Bay Area in Winter 2012 Shorebird, Waterfowl and Gull watching spectacle!

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1 Bay Area in Winter 2012 Shorebird, Waterfowl and Gull watching spectacle! Guided by Alvaro Jaramillo California in winter you ask? Sure, it is one of the most exciting and bird-full periods of time to be lugging binoculars in the state. California is a major wintering area for many birds, but primarily three groups stand out: shorebirds, gulls and waterfowl. The San Francisco Bay Area is right in the middle of this avian bonanza. Also this is California, so there are lots of other birds to look at from sparrows, warblers, Wrentit to Nuttall s Woodpecker, and many more. The Yellow-billed Magpie could show up for example. The focus on the above mentioned three groups is not only because they are abundant in the Bay Area in winter, but because they can take a bit of work to figure out specially the gulls. Apart from plain old good birding, this trip is structured to be informational and educational. Not only will be chat about bird identification, but also ecology and behavior of the birds we are seeing. If you want to become a better birder as you are out there enjoying some lifers, this is a trip for you! Also, Alvaro has a lucky streak with the gulls and if there is a Slaty-backed Gull out there or the Asian Vega Gull (likely to be given species status in the near future) well we will have a great chance of finding them. Alvaro lives in Half Moon Bay and this area has become known in the last few years as a reliable spot to see rare gulls. In particular the Asian Slaty-backed Gull has shown up here perhaps more often than any other site in the lower 48. We certainly have a good shot at finding one somewhere, but classic western species such as Mew, Glaucous-winged, Western, California and Thayer s are common. The great thing is that you won t have to strain your eyes going back and forth between the field guide and the gulls, you will be there with someone who can lead you through how to tell them apart and help you simplify the identification. By the end of a few days together birding the area, you too will feel like a gull expert. Many people who do not like gulls have said that Alvaro has a knack for even making these birds interesting! We will strive to have fun, not torture people with obscure subtleties. So do not be afraid that we will spend a bit of time

2 with the local gulls. You never know, you might actually end up liking them a tad, if you don t already. Waterfowl abound in the Bay Area, and this includes the dabblers as well as the ocean going ducks. There can be thousands of scaup, Surf Scoter, Northern Shoveler, American Wigeon, Northern Pintail and many other widespread ducks. Cinnamon Teal are here, as are some rarer species. The Bay Area tends to have one or more findable Tufted Duck, as well as various Eurasian Wigeon as well as the Asian Common Teal which is often separated from the Greenwinged Teal. The diversity is quite bewildering and fun to see. One day we shall visit the interior, the Central Valley, where we hope to see thousands of Snow, Ross s and Greater White-fronted Geese. We may find Cackling Geese as well as the rare blue form of the Ross s Goose and perhaps groups of wintering White-faced Ibis, Sandhill Cranes and Tricolored Blackbirds as well. The numbers of birds in the Central Valley can be staggering!! Finally, the winter is a great time for raptors in the area. Some years when small rodents called voles are common the White-tailed Kites can be found in great concentrations, can be seen in one spot! There are lots and lots of various morphs of the Red-tailed Hawk to see, gorgeous views of California Red-shouldered Hawks and great chance to see Prairie Falcon, Ferruginous, Rough-legged or even wintering Swainson s hawks. On our way back to the Bay Area we shall visit one of the regular wintering areas of the rare and threatened Mountain Plover. You will be amazed at the abundance and diversity you can see in California in winter. Remember that many of the coastal California Christmas Bird Counts here are among the most species rich in the continent. Also you are in the Bay Area so there is always good food, great scenery. San Francisco is often voted the best city to vacation in. Well, we are going to prove that this is also the case for the birder. The San Francisco Bay Area is astoundingly good birding. Alvaro as a local birder knows the places that are off the radar screen where some specialties can be found, and has years of experience birding the area. This will be a heck of an enjoyable short winter getaway! The Birding Sites We Shall Visit The San Mateo County Coast Although known mainly as an urban area, the San Francisco Bay Area is nicely diverse in terms of natural habitats and in particular the coast is unexpectedly undeveloped. Many of the beaches and coastlines are public, and the mosaic of habitats from rocky shorelines to coastal grasslands, Redwood and Douglas-Fir forest and nice dense willow and alder thickets makes for great birding. In fact there are probably more birds here in winter than in summer! For us the coast allows us to find some rocky shorebirds like the Surfbird, Black Turnstone and Black Oystercatcher. The sand beaches hold a nice number of the now rare

