Raptors

After a 2018 season of smoke and haze, GGRO Director Allen Fish explored impacts of air pollution on birds in his 2019 article for Pacific Raptor 40. As first responders battle wildfires across the state each year, we again wonder what effect these extreme climate phenomenon will have on raptor health and movement. 

Red-tailed Hawks! This season was full of them. The 2018 field season ended with 342 Redtails banded-almost 100 Redtails above our 10-year average.

This year, significant changes to the Hawkwatch program protocols have been implemented to allow a limited number of GGRO Hawkwatchers to safely collect migration data from Hawk Hill.

For the first time in recorded history, peregrine falcons have nested on Alcatraz Island!  After months of observating the pair, park biologists have spotted two fledglings.

After a few minutes of listing bird qualities, Kirsti Carr stops herself and laughs. “I love everything about birds,” she admits. “They’re just weird!” 

By Jainita Patel
San Francisco Park Stewardship Intern

It’s March and you know what that means—bird season! Soon, Lands End will be covered in passing migratory birds of all colors, shapes, and sizes.

Here’s a holiday gift from the park trail crew that truly everyone will enjoy: a newly finished, accessible trail segment that offers some of the most breathtaking vistas in the Bay Area—of the Golden Gate, Pacific Ocean, and Marin Headlands.