November-December 2008 Western Tanager Newsletter - Los Angeles Audubon

8/8/2019 November-December 2008 Western Tanager Newsletter - Los Angeles Audubon

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For the past dozen years I

have spent most of my

springs and summers

monitoring Cactus Wren populations in

the Nature Reserve of Orange County

(NROC). Operating under a Board of

Directors that consists of

representatives from public and quasi-

public agencies, conservation groups,

and The Irvine Company, the NROC is

a nonprofit corporation responsible for

managing roughly 37,000 acres of

public and private land set aside in

1996 under terms of the Natural

Community Conservation Plan/Habitat

Conservation Plan (NCCP/HCP) for

Central and Coastal Orange County. Inexchange for setting aside the land

roughly 17,000 acres in the coastal

reserve and 20,000 acres in the central

reserveand funding an endowment

to pay for its long-term stewardship,

the participating land owners received

a streamlined development process for

parcels within the central and coastal

planning areas that supported more

than 7,000 acres of coastal sage scrub.

The NCCP/HCP identifies the

Cactus Wren, California

Gnatcatcher, and Orange-throated

Whiptail lizard as its target

species. The reserve was designed

to meet the ecological requirements

of these species and many other

Identified Species, with the

understanding that the three target

species would serve as surrogates

for the broader suite of organisms

that depend upon coastal sage scrub

Volume 75, Number 2 November/December 2008

WESTERNTANAGER

a publication of Los Angeles Audubon www.laaudubon.org

Cactus Wrens in Central & Coastal Orange County:

How Will a Worst-Case Scenario Play Out Under the NCCP?

by Robert A. Hamilton

Figure 1. Photo taken on 19 July 2006 of a young Cactus Wren in California Buckwheat

(Eriogonum fasciculatum ) at the UC Irvine open space, Nature Reserve of Orange County

This fragment of cactus scrub and ruderal (weedy) habitats, located along the NROC's northwestern

edge, covers approximately 70 acres and typically supports roughly five pairs of Cactus Wrens

Amazingly, this may be the largest concentration of Cactus Wrens remaining in the NROC's coasta

reserve. Photo byRobert A. Hamilton

A friend who reviewed a draft of the following essay suggested that some readers might interpret my comments

mainly as a plea to feather the nests of Cactus Wren biologists, myself included. Such a critique may seem reasonable,

but it is my experience that biological consultants most concerned about money typically seek to arouse as little public

notice as possible. This is especially true of consultants who frequently work on projects and initiatives with potential forpublic controversy. The problem, of course, is that this practice tends to stifle public airing of important policy issues that

could benefit from judicious exposure to light. I have prepared the following essay in the belief that members of Los

Angeles Audubon and others who read the Western Tanager would appreciate an update on the Cactus Wrens

precarious situation in Orange County as well as an evaluation of possible implications for the NCCP process.


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for their continued survival in the

central and coastal Orange County

NCCP planning area. The

NCCP/HCP specifies that the

populations of the target species

shall be subject to long-term

monitoring and that these taxa shall

be treated as if they were listed

under the California EndangeredSpecies Act and the Federal

Endangered Species Act (the

gnatcatcher is, of course, federally

listed as threatened).

From 1999 to 2003 the NROC

contracted with the Institute for Bird

Populations to conduct constant-effort

mist netting at several sites within the

central and coastal reserves. This

effort demonstrated broad-baseddeclines in the populations of several

bird species dependent upon coastal

sage scrub (annual percentage change

in population size of -8.1% for all bird

species pooled)1 . In general, the

declines appeared to be related to

drought conditions that prevailed

during the years in question, but the

overall conclusion of DeSante et al.

was that several more years of data

will likely be required to confirm thatthe overall declines in landbird

breeding populations now observed at

NROC are real, and determine if there

is an actual trend to productivity.

From 1999 to 2004 I monitored

Cactus Wren and California

Gnatcatcher populations at 40 sites

scattered across the NROC. During

this six-year period, detections of

territories per site declined by 33%for California Gnatcatchers in the

central reserve, 17% for California

Gnatcatchers in the coastal reserve,

26% for Cactus Wrens in the central

reserve, and 68% for Cactus Wrens

in the coastal reserve2 . Extrapolating

these results yielded a population

estimate of 5540 Cactus Wren

territories in the coastal reserve in

2004. The first three declines were in

line with the broad-based, short-term

declines that DeSante et al. (2003)

documented for several scrub-

dependent bird populations in the

NROC. It seemed likely that these

moderate short-term declines

represented part of a long-term cycle

of boom and bust in response toweather patterns, particularly the

amount and timing of precipitation.

The much larger drop in detections

per site for Cactus Wrens in the

coastal reserve, however, provided

obvious cause for concern,

especially since the detection rate

declined by 25% between 2003 and

2004, a period when detection rates

for Cactus Wrens in the central

reserve and California Gnatcatchersin both reserves increased in

response to a good rainy season.

The coastal reserves Cactus

Wren population had been of

heightened conservation interest ever

since the Laguna Beach Fire of

October 1993 burned approximately

13,000 acresnearly 75% of the

reserve area. As reported by

Bontrager et al.3, pre-fire surveysyielded an estimate of 282 Cactus

Wrens within the fires perimeter,

and surveys conducted in spring

1994 documented 79 pairs remaining

in partially burned scrub within the

burn perimeter. But cactus grows

very slowly, and the wrens need

extensive patches of meter-tall

cactus in order to successfully breed.

By 2001, Cactus Wrens could be

found at only 31 sites within theburn perimeter4. In order to get a

better handle on the situation

throughout the coastal reserve, the

NROC contracted with me to map

and classify all of the reserves

cactus resources in 2006 and to

simultaneously conduct focused

surveys; I found finding 46 Cactus

Wren territories. I repeated these

E2 Western Tanager

surveys in 2007 and could find only

23 territories in the entire coastal

reserve. Not only were the birds

doing poorly within the burn

perimeter, but for reasons not truly

understood they were blinking out of

areas like the Sycamore Hills (east of

Laguna Canyon Road and north of

El Toro Road), where wrens werethick only a few years ago and where

the cactus scrub never looked better.

Page II-37 of the EIR/EIS prepared

for the Central and Coastal Orange

County NCCP/HCP reports that 421

sites were known to be occupied

by Cactus Wrens within the NCCP

coastal planning area during the

early 1990s. Thus my 2007 count

represents about 5% of the pre-

NCCP total.

Page II-37 of the NCCP/HCP

EIR/EIS reports that 612 sites

were known to be occupied by

Cactus Wrens within the NCCP

central planning area during the

early 1990s, and my final reserve-

wide sampling effort in 2004 yielded

an estimate of 374113 territories in

the central reserve. Although

reduced from the earlier reportedlevel, the Cactus Wren population in

the NROCs central reserve was

generally regarded as reasonably

stable and secure until 2007, when

the Windy Ridge and Santiago fires

consumed more than 28,000 acres in

the Lomas de Santiago and the Santa

Ana Mountains, including 16,000

acres within the central reserve. The

NROC responded in early 2008 by

contracting with a team of biologiststo map and survey all of the cactus

resources in the central reserve. One

of them, Brian Leatherman (pers.

comm.), estimates that roughly 67

Cactus Wren territories now exist in

the entire central reserve, a decline

of 89% from the pre-NCCP figure.

This bad situation would, of course,

become dire if the central reserves


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wren population undergoes a post-

fire decline similar to that

documented in the coastal reserve

during the past 15 years.

The NROCs stated mission is:

To ensure the persistence of the

Reserves natural communities,

including the full spectrum of nativeplant and animal species, through the

protection, study and restoration of

native habitats and natural processes.5

The terms study and restoration

both fall under the NCCPs adaptive

managementprovisions. As set forth

in the NCCP/HCPs Implementation

Agreement: Adaptive

Management shall mean a flexible,

iterative approach to long-termmanagement of biotic resources that

is directed over time by the results of

ongoing monitoring activities and

other information. Biological

management techniques and specific

objectives are regularly evaluated in

light of monitoring results and other

new information. These periodic

evaluations are used over time to

adapt both the management

objectives and techniques to betterachieve overall management goals.6

The U.S. Department of the

Interior has put together a worthwhile,

seven-part technical guide to adaptive

management that includes the

following introductory language: It is

thought by many that merely by

monitoring activities and occasionally

changing them, one is doing adaptive

management. Contrary to thiscommonly held belief, adaptive

management is much more than

simply tracking and changing

management direction in the face of

failed policies, and, in fact, such a

tactic could actually be maladaptive.7

Among numerous published

definitions for the general concept of

adaptive management, Wikipedias is

reasonably complete and concise:

Adaptive management (AM), also

known as adaptive resource management

(ARM), is a structured, iterative process

of optimal decision making in the face of

uncertainty, with an aim to reducing

uncertainty over time via system

monitoring. In this way, decision makingsimultaneously maximizes one or more

resource objectives and, either passively

or actively, accrues information needed to

improve future management. AM is often

characterized as learning by doing.8

The article further explains that

active adaptive management involves

testing various specific hypotheses to

determine which management

approach works best, as when amanager tests and compares various

restoration techniques on a single

weedy hillside. Monitoring and

managing bird populations across

expansive landscapes would generally

use apassive approach, described as

follows: Passive adaptive

management begins by using

predictive modelingbased on present

knowledge to inform management

decisions. As new knowledge isgained, the models are updated and

management decisions adapted

accordingly [Emphasis added].

