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Important birds of ancient Lake Cahuilla and the Salton Sea, with Kurt Leuschner. Zoom Evening Meeting, Tuesday, 6 October, 7:30 p.m.
You are all invited to the next ZOOM meeting
of Santa Monica Bay Audubon Society
|
Important Birds of Ancient Lake Cahuilla and the Salton Sea, with Kurt Leuschner.
Zoom Evening Meeting, Tuesday, 6 October, 7:30 p.m.
Before the Salton Sea, there was Ancient Lake Cahuilla. Until several hundred years ago, this giant freshwater lake filled the entire Salton Sink and most of the Coachella Valley. Birds and people depended on this body of water just as they do today. In this program you’ll learn about the special birds associated with this lake that was six times bigger than today’s Salton Sea. You’ll also receive an update on the “10-year plan” and how recent years of global warming and drought have impacted the current situation at the Salton Sea.
Kurt Leuschner is a Professor of Natural Resources at College of the Desert where he teaches courses on Conservation, Entomology, Field Ornithology, Native Plants, and GPS Navigation. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Zoology from U.C. Santa Barbara and a Master’s in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Florida. Kurt has led numerous field trips both locally and as far afield as Africa, New Zealand, and the Galapagos. He is the founder of the Desert Cities Bird Club, on the Board of Directors of Western Field Ornithologists, and is past President of the Natural Science Collaborative. He has studied sound recordings of the various subspecies of North American Scrub-Jays. In 2009 Kurt finished the Palms to Pines Birding and Nature Trail map, a two-year project, which details the ten best birding and hiking locations in and around the Coachella Valley. Kurt also teaches weekend courses and workshops on birdwatching, insects, GPS, and backyard habitats for UCR Extension, the Desert Institute, the Desert Studies Center, and the Living Desert. He also teaches natural history courses for the Bureau of Land Management, UCR Extension, the Desert Institute, California State Parks, Riverside County Parks, and many other conservation organizations.
(If this button isn’t working for you, see detailed zoom invitation below.)
Meeting ID: 878 2458 6495
Passcode: 333015
One Tap Mobile
+16699009128,,87824586495#,,,,*333015# US (San Jose)
+16694449171,,87824586495#,,,,*333015# US
Meeting Chat Link
https://us02web.zoom.us/launch/jc/87824586495
[Posted by Chuck Almdale]
Male birds outlive female birds | UCLA Newsroom
[Posted by Chuck Almdale, submitted by Lu Plauzoles]
Hot off the press! Research from the ornithologists at UCLA.
Female birds have shorter lifespans than male birds, researchers find
UCLA study finds that female birds have 12% lower survival rate past adulthood
by Holly Ober | UCLA Newsroom | July 30, 2026
From the article
Key takeaways
- UCLA ornithologists analyzed over 563,000 records of banded birds in North America over 27 years and found that adult survival was, on average, 12% lower for females than males in 35 species.
- Greater male survival was strongest in long distance migrant birds. The findings supported the general idea that migration takes a heavier toll on females, but it wasn’t clear why female non-migratory birds also tended to have shorter lifespans.
- Habitat loss and climate change are causing bird populations to decline, and the researchers want to learn whether those factors are also affecting the survival of animal sexes differently.
More on the Kelvin Wave, El Niño & Rising Sea Level | Laist Air Talk
[Posted by Chuck Almdale]
If you read our posting of 16 September about the Kelvin Wave (NOAA link) (or even if you didn’t) this radio discussion has much more information on this phenomena which is new to most people. The Kelvin Wave (named for Lord Kelvin, mathematician and scientist, 1824-1907) is not like an ordinary wave breaking on the beach, but more like a very long oscillation in the ocean’s surface. The wave can be from 6-14 inches in height, hundreds of miles wide and thousands of miles long.
So…not a big wave crashing on the beach, but a influx of warm water raising local sea level by 6-14 inches and lasting for weeks. These waves can add up if a newer wave overrides an earlier wave. The warmer water brings warm-water sea-life as well as tropical birds we rarely see here, such as the Cocos Booby that was seen recently in the San Francisco area. But it also suppresses the usual sea-life upon which our local seabirds depend, and may be the reason we are seeing so many dead seabirds such as gulls and cormorants on our beaches, as discussed in our blog of 12 September.
Air Talk is a long-running local talk show, hosted by Larry Mantle, on LAist (formerly KPCC) radio based in Pasadena. The link below is to his broadcast at 9am on Tuesday 15 September, 2026. The first 25 minutes were devoted to a discussion of our approaching El Niño winter, including the Kelvin Wave currently approaching SoCal, what Orange County is doing to prepare its beaches and residents for the winter and problems it is expecting, as well as El Niño in general.
