Please join your fellow members of the Palos Verdes/South Bay Audubon Society as we come together Friday evening, May 7th, to present Palos Verdes/South Bay Audubon's 1999 Conservation Awards. This year, we will honor State Senator Debra Bowen, Frank O'Brien, Aileen Bevan, Ann Lynch and Rahil Patronas, and a group of Audubon YES! students for their outstanding contributions to the community and the environment.

This year's honorees share a fundamental dedication to the environment and to the communities in which they live. Their achievements are amazingly varied and represent many years of unsung, but persistent service. For this we salute them.

State Senator Debra Bowen, Chairwoman of the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee, and a long-time friend of Audubon and the environment, will present the keynote address for the Awards Banquet and be recognized for her dedicated service to conservation and her community. The 1999 Conservation Award will be presented to Frank O'Brien, President of the Friends of Friendship Park, for his years of tireless work on behalf of open space preservation at Friendship Park, the Gardena Willows, Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park and other places in the South Bay region. This year, the Education Award goes to Aileen Bevan for her work stewarding the education programs of the George F Canyon Nature Center and her many years of service with the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy. One of the truly unsung heroes of local conservation work is Ann Lynch. This year, it is our privilege to honor her unstinting service to birds and animals with the 1999 Wildlife Rehabilitation Award. Our 1999 Youth Conservation Award goes to Rahil Patronas, chapter Board of Directors member and senior at Redondo High School, for her ceaseless efforts to make good things happen for the environment. Several other high school students (see page 3) will be honored, too, each receiving the Audubon YES! Award for his or her long record of work on behalf of the environment.

The awards will be presented at Ports O'Call Restaurant, Berth 76, in San Pedro. The 7 p.m. Conservation Awards Banquet will be preceded by a reception for the award recipients at 6. The banquet rooms overlook the San Pedro Ship Channel, affording guests a magnificent view of the harbor. Please see page 9 for banquet reservation information.

Readers of this column have read about many attempts to harm our environment and our wildlife. Now there is good news to report. On March 16th the National Marine Fisheries Service added nine Pacific Northwest salmon and steelhead species to the Endangered Species List. Eight of them were listed as threatened, and the upper Columbia River spring run Chinook was listed as endangered. The federal government has thus extended protected status to salmon in urban waters around the cities of Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon. This will mark the first time that the Endangered Species Act will directly affect land use practices in major cities. The listings go into effect within sixty days on federal lands and on projects demanding federal permits. The agency will subsequently determine how they will be enforced on state, local, and private lands. Decisions on whether to extend similar protection to Chinook salmon in California have been deferred until September.

Officials in Seattle and Portland said that the federal listings could add muscle to attempts to check urban sprawl. Both areas have been taking steps to halt building adjacent to streams, restore natural habitat around watersheds, control the amount of land that is paved over, and step up enforcement of water quality standards. Evidence of sharply declining fish stocks indicates that more will have to be done. Despite the potentially broad impacts of the new listings, the response of the public and most local officials was not to challenge them but rather to welcome them. Seattle Mayor, Paul Schell, was quoted in the LA Times (March 17, A 15): "The salmon are very much an icon of the Northwest. The irony here is that if we work hard to save the fish, we may indeed save ourselves. It'll translate into the benefits of sound transportation planning, growth management planning, and a move past rampant consumerism to think about what we're doing as it impacts the next generation."

Senators and members of Congress from both parties throughout the region are calling for increased federal funding to help the fish to survive. Sen. Slade Gorton (R-WA) says that he will seek $350 million in salmon recovery funds for fiscal 2000, while Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) will seek $250 million. President Clinton's budget request for next year includes $100 million for the same purpose. Perhaps our first communication with our new congressman should be to urge him to work for a generous budget allotment for salmon restoration in the Pacific Northwest. Write to:

Rep. Steve Kuykendall

512 Cannon HOB

Washington, D C 20515

Phone: 202-225 8220

www.house.gov/kuykendall

Meetings featuring speakers and slide shows are held at the South Coast Botanic Garden on the last Tuesday of each month. Programs cover a wide range of topics, from wildlife safaris to the  in depth exploration of special places. Refreshments are served and sessions start at 7:30 p.m. These meetings are open to the general public at no charge.

