The final design for a habitat reserve on the south side of the Palos Verdes Peninsula is beginning to emerge. Made possible by California's Natural Communities Conservation Plan (NCCP), this reserve is intended to provide a permanent refuge for plants and animals that depend on the peninsula's original coastal sage scrub habitat. Over the last few years, an NCCP working group has teamed with the City of Rancho Palos Verdes, which serves as the lead agency for the PV NCCP, to define what such a reserve needs to include.

Several months ago, as reported in Hummin', two reserve designs were proposed, one put forward by the environmental groups in the working group, and one by the two major land holders. At the working group meeting in May, the City of Rancho Palos Verdes released clues to its long-awaited "preferred alternative." The exact map will be released shortly. As expected, it does not preclude any of the major development projects that have been mooted for the area. Although this "preferred alternative" is considerably further from the biologically preferred alternative than it is from the developers' alternative, it does have the advantage of including one (probably narrow) wildlife corridor not in the latter.

The single biggest shortcoming of this new alternative is that is will almost certainly contain allowances for a golf course/residential homes development which would effectively divide the main habitat reserve in two, contrary to the scientific guidelines laid down for the NCCP. It should be borne in mind that approval of the NCCP does not imply approval by the City of any development compatible with the NCCP reserve design. However, if, subsequently, this development were to be approved, the integrity of the habitat reserve would be seriously compromised. From a biological perspective, the City proposal contains other flaws, too, but they pale in comparison.

It is certain, now, that after five years of work, negotiations toward a full NCCP reserve on the PV Peninsula will soon begin in earnest. Funding mechanisms are now being identified, actual costs of acquisition and maintenance estimated, and the final reserve map is more than a vague shadow. If the reserve is to fulfill its role, the environmental and agency stakeholders will soon be called on to see to it that the NCCP scientific guidelines are adhered to. It is incumbent on Audubon members to urge that we take this opportunity to create the strongest possible NCCP reserve for our peninsula.

It is indeed a sad commentary that one of the first bills drafted in Congress dealing with the serious issue of global warming should be a dangerous diversion from real solutions to the problem. Senate bill S 882, recently introduced by Senators Murkowski (R-AK) and Hagel (R-NE), makes no change in the purely voluntary climate change strategy of the last decade, during which U.S. emissions have risen more than 10%. The bill seeks to fund technologies that are not sound solutions to climate change, including coal gasification, nuclear power and schemes to dump iron filings into the ocean.

While it is encouraging that some senators are finally acknowledging that global warming is a real problem that the federal government needs to ad-dress, we environmentalists oppose S 882 because it will not produce significant cuts in the pollution that causes the warming. We take seriously the consensus of the 2,400 scientists who participate in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an ongoing global forum, when they project that the surface temperature of the earth could rise by about 1.8 to 6.3 degrees F by the year 2100. The earth is getting hotter because of the buildup in the atmosphere of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases produced largely by the burning of fossil fuels.

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) has made several recommendations that would really help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The most important one is to increase federal vehicle efficiency standards, called corporate average fuel economy or CAFE standards. Time Magazine (8/24/98) stated that every year about 51 trillion pounds of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere. They suggest that if you forget the sport utility vehicle and buy a fuel-efficient car, you would trim 2500 pounds per extra 10 mpg from that total. Another suggestion made by the UCS is to eliminate existing government subsidies to fossil fuels. A third recommendation is to approve incentives for consumers to purchase efficient, low-emission energy technologies and provide adequate funding to get these technologies out of the lab (as in the President's Climate Change Tech-nology initiative).

All of us who care about the environment must let our senators know that we strongly oppose S 882, but that we do want Congress to pass legislation that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to prevent catastrophic global warming. We are up against big oil, big coal and big auto who have already prevailed upon the Clinton-Gore administration not to submit the Kyoto Global Climate Change Agreement to Congress. Nevertheless, since we are the largest greenhouse-gas polluters on the globe! We must let our senators know that we demand action to prevent global warming. We do not want our children to live with the dire consequences of inaction. 

Contact:

Senator Barbara Boxer    or Senator Dianne Feinstein

112 Hart Office Bldg.      331 Hart Office Bldg.

Washington, DC 20510    Washington, DC 20510

Phone: 202-224-3553        Phone: 202-224-3841

E-mail: senator@boxer.senate.gov

Thank you to EVERYONE who was part of the 1999 Conservation Awards Banquet. We had almost 100 people giving many rounds of applause to the award winners--State Senator Debra Bowen, Frank O'Brien, Aileen Bevan, Ann Lynch, Rahil Patronas, and the YES! students--Alison Adachi, Guyton Durnin, Juewon Khwarg, Max Schmid, Christine Ku, Diana Ishimizu, Dana Lebental, Steve Choi, Anne Nguyen, Marie Taylor, Ernesto Bernal, and Manoah Koletty.

