Rare Bird Alert
Jon Fisher
Rare Bird Alert - May 17, 2024

Semipalmated Sandpiper | Western Cattle Egret | Yellow-crowned Night-Heron | YELLOW-HEADED CARACARA | Tropical Kingbird | Black-and-white Warbler | Virginia’s Warbler | TROPICAL PARULA | Summer Tanager

Rare Bird Alert
Jon Fisher
Rare Bird Alert - May 10, 2024

Black Swift | Red Knot | Pectoral Sandpiper | Yellow-footed Gull | Western Cattle Egret | Yellow-crowned Night-Heron | Dusky-capped Flycatcher | Red-eyed Vireo | Purple Martin | Brown Thrasher | Harris’s Sparrow | American Redstart

Rare Bird Alert
Jon Fisher
Rare Bird Alert - May 3, 2024

Long-tailed Duck | Inca Dove | Black Swift | American Oystercatcher | Red Knot | South Polar Skua | Common Murre | Yellow-footed Gull | Red-throated Loon | Western Cattle Egret | Yellow-crowned Night-Heron | Dusky-capped Flycatcher | Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay | Brown Thrasher | American Dipper | Northern Waterthrush | Blackburnian Warbler | Palm Warbler | Rose-breasted Grosbeak | Painted Bunting

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

Western Tanager

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

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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.

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Western Tanager, Vol. 88 No. 6, Jul–Aug 2022

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Western Tanager, Vol. 88 No. 6, Jul–Aug 2022

The July–August 2022 issue of the Western Tanager is online. Inside this issue are our regular columns, Interpreting Nature, Conservation Conversation and Outdoor Education. This summer, we present an article, “The Great Lek Trek”, about 30th Anniversary LAAS field trip to the Owens Valley for grouse viewing, written by Robbie Lisa Freeman. Enjoy the writings submitted by the winners of the “2022 Green Feather” awards, Jennifer Wu and Jonathan Kim, and articles “From Our Readers”, Judith Deutsch and Sharon Udkoff.

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CONSERVATION CONVERSATION — Darkness as Refuge

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CONSERVATION CONVERSATION — Darkness as Refuge

The challenges faced by the Western Snowy Plover (Charadrius nivosus nivosus) are many as it winters and breeds along the coast of southern California. Beach grooming by heavy equipment perpetually remove valuable habitat and flatten out once-undulating dunes. Beachgoers and their pets use the land where they once nested. Predators come from all directions, from raptors to roaming cats.

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The Green Feather Award and The Tomorrow Prize

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The Green Feather Award and The Tomorrow Prize

We commend all high school student writers who participated in the Green Feather Award and The Tomorrow Prize, an Omega Sci-Fi Awards short story writing competition. It is inspiring to see that many high school students worked hard on their stories through the pandemic and created wonderful pieces of literature. We are very honored to be a part of this journey, supporting the writers of the future and pushing the community to learn about their local environment predicament through writing, to show everyone that there is still hope.

During the May 22, 2022, Omega Sci-Fi Awards Ceremony in Pasadena, there were actors bringing the stories to life. There were many emotions coming from the audience from “awes” to laughter from the runner up and winning stories.

Nature Nexus Institute (NNI) is a proud collaborator, and we look forward to the yearly celebration of creativity and storytelling from Los Angeles youth.

We are excited to present our two Green Feather award winning stories- “Eden” by Jennifer Wu and “The Seagulls Save Culver City?” by Jonathan Kim.

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Birds of the Season — June 2022

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Birds of the Season — June 2022

As spring rushed toward summer, birders made the most of their time finding migrants both regular and rare. By early June the show was all but over, with only a few stragglers still passing through. Following a dismal vagrant season last spring, there were hopes for a more exciting 2022. Indeed, this year saw marked improvement with a rather satisfying- if not overwhelming- number of good birds found in the county.

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Hummingbird Experience

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Hummingbird Experience

I found a hummingbird on the ground where I live. I was afraid that the cats would harm it so I picked it up in the palm of my hand. It was alive but very still in my hand, giving me the opportunity to pet it and comfort it. The bird stayed in the palm of my hand for a short time. I walked with it (in my hand) inside my building and then transferred the hummingbird to an employee where I live. She walked with it (in the palm of her hand) through the hallway and outside where the hummingbird then flew away.

It was an incredible experience!

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Camels In California?

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Camels In California?

Yes, there are camels in California! It all started when the U.S. Army at Camp Verde in Texas imported several hundred camels from Tunisia, Egypt, Turkey, and Greece to deliver supplies to the arid Southwest. The United States was on the cusp of the Civil War, and southwestern California was strategic, but had various local groups with questionable allegiance to the Union. A detachment of thirty-one camels ended up at Fort Tejon at the northern end of the Tejon Pass, also known as the Grapevine in Kern County, California. It was the western terminus of the experimental U.S. Camel Corps. From June 24, 1854, to its abandonment on September 11, 1864, Fort Tejon was home to U.S. Dragoons followed by California Volunteer Troops, including companies of the 2nd California Volunteer Cavalry.

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