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Coastal Cleanup at Malibu Lagoon, 25 September, 2010
The lagoon outlet had filled up with sand, so the lagoon water level was high. The veteran trash pickers among us thought the trash levels were lower than usual. Whether this signifies some sort of trend is unknown, but I – for one – doubt it.
A behatted Jean, avant le déluge (L.Johnson 9/10)
Ellen Vahan and Jean Garrett again organized and managed the Malibu Lagoon operation admirably. We had a record turnout of 275 people who collectively collected 127 bags of trash totaling 297 lbs. in under 3 hours. Three busloads of students showed up, including 60 students and their teachers from Centennial High School in Compton. As usual, little pieces of styrofoam food & drink containers and colored shards of plastic were the most numerous forms of trash.I hope no one is under the illusion that this stuff is even remotely biodegradable. The pieces just get smaller and smaller. Are we supposed to believe that they’ll eventually “disappear into infinity” as did The Incredible Shrinking Man?
Recyclable bottles were down considerably, probably the effect of the 10-cent deposit combined with the economic downturn. Our significant “recyclable by nature” item was a dead and very flat coyote, discovered out in the pickleweed (which truly does tastes like a pickle – the plant, not the coyote).
Not merely resting, but an ex-Coyote (L.Johnson 9/10)
Heal The Bay – the local organizer for this international cleanup effort – reports:
* 14,131 volunteers (a new record) at 65 sites in Los Angeles County
* 101 miles of coastline, river bank, etc. covered
* 137,422 pounds of debris
* Since 1990, 1.57 million pounds have been picked up
* Cigarette butts, plastic bottle caps and Styrofoam pieces are the most frequently found
* In California, 80,312 volunteers covered 1,702 miles and collected 1.100.122 pounds of trash
* The next Coastal Cleanup Day will be September 17, 2011. Join us!
More pictures of the cleanup can be found here.
Afterwards, the lagoon looked pristine. The birds, especially this group of Wilson’s Phalaropes, were grateful. [Chuck Almdale]
"Hey! Look! You can see the bottom!" (J.Kenney 8/10)
California Bird Festivals 2010-2011
Bird festivals are fun. You meet other birders, visit new places, see their regular birds plus whatever rarities have dropped in, hear interesting presentations and discussions, admire – possibly buy – beautiful bird paintings and carvings, eat lunch and dinner with others, support their local economy and much more, not far from home. Festivals marked TBA have not yet scheduled their dates. Make reservations in advance.
September 2010
23-26 Thur – Sun 6th Annual Monterey Bay Birding Festival http://montereybaybirding.org/
25 Saturday 16th Annual Kern Valley Turkey Vulture Festival http://kern.audubon.org/tvfest.htm
October 2010
30 Saturday Orange County Sea & Sage Book Sale & Pancake Breakfast http://www.seaandsageaudubon.org/SpecialEvents/SpecialEvents.html
November 2010
5-7 Fri – Sun 14th Annual Lodi Sandhill Crane Festival http://www.cranefestival.com/
18-21 Thur – Sun 14th Annual Central Valley Birding Symposium http://www.cvbirds.org/Symposium.htm
January 2011
14-17 Fri – Mon 15th Annual Morro Bay Bird Festival http://morrobaybirdfestival.org/index.htm
27-30 Thur – Sun 12th Annual Chico Snow Goose Festival http://www.snowgoosefestival.org/
February 2011
11-13 Fri – Sun 15th Annual San Francisco Bay Flyway Festival http://www.sfbayflywayfestival.com/
18-20 Fri – Sun 32nd Annual Klamath Falls Winter Wings Festival http://www.winterwingsfest.org/
Canceled 14th Annual Salton Sea Birding Festival http://www.newriverwetlands.com/
25-26 Fri – Sat Davis California Duck Days http://www.yolobasin.org/documents/Duck%20Days%202011.pdf
March 2011
3-6 Thur – Sun 15th Annual San Diego Bay Bird Festival http://www.sandiegoaudubon.org/birdfest.htm
April 2011