It is notable that the

NCCP/HCPs definition of adaptive

management does not mention

modeling, and that modeling played

no role setting reserve boundaries.

Instead, the reserve design process

largely consisted of biologists,

planners, and other representatives

of various public agencies and

private interests poring over the

1991-92 distributions of coastal sage

scrub and the three target species

and reaching a compact under which

mostbut not allof the most

important populations of target

species would be preserved in a two-

November/December 2008 E3

WESTERNTANAGERPublished by

Los Angeles Audubon Society,

a chapter of

National Audubon Society.

EDITOR: Linda Oberholtzer

LAYOUT EDITOR: Susan Castor

PROOFREADERS:Hanna Hayman, Marilyn Morgan

CONSERVATION: Garry George

FIELD TRIPS:Nick FreemanPELAGIC TRIPS: Phil Sayre

PROGRAMS: Mary Freeman

ORNITHOLOGY CONSULTANT:

Kimball Garrett

PRINTING: G2 Graphics Services, Inc.

Opinions expressed in articles or letters

herein do not necessarily express the

position of this publication or of

Los Angeles Audubon Society.

PRESIDENT:

Mary Freeman

1st VICE PRESIDENT:

David De Lange

2nd VICE PRESIDENT:Paul Fox

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY:

Linda Oberholtzer

RECORDING SECRETARY:

Eleanor Osgood

TREASURER:

Lisa Fimiani

EXECUTIVE PAST PRESIDENT:

Dexter Kelly

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR:

Mary Loquvam

Membership in Los Angeles Audubon is $10

Student, $25 Individual, $35 Couple, $50

Family, $100 & $250 Donor per year, and$1,000 Lifetime. Members receive the

Western Tanager newsletter and other

benefits. Donations and memberships can be

made online at www.laaudubon.org

Make check payable to Los Angeles Audubon.

Los Angeles Audubon Headquarters, Library

and Nature Store are open to the public

Monday Thursday

9:30 AM 4:00 PM

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West Hollywood, CA 90046-6694

(323) 876-0202 office

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Printed on Recycled Paper


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part habitat reserve (central andcoastal) that represented a

compromise acceptable to all

parties. The reserve designers

possessed relevant information on

the locations of hot spots for the

three target species and for various

other sensitive species, but they

lacked long-term monitoring data

for the target species that might

have, for example, tracked cyclical

population fluctuations in responseto short-term weather patterns,

identified locations of source and

sink populations, or observed the

long-term responses of populations

to large-scale fires. As stated on

Page II-298 of the EIR/EIS that

covered establishment of the

reserve: The overall strategy of the

NCCP/HCP is to provide a viable

ecosystem which minimizes theneed for active intervention to

support viable populations of the

Target Species. However, some

ongoing active management will be

necessary (e.g., for pest control and

fire management).

Thus, the central and overriding

prediction of the EIR/EIS

preparerssometimes stated as afait

accompliwas that the agreed-uponreserve system would, with proper

adaptive management,be adequate

to ensure the persistence of the

Reserves natural communities and

associated native species over the

long term. See, for example, Pages

II-295 and II-296 of the EIR/EIS:

Implementation of the subregional

adaptive management program

maintains net long-term habitat

value in the subregion in two ways:

first, creation of the Reserve

System will provide the essential

habitat necessary to sustain the

target and Identified Species

within the subregion. [. . .]

second, significant opportunities

for restoration and enhancementhave been identified and are created

within the Reserve System. [. . .]

To be fair, the EIR/EIS goes on to

acknowledge that a habitat areas

future suitability may be affected by a

number of factors, including

successional dynamics, widespread

catastrophic events, and changes in

competing organisms. Nevertheless,

the language quoted above connotes alevel of certainty about the

NCCP/HCPs ability to sustain

biodiversity that seems nave 12 years

later, as one of the plans three target

species flirts with extirpation in both

the central and coastal reserves.

Rather than going into details of

the monitoring program outlined on

Page II-298 to II-302 of the EIR/EIS,

let me simply note that theNCCP/HCPs prescribed monitoring

approach did not lend itself toward

gathering the depth or breadth of

ongoing field data required to develop

predictive models or otherwise

provide for legitimate adaptive

management. Instead, the approach

seemed geared toward providing

enough ongoing data to show that the

NCCP/HCP was meeting its

conservation goals. Once biologistsstarted implementing this limited

monitoring approach and trying to

draw inferences about population

trends that could be extrapolated to

the two reserves at large, or cull

information that could prove useful in

an adaptive management framework,

the monitoring schemes inadequacy

was manifest.

E4 Western Tanager

Figure 2. Photo taken on 15 September 2006 showing cactus scrub at the UC Irvine open

space. The view is to the west. Evident in the photo are Coast Prickly-Pear (Opuntia

littoralis), California Buckwheat ( Eriogonum fasciculatum), Chalk Dudleya (Dudleya

pulverulenta), and California Sagebrush (Artemisia californica). Also conspicuous are a big

new parking lot, the San Joaquin Hills Toll Road, Bonita Creek (on the far side of the toll

road), exotic landscaping, and suburban residences. Cactus Wrens thrive at this location yet

show no ability to colonize seemingly attractive cactus scrub at Upper Newport Bay, two

miles to the west. This suggests very poor dispersal abilities, at least across a landscape

intensely modified by humans. Photo by Robert A. Hamilton. Photo byRobert A. Hamilton


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Under the guidance of Trish

Smith of The Nature Conservancy,

the program underwent a thorough

re-evaluation and overhaul before

the 1999 field season. It is not clear

to me that even the retooled and

vastly improved monitoring

approach would be adequate for use

in developing a reliable predictivemodel for the three target species,

but the results obtained between

1999 and 2004 did establish

convincingly that Cactus Wrens in

the coastal reserve were declining on

a scale and following a pattern

unlike that shown by Cactus Wrens

in the central reserve or by

California Gnatcatchers anywhere in

the NROC. With an even larger

percentage of the central reservehaving burned in 2007 than burned

in the coastal reserve in 1993, and

with the combined number of Cactus

Wren pairs in both reserves having

perhaps fallen into double digits, it is

fair to suggest that wren populations

in central and coastal Orange County

have entered a period of crisis.

The worst-case scenario that I

have described requiresconsideration of two controversial

aspects of the NCCP/HCP that its

architects must have hoped would

never be invoked. First is the federal

governments Habitat Conservation

Plan Assurances (No Surprises)

Rule, which was set forth by the

Secretary of the Interior on 11

August 1994 and ultimately codified,

after additional public review and

input, on 23 February 19989. Boileddown to its essence, No Surprises

means the following: Once an HCP

permit has been issued and its terms

and conditions are being fully

complied with, the permittee may

remain secure regarding the agreed

upon cost of conservation and

mitigation. If the status of a species

addressed under an HCP unexpectedly

worsens because of unforeseen

circumstances, the primary obligation

for implementing additional

conservation measures would be the

responsibility of the Federal

government, other government

agencies, or other non-Federal

landowners who have not yet

developed an HCP.10. . .

If additional conservation and

mitigation measures are deemed

necessary to respond to unforeseen

circumstances, the Services may

require additional measures of the

permittee where the conservation plan

is being properly implemented, but

only if such measures are limited to

modifications within conserved habitat

areas, if any, or to the conservationplans operating conservation program

for the affected species, and maintain

the original terms of the conservation

plan to the maximum extent possible.

Additional conservation and mitigation

measures will not involve the

commitment of additional land, water

or financial compensation or

restrictions on the use of land, water

(including quantity and timing of

delivery), or other natural resourcesotherwise available for development or

use under the original terms of the

conservation plan, without the consent

of the permittee.

Section 8.9 of the NCCP/HCP

Implementing Agreement is long and

legalistic, but the gist is that the U.S.

Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS)

may reach a finding of Extraordinary

Circumstances (now referred to asUnforeseen Circumstances) if it

identifies a significant and

substantial adverse change in the

population of an Identified Species

[such as the Cactus Wren] within the

Central/Coastal Subregion, which

was not contemplated by the

NCCP/HCP. Before making such a

finding, the USFWS must consider

several specified factors, consult

with the California Department of

Fish & Game, and consider any

responses submitted by any other

Parties. If, after completing many

steps, the Director of the USFWS

determines that a finding of

Unforeseen Circumstances is

warranted, the terms of theNCCP/HCP may be modified in an

effort to provide for recovery of the

population(s) in question, and the No

Surprises rule is invoked.

Before I am accused of crystal

clear hindsight, or of failing to

recognize the many valid reasons

why this NCCP/HCP turned out the

way it did, let me provide the

following context for my criticisms.

First, I believe that nearly all

who have participated in developing

the NCCP/HCP for central and

coastal Orange County, and my

colleagues who have also

participated in its implementation,

have done so honestly, thoughtfully,

and constructively. At the time the

NCCP/HCP was finalized in 1996, I

myself would have thought itextremely unlikely that the NROCs

Cactus Wren populations could or

would collapse as precipitously as

they have. I am unaware of any

expert on the species or on reserve

design who warned that such a rapid

collapse was anything but a

theoretical possibility.

With regard to predictive modeling, I

quote from the Scientific Review Panelassembled by the California Department

of Fish & Game to review the Western

Riverside County Multiple Species

Habitat Conservation Plan (MSHCP),

which was adopted in 2003: The plan is

constrained by data limitations and the

need to protect appropriate habitats

before they disappear. Many of the most

useful models of habitat connectedness,



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viability analyses based on

metapopulation dynamics, and multiple-

species approaches to planning have

come only from the theoretical literature

and are very recent. Most tests of those

ideas are only beginning and largely

being undertaken in areas exclusively

within federal lands that can be surveyed.

Thus, even the concept of BestAvailable Science is difficult to assess.

The best available data was integrated.

The best available models could not

adequately be parameterized.11

That such a statement was issued

seven years after adoption of the

NCCP/HCP suggests that, as a

practical matter, predictive modeling

probably could not have been

adequately parameterized for usein designing the reserve system for

central and coastal Orange County.

I regard the NCCP/HCPs land

set-asides, conservation plans, and

operating endowment as better

conservation outcomes than would

have been likely to be attained

through the project-by-project

approach to coastal sage scrub

conservation planning that was theprevious norm in central and coastal

Orange County, and that is still

practiced in many jurisdictions in

southern California. Because the

wren populations in question are

classified as part of

Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus

anthonyi, the widespread subspecies

found in Californias deserts and

surrounding areas, these populations

are not, at this time, regarded even asCalifornia Species of Special

Concern, let alone listed as

threatened or endangered. With the

coastal Cactus Wrens recognition

as target species of the NCCP/HCP

and consequent monitoring, we

undoubtedly know much more about

this birds changing status and

distribution in Orange County than

we would have otherwise.

Furthermore, the NCCP/HCP

established a conservation structure

that can jump-start the process of

population recovery.

Typically, cactus plantings take

many years to become usable by

Cactus Wrens. Whereas an intensiveprogram of cactus scrub restoration

undertaken early in the NROCs

existence might have put managers

in a better position to start seeing the

wren population recover several

years from now, such a program

probably would not have helped to

stem the decline that has taken place

over the past dozen years.

Finally, Cactus Wrens appear tobe in decline all along the coastal

slope of southern California, from

Ventura County southward. These

populations were the subject of a

regional symposium held by the

NROC in April 2008, and since that

time a coastal Cactus Wren working

group has been convening to start

developing a coordinated approach

to conserving these populations.

Since this is a regional issue, andsince Cactus Wrens appear to be

doing poorly even in parts of the

NROC not obviously impacted by

wildfires or other disturbances, it is

unclear that even 100% preservation

of the habitat that existed in 1992

would have fundamentally improved

the current situation.

In light of all that, you may well

be asking yourself, Okay then,whats this guys beef? My first

concern is that the EIR/EIS for the

NCCP/HCP for central and coastal

Orange County generally seemed to

assume that a worst-case scenario for

any Identified Species was very

unlikely to happen, and yet we all

knew (a) that Cactus Wrens were

likely to suffer serious adverse effects

from major wildfires, and (b) that such

fires become more frequent as human

populations increase. In hindsight, it

might have been wise to specify some

level of contingency funding for

stepped-up fire management practices

and intensive supplemental cactus

restoration projects in case the

problems associated with increasedfrequency and/or extent of wildfire

turned out to be more serious than

reserve planners hoped and assumed

they would.

Another concern is that the bare-

bones monitoring program outlined

in the NCCP/HCP was inconsistent

with the plans explicit reliance on

adaptive management as an

important guarantor of coastal sagescrub ecosystem health and

functions. The architects of the

NCCP/HCP did not realistically

determine the breadth and depth of

monitoring data that would be

necessary to create and sustain a

viable adaptive management

program, and as a result the NROCs

monitoring budget is chronically

underfunded. For example, the

NROC stopped funding the reserve-wide, constant-effort mist netting

venture after collecting five years of

data. With each passing year of

operation this long-term data set was

becoming a more valuable adaptive

management tool, and because the

program was being run by part-time

interns the costs were relatively low.

The NROC may not be flying

blind in the absence of its long-term

banding program, but a potentiallyvaluable piece of navigation

equipment has been mothballed for

lack of funds.

Finally, one must question whether

the Cactus Wren is truly being treated

as if it was a listed species in the central

and coastal Orange County NCCP

planning area. Has the time come for

E6 Western Tanager


7/24

the USFWS to seriously consider

whether a finding of Unforeseen

Circumstances might be warranted for

the Cactus Wren in the coastal and/or

central reserves? While it is true that

such a finding would trigger the No

Surprises rule, the Federal Register

article suggests possible opportunities

for the federal government to share theincreased costs that would be

associated with intensifying Cactus

Wren recovery efforts: Also, nothing

in this final rule prevents the

Services from asking a permittee to

voluntarily undertake additional

mitigation on behalf of affected

species. While an HCP permittee

who has been implementing the HCP

and permit terms and conditions in

good faith would not be obligated toprovide additional mitigation, the

Services believe that many

landowners would be willing to

consider additional conservation

assistance on a voluntary basis if a

compelling argument for assistance

could be made.12

Tacitly acknowledged in the

above-quoted passage is the notion

that the federal government isseldom the only entity with a vital

interest in the success of a given

HCP. This is the first opportunity for

the NROC and its Board of Directors

to prove that the NCCP/HCP for

central and coastal Orange County

can achieve its central conservation

goals even when populations of an

Identified Species fail to thrive

according to plan. Many people and

institutions have worked long andhard to bring this plan to fruition;

nobody wants to see it fail.

My final point is cautionary. As

new conservation accords are

contemplated, such as the one that

Audubon California and other groups

recently signed at Tejon Ranch, it will

be important for the negotiating

parties to avoid the temptation to

downplay the chances for worst-case

scenarios and to realistically calculate

the costs of operating a

comprehensive monitoring program

capable of (a) identifying potentially

serious problems promptly and (b)

collecting the depth and breadth of

information required to avoid orremedy serious problems through true

adaptive management.

1 DeSante, D. F., Pyle, P., and

Kaschube. D. 2003. The 2003 Annual

Report of the Monitoring Avian

Productivity and Survivorship

(MAPS) Program at the Nature

Reserve Of Orange County. Report

dated 30 September 2003 prepared forNature Reserve of Orange County.

2 Hamilton, R. A. 2004. Target

Bird Monitoring Study, Nature

Reserve of Orange County, 2004.

Report dated 3 November 2004

prepared for Nature Reserve of

Orange County. Statistical analysis by

Martha White, Ph. D., and Karen

Messer, Ph. D.3 Bontrager, D. R., Erickson, R. A.,

and Hamilton, R. A. 1995. Impacts ofthe October 1993 Laguna Fire on

California Gnatcatchers and Cactus

Wrens. Pp. 6976 in Brushfires in

California Wildlands: Ecology and

Resource Management. J. E. Keeley and

T. Scott (eds). International Association

Wildland Fire, Fairfield, WA.4 Harmsworth Associates. 2002.

Final California Gnatcatcher and

coastal Cactus Wren monitoring

report for the San Joaquin Hills burnarea 2001. Report dated January 2002

prepared for Nature Reserve of

Orange County.5 http://www.naturereserveoc.org/6http://www.naturereserveoc.org/

NCCP%20Parts%20I%20&%20II%2

0-%20Plan.pdf7http://www.doi.gov/initiatives/A

daptiveManagement/documents.html

8http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada

ptive_management9 Federal Register 63:8859887310 Federal Register 63:8867.11http://repositories.cdlib.org/ccb

WRC-MSHCP/12 Federal Register 63:8869.


