Two issues ago, the highlights of the last 20 years of Palos Verdes/South Bay Audubon were celebrated. From a beginning rooted in the rich birding opportunities of this area, the chapter has grown to a membership of more than 600 families, with activities ranging from bird and wildlife observation to children's education, youth activism and environmental involvement in a wide arena. Now it is time to look toward the future, to review what is planned and see how this may be accomplished.

On June 7th, your Board of Directors took a day at Starr Ranch to lay out an agenda for the coming year and set inspiring goals for the foreseeable future. The group, led by incoming President Bart Tendick and immediate past President Ollie Coker, was ably facilitated by Jill Shirley, who came down from the Audubon-California office in Sacramento for the day. The result was impressive, and the tasks the board outlined will be of immense value to the community when accomplished. It should be noted here, though, whoever termed such meetings "retreats" was off by a full 180 degrees.

The principal goal set was to establish an Audubon Center at Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park, through a cooperative effort with the City of Los Angeles and local civic organizations. Presumably anchored by a nature center in the park, this Audubon Center would have several functions. It would serve as a focal point for our chapter's operations, provide a broad array of educational opportunities to regional residents, schools and visitors, establish a working wildlife sanctuary at the park and increase the value of its existing habitats. This is a formidable goal that the board has set, but the benefits to all are incalculable. Fortunately, Audubon and the City already have a good working relationship, which will make things easier. Audubon is active in the Sepulveda Basin and is planning an Audubon Center near downtown Los Angeles, in Ernest E. Debs Park.

A working committee has been established to lay the groundwork for our Audubon Center. This group, whose members are Bob Carr, Anne Morris, Jess Morton, Leann Ortmann, Rahil Patronas, Frances Spivy-Weber and Bart Tendick, have identified a number of tasks to undertake this year. Among them are to develop a vision and mission statement for the Center, work to bring all elements of the local community into the planning process, make Audubon and the community aware of its Harbor Park heritage, and establish the relationships within the City of Los Angeles which will make the Center possible.

Work has already begun on several of these tasks. Committee members are working with several individuals, including Angelika Brinkmann-Busi, Martin Byhower, Mitch Heindel, Frank O'Brien and Roger Williams, who have spent years advocating the value of the park for wildlife and who were instrumental in developing the park's master plan. Members have also joined the Harbor Park Advisory Board, the citizen committee which sets policy for the park. The second Sunday walks at the park were supplemented by a big butterfly day in July as a step to make more people aware of the park's wildlife. A major cleanup effort is scheduled for September 19th, and we plan to bring scores of students and other volunteers to the park to help out and, incidentally, learn about Audubon and plans for the Center.

Development of an Audubon Center is still in its first stages. Though off to a good beginning, and with several major events now being planned, there is much for everyone to do. If you have a few hours, or a lot of them, which you would be willing to give to this effort, please call any of the committee members to find out what you can do.

It all began with a fax from the National Wildlife Federation asking its members to urge their congressional representatives to vote against the 1999 Interior Appropriations Bill because of a number of anti-environmental riders attached to it. Despite such communications from many of us on the Board and from other environmentalists, the bill was passed during the week of July 21st. While trying to find out the fate of the bill, I contacted the Washington office of the National Audubon Society.

In answer to my inquiry, I received an appalling list of riders that our Senators have attached to the Senate Interior Appropriations Bill. Each of them reduces protection of our wild areas, wetlands, forests and/or wildlife in order to cater to special interest groups. I was stunned by the sheer volume and viciousness of these attacks on the environment. Senators will vote on this bill when they return from recess in September. This gives us time to bombard them with this important message---"DO NOT VOTE FOR THE 1999 INTERIOR APPROPRIATIONS BILL UNLESS THE DEVASTATING ENVIRONMENTALLY- DAMAGING RIDERS HAVE BEEN REMOVED!"            Following is an outline of the twenty destructive amendments by category:

¨       Six amendments would promote destruction of forests.

¨       Three would negatively impact national parks, preserves and national wildlife refuges.

¨       Two would delay or prevent restoration of salmon habitat.

¨       Two would promote destruction of the Tongass Forest.