13-16 Wed – Sat Yuma Birding & Nature Festival http://www.visityuma.com/birding_and_nature_festival.html
14-20 Thur – Wed 16th Annual Arcata Godwit Days Bird Festival http://www.godwitdays.com/
30-May 1 Sat – Sun Clear Lake Heron Festival http://www.heronfestival.org/
23 Saturday 17th Annual Kern River Valley Spring Nature Festival http://kern.audubon.org/KRVSNF.htm
29-May 2 Fri – Mon Point Reyes Birding & Nature Festival http://www.pointreyesbirdingfestival.org/site/
May 2011
6-8 Fri – Sun California Redwoods Bird & Nature Festival http://www.calredwoodsbirdfest.org/
16 Monday Tule Lake Migratory Bird Festival http://www.visitsiskiyou.org/blog/tag/tule-lake-migratory-bird-festival/
June 2011
4 Saturday 2nd Annual Tahoe International Migratory Bird Festival http://www.tinsweb.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=102&Itemid=178
17-19 Fri – Sun 10th Annual Mono Lake Bird Chautaqua http://www.birdchautauqua.org/
August 2011
13 Saturday 13th Annual Kern River Valley Hummingbird Celebration http://kern.audubon.org/hummer_fest.htm
[Chuck Almdale]
The Fall Season Begins at the Farallon Islands
From time to time, we like to alert our members to interesting bird-related news that comes along. The Farallon Islands, not far west of the Golden Gate Bridge but amid some rough seas, has been home to a research station for many years. Recently researcher Matt Brady sent out this message on the [Calbirds] chat line. Follow his two links to some very nice bird photos and information about Pt. Reyes Bird Observatory which has been involved in the Farallons for over 40 years. Follow Matt’s future reports on his blog or on [Calbird]. [Chuck Almdale]
**********************************
Hello all! The Fall Season on Southeast Farallon Island started on August 21st, when head biologist Jim Tietz, Farallon rookie Oscar Johnson and myself arrived on the Island. Since then, the weather has been fairly poor for landbird arrivals, but we have managed to find a few interesting species. Chief among them was the Island’s 3rd ever (second modern) record of White-faced Ibis, a flock of 14 juveniles seen on August 24th! Almost as rare was the Island’s 6th ever (and California’s 13th or so) Ruby-throated Hummingbird. That bird was captured and examined in-hand. Other vagrants and unusual island birds were an Island high-count of four Blue Grosbeaks, three Long-eared Owls (including one captured and banded), a family group of eight Greater White-fronted Geese, a record-early Mew Gull, a record-early Blackburnian Warbler, an American Redstart, a Rose-breasted Grosbeak, a Least Flycatcher, a White-winged Dove and a Lark Bunting.
More details on some of these birds, as well as photos, can be found on our blog, at http://losfarallones.blogspot.com/
Since in the past I have had a few querries as to how “chaseable” some of the birds I have reported have been, I’d just like to point out that Southeast Farallon Island is a closed National Wildlife Refuge, managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and is unfortunately currently not open to outside visitors. Jim, Oscar and myself are all employees of PRBO Conservation Science, which has been helping to manage the refuge for USFWS since 1967. If you’d like to find out more about PRBO’s involvement on SE Farallon, and perhaps contribute to our research, please see the PRBO website at http://www.prbo.org/cms/157
I’ll try to keep the birding community updated on what we’re seeing out here, as well as regularly update the Farallon blog, but since our Internet connection is generally tenuous-at-best, I may not be able to as much as I’d like to.
Good birding this fall,
Matt Brady
SE Farallon Island, SF Co.
Malibu Lagoon Black Skimmer Egg Update
The following is a message from Kimball Garrett of the Natural History Museum of LA County. This message was originally posted 8/29/10 on LACoBirds, the chat line for LA County Birders.