Special thanks go to our Patrons--Bob and Thelma Carr, Loren DeRoy, Goldie Otters, Shirley Turner, Frances Spivy-Weber and Michael Weber, Kathy and Bart Tendick--and to Bob Shanman and Wild Birds Unlimited, who contributed the bird-feeder centerpieces, and turn over almost $3,000 for Audubon summer education program at Harbor Park.  Kudos to the Banquet Committee--Shirley Borks, Bob Carr, Ollie Coker and Lillian Light, Frances Spivy-Weber, Bart Tendick, and Master of Ceremonies Jess Morton. 

Thanks also to those who contributed to the birdathons and the Audubon summer program at Harbor Park.  All together, we raised almost $7000. We especially thank Marion Burns, E.T. Casler, Jr., Dorothy and Roger Clapp, Nancy DeLong, James M. Gardner, Mrs. Gene M. Hassan, Ruth Hubay, Neil Multak, Goldie Otters, Barbara Peters, Ellen Sachtjen, and Michael Weber for their special generosity.

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The 19th annual Palos Verdes butterfly count will be held Saturday, July 24th. Participants will meet in the parking lot at the Rolling Hills Estates City Hall (north corner of Crenshaw and PV Drive North) at 8:30 a.m. for group assignments. There will be a potluck picnic and count tally afterwards at 5:30 p.m. at Hesse Park.

This event is sponsored by the North American Butterfly Association, which is dedicated to increasing knowledge of butterflies. The PV count has taught us much about local butterfly populations and has helped introduce many residents to the wonders of the butterfly world. A donation of $2.50 per person is requested to help support NABA in collating and publishing the data.

Call Jess Morton at 832-5601 to register for the count or for additional information.

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.

This year a new and potent Birdathon leader joined our Birdathon ranks, and his team, the Wirdbatchers, have raised an astounding $2800 as of this writing. Bob Shanman, owner of Torrance's Wild Birds Unlimited and a former president of LA Audubon, joined by Jess Morton, David Moody, and Connie Day, visited 13 locations in 13 ½ hours, and identified 115 species of birds. Finding a Black-chinned Sparrow in Forrestal Canyon was a high point, while watching a Barn Owl mother feeding her chicks near Portuguese Bend was also a treat. Other memorable sightings were Ring-necked Ducks and Ross' Geese at Alondra Park, and 100 Black Skimmers at Cabrillo Beach.

Martin Byhower, who has raised large sums of money for Audubon over the years, headed The Peterson Cup Team, which saw 92 species [all in the city of Los Angeles] and raised about one thousand dollars. Their highlight bird was a Purple Martin at Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park, but seeing huge flocks of Brant [sea geese] and Common Loons migrating off Pt. Fermin was also a wonderful experience. Martin and his team members, Steve Dexter and Lena Gasparov, believed that they saw a Black Swift, but did not count it since its identity could not be confirmed.

The Wild Bunch team, made up of Ollie Coker and Margaret Hoggan, ended up viewing 65 species after a grueling day. Of particular interest were the California Gnatcatcher and the Rock Wren seen at Forrestal and Chipping Sparrows at Friendship Park. The team is in the process of collecting just over 600 dollars.

All of us in the Palos Verdes/South Bay Audubon Society are very grateful to the  many people who supported our birders and our conservation programs so generously. Goldie Otters, Barbara Ailor and the patrons of Wild Birds Unlimited, in particular, come in for special thanks as Birdathon donors. Congratulations for a job well done are in order for each of our intrepid birders, and for Fran Spivy-Weber, who organized our Birdathon this year.

Loads of loons, waves of warblers, swarms of swallows. It's all here, the stuff spring dreams are made of. And it happens so fast. If you're not out the right days, you'd swear nothing happened. The inclement weather which forces the grounding of the northward movement, is what we need to see the magnitude of the spectacle. Otherwise you hear, "No migrants, no birds left", which couldn't be further from the truth. Only the combination of several conditions allow those of us way out west, off the main NW vector of the coastline, to peek in at this amazing ritual. Southeasterly winds may be the most important factor, but a marine layer can make a big difference, as can a low pressure system well south of us, say in northern Mexico.