Others, one each, would

¨       Impede land acquisition in Alaska

¨       Promote grazing on public lands

¨       Delay implementation of mining reform

¨       Prohibit grizzly bear reintroduction

¨       Reduce the payments of oil royalties

Two proposals defy classification. Since they are particularly egregious, I will discuss them in greater detail. Title II from the Senate Appropriations Report would shift Forest Service emphasis away from the quality of solitude in wilderness areas to one focused on human activity and recreational use. It seeks to abolish any regulation setting limits on the number of people in designated wilderness areas. Without limits, these areas would be subject to many problems such as vegetation damage, sanitation difficulties and soil and water degradation.

Another part of Title II steers resources away from giving priority to fixing those logging roads which have the greatest negative impact on wildlife habitat. Less harmful roads would have to be fixed or decommissioned first. What could be the reason for such micromanagement of Forest Service policy?

Compared to the Senate's orgy of environmentally- damaging amendments, the House bill included only five such proposals. Their willingness to pass these five, however, does not indicate that House members would offer much opposition to the additional Senate riders when both bills need to be reconciled. This makes it vitally important to write to President Clinton to veto the bill unless these anti-environmental riders are removed.

The proposal authorizing the construction of a $30 million, 30-mile gravel road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge and Wilderness, while waiving all applicable environmental laws, has drawn a veto threat from the White House. It is a proposal that would set a precedent as the first permanent road through a Congressionally-designated wilderness area. Perhaps the administration will extend this veto threat to cover all of the anti-environment riders if enough of us urge this course of action. I was particularly disturbed by a House rider that would allow 25% of the money earned from logging to be spent on Forest Service overhead. Under current law, the Forest Service is allowed to spend timber money only on reforesting the land and improving fish and wildlife habitat. With the amendment, however, the more timber it sells, the more money the Forest Service gets to pay for its bureaucracy. This is clearly a powerful incentive to make timber cutting the dominant use of our national forests! Another House amendment seeks to block a plan to create an ecosystem-wide protection plan for wildlife in the Interior Columbia River Basin. The beneficiaries would be logging and grazing interests. Building a road across Alaska's Copper River Delta would be the largest single wetlands development project in the nation, yet this is a rider attached to the House appropriations bill. This rider, which was proposed by Alaska's Don Young, would also exempt the project from environmental review or public input.

In the past, when legislators openly authored bills that tried to overturn environmental laws, they faced a backlash from the public, which has consistently favored protecting the environment. Attaching environmentally damaging riders to funding bills makes it easy to obscure their origin and shield the measures from public scrutiny. We must not let them get away with bending the rules this way. The harm that could be done to our forests, wetlands, rivers, reserves and wildlife is too great. Please contact your senators and urge them to oppose the Interior Appropriations Bill unless the anti-environment riders are removed. Then send the same message to President Clinton. Write to:

President William Clinton

1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Washington, DC 20500

Telephone (202) 456-1111 or e-mail president@whitehouse.gov

Senator Dianne Feinstein and

Senator Barbara Boxer

Senate Office Building,

Washington, DC 20510

Telephone (202) 224-3121 or e-mail senator@boxer.gov and/or senator@feinstein.gov.

We welcome the following new members to Audubon and invite each to come with family and friends to any of the Audubon meetings, walks and service projects listed in this issue.

Carson: Hafdis Traustadottir;

Lomita: Donna K Fernandez DVM, Harry Roberts, Loc Chan Tran;

Los Angeles: Dave Porfiri;

Palos Verdes Estates: Julie Hernandez, Dianne Mansour, Ron Pippin, Chris Leigh;

Palos Verdes Peninsula: Mrs. William M. Darling, Ted A Franklin, Mr. Hyman R Lubowitz, Lynore Oliveri, Mary G Ross;

Rancho Palos Verdes: A K Amin, Ms. Julie Clayson, Niko Culevski, Mrs. M Gisbrecht, John W. Jaacks, Marjorie John, Henry Jurgens, Mr. Ronald H Mc Nutt, Regina O Melveny, Mr. Robert H Simon, Donna Skole, Walter Stallings;

Rolling Hills Estate: Elizabeth Denis;

