For the last five and a half years, Chuck Bragg, a long-time friend and leader from Santa Monica Bay Audubon, has ably served on Audubon's National Board of Directors as the member representing the interests of West Coast Audubon chapters. Chuck's final term of office expires this year, and I am a candidate for the position. Serving on the National Board is a challenge, but one that I find especially interesting because it will let me work in new ways to help shape the Audubon of tomorrow.

Those of you who have read my Hummin' articles or worked with me for the last many years, know of my concern for how things fit together. Perhaps this is an outgrowth of my puzzle- solving youth, but it is evident in the way I approach projects as diverse as Audubon YES!, Harbor Park and my writings on nature. It is just as true for my approach to Audubon policy at the national level.

My involvement in National Audubon's policy goes back more than a decade. In 1991, I was asked to join a select group from all parts of Audubon to do strategic planning for the future. The effort put into planning grew over the next few years, and resulted in the adoption of Audubon's 1995 Strategic Plan. This document is being used as the basis for Audubon action, and calls for major changes in Audubon at all levels. The goal is nothing less than to reshape how America and its citizenry approaches the environment. It does not take much exposure to local or national politics to realize how vital this is.

The two principal initiatives undertaken by National Audubon to implement the plan are, first, to build upon Audubon's grassroots chapter strength by creating Audubon offices in every state, and, second, using Audubon's educational strength to build a national network of 1,000 Audubon Centers. These are huge undertakings for an organization like Audubon, which has to rely on charitable contributions for capital outlays. Further-more, the implementation of changes that are such radical departures for "the way we've always done things" is fraught with peril.

It is just such peril that I feel especially well suited to work with. As a chapter leader for nearly a quarter century, who has worked with many chapters beside our own, I have a thorough knowledge of what makes chapters tick, and, as someone who has been working with state and national personnel on many programs, I also know how National Audubon does things. I make no claims to being a magician, but my peculiar insights and good working relationships with National Audubon have already allowed me to identify looming problems in Audubon's Centers policy and redirect it. And there will be many more problems to address.

Among the other challenges Audubon must meet is how to broaden the base of Audubon support. Audubon membership is not representative of the American population as a whole. Yet, it must become so if Audubon is to continue to be a factor in shaping national environmental policy. This, I believe, is where our chapter's experience with young people, especially through Audubon YES!, will contribute to Audubon's future. And, as with Centers, I think my knowledge of chapters and National Audubon has much to offer, particularly if I can serve as a member of the National Board.

So, I am running for the Board. Between April and June, chapters in California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington will cast their ballots. The successful candidate will appear on National Audubon's slate in the fall, to be voted on by the entire national membership. For the next few months, I'll be actively campaigning. Wish me luck.

Please help us honor several outstanding South Bay conservation leaders at the annual Conservation Awards Banquet on the evening of May 24. This year's honorees are:

Conservation Award: Jim Knight and Barbara Gleghorn

Youth Conservation Award: Paunie Samreth and Vijay Yanamadala

Education Award: Linda Chilton

Group Award: Rancho Palos Verdes City Council

In addition, many local students will be receiving awards for their participation in the YES! program. Also, this year, for the first time, students who have completed requirements set by the YES! Council will receive special awards.

The annual dinner will be held at Ports O'Call Restaurant at Berth 76 in San Pedro. Tickets are $30 for adults and $20 for students. We encourage you to support the attendance of students by making a special donation. See the ticket form on page 9 of this newsletter.

The 7:00 p.m. Conservation Awards Banquet will be preceded by a reception for the award recipients at 6:00 p.m. The banquet room overlooks the San Pedro Ship Channel, affording a magnificent view of the harbor.

In reading David Allen Sibley's guide to birds and bird behavior, Donalda Day put together a quiz for the Pomona Valley Audubon Society. With her permission,Hummin' will share some of Donalda's quiz questions here and elsewhere in this and later issues.

1) The hummingbird family, found only in North America, is comprised of more than: a) 100 species, b) 200 species, c) 300 species?

2) When flying, a hummingbird's heart rate can reach as high as: a) 250 beats per minute, b) 850 beats per minute, or c) 1,250 beats per minute?

