist pollinators visiting a wide range of flowers to find nectar and pollen. Yellow-faced bumble bees are active from spring to late fall; look out for these hardworking pollinators around your neighborhood and home!

It’s #PollinatorWeek! Pollinator Week is an annual event celebrated internationally to support pollinator health and spread the word on how we can protect and promote pollinators. Pollinators are the animals that cultivate many of our foods and maintain healthy ecosystems by helping plants reproduce. Watch our new video to learn more about pollinators and the ways you can help them thrive! https://youtu.be/NjIE4xi9Ki4 You can also visit https://www.pollinator.org/pollinator-week to learn more about Pollinator Week and find events near you.

Happy National Go Fishing Day! Fishing is a great way to connect with nature, learn about local wildlife, and spend quality time with friends and family. The Don Edwards SF Bay National Wildlife Refuge offers quality fishing opportunities. You can check out the Refuge’s fishing areas by visiting: https://www.fws.gov//don_edwards_san_franc/activities.html. Before you reel in your next catch make sure to check out the eating guides below to know what fish are safe to eat! Have fun and fish on!

This week is the last week of featuring entries for our Earth Day 2021 Virtual Teen Art Show! We hope you enjoyed viewing the inspiration artwork provided by local youth. This piece is by Jonathan Mitiku, grade 8, titled "Restoring the Earth." Artists are from 6th to 12th grade, and incorporated the theme, "Restore Our Earth" into their artwork. A new art entry will be featured every Thursday, so stay tuned for more amazing artwork by local youth! This program is brought to you by a partnership between US Fish and Wildlife Service, San Francisco Bay Wildlife Society and the Santa Clara Valley Urban Runoff Pollution Prevention Program.

We are excited to announce that we will host our second Virtual Marsh-In Summer Camp! Camp will be held August 2-6. Campers will participate in live virtual meetings, watch educational videos, and enjoy fun self-guided activities. The deadline for applications is June 30th! Camp participants are chosen via a lottery. Please share with anyone you know that might be interested. See the link below for the announcement and application instructions: https://sfbws.com//online-marsh-summer-camp-august-2-6-2021

Looking to replant your garden or change up some landscaping in your yard this summer? Here are a few tips and tricks to help reduce your water usage while gardening or landscaping! Gardens with more pervious surfaces and healthy soils help to reduce erosion and prevent urban runoff pollution. By implementing a few of these tips into your gardening routine, you can help to protect your local watershed! Getting outside to garden is a great way to improve your mental and physical health and celebrate the end of #NationalGardeningWeek.

This week's entry we're featuring for our Earth Day 2021 Virtual Teen Art Show is by Louise Rault, grade 8, titled "Group Project." Artists are from 6th to 12th grade, and incorporated the theme, "Restore Our Earth" into their artwork. A new art entry will be featured every Thursday, so stay tuned for more amazing artwork by local youth! This program is brought to you by a partnership between US Fish and Wildlife Service, San Francisco Bay Wildlife Society and the Santa Clara Valley Urban Runoff Pollution Prevention Program.

Even the birds can’t wait for 2021! All jokes and strategically crafted puns asidethis year has brought so many challenges, testing our mental, emotional, and physical health but what has gotten us through is our community. This hardship that we are all experiencing in various ways has shown us the importance of, as Bill Withers famously wrote and sang, leaning on each other. We are so incredibly thankful for all of you in our virtual community that have joined and followed us in 2020. We hope that we brought you a little bit of light through our virtual programs, at-home activities, self-guided tour stops, and informational shares! Our successes are your successes. Looking forward to 2021, we have a lot more instore for you and can’t wait until we can see each other in person once again. Thank you, and Happy New Year!

Restoration projects are happening at sites across the San Francisco Bay, including our local refuge in the North Bay, San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge! Learn about the work U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is doing, along with partners, to protect critical habitat for threatened and endangered species, as well as protecting our shoreline from sea-level rise. Article (and beautiful photography!) curtesy of National Audubon Society! https://www.audubon.org//a-struggling-california-marsh-get

Ever look up at the stars and wonder what you are looking at? Download our Star Chart activity to make your own star chart that you can use to identify constellations! This weekend through next Thursday is a great time of the month to look up at the sky to see stars and planets! The moon will be entering the New Moon phase on Sunday, which means there won't be light from the sun reflecting off the moon, obscuring our view of the stars. A great time to identify constellations in the night sky! Download the activity from our website: http://sfbayws.org//celebrate-winter-identify-constellatio *photo credit: skyandtelescope.org