San Pedro: Mrs. Patricia A. Bales, Mr. Earl Bridges, Stephanie Bryan, Jill Denzin, M. Eberhardt, Erica Ferro, Ms. Antonia March, Ms. Carri Olguin, Ms. Tobey Shulman, Nghiem M Vo, Mr. Carl Wildhagen;

 South Gate: Marian Magor;

Torrance: S. Baskevic, Louise  Bianchi, Mary Bruce, Mrs. A Chan, Charlene Cordova, Mr. Peter Davis, Mrs. Frank S. Deane, B. Doolittle, Ms. Medith A Grow, Ms. Sharon Hashimoto, Eunice W Hess, Rachelle Mand, PhD, Eliese Muramoto, Janice Nishimura, Ms. Edna R. Parkin, Mrs. Joseph G. Payne, Mrs. Joseph H Selliken, Kathryn Stumpus, Ruth W Vasconcellos, Mr. Paul Walchenbach, Ms. Katheryne Weber and Joseph Zukas.

The 18th annual Palos Verdes Peninsula Butterfly Count, held July 25th, was judged a great success by the nearly 100 people who took part. Information was collected on 28 local species that will help us find how well our local butterflies are faring. The event also introduced the identification and life histories of these insects to many people who had little knowledge of them before.

Most of the butterflies seen were of common species, such as cabbage whites, gray hairstreak and several kinds of skippers. Even so, some of these common kinds, such as the gulf fritillary and mourning cloak, are quite spectacular animals, and well worth the close study counts like these allow. There were several good finds, too. A quick swing of the net by Hedieh Rahmanou produced a checkered white for examination and release. This is a species that was once abundant here, but now is hard to find. Mitch Heindel located a Reakirt's blue near the blimp field. Also called the Mexican blue, this butterfly is small, inconspicuous and quite scarce here. It is often confused with the abundant marine blue, but Mitch found the two species nectaring side by side for easy comparison. Fred Heath turned up a few El Segundo blue butterflies, the one endangered species we have that flies during summer months.

Harbor Park was one focal point for the day. In all, about 50 people surveyed the park with our count leaders to observe the butterflies there. Most of these were young people, some as part of the YES! volunteer effort, and others as families members of area residents. Another group of 25 children in Lillian Light's Sharing Nature With Children Program, were part of Wanda Dameron's count effort at Wilderness Park.

We thank all of the above volunteers who put in time to make the count such a success. In addition, thanks go to count organizers Jess Morton, Fran Spivy-Weber and Corie Takasane, group leaders Donn Cook, Deirdre MacNeil, Don Mitchell and Regine Snitzer, and our Audubon YES! volunteers, especially Rahil Patronas. And, of course, thanks go to all who took part and donated more than $200 to Audubon and count co-sponsor, the North American Butterfly Association, which publishes the results..

Join us for the Sharing Nature With Children workshop on Saturday, October 24. Held in Redondo Beach's Wilderness Park from 9 to 3, this special training workshop will be conducted by Lou Palermo, a volunteer coordinator at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium skilled at captivating the interest of children.

The fee for this one-day program is only $12 ($10 if registered in advance). Since enrolment is limited to 28, please register early. To do so, call the Redondo Beach Dept of Recreation and Parks at 318-0610. For further information call Lillian Light at 545-1384. Reservations are advised to assure a place in the workshop.

I hope you got to see the passage of northbound migrants better than I. Unfortunately, I was unable to go out birding after May 11. So, except for what I found around home, I missed the tail-end, particularly the "vagrant season".

So  much for my troubles.......how about some bird word! Absolutely amazing, not to mention stunningly beautiful, was a pair of Horned Grebes in full breeding plumage at Harbor Park (HP) 5/9-- my first local May record of the species, ever! On the LA Audubon pelagic trip to Santa Barbara Is., on 5/9, Kimball Garrett had a crowd-pleasing Laysan Albatross come up to the boat for chum! They are very rare so close in, though more likely than Black-footed. So a Black-footed Albatross seen over Redondo Canyon, just a couple miles NW of the peninsula, probably visible from shore by scope, is even more astounding. It was found on 5/24 by Peter Cantle, just returning from a 7-day trip where they saw many further asea.  He said it was flying out to sea from shore!!!!! How close did it get before it turned around? It's probably our first for-sure record inside the count circle! Awesome! Thanks Peter!