3) Name the four families of birds that have a zygodactyl foot arrangement (two toes forward, two toes backward).

4) Of all the organisms on Earth, only birds: a) can fly, b) have feathers, or c) lay eggs.

ANSWERS: 1 c; 2 c; 3 Parrots, Cuckoos, Owls, Woodpeckers; 14 b.

All who have been disturbed by the recent continuing assaults on the environment are invited to attend the EPN Earth Day Conference. The conference will take place on Saturday, April 20th, from 8:00am to 1:00pm at the Rolling Hills United Methodist Church, 26438 Crenshaw Blvd., in Rolling Hills Estates. Speakers include Dennis Zane, former head of the Coalition for Clean Air, who will speak on smart growth, clean air, and global warming. Seasoned activist Don May, founder and director of the California Earth Corps, will speak about nuclear and other energy issues. A panel on globalization and the environment will include Rick Eiden, AFL-CIO Orange County Board President; Mike Dolan, Western Director of Global Trade Watch, and Bryan Stevens, retired professor and writer on global trade issues. Registration fees are $12.00 or $6.00 for students or low income. For more information about the conference, including reserving a table, contact Louise Allison (310-375-3479 or granny.lou@verizon.net) or Lillian Light (310-545-1384 or lklight@aol.com).

THANKS once again to Sumner and Nancy Gambee for their generous donation of stock to the Audubon YES! program. If you have appreciated stock and wish to donate it to PV/South Bay Audubon, you can get a tax deduction and avoid capital gains. Contact Jess, 310-832-5601.

Frances Spivy-Weber, First Vice President, has been a member of the chapter since 1996 and on the Board since 1999. She focuses her volunteer time on working with the Audubon chapter to raise funds to strengthen its education and restoration programs. The key fund-raisers for the chapter are the Spring birdathons (see article p. 7) and grants from local foundations and corporations. Fran's full-time job is as Executive Director for Policy of the Mono Lake Committee. She spends a lot of time in Sacramento and in downtown Los Angeles promoting water conservation, reclamation, and water quality policies to make it possible to stretch the water we have to meet the needs of people, the economy, AND the environment. Before moving to the South Bay in 1995, Fran went on her first bird outing in college in the 1960s with Victor Emanuel, a friend, world reknowned birder, and fellow Texan. Later she became Director of National Audubon's International Program in Washington, D.C. Her favorite Audubon association, however, is living with the Audubon Chapter Newsletter editor!

Bob Shanman, owner of Wild Birds Unlimited in Torrance, started birding in 1977 at the encouragement (read "pushed into by!") of his wife to get him away from the house remodel they were doing. Taking Arnold Small's class at UCLA, Bob recalls seeing a Painted Redstart on his first field trip, and that bird gave him the "bug" and he's been birding ever since. He became involved with LA Audubon, serving on its Board from 1980 through 1985. He's been leading walks at the Ballona Wetlands since 1980, currently serves on the Board of the Friends of Ballona Wetlands, leads monthly walks at Madrona Marsh, and is active in the community working with schools in Manhattan Beach. He has been on the PV/SB Board for 3 years, and currently serves as Treasurer. His favorite birding locations are the Ballona Wetlands and the Salton Sea.

As is typical after the CBC there is little winter birding done locally, with everyone apparently dispersing to chase after ticks for their lists, found on other CBC's. Many amazing things were seen elsewhere in the state this winter. The first photographed Short-tailed Albatross in SoCalin modern times, was just north of S.Barbara Isl.. At least 2 Masked Booby south of us, a couple Emperor Geese way up north, a Band-tailed Gull on S.Clemente Isl., and a Common Redpoll up near Shasta. WOW, eh?

Here we seem to be having a drought winter, with about a third of the normal rainfall, and some record high temperatures, like lots of the rest of the country. We need some water! So, how `bout our bird word?

Black-vented Shearwaters were down in numbers, with only a thousand or so the high counts; normally we have 5,000-20,000 wintering along the San Pedro Escarpment to Redondo Canyon. The LAAS 2/23 pelagic trip covering this area hit paydirt though, when Todd McGrath found amongst them a MANX Shearwaterover the canyon! Everyone on board got to see it, photograph it, and it is the first irrefutably documented individual in SoCal, and LA Co. (a prior sight record only)! It is also the first photographed individual south of Morro Bay in the state!