Also with respect to migration, please keep first and last dates for all spring and fall migrant species. I find it interesting to do this, and my records showed some things were a little late, probably due to the late cold wet period in April. For instance, Ash throated Flycatcher was not seen prior to May 7, my latest ever 'first of spring' for this species. If everyone does this, and we pool the data, a valuable resource could be developed.

So what about the bird word, huh? As always, the loon flights past the points are nothing short of spectacular.  Red-throated in late March, and Pacific and Common from April into early May. Pacifics are most common. Some days in April I counted over 1000/hr. going north past Point Vicente (PtV), mostly in near-alternate (breeding) plumage. Western Grebes, being nocturnal migrants, of course are not seen flying past the points, but the wintering flock at Bluff Cove and Malaga Cove (MC) still numbered 400 in late April, and 150, at MC alone, 5/2.

Incredible was the occurrence of TWO Laysan Albatrosses around the LA Harbor. They had been grounded after the big blow in early April. One was found 4/13, on a barge, and the other on 4/14, on Henry Ford Ave., with a broken femur. The latter went to the great ocean in the sky, however his carcass will reside at the LA County Natural History Museum (LACNHM). The first bird survived and was released on the LA Audubon Society's (LAAS) 4/17 pelagic trip about 35 miles offshore. It was last seen heading west, toward Hawaii. Thanks to one of our unsung local heroes, Ann Lynch, for the info, data, and records. Ann has provided us with more local Laysan records in the last few years, than all previous records combined. What is causing the increase though???  On the 5/8 LAAS pelagic trip, about 3/4 of the way to the west end of Catalina, Kevin Larson (KL) spotted a Black-footed Albatross in the channel, where they are very rare.

Bernardo Alps (BA) had an Oldsquaw at Cabrillo Beach 3/31. Five Canada Geese flew over my hovel 4/28. Don Sterba had a 'cackling' (small) Canada Goose at Polliwog Pond in Manhattan Beach on 5/10. A pair of Pintail has been at Harbor Park (HP) mid-April to mid-May. At least half-a dozen pair each of Cinnamon Teal and Gadwall also remained there into early May and may be nesting.

One of the most spectacular 'yard birds' one could ever ask for was at the Escher residence on top of the hill in Rolling Hills. Mrs. Escher looked out her window and in the top of a pine, at the edge of the canyon, was an adult Bald Eagle! It stayed about 40 minutes before jays and crows pestered it off. This was 4/27, so probably a northbound migrant. It was not wing-tagged. There are only a few modern records for this species on the Peninsula, 2 in the '80's, and this is the second in the '90's. At least two of the four were tagged. This was the only adult among them. KL saw an Osprey at Alondra Park (AP) on 3/15, a rarity here in spring.

A Solitary Sandpiper, very rare on the coast in spring, was seen by Dave Moody (DM) at Madrona Marsh (MM) 4/15-18. Mike San Miguel saw about 100 Surfbirds at Royal Palms 4/10, the expected time of peak passage.  Drop-dead gorgeous was a pair of adult Franklin's Gulls at HP 5/8 in full alternate (breeding) plumage, including one with completely rosy underparts (Kathy, me and my brother Mike)!

A Barn Owl nest with 3 young was found by intrepid bird-a-thoners DM, Bob Shanman (BS), and Jess Morton (JM) in a well-known belfry. I won't disclose the location of it for fear of anyone getting ideas, but we'll know where to look on the CBC next year! Another called several times over my place 4/4. Many people commented on the great flocks of Vaux's Swifts this year, which numbered in the hundreds on many days in late April. I heard a Torrance chimney was selected as a roost site one night!

There is a hummingbird at my house which defies identification as to what sex it is! It looks like a female Anna's, complete with white-tipped tail feathers, but sings a funky version of an Anna's song. It displays, too, albeit an aberrant version of a typical Anna's display, this without the wing pop. I am borrowing a video camera to document its behavior. My best guess is that it's a gynandromorph, a sexual hybrid. At the risk of offending, after taping, I think it should be collected and studied. With the Costa's X Anna hybrids that have been present here for years now, an F1 or F2 hybrid is also a possibility, since there is an increased likelihood of crossed chromosomes, genes or hormones. BA had a male Rufous Hummer at HP 3/24.