The timing of Sooty Shearwaters' passage this year is indicated by two reports from Kevin Larson (KL). He first saw them off  Point Vicente  (PtV), passing to the north, on 3/29, when a dozen flew by. Later, on 5/31, he noted over 300. Both counts were in just a couple hours. Also, on 5/31, he saw 15+ Pink-footed Shearwaters from PtV. This species is 'easy' from shore here in summer. 

Black Brant were at PtV, on 3/29, when 138 were seen (KL). Over 20 were at Cabrillo Beach (CB) 4/12, and  John Small reported a few in the Long Beach section of the harbor in early June. Dave Moody (DM) saw a Black Scoter at the Redondo Pier 3/18. The big storm of late March knocked down Surf Scoters at several inland freshwater locations. The first record was of 4 birds at Alondra Park on 3/25 (DM). Then, my wife and I saw one at HP 3/29, and DM picked up a specimen at Madrona Marsh (MM) 3/30! There are no other records of this sort in this decade. Probably the prior one too. On 2/25, DM had a Virginia Rail at MM. Too early for a migrant, and more likely a previously-undetected winterer. On 4/10, there were 3 Cattle Egrets at HP.

A Swainson's Hawk was in Torrance on 4/6. Merlins were there 3/23, and last seen 5/4. Whimbrel's window of passage is indicated by a flock of 10 over Torrance. on 3/18. On 3/31, Mike San Miguel (MSM) had a flock of 130 Surfbirds at Royal Palms (RPSB), one of which had color bands. Smartly (and luckily) Mike recorded the data, and sent it in. Lo and behold, the bird was seen again at the staging place in Alaska where they wait for the snow to melt!  Then it was located again, at the nest site, together with an unbanded male! (Please record and report bird bands. Doing so contributes far more to our knowledge about birds than finding an extreme rarity does.) On 4/15, DM saw 5 Red-necked Phalaropes at MM.

On 5/31, at PtV, while seawatching, KL saw a South Polar Skua fly by, heading north in a line of Shearwaters less than a mile offshore! On his 3/29 seawatch (after the big blow) he had 17 Pomarine Jaegers, and 25 Black-legged Kittiwakes. That is the highest Kitti count in two decades, since they  became a rare bird here. Us old-timers remember a hundred+ in King Harbor alone back in the '70's. MSM had 2 Kittiwakes at RPSB on 3/31. I saw a Pomarine Jaeger, too, on the  leading edge of a squall line when the 5/4 storm bore down on us at dusk. The unusual part of it was, it was over my house in Torrance!! It was an adult with full 'spoons'. My only inland sighting ever! Elegant Terns were early, passing north around PtV by 3/7. However, these pale by comparison to the one Jerry Johnson saw at HP on 5/12. Tough park bird! Mind-boggling to me was the Arctic Tern that passed PtV on a near-state-record early date of 4/18, the earliest local date by over a month! The Long Beach Aquarium construction wiped out the adjacent roosting area for Black Skimmers and many shorebirds, gulls, and terns. Hopefully, they'll return when things quiet down. Perhaps the 32 Skimmers in April at CB, a new count-circle high, is a result. MSM had 2 Ancient Murrelets fly past PtV on 3/22.

On 4/19, at Banning Park (BP), a pale dove flew past me which looked more like a Collared Dove than Ringed-Turtle Dove. After studying them in Florida this year, DM says he feels a similar bird he saw a couple years ago was Collared. This newly arrived invader should be tracked very carefully. I've seen 2 locally now.  My wife flushed a nightjar at dusk 4/17 along the flood control channel adjacent to our house. Since it, had short, broad, very rounded wings, with no white on them, it was probably a female Poor-will. The date also supports this identification.  

A female Broad-tailed Hummingbird was at my feeder for a couple visits on 4/22. The first Black-chinned I heard of was at HP on 4/19. The best flight of Rufous hummers this decade occurred this spring, with birds reported everywhere. I had one here for a few days, starting 4/1, and others were at BP, HP and elsewhere during April. They arrive here much later than in local mainland mountains. The White-throated Swifts seen on 2/1 in Torrance were probably early migrants. Vaux's showed up on 4/6. Again, as seems regular at this time, 2 Black Swifts were over HP on 5/9. 