ROBB HAMILTON is a consulting

biologist who has worked in an

around Orange County for 20 years

He was a member of the Nature

Reserve of Orange County's original

Technical Advisory Committee and

has worked as a consultant to theReserve on various aspects of bird

monitoring. He has co-authored two

books: Birds of Orange County

Status and Distribution and Rare

Birds of California.


8/24

Imagine Great Blue Herons

nesting in palm trees justbeyond your bedroom

windows. Picture Black-crowned

Night-Heron adults and their young

foraging in your yard beside a

swimming pool. And a Barn

Swallow swooping down to skim

water from the pools surface before

disappearing toward nearby ocean

waters. Imagine hearing a husky

warbler chip just seconds before a

Common Yellowthroat drops fromthe olive tree near your bedroom

window to the ground, not 15 feet

from the night-herons.

Welcome to my yard at the Villa

Venetia Apartments in Marina del Rey

where I have lived the last nineteen

years. The four bird species just

described, along with several others,

have all appeared in my yard over

recent weeks, sometimessimultaneously. Also, for the first

time this breeding season, Double-

crested Cormorants, four pairs of

them, nested in the same Monterey

Cypress trees that support other Great

Blue Heron nests at the Villa Venetia

Apartments. Over the years, Red-

tailed Hawks, when circling these

same trees, have found themselves

facing off with a dozen or more

agitated adult herons protecting theirunhatched eggs and hatchlings.

Set at the seaward-most extent of

Fiji Way, at the end of a peninsula

separating Ballona Creek from the

dredged Marina del Rey channel, my

apartment complex is located less

than three hundred yards from the

open waters of the Pacific. The

complex sits on filled wetlands and

is separated from other still(partially) functioning wetlands by a

bike path on one side and by Ballona

Creek on another side. Within the

Ballona Valley, the Villa Venetia

grounds are geospatially unique.

Partly as a result of the features just

described that make its location so

unusual, there are few other places in

the entire Ballona Valley watershed

that attract such a broad diversity of

avian species.

White-tailed Kites nested in a pine

tree at the Villa Venetia Apartments in

2002. The pine tree stands in the

shadow of the Great Blue

Heron/cormorant nesting trees. The

adult Kites raised three young that

year. I rescued one of the young from

a neighboring apartment patio where

it had fallen unfledged from its nest. I

captured the young bird from behindafter cornering it by placing one hand

around the nape of its neck and the

other around its unforgettably

powerful legs. The experience left a

deep, lasting impression.

I have occasionally seen

Coopers Hawk in my yard. Twice a

Sharp-shinned Hawk has appeared,

in both instances alighting atop a

swimming pool umbrella, fromwhere it surveyed the yard. My yard

is typically teeming with sparrows

and finches when these accipiters

show up probably looking for a meal.

Not surprisingly, having a

swimming pool in such a setting is

asking for trouble. Female Mallards

have regularly led their chicks from

nests in the nearby wetlands to the

pool. There they have taught theiryoung pool exit strategies and how

to dive. In most Mallard families of

any size, there is typically one

duckling that refuses to dive.

Predictably the mother eventually

gets on top of her difficult charge

and forces the youngster under water

by pressing it downward with her

neck and bill.

E8 Western Tanager

My Patch

The Birds of Villa Venetia in Marina del Rey

Great Blue Herons Nest Building,

Photo by Leah Walton

Great Blue Herons of Villa Venetia in Marina del Rey,

Photos by Leah Walton


9/24

The swimming pool is often

filled with guano not only from the

annual Mallard female with chicks

occupying it but also, in the monthspreceding her appearance, from a

gaggle of bad boy male Mallards

who hang together at and near the

pool while the females are tending

their nests. Various gull species also

appreciate the fresh water drink the

pool provides and love to float on its

surface while taking bathroom

breaks. No pool side gathering of

avian miscreants however would

seem quite complete without BrownPelicans, who intermittently appear

at the pools edge, staring toward its

waters, with no apparent reason for

being there.

Migration usually brings surprises

to my yard. Five years ago, a

Summer Tanager appeared in one of

the (Washingtonian) palm trees near

the poolside. Spring of 2007, brought

a Wilsons Warbler to the edge of myporch overlooking the pool, not seven

feet from where I now write. A few

springs past, a Lazuli Bunting passed

through the yard.

Until recent years, a Black Scoter

or two would sit in the marina channel

less than fifty feet from the Villa

Venetia swimming pool. Western and

Clarks Grebes have replaced the

wintering scoters now, along with an

occasional Red-breasted Merganser. I

have also recently photographed as

many as 14 Great and Snowy Egrets

loafing together on the jetty rocks just

ashore of where this marina channelconnects with the Villa Venetia grounds.

In January, 2008, the California

Coastal Commission made a finding

that the tree stands supporting heron

nesting and roosting at the Villa

Venetia Apartments (and at other

marina localities) are an

Environmentally Sensitive Habitat

Area or (ESHA). The Coastal

Commission based their findingmainly on the occurrence of Heron

(and elsewhere, in the marina,

Snowy Egret and Black-crowned

Night-Heron) nesting. Over time, I

hope to further convince the CoastalCommissioners that the overall

geospatial uniqueness and

remarkable biodiversity of the Villa

Venetia location should become the

basis of their ESHA designation, and

that all of the Villa Venetia grounds

therefore, and not just the heron nest

supporting trees, should be declared

an ESHA.

There are, however, significantLos Angeles County and developer

pressures to scrape the Villa Venetia

premises clean and to replace the

existing 3-story apartment buildings

with a 13- story condominium

complex. These pressures, which

have been successfully opposed for a

decade, have nevertheless resulted in

repeated removal and degradation of

nesting and roosting habitat at Villa

Venetia, mainly involving excessivetree trimming and nest destruction.

But the birds in general have rebuilt

their nests in the degraded trees and

are not budging. Furthermore, birds

have on the whole increased their use

of the Villa Venetia habitat over

recent years. The avian diversity and

most species counts especially have

increased over the last 10 years. So

the very best to the birds of Villa

Venetia, my back yard birds. For their

habitat to survive, they will need all

the help from us they can get.

November/December 2008

by David De Lange, PhD

Vice President

Los Angeles Audubon

White-tailed Kite, Arnold Small Photographic Collection,

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County


10/24

This summer, 12 students

from Dorsey High School

participated in restoration

ecology training programs in the

Baldwin Hills, a joint project

between Los Angeles Audubon and

Earthworks Restoration (funded by

the Baldwin Hills Conservancy and agrant from National Audubons

TogetherGreen program).

After an intensive application

process last May, we selected five

students to participate in the Baldwin

Hills Greenhouse Internship Program,

and seven for the Restoration

Leadership Program. In August and

September these students learned

about coastal sage scrub ecology, birdidentification, invasive plant species,

and orienteering with map, compass,

and GPS. Throughout the duration of

the school year, students will conduct

research at the Baldwin Hills

greenhouse, help remove invasive

plants and replace them with natives,

and serve as leaders in their school

and community. We are excited about

the upcoming role they will play in

the restoration of the Baldwin Hills

and the positive impact they will have

on the surrounding community.

In the last issue we heard from

Rosemary Virula, a Dorsey graduate

now attending CSU Northridge andcurrently our Interpretation Intern.

This issue well hear from Chris

Simmons, a student participating in

the Baldwin Hills Greenhouse

Internship Program. Now in his

senior year at Dorsey High School

and looking toward college, Chris is

a scholar-athlete: he is currently

captain of the wrestling team, a

participant in Dorseys Film

Production Program, and is a UCBerkeley Incentive Awards Program

Scholar. What follows is Chriss

perspective on how he would like to

integrate his diverse interests in a

way that aids the cause of

conservation. Again, we hope this

students essay helps you to

understand the inner-city experience

and that it inspires you to get

involved in our programs in the

Baldwin Hills

Though seemingly unrelated, I hope

my passions for both film andenvironmental science mix in an effort to

break the cycle of misinformation

regarding the environment. I plan to act

as a vanguard of environmental

awareness and empathy. One day I intend

to motivate the general public into

mobilizing and reversing our negative

effect on this planet. Through both film

and the Baldwin Hills Greenhouse

Program I intend to increase

environmental awareness within my localcommunity and eventually the world.