Mind-boggling while scanning a flock of swallows from my driveway on 5/10, was an Acorn Woodpecker flew into my field of view. It was about 200' up, going SE over Western Ave, just S of Torrance Blvd.!!! My first of spring Western Wood-Pewee was 4/30, on the early side locally. Many observers also commented on the numbers of Kingbirds migrating past us. Often 10 or 20 would go over my place here in Torrance within an hour of sunup, all heading WNW. Out of the area, but of interest, was a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher at Whittier Narrows 4/25 (Ray Jillson).

Swallows too were abundant, as the cold wet April often grounded them over preferred spots like HP, AP and MM. Hundreds and hundreds of Cliff and Barn both, with fewer Rough-wings mixed in. Violet-greens made their best showing of the decade with everyone seeing them, and nearly twenty total being seen. Also Purple Martins were recorded more often than normal: besides the early March bird mentioned last column; Martin Byhower (MB) had one at HP 4/24; Marc Conrad had one 4/29 at Sand Dunes Park; I saw one 5/2 at the mouth of Malaga Creek; and Jerry Johnson saw 2 over HP 5/9. Two Bank Swallows were at HP on 4/30 (MH). The two Barns that nest at my place returned 3/22.

Another conundrum alluded to in the last column became more of one when Kathy and I saw and photographed the Yellow-billed Magpie at Long Pt. and PtV on 4/3, and KL/CS saw it 4/4. Four things point to the bird being a legitimate wild vagrant: it was very wary, it's tail was in immaculate condition, it appeared to be an immature, and a report of 3 was made this winter at Malibu Creek St. Pk. In Kimball Garrett's bird column in LAAS' 'Western Tanager' (which is highly recommended reading) a report of a Black-billed Magpie this winter in north LA County was dismissed as an obvious escapee due to it's very mangled tail (Western Tanager Vol. 65, No. 5, May/June 1999, pg.5). Applying that logic to this bird, and with no evidence to the contrary I think it is best considered a genuine wild vagrant.

Most spectacular, especially considering 4 years of atlasing work without a sighting during safe dates, was a Rock Wren carrying a stick (KL/CS) at Forrestal Quarry (FQ) in March, and singing in April, (MH)! A late Ruby-crowned Kinglet was at Pt. Fermin 5/8 (MH). Also astonishing was a lone, just-fledged California Gnatcatcher at MC 5/2 (MH), the first that far north on the hill this decade. Zurita Cyn. has been the northern range limit for the '90's, so I presume it wandered in from there, just one canyon south.

MB again saw and heard the long-time resident California Thrasher above FQ 3/13....could there be a mate there? Jess found this bird over 10 years ago! There's either more than one, OR, it's an age record for the species. Another local enigma is Hutton's Vireo. In the 'Avifauna of the PV Peninsula' (Western Birds, Vol.11, No.1, 1980), Rick Bradley called it an uncommon local breeding resident though no summering has been known since. I wonder if his call was based physical nesting evidence? A distinct wave of Hutton's Vireos is recorded regularly in late Sept., with many of these wintering but disappearing in March. Noteworthy then is the agitated (territorial behavior) individual found in MC in May (MH), which is almost certainly a breeder. It is the first one found here at this season in two decades. Certainly the species must not be as sedentary as many believe.

Besides the early March migrant Palm Warbler at MM mentioned last column, there was another 4/14-19 (also DM). My earliest ever Nashville was on 3/19. The female Yellow Warbler that wintered at my joint in Torrance, departed 4/12, and a male migrant arrived 4/18. Wilson's were abundant enough in late April/early May to generate many, 'Have you seen how many?' comments from those afield. Western Tanagers were also very common in that period, with about 75 at Banning Park (BP) 5/7.

My guess is the scraped ground at Ocean Trails will not provide the Blue Grosbeaks (which had been nesting there for at least 5 years) with appropriate habitat, so we will have lost another nesting species. here on the hill--to Progress, once again. I can't say what we're progressing towards though. Chipping Sparrows are another mystery here, with the various roles of birds at different seasons being quite confusing. Last year we had our first confirmed nesting. I've been under the impression there is a wave of migrants in the spring, mostly in April. This year the 'peak' was quite obvious: Two at RPV City Hall 3/28 (MH), one over my house in Torr. 4/16, 4 at BP 4/17 (DM, BS, JM), and a flock of 10 at MC 4/18 (MH). The best sparrow of spring was the Black-chinned JM, DM, & BS had at FQ on their 4/17 Bird-a-thon. This species, too, may be a very irregular breeder here. The wintering MM White-throated Sparrow was seen to 4/20, quite late for a local record.