Assumed to be returning breeder rather than a passing migrant, was the Pacific-slope Flycatcher found in George F Canyon on 3/22. The first Western Pewee was at BP 4/19. Western Kingbird surprised me, with at least 13 birds in a single flock, in Torrance, on 5/1. On his 5/31 PtV seawatch, KL was stunned when an Eastern Kingbird flew past, heading south out over the water. I was stunned, too, when one flew over my house, also going south, on 6/23! 

Northern Rough-winged Swallows, returning nesters, not migrants, were back in Torrance on 3/10, slightly preceded by a male Barn Swallow, on 3/7, and female, 3/8. All are individuals which nest here, near my place. Migrant Tree Swallows were at MM 2/25, when DM saw 4. In Torrance, migrant Cliffs numbered 20 on 3/31 and over 300 on 4/4. A Tree Swallow was with them. The swallow of the year was at HP on 5/2, but got away. A Cave Swallow was in with a flock of Cliffs that remained right over my head for five minutes. The marine layer was just burning off, and the birds gained altitude, moving off northwest. My five years in Texas was invaluable in recognizing the species when I saw it. Its pale buffy-cinnamon throat was obvious to this former, and wanna-be-again, Texan. There are a couple of recent records from the area around the Salton Sea, and it has expanded its range tremendously during this last decade. Formerly a summer bird only, it now winters in the US, and is breeding further north, almost to OK now. There are more vagrant records etc..

The first Swainson's Thrush reported was on 5/4, here in Torrance. The last Cedar Waxwings were the 18 seen in Torrance on 5/12. A wave of Phainopeplas came through on 5/17, evidenced by KL finding 8 (!) at Sand Dunes Park (SDP), and 2 at BP that day. The first Warbling Vireo reported was seen 5/1, but a Cassin's was at SDP 4/10 (KL), and a Plumbeous at HP  4/19. KL found a singing  Red-eyed Vireo, in PV Estates residential area northwest of the Golf Course, on 6/15.  

Caution should be adopted about the 2 Tennessee Warblers reported by non-locals this spring, one 4/29 at BP, and one later at WP. The juvenile Dusky Orange-crowned Warblers of the sordida race (PV and the Channel Islands) are out of the nest by these dates and in these places. They suggest Tennessee Warbler more than Orange-crowned Warbler to the uninitiated! Now that this race has expanded off the Peninsula, with nestings known from Orange County's coastal lowlands and the Santa Monica Mtns., the juveniles should be considered carefully before reporting Tennessee anywhere in the LA basin. This is especially true for early dates. I know of no illustration of this plumage, so these birds must be learned by studying them personally--most easily done here! Since Orange-crowned is considered to be a ground or shrub nester, the three years of nesting now at BP is really quite spectacular, since there is no place on the ground to nest. 

An early Nashville  was in Torrance on 3/21. Martin Byhower had a male Northern Parula at Chadwick on 5/27, and DM found a male at WP 6/1. It was still present, and found singing to a female, on 6/7 (Clarann Levakis). Did any one check and see if they nested? The Yellow Warbler that has wintered at CB for 3 years was still present 4/12, and two migrants were at BP 5/4. A Palm Warbler along the Beacon St. bluffs in San Pedro, on 4/16, could have been either an undetected winterer or an early migrant (KL).  Another at MM (DM), 5/1-5/3, was  definitely a migrant, though rarely recorded in spring. A MacGillivray's was in my salvia on 4/14, for a nice yard treat. Wilson's showed on 4/6 here in Torrance.  The migration fallout on 5/4 seemed so good (35 species at my house that day!) I snuck over to MM, and found a Northern Waterthrush of the eastern, yellowish race, more typical of late May birds. Early May ones are usually the whiter, western race.

There had to be an earlier Tanager than mine 4/22 at BP. I saw what could have only been a male Common Grackle fly over BP on 5/9. It kept going, but if you'll recall, I did have a refresher course on fly-over Common Grackles last year. There was statewide a flurry of reports this spring. Bullock's Oriole were back in the north-end willows at HP: singing males on 3/15, and females on 3/25. Dispersing juveniles were in Torrance by 6/29. Also in Torrance were Hooded Oriole 3/25, and Black-headed Grosbeak, on 3/26.