Interested in learning about how native plants benefit our environment for wildlife, pollinators, and us? Check out our new video, filmed at the Butterfly Garden at the Environmental Education Center in Alviso! Follow along as we explore different species of native plants and why they are beneficial. Did you know that you can grow native plants in your own backyard, patio, or balcony!? Right before the rainy season is the best time to do so! Pollinators and birds rely heavily... on native plants for their survival, not only at Refuges or parks, but in urban areas as well. Native plants also help filter urban runoff pollution and keep our watersheds, wetlands, bays & oceans healthy! Check out https://www.southbaygreengardens.org/ for resources such as rebate programs, local nurseries, and even pre-made landscape designs! Watershed Watch Campaign See more

If you missed the program from a few weeks ago, The Dynamic Nature of the Salt Marsh - Naturalist Talk, that we joined Grassroots Ecology for, you can still participate and learn by watching the recording on YouTube! Check it out and let us know something new you learned about the amazing Salt Marshes that surround the great San Francisco Bay! If you can, go out on a hike this weekend to enjoy the wonderful fall weather and all of the many bird species that are currently migrating south for the winter. There are so many easy (and convient!) things that you can do to help protect this important habitat from urban runoff pollution. Visit http://www.mywatershedwatch.org/ to learn more! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPzz68W1AMo

Today is #GivingTuesday! A donation to the San Francisco Bay Wildlife Society supports education programming, volunteers, habitat restoration, and research at your local National Wildlife Refuges! Visit our Mighty Cause page to learn more about the campaigns we are now raising funds for and how you can donate: https://www.mightycause.com//San-Francisco-Bay-Wildlife-So

November is Native American Heritage Month! This month we honor the Indigenous peoples who occupied the land where the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge is now. The entire South Bay is the ancestral home of many Ohlone groups, including the Muwekma Ohlone tribe who are currently fighting to preserve the Chochenyo language along with their traditional foods and cultural practices. One plant that is common in many current Muwekma Ohlone dishes, is picklewe...ed. Pickleweed is endemic to the salt marsh ecosystem that makes up much of the refuge, and is a crucial part of the habitat for the species that call it home. As a halophyte, a salt-tolerant plant, pickleweed is adapted to bring the excess salt to the tips of the stems, turning them red. On a beautiful fall day like today, you might see the brilliant red pickleweed along the trails. However, the Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse isn’t the only one who finds pickleweed tasty, as the salty succulent can be delicious when served fresh in a salad, or even steamed like a vegetable. While the pickleweed on the refuge is not for consumption, here is a salad recipe from Vincent Medina, a Muwekma Ohlone rights, language, and food activist: https://www.pbs.org/food/native-america/make-ohlone-salad/ To learn more about Muwekma Ohlone history, people and culture, visit: http://www.muwekma.org/home.html Photo: Pickleweed plant with pink-colored tips; Credit: Hope Presley, SFBWS.

During this holiday season, there are people across the globe celebrating in a variety of ways and on many different days, but what we all have in common are the values these holidays represent: gratitude, compassion, and giving. Although the holiday season might look a little different this year, we can still celebrate these core values that make ourselves, our families, and our communities better. The San Francisco Bay Wildlife Society is grateful that we have still been a...ble to connect students and families to wildlife (even though we are all at home!), and we feel compassion for those that cannot stay home and are supporting our communities and our health on a daily basis. Next Tuesday is #GivingTuesday, a day to give back to your local community by giving to organizations that you believe help make your community better. We hope that you consider giving to us, as your gifts will be used to connect with students and families right here in the Bay Area. Visit our website to learn more about what we do, and how to donate: http://sfbayws.org/donate

Join us, and Grassroots Ecology, tonight at 7:00pm for an educational program about the importance of wetland habitats, the wildlife that rely on them, and how you can help protect them! This program is free and open to all ages! Click on the event to find out how to register!

Want to stay up-to-date on all things SFBWS? Learn about the great work being done on our local National Wildlife Refuges and opportunities to engage in educational programming by signing up for our quarterly newsletter, Tide Rising. Check out the latest issue below, and sign up for the next newsletter to be sent directly to you! *4 newsletters per year. https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Tide-Rising--SFB-Wildli

Celebrating Halloween indoors? Have a ghoul time with this at-home activity! Download the handout to learn about the nocturnal animals at the Don Edwards SF Bay NWR and their adaptions that help them lurk around at night. Then create your own spooky natural landscape featuring the animals that call the Refuge home all you’ll need is black construction paper, chalk, scissors, and glue or tape. Download the activity here: https://sfbayws.org//celebrate-halloween-get-spooky-noctur

If you don't already follow the San Francisco Bay NWR Complex page, this week is great week to start! It's #BatWeek and they are sharing some cool and SPOOKY bat facts all week! Bats might not be "cute," but they are amazing animal species with some pretty cool adaptations! Check out this post to learn more!

