Sponsors
A big thank you to our sponsors:
California
State Parks
Mountain Parks
Foundation
Preserving
the legacy of our Redwood forests
Big Basin Redwoods State Park
Related Links
Santa Cruz Bird Club
The
Santa Cruz Bird Club was founded in 1956
Ohlone
Audubon Society
A
chapter of the National Audubon Society serving Southern Alameda County,
CA
Sequoia
Audubon Society
Your
local Audubon chapter for San Mateo County, California
Santa
Clara Valley
Audubon Society
Connecting people with nature
Wild
Bird Center
of Los Gatos
792 Blossom Hill Rd
Los Gatos, CA 95032
(408) 358-9453
Wild
Bird Center
of Monterey
910 Del Monte Center
Monterey, CA 93940
(831) 373-1000
Wild
Birds Unlimited
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Big
Basin Redwoods State Park invites those who love birds and
butterflies to the 7th Annual Wings Over the Basin the weekend of
May 16 - 18, 2008.
Experience
the park's varied birdlife at the height of the nesting season on
field trips, guided bird and butterfly walks,
and at an evening campfire presentation.
All
Wings Over the Basin events are free and you are welcome to attend
any or all of the activities. Come and enjoy late spring in the
Santa Cruz Mountains!
A
special group campsite will be specially reserved for this event. We
are asking participants to donate $20 per person (or more, if you
feel generous) to Mountain Parks Foundation to help defray the
weekend expenses. Click here
for more information on reserving a spot in the group campsite.
Space in the group campsite is limited, so reserve early!
To
reserve
an individual campsite at Big Basin Redwoods State Park go to ReserveAmerica.com. The day use/parking fee is $6.00 per
car.
Wings Over the Basin 2008
Event Schedule
Friday, May 16, 2008
7:15 PM to 10 PM -
Owls of the Redwood Forest
Join Jan Hintermeister on a 2 mile hike to
learn about the rarely seen but sometimes heard owls at Big
Basin. Experience the nocturnal world of
owls while listening for our local species. Whooooo knows, maybe
we'll get lucky and hear one! Be prepared to stand quietly and
patiently in cold weather. Dress in layers of quiet clothing, wear sturdy
hiking shoes, bring a flashlight and bincoculars (if you have them).
Meet under the flagpole at Park Headquarters.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
8:15 AM to 2:00 PM - Birds and Butterflies at the Edge of Big
Basin
This is a unique opportunity to explore a different part of Big
Basin Redwoods State Park by car. The morning
begins with Kay Partelow expanding your
birding experience by practicing innovative ways to remember bird
vocalizations we may hear in different habitats. We'll drive (carpooling
suggested) 5 to 10 miles to seek higher elevation species at various
locations. As the day warms up, Paul Johnson
will point out the lovely lepidoptera as they begin to flutter. We will
drive to several locations to search for an assortment of butterfly
species. Bring a lunch, water, and binoculars (if you have them). Note
there are no restrooms (but plenty of trees!) on the drive. Meet at Park
Headquarters.
3 PM to 4:30 PM - Once Upon a Nest
Listen to tales of the history and lore of the endangered marbled murrelet
as you follow the path of its discovery right here in the center of Big
Basin with special guests Steve & Stephanie Singer
and docent Karen DeMello. You will also meet typical birds of the
redwood forest along the way on this 1-1/2 mile walk. Meet at Park
HQ. Binoculars recommended (not required).
5:30 PM - Potluck Dinner for Birders and Butterfliers
This food-fest is an eagerly awaited tradition! Bring a dish
to share. Meet at Old Lodge across from the parking lot from the
store and museum.
7:30 PM - "Hunters
of the Sky" Campfire Program
An introduction to our local birds of
prey, presented by Karen Hoyt of Sky Hunters Environmental Education.
Learn more about how raptors, or birds of prey, fit into Big Basin 's
ecology and why they are important in a balanced environment.
Special guest raptors will give you a glimpse of the true meaning of what
it means to be a bird of prey. Meet at the Campfire Center near Park
Headquarters. Afterwards, enjoy marshmallows and music.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
5:15 AM - Dawn Marbled Murrelet Survey
Join Matthew Strusis-Timmer in listening and looking for this
remarkable bird as it circles over the old growth forest nesting area
before heading out to sea. Learn why this robin-sized seabird is so
special to Big Basin . Meet at Park Headquarters at 5:15 AM sharp. (1-1/4
hours)
7:00 AM - Birding by Ear with Todd Newberry
Such
tall trees, such deep shadows! But you hear the birds you can't see. We
will learn how to listen, and we will try to learn a half-dozen kinds of
birds out of the many we will hear. And we will try to make sense of what
these birds are up to when they sing or -- not the same -- when they call.