White Pelicans I hear had major breeding failure last year due to drought conditions. The ensuing dispersal brought many to the coast here where they are normally rare. Besides the 9 Kevin Larson (KL) had on the CBC,

a maintenance worker at Harbor Pk. (HP) saw 18at the park the day after Christmas, and 9 the next day. One to four were there much of February [insert- to early March], and 4 were even seen on the small concrete pond at Charles Wilson Park (Dave Roelen) !! David Moody (DM) also saw them in flight over Madrona Marsh for a new record there. Anyone get them on their yard list???

Two banded Canada Geese were at HP Jan. and Feb.. One of the band numbers I read came from a female banded near Sparks Nevada in 1995! Record and report any band numbers or colors you see! About 25 Canada Geese flew over Torrance 2/25. A White-fronted Goose was at Alondra Pk. (AlP.) 2/6 to 3/1 (DM). The good numbers of Blue-winged Teal at HP moved to MM, with 8 there early Feb. DM's regular stops at Al.P. garnered a high count in Feb., of 96 Canvasbacks, plus the usual Ring-necked Ducks, Redhead and pair of Scaup. The Oldsquaws (sorry I'm having a hard time with "Long-tailed Duck") at the mouth of the L.A. River (LAR) went from KL's 3 or 4, to 6 of `em at once on 2/3 by Kimball Garrett. I don't recall 6 together at once anywhere, anytime in SoCal! Kimball also had a White-winged Scoter there then. KL nabbed a northbound Black Scoter at Pt.Vicente (Pt.V.) on 3/9. Finally on the waterfowl front, Tom Miko found a Hooded Merganser at HP on 2/5, later determined to be an immature male, and seen to 2/24 at least (Bob Shanman).

A very elusive Ferruginous Hawk was seen and eventually photographed in Friendship Pk., San Pedro, by Margaret Hoggan, Ollie Coker, et.al., from the CBC on 12/23 to mid January. An immature Goshawk circled over my hovel for a couple minutes on 1/31, being dive-bombed by the much smaller (and dumber) Crows.

Absent the last few winters, so exciting, were 3 Red Phalarope on the LAAS 2/23 pelagic trip just a few miles offshore. We also saw about a dozen Pomarine Jaegers including 2-3 dark morphs, and 5 Parasitics, the latter all within a mile of the Angel's Gate harbor entrance. Mew Gull numbers at their local stronghold, Cabrillo Bch., topped out at about 300 (KL,MH).

Another Barn Owl flew over the hovel here in Torr. on 2/21. I also got my yard Downy Woodpecker, on 2/6.

John Small found a species missed on the CBC, and not found wintering for several years locally, a Pacific-slope Flycatcher,1/14, at GeoF. Canyon. Spring Migration was evident on 2/13 when DM had Tree Swallows at Alondra Pk., and I saw N.Rough-wing Swallow at HP.

Vincent Neuman saw the wintering White-breasted Nuthatch at Banning Pk. in late Feb. Another (!) Summer Tanager was found wintering, at Cabrillo Bch, by KL. DM and I both had Slate-colored Fox Sparrows in our yards in Feb. DM saw a Chipping Sparrow at MM 2/13. Martin Byhower saw 2 White-throated Sparrows at Sand Dune Pk., in late Jan. KL found the fanciest of sparrows, a Harris' Sparrow (imm.) at El Nido Pk. on Jan 19, which continued and was seen by many observers into Feb. at least.

Ron Melin saw an early migrant Hooded Oriole at MM mid-February, a typical date for an early migrant. Feb. Bullock's Orioles are winterers. A couple of reports of "Black-backed" Lesser Goldfinch were received. First keep in mind fresh adults have more black on their backs than the summer birds we see here. True `Black-backs" are very rare, most are just "blacker backed", which wears to green. Also I believe current thinking has it that the black back gene is an old recessive one that may show up at any time in our green backed populations here.

