Young Ancient Murrelets

RROS’s Youth Adventure

It all started when…

A few years ago, I received a request from an adult student at Petaluma Adult School to allow her 14-year-old daughter to join the class. This is how I met mother and daughter Beverly and Danielle Dube. All the other class members and I fell in love with 14-year-old Danielle immediately. Her love of birds and her expressive drawings of birds impressed us all.

This inspired me to start a birding club for youth. So, I went on a search for young people with birding interests. It didn’t take me long to find Mario Balitbit, birding with his dad and Rob O’Donnell at Bodega Bay. I ran the idea by him, and I couldn’t get a more enthusiastic response. Bill Doyle recommended Luke Campbell, who regularly came to RROS field trips, notebook in hand, writing down all observations with his grandfather, Glenn.

So, on September, 2014, we had our first youth group birding field trip at the Laguna de Santa Rosa Trail. I was a member of the Point Blue Bird-a-thon Committee at the time. I decided that Point Blue needed more youth teams and I invited Mike Parmeter to co-lead this youth team. I wanted to connect the birding generations. I also drafted Nicole Bardon to help out as she does a fantastic job through the environmental education program at Pepperwood Preserve.

We did our first Bird-a-thon as the Sonoma County Youth Team on October 25, 2014. We had 3 youths – Mario, Luke and Danielle and several adults. We had a blast that day. We saw 121 species, and raised about $500 for Point Blue Conservation Science. We were all beaming at the end of the day. One of the highlights of the day was finding Gabriel Tarantino on Bodega Head, birding with his family friend Scott Sorby. The instant we met, I wanted to just throw Gabe in the car and have him join us the rest of the day. I got his contact information instead.

On our next field trip, we added Will Anderson (recommended by Sonoma County naturalist Dave Barry) to the group. We went to Bodega Bay. While we were on Bodega Head, we all observed Ancient Murrelets. It was a life bird for all of the youth members. As we were having lunch that day, we brainstormed different names to call ourselves. Names like "Sonoma County Youth Birders" and "Passerine Penetrators" were tossed around. Then, we all settled on "Young Ancient Murrelets". It was perfect. And "YAMS" was born.

Not long after, we added Lucas Stephenson. I met Mark (Lucas’ dad) and Lucas at Ellis Creek one day while I was teaching an adult birding class. Lucas was timid at first, but curiosity overpowered his shyness and he was soon asking dozens of questions about birds, and he just had to be invited into the group.

Since then, we have added Morganna, Beatrice, Aiden, Junco, and our newest members Nolan and Clayton.

Of course, the downside of forming a youth group is that youth don’t stay "youth" forever. It’s hard to let go of YAMS members as they grow out of our group. But I am so proud of each one of them. Stay tuned in the future to meet our YAMS individually.

Lisa Hug
YAMS Coordinator

Join YAMS by emailing Liz Lewis at elewis227@gmail.com or Lisa Hug at lisahug@sonic.net. Open to 8-18 year olds.

What Have the YAMS Been up to?

YAMs Trip to Sacramento NWR

The light was still dim at the Lakeville Park and Ride as the YAMs members gathered and split up into leaders Liz and Lisa’s cars. We began the drive up to Red Top Road, where we planned to meet up with RROS. Along the way, we enjoyed the wetland views of San Pablo NWR, which was alive with waterfowl and shorebirds. When we reached our meeting place, each YAMs member was given a Bingo sheet with potential species to be seen. The competition was amped up as we each raced to spot birds from the car with the goal of getting the first Bingo. This ended up being Elliott, who received a bag of birdseed as a prize! The fog thickened and, upon reaching Colusa NWR, obstructed much of our visibility from the viewing platform, which was mostly void of birds. So, we made the decision to go to Sacramento NWR instead. By the time we reached it, the fog had burned off and flocks of thousands of Greater White-fronted, Ross’s, and Snow Geese swirled up and down from the ponds. Driving the first stretch of the autotour loop, highlights included a Wilson’s Snipe in the grass just feet from the car, an American Bittern standing frozen amongst the reeds, and glimpses of a Ring-necked Pheasant seen only by Lisa’s car group. At the first viewing platforms, everyone enjoyed looks at a photogenic White faced Ibis seemingly doing yoga. Ross’s and Snow Geese side-by-side were preening, swimming, and feeding around tiny islands offshore, providing excellent comparisons. A Lincoln’s Sparrow and an American Pipit perused the brush and ground some feet away from the platform. After lunch, a Bald Eagle spooked thousands of nearby geese into the air, and we all looked up as the overwhelming cacophony of wingbeats and calls flew overhead. The last part of the autotour provided close views of “Blue” Snow Geese, and further out, a Merlin and Cooper’s Hawk caught our attention. After saying goodbye to RROS, we took Highway 20 back, stopping by some rice fields where we picked up Horned Lark and Black-bellied Plover, while nearly fifty Sandhill Cranes standing majestically in the grassy rows. Following such a rewarding trip, we were tired but happy. It was a great way to start the YAMs New Year. Thank you to RROS for welcoming us!

-Aubrey Parnay, YAMs Field Columnist

Upcoming YAMs Events

2/28 Owling Drive

We will meet up at the Potter Schoolhouse (171110 Bodega Ln) in Bodega at 5:15 pm and drive roads listening for owls.

3/28 Ellis Creek Treatment Ponds and Wetlands

We will meet in the Ellis Creek Parking Lot at 8:30am for an easy walk around the ponds.  If there is time and interest, we may also visit Shollenberger Park.  Half-day field trip ending at 12:30pm.  Be sure to bring lunch, water and snacks.          

 5/2 Geysers Road  7am-2:30pm (Meeting Location TBD)

Geysers Road runs along the little Sulphur Creek and up into the Mayacamas mountains where we have opportunities to see or hear Mountain Quail, White-throated Swift, Blue gray Gnatcatcher, and California Thrasher and much more. This is a full-day trip. Bring layered clothing, lunch, snacks, water and of course binoculars and field guide. 

 6/1 Pine Mountain Rd, Fairfax 7am – 2:30 pm (meet at Caltrans Lakeville Park and Ride at 7am)

We will hike up Pine Mountain Rd looking for Bell’s Sparrow, White-throated Swift, Western Wood Pewee, Cliff Swallow, and Chipping Sparrow

This is a full-day trip. Bring layered clothing, lunch, snacks, water and of course binoculars and field guide