Has your car been broken into at Bolsa Chica? If so, please tell Sea & Sage Audubon | Survey

[Posted by Chuck Almdale]

When I first heard about this a few weeks ago, I inquired of Sea & Sage as to where – if anywhere – one could park safely at Bolsa Chica. I just inquired (12-23-20) of Sea & Sage as to where to park safely. Unfortunately, the answer was: Nowhere, not even the Brightwater residential neighborhood where one local birder recently found his car broken into and his scope stolen. Let the Birder Beware. Meanwhile, if you’ve had any problems there, they’d really love you to fill out their survey. Here’s a message from Vic Leipzig of Sea and Sage Audubon in Orange County.

Dear SoCal chapter leaders:
     There has been a long sad history of thefts from cars in the parking lots at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve here in Orange County. Valuable cameras and other optics have been stolen and expensive damage done to the cars. Birders and photographers from all over have been crime victims, probably including some members of your chapter.

    To deal with the problem, Sea and Sage has assembled a coalition of local law enforcement agencies, the Calif. Dept. of Fish & Wildlife and the dedicated Bolsa Chica citizens groups.  Our first step is to gather good information about just how extensive the problem is.  We created a survey and posted it at our website and got 30 responses in just a few days. 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSenQMBHUreXscFNn3eMQNyY-exEnaf4DlhUVrvQ7U5HVhxAIg/viewform