APRIL 27

Chapter President Bart Tendick will give a show about the Madrona Marsh Nature Center in Torrance. Long under discussion, this important adjunct to the marsh is now about to be built. The center will house displays about this vernal marsh and its surroundings, and provide classrooms, offices and meeting rooms. Mr. Tendick, a past President of The Friends of Madrona Marsh, the community group which serves the marsh, will share the insights gained over the last decade with us in what promises to be a fascinating presentation.

MAY 25

Herb Clarke, one of the best known bird experts in southern California, and a nationally recognized wildlife photographer will offer us an outstanding show, "Antarctica". During his years exploring the natural world, Mr. Clarke has taken an especial interest in the birds and other animals of the south polar areas. Long active with the Los Angeles Audubon Society, he and his wife Olga have given several shows for our chapter. Based on past experience, "Antarctica" is a program not to be missed!

About a dozen students from schools across the South Bay region have completed their requirements for the Audubon YES! Award. Each has put in more than 50 hours of service to the community, teaching youngsters about nature, restoring habitats, writing letters, helping at green fairs and serving in many other ways. We hope that you will join us at the May 7th Conservation Awards Banquet (see p. 9) as we honor these dedicated young people. They are: Alison Adachi, Ernesto Bernal, Steve Choi, Guyton Durnin, Diana Ishimizu, Juewon Khwarg, Manoah Koletty, Christine Ku, Dana Lebenthal, Anne Nguyen, Marie Taylor. Five high schools, Chadwick, Narbonne, Peninsula, Redondo and San Pedro, are represented by these students, who range from Freshman to Senior.

Field trips are scheduled for birders of all skill levels this spring. Beginners can always look to the more experienced for help with field identification. These trips are meant to be fun! Birds, of course. But we also want to bring together Palos Verdes/South Bay Audubon chapter members so that they can meet each other and see the wildlife and habitat that we work to protect. Please call Field Trip Chairman Tom Miko at (626) 793-2133 or tmiko@flash.net  to coordinate transportation for trips out of the South Bay.

Saturday, 24 April

Passerine Spring Migration Local Birding Half Day. We will start at Banning Park at 8 a.m., and spend approximately 1 hour before moving to Madrona Marsh in Torrance (corner of Sepulveda Blvd. and Madrona Avenue: parking lot is at the north end of the marsh.) We will look for grosbeaks, tanagers, sparrows, warblers, vireos, and flycatchers. Based on birds reported the preceding week, we may begin at Madrona Marsh.

Sunday, 23 May

Annual Spring Vagrant Trip to Kern County Desert Oases. At the end of each spring and fall migration "eastern vagrants," birds that should have followed their traditional migration routes between the eastern U.S./Canada and eastern Mexico/Central America, wander off in tangential directions for a couple of weeks, before resuming their trek to their final destination. California City's park and Galileo Hill in the Kern County desert have consistently attracted exciting eastern birds such as Rose-breasted Grosbeak, American Redstart, Black-and-white Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Red-eyed Vireo, and even a Gray Catbird one time! After searching for vagrants, we may look for breeding desert birds. Bring food, plenty of water, and a wide-brimmed hat.

The Los Angeles County Breeding Bird Atlas is wrapping up its final season. All data on nesting birds in the county should be passed on to our regional coordinator Claudia Freitas at 420-2689 or Mark Wimer at (213) 745-BIRD.