So there ya have it! A kinda sorta winter, by the calender, not the weather! Seawatching will be excellent in March and April from coastal promontories. Remember to note your FOS (first of spring) dates.

For about the 60th time, Think global, bird local!

The following is excerpted from "Avian usage of tule habitats during the nesting season at Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park, Los Angeles, California" by Mitch Heindel (In press).

There are several isolated patches of habitat on the west side of the lake. The typical piece has a small patch of tules, with some ludwigia around it, and a few willows along the edge. The size averages from 100' by 25' to 50' by 50', or about 2500 square feet. Roughly a quarter acre of undergrowth (tules) with a little canopy factor on one side, often with a touch of mulefat, and lake on the other. These patches are incredibly productive, with 5, 10 or even 15 species of birds nesting in them, at minimum producing 50-100 young each year. In less than an acre counting water and air space around them.

These pieces of habitat have been the target of random herbicidal attacks from the county for "vector control" (mosquito abatement), and are in critical danger....Most of these are secondary tule habitat. That is they are mud or dry in the summer and fall, and only wet in the "winter" wet season, generally Novermber to May.

As an example, one of these patches has nesting in it: Pied-billed Grebe, Least Bittern, Green Heron, Gadwall, Teal, American Coot, Marsh Wren, Common Yellowthroat, California Towhee, Song Sparrow, Bullock's Oriole, and usually either Red-wing or Tricolored Blackbird, probably Black-crowned Night-Heron, and Ruddy Ducks attempted and failed. Plus Anna's and Allen's Hummingbirds, Bushtit, and House Finch. Eighteen species nesting in less than an acre is remarkable here. I am certain there are single acres at this site that have 20 species breeding. It attests to the productivity of the habitat, in spite of it all. Back to our acre…..

Now add the foragers and fledgers using the same piece of habitat, for nesting success (fledging young mostly): you have three species of swallows, Black Phoebe, Great Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, and others, fledging an additional several-to-many dozen birds per year. The acre is a key factor in the generation of what could easily be 200 fledgling birds in a single year. And, now we're over 25 species of birds using that same acre for nesting success in a single year. World-class productivity, it is.

Let's not forget in spring and fall migration many dozens, or scores of migratory neotropical songbirds stop to rest and feed in it. And another dozen spend the winter in it. Hundreds of birds use the acre every year.

The magnitude of vector spraying over an acre, close to two, in one spraying, under some permit they have, to spray land that is dry 5 months of the year (peak mosquito season) needs to be reconsidered.

It's just an acre….

The March 4th edition of the Daily Breeze quoted Paul Krugman, a columnist for the New York Times, as follows: "Deceptive advertising pervades the administration's effort to sell the nation on its drill-and-burn energy strategy." He was referring to the claim that drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) was key to ending our dependence on foreign oil, while the truth is that even a decade from now, after development has begun, the ANWR would produce only a tiny fraction of the 11 million barrels of oil that we currently import. I have written about this subject before, and I am sure that you have all advised our senators to oppose drilling in such pristine areas.

The Bush administration is using deceptive propaganda while seeking to roll back clean air protection. Isn't opposing the Clean Air act something like attacking motherhood or apple pie? Not if you call it a" Clear Skies" initiative and state that it is "the most significant step America has ever taken…to cut power plant emissions." The reality is that refinery air pollution is already a nationwide problem and the Bush proposal would make it many times worse.

The President is proposing to weaken the Clean Air Act's New Source Review (NSR) program. The NSR protects public health by requiring oil refineries and other industrial facilities to install modern pollution control equipment when they make major pollution-increasing modifications to their facilities. Enforcement of this law has met resistance from power companies and the EPA has found that 80% of oil refineries are in violation of New Source Review. But instead of stepping up efforts to enforce NSR, the administration has chosen to gut the program on behalf of industrial polluters.

