| HUMMIN' |
PALOS VERDES/SOUTH BAY AUDUBON SOCIETY --- JUN/JUL 2002 Vol. XXIV #3
| HUMMIN' |
PALOS VERDES/SOUTH BAY AUDUBON SOCIETY --- JUN/JUL 2002 Vol. XXIV #3
Hello everybody! My name is Stephanie Lee, and I am currently a junior at Palos Verdes Peninsula High School. Two years ago, as a freshman, I became interested in an environmental and educational organization with which I know you are all familiar. Yes, you are correct. This organization is Audubon. A couple of my friends and I joined Audubon YES!, a teen program of the PV/SB Audubon Society, in order to volunteer and help the environment _ and so our crusade to save the world from pollution began.
We soon learned that Audubon YES! is a program that consists of students from South Bay high schools and aims to instill environmental awareness as well as to encourage action in students. We were hooked and quickly began to work towards the Audubon YES! Award which is given to students who complete 50 hours of environmental community service.
After completing the first 50 hours and then receiving the Award, however, we wondered, "Where do we go from here? Of course, we'll continue to dedicate time to protecting the environment . . . but what else can we achieve? Who will answer these questions?" The answer to this query came in the creative package of the Audubon YES! Council.
About a year and a half ago, under the guidance of Mr. Jess Morton and Mrs. Debbie Baker, a select group of dedicated young Auduboners (. . .hmm . . . I guess I have coined a new term!) congregated and in the process created a new program: the Audubon YES! Council. At first, this small group served to answer the questions of concerned students who were active in their high school ecology clubs. They wanted to know about methods of increasing membership, maintaining student interest, and instilling a sense of enthusiasm. In other words, the YES! Council began as a sort of student-controlled forum.
As an increasing number of students from different South Bay high schools became involved, the focus of the YES! Council changed. In the summer of 2001, students dedicated to furthering their work in helping the environment gathered to develop new programs to further the Audubon YES!'s impact. We designed and created a second award to encourage students to continue their environmental community service. This award requires an additional 50 hours of community service divided into the five categories of leadership, education, conservation, service, and recruitment. This new award will be presented for the first time to two outstanding students: Vijay Yanamadala and Guyton Durnin at the Awards Banquet in May.
After establishing this award, the Council members developed their own government with a President, Vice-President, Secretary, Historian, and Communications officer. Membership will be open to any students who have received the Audubon YES! Award. We decided on monthly meetings to take place on the second Saturday of each month. At these meetings we focus on methods of assisting in the expansion and success of the Audubon YES! Program, of promoting environmental values at our schools, and of bringing student energy and idealism to the environmental needs of our community and Earth as a whole.
Our goals for the future center on having at least one representative from most of the South Bay high schools on the Council, on fulfilling our purposes of expanding the Audubon YES! Program, and on increasing student awareness and participation in environmental activities. As the current President of the YES! Council, I am proud to have been a part of this wonderful student-run organization from the very beginning. As a high school student, I know the difficulty of having enough dedication and commitment to seriously engage in an activity outside of school. Yet these spectacular students on the Council have proven themselves to be devoted to a cause greater than themselves _ the environment, and for this I am proud to work with them and be a part of the YES! Council.
Here is a partial list of those South Bay students who were to receive YES! Awards for the 2001-2002 school year. A complete listing will appear in the next issue of Hummin'.Congratulations to all!
Audubon YES! is marking the end of its eighth year with an amazing record. At the May Conservation Awards Banquet, we presented Audubon YES! Awards to almost 50 young people. Since each of those awards represents 50 or more hours of community service on behalf of the environment, it is clear that the YES! program is thriving. The figures haven't all been tallied, but I believe nearly 500 students from more than 20 schools contributed over 6000 hours, all together. That's impressive!
However, the import of program growth last year is overshadowed by the Audubon YES! Council's maturation. Now in its second year, the Council is made up of students who have already earned the YES! Award. The Council has begun to take responsibility for implementing parts of the overall YES!
program. Under the astute guidance of Debbie Baker, the students themselves carry out many management tasks. To see the Council from a member's own point of view, read Stephanie Lee's front page article.
A major Council success is the creation of an Audubon YES! Council Award, the next level of achievement beyond the YES! Award. Where the Audubon YES! Award shows a commitment to bettering the environment, to earn the YES! Council Award, a student must demonstrate great leadership, educational and hands-on skills. This year, two very impressive young men, Chadwick Senior Guyton Durnin and Peninsula High Junior Vijay Yanamadala, became the first winners of this prestigious award. They have set a very high standard, one that others will look to in the future—and meet.