About 10 Tricolored Blackbirds are nesting at HP (the high count of males at once when chorusing). BS & KL both saw (separately) Tricolored Blackbirds in Manhattan Beach in early May, and another small colony is suspected on the Chevron property at El Segundo. DM saw two Yellow-headed Blackbirds at MM 4/16, and spotted 2 more on 4/17 at Long Pt.

In the most amazing posthumous record category is the Yellow Rail found in a bag of window and cat-kill birds amongst several Soras, collected last fall, apparently from kills in Oct. Since they were from Manhattan Beach., the bird represents the first LA Co. record of the species. It's worth noting that San Diego Co., also added the species to it's list last fall. I've always said MM or Entradero have excellent looking habitat for this species.

A special mention should me made of the job all the bird-a-thon teams did, FANTASTIC! The Moody, Morton, Shanman team saw over 115 species on the early date of 4/17! It's tough that early, as it's before many migrants have shown up. I've always leaned toward the first week of May, though many winterers are harder to find (gone). I guess it's a matter of whether you want kinglets or pewees. Anyway they did a super job, and we should applaud their efforts and spirit.

At the risk of sounding redundant, I can't urge you enough to get out and get some records for the LA County Breeding Bird Atlas. It is the last year to acquire data! Next year's nesters don't matter (for this study), so please get out and enjoy the hill and its environs. send nesting records to atlas central at the LACNHM. Call me if you need ideas..... or E-me: birdfish@earthlink.net and thanks!

Remember spring eastern vagrants, those rarities so hoped for, are most likely from late May to mid-June. Don't give up because you only saw one Wilson's, this is exactly WHEN to look! Late May/early June records here include warblers such as Golden-winged, Yellow-throated, Bay-breasted, Chestnut-sided and Hooded, plus Red-eyed and White-eyed Vireos, Scarlet Tanager and Bobolink! Take a week off between spring and fall migration, say between mid-June and late June. But then I'll expect you to be back out, looking for that first southbound fall shorebird migrant!

Call your unusual bird reports into Bob Shanman at Wild Birds Unlimited (310) 326-2473, for inclusion on a local bird report tape he is sponsoring. He needs your help in making it interesting and worth updating regularly.

Think global, bird local.

Reservations are now being taken for the summer education program at Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park, in Wilmington. Week-long morning sessions for children will introduce them to the plants and animals of the park and its ecosystems, and to the role water plays and has played in this remarkably varied place. Children will learn first-hand how they interact with the lake and what steps they can take to improve it.

The program will also give high school and college Audubon YES! students a chance to work as summer interns assisting with the program. These students will have a chance to develop their own skills as educators and administrators. Spanish-speaking students are especially encouraged to apply.

For information on enrollment or internships, please call Jess Morton at 832-5601.

While driving through the South Bay, many of us marvel at the massive apartment complexes, cars, strip malls--and traffic jams. If you have been driving on Palos Verdes Drive South lately, perhaps, you noticed the dramatic increase of dead raccoons and skunks lying on the side of the road, all by-products of sprawl. At the hub of this urban sprawl, habitat degradation, and road kill, is human's population growth. And, the organization designed specifically to tackle that is Zero Population Growth.

Zero Population Growth (ZPG) is a "national nonprofit organization working to slow population growth and achieve a sustainable balance between the Earth's people and its resources." In this, ZPG coordinates education and advocacy programs focused on changing public attitudes and behavior. One of their outreach programs is called "Capitol Hill Days," in which people from different locations in the United States gather at the ZPG headquarters in Washington, D.C., to learn and lobby for population management issues. For the 3rd annual "Capitol Hills Days," March 5-8, Vidya Setty, college campus outreach coordinator for ZPG, invited and awarded scholarships to United States' college students to attend this year's "Capitol Hills Days." I, myself, was one of the scholarship recipients and traveled to Washington, D.C. to be educated about pending issues and to lobby our California Senators, Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, and my state representative, Steve Kuykendall.

The focus of this particular ZPG conference was "connecting women's health, population, and the environment." In this, the first three forums were based on  population and the environment, as well as population and women's health. Throughout these sessions, issues which are directly affected by increasing population, such as habitat loss due to grazing, mining, the filling of wetlands, development, urban sprawl, and pollution, were discussed along with the indirect results, such as over-hunting, poaching, and illegal trade of animals. Along with the above topics, international family planning, women's health/choices at an international level, and government policies regarding population programs were subjects within these forums.