Evidence that the White House is determined to weaken the rules that limit air pollution, was revealed by Eric Schaeffer, the EPA's director of regulatory enforcement, who was appointed in 1990 during the administration of the first President Bush. On March 1st, the LA Times carried the story that Mr Schaeffer had resigned "with a missive accusing the administration of dragging its feet on lawsuits filed against nine power companies he blamed for one-fourth of the nation's annual sulfur dioxide pollution." The letter cites EPA data presented to a Senate committee last year indicating the health hazards resulting from the contested smokestacks: These include "more than 10,800 premature deaths, at least 5,400 incidents of chronic bronchitis, more than 5,100 hospital emergency visits and more than1.5 million lost workdays." Schaeffer also said that the Bush budget cutting the enforcement program by more than 200 staff positions would weaken the agency's ability to crack down on companies that pour 7 million tons of toxins into the air every year.

Schaeffer also argued that the proposed "Clear Skies" initiative would result in fewer emissions reductions than can be gotten by enforcing the present Clean Air Act. A recent study by Earthjustice provides other evidence that the President's plan is weaker than the laws it would replace. They report on the following pollutants:

• Nitrogen oxide forms asthma-triggering ozone smog. Enforcing the law on the books would limit emissions to 1.25 million tons per year. The President's plan limits emissions to 1.7million tons (36% more).

• Sulfur dioxide causes haze, acid rain, and lung ailments (see above). Present law limits emissions to 2 million tons each year. The President's plan limits emissions to 3 million tons each year (50% more).

• Mercury contaminates lakes and rivers and causes birth defects. Present law limits emissions to just over 5 million tons each year. The President's plan limits emissions to 9.5 million tons each year (almost 100% more).

The Earthjustice report also reveals that the new proposal could open huge loopholes for polluting industries to avoid reducing emissions. The threshold for which modifications trigger NSR would be raised, so that a facility could build a new unit without any air pollution reduction requirements. The report criticizes a policy that might create a severe health crisis by triggering asthma and other respiratory diseases, increasing the incidence of cancer, and create cardiovascular problems.

You can take action to help stop the Administration's attempt to weaken the Clean Air Act. You can visit http:/www.npca.org/take_action/action_alerts/, and let EPA administrator Christine Todd Whitman know that you support strengthening and not weakening the Clean Air Act. Tell her it is important to maintain the present New Source Review program. You can also write to Administrator Whitman at: MC1101A, Ariel Rios Building, 1200 Pennsylvannia Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20460. Telephone: 202-564-4700. Fax: 202-510-1450.

A Fundraiser for Audubon Chapter EDUCATION Programs

Saturday, April 27 Sunday, April 28 Sunday, May 26

Help make the Palos Verdes/South Bay Audubon Three Birdathon Teams into fund-raising superstars. They already are bird-watching stars! You are invited to join one of the teams as a birder and/or make a financial pledge to any or all of the three. You can contribute yourself and gather pledges from family, friends, and at workplace for each species seen within 24-hours.

Here is how it works. A birding team goes out during a 24-hour period and identifies as many species as possible. If you pledge $1.00 per species, and the team sees 100 species, you will be sent a list of the birds that were seen in exchange for your check for $100.00. All Birdathon contributions are used for Audubon education programs.

Besides supporting the Chapter's education programs, you can show your support for one or all of our teams. Here's the line-up:

Saturday, April 27, join the Palos Verdes/South Bay Wirdbotchers, led by Bob Shanman, Jess Morton, and Dave Moody. They will meet at 5:30 a.m. at Wild Birds Unlimited, 2575 PCH, Torrance. They expect to see 105-125 species and to raise $7,000 for the chapter's Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park summer program. Call 310-326-BIRD (2473) if you have questions. Bob and his Wild Birds Unlimited staff will take pledges over the phone, too.

Sunday, April 28, join the Palos Verdes/South Bay Wild Bunch, led by Lillian Light, Ollie Coker, and Bart Tendick. They will meet at 6:30 a.m. at Fantastic Café, Western & 25th, San Pedro. They expect to see 80 species. For questions, contact them at lklight@aol.com or 310-545-1384.

Sunday, May 26,, the PV/South Bay Bush-Whackers, led by Martin Byhower and Steve Dexter, expect to see 120 species. To make your pledge, contact Martin at MBinRBC@aol.com or 310-539-0050.

________________________________________________________________________________________

Palos Verdes/South Bay Audubon Birdathon Pledge Form

Mail pledges or fixed amount checks to PV/SB Audubon, P.O. Box 2582, Palos Verdes, CA 90274.

