BRIONES RESERVOIR AND DAM BIRDING BIOBLITZ (with EBMUD)

When: October 7th 2023

Time: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Where: Old San Pablo North Trail, 7301 San Pablo Dam Road, El Sobrante, CA, 94803

Join Wholly H2O and EBMUD for a fascinating exploration of the San Pablo Dam! We'll be documenting local flora and fauna and observing the wildlife of the San Pablo Dam and its surrounding areas. You can check out iNaturalist to see what other cool species have already been documented by our amazing community. Bring your smartphone, camera, sunblock, water, snacks and get ready for an exciting morning!

A BioBlitz is an event that focuses on finding and identifying as many species as possible in a specific area over a short period of time. It is a great way to connect with both community members and the natural environment.

This event is brought to you by Wholly H20 and East Bay Municipal Utility District, who is celebrating its 100 year anniversary! Check our its celebratory page regarding its history providing water from the Mokelumne River for the last 100 years.

To sign up for this event, use this link or the "register" button above.

MOTH AND GALL NIGHT WALK (WITH EXPERT DAMON TIGUE)

When: October 13th 2023

Time: 7:00 PM - 9:30 PM

Where: West Circle, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, California, 94720

What better way to spend Friday the 13th than with Wholly H2O and expert naturalist Damon Tigue searching and investigating moths and galls? On this fun evening adventure, we'll scan oak leaves for galls and attract moths with a UV light set-up. Along the way, Damon will be there to educate and inform with his wealth of knowledge.

Bring your camera (phone or otherwise), a headlamp, warm layers, and download iNaturalist app onto your phone so we can document our findings and add to the current biological record for Strawberry Creek Watershed.

See you at the circle on campus!

Be sure to check out the iNaturalist pages for Moth and Gall Night 2022 and Moth and Gall Night 2019 at Point Molate.

If you are in need of free tickets, contact: info@whollyh2o.org

To sign up for this event, use this link or the "register" button above.

Turn Out the Lights!

All about light's effect on the autumn bird migration

It’s already October! Red leaves are crunching underfoot, the temperature is cooling down, and pumpkin spice everything is lining cafe menus and grocery store shelves. But, these iconic signs of autumn aren’t the only hallmarks of the season; it’s officially the height of the fall bird migration, which we'll be exploring in this month's newsletter. Get ready for an unbe-leaf-able read!

Migrating Birds, Phillipe Clement / Getty Images

Autumnal puns aside, bird migration in California is pretty unbelievable. Last year, we discussed the winter bird migration in our December 2022 newsletter, which you can revisit here. Essentially what happens is, at various points throughout the year, millions of birds migrate across North America using the Pacific Flyway, an avian migration route that spans from the tundras in the Arctic to wetlands in South America. The Bay Area is a primary resting point where many of these birds stop before continuing their arduous journey because of its shelter and food availability (though, both of these have been declining in recent years due to industrialization). 

Besides the erosion of necessary wetland habitat and loss of viable food sources, which we discussed in the December edition, a significant problem that birds face during the migration is light pollution. A little like Dracula, the birds need it dark when they’re on the move. This helps them avoid flying into buildings and other surfaces, which often kills them. For birds that migrate during the day, light pollution is less of an issue, but reflective surfaces can prove just as dangerous.

According to the New York Times, up to a billion birds are killed each year from colliding into buildings. Typically, they crash into glass windows that, from their perspective, look like clear skies. To put this number in context, at least a billion birds migrate using the Pacific Flyway each year.

Of course, the birds that are killed each year are not all migratory birds, but the point still stands: human industrialization and lighting are causing major issues for our avian populations. 

So what can we do about it?

Lights Out for Birds Campaign Poster / Golden Gate Bird Alliance (formerly Golden Gate Audubon Society)

Cities around the world have already begun to adopt lights-out campaigns, wherein their skyline lights are turned off during peak bird migration times in an effort to reduce light-related avian casualties. So far, it seems to be working. The National Audubon Society reported that, based on various ornithological studies, turning off half of lighted windows resulted in a 60% decrease in deadly bird collisions. 

Dulling bright lights also has a profound effect, as noted by the New York Times in a report of a university’s switching of 1,000-watt halogen lamps to dimmer LED lights in a high-traffic area, which reduced bird deaths from 130 to 0. 

Despite these important efforts, widespread metropolitan solutions are catching on slower than migrations are occurring.

This is where you come in.

To facilitate bird migrations, it’s best to turn off unnecessary exterior lights and close curtains at night, as well as shut off lights in empty rooms. (It saves electricity too!)

If you don’t want to turn your lights off completely, you can switch them to motion-sensor lights, which are less likely to trigger a collision, or install hooded lights that direct beams toward the ground rather than the sky. 

For the sake of the birds, we encourage you to turn off the lights this fall. Though it may seem contrary with Halloween right around the corner, we promise the dark won’t bring *too many* ghosts your way. 

If you want to see the autumn bird migration in action, be sure to sign up for our Briones Reservoir Birding Bioblitz alongside EBMUD! We also discuss a plethora of bird species in our year-round Walking Waterhoods tours, which you can check out using this link. Can’t make it in person? BirdCast’s live, interactive bird migration map is a fascinating digital tool that tracks bird migration numbers in real time, and it’s always available for free viewing. 

Don't ghost us yet! Our lives depend on healthy watersheds, and Wholly H2O depends on YOU!

Our important (and fun) work takes cash, plain and simple. Will you help us keep our events and yours coming? Please use the link below to flow some cash in our direction!

Wholly H2O couldn't run without the work of our talented volunteers. We have a bunch of unique opportunities throughout the year, such as podcast producing, accounting, and content editing! Take a look at our Volunteer Match to learn more!

We are especially interested in these two roles:

• Two additional editors for Walking Waterhoods tour content
• Videographer and Editor for Watershed expert videos