UPDATED TRAIL CLOSURE ALERT: The Alviso Loop Trail (accessed from Alviso Marina County Park and the Refuge's Environmental Education Center) will now have a section of full closure as well as the partial closures on weekdays from 7am-5pm due to construction work. This work will allow USFWS and partners to continue habitat restoration and increase recreation opportunities. Thank you for your patience during this time. For more information, please visit: https://www.fws.gov//Don_Edwards_San_Francisco_/alert.html

Happy Indigenous People’s Day! Today we honor the history, culture, and resilience of the Native people in the United States. The Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge occupies land that was home to the Alson tribal group who spoke the Chocheno language. The indigenous communities that have lived in the south San Francisco Bay and Monterey Bay for thousands of years are collectively referred to as the Ohlone. No matter where you live or where you recreate, yo...u are benefiting from land that is home for Native people. Take some time today to learn more about the indigenous tribes that call your area home. For an introduction to the first human inhabitants of the San Francisco Bay, the Ohlone and Coast Miwok, watch Saving the Bay - Cultivating an Abundant San Francisco Bay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3FnKeDdjS8. To learn more about the Ohlone people of the San Francisco Bay we recommend The Ohlone Way by Malcolm Margolin: https://heydaybooks.com/the-ohlone-way/ Support the Amuh Mutsun Tribal Band who are fighting to preserve their ancestral and sacred lands: http://www.protectjuristac.org/

Looking for a fun & educational activity to do with your kids this weekend? Learn about the importance of habitats for wildlife (and for us!) and make your own wetland habitat diorama! Watch our new video, Cali's Crib (https://youtu.be/sI9F--CRPWk), and then visit our website to download the activity: https://sfbayws.org//10/02/home-activity-habitats-food-cha Photo Credit: Rachel Caoili, SFBWS

Today we are celebrating the nation’s FIRST & LARGEST Urban National Wildlife Refuge, Don Edwards San Francisco Bay NWR! Established in 1972, the Refuge now encompasses over 30,000 acres along the South San Francisco Bay. Not only does it protect millions of migratory birds each year, but it also protects the millions of people that live in the South Bay through the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s work maintaining levees and restoring salt ponds back into tidal marsh. Urban Na...tional Wildlife Refuges are special sanctuaries for wildlife in the middle of largely urbanized areas. Don Edwards provides 15 different habitats for resident threatened and endangered species, as well as resting and nesting areas for migratory birds along the Pacific Flyway. There are also 40 miles of trails (which connect to the Bay Trail!) that provide many recreational opportunities for visitors such as hiking, biking, and wildlife viewing & photography. In Alviso, the Environmental Education Center provides education and interpretation programs to local schools, community groups, and the public. Happy Urban National Wildlife Refuge Day! Share your experiences, photographs, and observations with us! #CommunityInTheWild U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service USFWS National Wildlife Refuge System San Francisco Bay NWR Complex National Wildlife Refuge Association South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project San Francisco Bay Trail City of San José Photo Credit: Cris Benton; view of Don Edwards SF Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Environmental Education Center. Refuge habitats: marsh, upland, slough. City of San Jose and Diablo Mountain Range in the horizon.

Planning on taking the kids out for a walk or hike today? Hanging out in the backyard enjoying the last few days of summer weather? Download our new activity for a fun, crafty, and educational learning experience! Make your own DIY Binoculars and participate in the Bird Scavenger Hunt! There are hundreds of bird species flying through the Bay Area along the Pacific Flyway. They stop at our local National Wildlife Refuges, but also in our backyards, looking for food and a place to rest. Let us know what (or who!) you found in the comments or share your pictures! Download the activity here: http://sfbws.com//SCVURPP_DIY%20binocular-scavengerhunt.pdf

Today is National Public Lands Day and we're celebrating by unveiling a brand new self-guided tour available at Don Edwards SF Bay National Wildlife Refuge Environmental Education Center in Alviso (North San Jose)! Living on the Edge: A Tour of Bay Habitats, provides visitors with a virtual experience while at the Refuge. As you hike or bike along the trails be on the lookout for 5 signs - like the one pictured below! Scan the QR code to learn and discover new things about th...e Refuge! Take pictures while you're out and post using the hashtag #livingontheedgesf This new opportunity is brought to you by a team of organizations including San Francisco Bay Wildlife Society, Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful, San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory, and the USFWS National Wildlife Refuge System. Funded by a grant from the California Coastal Commission! NEEF - National Public Lands Day - NPLD

We have a lot going on this weekend! It's National Public Lands Day AND the last day of California Coastal Cleanup on Saturday, PLUS we're celebrating Urban National Wildlife Refuge on Sunday! There are lots of great virtual programs to sign up for and join, or head out to the Environmental Education Center and check out our new self-guided tour! #CommunityInTheWild See the attached flyer and links below: Drawbridge: https://virtualdrawbridge.eventbrite.com Living on the Edg...e: https://sfbayws.org/refuge-tour Coastal Cleanup: https://ccd2020ccag.eventbrite.com/?aff=SCVURPPP Fishing for Beginners: https://www.facebook.com/SanFranciscoBayNWRComplex