Audubon YES! has come a long way since its inception. However, there is still room for growth. As students institutionalize the YES! idea in their schools, it becomes possible for us to embrace more of the schools within our Audubon chapter boundaries—schools that now only have sporadic participation, or none at all. To accommodate the new students, we will have to add more volunteer opportunities to our monthly Audubon YES! Activities Calendar. But that is being done, and, eventually, I expect to see our annual volunteer lists level out at upwards of 1,000 students who represent 35 to 40 local high schools, middle schools and colleges, and who donate far in excess of 10,000 hours per year.
Audubon YES! is growing beyond our chapter borders, too. Other southern California chapters have adopted the idea, though none have a program close in size to ours. But that will change. It must change! If Audubon is to bring to fruition its vision of our living within a "Culture of Conservation," we must give young people the environmental ethic that brings that culture about. And where better to start than with having the Audubon YES! program an integral part of Audubon chapters everywhere? One of my goals as a National Audubon Board member, should I be elected, is to establish national policies that aid the growth of Audubon YES! I foresee a day in which 100,000 young Audubon activists donate millions of hours of environmental community service work each year, as part of a network of Audubon YES! programs that stretches across our nation. If Audubon YES! Is amazing today, it will be astounding tomorrow!
Efforts to rebuild the population of one of North America's most extraordinary birds continue to make slow, steady progress. In February, another small group of California Condors were released near the Grand Canyon in northern Arizona. This tenth release will bring the number of California Condors in Arizona to 36 birds, many of them hatched and raised at the San Diego Zoo. Key to the success of the project has been the protection of the wild lands in the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument. This Arizon group of Condors are considered a "non-essential experimental population" under the Endangered Species Act.
Showcasing northern Santa Barbara County sites on the Central Coast Birding Trail, the fifth annual Central Coast Birding Rally will be held the weekend of October 4-6. A reception to acquaint visitors with the area will be held Friday evening. The Rally itself will run from 7 a.m. to noon on Saturday followed by a Santa Maria style barbecue with awards and an auction of birding related items. A tour of trail sites will be offered on Sunday morning. The entire event, which has been funded by La Purisima Audubon and the business community of northern Santa Barbara county, is free to participants. For more information, visit our web page at
http://lpas.westhost.com/rally or write LPAS, PO Box 2045, Lompoc, CA 93438.
Soon after retiring as a teach at San Pedro High School in 1988, Bart Tendick began a full-time career as a volunteer. In 1989, Bart began a long association with not one, not two, but three local organizations: the Palos Verdes/South Bay Audubon Society, the United Nations Association, and Friends of Madrona Marsh. Over the last dozen years, Bart has served on the board of directors of all three organizations. From nearly the beginning, Bart served as President of the United Nations Association and is proudest of the UNICEF Global Gift Shop that the association operates in San Pedro on 7th Street near Pacific. Bart's career as a birder took off during walks with his longtime friend, colleague, and fellow Audubon board member, Ollie Coker. In 2001, a ten-year campaign by Bart and others at Friends of the Madrona Marsh culminated with the opening of a visitor and education center. Bart and his wife Kathy have had the travel bug for years, visiting such faraway places as China, Nepal, and New Zealand. Asked what grabs most of their attention now, Bart responded that it was their new grandson and—first great-granddaughter!
"Growing up in a rural community in New Hampshire gave me an appreciation and respect for nature that has stayed with me my entire life," says Bob Carr. After graduating from teaching college in 1958, Bob worked as a wildlife biological aide for the Fish and Game Department. After gaining a master's degree, Bob worked for the water resources commission in Michigan, before beginning his 21-year career as a science teacher at South High School in Torrance, where he and his wife Thelma raised their daughter Lynn. In 1972, Bob became one of the early supporters of Madrona Marsh and in later years helped design the exhibit room at the Madrona Marsh Nature Center. Bob also was one of the founding members of the Palos Verdes/South Bay Audubon Society and has served as the program director for many years. "I am proudest of having had the opportunity to work with kids, to make a contribution to their lives," says Bob.
We continued our dry spell through March and into April without respite. The only bright side is that it seems to me to drive inland migrants coastwise. That is the desert and interior mountains are sooooo dry the entire migration seems to move westward into the coastal slope of the coastal ranges, and to the immediate coast. Here, there is still greenery, a flower bloom, and the consequent food the migrants require to complete their prodigous journey.
