A Look Back at Santa Clara County Birds
Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance (formerly known as ‘Santa Clara Valley Audubon) is celebrating its 100th year in 2025. It’s an organization that has a special place in my life, After I discovered birding as a hobby I got involved with them and spent a number of years volunteering in various ways. I recently got asked to contribute some images for use in the 100th Anniversary celebrations, which got me looking back through my photos taken in Santa Clara. The timeframe of my images there is 2006 through 2021, and boy, did this bring back many fond memories and I decided to collect my favorite images of favorite species and publish them here.
Santa Clara County has a wide, diverse set of habitats and supports a large population of birds, making it a birding paradise. It’s part of a larger area that generally understands the importance of protecting and maintaining open and green spaces for the overall health and enjoyment of all of us (and birds), but there are always challenges that need to be addressed. Coyote Valley, in the southernmost parts of the county, seems to have been under development threat forever, but overall, we’ve done a good job of pushing back on that. A good number of these pictures, in fact, are taken very near the location that in 1984, Steve Jobs landed in a helicopter to announce the location of the new Apple headquarters campus — which was never built, of course. One reason I’ve long been a supporter of Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance and continue to be a member even though I’ve moved north is the strong and successful work they put into trying to continue protecting these spaces and the birds they support and nourish. If you’re in the greater Bay Area, becoming a member is a way to directly help protect these areas, and something I strongly encourage you to consider.
