Western Tanager, Vol. 84 No. 2, Nov-Dec 2017

INSIDE THIS ISSUE, November-December 2017 Western Tanager

• What’s to Become of the Ballona Wetlands? By David DeLange, PhD, Vice President – Los Angeles Audubon

• YOUNG BIRDERS: The Western Bluebird Conservation Project, By Dessi Sieburth

• Ballona Chronicles: A Bicycle Built for Three, By Bev-Sue Powers, www.ballonaphotography.com

• Baldwin Hills program gives young people hands-on training in science and restoration. By Natasha Khann

• INTERPRETING NATURE: 2016–2017 Greenhouse Intern Project Abstracts, By Stacey Vigallon, Director of Intrpretation, and the Baldwin Hills Greenhouse Interns

• CONSERVATION GRANT: "Ballona to the Beach", By Carol Babeli, Director of Communications and Development

• Birds of the Season—October 2017, by Jon Fisher

Western Tanager, Vol. 84 No. 1, Sep-Oct 2017

ON THE COVER: Shoreline, Crystal Cove, Photo by Leslie Davidson

Crystal Cove is located in Orange County off the busy Pacific Coast Highway. Crystal

Cove State Park offers hiking in the deeply wooded canyons and water activities at the tide pools and sandy beaches.

My name is Leslie Davidson and I have been a docent at the Ballona Wetlands for the past 17 years. I enjoy photographing nature and love sharing my hobby with others.

Camera: Nikon Coolpix P510

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Western Tanager, Vol. 84 No. 1, September-October 2017

• PHOTO ESSAY: Audubon Docents: The Things We Saw, By Photo Essay | By Cindy Hardin, Director of Outdoor Education and Photos by Leslie Davidson

• YOUNG BIRDERS: Project Puffin — Audubon’s Seabird Restoration Project in Maine | By Dessi Sieburth

• Coots Make Me Smile, By Contributing Author, Bev‐Sue Powers, (www.BallonaPhotography.com)

• INTERPRETING NATURE: Aspiring Botanist Goes Plant‐hunting from Baldwin Hills to Yosemite, By Arely Mendia Perez, Environment for the Americas Intern, and Stacey Vigallon, Director of Environmental Education

• Birds of the Season – August 2017, By Jon Fisher

Western Tanager, Vol. 83 No. 6, Jul–Aug 2017

ON THE COVER

‘I’iwi | Hakalau Forest Wildlife Refuge, Photo by Jack Jeffrey

Found nowhere else in the world, the spectacular scarlet‐feathered I’iwi (Drepanis coccinea) is the last of the sickle‐billed Hawaiian honeycreepers. Before the appearance of humans in Hawaii, more than fifty different honeycreeper species were known to have existed. Today, only 18 species remain, most of these are endangered or threatened. I’iwi feathers were once collected by early Hawaiian bird catchers or “kia manu”, and used for the feathered cloaks of Hawaiian Royalty. I’iwi are still fairly abundant in the remaining high elevation native koa‐ohia forests of Hawaii Island and Maui, but rare on the other major islands. The long down‐curved bill of the I’iwi is a perfect match for the shape of tubular flowers of many native plants, making I’iwi important pollinators of these and other native plants. To see an I’iwi, or to hear its loud “rusty hinge” call is an extraordinary experience and one that can only be had in a Hawaiian rainforest.

In this issue

• YOUNG BIRDERS: Birds of the Hakalau Forest on the Big Island of Hawai’i, By Dessi Sieburth

• INTERPRETING NATURE: Does nature have a place in the English Language Arts classroom?, By Robert Jeffers, L.A. Audubon Treasurer | Instructional Coach

• Princeton Phainopepla Project, Please send your sightings to Dr. Daniel Baldassarre, Princeton University

• Birds of the Season—June 2017, By Jon Fisher

• OPINION: Every Creature on Earth is Under Threat, By Louis Tucker, LAAS Member and Field Trip Leader

• A Tribute to Judy Raskin, By Brad Rumble, LAAS Director at Large

Western Tanager, Vol. 83 No. 5, May–June 2017

On The Cover: Brown-eyed Primrose | Photo by Read Howarth

About the Photographer: Read Howarth is a disability insurance broker who lives in Los Angeles County. He moved here in 2009 from New Jersey. His then moderate lifelong interest in birding was given a jolt with his observation of a Surf Scoter in Marina Del Rey, while sailing. His first Audubon Field Trip was three years ago, on a Kurt Leuschner led trip to Anza-Borrego. It was to become the first of many Audubon walks and field trips since. Birding, sailing and volunteering as a Docent in Topanga State Park keep him out in nature and provide springboards for more educational opportunities in the natural sciences.

In this issue

• L.A. Audubon's Anza-Borrego Field Trip March 2017, By Read Howarth, LAAS Member and Field Trip Participant, Photos by Read Howarth

• Birds and Other Wildlife seen on Anza-Borrego Field TripBy Kurt Leuschner, LAAS Member and Field Trip Leader | KLeuschner@collegeofthedesert.edu

• SCHREIBER GRANT UPDATE: The role of behavior in isolation: novelty and courtship across a hummingbird hybrid zone | By Brian Myers, Grant Recipient 2015

• INTERPRETING NATURE: From L.A. to Joshua Tree: Opportunities and Experiences in Nature, By Robert Jeffers, L.A. Audubon Board Member and Joshua Tree Adventure Chaperone, Spring Break 2017

• We Wish You a Merry Christmas: An Adventure, By Louis Tucker, Los Angeles Audubon Society Member and Field Trip Leader

• YOUNG BIRDERS: The Red-crowned Parrot, By Dessi Sieburth

• Birds of the Season — April 2017, By Jon Fisher

Western Tanager, Vol. 83 No. 4, Mar-Apr 2017

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher at Peck Road Water Conservation Park in Arcadia by Mary Freeman, January 8, 2017. Taken with Canon D40 with a Canon 400mm telephoto lens.