Growing up in inner city Oakland,

California, my experience with nature

was limited to the sidewalk weeds until

my fifth grade teacher, Mr. Abar, took

our entire class camping in the

Redwood Regional Forest. We hiked

about 10 miles wearing 30 lb packs. I

was mesmerized. We saw a banana

slug, deer, snakes, streams, and even afleeting glimpse of a mountain lion.

This personal interaction with nature

continued through middle school and I

enjoyed more hikes into the Redwood

Forest where I learned about the water

cycle and to how read pH levels. And

the older I became, the more I engaged

with nature, from canoeing in the San

Francisco Estuary to spending a

weekend at a conservation retreat

learning how wildlife has adapted to the

San Francisco Peninsula after

demilitarization. These transformative

events guided me towards

environmental conservation.

Since the ninth grade at Susan

Miller Dorsey High, I have been a part

of many programs. In my junior year I

joined Dorseys Global Warriors Eco-

E10 Western Tanager

I n t e r p r e t i n g N a t u r

Stacey Vigallon,

Director of Interpretation

Students in the Baldwin Hills Greenhouse Internship Program

remove ice plant from a hillside at the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook Park.


11/24

Club, and through it I was introduced

to the Baldwin Hills Greenhouse

Internship. Since the internships

Greenhouse Boot Camp I learned the

negative effect that invasive species,

such as ice plant, can have on an

ecosystem and how to deal with it. Inaddition to learning about local

wildlife, both native and introduced, I

learned about the local ecology and the

roles various organisms, from people to

plants to animals, play within their

community. I believe that because we

interns have learned so much about the

environment we will play an integral

part in the fight to save it. Not only

that, but myself and the other interns

have gained real world experiences inconservation ecology and science that

almost none of our peers have had. In

comparatively short time we have

learned how to do environmental

research, cultivate plants, cast tracks,

and even recognize birds simply by

their calls.

One wonders how film and the

environment are interrelated, but its as

simple as finding a piece of theenvironment and filming it. As part of

the Dorsey Film Production Program

for what will be my second year, I am

committed to making well-crafted

films. that educate and motivate

viewers to take action. I am proud to

say that our film program has already

taken a step in that direction with our

project, Sharing the Beach with

Western Snowy Plovers. We worked

with Los Angeles Audubon to create apublic service announcement regarding

the Western Snowy Plover, a once

plentiful species that is now federally

threatened as a result of human activity.

Creating this film was a team effort,

and we were very excited to be

recognized for our efforts by the

California State Assembly in July 2008

at Audubon Film Fridays. Our film

serves as a great example of

community service by students, and

represents a prime example of what

film can do to expose people to the

world around them.

Film can challenge how peoplethink. Consider Al Gores An

Inconvenient Truth and its influence

on the general public and

environmental policy. Though it

wasnt the first film about

environmental awareness, people

related to its urgency and began

making changes. People generally do

not react to something unless it is

personal. Showing environmental

catastrophes in our backyardsamplified the message of awareness

and action. Film is a unique apparatus

in that it reaches a broad audience

through a blend of images, sounds,

and words. A film can reach the shores

of distant nations, and so will the

message of that director. Through my

knowledge of film and the

environment I hope to emphasize

action to restore our planet and build

on the work of ecologists, filmmakers,

and environmental pioneers around

the world.

In 10 years, I see the Baldwin Hills

becoming a model of environmental

awareness and ecological sensitivitywithin the city of Los Angeles and even

the world. I see it repopulated with

native plants and animal species like

costal sage shrub, prickly pear cactus,

California Gnatcatchers, and the

Cactus Wren. While film can initiate

this change for many, so can the work

of people within the community.

Neighbors can be

conservationists and we can perpetuate

the transition into a more ecologicallyaware community.


Chris Simmons,

Baldwin Hills Greenhouse Intern

Students in the Restoration Leadership Program learn how to use a compass and get a

great view of the city from the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook Park.


12/24

SNOWY PLOVERDOCENTSNEEDED!

As we have mentioned in past issues, we are

developing a Snowy Plover Docent Program.We need enthusiastic volunteers willing to help

educate beach-goers of all ages about plover conservation and

sandy beach ecology. Docents will lead groups on tours of

Snowy Plover roosting sites and take detailed behavioral data

on plovers during the fall and winter months. If you are

interested in participating, please contact Stacey Vigallon.

[email protected], (323) 481-4037

In this and subsequent Volunteer Corner features,

we plan to let our volunteers do some of the talking.

Learn first-hand what sparked their interest and whattheir volunteer experience has been like. First up is

Georgianna Dryer, who has been a dedicated volunteer

for both Snowy Plover and Least Tern monitoring

programs this past year

I love the outdoors, nature and all of the creatures that

share this planet with us, well almost all. I could do with

out centipedes (although, chickens wouldn't agree with

me - to them, they are their equivalent to our HaganDazs Ice Cream). Well, when I remarried and sold my

house on 19 acres in the lush subtropical jungle of Maui,

Hawaii and moved to Los Angeles, I felt like a fish out

of water. That is until I started looking for the nature that

surrounds us even in the cement jungles of the big city. I

joined Los Angeles Audubon and started discovering the

local parks, deserts and mountains that are full of flowers,

wild life and birds.

I was asked if I would be interested in monitoring the

Snowy Plovers on the Dockweiler Beach and jumped at

the chance to become involved. And I am so happy that

I did! I fell in love with those cute little birds, which

unless I was out there with my binoculars looking for

them, I would have walked right over them just like I

have observed so many other beach goers doing. It

amazes me that people walking or jogging the beach

will go right through a group of Snowy Plovers and not

even see them. I want to shout..."Look, look, see how

cute. See what your are missing. See what we might all

miss if we don't protect them!" Georgianna Dryer

E12 Western Tanager

Volunteer Cornerby Stacey Vigallon and

Eleanor Osgood

Illustration by Stacey Vigallon


13/24

Annas hummingbird males

differentiate between conspecific and

heterospecific birds; they respond

more aggressively towards songs of

their own species. To date, our

results are inconclusive as to

whether Annas males distinguishneighbors from strangers, but

analysis is ongoing. Our preliminary

results indicate that individual

Costas males vary greatly in their

level of response to playback, but do

not appear to distinguish between

individuals or species. Costas males

therefore, do not appear to be using

song as a signal for species or

individual recognition. The

differences we are finding in the waythat Costas and Annas

hummingbirds respond to territorial

intrusions indicate that song may

indeed function differently in these

two sister species.


RESEARCH: NEIGHBOR-STRANGER

RECOGNITION IN ANNAS AND COSTAS

HUMMINGBIRDS

Hummingbirds, like songbirds,

learn and sing complex songs.

Whether they also use song torecognize individuals, like songbirds

do, has not been studied. Our

research investigates the role of

hummingbird song in individual and

species recognition using a pair of

sister species: the Annas

hummingbird (Calypte anna) and the

Costas hummingbird (Calypte

costae).

The two species within theCalypte genus have songs that are

quite different from each other. The

whistled song of the male Costas

hummingbird is relatively simple

compared to the multi-syllabic,

broadband male Annas

hummingbird song (see attached

spectrographs). We wondered if

these structural differences mirrored

functional differences in the song of

these two species.

The traditional approach to

studying individual recognition in

songbirds is a neighbor-stranger

playback experiment. This type of

experiment operates on the

assumption that a territorial bird will

react more aggressively towards a

singing stranger than towards a

singing neighbor. Since a territorial

bird hears its neighbor singing from

the adjacent territory on a regular

basis, it would be energetically

wasteful to continually attack thesinging neighbor. However, an

unfamiliar bird poses more of a

threat, as it may be attempting to

take over the males territory.

We set out to simulate the

intrusions of neighbor and stranger

males onto the territories of Annas

and Costas males, so that we could

measure the males responses to

these different stimuli. We workedmainly in desert scrub habitat in both

Anza Borrego State Park, CA, and

the Boyd Deep Canyon Research

Center near Palm Desert, CA. We

also worked with Annas

hummingbirds at the San Joaquin

Wildlife Sanctuary in Irvine, CA.

For each territorial male, we played

back previously recorded songs of a

neighbor, a stranger, a competitor of

a different species (either Costas or

Annas hummingbird) and a non-

competitor of a different species

(House Finch). We measured the

males aggressive responses to the

playback, such as amount of time

spent singing and closest approach to

the playback speakers.

Schreiber Grant Recipients

by Schreiber Grant Recipients

Carina Castro & Bethany Williams

Houtman Lab

Department of Biological Sciences

California State UniversityFullerton


14/24

Autumn does not officially arrive

until September 22, but fortunately,

southbound fall migrants

completely disregard that fact.