What a contrast with last year, when rainfall was twice normal due to El Niño. This year, it's half normal, or less--perhaps a quarter of last years total. If one pays attention and records seemingly meaningless details, some of the effects on things like bird population dynamics, and behavior, become quickly apparent. Breeding success was MUCH delayed last year due to the heavy rains, and as I write this (first week of March) fledged Allen's Hummingbirds and Morning Doves are out already! Hopefully, March and April will see us catch up a bit to produce the needed seed crops, etc.

The relatively mild winter is always a treat on count day though! The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) was a great success, thanks to the efforts of all the volunteers who pay to get up early and "pause for the cause". It is GREATLY appreciated by the compilers as the more data we acquire (each and every bird) the more that can be extracted at some point down the road. There is just no way to foresee which birds or numbers will be significant in 20 years. I will say this though, it is the common birds, not the rarities, which are the most important to accurately count. Assessing accurately Starlings (we're terrible at this), House Sparrows (deplorable here too), Spotted Doves (who would've guessed San Gabriel and Fernando Valley populations would be decreasing while ours and Long Beach's do well?) and Pigeons is as important as White-crowns, Audubon's, Bewick's Wrens, Coots and other resident (or winter resident) species. The statistical, or biological value of any given lost vagrant is little by comparison, no matter how excited you may be to see/tick it! Unfortunately, what gets everyone goin' is the immediate gratification, rather than knowing that each and every Burrowing Owl, Rock Wren, or Gnatcatcher will be more important in time. We ended up with about 173 species, which is an excellent total. Of course that doesn't include the Peafowl or Parakeets. In addition, we had half-a-dozen+ count week species, for a 180+ Count Week (CW). I don't think we've had less than 180 for CW all decade, a run other LA County CBC's can only dream of, and something you all should be proud to be a part of. 

Many areas complained of loss of habitat in their areas this year--more than in any other this decade. A drive around the hill quickly explains this. There's a lot less of it !!! The nineties have seen the last local Roadrunner, and the extirpation of our local populations of Burrowing Owl. What will be next? How soon? Small remnant patches of habitat don't seem to support the same range of birds.

How about some bird word, huh? In the notes below, ATH = all time high. Bernardo Alps (BA) had a very white Fulmar off Hermosa 2/3 and a dark phase one 3/10. Black-vented Shearwaters seemed far lower in numbers this year than in recent years, with 2-5000 on a couple of days and 1000 more often the norm. Where were the rest of them? By March, they were absent, off nesting. One of the partial albinos was seen on the 2/20 LAAS pelagic trip. Now that could have been made into any of a dozen rare species! Few Sooty Shearwaters wintered, along with what were probably a couple of Short-tailed. Not a big year for either. Incredible was 2 Black Storm-Petrels, seen from shore on the CBC (12/26) by Gerry Tollman and Curtis Johnson, our loyal Area 10 aces from Orange Co. The Booby seen by Steve Hampton just up the coast, off Malibu ON our count day, frightens me! It was a) probably a Masked Booby, and b) probably had been in our count circle, either count day or week!! Kevin Larson (KL) had a Booby sp. fly past Pt. Vicente (PtV), on 3/21. It was going north and appeared to be an imm. Brown (all dark).

On 12/3, BA had 30-40 Brant and 1500 Surf Scoters passing south at PtV. A couple of immature Ross' Geese at Alondra Pk. (AP) 12/23 (KL), were still present mid March. This is only the second count (and overwintering) record locally. A flock of wild migrant Canada Geese that stopped at HP CW (12/23) contained XL "Honkers", big ones, two types of medium ones, and 3 of the tiny minima 'gooselets'. Jan 10, Martin Byhower (MB) spotted a huge flock of 70 migrant White-fronted Geese going north over Harbor Park (HP). A pair of Wood Ducks was at HP from 12/12 on, with the male being seen to early March. That bird is soooo pretty it can convert a bird hater.

