President Trump has nominated a lobbyist for the oil, gas, and agribusiness industries as the deputy secretary of the Interior. Suprising no one, he has profound conflicts of interest that are detailed in the letter.
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
Comment on Draft EIS for Santa Susana Field Laboratory Remediation
The Department of Energy released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement covering Area IV and the Northern Buffer Zone of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in January of 2017. Los Angeles Audubon Society has submitted comments calling for a full cleanup committed to by the Department of Energy in 2010. The different options considered in the DEIS would leave as much as 39%, 91%, or 99% of the contamination on the site.
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. 83 No. 3, Jan–Feb 2017
Burrowing Owl at Esperanza Elementary | Photo by Brad Rumble
This image was taken on December 9, 2016 when the bird was perched in a jacaranda tree adjacent to the student lunch pavilion. I took the shot with a Canon EOS Rebel t2i camera using a 55mm‐250mm lens.
ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER
My interest in native birds developed during my first decade working at a school near downtown Los Angeles. It was the absence of biodiversity due to poor urban planning which really got me interested in the subject. I started photographing birds to memorialize what I was seeing out in the field. As an elementary school principal, I see how students are fascinated with the local natural history. Given the opportunity, they truly become stewards of their campus and neighborhood. —Brad Rumble
Inside this issue
• A New Schoolyard Habitat at Esperanza Elementary School, By Margot Griswold, President Los Angeles Audubon
• YOUNG BIRDERS: Lost Migrants in Los Angeles County—Highlights of My 2016 Birding Year, By Dessi Sieburth
• Birds of the Season—December 2016
• Los Angeles Audubon’s Ballona Wetlands
• Emily Reed, LAAS Docent, Receives Disney Conservation Hero Award 2016
• Hummingbird Rescue: A True Story, By Cindy Hardin, Director of Outdoor Education & Volunteer Coordinator
• Ninety years of change in the bird community of the UCLA campus, by Richard W. Hedley, Samuel A. Bressler, Sidhaant Shah, Jeffrey G‐H. Lee, Ryan J. Harrigan
• INTERPRETING NATURE: The Green Gift Workshop — creativity, discovery, and duct tape, By Stacey Vigallon, Director of Environmental Education
Western Tanager, Vol. 83 No. 2, Nov-Dec 2016
Black-crowned Night-Heron, Photo by Dessi Sieburth
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Western Tanager, Vol. 83 No. 2, November December 2016
ON THE COVER
Black-crowned Night-Heron, Photo by Dessi Sieburth
•YOUNG BIRDERS: Helping Birds Through Photography, By Dessi Sieburth
•CONSERVATION CONVERSATION: Western Snowy Plovers Past and Future in Coastal Los Angeles, By Travis Longcore
•Ballona Docents Head South, Cindy Hardin, Director of Outdoor Education & Volunteer Coordinator
•State of California, Audubon California and Restoring the Salton Sea
•Birds of the Season–October 2016
•Always Excited About Your Firsts: The Chase, By Louis Tucker, Field Trip Leader
•INTERPRETING NATURE: Celebrating Shorebirds, Joyce Realgeno, Education and Restoration Staff, and Stacey Vigallon, Director of Environmental Education
Western Tanager, Vol. 83 No. 1, Sep-Oct 2016
Inside this issue
•Tales of a Budding Naturalist—A Photo Essay: It All Started with the "Pinkies", By Jamie Lowry
•CONSERVATION CONVERSATION: Caring For Nature in An Age of Utility, By Travis Longcore
•Summer Camp 2016 at Kenneth Hahn Recreation Area, Cindy Hardin, Director of Outdoor Education, Photos by Stacey Vigallon, Director of Environmental Education
•Birds of the Season–August 2016, By Jon Fisher
•Breeding Bird Atlas Goes to Print, by Larry Allen
•INTERPRETING NATURE: Sun Prints, Smart Phones and Technologies New and Old: Alternative Avenues to Appreciating Nature Now, By Robert Jeffers, LAUSD Educator and Los Angeles Audubon Board Member, and Stacey Vigallon, Director of Environmental Education
•YOUNG BIRDERS: The Tricolored Blackbird (Agelaius tricolor), 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. 82 No. 5, May–Jun 2016
A Caspian Tern banded 11 years ago in Oregon has been seen here in Playa del Rey. The bird was banded as a chick at East Sand Island in the Columbia River estuary (near Astoria, OR) on 7/12/2005. The bird has not been seen in the study area in the Pacific northwest since 2012. (photo by Dean Schaff)
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
• YOUNG AUTHORS: The Snowy Plover (Charadrius nivosus), By Dessi Sieburth
• Anza-Borrego Bonanza, By Nick Freeman
• Birds and Other Wildlife seen, March 19-20, 2016 Anza-Borrego field trip, by Kurt Leuschner, KLeuschner@collegeofthedesert.edu
• Birds of the Season — April 2016, By Jon Fisher
• Los Angeles Audubon’s Schoolyard Habitat Program receives generous support from UCLA students in Philanthropy as Civic Engagement Class
Western Tanager, Vol. 82 No. 4, Mar-Apr 2016
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Western Tanager, Vol. 82 No. 4, Mar-Apr 2016
• BOOK REVIEW: The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling | Linda Oberholtzer
• Open Wetlands at Ballona: Everyone is Invited! | Cindy Hardin
• INTERPRETING NATURE: Susan Miller Dorsey High School EcoClub and Baldwin Hills Greenhouse Program | Ingrid Carrillo & Stacey Vigallon
• YOUNG AUTHORS: Why Field Notes Are Important | Dessi Sieburth
• Birds of the Season | Jon Fisher