Otherwise, it would be a long, hot

and rather uneventful summer at

least for birders. To the average

resident of Los Angeles Countymigration is all but invisible; but for

the dedicated observers who were

out looking, there were plenty of

birds on the move and enough

vagrants to make things interesting.

Shorebirds were much in

evidence as usual, with numbers of

expected species and a few of the

rare but regular also found-- the

majority of them in the countys twogreat shorebird magnets.

With virtually all of our coastal

wetlands obliterated by human

development, the concrete lined

lower LA River has become--

improbable, as it might seem-- the

one coastal location that offers

southbound shorebirds an extensive

and valuable habitat. On almost any

day from July through September,thousands of birds use the river as a

resting and feeding stopover. As a

bonus, its very accessible from a

birding perspective.

The desert has its own man-

made wetland. The Piute Ponds on

Edwards Air Force Base were

initially created almost 50 years ago

in an effort to prevent treated

wastewater from entering Rosamond

Dry Lake. For some time now, these

ponds have been a rich wetland

habitat. The ponds are not only for

finding shorebirds: waterfowl and

waders thrive here as well and the

area attracts migrant passerines inspring and fall. Since it takes more

effort to travel to and gain access to

these ponds, they are not as well

covered as the LA River. One

wonders what they would produce if

subjected to the same intense and

near daily coverage.

Though these two locations

together produce the largest

concentrations of shorebirds and areconsistent in producing rarities, there

are many other places to look. The

LA River stretches for miles and there

are many other spots along its path

that attract birds. Any drainage

channel of significant size and most of

our flood control basins also hold

shorebirds given the right conditions.

Old favorites the Ballona Wetlands

and Malibu Lagoon always have

potential as do portions of the SanGabriel River and the Lancaster

Sewer Pondshome of southern

Californias only record of Gray-tailed

Tattler in 1981. I suspect only birders

could swoon over sewer ponds.

While shorebirds are most of the

story from July through early

September, there were also small

numbers of passerines passing

through the county starting right

after July. Even a few low-end

vagrants had turned up by early

August. As expected, things started

to heat up as we approached the

middle of September, with a sudden

spike in vagrants and an increasingflow of regular southbound migrants

As is typical, there was quite a

bit of variety from mid-July to mid-

September

Interesting waterfowl were

virtually non-existent, but an out of

season Lesser Scaup at Colorado

Lagoon in Long Beach on August 12

was notable (Robb Hamilton).

Very rare, and earlier than the few

previous records would lead us t

expect, was a Manx Shearwater tha

was seen from Pt. Vicente on August 4

(Mike San Miguel).

A few Brown Pelicans wandered

away from the coast. A juvenile was a

Sepulveda Basin from August 9-16

(Jon Fisher) and another was at BonellPark in San Dimas from August 17-

September 13 (Andrew Lee). Two

others were at Harbor Regional Park in

Wilmington in mid-August-- much

closer to the coast but still away from

where they are expected.

Raptors included an early

Northern Harrier in the Ballona area

E14 Western Tanager

birds of the season by Jon Fisher


15/24

on August 17-18 (Roy van de Hoek).

Meanwhile, there were two reports of

single early Swainsons Hawks

passing through in August with one at

Eaton Canyon in Pasadena on August

17 (Hill Penfold) and another over

Claremont the following day (TomMiko). Unexpected, and a real rarity

in the county, was a Broad-winged

Hawkflying over Bonelli Regional

Park in San Dimas on September 13

(Andrew Lee).

The fall's first Merlin was along

the San Gabriel River in Duarte on

September 13 (Ron Cyger).

Waders of note included acontinuing Little Blue Heron at

Ballona, which was seen through July

21, and a Cattle Egret at Malibu

Lagoon on August 8 (Michael Zarky).

The first Solitary Sandpiper of the

fall was on the lower LA River on July

28 (Richard Barth). A half dozen more

were found there between August 14 and

September 10. Away from the river,

Solitaries were on the Rio Hondo in ElMonte on August 13 and at Bonelli Park

in San Dimas on August 17 (both

Andrew Lee) while two others were

along Ballona Creek on September 7

(Michael Zarky, Ron Batie).

A Stilt Sandpiper on the LA

River on July 12 (Karen Gilbert, Jeff

Boyd) was followed by a second on

July 26-27 (Tom Wurster). Despite

this promising start, there was nothingto match the peak of the invasion last

fall when a dozen were found in a

single day in early September.

The seasons first Semipalmated

Sandpiper was on the lower LA

River on July 31 (Richard Barth) and

two were present in the same area on

August 2 (Kimball Garrett). The last

one reported there was on August 23

(Richard Barth). The first at the Piute

Ponds were two juveniles on August

11 (Jon Feenstra, Janet Cupples, Liga

Auzins). A good find was a

Semipalmated on the LA River in

Glendale-- away from the typicalshorebird hotspots-- on September 10

(Jim Hardesty)

The first Bairds Sandpiper

reported was at the Piute Ponds on

August 3, followed by two there on

August 11 (both Jon Feenstra). The

first lower LA River birds were two or

three on August 17 (Jon Fisher, Mark

Scheel, Tom Wurster). Multiple

Bairds were being seen regularly onthe river from mid-August through the

end of the period. Elsewhere, the

Lancaster Sewer Ponds hosted two

Bairds on August 21 (Tom Miko) and

six of them on August 30 (Susan

Steele). Also of note were single

Bairds at Pepperdine University

Ponds from August 25-27 (Heather

Medvitz), on the Rio Hondo in El

Monte on August 31 (Larry Schmahl)

and at Malibu Lagoon on September 7(James Kenney).

The seasons first Pectoral

Sandpiper was found at Malibu

Lagoon on September 5 (James

Kenney). Right on its heels was one

on the LA River in Paramount on

September 9 (Richard Barth), with the

same or a third one there on the

September 11.

Good numbers of phalaropes-- 400

Wilsons Phalaropesand 75Red-necked

Phalaropes-- were at the Lancaster Sewer

Ponds on August 3. A week later, the sewer

ponds hosted over 1000 Wilsons

Phalaropes (Jon Feenstra). Also of interest

was a concentration of over 30 Red-necked

Phalaropes on Ballona Creek from

September 6-8 (Roy van de Hoek).

Gulls and terns included a

Sabines Gull-- a rare transient

inland-- at the Lancaster Sewer Ponds

on August 30 (Susan Steele). A

Common Tern was at Ballona on

July 24-25 (Jonathan Coffin) and

another was well inland at BonelliRegional Park on September 9

(Andrew Lee). A lone Black Tern on

the lower LA River on July 20

(Richard Barth) was the only repor

away from the deserts.

There were only a few reports of

alcids. A Pigeon Guillemot was a

Pt. Dume on August 17 (Kimball

Garrett) and Common Murres were

in the Ballona Channel in Playa deRey on September 9 (Christopher

Taylor) and at Pt. Vicente on

September 13 (Mike San Miguel).

A few dispersing Lesser

Nighthawks were reported with the

most noteworthy being one on the

UCLA Campus on August 4 (Linda

Navroth). Another was on the mov

over Altadena-- closer to known

breeding sites-- on August 18 (WilFulmer), while a third was over

Benedict Canyon in Beverly Hills on

September 5 (Raymond Schep).

Rare in summer was a single

Chimney Swift seen multiple times

along the lower LA River between July

17 and August 23 (Jeff Boyd, Kevin

Larson); another was recorded at

Harbor Regional Park in Wilmington

on September 12 (Brian Daniels).

Two separate reports of a White-

winged Dove at Pt. Dume on August 3

and August 17 were likely of the same

individual (Ken Corey, Kimball Garrett)

The only other report was of two at Pt

Vicente on September 13 (Bill Cullen).



16/24

A Gray Flycatcher at Bonelli Park

on August 24 and seen through

September 13 was almost certainly a

returning bird that spent last winter

here (Andrew Lee). Two more Grays

turned up on September 13 with one

in Duarte (Ron Cyger) and the other

at the Eaton Canyon Flood Basin in

Pasadena (Linda Navroth).

A juvenile Vermilion Flycatcher

was at Madrona Marsh in Torrance on

September 4 indicating possible

breeding locally (Dave Moody).

A Bells Vireopair was along the

San Gabriel River near San Jose Creek,

in appropriate habitat but away from

known breeding sites, on August 6

(Mike San Miguel). Migrant BellsVireos are rarely recorded, but single

birds were found at DeForest Park in

Long Beach on August 9 (Karen

Gilbert, Jeff Boyd) and at the Eaton

Canyon flood basin in Pasadena on

August 24 (Tom Wurster, Liga Auzins).

One of the best finds so far this

fall, was the county's sixth confirmed

Yellow-green Vireo at DeForest Park

on September 11-12 (Karen Gilbert,Jeff Boyd). It was seen by many

birders over its brief two-day stay, but

then apparently moved on.