Unfortunately, some duck lover thought he or she had the right to capture and pinion it (make it flightless by cutting flight feathers)! Perhaps so they can enjoy it longer? Aside from the legality of it, doesn't the bird's right to breed supersede anyone's belief they have the right to maim the bird? Arriving at HP was a death sentence for this bird's wildness. This deplorable act of ignorance illustrates just how out-of-hand 'do gooders' can get.

Blue-winged Teal were at both HP and Madrona Marsh (MM) this winter continuing their expansion. The Canvasback flock returned to AP, with 60+ found on the CBC. In Jan., I counted 99, in Feb., 100 even--a record for the decade. Up to 10 Redhead were also present in Jan., along with the usual few Lesser Scaup and occasional Ring-necked Duck. Ring-necks start moving in March, and often populations build briefly, as when KL had 27 there 3/5 (and 31 on 3/15). Best was the Common Loon there for a week or so in Dec.! KL found the Oldsquaw female at the bridge above the Queen Mary--its 5th winter there. Then, in Feb., he had 3 males there, but no female. Scoters were WAY down after the great showing last year. Goldeneyes were above normal, with KL finding 2 in the Dominguez Channel, and 3 near the LA River (LAR) mouth on the CBC, and 5 a bit upstream 2/14. Another was at Cabrillo Beach (CB) during Dec. and Jan.

NO Turkey Vultures were found this winter, not even the birds that usually winter around the DC/Victoria Park/Blimp Fields area. Though these winterers have been 'here forever,' numbers have dwindled. None this year? Uh oh! No Northern Harriers were seen either, another victim of the lack of even one sizable open space able to support them. I miss these birds already. Three migrant Turkey Vultures were over SCBG on 3/5 (MH/KL). Did you hear they've been reclassified into the Heron, Stork and Ibis order, the Ciconiiformes? They only look like Vultures! Ever notice how all the Sharpies are on the hill proper, and only Coops winter in the flatlands residential areas? Of course you did. I saw a Harlan's Hawk over my house in Torrance on 2/4 (and Peregrine, Merlin, Kestrel, Red-tail and Coopers Hawks--a good raptor day). Their build, structure and shape, dare I say jizz, is so different from Red-tails, with their long narrow wings, pinched in at 'wing-join', and longer thinner tail. A few Merlins and Peregrines wintered, as has been customary this decade. Both were regular over my place, and the pair of calling Peregrines 12/25 was a real gift! One of the 'every-few-days' Merlins here was a Black suckleyi type, maybe only the second or third positive Id. of the decade.

Shorebirds, gulls and terns are heavy users of the mudflats at the Pier 400 construction site, the first extensive tidal mudflats we've had in years. Unfortunately there is no access closer than a boat ride past the opening, though that will generate a "Holy cow, do you see all the birds!" A couple of Long-billed Curlews were identifiable. Skimmers too. However, the new flats are keeping the birds away from 'regular' sites that are more accessible. Most interesting was the flight of Black Skimmers going to sea to feed at sundown, and returning to roost in the harbor at dawn after feeding all night. Over 45 (47 on CBC - ATH) were seen daily from the Pacific Ave. Overlook at dusk (flying out to sea) and dawn (coming in from sea) in this ritual. Many Mew and Heermann's Gulls were doing the same.

The 2/20 LA Audubon (LAAS) pelagic trip quickly found the rock-using shorebirds on the breakwater at Angel's Gate--Surfbird, Black & Ruddy Turnstone, Wandering Tattler, Black Oystercatcher, along with a few other regulars, such as Sanderling, Willet, Black-bellied Plover and Brandt's Cormorant sporting nuptial plumes. Also, on 2/20, about 6 mi. west of PV Pt., one Red Phalarope (KL), and about 4 Pomarine and one Parasitic Jaeger were seen. A couple of thousand Bonaparte's Gulls were wintering over the bait balls off Redondo Canyon, along with about 3-5000 California Gulls, and 2000 Western Gulls. A few Mew and Glaucous-winged were around, but not many. I found a first-year Glaucous Gull at HP on 3/20, which KL photo'd 3/22, and he again saw 3/24, a new park record! But meanwhile, we can't seem to muster a good 'ship-assisted' bird for the authorities to argue about! While the rest of the country gets Kelp, Band-tailed, and Black-tailed Gulls! Guess our port is not big or busy enough yet!

