Grayson Creek Birders

This monthly community science survey, in partnership with Friends of Pleasant Hill Creeks, explores two sites along Pleasant Hill’s Grayson Creek corridor. Volunteers from both groups meet to assess the condition of the creek and its wildlife.

In a recent year, the Grayson Creek team identified more than 70 species and 2,900 total birds in its survey area. While House Finches dominated by numbers, many kinds of birds were spotted: egrets and herons, of course, but also a range of raptors, including a pair of nesting Red-shouldered Hawks, as well as a variety of waterbirds, including eight Hooded Mergansers. For information on birds found in this area, please see the Grayson Creek Birders Check List.

The surveys are developing a valuable database, which can be used to promote awareness of the wildlife along the riparian corridor. A presentation of this data, for instance, helped encourage designers of the Pleasant Hill Library to include bird- and birder-friendly elements in their plans for outdoor spaces.

The efforts of Grayson Creek Birders remind the community of the value of protecting the creek for birds and other wildlife. Establishing the creek’s importance as a habitat helps attract resources and volunteers to help keep the area clean, which remains an ongoing project. During cleanups coordinated by the city’s Civic Action Commission and Friends of Pleasant Hill Creeks, volunteers removed more than 4,000 items of trash from the Grayson Creek sites.

Birders are warmly invited to join the Grayson Creek survey team, which typically departs around 8 AM, every third or fourth Sunday of the month, from the Pleasant Hill Library parking lot. Consult the calendar on this site for the next date, and confirm it with Leader Alan Bade at  or (925) 330-1780.