3 Snowy Plover (approximately 40 winter in the Half Moon Bay area). Also the coastline here has become well known as a gull watching hotspot. Most of California s Slaty-backed Gulls have been seen here! While it may take some luck to find one, we shall look carefully. Another Siberian rarity is the Asian version of the Herring Gull, the Vega Gull, has been found with some frequency here and again we shall look for it. This is almost certainly a species that will be separated as such in the future. Alvaro has found a large proportion if not the majority of both of these records so you will be in good hands! Furthermore the coast is great for raptors, sparrows, and wintering warblers. We will spend our time hitting some of the local hotspots seeing what we find, and maybe chasing down any reported birds of note. San Francisco Bay The Bayside is the more urbanized part of the Bay Area, particularly when compared to the coast. However, San Francisco Bay is one of the most impressive estuaries on the continent, and tidal flows can at times create a bountiful habitat for shorebirds. While some species are only found during migration, there is an abundance of wintering shorebirds here. Most common are Marbled Godwit, Western Willet, Western Sandpiper, American Avocet and Black-necked Stilt. There are numbers of Long-billed Curlew, Whimbrel, Least Sandpiper, and plenty of both species of dowitchers among others. The Bayside is also good for diving ducks with large concentrations of scaup and Surf Scoter among others. Other more sheltered spots congregate thousands of puddle ducks; the bay is a particularly good place to look for Eurasian migrants such as the Eurasian Wigeon and the Common Green-winged Teal. The East Bay and Delta Oakland is the heart of the East Bay (East side of San Francisco Bay), and Lake Merritt in downtown can hold some great waterfowl watching. This may be the best chance we have for Barrow s Goldeneye as well as Tufted Duck. North and east of the North Bay is the Delta Region, where the rivers flowing out of the Central Valley join up to flow into the Carquinez Strait and into San Francisco Bay. Here in winter there are some great spots to look for the rare Mountain Plover as well as raptors such as the Ferruginous Hawk, and perhaps Rough-legged Hawk. The Sacramento Valley The north portion of California s Great Central Valley is the Sacramento Valley. Although mainly known for its agricultural output, and for the state capital of Sacramento, the valley is amazing as a wintering destination for migratory waterfowl. We will look for Sandhill Cranes, White-faced Ibis, and Tundra Swans among others. However the stars of the show are the geese. Here great numbers of Greater White-fronted, Snow, Ross s and Cackling geese can be found. We will head to some good spots to look for them and hopefully see a great show of waterfowl abundance. This is one of the few places anywhere that you can see the extremely rare blue form of the Ross s Goose. About the Physical Requirements & Pace The San Francisco Bay Area is a great spot for birding, particularly in winter. Most places we go birding in are of easy access, we do not plan to climb any mountains on head into areas of any extreme terrain. Some coastal, bayside and central valley sites are actually rather flat and on nice trails, or roadside spots. Some of the birding in the Delta and in the Central Valley will be roadside, other in wildlife refuges. In winter day length is relatively short, so the length of the birding day is also capped by this reality. We will keep the pace up enough to allow us to see a diversity of birds during the time we have for birding, however the pace will not be strenuous. We shall eat dinner at restaurants, but lunch may be picnics prepared in the field (depending on weather). The weather is the one issue that could cause us some discomfort. Winter is when it