Indicators are the counts of things like 7 Calliope Hummingbirds at Pt. Loma (at waters edge), San Diego Co., in one day, a single day count of 75 Lazuli Buntings at Friendship Pk. (FP), in San Pedro, and way above average numbers of Western Kingbirds locally. So, look at the bright side and enjoy the windfall of migrants we don't normally see when everything is green everywhere, and migrants are dispersed over much larger areas, often much further afield.
At the risk of sounding redundant, seawatching from the points is spectacular throughout the spring. A guy up north in San Luis Obispo Co., had 24,000 Pacific Loons pass a point on 4/16, plus a Yellow-billed Loon !!
For the local bird word, we'll wrap up winter and get started with spring….
By late March Sooty Shearwaters were passing offshore going north as usual, in small numbers. By late April they're common, with e.g., 3104 passing Pt. Vicente (Pt.V) on 4/27. There were also 91 Pink-footed and 297 Black-vented that day (Kevin Larson _ KL). The White Pelicans were around to mid-March at Harbor Pk. (HP), and David Moody (DM) added them to the Alondra Pk. (AlP) list with 7 on 3/31! DM found a Cattle Egret at AlP on 3/31, and Jerry Johnson found one at HP on 4/5. A spring migrant Turkey Vulture was coursing over White Pt. Pk., on 3/16 (Mitch Heindel _ MH), another flew over my hovel in Torrance in late March.
In the waterfowl corrections department please delete the White-fronted Goose reported in the last column. The observer retracts the identification, so magic marker it out of the column. The other of the pair of banded Canada Goose at HP in Jan-Feb was banded near Fallon, NV. Remember the other half of the pair was the 7+ year old female from Sparks, NV (see last column). KL counted 537 northbound Black Brant passing Pt.V on 3/23. DM had a Redhead still at AlP on 4/30. I saw a shaggy crested sort of Ring-necked Duck looking thing at HP on 4/17 that was most likely a hybrid Tufted Duck. KL counted 15,245 Surf Scoter going north off Pt.V in a couple hours on 3/23! He and I saw a male Black Scoter on 3/16 going north with 3500 Surfs (last column I mentioned one he saw the weekend prior, 3/9). KL saw two White-winged Scoters go by 4/27. The HP imm. male Hooded Merganser was present at least to 3/12, about a 5 week stay.
MB had a Swainson's Hawk over HP on 4/22, the second spring in a row one is detected there…. I heard a Virginia Rail at HP on 4/13, which is about peak passage time for migrants locally. KL had a few Lesser Yellowlegs in N.Long Bch, on the LA River (LAR) from 3/31 to 4/7, illustrating well the opening of the spring migrant window for that species locally. A lone Marbled Godwit flew over the hovel here on 4/15, a new yard bird. As typical a few spring migrant Long-billed Dowitchers occurred from late Feb. to mid April at local water holes. DM and Martin Byhower (MB) saw a Phalarope sps. at AlP on 4/19-20, a rare spring transient locally away from the ocean.
I don't know how many of you ever saw the Western Gull with the blue `poker chip' wing tag that wintered at Pt.Vicente from about 1996 to 2000, but one day I got the band number off the leg, and it turns out it was banded in Coronado, San Diego Co., in the summer, so apparently moved north to spend the winters about the lovely Palos Verdes Peninsula. KL's seawatch on 4/27 netted 3 Franklin's Gulls going north. A Least Tern was off Pt.Fermin on 5/2. A pair of them was 30 miles offshore on 5/4 (MH). By early March a few Elegant Terns were passing the coast, and triple digit figures were going by before late March. A few Rhinoceros Auklets were still offshore in March, and KL found a Cassin's Auklet just off Pt.V on 3/16, which I pulled up just in time to see before it drifted south out of view. He saw a Xantus's Murrelet there on 4/27.
A regular park walker at HP reported seeing Great Horned Owls out after sundown several times at the park in early spring. I presume it is just our non-presence at their preferred hours that leave us with so few park records....They probably nest there or very nearby. KL had a FOS (first of spring) Vaux's Swift at the LAR on 4/5, at the leading edge of arrival dates, and I saw one at HP on 4/10. A Calliope Hummingbird was at my Bottlebrush on 4/15, amidst a plethora of sightings this spring all over SoCal.
The FOS Olive-sided Flycatcher was at BP on 4/13 (MH). DM saw the FOS Western Wood-Pewee at AlP on 4/14. Two Gray Flycatchers were at Geo.F. Cyn. (GFC) on 4/7 (MH). Western Kingbirds were everywhere in unprecedented numbers locally. Many hundreds or even thousands must have been passing through the first two weeks of April. DM reported Cassin's Vireos from Madrona Marsh (MM) on 3/31 and a few more in the first weeks of April from AlP and Wilderness Pk (WP) in Redondo.
