Rare Bird Alert
Jon Fisher
Rare Bird Alert - October 24, 2026

Stilt Sandpiper | Sabine’s Gull | Nazca Booby | Cocos Booby | Western Cattle-Egret | Broad-winged Hawk | Zone-tailed Hawk | Tropical Kingbird | Pacific Wren | White Wagtail | Grasshopper Sparrow | Clay-colored Sparrow | Dark-eyed “Gray-headed” Junco | Dark-eyed “Pink-sided” Junco | White-throated Sparrow | Green-tailed Towhee | Ovenbird | Black-and-white Warbler | Prothonotary Warbler | Tennessee Warbler | Lucy’s Warbler | Northern Parula | Blackburnian Warbler | Chestnut-sided Warbler | Palm Warbler | American Redstart | Painted Redstart | Summer Tanager

Rare Bird Alert
Jon Fisher
Rare Bird Alert - October 17, 2026

Broad-billed Hummingbird | Ridgway’s Rail | Sabine’s Gull | Nazca Booby | White-headed Woodpecker | Tropical Kingbird | Gray Catbird | Evening Grosbeak | Cassin’s Finch | Clay-colored Sparrow | Dark-eyed “Gray-headed” Junco | Green-tailed Towhee | Black-and-white Warbler | American Redstart | Northern Parula | Chestnut-sided Warbler | Palm Warbler | Summer Tanager | Indigo Bunting

Rare Bird Alert
Jon Fisher
Rare Bird Alert - October 12, 2026

White-winged Dove | Ridgway’s Rail | Arctic Tern | Sabine’s Gull | Nazca Booby | Masked / Nazca Booby | Cocos Booby | WHITE IBIS | Western Cattle-Egret | Broad-winged Hawk | Zone-tailed Hawk | Flammulated Owl | White-headed Woodpecker | Tropical Kingbird | Plumbeous Vireo | Pinyon Jay | Clarks Nutcracker | Gray Catbird | Sage Thrasher | Varied Thrush | Evening Grosbeak | Red Crossbill | Chestnut-collared Longspur | Clay-colored Sparrow | Dark-eyed “Gray-headed” Junco | Swamp Sparrow | Green-tailed Towhee | Bobolink | Black-and-white Warbler | Tennessee Warbler | Lucy’s Warbler | American Redstart | Blackburnian Warbler | Chestnut-sided Warbler | Rose-breasted Grosbeak | Dickcissel

Rare Bird Alert
Jon Fisher
Rare Bird Alert - October 3, 2026

Ridgway’s Rail | Sabine’s Gull | Manx Shearwater| Nazca Booby | Cocos Booby | Western Cattle-Egret | Williamson’s Sapsucker | Tropical Kingbird | Least Flycatcher | Pinyon Jay | Clark’s Nutcracker | Yellow-green Vireo | Evening Grosbeak | Lark Bunting | Clay-colored Sparrow | Green-tailed Towhee | Orchard Oriole | Northern Waterthrush | Black-and-white Warbler | Tennessee Warbler | Lucy’s Warbler | American Redstart | Northern Parula | Magnolia Warbler | Blackburnian Warbler | Chestnut-sided Warbler | Blackpoll Warbler | Palm Warbler | Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Rare Bird Alert
Jon Fisher
Rare Bird Alert - September 26, 2026

Ridgway’s Rail | Semipalmated Sandpiper | Red Phalarope | Common Tern | Little Gull | Least Bittern | Reddish Egret | Williamson’s Sapsucker | Tropical kingbird | Least Flycatcher | Bell’s Vireo | Yellow-Green Vireo | Pinyon Jay | Clark’s Nutcracker | Purple Martin | Evening Grosbeak | Black-throated Sparrow | Clay-colored Sparrow | Green-tailed Towhee | Bobolink | Orchard Oriole | Ovenbird | Northern Waterthrush | Black-and-white Warbler | Prothonotary Warbler | Tennessee Warbler | Lucy’s Warbler | American Redstart | Cape May Warbler | Northern Parula | Blackburnian Warbler | Chestnut-sided Warbler | Blackpoll Warbler | Summer Tanager | Rose-breasted Grosbeak | Indigo Bunting | Painted Bunting | Dickcissel