All of these discussions were highly informative, to say the least. It was especially amazing to learn that October 12th, 1999, will be the date of the birth of the child that pushes human population past the 6 billion mark. And, despite the fact that the earth's population growth rate is at approximately 78 million per year, the United States government actually imposes anti-international family planning laws. One law, in particular, is the Global Gag Rule. The Global Gag Rule disqualifies foreign non-governmental organizations from receiving financial aid if they perform legal abortions with their own funds, within their own country. What doesn't make sense about this law is that the U.S. already prohibits the use of U.S. funding to provide for abortions, so whether this law is in effect or not, foreign countries cannot use our financial aid for abortions. This rule actually causes more abortions to occur, because it shuts off funding to women for contraceptives and education, which, ultimately, halt unintended pregnancies and further abortions. In Almaty, Kazakhstan, funding to train doctors and nurses and to increase contraceptive supplies for 28 clinics resulted in the increase of contraceptive use by 59% and a 41% decrease in abortions. Clearly, the Global Gag Rule only stunts sensible population management by counteracting many the positive affects of international family planning, such as those in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Along with lobbying against the Global Gag Rule, ZPG promotes bill H.R. 895, contraceptive coverage by all medical insurance policies, and in general an increase in U.S. funding for international population assistance programs. Following the various forums on Saturday, March 6th and Sunday, March 7th, attendees flocked to the U.S. Senate and House buildings.  Although, I only had time to lobby Dianne Feinstein and Steve Kuykendall's representatives, my attitudes toward activism, the government, and the various ways in which I can make a difference have expanded phenomenally. This conference enlightened me about how to educated my peers and myself, as well as how to develop programs for my college, which will teach others about the affects of human's population growth.

Whether you are pro-choice, pro-life, fear urban sprawl, or the endangerment of birds and other wildlife, the root of all of these problems is the amazingly rapid rate at which the human population grows. However, by contacting ZPG at www.zpg.org or Audubon California Chairman for Population Growth Education and Management, Michael Sellors, (916) 481-5332, you can make a difference in the Earth's health as a whole.

There are two types of rear view of mammals: the rear view by a proctologist; and the rear view by a paleontologist. In this article, the rear view is the one used by a paleontologist, which is a look back at mammals of the past.

Let's start with human ancestors. In Europe, recently, fossil bones of human prehistory were found. One of those is a well-preserved and almost complete skull. That and other fossils found in the same pit have been dated as being from more than 780,000 years ago. The oldest prior prehistorical human ancestry fossils were dated as approximately 300,000 years closer to the present time. Therefore, those fossils indicate that the first of what we call Europeans were there far earlier than previously thought by paleontologists. Additional evidence from the analyses of the recently found fossil bones suggests that cannibals existed among those hominids.

In South Africa, another set of hominid fossil bones, the complete skull of an Australopithecus, together with the hominid's limb bones, was recently found. Although analyses of that set of fossil bones have not yet been completed, initial studies hint at an age of more than three million years. The discoverer of that set decided to have some of his colleagues search for additional remains of that hominid. The fact that bones of the feet and other parts of the same body were there, has caused the thought that seeking more information about that fossil hominid, and seeking more bones that are compatible with the others in forming the total creature, are like the tale of Prince Charming seeking a lady whose foot would fit into a glass slipper. So, that hominid has been designated as Cinderella. The result, so far, is that the bones of the two lower legs have been found, and Cinderella is becoming more complete as field work continues.

The earliest known diversification of mammals has been estimated as from the Middle Triassic Period, about 220 million years ago. They were, of course, contemporaries of the dinosaur species of that time. The mammals that arose in the Late Triassic, about 200 million years ago, had dental structures that were significantly different from those of the dinosaurs, and many of the mammals of that later time differed from each other in dental structures, with teeth of differing shapes, combinations, and arrangements. The teeth of some of them were of a highly puncturing and crushing kind; whereas the teeth of some of the others were more of a shearing kind. That may be evidence of the differing types of food sought and eaten by those different mammals. Based on the dates of hominids, we can be sure that if any of those Triassic mammals had had dental problems, they could have yearned for a dentist, but would not have had one available to them.

Nowadays, if a dentist repairs cavities of patients one morning, and then goes to play golf after lunch, in that afternoon he'd have 18 more holes to fill.

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).

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.

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