Amazing was a Horned Lark at Ocean Trails on 4/20 (MH), a very rare spring transient here. From mid-March to mid-April thousands of Swallows poured through, mostly over waterholes like MM, AlP, and HP. I had single counts of 600, 800, and 1000 Cliff Swallows at HP in April. A Red-breasted Nuthatch was in my Bottlebrush on 3/24, and DM saw one at WP on 4/16, odd considering their rarity locally this winter. The White-breasted Nuthatch that wintered in Banning Pk. (BP) I saw last on 3/30.
I heard a fourth-hand report of a couple Western Bluebirds at MM in March, but unfortunately got no date, details or direct report for what would be the 4th count circle, and first spring record ever. A rare spring migrant record was a female Varied Thrush at BP on 4/13 (MH). My FOS Swainson's Thrush was singing out back in the Loquat on 4/28. Cedar Waxwing numbers peak in March and April when birds that went past us early in winter build up before departing to the north. Vincent Neuman saw a Phainopepla at Peck Pk. on 3/3.
Unbelieveable was a female Tennessee Warbler at BP on 4/13 (MH). I suspect these early vagrants are birds that went down our coast in the fall, successfully wintered in Baja or Western Mexico, and are coming north with the first floods of regular western migrants. The true typical eastern spring vagrants occur a month or more later. More expected was a Palm Warbler found by DM at AlP on 4/19-20. My estimate on the final number of Summer Tanagers that wintered here was a minimum of 6-7 and likely 8 or maybe even 9 birds, a remarkable total!
Migrant Chipping Sparrows were widely reported from mid-March to mid-April, with e.g., 7 at BP on 4/13, and one singing there on 4/19. Remarkable was Margaret Hoggan (MaHo) again finding a Grasshopper Sparrow, singing at FP, on 4/1 which she saw to about 4/10. A late Slate-colored Fox Sparrow was at HP on 4/20 (MH). My estimate of total numbers of wintering White-throated Sparrows locally including Sand Dune Pk., was 6 birds, a high count I think. Mind-boggling was 26 male Lazuli Buntings bathing in one binocular field of view at FP on 4/12. About 75 were in the park (MH), and Martin Byhower had nearly as many at HP on the second Sunday walk, 4/14. One Purple Finch was seen on a Botanic Garden walk in Feb. (MaHo), far less than annual as of late. She also reported someone having a couple Lawrence's Goldfinches at their feeders, I think in March, prime-time for their spring passage, IF they occurr at all.
So there ya have the latest on the bird happenings about the area for the end of winter and first half of spring. I hope you got a piece of the action! Mid-May through mid-June is the peak of vagrant and rarity hunting for eastern vagrants, if they are your pleasure. When all else fails, go to the points and seawatch! You never know what may fly by. Nesting season locally is underway hot and heavy by late May too, so seeking nesting records can be a worthy pastime too!
Whatever you do, think global, and bird local!
(The following is adapted from a report that Lillian prepared for the Environmental Priorities Network's Earth Day Conference on April 20, 2002.)
In April 1970, more than 20 million people showed their concern for protecting the planet in nationwide Earth Day celebrations. This started the environmental movement, which spread the word that all human society depends on the health of the earth, and that to destroy its air, water, land, forests, and wildlife for the sake of short-term financial gain is to destroy our own home. Yet, many recent decisions by the Bush Administration, and much legislation passed by Congress, appear to be inviting ecological disasters and catastrophic climate change. At a time when new antienvironmental edicts emanate from Washington almost daily, personal lifestyle reform is not enough; we must let our legislative representatives know that we will not stand for the current attack on environmental protection. Here are some recent disturbing actions:
Rollback of the Clean Water Act: Over three decades of hard-won legislation protecting our environment is on the block, as the Administration challenges and changes vital protections in the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts. On April 14, the L.A. Times reported on the latest outrage—a rollback of the Clean Water Act opening the nation's waterways to mining wastes so that coal companies can continue removing mountaintops to stripmine for coal. The wastes get dumped into the rivers of the valleys below. Under the Clean Water Act, the disposal of wastes displaced by mining is specifically excluded from waterways. The Bush Administration plans to strip that exclusion from the law by redefining what are acceptable "fill materials." Twelve GOP House members wrote to President Bush urging him not to make this "ill-advised and dangerous" rule change. This change would deliver a very serious blow to efforts to prevent mining companies from harming streams and wetlands.