4 rains in the Bay Area, it also can be sunny and warm. However, one has to be ready for rain and be prepared to bird at least part of the time in the rain if necessary to do so. Itinerary for San Francisco Bay Area in winter. Feb 8 (Day 1) ARRIVAL AT SFO. Please book flights to arrive into SFO by the mid-afternoon. Take a shuttle to our hotel (Holiday Inn Express) and meet at 6:00 pm to head out for dinner. Alvaro will meet you at the lobby at that time to go eat dinner, meet other participants and go over aspects of the tour. Night in Burlingame. Feb 9 (Day 2) - BAYSIDE BIRDING. Our day today will be spent visiting various sites along San Francisco Bay, the timing and exact places we visit will depend partly on tides, weather and what interesting birds have been reported in the recent past along the Bay. We plan on focusing on wintering shorebirds, with some gull watching and waterfowl studies. The southern bayside is particularly good for seeing Thayer s Gulls in winter. We may also be in the neighborhood for Burrowing Owl, and if tides are right and luck is with us, Clapper Rail. Night in Burlingame. Feb 10 (Day 3) COASTAL BIRDING. Today is devoted to the San Mateo County Coast. We will visit various spots, and the timing and exact sites we visit will depend on the tides and weather. We shall look for coastal gulls today, taking in good studies of Glaucous-winged and Western as well as their hybrids. If we are lucky a rarity will be around such as the Glaucous, Vega gull or perhaps the Slaty-backed Gull; as with any rarity it is a game of chance as much as skill at finding these birds. The coast also affords great places to see coastal rocky shorebirds (Surfbird, Black Turnstone, Black Oystercatcher) and perhaps the Snowy Plover. There are many wintering raptors on the coast, again we will keep our eyes to the sky in order to see as wide variety of these birds as possible. Night in Burlingame. Feb 11 (Day 4) - NORTH BAY TO SACRAMENTO. Today will be partly a travel day as we begin in the San Francisco Bay Area and end the day in the Central Valley. We may need to head out early today in order to avoid the worst of the Bay Area traffic. Our first stop will be to look for wintering Tufted Duck in Oakland, and perhaps other birds of interest there. We will continue north to the Delta region where we shall look for Mountain Plover, as well as raptors. Assuming time permits we shall look for waterfowl tonight in one of the refuges in the area. Night in the Sacramento area. Feb 12 (Day 5) - CENTRAL VALLEY WATERFOWL. The day today will be devoted to the Central Valley waterfowl. In particular the high densities and diversity of geese which winter here. We may see Canada, Snow, Ross s, Cackling and Greater White-fronted, sometimes by the thousands. We will of course have a great opportunity to see many other waterfowl, as well as Sandhill Cranes, and raptors. In the afternoon we shall return to the Bay Area, for our final dinner together. Night in Burlingame. Feb 13 (Day 6) DEPARTURE DAY. Please take the free shuttle to the airport today at leisure to take your flight home. Check-out time is during the morning, so plan on a morning or noon-time flight.

5 Your Guide Alvaro Jaramillo was born in Chile but began birding in Toronto, where he lived as a youth. He was trained in ecology and evolution with a particular interest in bird behavior. Research forays and backpacking trips introduced Alvaro to the riches of the Neotropics, where he has traveled extensively. He is the author of the Birds of Chile, an authoritative yet portable field guide to Chile s birds. Alvaro writes the Identify Yourself column in Bird Watcher s Digest. Among various projects he is currently finishing part of the sparrow chapter for the Handbook of Birds of the World, and is writing a photo guide to the birds and wildlife of Patagonia. Alvaro was recently granted the Eisenmann Medal by the Linnean Society of New York, it is awarded occasionally for excellence in ornithology and encouragement of the amateur. Alvaro lives with his family in Half Moon Bay, California. Financial Information FEE: $1300 from SFO DEPOSIT: $250 per person FINAL PAYMENT DUE: January 8, 2012 SINGLE SUPPLEMENT (Optional): $300 LIMIT: 8 Additional Information AIR ARRANGEMENTS: Please plan to arrive at the SFO airport Holiday Inn Express in order to meet for a 6 pm rendezvous time. Flights back home at the end of the tour can be booked for any time, although check out at the hotel is 10 am and you may incur an extra night charge if you need to remain in the hotel past this time. If you have any doubts, be sure to check with Alvaro s Adventures to confirm that the flights you have will work with our itinerary and to confirm that the tour is sufficiently subscribed to operate. Once purchased, most airline tickets are non-refundable and carry a penalty to change. We are not responsible for these fees. TOUR INCLUSIONS/EXCLUSIONS: The tour fee is $1300 for one person in double occupancy from San Francisco. It includes all lodging from Day 1 through Day 5, all meals from dinner on Day 1 through breakfast on Day 6, all ground transportation, entrance fees, tips for baggage handling and meal service, and the guide services of the tour leaders. The above fees do not include your airfare to and from San Francisco, airport taxes, any alcoholic beverages, optional tips to local drivers, phone calls, laundry, or other items of a personal nature. The single supplement for the main tour is $300. If you do not have a roommate but wish to share, we will try to pair you with a roommate from the tour; but if none is available, you will be billed for the single supplement. Our tour fees are based on double occupancy; one-half the cost of a double room is priced into the tour fee. TOUR REGISTRATION: To register for this tour, complete the enclosed Registration/Release and Indemnity form and return it with a deposit of $250 per person. If registering by phone, a