A female Purple Martin on the

LA River near DeForest Park in Long

Beach on September 12 (Richard

Barth) was the only one reported.

Single Bank Swallows were

found on the lower LA River onAugust 2 (Kimball Garrett) with

another seen there on August 23 (Ed

Stonick). Two more were at Piute

Ponds on August 11 (Jon Feenstra,

Janet Cupples, Liga Auzins).

A Horned Lark, quite rare coastally,

was seen near Pepperdine University in

Malibu on August 27 (Dan Cooper).

Unusual parulids were few in

number but included two Lucys

Warblers; one at DeForest Park in

Long Beach on August 9 (Karen

Gilbert, Jeff Boyd) and another at the

Eaton Canyon flood basin in Pasadena

on August 24 (Tom Wurster, Liga

Auzins). A Virginias Warbler was

also at DeForest Park in Long Beachon September 4 (Karen Gilbert, Jeff

Boyd) and another was at Banning

Park in Wilmington on September 12

(Brian Daniels). Also of note were a

Black-and-white Warbler at Harbor

Regional Park on September 12 (Brian

Daniels) and an American Redstart

found at Legg Lake in South El Monte

on September 13 (Jon Feenstra).

The Summer Tanager pairpresent since May 25 at the Rancho

Santa Ana Botanic Garden in

Claremont eventually produced an

unusual breeding record when they

were observed feeding two juveniles

on July 27 (Tom Miko). More

expected were two migrant Summer

Tanagers that turned up in early

September. One was at Kenneth Hahn

Park on September 6 (Ann Brooks)

and the other was at the Village GreenCondominiums in Los Angeles on

September 8 (Don Sterba).

A Northern Cardinal was at

Hansen Dam on July 12 (Kimball

Garrett). With small-established

populations in the Whittier Narrows

area and now one at the Sepulveda

Basin, determining the origin of these

birds is somewhat problematic,

though it is virtually certain that thesewanderers are escapees.

An early arrival was an adult male

Indigo Bunting at Bonelli Park in

San Dimas seen from August 2-9

(Andrew Lee). An adult Bobolinkat

Piute Ponds on August 11 was also

quite early (Jon Feenstra, Janet

Cupples, Liga Auzins). A Yellow-

headed Blackbird along the lower

LA River on September 13 constituted

the only report thus far (Dany Sloan)

After mid September, the game

will be on in earnest, with greater

numbers of land bird migrants and

newly arriving wintering birds

making for even greater diversity.While it has obviously already

begun, vagrant season too will reach

its peak. With any luck, what we

have seen thus far is just a teaser for

whats to come in the latter half of

September through October. Just as

I am finishing this column, there is a

report of a Bluethroat found on San

Clemente Island. When it comes to

vagrants, the possibilities are always

wide open and intriguing.

All too soon most of our

migrants will have gone and it will be

time to start thinking about Christmas

Counts, putting on a jacket for those

early morning birding trips and

searching out whatever unusual

lingering birds autumn migration left

behind. No matter what the season,

there are always new birds right

around the corner.

E16 Western Tanager

Errata

In the Western Tanager, Vol. 75

Number 1, September/October 2008

article "The Quaking Aspen Ow

Prowl, July 3-6, 2008"; it should be

corrected in paragraph 1, tha

Quaking Aspen Campground is east

of Porterville (not west). In paragraph

8, the description of the Spotted Owl's

call should be changed to "Woh Woh-

Woh WOOOo". This is based upon

evaluating a number of taped calls and

from my personal experience

Apparently, "Who cooks for you" has

been used by some to describe

Barred Owl's call. Mary Freeman


17/24


CONSERVATION CONVERSATION

WESTERN SNOWY PLOVERS ON

DOCKWEILERBEACH GET PROTECTION

FROM LA COUNTY!

Los Angeles County Beaches &

Harbors have agreed to protectWestern Snowy Plovers on

Dockweiler State Beach! The

decision was made after a four-hour

meeting arranged by the County

agency with Los Angeles Audubon,

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Los

Angeles Planning Commission, Los

Angeles Fire Department Lifeguards,

Commissioners Sara Wan and

William Burke of the California

Coastal Commission and Tom Ryanof Ryan Ecological Consulting.

The agreement is a result of two

years of monitoring of Western

Snowy Plovers on Los Angeles

County beaches by volunteers from

three Audubon chapters Los

Angeles, Santa Monica Bay and Palos

Verdes/South Bay. The monitoring

project, which continues yearly

thanks to grant funding by U.S. Fish

& Wildlife Service and California

Fish & Game Office of Spill

Prevention and Response, is led by

biologist Tom Ryan of Ryan

Ecological Consulting, with Volunteer

Coordination by Los Angeles

Audubons Director of Interpretation

Stacey Vigallon. Observations made

by Audubon volunteers include a

freshly killed female in a tire track, a

steep decline in the wintering

populations in LA County, and

evidence of scrapes as the first

possible breeding attempts since1949. In their 2007 annual report,

Audubon and Ryan Ecological

Consulting have recommended that

Los Angeles County provide fencing

protections for the plovers due to

disturbance from beach grooming,

beach vehicles, recreation, dog

walking and other human activities.

The 2007 report with maps and

information on the Snowy Plover

Project are available onwww.losangelesaudubon.org under

Endangered Species on the Main

Menu.

The coastal population of Western

Snowy Plover was listed as a

federally threatened species under the

Endangered Species Act in 1993. The

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

designated portions of Dockweiler

State Beach as critical habitat for the

recovery of the Snowy Plover. The

fencing will be placed inside that

critical habitat zone.

The fencing at Dockweiler State

Beach will be three sided and open to

the ocean so that the plovers can have

easy access to feed on the insects and

invertebrates that inhabit the wrack

(seaweed) that is left on the beach.

The longest side, parallel to the

ocean, will be 300 feet long, with

sides of 100 feet at each end. The

fence will be monitored by biologistsfrom Ryan Ecological Consulting as

well as volunteers from Audubon, and

Los Angeles Audubon with help from

a grant from USFWS to assist this

outreach program that will include

docents to interact with beachgoers

and explain the need for the

protections, and to educate the public

on Western Snowy Plover. Stacey

Vigallon will create and administer

the outreach program for Los AngelesAudubon with our partners Santa

Monica Bay and Palos Verdes/South

Bay Audubons.

Additionally, Dockweiler State

Beach has been included in the

mapped area of the Ballona Valley

Important Bird Area by Audubon

California, which also includes the

Least Tern colony on Venice Beach,

and now qualifies for increased

protections from the state office of

National Audubon.

Thanks to Stacey, Tom, and all

the volunteers for the Snowy Plover

project who made this important

conservation milestone happen.

by Garry George


18/24

Sandra Albers

Yvonne C. Arias

Nicholas ArmstrongKarl Bouvier

Louis Brinker

Ed & Marnell Bruce

Eileen Burton

Ann Cavalieri

Dixie L. Cleary

Buford Crites

Joanne Glazer

Ola Jane Gow

Dr. Charles R. Hamilton

David K. HensleyMichael Hersh and Deborah Myers

Jeri & Richard Hughes

Mr. William Johnston

18 Western Tanager

thank You!The Membership Department wishes to thank all of our members and donors

both new and renewed! Your memberships help us to fulfill our mission...

The mission of Los Angeles Audubon is to promote the enjoyment and protection of birds and other wildlife

through recreation, education, conservation and restoration.

Gary Wallen

George R. White DDS

John WillisIrwin Woldman

Lifetime Members

Mary Semski

Breeding Bird Atlas Donors

Mary & Nick Freeman

We thank the following who made

heartfelt donations in honor of

loved ones:

In Memory of Herb Clarke

Mary Semski

Jennifer Jones

Marion L. Joy

Paul & Virginia KubicArthur Langton

Anna Marie Bovill Lea

Kasi McMurray

Hope Nathan

Paul Nelson

Sydney Newell

Drew Pallette

Joan L. Roach

Judy & Robert Scharff

Julie and Gabe Sende

Suzanne SiegelCatriona J Simms

Jason A. Stuck

Tanis Sugden & Lisa Mark

NATURE STORE HOURS

NOVEMBER / DECEMBER, 2008

JANUARY, 2009

Our regular Headquarters and Nature

Store hours are:

Monday through Thursday

9:30 AM to 4:00 PM.

We will be OPEN the following

Saturdays between 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM.