[If you wish to sign up on LACoBirds, send an email to LACoBirds-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Type “subscribe” WITHOUT the quotes in both the Subject Line the message area.]
********************************
I visited Malibu Lagoon yesterday (28 August) to check on the skimmer colony on the island just inland from the beach berm at the lagoon. I counted 102 adult skimmers. Of these, only 4-6 birds were sitting in incubation position; the flock flushed several times for no apparent reason while I watched from a high point on the beach berm well away from the island — when this happened I could see at least three clutches of eggs. There were also at least 3 random, scattered eggs in the colony that were not being attended. The skimmers seemed a bit agitated by the 60-70 Elegant Terns (including many juveniles) that were massing near and even within the skimmer nesting area. Fortunately, the 110+ Brown Pelicans on the island were staying near the shoreline and not impacting skimmer nests (one misplaced totipalmate foot and you have a runny skimmer omelet).
Skimmers eggs hatch after about 23 days, so if things go well (very iffy in such a crowded beach area) there’s a chance that hatching may begin around 10-15 September. I urge birders to keep their eyes on these birds (from a distance) and be vigilant in keeping people and dogs away from the island (so far this doesn’t seem to be a problem, but Labor Day weekend is coming up).
Of interest among the skimmers was an adult with a pink tape-wrapped band on the R leg — banded by Charlie Collins in Orange County (Bolsa Chica?) in 1990.
A good variety of shorebirds at the lagoon included a juvenile Short-billed Dowitcher, two adult Long-billed Dowitchers, a juv. Ruddy Turnstone, 43 Snowy Plovers, etc. (I didn’t see the ~6 Wilson’s Phalaropes others saw this weekend). The Yellow-crowned-ish Night-Heron was on its favorite log east (lagoon-wards) of the second footbridge.
Kimball L. Garrett
Section of Ornithology
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
900 Exposition Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90007
213-763-3368
*******************
As Kimball suggests, please don’t walk around on the sand island. Observe from a distance. If you make any observations, you can post them on LACoBirds, or call them into Kimball at the museum. [Chuck Almdale]
Planning Meeting July 31, 2010 – Summary of Minutes
The full board of directors met at the home of Margaret Huffman for our annual planning meeting. In attendance were: Chuck Almdale, Lillian Johnson Almdale, Chuck Bragg, Adrian Douglas, Jean Garrett, Margaret Huffman, Chris Lord, Lu Plauzoles, Mary Prismon, Ellen Vahan (president).
The meeting was called to order at 10:15 am and adjourned at 2:35 pm, with a short break for lunch. Dessert was served after the meeting.
After Ellen welcomed the board and thanked Margaret for her hospitality, she read the mission statement of both NAS and SMBAS:
“The National Audubon Society’s Mission is to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds and wildlife for the benefit of humanity and the earth’s biological diversity. “
Our chapter’s particular mission is to be a center for wildlife education, habitat protection, and conservation issues that involve birds.
There was no discussion.
She also announced that David Yarnold is the new president of NAS, replacing John Flicker.
Budget for 2010/2011 fiscal year – Lillian
Income – Most of our income comes from the annual appeal. Other income sources are our dues share from NAS (this is a fixed amount), our Beginning Birding Class, and other donations (usually in memoriam).
Beginning Birding Class will again be offered again in Feb, 2011.
Year-end Appeal – We discussed mailing the year-end appeal in September along with a copy of the full-year calendar, rather than waiting until the end of November. Some concern was expressed about recipients putting aside the letter until year-end and then forgetting to send in a donation. In an effort to keep chapter members informed of activities and save mailing costs, the board decided to send the letter in September. Lillian and Ellen will head this up.
Expenses – All chapter expenses go to supporting chapter goals for education, protection and conservation issues.