I pledge to support the PV/South Bay Audubon Birdathon.______

Pledge or send a fixed amount $ ______________ or pledge per species seen $ ______________

Check which group should get credit for your pledge:

PV/SB Wirdbotchers (105-125 species) _________

PV/SB Wild Bunch (80 species) __________

PV/SB Bush-Whacker Team (120 species) ________

Your name: _____________________________________________ Phone: ____________________

Address: _______________________________________________ Email: ____________________

________________________________________________________

As a child in Hawthorne, I recall well the oppressive blanket of smog that often smothered the Los Angeles basin. There were days when I could not play for long outside because of asthma attacks that were triggered, I now realize, by the pollution emitted from automobiles and smokestacks. I also recall how the mountains surrounding the basin became rarer sights as the years passed.

When I left Hawthorne in 1967 to attend the University of California at Santa Cruz, I vowed never to return to the Los Angeles area to live. One major reason for my vow was the unhealthful air.

When my wife Frances and I returned to Los Angeles to live in 1996, almost exactly thirty years after my vow, I was stunned to see how much cleaner the air had become. I recall attending an Audubon chapter meeting at the South Coast Botanic Garden one night, and looking out over the basin to see lights as far as my sight could reach. While the view was hardly the view of a wilderness, it was a much more expansive view than I had imagined.

I only wish that the battle to clear the air, to make our neighborhoods safe for children to play in, were won. Despite the enormous progress, Los Angeles still has some of the worst air quality in the United States. Furthermore, a recent study by the Air Resources Board and the USC Keck School of Medicine found that smog can not only trigger asthma attacks but can cause the development of asthma in children.

The battle for clean air will not be won until the ports that dominate much of the chapter's landscape get serious about cleaning up their act. Los Angeles and Long Beach harbors produce more air pollution than any other facility in the Los Angeles basin, according to an article by Gary Polakovic in the Los Angeles Timesfor February 10. In arriving at the ports, a daily average of 16 container ships release more smog-forming gases than one million cars.

Anyone who has driven on the 710 freeway or along the streets in San Pedro or lives in the area also knows firsthand about the exhaust from the hundreds of diesel trucks that ferry goods between the ports and other cities on the west coast and beyond. Signs and cars in the harbor area are covered with grime and grit. Pollutants in the emissions from the port eventually enter nearby waters of Machado Lake as well as the remaining lagoons and the coastal waters of southern California.

But the ports' emissions don't affect the communities of Wilmington and San Pedro alone. Prevailing winds carry the pollution inland where it becomes trapped by surrounding mountains. The microscopic particles of unburned fuel that make up much of the pollution is linked to cancer, asthma, and heart attacks.

You would think that something was being done to reduce this pollution. But as a matter of fact, very little has been done. One observer compared the state of pollution control in the maritime industry to that in the automobile industry in 1965.

The lack of action is partly due to the lack of government control over foreign ships, and partly due to the fear of losing trade to other ports. The ports are an enormous economic engine. According to the Los Angeles Times, the ports are a "gateway to one quarter of a trillion dollars in Pacific and Latin American trade." Powerful interests have been successful in expanding the ports' capacity in order to handle even more trade. One result of the increased trade will be a doubling of air pollution in southern California over the next two decades.

Now that the spotlight is fixing on the ports, the maritime industry and the ports themselves are urging a go-slow approach, suggesting that moving too fast on cutting pollution will drive trade away from Los Angeles. Indeed, the shipping industry and port officials are issuing the same kinds of denials as the major automakers did in the mid-1960s.

So far, the response of government has been token. Mayor James K. Hahn recently persuaded the Harbor Commission to adopt a goal of "no net increase" in emissions from the port, but the Commission has no strategy for meeting the goal. The Environmental Protection Agency recently adopted emission limits for new domestic ships, but only after a lawsuit by environmental groups. Proposals for state funding of programs to encourage clean technology have been scuttled by the budget deficit.

Children in communities near the ports and in the chapter's region suffer disproportionately from the emissions that the ports generate. When will the ports and the City get serious about protecting these children and the waters that so much wildlife depends upon? What price must they bear for economic growth?