In this issue

• ON THE COVER —Blue-gray Gnatcatcher | Photo by Mary Freeman

• Birds of the Season – Feb. 2017, by Jon Fisher

• A Wet, Wet, Wetland, By Cindy Hardin, Director of Outdoor Education & Volunteer Coordinator

• Los Angeles County’s Breeding Bird Atlas Now Available

• INTERPRETING NATURE: Being a Biologist for a Day is a Great Excuse to Get Out to the Beach!, Stacey Vigallon, Director of Environmental Education |Photos by Stacey Vigallon

• Hang in There, I’ll Get To It In A Bit, Louis Tucker, L.A. Audubon Field Trip Leader

• YOUNG BIRDERS: Birds are Citizens of the World: Protecting our Migrating Birds, By Dessi Sieburth

Western Tanager, Vol. 82 No. 6, Jul-Aug 2016

Tejon Ranch Landscape Fields of Gold (May 2016) | Photo by Jason Koenig

This is a view of the hills shrouded in clouds as we travel west to Big Sycamore Canyon, from the 300 Street gate.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

• ON THE COVER: Tejon Ranch Landscape Fields of Gold (May 2016) | Photo by Jason Koenig

• ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER: Jason Koenig

• TEJON RANCH: At Last We Get to Go Back up To the Mountain ‐ How ‘Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Away From The Ranch? | By Louis Tucker, Field Trip Leader for Los Angeles Audubon

• YOUNG AUTHORS: My Trip to Alaska | By Dessi Sieburth

• INTERPRETING NATURE: 2015-2016 Greenhouse Intern project abstracts | By Stacey Vigallon, Director of Interpretation, and the Baldwin Hills Greenhouse Interns

• Let's Get Outside | By Cindy Hardin, Director of Outdoor Education

• Birds of the Season—June 2016 | By Jon Fisher

• PRESS RELEASE: Your Breeding Bird Atlas Arriving Soon | By Larry Allen

Western Tanager, Vol. 81 No. 5 May-Jun 2015

American Wigeon, Photo by Tony Bianchi

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

• Birds of the Season — April 2015 | Jon Fisher

• FIELD TRIP REPORT: Anza-Borrego State Park Birds, Wildflowers, Insects, and More, March 2015 | By Kurt Leuschner

• U.S. Dept. of Education honors Dorsey High School with the Green Ribbon School Award | By Stacey Vigallon, Director of Environmental Education

• The ABA Young Birder of the Year Contest 2015: Protecting our Local Birds | By Dessi Sieburth

• Disney Wildlife Conservation Representative Visits L.A. Audubon | With Stacey Vigallon & Carol Babeli

Western Tanager, Vol. 81 No. 2, Nov-Dec 2014

California Quail, Lancaster Christmas Bird Count 2008 | Photo by Mary Freeman

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

• Let's Not Forget The Little Things, By Cindy Hardin

• Condors at Hopper Mountain, Report From the Field, By Dessi Sieburth

• Ralph Schreiber Grant 2015

• 115th Christmas Bird Count—Why Do A Count?, By Nick Freeman

• Birds of the Season — October 2014, By Jon Fisher

• INTERPRETING NATURE: Environment for the Americas & Celebrate Shorebirds Internship Program, By Stacey Vigallon, Director of Interpretation, and Carlos Jauregui, Restoration Coordinator

• How You Are Helping!, By Carol Babeli, Director of Communications and Development

Western Tanager, Vol. 81 No. 1, Sept-Oct 2014

Liberty Canyon, Photo by Mary Freeman

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

• Birds of the Season — August 2014, By Jon Fisher

• 7 Summits Womens Team, By Carol Babeli

• Birds, Ballona & Block Printing, By Cindy Hardin, Director of Outdoor Education

• If You Have the Urge To Visit the Metropolitan New York Area..., By Louis Tucker

• INTERPRETING NATURE: The 2013-2014 Greenhouse Intern Project Abstracts, By Stacey Vigallon, Director of Interpretation, and the Baldwin Hills Greenhouse Interns

• VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: Ballona Wetlands Volunteer Docent Training, Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area Volunteer Docent Training, Business, Community & Alumni Groups Ongoing Restoration Work

Western Tanager, Vol. 80 No. 5, May-Jun 2014

Sandhill Cranes, Pixley NWR & Kern NWR, March 25, 2014 Photo by Tommye Hite

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Western Tanager, Vol. 80 No. 5, May-June 2014

• Birds of the Season—April 2014 | By Jon Fisher

• Conservation Art Show 2014 at Leo Politi Elementary School

• Cactus Commencement Celebration 2014

• Sandhill Crane Field Trip Pixley and Kern NWR’s | By Jim Moore

• TRIP REPORT: Anza-Borrego Birds and More (March 22-23, 2014) | By Kurt Leuschner

• Spring in Ballona —A Little Rain Can Do Wonders | By Cindy Hardin

SCHEDULES, Bird Walks, Field Trips, Monthly Program Presentations