Up in the sky! It’s a bird, it’s a plane, no it IS a bird! 50 of them.
An Unexpected Gift
A black phoebe has taken a liking to our backyard, perching variously on the spent orchid stem, the tomato plant cage, the long slender stem of the Agapanthus, and the telephone wire. She visits often throughout the day, feeding on the small yellow moths she spies in the grass, swooping down to snatch them and gliding back up to her perch to swallow them.
Indian Summer
Western Tanager, Mar-Apr 2021, Vol. 87 No. 4
Birds of the Season — February 2021
Los Angeles is one of only two counties in the state— indeed in the country— that span the breath of habitats from offshore waters to coastline to mountains to deserts. The other is San Diego County; geographically next door to us. This situation naturally translates to a high diversity of birds, with both counties being closely matched and both having recorded over 520 species. The layperson is unlikely to think of Los Angeles as a great birding destination, but it is certainly that. Every year and every season demonstrate that clearly.
Ralph W. Schreiber 2021 Ornithology Research Awards
Call for Applications
The Los Angeles Audubon Society presents an annual research grant, the Ralph W. Schreiber Ornithology Research Award, to support research relevant to the biology of birds. Award recipients are limited to students and amateur ornithologists with limited or no access to major granting agencies and who reside in southern California (from San Luis Obispo, Kern and San Bernardino Counties south) or are currently enrolled in a southern California academic institution. There is no geographical restriction on the research area.
One or more awards will be given out in 2021. Between $1500 and $5000 are awarded each year. The application deadline for the 2021 Research Award is April 30, 2021; grants will be awarded in June, 2021.
Direct any questions to Ryan Harrigan, Grants Committee Chairman, @ Institute for the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles, La Kretz Hall, Suite 300, Box 951496, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1496, By email: iluvsa@ucla.edu
Dr. Schreiber was curator of birds and mammals at the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum, known for his research on Pacific seabirds, including the impacts of the pesticide DDT on Brown Pelicans, who died in the prime of his career.
A Case of Mistaken Identity
Western Tanager Vol. 87 No. 3 Jan–Feb 2021
Coronavirus Nature Opportunities
While the Coronavirus raises havoc, it has also created an unprecedented opportunity for everyone to truly note, appreciate, and enjoy our surroundings, and experience nature from our own homes, gardens, and environments.
I have my own little ecosystem on a 4’ x 10’ balcony just outside my city condo, where nature’s drama plays out every day. Most of my personal contact with the animal kingdom rests with dogs, cats, guppies, goldfish, and a mountain lion I met napping on the hood of my car! I have ridden hunter-jumper through Torrey Pines Park chasing ecstatic hounds posing as foxes. In grad school, there were red fox dens in our stone Civil War wall and a cardinal who made her nest against our dining room window. We left seeds for the birds and meat for the foxes in Winter.
Western Tanager, Vol. 87 No. 2, November-December 2020
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