Youth Education
Scouting Meets Birding
Audubon Adventures
Habitat Means Home Poster Contest
Scouting meets Birding
On April 10th, two of our field trip leaders, Rich Nicholson and Bill Scoggins, were kind enough to assist a Scout Troop from Pleasant Hill earn their birding merit badge. These two met with the troop and some of their parents at Coyote Hills to assist the Troop Leader in helping the boys meet their requirements to earn this badge. In addition to learning how to use and care for binoculars, the boys had to identify at least 20 different species of birds and connect the call or song of at least 5 to the bird. The boys seemed to have a great time finding the birds and the highlight of the day for many of them was seeing an American Coot with a chick. Many questioned how the baby could look so different from the adult. A few of the boy's parents were amazed at how many birds they actually saw on the 1 ½ mile walk and were sure they wouldn't have noticed nearly as many without the assistance of our two helpful leaders. This exposure just may have started another person or two down the great path of birding. Special Kudos to both Rich and Bill and hopefully we'll have more opportunities like this in the future to expand the birding population. Photos from this event can be seen in the photo gallery.
Mona Brauer, Field Trip Chair
Introduce Children To Audubon Adventures
This fall semester, sponsor your favorite 4th, 5th, or 6th-grade class to Audubon Adventures, the nature program of the National Audubon Society. A classroom kit contains enough material for 32 students and the cost is $40.95 ($35 plus $5.95 shipping and handling). This program has connected seven million children across the nation to nature with these in-school educational materials. Our school budgets are perennially tight; so please help a teacher at your local elementary school. This is a gift subscription that will really make a difference to the earth's future!
For more information on this program please contact Phil & Pat Gordon at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
National Audubon Adventures Site: www.audubon.org/educate/aa/index.html
Habitat Means Home Poster Contest
The "Habitat Means Home" poster contest is sponsored by three local environmental groups: Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge, Ohlone Audubon Society, and Friends of Coyote Hills. The theme of the poster contest is a celebration of the diverse habitats and species found at Coyote Hills Regional Park. The contest is open to K – 6 students, individual prizes are awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place and honorable mention posters, and a $500 gift certificate from a science education supply company is issued to the school of the winning poster.The purpose of the contest is to provide educational outreach and to make sure students understand "habitat" is more than just an abstract concept, that a "habitat" is "home" for plants and animals. We also hope students and their families will learn they can do more than just read about habitats in their textbooks. We hope they will learn a diversity of "habitats" for wildlife and plants exists within their local community at places like Coyote Hills Regional Park that they can actually explore and experience first-hand.
The 2010 Habitat Means Home Poster Contest Entry Forms are now available for elementary school students in the Fremont, Newark, and New Haven Unified School Districts. Entry forms are being delivered to schools the week of March 15th. Deadline for submittals is Friday, April 16th at 4pm. All poster entries must be received at the Coyote Hills Regional Park Visitor Center by that time. All posters will be on display at the Visitor Center beginning April 24th through May 6th. Click here for an entry form.