20SOWT

Western Tanager, Vol. 87 No. 1, Sep-Oct 2020

PDF Vol. 87 No. 1 Sep–Oct 2020 Western Tanager

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

INTERPRETING NATURE — Baldwin Hills Greenhouse Program Research Projects, By Stacey Vigallon & Baldwin Hills Greenhouse Program Interns

OUTDOOR EDUCATION — “More on Perspective, Pandemic Changes”, By Cindy Hardin

YOUNG BIRDERS — “The Brown Pelican”, By Dessi Sieburth

WINGING IT: Discovering the Caribbean Birding Trail
Part 3—The Rare Birds of St. Lucia,
By Lisa Freeman

BIRDS OF THE SEASON — August 2020, By Jon Fisher

BOOK REVIEW

A History of the World in 12 Maps AND Underland: A Deep Time Journey,
Written By Brandon Kim, Greenhouse Program Intern

FROM OUR READERS

The Spider and The Fly, By Ms. Sherry L. Roberts

A New Beginning, By Rachelle Arslan

Springtime in South Pasadena, By Mary Anne Lower and Julie Vogel

Winging It: Discovering the Caribbean Birding Trail: Part 3: The Rare Birds of St. Lucia

All of the island’s six endemic species—the St. Lucia Parrot, St. Lucia Peewee, St. Lucia Warbler, St. Lucia Oriole, St. Lucia Black Finch and this thrasher—face the same challenges: encroaching developers and predators demanding more turf on an island only 27 miles long and 14 miles wide. Fortunately, conservation efforts have, for now, saved important tracts of tropical and mountain forests like the Des Cartiers Rain Forest, the Edmund Forest Reserve, the Castries Water Works Reserve, and the Millet Bird Sanctuary.

FROM OUR READERS: Springtime in South Pasadena During Covid Pandemic 2020

FROM OUR READERS: Springtime in South Pasadena During Covid Pandemic 2020

It has been an eventful spring. Early I spotted a pair of Red Whiskered Bulbuls, a first for me. They must have been nesting nearby, as I saw and heard them all season. Next our ravens returned daily, in the carrotwood tree, enjoying the large berries, in spite of the 'gang' of Northern Mockingbirds dive bombing them and hissing away. It went on all afternoon for all of a month, and then one day in June they all vanished.

OUTDOOR EDUCATION: More on Perspective

The year 2020 has been rife with events unlike any that we have ever seen. Our way of life from a mere six months ago has changed in many new and challenging ways. Lots of new nomenclature is also popping up in the language that we use: compliance, non-compliance, rate per 100,000, unprecedented, synchronous, asynchronous, pandemic—the list goes on and on.

Birds of the Season — August 2020, By Jon Fisher

By normal standards the first half of the summer of 2020 was relatively mild. No complaints about that, as those lower temperatures mean a more pleasant time in the field. As of mid-August however both the heat and seemingly inevitable fire season had arrived.