Clean Air Act's New Source Review Weakened: The President is also 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. The Administration is proposing to raise the threshold for which modifications trigger NSR so that a facility could build a new unit without any air pollution reduction requirements. (See related story on page 10.) This new policy is expected to increase the incidence of cancer, to trigger asthma and other respiratory diseases, and create cardiovascular problems. In arguing against the weakening of NSR, EPA officials stated that the NSR had produced significant benefits, reducing air pollution by well over 100 million tons.
Auto Fuel Efficiency at a Twenty-Year Low: Fuel efficiency in today's automobiles stands at a 20-year low, thanks to 17 years of stagnant CAFE standards and loopholes for SUVs and light trucks. Even thought higher fuel economy standards would substantially reduce global warming gases and other air pollutants and would reduce our dependence on foreign oil, the Senate joined the lower House in defeating a bill that would have required a fleetwide average of 36 miles per gallon by 2015. Bear in mind that you can buy a Toyota Prius today that will get 48 miles to the gallon. It also emits up to 84% less of the smog-forming emissions than are allowed under federal guidelines.
Plan Increases Greenhouse Gas Emission: Even though chunks of ice the size of Delaware have been breaking away and disintegrating in Antarctica due to global warming. President Bush refuses to join the rest of the world in implementing the Kyoto protocol. He has proposed to make curbing emissions voluntary, and his plan actually increases greenhouse gas emissions in the future.
Proposal Will Tie EPA's Hands: Last May, EPA Administrator Christie Whitman signed a treaty phasing out a dozen highly toxic chemicals. It included a provision to regulate new harmful substances. Almost a year later, on April 12, President Bush formally asked the Senate to ratify the treaty without offering a means to eliminate future pollutants. His proposal would tie the EPA's hands, limiting domestic implementation to the 12 persistent organic pollutants already regulated in the United States. Senator Jeffords has introduced a bill that would fulfill the commitment to the global treaty.
If you find this inventory of recent Administration action disturbing, get active. Join the Chapter's Conservation Committee. If you're interested, contact Lillian Light (310-316-0599 or LKLIGHT@aol.com.
Did you know that over 89 organizations (half are Audubon chapters) recently signed their support for the Roadless Rule in California? Have you heard that the Department of Agriculture is looking to initiate a plan to kill millions of blackbirds over the next three years? And did you know that Congress has an opportunity to help restore once glorious species from the brink of extinction, species such as Asian and African elephants, tigers, the great apes, the rhinoceros and a number of species of neotropical migratory birds?
It's true _ and it's all underway in Washington, D.C. A President in his second year, a 50-49 Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate, a 9-seat Republican Majority in the U.S. House - what will this mean for conservation issues like those above and many, many more? While we may not have the answer to that question, what we do know is we're going to face some of the stiffest challenges we've ever encountered in trying to move forward our conservation agenda.
Audubon is up to the challenge and we hope you are as well, as we can't succeed without you! That's why we are more committed than ever to providing you with the best information on conservation legislation pending in Congress, as well as the tools and resources to ensure your efforts are as effective and successful as possible. And we'll deliver this information to you every-other week, free of charge, through the Audubon Advisory.
Each issue of the Audubon Advisory will provide you with information and insider reports on conservation legislation pending in the House, Senate, and governmental agencies. We'll alert you to late-breaking action, let you know when critical conservation bills are up for a vote, and let you know when your specific lawmakers are going to cast the deciding votes on those measures. We'll also provide you a free and simple means of instantly identifying and communicating with your lawmakers on critical conservation issues.
The Audubon Advisory is available to you free of charge. As a conservation organization, and a not-for-profit organization, we disseminate this publication through e-mail and fax only - ensuring we keep our paper usage and postage costs to the bare minimum.
So sign up today and help protect birds, other wildlife and our environment tomorrow! Simply contact our Grassroots Coordinator for California, Judd Klement atjklement@audubon.org, or via our toll-free message hotline at 1-800-659-2622. You can also register on-line at http://www.capitolconnect.com/audubon/registration.asp
| Ocean running beneath us, the southern seas surge onward, immense ultramarine waters strapped to the roaring wind that strips foaming tatters out of our milky wake. Scudding clouds heap gray upon gray, and under them a pale form has risen out of the bristling foam to swing over the frigid sea, a bird moving without wingbeat across our turbulent wake. Ceaselessly, the giant petrel hangs, crossing behind, and crossing behind, letting its rigid wings slide down the endless antarctic wind then, on end, turning, turning, turning upon the huge leash of our headlong wake. And when the lion rolls on his back, and the Milky Way glides up out of darkness, there, pivoting on the sinking moon's silver hinge of light, the silhouette of that somber cross still cleaves to our glittering wake. by Jess Morton |
Notes:
1. The giant petrel is a true seabird found in waters south of the Tropic of Capricorn. It is closely related to albatrosses, and only smaller than the largest of them. Petrels take their name from some of the smaller species, which fly slowly over the water, pattering their feet to stir up food. The appearance is of walking on water, hence the name of Peter was drawn upon for the name of the whole group of birds. The larger species are built for soaring, and some species rarely flap their wings. Instead, they rely on turbulence from the constant winds reflecting off the surface of the ocean for lift.
