out at Richmond Marina Bay

Egret and Willet

Yesterday, two days after the storm, we took a long walk along Richmond Marina Bay. It was a beautiful day, sunny and cool.

I'm always observing birds in our garden so it was nice change to see the water birds.

I wasn't very observant before of the various water birds in the San Francisco Bay until November 7, 2007, when the Cosco Busan oil spill leaked 53,569 gallons of bunker oil into the Bay. The effects of the spill was widespread. 200 miles of coastline was oiled.

It was estimated that 6,849 wild birds were killed. 2,519 wild birds collected, about half of them dead. The other half were taken to and rehabilitated at the International Bird Rescue center in Cordelia, California.

My boyfriend and I received Hazmat training and worked as volunteers for about 4 days at International Bird Rescue, cleaning, assisting with cleaning and feeding the sick birds. It was heartbreaking, but at the same time more than 1,000 birds were rehabilitated and eventually released.

Through that experience I developed a new respect and appreciation of these fascinating birds, as well as the work of the International Bird Rescue organization.