Royal Terns continue their increase each winter. Elegant Terns stayed later than usual, with a dozen (ATH) on the CBC (MH), near Cabrillo Beach and Pt. Fermin, and a few into early Jan. None were present thereafter until early March, when over a dozen were seen 3/13. Pretty soon they'll be present year-round. Reports of 'Rhinos (Auklets) everywhere' (BA) were reaffirmed on the 2/20 LAAS trip, when nearly 20 were seen 4-8 miles off Redondo. KL spotted the only Cassin's Auklet and pair of Endomychura type--probably Xantu's--Murrelets, both seaward of the mouth of Redondo Canyon, always a productive area.

A late Common Ground-Dove was at MM on 12/3 (DM), possibly the bird there a month before. We still have no CBC record, however. John Small found a Burrowing Owl at MM 2/10, that was seen about 10 days later by Walt Wright. Kathleen and I heard a bird that was probably a Western Screech-Owl (or it was a Black-billed Cuckoo) right before CW started (12/21) at Malaga Cove (MC), above via Tejon. It could neither be located nor relocated! I saw a Barn Owl over my house on 12/17, and one was found on the CBC by Rusty Scalf. A Nighthawk was picked up in early Dec., in Torrance. A Poorwill was picked up in San Pedro 12/18.

Only one Red-naped Sapsucker was reported (Al Garrison) CW, and daggetti and ruber Red-breasted Sapsuckers were at Banning Park (BP) in mid-Feb. (MH, KL & CS). John Ivanov (JI) found a Gray Flycatcher on the CBC at Ernie Howlett Pk. (EHP). Eric & Ann Brooks again found an imm. male Vermilion Flycatcher at the old dump site on the CBC! Cassin's Kingbird was also there--again, and others were at EHP, GHM, and the Navy Fuel Depot (NFD) in San Pedro, where 5 birds chorused us up to 8 birds total for the CBC. A pair was seen in March at the Forrestal Quarry (FQ). Did these winter too, or were they returning migrant/nesters? Though missed on the CBC, a Barn Swallow was at HP, Jan. 10 (MB), which probably wintered and may have been the bird seen there Nov-Dec. Three Tree Swallows were a treat at the NFD on the CBC (MH/KH), and MB also had one with the Barn 1/10. A Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1/26 in Torr., may have been an early migrant. KL had 4 at the LAR on 2/14.

A few Red-breasted Nuthatches were around, but not many, after last years' invasion. Were the couple of Rock Wrens at FQ residents? Or ones that migrate away and breed elsewhere? Kathy and I had a Winter Wren on the via Opata 'horse trail' 12/21 (3 days before count week), but it could not be relocated. One subsequent visit produced a male Wilson's Warbler though. A few Golden-crowned Kinglets also graced us with their presence for the CBC. The best mountain invader this season was the Townsend's Solitaire I found the day after the CBC while looking for JI's Blackburnian Warbler (At the same address!). David Bradley, RS and my wife all saw it briefly then (12/27), but it was fickle. Kathy and I saw it again 2/14, in the same place, and KL and CS saw it 2/21 there too, along the north side of the PV Country Club, on Paseo del Campo (PdC). It is the first record on the peninsula since '84! In late Nov. I again had pipits at Dominguez Hills which I believe to be japonicus (Siberian) Water Pipits. They have bright pink legs, are snow white below, heavily streaked with crisp (not diffuse) streaks, and have a bold malar stripe. Three were in with 100+ regular Water Pipits on Thanksgiving.