2. The image in the poem is based upon a 1996 cruise off South America, in which both petrels and albatrosses followed our ship for hours at a time,swinging back and forth across out wake.
3. The appearance of constellations in southern skies takes getting used to. This is especially true of those near the ecliptic like Orion or Leo,which, to us, seem upside down on first viewing.
On April 18, CNN reported that British scientists had recaptured a Manx shearwater that was originally banded in 1957. Assuming that the bird was four to five years old when it was banded, scientists estimate the bird is 50 years old. Scientists also estimated that, in migrating between the British Islands and South America over the years, the Manx shearwater had traveled 500,000 miles in its lifetime. Adding foraging flights, scientists estimated that the bird had flown 5 million miles.
Manx shearwaters (Puffinus puffinus) have black backs and wings and white bellies and are about the size of a pigeon. Shearwaters generally avoid mainland areas and spend most of their life on the wing.
Scientists have long banded birds in order to learn more about their movements and behavior. However, banding has its limitations, including the difficulty of banding enough birds in the right places to have any chance of recapturing some of them. Science magazine recently reported on new techniques that may well revolutionize such studies, however. The new method relies on differences in the amount of certain types of isotopes of hydrogen in the atmosphere in different areas. So, for instance, the atmosphere around New Orleans has more than five times as much hydrogen 2 than does the atmosphere in Alberta, Canada.
Before migrating, birds generally molt and add a new set of feathers that incorporate the ratio of hydrogen in the atmosphere of the area. When later plucked at another point in the bird's migration, a feather will tell at what latitude the bird's most recent molt occurred. Using this technique, scientists have determined, for example, that Wilson's warblers that nest in Canada fly farther south than do Wilson's warblers that nest in the United States.
(Thanks to Mitch Heindel for pointing out the CNN report, and to Dan Guthrie of Pomona Valley Audubon Society and Chaparral Naturalist for summarizing the Sciencearticle.)
Donalda Day of Pomona Valley Audubon Society keeps expanding her quiz based on David Allen Sibley's guide to birds and bird behavior. Here is a sample.
ANSWERS: 1 b; 2 c; 3 c; 4 c; 5 c.
And this from the newsletter of the San Fernando Valley Audubon Society:
John James Audubon is considered the "artistic" father of ornithology. Who is considered the "scientific" father of ornithology?
ANSWER: Alexander Wilson
Audubon California recently released the final draft California Important Bird Areas (IBA) report. The report provides information on over 200 sites in every county, suggested by bird experts from around the state. Sites were selected using eight criteria, including concentrations of sensitive species, large numbers of individuals, unique bird habitats and long-term ornithological research. Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park is one of the proposed IBAs and is considered critically threatened. Here are excerpts from the entry for the park in the final draft. (Note that the Chapter's own Mitch Heindel served as the principle source for the entry!):
Harbor Park Area
Sensitive species: 7 (Least Bittern, Cactus Wren, Clark's Marsh Wren, California Gnatcatcher, Yellow Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, Tricolored Blackbird)
Description: Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park is the largest remnant of a formerly vast network of freshwater marshes, riparian woodland, and coastal sage scrub that once covered the southwestern Los Angeles Basin. Its main habitat components include:
Machado Lake is a typical city park lake, with the exception of a band of native riparian and freshwater marsh on its eastern edge, which borders a golf course. South of the lake, within a small flood control basin, is one of the largest natural marshes left in the Los Angeles area, an impenetrable thicket of bulrushes dotted with willows. Wilmington Drain runs along the northeastern edge of the park and extends north to a point near the 110 (Harbor) Fwy. north of Lomita Blvd. The Drain has been designated a "Wildlife Area" by the Army Corps. of Engineers, but is managed exclusively as a typical storm drain (see below). The Navy Fuel Depot, a hilly, undeveloped area rising above the urban sprawl just southwest across Vermont Ave., protects a large patch of remnant coastal sage scrub at the base of the Palos Verdes Peninsula.