Friday, May 24

Ports O'Call Restaurant, Berth 76, San Pedro 6:00 pm Reception/7:00 p.m. Dinner

Patron: $100.00 per person ($80.00 tax deductible). Patrons receive special recognition in the souvenir program and in Hummin'.

Supporter: $30.00 per person ($10.00 tax deductible)

Student: $20.00

If you are unable to attend, or if you wish to support a YES! student's attendance, please feel free to make a donation.

Please make reservations in advance of the banquet by mailing your completed registration form with your check, made out to PV/SB Audubon, to the address below. All proceeds from the event benefit Audubon education and restoration projects. All but $20 per person is tax deductible.

Mail check and registration form to:PV/SB Audubon, c/o Bob Shanman, P.O. Box 2582, Palos Verdes, CA 90274.

Sender's Name ___________________________________ Telephone ________________________

Address ________________________________________ Email ____________________________

City/State _______________________________________ Zipcode __________________________

Names of others attending ___________________________________________________________

The Prairie Keepers: Secrets of the Grasslands by Marcy Houle, published in 1995 by Perseus Books, Cambridge, MA. Ms. Houle has combined her diary and field notes into a very readable book about her work as a raptor biologist in northeastern Oregon. Her research led to a discovery that hawks may be better off living with grazing cattle than protected from working ranches—an idea that contradicted the hypothesis with which she started her research. Highly recommended for young and young-at-heart naturalists.

WildFutures recently released a 25-minute video promoting the protection of predators and their ecosystems. On Nature's Terms: Predators and People Co-Existing in Harmony uses dramatic footage and inspirational stories to illustrate how ordinary citizens in both rural and urban America are doing their part to co-exist in harmony with predators.

Produced by award-winning film producer John de Graaf, this film makes the important connection between the ecological, economic, and social factors for the conservation of carnivores and the necessity of protecting the large connected expanses of land that they need to survive.

Of particular interest to southern Californians is the story of Clair Schlotlerbech, whose volunteer efforts contributed greatly to blocking a major development in Coal Canyon. The coalition that formed around Coal Canyon recently succeeded in adding the area to the State Park system, thereby providing a corridor for wildlife between the Chino Hills and Cleveland National Forest.

Copies of the film are available for $20 from WildFutures/EII, 353 Wallace Way, NE, Suite 12, Bainbridge Island, WA, 98110.

You can now search Mitch's columns on line for references to any species or group of birds seen during the last several years. By going to Audubon'sweb site <http://www.LMconsult.com/pvaudubon>, you can use Webmaster Lewis Morton's unique BirdSearch engine to hunt up every reference to the bird you select. Check out the rest of the web site while you're there—you'll be amazed at how much Audubon actually does. And how many ways you can help out.

Local children learn about the wildlife of Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park in one of Audubon's education and outreach programs.

Restoration of South Bay Habitats: We can use your energy and some more equipment! If you are prepared to dig and pull and plant, join PV/SB Audubon's restoration of PV Blue Habitat (every first or second Sunday, 9-noon, at the Defense fuel Support Point, 3171 N. Gaffey, San Pedro). See Calendar for details. We also need shovels, rakes, hand trowels, and clippers. For more information, call Debbie, 722-7777.

Sharing Nature with Children: Spend one Saturday a month, 8:30-12:30, as a docent at Wilderness Park, 1102 Camino Real (near Prospect) in Redondo Beach. Docents help an expert on nature introduce youngsters, ages 6-12, to the park's meadow, woodland, streamside, and marsh habitats and to wildlife and habitats throughout the region Docents help lead the children in games, walks, and crafts designed around each month's special theme. For more information, call Lillian Light at 545-1384.

Audubon YES!: If you are already active with a school or youth group in the area, consider becoming a chapter liaison with Audubon Yes! Audubon Yes! students are the backbone of local restoration projects, and assist with Sharing Nature with Children. They attend Audubon field trips and walks. Students with 50 hours of service receive an Audubon Yes! award. Volunteers encourage participation in Audubon's youth-oriented programs.

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