I spent all my free birding time in Feb. trying to locate the Bohemian Waxwings that flew over my house (twice!) in Torr. The first time, 1/24, one called it's raspy, grating, tree-de tree-de (fast as you can say it) as they went over! I looked up expecting a pipit or Horned Lark, not waxwings--big, gray, and starling-like, with dark undertail coverts! I never could find them, though several hundred waxwings were around. There were 3 of them for sure the second time they went over, on 2/6--going the other way of course!

Plumbeous Vireos wintered at WP and HP, and the Cassin's, per usual, was at Peck Park. Hutton's was seen at the PdC 'hotspot' noted above, but was missed on the CBC. Don Sterba made up for it, though, with a Warbling Vireo at HP, in the willows at the North end, for about our 2nd CBC and 3-4th winter record ever--an outstanding find!

Warblers were about normal, except no Palm's wintered, though a migrant was seen at MM in early March (DM). A Black and White KL saw at SCBG in Nov. probably wintered, as I glimpsed and heard it in early March. I think most of the wintering Nashvilles here are of the eastern (nominate) subspecies. One each at Sur La Brea Park (SLB), HP, PdC, BP, and in PVE, was a good total. A female Yellow Warbler wintered along the flood control channel here in Torr. from late Sept. on, stayed mostly in Eucs, Braz. Pepper, Loquat, bottlebrush, and two Maples within an area of 100 X 300 meters. CS found a Hermit Warbler along the MC fire Trail, 2/21, which undoubtedly had wintered. The Warbler of the winter and CBC was the Blackburnian Warbler JI found along the creek on PdC by the golf course. A CBC first, of course! This is an incredibly rare bird in winter in the U.S., quite unlike many other 'eastern vagrants'. Only a few have been seen in CA in the winter, most in the last few years. Rusty, Dave, Kathy and I 'verified' it the next day, and it was seen by many through mid-Jan., at least. A first-year male American Redstart was in the east-side willow forest at HP for the CBC (MH). A Wilson's was at MC, for probably it's 5th winter. Another was at HP, and, as with the Via Opata bird, and seemingly every one we see in winter, a male! Why only males?

On Jan. 23,  Tom Miko found the probable-returnee male Summer Tanager at PdC. It was still present 2/14 (MH), exactly  where the Blackburnian, Solitaire, Hutton's Vireo, and Nashville were! What if EVERY address got this type of coverage? What might we find then? Nearly 10 Western Tanagers wintered at usual spots: BP, PP, PdC, SLB--the usual places with Eucalyptus.

 A Grosbeak was reported coming to a feeder in Jan., in San Pedro (fide DM). Rose-breasted is at least as likely from late Oct. to late March, when neither normally occur. JI found a Green-tailed Towhee at EHP on the CBC, always a great 'day-maker' on the hill. The Chipping Sparrows that had been at MM for 2 months prior to the CBC could not be found CW or thereafter! Fortunately, the Clay-colored Sparrow stayed, becoming our first CBC record ever. It was still present the first week of March. The White-throated there also stayed for the CBC, and into March as well. Another White-throated was in Neil Multack's RPV yard for a day in mid-February. For those who want some real fun, start paying attention to which Fox Sparrows you see, as several different ones occur. They can be separated to within a subspecies or two, usually. A large-billed megaryncha (always in natural areas here) was at PP with the usual unalaschensis in Feb. Dick Barth found a Large-billed Savannah Sparrow wintering on the Playa del Rey jetties.

Dick also found a couple of Bullock's Orioles wintering in Sand Dunes Park and neighboring residential areas. A few were seen off and on at BP, too. I spent all of my free time from CW to Feb., when I gave up, trying to relocate an Oriole I saw in SLB on 12/25. I'm certain the bird was a Streak-backed Oriole, but something that rare requires documentation. It's the only oriole this winter (or decade?) that didn't stay put from Nov. to Feb. A one-day Dec. vagrant.