Grants to Other Organizations – Every year, the board votes on charitable organizations to support with monetary grants. This year’s list includes: American Bird Conservancy, Ballona Renaissance, Ballona Wetlands Audubon Education Program, Birders’ Exchange, California State Parks Foundation, Endangered Habitats League, Friends of Big Morongo, and Student Conservation Association. (The following blog post has details about and web-links to these organizations).
UCLA Scholarships for PhD Research – We increased the number of scholarships from two to three. We also decided to offer several small grants to the public. Lillian will follow up on both of these items.
Evening Program Speaker Budget – Adrian requested that we increase the budget to allow additional compensation for speakers coming from outside the area. Board approved.
Field Trips – Chuck A. led a discussion about which field trips the chapter will offer and who the trip leaders will be. (The entire calendar will be sent with the year end appeal and posted on the website: http://www.smbas.org)
Coastal Cleanup Saturday, Sept. 25 9am to noon – Ellen reminded the board that SMBAS will again be heading up the annual cleanup efforts at Malibu Lagoon. She also noted that this year recyclables will not be segregated.
Conservation – Lu and Mary
Snowy Plovers are back on So Cal Beaches – Lu informed us that Tom Ryan hopes to get funding to study the behavior of the plovers. This would involve 2-hour shifts recording all plover activity.
Butterbredt Spring – Mary announced that Keith Axelson and Reed Tollefson sent us a letter about a pending solar project in the area. She will try to get more details. She also offered a big thank you to the Friends of Jawbone Canyon and the Student Conservation Association for installing “gates” across the illegal motorcycle trails around Butterbredt Spring.
Membership – Chuck B.
Membership is slightly under 800; NAS reports almost 100 more due to a difference in timing of expired memberships.
Chapter-only Membership – Chuck B will check to see how many Chapter-only members have expired and not renewed. He has not been sending out renewal notices, but will do so after he reviews the membership data. A chapter-only membership is $25.
Newsletter, Website and Blog – Chuck A and Chuck B
Newsletter – Chuck B is currently sending out 100 2-page imprints every other month, 5 times per year; this has cut our publication costs significantly.
Blog – Chuck A will link field trip announcements to prior year field trip reports so interested parties can get a better idea about which birds we may see on the field trip.
Articles Needed – Chuck B & Chuck A both request more articles posted to the blog on conservation and other “interesting” articles on “any” topic (i.e. birds, bird names, conservation in general, gardens for birds etc.
Programs – Adrian
Program Schedule – Adrian reported that all programs for the year are scheduled (to be included on the mailed calendar). Speakers are: Alan Polack, Neil Losin, Kurt Leucshner, Allen Kotin, Olga Clarke, Chuck & Lillian Almdale, and Ted Cheeseman. Adrian will follow up with the Santa Monica Mirror about announcing our meetings. The Mirror requires a 2 month lead time.
Program Announcements – Chuck A will post announcements on our Blog as well as on the Calbird and LA County Bird chat lines.
Program Location – Lu has again secured the Ken Edwards Center for Oct/Nov/Dec. The Feb/March 2011 applications are due in Sept.
Meeting Time – will continue to be at 7:30 pm, 1st Tuesday of the month at KEC with dinner for the speaker before.
Native Plant Presentations – Margaret and Ellen will again do some plant presentations at the start of the evening program.
November: When to Plant
December: Toyon
Hospitality – Chris Lord requested that Lillian order more refreshment cups.
Native Plants – Margaret
Fall Native Plant Sale – The Calif. Native Plant Society plant sale is Oct 2/3 at the Sepulveda Garden Center.
New Business – Ellen
Younger Members – How do we get younger members and new members to join the board? This issue was briefly discussed and tabled until a later date.
Board Contact Information – Adrian suggested that the imprint should include contact information on page 2.
Future Board Meeting Dates – 2010: 9/14, 11/9. 2011: 1/11/, 3/15, 5/17
Next Annual Planning Meeting –Summer 2011
[Lillian Johnson}