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Birds: The marsh and surrounding riparian habitat of Machado Lake support a remarkably intact lowland avifauna,with breeding Least Bittern, Marsh Wren (southwestern California's endemic clarkaerace), Swainson's Thrush,Yellow Warbler and Yellow-breasted Chat. The more extensive marsh to the south supports nesting White-tailed Kite, Blue Grosbeak and other taxa largely confined to the largest, least-disturbed flood control basins in the Los Angeles area. The willow forest is also a true migrant hotspot, with large numbers of passerines touching down during spring and fall. Wilmington Drain is basically a northward extension of the riparian habitat at Harbor Park, and, between episodes of bulldozing, supports a similar avifauna. The Navy Fuel Depot, though located adjacent to "Harbor Park", protects a totally different habitat, coastal sage scrub, complete with a strong population of California Gnatcatcher and Cactus Wren. Several other rare taxa, including the critically endangered and recently rediscovered Palos Verdes Blue (butterfly) find a home at the fuel depot.
Conservation Issues: Harbor Park urgently needs a habitat management plan to balance the competing needs of the park's wildlife with the extremely high year-round human use there. The precious riparian woodland is currently overrun in some areas with homeless encampments, "paint-ball wars" (groups of teen-agers forging trails through habitat shooting paint-filled cartridges at each other), and feral cat colonies (fed by locals). Wilmington Drain, nominally a "Wildlife Area" recognized by the Army Corps of Civil Engineers, could benefit from less destructive flood-control measures. Its riparian habitat is regularly bulldozed leaving only the largest trees, including exotic Chinese Ash and Fan Palm, which results in serious infestations of exotic understory plants (esp. Castor Bean). On the bright side, a volunteer-based coastal sage scrub restoration project has been initiated on a bluff near the south side of the lake, and riparian restoration is planned elsewhere within the park (D. Heindel, pers. comm.). However, unless these plantings and the natural habitats are better protected, the avifauna of the entire site should be considered at risk.
In a strongly worded letter to the South Coast Air Quality Management District, Chapter President Jess Morton opposed granting an air pollution permit to the Ultramar oil refinery in Wilmington. The refinery is seeking a permit to expand its facilities.
"It is insupportable that a project which will dump added tons of pollutants into the air in perpetuity is permitted at all," wrote Morton. "That this is to be done with no mitigation, because it is `not feasible,' is unconscionable."
Morton noted that whether or not the refinery could take steps to address the pollution on site, the refinery could certainly reduce the effect of the pollution by supporting measures off site. Morton suggested that the refinery could purchase non-polluting trucks or retrofitting older vehicles for transportation of fuels. Trucks are a major source of pollution in the harbor area.
On April 18, the Transportation Committee of the State Assembly approved a bill introduced by Assemblyman Alan Lowenthal of Long Beach aimed at addressing air pollution from trucks in the harbor area. AB 2650 would require marine terminals to operate in a way that will avoid causing engines on diesel trucks to idle for more than 30 minutes while waiting to unload. Marine terminals whose operations led to longer idling would be fined.
Assemblyman George Nakano and Assemblywoman Jenny Oropeza supported approval of the bill, which will be the subject of a hearing on May 8 in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Both the Assembly and the Senate have approved a bill, AB 1058, that would create nation's first restrictions on global warming emissions from automobiles. Assemblywoman Fran Pavley introduced the bill after the Bush Administration decided to reject global plans to curb greenhouse gases. Surprised by passage of the legislation, the auto industry launched a $3 million misinformation campaign aimed at pressuring key Assembly members to change their votes when they are asked to consider amendments made in the Senate. Stay tuned!
If you are interested in using the Internet to track these bills or other legislation, simply point your browser to http://www.assembly.ca.gov.
In the March 2002 election, California voters approved Proposition 40, the California Clean Water, Clean Air, Safe Neighborhood Parks, and Coastal Protection Act of 2002. The bond initiative will provide funding to help protect sensitive areas and to maintain our parks. Of the $2.6 billion in the bond, $1.325 billion is allocated to parks and historical resources, and $1.275 billion to land, air and water conservation. Of the parks money, $832.5 million is allocated for local parks, including $260 million for urban parks and park poor communities. These funds may be a source for improving Harbor Regional Park and for Audubon Nature Centers. The bond included funds to the Wildlife Conservation Board and the Coastal Conservancy for the acquisition of lands important to wildlife and environmental quality.
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.
