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

White-winged Dove | Solitary Sandpiper | Brown Pelican | Tropical Kingbird | THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD | Clay-colored Sparrow | White-throated Sparrow | Green-tailed Towhee | Black-and-white Warbler | Chestnut-sided Warbler | Summer Tanager | Indigo Bunting

Rare Bird Alert
Jon Fisher
Rare Bird Alert - April 16, 2026

Red-necked Grebe | Inca Dove | White-winged Dove | Pectoral Sandpiper | Solitary Sandpiper | Red-throated Loon | Brown Pelican | Western Cattle-Egret | CRESTED CARACARA | Tropical Kingbird | THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD | White-throated Sparrow | Green-tailed Towhee | Ovenbird | Northern Waterthrush | Black-and-white Warbler | Tennessee Warbler | Chestnut-sided Warbler | Palm Warbler | Pine Warbler | Black-throated Green Warbler | Summer Tanager | Indigo Bunting

Rare Bird Alert
Jon Fisher
Rare Bird Alert - April 4, 2026

Red-necked Grebe | Brown Pelican | White-throated Sparrow | Green-tailed Towhee | Lucy’s Warbler | Northern Parula | Palm Warbler | Pine Warbler | Black-throated Green Warbler | Summer Tanager

Field Trips
Susan Castor
4th of July Weekend 2026—Owl Prowl Adventure in ...

We will be leading a Southern Sierra Nevada Owl Prowl July 3-6 Friday to Monday (departure day). Three nights of owling, (and days of birding) SWEEEETTTT!! We have been leading this trip for 20 years or so. If you can’t bear to stay up after midnight, or sleep in a bit, please reconsider.

John Schmitt, illustrator of the National Geographic Field Guide will join us as a co-leader.

4th of July Weekend 2026—Owl Prowl Adventure in the Southern Sierra Nevada
BIRDS OF THE SEASON
Susan Castor
Birds of the Season March 2026

February and early March offered typically pleasant weather, with many continuing rare birds and a handful of new ones, as well as the arrival of a few Neotropical migrants.  By late March these migrants were becoming more obvious and widespread, with some already on territory.  Breeding activity for resident birds was underway well before that. 

Birds of the Season March 2026
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Birds of the Season — August 2021

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Birds of the Season — August 2021

While heat baked the Los Angeles County deserts, summer on the coastal slope was more mild than intense. Fire season- at least in Los Angeles County- has been subdued this summer. Experience tells us that neither of those conditions are likely to persist, but good fortune may smile upon us.

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Grand Appreciation for all Things Natural

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Grand Appreciation for all Things Natural

I’ve always loved flowers, possibly because of my name….but also because of the many hours as a child that I spent exploring my grandmother’s lush and varied gardens---expanses that covered both her entire front and back yards.

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What If We Had a Field Trip & Nobody Could Attend?

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What If We Had a Field Trip & Nobody Could Attend?

As we know all too well, the pandemic events of the last year and a half have caused myriad activities to be curtailed or cancelled altogether. Our formerly robust field trip programs actually saw mass cancellations even before the schools closed in March, 2020.

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Island Hopping: Birding the U.S. Virgin Islands, Part 1: St. Croix

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Island Hopping: Birding the U.S. Virgin Islands, Part 1: St. Croix

T he U.S. Virgin Islands – St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. John, and dozens of minor islands – serve as a fuel and rest stop for hundreds of thousands of birds traveling north and south over the Caribbean Sea during spring and winter migration. In all, more than 140 species of birds have been recorded in the coastal wetlands, mangrove forests and salt ponds, dry and moist forests, and along the rocky cliffs and coves, making the USVI worthy of a birding adventure. I headed there recently to learn about the challenges facing birds on these remote islands and to discover exciting new birds for my life list.

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