Only a few Purple Finches were around this winter, (CBC, too). A lone female at SCBG 3/5 (KL/MH) the only one I saw. Pine Siskins were equally scarce this winter, with only a few seen.

Allen's Hummingbirds (2) babies just out of the nest, at BP on 2/26, reminds us this is the last year for the LA County. Breeding Bird Atlas data collection. Send any and all records to Mark Wimer at the Natural History Museum for inclusion. Report forms are available on-line for your ease. There are still some holes in the local breeding records, so let me know if you need some ideas on how best to help.

Swallows are harbingers of spring for me, the first insectivore to arrive in numbers. On 2/26 at HP, Kathy and I saw 1 Violet-green, 5 Tree, 6 Rough-winged, and 1 Purple Martin! Plus 3 White-throated Swifts over the house when we got home, so the aerial insectivores are back! By 3/5, KL had 2 Violet-green, Tree, Barn and Cliff at AP.

Orange Co. had a couple potential vagrants/escapees to ponder over, a Gray Silky-Flycatcher and a Pyrrhuloxia, both known in the cage-bird trade and therefore, like Painted Bunting, always of suspect origin. Speaking of which, the Magpie-Jay was seen CW by Bob Beckler just south of PP. Another Chukar report came in, releases or escapees most likely. On the afternoon of 3/22 and morning of 3/23, a Yellow-billed Magpie was seen by the whale-watchers (Nancy DeLong et al.) at PtV. This, too, is automatically of suspect origin, but could well be a wild vagrant!

The Blackburnian Warbler and Clay-colored Sparrows were first time CBC records. Second timers were Black Storm-Petrel, Ross' Goose and Warbling Vireo. However, the CW Solitaire is far rarer here than any of those.

Do get out and enjoy the migration this spring. And be sure to pay extra attention to recording and submitting all your nesting records for the atlas. Think global, bird local!

E- me at birdfish@earthlink.net

It is with great pleasure we welcome several hundred new members to our chapter. National Audubon members in the cities of Compton, Gardena, Harbor City, Hawthorne, Hermosa Beach, Lawndale, and Redondo Beach have been accorded full membership in the Palos Verdes/South Bay Audubon Society. As a result, PV/South Bay Audubon now truly embodies its name.

Chimpanzees, which have a high percentage of genes in common with us people, are frequent users of tools. They have been seen using a stick to dig, similar to our use of a shovel. Also, many people use a sponge to soak-up water; and chimpanzees have been seen using certain types of leaves as sponges to soak-up water. One favorite food of chimps in Guinea has been oil-palm nuts which they open with a special stone combination used like a hammer and anvil. Despite our gene commonality, it seems as if oil-palm nuts are healthful for chimps, whereas those nuts could seriously raise a human's cholesterol and LDL levels if eaten as frequently as the chimps eat them.

Another rather clever tool-like technique by observed chimps in Guinea is getting liquid food from a tree branch. The chimp climbs to the top of a tree, stands on its two legs, and grabs a relatively young branch of the tree. After strongly pulling the branch off the tree, the chimp bites its bottom, opening the tubing, and sucks-out the inner sap, a nourishing drink. So, with that acquisition of good sap, the chimp is not a bad sap.

During the dry season, usually early January there in Guinea, when there is little sap inside the pulled-off stalk, chimps have been seen using a tool to get wet food. One female chimp, estimated as being about 40 years old, was observed pulling-off about seven young stalks at a treetop, then trying to suck sap from them, and obviously not getting enough, so she quickly discarded them. She then pulled-off a somewhat stronger stalk, and used it to pound the center of the top of the tree. She pounded hard ten times, causing a hole in the treetop's center. Those sequential poundings had forced sap into the pounded fiber, so she reached into the hole, grabbed that fiber, and sucked it as if it were a wet sponge. When she'd sucked-out almost all the sap, she put the fiber back into the hole, waited a few moments, then took it out and sucked its liquid again. Holding the wet fiber had drenched her left hand, so she then licked that hand to get more liquid into her body. When the female chimp went down to the forest floor, a young male chimp immediately went to the top and used that existing treetop hole and the fiber the way the female had used it. Gosh, that true story shows not only that chimpanzees are good at tool use, but that they cleverly plan and foresee the result of the tool use.