Meet at Park Headquarters. Bring binoculars if you have them. (2 miles, 3
hours)
Noon - Peter and the Wolf Big Basin Style
All ages are invited to listen to Peter 's adventure in the Land of
the Tall Trees and Marbled Murrelets, a twist to the familiar story with
music by composer Sergei Prokofiev. There is no wolf in this version! This
tale will be told by docent Karen DeMello over a 1 mile easy walk in the
redwoods. (1-1/2 hours)
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Leaders
 Jan Hintermeister, a Silicon Valley engineer and
resident of Santa Clara, has been an avid birder for over 20
years. He has banded hawks with the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory,
has monitored Great Blue Heron colonies and served on the board of
directors of the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory, and is
currently a docent for Mid-peninsula Regional Open Space District.
 Kay
Partelow became a bird enthusiast when she single-handedly
identified a White-crowned Sparrow in her backyard at the age of 12!
Kay has been a co-leader on Sierra Club birding trips to Alaska,
participates in local bird counts, and is currently a docent for
Mid-peninsula Regional Open Space District as well as a Nature
Center host. She is an avid birder and hiker.
 Paul Johnson has been interested in
butterflies since birth, and an avid butterflier for seven years. He
is a resident of Bitterwater and a Wildlife Biologist at nearby
Pinnacles National Monument. In 1999-2003 he conducted a butterfly and moth
inventory of Pinnacles and subsequently published a butterfly
checklist for the Monument. He has been running the annual Pinnacles
Butterfly Count for seven years, and participates in about a dozen
butterfly counts in California each year.
Steve Singer
has been watching marbled murrelets at Big Basin since 1973 when he
helped to identify an adult murrelet found on the ground by campers. He
has been intrigued by this difficult-to-study bird ever since. In 1974,
he helped document the discovery in Big Basin of the world's first
murrelet tree nest. A tree trimmer found that nest accidentally. He and
his wife Stephanie and their research group began a murrelet
nest-finding effort, which resulted in several nest finds in the park.
One of these nests allowed them to make the first observations of how a
young bird fledges from the nest. Some of their early research efforts
are mentioned in Maria Ruth's book, Rare Bird. Steve is a contributing author
to the official Marbled Murrelet survey protocol prepared by the Marbled
Murrelet Technical Committee of the Pacific Seabird Group.
 Karen Hoyt
has been fascinated by birds,
especially birds of prey, for as far back as she can remember.
As an avid birder, bird bander, wildlife rehabilitator and falconer,
she has explored birds from every angle. In 2004 Karen founded
Sky Hunters Environmental Education, a 501(C)(3) non-profit
organization dedicated to teach respect and awareness of our local
wildlife and wild places. Sky Hunters introduces native, live
birds of prey to kids of all ages through interactive presentations
focusing on conservation and awareness.
 Matthew
Strusis-Timmer is currently pursuing a M.S. Biology degree at
San Jose State University. His
interests generally lie within avian biology/ecology and he is
currently developing a study of Yellow Warbler nesting ecology.
He assisted in ornithological research at Grand Valley State
University (in Michigan) on the breeding biology and energetics of
Tree Swallows and has been trained and certified to conduct Marbled
Murrelet dawn surveys. Matthew
enjoys natural history interpretation and has worked three years as
a Naturalist at a nearby residential Outdoor Education school in
Scotts Valley and volunteered for many different organizations and
events over the years. Examples
include: Quail Hollow
Nest Box Project, Monterey Bay Birding Festival, the Santa Cruz
County Forest Bird Monitoring Study, and Audubon Christmas Bird
Counts. He is also
currently the Conservation Officer of the Santa Cruz Bird Club.
 Todd
Newberry, UCSC professor emeritus of
biology, is author, with the artist Gene Holtan, of THE ARDENT
BIRDER (Ten Speed Press, 2005). He
studies clonal organisms, of which there are zillions, including
trees, and especially those "zoophyte" marine animals
that form colonies with plant-like appearances -- corals,
hydroids, sea squirts and other such unhuggables. As they grow, how
do their intimate environments help mold their shapes? Alas, he
has come up with few answers to this question or, for that
matter, to most other tough questions about life. Perhaps this
explains why he has been such an ardent birder since his New
Jersey boyhood.
 Karen
DeMello is the docent at Big Basin Redwoods State Park who
suggested having a bird weekend in 2002 as part of Big Basin's
Centennial Celebration. Never did she imagine this bird weekend
would become such an eagerly awaited annual event! She thanks the
hardworking organizers, presenters, and participants for making this
weekend happen.
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