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September 2017
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SPOTLIGHT
The Taylor Family Foundation raises over 1.7 Million for Critically Ill Children
Special guest performance by musician, filmmaker, and humanitarian, Michael Franti and Spearhead, at this year’s Day in the Park auction fundraiser wowed guests and helped drive donations over $1.7 million. Local celebrities ABC7KGO TV’s Cheryl Jennings and Mike Nicco, longtime supporter, Doug McConnell (Bay Area OpenRoad.TV’s host), and KKIQ/KKDV’s Jim Hampton, and Sue Hall of 96.5 KOIT and the Entercom San Francisco Stations were on hand to encourage
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Finally getting a welcome break from the three-digit heat that hit in August, September is here with its transition from Summer to Fall. There are so many beautiful days to look forward to as we often experience a prolonged “Indian Summer” that can last until early October. Walking and dining in Town, attending events or visiting local parks, September holds Fall discovery promise as we settle in to the season of …dare I say? Pumpkin everything? Be sure to visit your Farmers Markets and celebrate the changing season!
Once hunted completely out of Contra Costa County by the 1880 for their feathers, the Great Egrets are today still vulnerable to nest site disturbance at San Pablo Reservoir and a
The Great Egret (Ardea alba) is second only in size to the Great Blue Heron, the largest of all herons. They may stand almost four feet tall with a wingspan reaching sixty-eight inches. Body mass or weight may reach four pounds, although slightly over two pounds is average. The bright white plumage, long dagger-like yellow bill, and glossy black feet and legs are diagnostic. The Great Egret holds its neck in a more open S than do other herons while in flight. Also known as the Great White Heron, Great White Egret, Large Egret, and Common Egret, the Great Egret is widely distributed across the warmer temperate and tropical regions of the world, throughout Asia, Africa, the Americas, and southern Europe. Common names can sometimes be confusing as the Great White Heron
of the Caribbean is actually a white morph of the closely related Great Blue Heron. Four subspecies of the Great Egret are recognized in various parts of the world based on size and bare part coloration. Males and females are identical. The Great Egret is an uncommon to locally abundant year-round resident in open to semi-open fish-bearing habitats, including marshes, rivers and creeks, rushy lake shores, and coastal environments, throughout Contra Costa County. They were found nesting at only two sites in eucalyptus trees, in the county during the 2009 Contra Costa County breeding bird atlas survey. A traditional nesting colony was found active
small colony was discovered on a hillside at Clyde, near the Concord Naval Weapons Station. It is most likely that undiscovered nest sites still exist in the county. It is amazing and even remarkable that the Great Egret nests here at all as the species was completely extirpated from the San Francisco Bay region by 1880, when large numbers of Great Egrets were killed around the end of the 19th century so that their plumes could be used to decorate hats. Not a single Great Egret was recorded in the region again until 1925, when twelve birds were found in the Suisun Marshes of Solano County. The first returnees to Contra Costa County were two
birds at Avon, north of Concord, on December 25, 1933. Numbers have since recovered as a result of conservation measures. In 1953, the Great Egret in flight was chosen by the National Audubon Society, which formed in part to prevent the killing of birds for their feathers. Its
This month’s Special Sections:
Back to School
page 7
Fall Home & Garden
pages 8-9
See EGRET page 6