Interesting is watching the White-crowned Sparrows depart from the feed tray in early April. They begin to leave in late March, and by 3/30 I had 10 left. I was down to 3 on 4/16, and the last was off  4/21. They are generally absent from the wild and natural areas, like the canyons, before the last week in March. Clearly the feed tray holds them here longer. These late departures are mostly of the first-year birds, which are ragged-headed by mid March and early April as their crowns go from brown and buff to the black and white of their first pre-alternate molt.   

Of course for those that didn't hear, the biggest bird news of spring was the invasion of up to 10 (seen) Bristle-thighed Curlews along the Pacific Coast. There were probably a couple Gray-tailed Tattlers too.  These misguided, or weather-displaced, birds may return down the coast, so keep your eyes peeled. Don't take Whimbrels or Wandering Tattlers for granted this fall. Also, Attu broke all previous records for many species this spring, all of which we may have a better chance of seeing this fall. 800 Wood Sandpipers  exceeds all previous records, as does nearly 200 Eye-browed Thrushes. The same goes for many Asian vagrants. Unfortunately for shorebirding here, the section of the Los Angeles River now under construction, from Willow to Del Amo, is the best birding area. We will probably not be able to check the places shorebirds are most likely to occur this fall! Next issue, I'll be reporting nesting and early fall records, so.....

Send breeding bird records to the atlas project at LACNHM, and E- me at birdfish@pacbell.net with local reports of interest please, and

Birding records matter!

Things  change over time, but without good records, we don't notice. Consider Rick Bradley's paper (Western Birds, Vol. 11, No.1, 1980) on PV birds, in which Elegant Tern is "common Aug-Oct.", which reflects it's status in the mid-70's. Now, with the northward range expansion of the last decade, they're arriving in droves in March!  Without the old data, the new data would have less or little meaning. Another example is Rock Wren, which was "locally common in rocky areas", a far cry from it's current "near extirpation" status. Two decades of change have produced unimaginable results, which, without data to document them, would have gone largely un-noticed, been no more than hearsay. 

In a similar way, the most interesting things about migrants are early and late dates and peak number dates. These three figures are the most important information we can gather during a passage period. If there were one thing I wish I had recorded in my early days as a birder, migrant dates would be it.

Everyone seeks and reports rarities, but apparently there's no glory in studying common species. Perhaps that's why no one has noticed that adult males of the two  Allen's Hummingbird subspecies are field separable by wing whistle, contrary to all the best experts' published literature. Or that the Spotted Towhees on the PV Peninsula have a call unlike that elsewhere in the ring of mountains around the LA Basin. The experts say these are the same populations (wanna bet?).  I believe, as the late great Shirley Wells suspected, these are not mainland Spotted Towhees. They are either the island race (clementae) or their own! If we could prove one of these PV populations was it's own subspecies, it should, almost by definition, be endangered, which might help save what's left of the hill. Anyone need a thesis idea?

However, I didn't get DNA, photos, videos, tape recordings, and X-Rays of the bird, so I didn't spread the word, since it flew off anyway.  Without such  evidence I do not recommend submitting records to the CBRC, as they have rejected for example my PHOTO of a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher over Torrance, Shirley Wells and Jess Morton's Zone-tailed Hawk, Rusty Scalf's Zone-tailed and I could give you 100's of examples  of similar acts of incredible stupidity.   The CBRC has become a boys club for the approved ones, and I would join the transexual communist party before I would submit another record to them.   Ego's amuck!   I see a total boycott as the only way to get their attention....what if they had nothing to reject except each others stuff?  They have people who don't go asea judging pelagic records......can you imagine they argue this is peer review?  Pompous arrogant know-it-alls.       

______________________________

Birding records matter!