November 1, 2008

December 6, 2008

December 13, 2008

December 20, 2008January 3, 2009

We will be CLOSED the following days:

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Thursday, January 1, 2009

This new book combines thePeterson Field

Guide to Eastern Birds and thePeterson

Field Guide to Western Birds in one volume,filled with accessible, concise information

and including almost three hours of video

podcasts to make bird watching even easier.

40 new paintings

Digital updates to Petersons original

paintings

All new maps for the most up-to-date

range information available

Text rewritten to cover the United States

and Canada in one guide

Range maps on every spread

Headquarters and Nature Store

N10446 $26.00 N12489 $29.95

Birdwatcheris a comprehensive,

illustrated biography of Roger Tory

Petersona hero in the conservationworldincluding interviews with friends,

family, and protgs.

A wonderful biography, bold and

surprising and lively, crackling with the

adventures of the man who did more than

anyone else to create the modern

popularity of birdwatching. -Kenn

Kaufman, author ofThe Kaufman Field

Guide to Birds of North America


19/24

Sunday, November 9

Upper Franklin Canyon

(Sooky Goldberg Nature Center),Beverly Hills

Time: 9:00 a.m.

Leader: Eleanor Osgood

Join us as we walk around the ponds

in this urban oak woodland nature

preserve. We are guaranteed to see

the resident Wood Ducks and

chaparral bird species such as

California Quail, Spotted and

California Towhees, California

Thrasher. Also, expect to see somemigrating songbirds and flycatchers.

This canyon is a hidden treasure

where the surrounding urban

residences of Sherman Oaks and

Beverly Hills disappear from view.

Meet in the parking lot of the Sooky

Goldberg Nature Center and bird for

a few hours in the cool of native trees

and ponds.

Directions: From the 101 Freeway,

take Coldwater Canyon Blvd. southto the intersection of Coldwater

Canyon and Mulholland Drive. Make

a 90 degree right turn onto Franklin

Canyon Drive. There is no sign

indicating the entrance to the park.

The turn at Franklin Canyon Road

reads Road Closed 800 Feet and

Sunrise to Sunset. This is the park

entrance. Do not make a U-turn-- as

this will take you onto Mulholland

Drive instead of Franklin Canyon.Stay on paved roads to reach the

Sooky Goldberg Nature Center. From

Sunset: take Coldwater Canyon to

Mulholland Dr. Turn right on

Mulholland. Make right turn onto

Franklin Canyon Dr. (refer to

directions from 101 Freeway).

Binoculars provided.


Bird Walks November/December

Bird Walks are geared for the

beginner/intermediate looking for

an introduction to local birds ora less strenuous excursion.

Appropriate for young bird

watchers age 8 years and older.

Binoculars are provided on some

walks as noted below.

1st Sunday of every month

Sunday, November 2

Sunday, December 14

Topanga State Park Birdwalk

Leaders:Ken Wheelandand Chris

Tosdevin

Time: 8:00 a.m.

Ken and Chris will lead participants

through this beautiful and diverse

coastal mountain area. An ideal trip

for a beginning birder or someone

new to the area. From Ventura Blvd,

take Topanga Canyon Blvd 7 miles

S. Turn E uphill on Entrada Rd.

Follow the signs and turn left into

Trippet Ranch parking lot. From

Pacific Coast Hwy, take Topanga

Canyon Blvd. 5 miles to Entrada Rd.

Parking fee.

Contacts:Ken: (310) 455-1401,

[email protected];

Chris: (310) 455-1270

3rd Sunday of the month,

August through MaySunday, November 16

Sunday, December 21

Ballona Wetlands Bird Walk

Leaders: Bob Shanman and Friends

Time: 8:00 a.m.

Join us for a walk through L.A.s only

remaining saltwater marsh and the

adjacent rocky jetty. Wintering

shorebirds and terns should be present,

plus the resident Black Oystercatchers

frequenting the rocky shores of BallonaCreek. Meet at the Del Rey Lagoon

parking lot. Take the Marina Fwy (90)

to Culver Blvd and turn left for a mile.

Turn right on Pacific Ave. The lot is on

the right. Lot or street parking is

usually not a problem. Three hour

walk. Scopes helpful.

Contact: Bob (310) 326-2473;

[email protected]

3rd Saturday of the month

Saturday, November 15

Leaders:Eric and Ann BrooksSaturday, December 20

Leader - TBA

Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area

Time: 8:00 a.m.

This trip covers landscaped

parkland, a lake and natural coastal

scrub habitats and is paced for

beginning birders and members of

the Baldwin Hills community. Come

look for migrating warblers and

returning sparrows and ducks alongwith the resident birds. The park

entrance is off of La Cienega Blvd.

between Rodeo Rd. and Stocker St.

After passing the entrance kiosk

($4.00 parking fee) turn left (leading

to the Olympic Forest) and park in

the first available spaces.

Binoculars provided.

Please watch our website for our

upcoming 2009 Pelagic schedule.

The first trip will be on Saturday,

February 28th. Going to the Palos

Verdes Escarpment on the boat

Pacific Adventure. The trip departs

from Ports-of-Call in San Pedro. $70


20/24

Sunday, November 30

West Antelope Valley Raptors and

Other Wintering Birds.

LeaderJean Brandt, will lead us

from Quail Lake east across the

Antelope Valley. Ferruginous Hawk

and Prairie Falcon likely. Wear warm

clothing, bring lunch, and have a full

tank of gas. Meet at Dennys at 6:45

AM to carpool. Take 405N to

Roxford in Sylmar. Turn right, then

right into the Dennys parking lot.

Trip leaves at 7:00 a.m. sharp. Rain

cancels. Scopes and FRS radios

helpful.Nominal donation suggested.

Saturday, December 13

Newport Back Bay

Leader:Mary Freeman

Meet on the boardwalk along the NW

bay at the Sharp-tailed Sparrow

Spot accessible from the end of

University Drive (small street) at

8:00 a.m. for the 7.1 high tide, and a

full day of birding in the area. High

tide at the mouth is 8:37 a.m., but

may not peak in the Back Bay until

after 9:00 a.m.. Three rails, Nelsons

Sharp-tailed Sparrow and Short-

eared Owl (both rare) will be target

birds. Eurasian Wigeon, Blue-winged

Teal, California Gnatcatcher, and

Bittern expected. Take the 405 Fwy Sto the 73 Toll Road (free this far) to

the Campus Dr. exit, which becomes

Bristol St. Turn right on Irvine Ave.,

drive 1.4 miles, then turn left on a

small street called University Drive.

Park at the end, walk down the hill,

over the bridge, and to the end of the

boardwalk. Bring lunch. Scopes

helpful.Nominal donation suggested

E20 Western Tanager

field trips & Christmas Bird Counts

FIELD TRIPS often require more time or effort than Bird Walks, and delve

more deeply into identification, natural histories and interactions observed in

the field. All are welcome on either type of trip. Reserveper directions in the

gray boxon the next page. No pets or small children, please.

LOS ANGELES BASIN

CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT

Sunday, Jan. 4, 2009

Meeting place (optional): 7:00 a.m. and 1

p.m., Rancho Park, north entrance on Motor

just south of Pico.

Compilation dinner: TBD

Participation fee:

$5.00 (to National Audubon Society.)

I am going to be compiling the Los AngelesBasin Christmas Bird Count (formerly simply

"Los Angeles" CBC) for LAAS this year, and

want to start by recognizing the hard work of

the previous organizers, Eleanor Osgood,

Barbara Courtois and Cindy Hardin,

particularly in boosting participation and

keeping interest in this count high - thanks!

I don't anticipate making any major changes; I'd

like to maintain the original subregions which

have been used for years, as well as the

subregional leaders.

As in past years, we'll have a centralizedmeeting place (Rancho Park, near Pico/Motor)

where we can gather the morning of the count

to split into teams, and meet back there around

1 pm to see what species are still missing. We

will also have a compilation dinner that night

(location TBD).

While I pull together this information from

Eleanor, please drop me a line if you'd like to

participate in any capacity, from being sent out

alone to look for target species, to joining a

slow-paced group for a few hours, to helping

organize the compilation dinner.

"Feederwatchers" are also encouraged to

participate.

And, if you have a traditional area that you and

your friends have done before, and that you

would like to cover again this year, let me know.

All ages and abilities are welcome!

Dan Cooper

cell: (323) 397-3562

email: [email protected]

Saturday, November 1

Oxnard Plain

Leader:Larry Allen

Meet at the Hueneme sod fields at

8:00 a.m. to look over the American

Pipits for the Red-throated variety, as

well as longspurs. Golden-Plovers are

also possible. There may be eastern

vagrants to chase. Mugu estuary,

Sycamore Canyon, and local tamarisk

stands are also possibiliti

Documents

November-December 2008 Western Tanager Newsletter - Los Angeles Audubon