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Western Tanager, Vol. 86 No. 6, July–August 2020

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FROM OUR READERS: Top Ways to Preserve Nature While Hiking

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Going for a hike is a popular way to get regular exercise. More than 30 million people hit the hiking trails across the country every year for both day hikes and multiple day hikes. However, all that foot traffic on trails and through the wilderness can decimate the local ecosystem.

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CONSERVATION CORNER: Rio de Los Angeles State Park Riparian Breeders

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CONSERVATION CORNER: Rio de Los Angeles State Park Riparian Breeders

Once in a while, it’s good to celebrate a conservation success story on public land, right in the heart of the city. Rio de Los Angeles State Park appears to be a real success story in terms of re-wilding a small section of a park that sits within an intensely urbanized setting. The park is located in northeast Los Angeles, approximately 2.5 miles north of downtown and is located next to the former Union Pacific Rail Yard called the Taylor Yard complex, which is also under active long-term planning as a city park.

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FROM OUR READERS: BALLONA STORIES - A Poem

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FROM OUR READERS: BALLONA STORIES - A Poem

We often hear stories and tidbits from the lives of our young nature adventurers while they are on our field trips to Ballona and Kenneth Hahn. Below is a poem written by long-time ace volunteer Joyce Karel about some of the secrets that have been shared with her.

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FROM OUR READERS: No Sparrows

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FROM OUR READERS: No Sparrows

Being visited by wild birds while working in my outdoor office is an invigorating momentary distraction from my labors. Every morning before I plug in on the patio table, I open my rodent-proof bird food container and scoop out seeds. nyjer for the goldfinches, corn for the sparrows, black sunflower seeds for the mockingbirds, suet for whatever bird comes to call, plus sugar-water for the hummingbirds.

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FROM OUR READERS: Two Robins In a Birdbath

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FROM OUR READERS: Two Robins In a Birdbath

Not exotica that you would grab your bins, rev-up your SUV and drive across three states to observe, beaming with pride as you record its sighting and count on eBird. Rather the robin is a friendly bird, more like a next-door neighbor.

You won’t have to trek to the Amazon or Patagonia to see a robin, though once-in-a-lifetime trips like those are inked on many a bucket list. No. You will spy the robin in Ponderosa pine forests, urban landscapes and grassy lawns pecking the ground for earthworms. Her nest is made of mud, her eggs an eponymous and beautiful blue that you just might decide is the perfect color for your kitchen.

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FROM OUR READERS: Reclaiming Ourselves Through Nature

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I still remember the first day I truly found the wilderness. It was a cool day in July, a rarity for the desert of Los Angeles I call home. I had woken up early that day to go running with some friends, a favorite pastime of mine; our destination was a patch of open space just outside the valley.

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FROM OUR READERS: Owls Nesting in Our Yard

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FROM OUR READERS: Owls Nesting in Our Yard

One evening in mid-May, two friends and I were sitting on our front porch (with masks and social distancing) after an evening hike. Their musicians’ ears heard owls! The next day I started looking for them at dawn and dusk. Then, in the middle of the following day I saw a head sticking out of the old nesting box I had built for an acorn woodpecker which my husband, Marc, and I rescued from a downed tree six years ago.

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FROM OUR READERS: The Fledgling

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FROM OUR READERS: The Fledgling

The grayish brownish thing I discovered underneath the salvia in the backyard garden made me hold my breath for weeks.

I discovered this hidden thing about four years ago around the end of April. A jerky movement at the top terrace caught my eye. Squatting down sumo-style, I gingerly lifted the leaves. All right, what are you? I was face-to-beak with a baby bird. The bird froze and I immediately let go of the leaves.

Oh great. Just great.

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