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Saturday, June 1, 8:00 a.m.: Field Trip: California City and Galileo Hills. Contact Eric and Ann, 323-295-6688 or motmots@aol.com. Sunday, June 2, 8:00 a.m.: Bird Walk at South Coast Botanic Garden, 26300 Crenshaw Bl., Palos Verdes. Leader: Ollie Coker or Margaret Hoggan. Charge for nonmembers of the SCBG Foundation, which you can join at the entrance. (Also June 16, July 7 and 21.) Sunday, June 2, 9-noon: Restoration of PV Blue Habitat, Defense Fuel Support Point, 3171 N. Gaffey, San Pedro. THERE ARE NEW SECURITY RULES REQUIRING ADVANCE RESERVATIONS AND PHOTO ID FOR PARTICIPANTS AND DRIVERS. Call or email Jess if you plan to attend at 310-832-5601, jmorton@igc.org. (Also July 7.) Saturday/Sunday, June 8/9: Field Trip: Big Bear. (See June 1.) Sunday, June 9, 8:00 a.m.: Bird and nature walk at Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park. Leader: Martin Byhower. Meet in parking lot between Vermont and Anaheim St. above the boathouse, about l mile west of 110 Freeway on Anaheim Street. (Also July 14.) Wednesday, June 12, 8:00 a.m.: Bird Walk at Madrona Marsh. 3201 Plaza del Amo (west of Madrona Ave.), Torrance. Leader: Bob Shanman. (Also July 10.) Saturday, June 15: Field Trip: Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area, L.A. (See June 1.) Tuesday, June 18, 7:30 p.m.: Conservation Committee meeting, Malaga Bank Community Room, 2514 Via Tejon, PV Estates. For information, call Lillian (310-545-1384). Wednesday, June 19, 8:00 a.m.: Bird Walk at South Coast Botanic Garden. Leader: Georgene Foster. Also, July 17. (See June 2 for directions.) Saturday, June 22, 9:15-12:15: Sharing Nature with Children. For children 6 to 12 years old. Location: Wilderness Park, 1102 Camino Real (near Prospect and Knob Hill), Redondo Beach. Call Lillian Light (310-545-1384) for information or registration, or to help as a docent. Docents are needed 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. $3 charge for crafts. (Also July 27.) Tuesday, June 25, 7:30 p.m.: Membership meeting,South Coast Botanic Garden, 26300 Crenshaw Bl., Palos Verdes. Eric Brooks will speak about birding, Minnesota, and Point Pelee, Michigan. For information, call Jess (310-832-5601). Sunday, July 7, 8:00 a.m.: Bird Walk at South Coast Botanic Garden. Leaders: Ollie Coker or Margaret Hoggan. (See June 2.) Sunday, July 7, 9:00-noon: Restoration of PV Blue Habitat, Defense Fuel Support Point. (See June 2.) Wednesday, July 10, 8:00 a.m.: Bird Walk at Madrona Marsh. Leader: Bob Shanman. (See June 12.) Sunday, July 14, 8:00 a.m.: Nature Walk at Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park. Leader: Martin Byhower. (See June 9 for directions.) Tuesday, July 16, 7:30 p.m.: Board meeting, PV/South Bay Audubon, Whole Foods Community Room, Rolling Hills Plaza, Crenshaw near PCH. For information, call Jess (310-832-5601). Wednesday, July 17, 8:00 a.m.: Bird walk at South Coast Botanical Garden. Leader is Georgene Foster. (See June 2 for directions.) Saturday, July 20: Annual Butterfly Count. Information on location and time, call Jess Morton at 310-832-5601. Saturday, July 27, 9:15-12:15: Sharing Nature with Children. (See June 22.) Tuesday, July 28, 7:30 p.m.: Membership Meeting. South Coast Botanic Garden, 26300 Crenshaw Blvd., Palos Verdes Peninsula. Tentative program: Catalina Conservancy representative about restoration projects on the island. (See June 25.) The Palos Verdes/South Bay Audubon Society and the National Audubon Society, of which PV/SB Audubon is the local chapter, are dedicated to the understanding and preservation of our natural heritage. |
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The Palos Verdes/South Bay Audubon Society and the National Audubon Society, of which PV/SB Audubon is the local chapter, are dedicated to the understanding and preservation of our natural heritage.
Hummin' subscriptions for non-PV/SB Audubon members are $7.50 per year. For back issues and chapter info, go to www.LMconsult.com/pvaudubon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This page is part of the Palos Verdes/South Bay Audubon Society website.
email: jmorton@igc.apc.org