Some three dozen students, faculty, staff, alumni and neighbors from both schools fanned across their respective campuses at 7 a.m. and counted bird species for four hours. Armed with binoculars and field guides, the bird watchers scanned treetops and building eaves, shrubbery and fountains. At Cal they hit the botanical garden and Faculty Glade; at Stanford they scoured San Francisquito Creek and the grasslands around the Dish radio telescope. At 11 a.m. captains for both teams called in their results to the Golden Gate and Santa Clara Valley Audubon Societies, and just after noon a winner was declared. [...] at 10:56, Jack Gedney, a recent graduate in comparative literature, hoisted his binoculars and peered into a thicket of pines near North Gate Hall. "People think of birders as just old white people, but we need everyone in California to appreciate birds so we can help them hang on," Lahiff said. Despite near-constant construction, Cal's campus hosted an impressive variety of avian life. Some suggested that Cal might have done better with help from a marching band and cheerleaders, or maybe a pre-game bonfire.
Reported by SFGate 6 hours ago.
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