Virtual

History and Mystery of the Refuge and the Bay

Boardwalk by the Refuge Environmental Education Center
Boardwalk by the Refuge Environmental Education Center

The Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge was created in 1972, but this story starts 200 years earlier when Europeans discovered San Francisco Bay. Learn about the Bay’s history and the answers to mysteries such as: Why are mercury and gold a lethal duo? How did silver mining in Nevada affect the Bay? Why was Oscar the Grouch happier 60 years ago than today? Join docent Larry Rosenblum to discover the answer to these mysteries and others, then take a virtual tour through one of the marshes of the Refuge.

Virtual Science Talk: Return of the Terns! Using Social Attraction to Establish Tern Nesting Colonies in South San Francisco Bay

Caspian tern chicks nestle by decoy at the Refuge
Caspian tern chicks nestle by decoy at the Refuge

The San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory launches its Birdy Hour Speaker Series! This virtual Science Talk is free and family-friendly (recommended age: 5th grade & up). The talk by Dr. Alex Hartman of the U.S. Geological Society will focus on two recent successful social attraction projects at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge: the establishment of Caspian tern nesting colonies in Alviso Pond A16 and Ravenswood Pond SF2, and the re-establishment of Forster’s tern nesting colonies in Pond A16.

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