Times:
1:10 – Larry Mantle begins
1:40 to 11:00 – Interview with Daniel Swain
3:10 – Discussion of Kelvin Wave begins
11:00 to 21:30 – Interview with Katrina Foley
21:40 – Daniel Swain again, on sea level rise mitigation efforts
24:30 – End
Guests, host and honorable mention:
Daniel Swain: University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Climate and Weather Scientist and Associate Researcher. Link
Katrina Foley: Supervisor of the Fifth District of Orange County, which includes many well-known coastal communities such as Costa Mesa, Dana Paint, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach and San Juan Capistrano. Link
Larry Mantle: Host for over 40 years of the longest running daily talk show in the history of the Los Angeles radio market. If it breaths, he has probably interviewed it. Link
Cocos Booby Sula brewsteri: Resident of the eastern Pacific Ocean from mid-Baja California to Ecuador. Formerly known as Brewster’s Booby. Link
Coastal Cleanup Day Sign up | Saturday Sept. 19, 9am-12pm
[Posted by Chuck Almdale]
When: Saturday, September 19th, 9 am – 12 pm
Where: Many locations, including: Ballona Creek, Dockweiler Beach, Hermosa Beach, Los Angeles River, Leo Carillo Beach, Malibu Lagoon, Malibu Pier, Manhattan Beach & Pier, Marina del Rey (Mother’s Beach), Nicholas Canyon Beach, Playa del Rey beach, Redondo Beach & Pier, Santa Monica Beach (several locations), Sepulveda Basin (Lake Balboa), Sunset Point Beach, Topanga Beach, Torrence Beach, Venice Beach (several locations), Will Rogers State Beach
One day. Thousands of volunteers. A cleaner future.
Every piece of plastic removed from a beach, every bottle collected from a neighborhood, and every pound of debris kept out of our waterways adds up.
Coastal Cleanup Day is a global day of action to protect our oceans, waterways, and wildlife from pollution. For 37 years, Heal the Bay has proudly coordinated this effort across Los Angeles County in partnership with the California Coastal Commission and Ocean Conservancy.
Last year across L.A. 6,722 volunteers removed 19,139 pounds of trash and 610 pounds of recycling from 70 sites.
This year, 60+ cleanup sites will span beaches, rivers, parks, trails, neighborhoods, and underwater dive sites throughout L.A. County.
Whether you’re restoring a local park, cleaning up your neighborhood, or getting your hands sandy at the beach, there’s a place for you to make an impact.
[Thanks to Pasadena Audubon Society for use of their announcement format]
The Kelvin Wave: coming soon to a coast near you | L.A. Times
[Posted by Chuck Almdale]
This wave, known as a “costally-trapped Kelvin wave,” is a key element of the El Niño weather condition. It is bringing warm equatorial water across the Pacific from Indonesia and the Indian Ocean and has already hit the Pacific Coast of South America. There, now “costally-trapped,” it split, sending water both south and north along the Pacific Coast of the Americas. The northbound section has already reached Mexico and is somewhere near Puerto Vallarta. SoCal sea level is expected to rise around six inches.
California coast braces for another battering as new El Niño-related wave emerges in Pacific
By Rong-Gong Lin II Staff Writer
Los Angeles Times | 10 Sept 2026 4:12 PM PT
[North Carolina State University assistant professor Dillon] Amaya said he expects the wave to enter the Gulf of California on or around Sept. 19. Once there, it’ll take around eleven days for the wave to hug the gulf’s U-shaped coast and, from there, another several for it to travel from the southernmost tip of the Baja California peninsula — Cabo San Lucas — to San Diego. It’ll then take about two to three days to reach L.A., another two to three more to get to San Francisco.
That would put the wave’s arrival in Southern California in early October, although the exact timing remains uncertain.
There was already a Kelvin wave earlier this year moving from the western North Pacific to the Gulf of Alaska from mid-May to mid-June. During the El Niño season of 2015-1 there were “five or six coastally trapped Kelvin waves that made their way up the coastline.” Hurricane season is not yet over and warm ocean water makes hurricane formation in the eastern Pacific more likely.
Link to: JPL Sea Level Mission satellite video graphic of warm water swell moving across Pacific March 2 – May 18, 2026.
Link to: NOAA Climate Prediction Center Report: ENSO: Recent Evolution, Current Status and Predictions
Link to: JPL Sea Level Isn’t Level scrolling video
Link to: JPL 27-Year Sea Level Rise maps (example below)
Link to: NASA El Niño map below
