San Diego Audubon Society

Did you know you can help us increase our impact by becoming a Sustaining Friend? By signing up for monthly giving online, you can contribute to San Diego Audubon’s legacy of protecting and improving our region’s environment. 100% of your membership contributions support the local education, conservation, and sanctuary programs of San Diego Audubon Society, a regional leader in the protection of local birds, wildlife, and their habitats. And this year, we are excited to offer new benefits to our members, including early bird registration to the 2022 Bird Festival. Visit https://bit.ly/SDASFriend and become a Sustaining Friend today! Photo by Maya Akpinar.

One of the most beautiful of the many species of weaver birds is the Taveta Weaver, this one living at the San Diego Zoo. Photo by Ed Henry.

Members of the San Diego City College Audubon Club were featured in this recent article, which documented how restoration and conservation work continued despite the many challenges incurred by COVID-19. Thank you to the students, administrators and staff that help make this work possible! These are tomorrow's environmental leaders, and we are honored to work with you.

Thanks for the shout out Colin! We love your bird photos!

The Gull-billed Tern nests annually in San Diego. It has a wingspan of about 34 inches, as compared with the Forster’s 31 and the Least Terns 20. In the same general area where the Least Terns nest on Imperial Beach it was swooping down on something the tide was bringing in. It is known to predate on both Least Tern and Snowy Plover chicks. Photo by Ed Henry.

School might be out for summer, but there are still plenty of things for students to learn about birds, their homes, and the adaptations that allow them to survive. Check out this toolkit for tons of activities to keep your kids learning all summer long.

The new tyrant king of the local hummingbirds, a Rufous or Allen’s Hummingbird. Photo by Ed Henry.

Click here to show your support of the Growing Climate Solutions Act, which will give farmers, ranchers, and foresters the resources to support voluntary conservation on their lands, protecting bird habitat while fighting climate change.

The Marbled Godwit in its typical environment, this one being at Imperial Beach. The slightly upturned bill, the dark patches on the wings, and the warm cinnamon color all add to the attractiveness of this bird. Photo by Ed Henry.

Environmental groups are pushing back against the #HarvestHills development, which would massively increase housing density in wildfire prone areas close to the Safari Park, and would destroy sensitive habitat, threaten wildlife, and obstructs wildlife corridors necessary for many species to survive in the region. Please consider signing onto this petition.

The Splendid Sunbird of Kenya and Tanzania, this one enchanting San Diego Zoo visitors Photo by Ed Henry.

Become a docent at the Kendall-Frost Mission Bay Marsh Reserve and help get members of the public out into this beautiful but fragile wetland ecosystem! Training takes places on Saturday, July 17th, from 10 am to 12 pm. Find out more by clicking this link, or by emailing us at [email protected].

The Snowy Plover chicks are even more camouflaged than the adults. At a distance they are just bits of moving fluff. Photo by Ed Henry.

Happy Fourth of July! As you head out to the beach to celebrate, keep in mind that coastal birds like the CA Least Tern are nesting, and their chicks are small and vulnerable. #ShareTheShore and keep them safe by giving them at least 100 feet of space, and staying out of marked nesting areas.

George Wilhelm Steller was an 18th century naturalist who first described a bird in a journal that was later named after himSteller’s Jay. This snowy scene and bird were seen on the Agua Dulce trail in the Laguna Mountains. Photo by Ed Henry.

A preening Double-crested Cormorant at Santee Lakes. Photo by Bob Wagoner.

Ensuring the sustainable harvest of forage fish is an essential part of protecting still-recovering species such as Puffins. Congrats to our partners with the National Audubon Society on this important win.

Redheads are among our winter-visiting ducks, although not as common as Widgeons and a few other of the winter visiting duck species. Photo taken at Lake Murray by Ed Henry.

Our National Wildlife Refuge system is vast, with 568 refuges spanning 95 million acres throughout the country. More than 200 of these were designated specifically to safeguard places where birds overwinter or rest and refuel during migration, making the continued protection and oversight of these areas essential to stopping the decline in bird populations. But problems with underfunding and understaffing are leaving these placed vulnerable.

The Cassin’s Kingbird is a flycatcher that lives in the area year-around. They zoom out from a perch to snatch insects in the air or on the ground, often returning to the same perch. They climb, twist, and dive as needed to catch the insect. Photos by Ed Henry.

There is still time to #aukthevote, with the last phone banking event before the November 3rd election this Saturday. Find out more at the link below.

Birds don’t get much fancier than the Wood Duck. This bird was seen at Lindo Lake in Lakeside, CA. Photo by Ed Henry.

Vulture populations are declining in Africa, but traditional healers are helping to turn the tide.

Fall is calling - time to hit the trails, and the San Diego Natural History Museum has recommended hikes for you and your family.

Here the pinkish flanks of this Dark-eyed Junco can be seen; this individual was foraging in Harry Griffen Park. Photo by Ed Henry.

Call to action: the Port of San Diego is considering an aquaculture project 4 miles off of our coastline. A project like this would have disastrous consequences for our marine life. Confined fish can spread diseases and parasites to wild fish, reducing food availability for marine mammals and seabirds such as the CA Least Tern. There are also anticipated impacts to water quality due to fish excrement and antibiotics. San Diego Coastkeeper is working to prevent the approval o...f this project, and you can help in one of the following ways: -Submit a public comment to NOAA before October 26. You can do so at https://www.federalregister.gov//pacific-ocean-aquafarms-e. From there, click the green Submit a Formal Comment button in the upper righthand corner. -Contact Port commissioners to express your opposition by November 10. Port commissioners will be voting on this date whether to advance the project before it has even undergone environmental review. We urge you to contact them by email; you can find their contact information at https://www.portofsandiego.org/peo/board-port-commissioners.

As David Garrick notes in The San Diego Union-Tribune, last week's vote by the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board has monumentous significance for the ReWild Mission Bay project and for what the future of wetlands restoration could look like in Mission Bay, especially with the expected impacts due to sea level rise in the coming decades.

During the non-breeding season the Horned Larks gather into small flocks, and one of these appeared at Robb Field. The markings are unique, especially the black mask and contrasting yellow patches. Photo by Ed Henry.

It's not too late to sign up for tonight's Friends Webinar: Special Birds in Special Places, a panel discussion with several birders from the area to talk about the places that are most meaningful to them. Join Krisztina Scheeff with KS Nature Photography, Board member and ornithologist Lesley Handa, Jose and Silvia Chavira, and longtime volunteers and advocates Padma Jagannathan and Sree Kandhadai and hear their stories of how their love for birds has grown into a passion for conservation. We'll also hear from Andrew Meyer about recent developments in our ReWild Efforts in Mission Bay. The webinar will take place on Zoom from 6-7 pm; register below to get the Zoom link.

MacGillivary’s Warbler seen in a drainage ditch in Harry Griffen Park in La Mesa, where it took a little bath. It is one of a wave of southbound migrants that has passed or is passing through San Diego. It tends to stay low to the ground, which may be why it is less often seen. Photos by Ed Henry.

Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron at the San Dieguito Lagoon; photo by Christina Oczkowski-Brown.

Around the globe, scientists are finding ways to keep their studies going in the face of COVID.

A juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron scratches. Photo by Ed Henry.

Fossilized remains of a new species of flying reptile have been discovered and described in Canada - the frozen dragon had a wingspan that stretched at least 16 feet and lived about 76 million years ago.