Things  change over time, but without good records, we don't notice. Consider Rick Bradley's paper (Western Birds, Vol. 11, No.1, 1980) on PV birds, in which Elegant Tern is "common Aug-Oct.", which reflects it's status in the mid-70's. Now, with the northward range expansion of the last decade, they're arriving in droves in March!  Without the old data, the new data would have less or little meaning. Another example is Rock Wren, which was "locally common in rocky areas", a far cry from it's current "near extirpation" status. Two decades of change have produced unimaginable results, which, without data to document them, would have gone largely un-noticed, been no more than hearsay. 

In a similar way, the most interesting things about migrants are early and late dates and peak number dates. These three figures are the most important information we can gather during a passage period. If there were one thing I wish I had recorded in my early days as a birder, migrant dates would be it.

Everyone seeks and reports rarities, but apparently there's no glory in studying common species. Perhaps that's why no one has noticed that adult males of the two  Allen's Hummingbird subspecies are field separable by wing whistle, contrary to all the best experts' published literature. Or that the Spotted Towhees on the PV Peninsula have a call unlike that elsewhere in the ring of mountains around the LA Basin. The experts say these are the same populations (wanna bet?).  I believe, as the late great Shirley Wells suspected, these are not mainland Spotted Towhees. They are either the island race (clementae) or their own! If we could prove one of these PV populations was it's own subspecies, it should, almost by definition, be endangered, which might help save what's left of the hill. Anyone need a thesis idea?

Sharing Nature With Children: Docents are wanted to help with our educational program at Wilderness Park in Redondo Beach for children ages 6-12. This monthly program introduces youngsters to a variety of aspects of the natural world around them in a setting which includes meadow, woodland, streamside and marsh habitats. Docents help lead the children in various games, walks and crafts designed to show off the park and the plants and animals in it.

If you like working with children, this is an excellent way to become involved with chapter activities. High school and other students who volunteer receive Audubon YES! Award credits.

To sign up as a docent, call Lillian Light at 545-1384.

Audubon YES!: Mentors are needed to help guide students who are taking part in our Audubon YES! (youth environmental service) program. Mentors will work with school ecology clubs, service groups or individual students from a single school to coordinate service projects, such as habitat cleanups or Earth Day displays. Since the roll of mentor is to make sure that our Audubon chapter provides the school group or student with adequate support for their programs, it is not necessary to be an environmental expert to act as a mentor. The chapter's YES! staff handles that end of things. Call Jess Morton at 832-5601 to volunteer.

Audubon YES!: School ecology club teacher-sponsors and student-presidents are asked to enroll their school eco-club in Audubon YES! Participating students will earn recognition for the community environmental service projects they do. Students who make a substantial contribution to their school and community will receive the Audubon YES! Award, which can be used on school and scholarship applications. Call Jess Morton at 832-5601 for information on the Audubon YES! program.

Nothing is exempt! Researchers recently visited an isolated Pacific Ocean atoll to look at the effects of industrial pollution in pristine habitats. They found birds with high levels of PCBs, DDT and other toxic chemicals, victims of waste dumped into the ocean thousands of miles away. They also discovered dead birds whose stomachs were filled with light bulbs, needles, syringes, plastic lighters, dish-washing gloves and other plastic waste.

This Audubon chapter's award-winning youth environmental service program, Audubon YES!, enters its fifth year. YES! gives students the chance to put their energy and idealism to work improving environmental conditions where they live by making them aware of the many opportunities which exist in the South Bay region. In exchange for their hard work, the program teaches students about wild places and their natural heritage. Students who do exceptional work receive the Audubon YES! Award by way of thanks.

Over the last few years, YES! has established working relationships with many area schools. The program's emphasis has always been on high school students, but all young people are invited to take part. In the past, exceptional students and student groups have been recruited at Chadwick, Mira Costa, Narbonne, North, Peninsula, Redondo Union, San Pedro, South and West High Schools. This year, in addition to these, plans are afoot to add YES! groups at Banning, Bishop Montgomery, Carson, Mary Star and Torrance Highs. Work with schools outside the area, such as Edison Middle School and Belmont, Hawthorne, Leuzinger and Los Angeles High Schools, will also continue.

If you would enjoy taking part in an exciting and innovative program for motivated young people, this is your chance to do so.YES! needs volunteers who can give about five hours per month and who have the flexibility to schedule in-school visits once every month or two. Teachers in any school are encouraged to find out how to bring YES! into their classrooms. For more information, please call Jess Morton at 832-5601 or Corie Takasane at 798-7417.

