Lucas Stephenson Bay Area Birding Guide Services

Guiding Services Available on Weekends and from May 15th – August 15th

For Inquires, Complete Guide Service Form Below 

Experience

• Pt Blue Conservation Science (2025) – Willow Flycatcher monitoring and ecological research conducted in the biologically diverse Sierra Range. Vegetation surveys examining Willow Flycatcher associations and dichotomy in habitat preference selection, with application of multiple methods to quantify preferred vegetation structure and length. Bird Banding at Carter Meadow in the Southern Extent of the Cascade Range, applying various techniques and strategies including aging, sexing, molt and wear assessment, with primary emphasis on careful and judicious handling of birds.
• Chief Pelagic Ornithology Coordinator and Liaison with Stanford University Dept. of Biology, Dirzo Lab (2025) – Provided disadvantaged students with opportunities to study enigmatic North Pacific seabirds in Avian Research (NSF Grant): 
• Chartered Bodega Bay Pelagics (2023-2025) – Organizer and Coordinator of, enabling opportunities of offshore monitoring and exploratory surveys in Marin and Sonoma Counties, including under-studied areas of Bodega Canyon and Cordell Bank. 
• Cornell’s Macaulay Library Recordings, Annotator Volunteer (2025) – Worked on training Merlin’s artificial intelligence to recognize and categorize a wide range of vocalizations from numerous species across California’s diverse ecotypes, primarily involving the California Sierra Nevada and Oak Woodland ecosystems. This included analyzing acoustic data, identifying species-specific call patterns, weeding out overly distorted recordings, and contributing to the overall improvement of accuracy across varied habitats and environmental conditions
• U.S. Fish & Wildlife (2022-2024) – Monitoring Least Tern and Snowy Plover Breeding Colonies. 
• Audubon Canyon Ranch – Annual Waterbird Black Brant Surveys Tomales Bay (2024-23) – contributing results to their regional waterfowl monitoring database
• Napa-Solano Audubon (2018-2021) – Monitoring Tricolored Blackbird Colonies utilizing Soundscape recording devices to determine breeding cycle sequences.
• Pelagic Seabird Spotter (2020–Present) – Serving as a spotter for Alvaro’s Adventures, Redwood Regional Ornithological Society, Steller Sunrise Pelagics, and the North Wind Cal Poly Humboldt Research Vessel, featuring numerous pelagic excursions out of various ports on the west coast.
• Field Trip Leader (2018-Present) – for Redwood Regional Ornithological Society, Marin Audubon, and Napa–Solano Audubon Societies.
• Bird Guiding (2016-Present) – providing species identification, ecological interpretation, and facilitating participant engagement with both hiking and kayaking trips from easy to strenuous terrain.

Discoveries

Waved Albatross Bodega Pelagic, Cordell Bank, September 2025

• Tenth California Record of Black-tailed Gull and First Monterey County Record (2017; Point Pinos, Monterey County, California)
• Rediscovery of Nesting Bell’s Vireos in the Northern Central Valley of California (2018; Bradford Island, Contra Costa County, California)
• Fourth California Record of Sandwich Tern (2021; Limantour Estero, Marin County, California)
• First Solano County and 21st California Record of Siberian Sand-Plover (2022; Dredge Spoil Ponds, Solano County, California)
• Second Sonoma County Record of Curlew Sandpiper (2022; Bodega Bay, Sonoma County, California)
• Second Record of Bell’s Vireo (2024 Arcata Bottoms, Humboldt Co.)
• Northernmost World Record of Least Storm-Petrel (2024; Eel River Canyon, Humboldt County, California)
• First Northern Pacific Record of Waved Albatross (2025; Cordell Bank, California)
• Fourth Record of Tristram’s Storm-Petrel for the Contiguous United States (2025; Cordell Bank, California)
• Establishment of a Willow Flycatcher Breeding Stronghold in the Antelope Valley of Mono County (2025; Antelope Valley, Mono County, California)
• Westernmost World Record of Chihuahuan Meadowlark (2025; Bard, California–Arizona border)
• Fifth Humboldt County Record of King Eider and 70th California Record (2025; Crab Park, Humboldt County, California)
• First Baja California Record of Cave Swallow (2026; Campo Mosqueda, Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico)
• Rediscovery of Wintering Yellow Rails in the San Francisco Bay Area (2026; Solano County, California)
• First Mexicali Records of Chestnut-sided Warbler and Blackburnian Warbler (2026; Bosque y Zoológico de la Ciudad and Club Campestre de Mexicali, Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico)

Research

• Lead Editor – The Comparative Guide for North American Birds by Tom Stephenson – Princeton Press scheduled for publication in 2026.
• Peer Reviewed Articles: The First ABA Area Record of Waved Albatross, with Notes on Molt and Taxonomy (Monk, E. G., D. S. Singer, G. Tepke, L. R. Stephenson, M. Carozza, and P. Pyle. 2026 – (In Review). 

Presentations

• • • Pod-cast: Pay It Forward, Adventures of a Young Birder, Bird Calls Radio (2017)
    • Birds of Hawaii, Napa-Solano Audubon (2018)
    • Our California Big Year, Napa-Solano Audubon (2018)
    • The Biggest Week of Birding, Napa-Solano Audubon (2019)
    • California Pelagic Birding, Napa-Solano Audubon (2021)
    • Spring Birding in Texas, Napa-Solano Audubon (2023)
    • Sierra Birding – Yuba Pass and Sierra Valley, Napa-Solano Audubon (2024)
    • Florida Birding, Napa-Solano Audubon (2025)
    • The Efficacy of Town Birding, Cal Poly Humboldt (2025)
    • Mottled Petrel Trip Coordination and Techniques, Cal Poly Humboldt (2025)Awards
    • Napa County Big Year Record 2020 – 259 Species
    • Sonoma County Big Year Record 2022 – 329 Species
    • Western Field Ornithologists Scholarship for Annual Conference 2016
    • Central Valley Birders Scholarship to attend ABA Camp Colorado 2019
    • Central Valley Birders Scholarship to attend ABA Camp Chiricahua 2021
    • Napa-Solano Audubon Wildlife Scholarship to attend Cal Poly Humboldt 2024

  Contact Information
  Lucas Stephenson
  
  
  Phone: 707-200-5646