6 deposit must be received within fourteen days, or the space will be released. Full payment of the tour fee is due one month prior to departure, or by January 8, We will bill you for the final payment at either one month prior to departure or when the tour has reached sufficient subscription to operate, whichever date comes later. Since the cost of your trip insurance and airline tickets is generally non-refundable, please do not finalize these purchases until you have received final billing for the tour or have been advised that the tour is sufficiently subscribed to operate by your tour manager. SMOKING: This is a non-smoking tour. CANCELLATION POLICY: Refund of deposit and payment, less $100 handling fee, will be made if cancellation is received up to 120 days before departure. If cancellation occurs between 119 and 70 days before the departure date, 50% of the tour fee is refundable. Thereafter, all deposits and payments are not refundable. This policy only applies to payments made to Alvaro s Adventures for tour (and any services included in those fees). Airline tickets not included in the tour fee and purchased separately often carry penalties for cancellation or change, or are sometimes totally non-refundable. Additionally, if you take out trip insurance the cost of the insurance is not refundable so it is best to purchase the policy just prior to making full payment for the tour or at the time you purchase airline tickets, depending upon the airlines restrictions. The right is reserved to cancel any tour prior to departure, in which case full refund will constitute full settlement to the passenger. The right is reserved to substitute another guide for the original one. Where this is necessary, notification will be given to tour members, and they will have the right to cancel their participation and receive a full refund. TRIP CANCELLATION & MEDICAL EMERGENCY INSURANCE: We strongly recommend you consider purchasing trip cancellation (including medical emergency) insurance to cover your investment in case of injury or illness to you or your family prior to or during a trip. Because we must remit early (and substantial) tour deposits to our suppliers, we cannot offer any refund when cancellation occurs within 70 days of departure, and only a partial refund from 70 to 119 days prior to departure (see CANCELLATION POLICY). RESPONSIBILITY: For and in consideration of the opportunity to participate in the tour, each tour participant and each parent or legal guardian of a tour participant who is under 18 agrees to release, indemnify, and hold harmless Alvaro s Adventures, its agents, servants, employees, shareholders, officers, directors, attorneys, and contractors as more fully set forth in the Release and Indemnity Agreement on the reverse side of the registration form. Alvaro s Adventures acts only as an agent for the passenger in regard to travel, whether by railroad, motorcar, motorcoach, boat, airplane, or other means, and assumes no liability for injury, damage, loss, accident, delay, or irregularity caused by defect in such vehicles or for any reason whatsoever, including the acts, defaults, or bankruptcies of any company or person engaged in conveying the passenger or in carrying out the arrangements of the tour. Alvaro s Adventures accepts no responsibility for losses or additional expenses due to delay or changes in air or other services, sickness, weather, strike, war, quarantine, or other causes. The tour participant shall bear all such losses and expenses. Alvaro s Adventures reserves the right to substitute hotels of similar category for those indicated and to make any changes in the itinerary where deemed necessary or caused by changes in air schedules. Alvaro s Adventures reserves the right to decline to accept or to retain any person as a member of any tour. Baggage is at owner s risk entirely. Participants should be in good health and should consult a physician before undertaking a tour. If you have questions about the physical requirements of a tour, please contact our office for further information. Participants should prepare for the tour by reading the detailed itinerary,

7 and other pertinent matter provided by Alvaro s Adventures. Each participant is responsible for bringing appropriate clothing and equipment as recommended in our bulletins. THE RECEIPT OF YOUR TOUR DEPOSIT SHALL BE DEEMED TO BE CONSENT TO THE ABOVE CONDITIONS. EACH TOUR PARTICIPANT AND EACH PARENT OR LEGAL GUARDIAN OF A TOUR PARTICIPANT WHO IS UNDER 18 SHALL SIGN AND DELIVER THE RELEASE AND INDEMNITY AGREEMENT AT THE TIME OF REGISTRATION. 12/11 AJ