Rare Bird Alert
Jon Fisher
Rare Bird Alert - April 26, 2024

Long-tailed Duck | Common Goldeneye | Red-necked Grebe | Black Swift | Western Cattle Egret | Franklin’s Gull | Yellow-footed Gull | Pacific Loon | SWALLOW-TAILED KITE | Tropical Kingbird | THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD | Swainson’s Thrush | Brown Thrasher | Cassin’s Sparrow |Palm Warbler | Pine Warbler

Rare Bird Alert
Jon Fisher
Rare Bird Alert - April 19, 2024

Long-tailed Duck | Red-necked Grebe | White-winged Dove | Yellow-crowned Night-Heron | Brown Booby | Dusky-capped Flycatcher | Brown-crested Flycatcher | THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD | Purple Martin | Brown Thrasher | White Wagtail | Clay-colored Sparrow | Orchard Oriole | American Redstart | Chestnut-sided Warbler | Palm Warbler | Pine Warbler | Black-and-white Warbler | Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Rare Bird Alert
Jon Fisher
Rare Bird Alert - April 12, 2024

White-winged Dove | Red-necked Grebe | Franklin’s Gull | Lesser Black-backed Gull | Western Cattle Egret | Tropical Kingbird | THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD | Brown Thrasher | White Wagtail | Clay-colored Sparrow | Swamp Sparrow | Black-and-white Warbler | Chestnut-sided Warbler | Palm Warbler | Hepatic Tanager

Rare Bird Alert
Jon Fisher
Rare Bird Alert - April 5, 2024

White-winged Dove | Sabine’s Gull | Western Cattle Egret | Yellow-crowned Night-Heron | THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD | Scissor-tailed Flycatcher | American Dipper | Brown Thrasher | White Wagtail | Lark Bunting | Clay-colored Sparrow | FIELD SPARROW | Green-tailed Towhee | Black-and-white Warbler | Cape May Warbler | Chestnut-sided Warbler | Hepatic Tanager

Vol. 90 No. 4 Mar-Apr 202, Volume 90
Susan Castor
Western Tanager March–April 2024, Vol. 90 No.4

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Attack of the Azolla!

Birds of the Season-March 2024

Bird Walks & Field Trips

Western Tanager March–April 2024, Vol. 90 No.4

INTERPRETING NATURE

, ,

INTERPRETING NATURE—Baldwin Hills Greenhouse Program Research Projects, 2021-2022 school year

, ,
INTERPRETING NATURE—Baldwin Hills Greenhouse Program Research Projects, 2021-2022 school year

On May 29th, 2022 the Baldwin Hills Greenhouse Program wrapped up its 14th school year. The program was a balancing act of online and in-person activities at Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook. Despite the pandemic, Greenhouse students proved themselves to be both committed and adaptable. We fortunate to be able to collaborate with Cal Poly Pomona’s Questad Lab and Jen Toy of the USC Landscape Architecture program this year. The annual Cactus Commencement Ceremony - the culminating event where students present their work to an audience – was reinstated as an in-person event this year. Students led friends, family, alumni, and program collaborators through a series of environmental education stations that showcased the knowledge and skills that students had gained over the year.

, , ,

INTERPRETING NATURE The Park to Playa Trail — Walk Your Watershed

, , ,
INTERPRETING NATURE The Park to Playa Trail — Walk Your Watershed

Adapting to pandemic conditions has pushed many of us to seek outdoor adventures close to home, visiting spots we may have overlooked or even dismissed in the past. The Park to Playa Trail is an ideal candidate to visit for a walk in a local watershed here in Los Angeles, with 13 continuous miles traversing the Ballona Creek Watershed from the Baldwin Hills all the way to Dockweiler Beach. Plan it right, and you can have your own birding big day, visiting coastal sage scrub habitat, manicured parklands with established tree cover, paved and less-paved stretches of Ballona Creek, and then beach habitat. Basically, gnatcatchers to oystercatchers on a single urban trail.

, , ,

Summer Fellows: Moving Forward, Working with Nature

, , ,
Summer Fellows: Moving Forward, Working with Nature

Los Angeles Audubon's Summer Fellows Program has been a strong learning resource for many alumni from the Greenhouse Program, Kenneth Hahn Environmental Internship, and the West Los Angeles College Conservation Studies Certificate Program. This program provides hands-on experience along with further environmental education learning. Summer Fellows work on habitat restoration at the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook and Kenneth Hahn Recreation Area.

Baldwin Hills Greenhouse Program — Research Projects, 2020-2021 School Year

Baldwin Hills Greenhouse Program — Research Projects, 2020-2021 School Year

On May 18th, 2021 the Baldwin Hills Greenhouse Program wrapped up its 13th school year. The challenges of the pandemic required us to conduct the program entirely through online Zoom sessions. We focused on spectacularly local nature, with students observing and documenting what they could find in their apartment complexes, backyards, and neighborhoods.

, ,

INTERPRETING NATURE: Snowy Plover Retrospective

, ,
INTERPRETING NATURE: Snowy Plover Retrospective

SNPL, you ask? The Western Snowy Plover has been federally listed as threatened since the 1990s, and various agencies have been monitoring it along the Pacific Coast for decades. LA Audubon has been conducting surveys since 2007. It’s estimated that just 2500 snowy plovers currently breed along the Pacific Coast.

,

INTERPRETING NATURE — Nature in the City

,

This issue’s Interpreting Nature column was created by Brian Young. Brian is a Baldwin Hills Greenhouse Program alumnus. He recently returned from completing his degree at UC Santa Cruz to re-join the staff team at Los Angeles Audubon - we are very glad to have him back! Brian brings a wide range of interests and skill sets to his work as a restoration and education staff member, helping students make connections between science, art, and stewardship. Hopefully we can talk him into creating more nature comics for the Tanager in the future!

, ,

INTERPRETING NATURE—Birding Bikers and Biking Birders: An Intersection of Two Interests

, ,
INTERPRETING NATURE—Birding Bikers and Biking Birders: An Intersection of Two Interests

Whatever the world post-Covid looks like — for me, I hope it includes more birding and more biking. Living in a world that has had and continues to have so much taken by Covid, it has also drawn into relief those things which matter a lot, and for me, I can confidently list: being outside and being active. These are the two no-brainer actions that make my “matter-most” list. Whenever anyone asks me if I want to do an outside activity I answer, “Let’s go!” Under my breath daily I offer thanks into the universe for my family and my job.

, , , ,

INTERPRETING NATURE: Baldwin Hills Greenhouse Program Research Projects — 2019-2020 school year

, , , ,
INTERPRETING NATURE: Baldwin Hills Greenhouse Program Research Projects — 2019-2020 school year

On June 9th, 2020 the Baldwin Hills Greenhouse Program wrapped up its 12th school year. Despite incredibly challenging circumstances during the spring, Greenhouse Interns did their best to see their projects through to completion. … Each year, we publish the research abstracts in an effort to share the knowledge gained with a broader audience and to acknowledge the interns’ hard work and commitment. This year’s projects include both qualitative and quantitative approaches to better understanding humans and nature in our city.

, , ,

INTERPRETING NATURE: Making Connections Between Birding and Food Gardening

, , ,
INTERPRETING NATURE: Making Connections Between Birding and Food Gardening

When I first started to garden, I began to see more wildlife visit my home. I began to see more birds, butterflies, and bees. I saw many birds use my fruit trees to eat, worms come up after a heavy rain, and hundreds of bees that swarmed my lime tree when it was flowering.

Sign up to join our mailing list to receive our newsletter and updates on upcoming events.