If you can't take part as a volunteer, you can help out by making a donation to the YES! Program. Send your tax-deductible check to Audubon YES!, 787 West 4th St., San Pedro, CA 90731. The program also accepts donations of binoculars, field guides and other items about natural history, which will be used in the classroom and on field trips for young people.

Cabrillo Beach, a collection of 17 nature poems by Jess Morton, is now available from Audubon as a fund raiser for the Audubon YES! Program. Bound in yellow leather-finish stock, and printed on marbleized paper, this 24-page book makes a handsome gift for those who enjoy poetry and/or the natural world. The cost is $6 each, ($7, including tax and mailing), with discounts available in lots of 2 or more.

Many of these poems celebrating the natural wonders of our area have appeared in Hummin' over the last few years. All proceeds from the sale of this book go to support YES!, our youth environmental service program, which gives young people the opportunity to make a difference by improving environmental health here, where we all live.

Sharing Nature With Children:  A few people willing to spend a few hours one day a month working with high school students and children are wanted to help with our educational program at Wilderness Park in Redondo Beach. This monthly program introduces youngsters to a variety of aspects of the natural world around them in a setting which includes meadow, woodland, streamside and marsh habitats. Docents help lead the children in various games, walks and crafts designed to show off the park and the plants and animals in it.

If you like working with children, this is an excellent way to become involved with chapter activities. We want to expand this program to Torrance, San Pedro and other cities. High school and other students who volunteer receive Audubon YES! Award credits.

Join this exciting program by calling Lillian Light at 545-1384.

When any of us, including our uncles, walk or drive to a place where we've already been, our minds direct us by immediate recognition of landmarks on the way. How does that happen? Well, we retain pictures of the route's landmarks in our minds, as if those pictures were photographed with a camera and stored in our mental random access memory. What about the ants who aren't married to our uncles? Lab tests and field observations have given clues to similar processes in the ants' travels.

In recent lab tests, ants were trained to find food behind a specially constructed landmark. Then, video pictures were taken as the ants moved to the food location and then returned to their nest. The videos showed that the ants observed and mentally photographed many features of the path and, from a variety of distances, took a careful look at the special landmark which identified the food location. They showed knowledge of the difference between a vertical cone and an inverted cone, only one of which identified the food source. While learning the route, the ants frequently ran back to their nest, then turned around and again proceeded along the path, thus repeatedly reinforcing the photographic images by putting the images on the retina again and again. Also, as the ants left the food source, they often turned around and looked back at the landmark from various distances and directions because the route was not precisely a straight line. So, apparently they were doing those actions in order to internally store a sufficient number of images to allow easy future travel between the nest and the food source.

In the lab tests, the route and the landmark were not modified. However, the repeated actions of the ants, and their obvious recollection of the images observed from various points along the route, indicate that the ants possibly could have modified those mental photographs as needed if the route and/or the landmark had been exposed to changes.

No one yet knows how many images the ants could store, but in field studies it was seen that the newly observed groups of ants each used a number of routes to different food sources. Thus, considering that, plus the fact that weather conditions and other factors could modify aspects of the routes, there is some indication that the ants could store more information than would be needed for a relatively simple and unchanging lab test route.

Observations of bees and wasps show that they, too, seem to store images and, as is now believed for the ants, they also seem to do their navigating primarily, and possibly sometimes exclusively, by visual means. Bees, for example, are color sensitive regarding flowers, but also are alerted to the flowers' shapes so as to know where to find the pollen, both factors being visual. Bees and wasps have been seen to turn around and look back at nature's food sources from a sequence of distances, strongly suggesting that they were storing landmark images so as to be able to repeat the routes to those food sources.

In closing this article, I'll tell you of an event that occurred in my life a few weeks ago. During my regular morning walk along the same route, I often meet the same people. One of them is a lady named Dee. When I recently saw her, I thought that as we walked a short way together, if I noticed an insect taking pollen from a flower, I could tell the lady about it merely by using the first four letters of the alphabet: "A b, c D?"

This page is part of the Palos Verdes/South Bay Audubon Society website.