OK, now about pigs. Studies of mammal embryos have become quite common in this decade. One study has involved the freezing of porcine embryos in liquid nitrogen, after they were cooled slowly to that low temperature. Those porcine early embryos, some consisting of only 2-4 cells, and some of 4-8 cells, were cooled and frozen soon after removal from the female pigs. Some embryos were carefully treated bio-chemically before being frozen, but some others were not. After 4-5 days, the embryos were defrosted and transferred to surrogate mothers. The same was done with embryos which had been removed from other female pigs but had not been frozen. The results were: the unfrozen ones led to the birth of piglets for all of them, 113 days after the embryo transfers; the frozen ones which had not been bio-chemically treated all died in the bodies of the surrogate mothers; and more than 50% of the pre-treated frozen ones developed into piglets that were born after 114 days. These porcine experiments have resulted in the intent to determine which other mammalian embryos can safely be cryopreserved, and for how long, and which bio-chemical treatments will be needed to avoid embryo death.

Having discussed porcine matters, I'll tell you this comment of mine. You know that the English language is largely derived from Latin. So, I wonder if future porcine language will be derived from Pig Latin.

Salary:               $5000

Duration:           Eight hours/week  May - mid-June

                        Six hours/day            mid-June - August 27

Location:            Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park

Experience:        Three years of outdoor education experience                         with youth, ages 8 -11; Spanish language                               fluency preferred.

Supervised by:Palos Verdes/South Bay Audubon KMHRP                    Committee

The Summer Education Program Director will organize eight week-long modules, each four hours per day for five days, for young people ages 8-11 and will supervise at least two high school student assistants.

Please send resumes and reference names to:

            KMHRP Outdoor Education Program

            P.O. Box 2582

            Palos Verdes, CA 90274

A shy Petrel............................................................... She bird?

Bobble Ink............................................................ Black swiftly

Disbarred Owl....................................................... Illegal eagle

Flaming o................................................................... Firebird

Northern Aureole............................................... Corona borealis

Northern Shriek........................................................ Boreal ow!

Ovenbird................................. Eastern warbler, holidays excepted

Pin-tale............................................................ A kind of tattler

Scaled quayle...................................................... Featherweight

Short-billed Dow Watcher......................... Margin call clips wings

Solitary Vireo............................................................... Jailbird

Arctic Turns.................................... Arctic Terns do twice a year

California Assembly Speaker Antonio R Villaraigosa (D, Los Angeles) and  Assembly­man Fred Keeley (D, Santa Cruz) announced their sponsorship of a $1.5 billion urban parks bond for the 2000 ballot (Assembly Bill 18). The bond measure would provide funding to protect California's natural resources and expand park and recreational opportunities in the state.

It has been almost a decade since passage of the last statewide park bond and state and local urban parks are facing a crisis. California's youth have limited safe, open space in which to play. The quality of our drinking water is threat­ened. Public coastal areas are degenerating.

Currently the bill has $500 million for grants to cities, counties, and park districts for urban parks and open space; $38 million for wildlife education, zoos, museums, etc. This is an op­portunity for funding for Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park and other Audubon priorities.

Please write and thank Speaker Villaraigosa for sponsoring this bill, mentioning how impor­tant it will be to have funding that could help realize the natural, cultural, and recreational po­tential of KMHRP, Los Angeles' third largest city park. His address is:

Honorable Antonio R. Villaraigosa

Speaker of the Assembly

300 South Spring Street, Suite 16505

Los Angeles, CA 90013

or fax 213-620-4728

or e-mail c/o patricia.schifferle@asm.ca.gov.

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