The Los Angeles Chapter ofThe National Audubon Society

STERNTANAGEF^

Volume 56 Number 5 March 1990

T h e C a r r i z o P l a i nOn December 9 and 10, two separate groups ofbirders visited the Carrizo Plain (16 birders onSaturday and 18 on Sunday) to see SandhillCranes, raptors and the other specks that makethis grassland such an exciting winter destina-tion.

Three consecutive drought years haveproduced extremely dry conditionsin this southeastern corner of SanLuis Obispo County. Soda Lake was

dry and there was almost no green vegeta-tion to be seen. Most of the typical winter-ing bird species were at least present, butthe numbers of individuals were notablylow. In fact, no Sandhill cranes were seen onSaturday, and only 17 were seen on Sun-day. The variety of raptors (and raptorplumages) was noteworthy. Participants onboth trips had a chance to see FerruginousHawks (including one or two of the rarerdark morphs) and Rough-legged Hawks.Most observers had never seen a darkRough-legged Hawk, but both days' tourshad one or more views of this strikingly-contrasted arctic breeder.

The tour route was similar on bothdays. After meeting at Grapevine on 1-5, wedrove west through Maricopa and norththrough Taft. After a drive through theoilfields along Mocal Road, we veered weston Crocker Grade Road to the top of theTemblor Range. This scenic entrance to theCarrizo is by dirt road and should only beattempted in dry weather, but the birdingrewards are often great.

The Saturday tour group got severallooks at a furtive LeConte's Thrasher at thebase of Crocker Grade (on the Elkhorn Plainside of the Temblors). Three times thethrasher allowed us to stand at the edge ofthe saltbush in which it had landed before itflew to the next cover. It finally ran to the

top of a hill before disappearing. Becausethis individual bird sported such a darkplumage, many of the group assumed thatit was a California Thrasher. The sparsedesert scrub of Crocker Grade and the Elk-horn Plain (areas where there are no pub-lished records of California Thrasher) sup-ports small but documented populations ofLeConte's Thrashers. Fall birds in this partof the species' range are darker than thosefrom Antelope Valley and other parts of theMojave Desert. The Sunday group saw twoadult Golden Eagles just east of CrockerSummit.

Both days' tours spent the morning onthe Elkhorn Plain where we found a smallflock of Mountain Plovers. The Sundaygroup went further north on the ElkhornPlain and happened upon a group of Moun-tain Bluebirds, including one male that manysaid was the most intense azure blue indi-vidual they'd ever seen.

One highlight of the Saturday tour wasa close-up view of a Greater Roadrunner atthe parking area near Painted Rock. Thebird walked right up to a blue VW bug (aSay's Phoebe had landed on the door of thesame car earlier that day) then continued to

Bakersfield

:ier Park

Los Angeles

by Rob Hansen, trip leader

feed leisurely near our lunch stop there.Later, we saw it pick up and swallow (onlyafter great effort and much gyration) thedry, shed exoskeleton of a large tarantula.After that crunchy morsel, it quickly foundand captured a side-blotched lizard. One ofthe birders on Sunday caught one of theselizards (out "strolling" in the balmy De-cember sun) and showed it to all thosenearby. (Afteradmiringbirders had strokedthe little lizard's back, this cold-bloodedreptile appeared to be in absolute raptureand was in no condition to escape fromraptors or Greater Roadrunners; the birdersleft the lizard under an improvised solar-oriented raptor baffle.) The Sunday groupdid not visit Painted Rock, so they missedthe roadrunner. Instead, they crossedBelmont Trail (north of the Official CarrizoPlain Natural Area) where they watchedLong-billed Curlews, saw a Burro wing Owl,and heard the distant call of a SandhillCrane. A short while later, the Sunday groupmanaged to find a small flock of 17 cranesfeeding quietly along Soda Lake Road. Suchlow numbers testify to the extreme drynessof this year and to the fact that many craneshave been staying farther north this winter.

The final birding stop both days wasthe Saucito Ranch (just north and uphillfrom Painted Rock) where a Common BarnOwl was seen both days and a Great HornedOwl was found by Sunday's group. Al-though the species total was only 31 onSaturday and 34 on Sunday, most of theCarrizo specialties were seen. As farmingon the Carrizo comes to an end and thenumber of cattle is reduced, the restorationof native vegetation will begin to accelerate.If enough raincomes this season, next year'sCarrizo scenery should begin to recoverfrom 100+ years of overgrazing, and condi-tions for next winter's birds may return to amore normal situation. ^ ~

Western Tanager March 1990

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/ Twnfcs so wen/ mwcft f o «Z? wfe) responded toour questionnaire in the last Western Tana-

ger. The board of directors was generally sur-prised by the excellent response. If you didn'trespond yet, we'd still appreciate your opinions.Oftentimes the open-ended comments prove tobe most enlightening.

Somewhere between the harshest criticismsand the warmest pats on the back lay the feed-back we were looking for: approval, direction,the specific needs of our members. If we are tomaintain your support, expand and be effective,then we need to be responsive. And starting withthis issue of the Tanager and the next generalmeeting, you will notice some changes towardthat end.

One-sixth of the responses were from out-side the Los Angeles County area. Theseout-of-towners included New York, Washing-ton, D.C., Massachusetts, Louisiana, Texas,Illinois, Maryland and throughout California.

Now let's get to the results:

and Birding

Two-thirds of respondents maintain at leastone bird feeder. The same number keep arecord of birds seen. Curiously, 51%, localsand out-of-towners alike, said they haveparticipated in LAAS birding field trips.Pelagic trips are the most popular. Trips ledby either Kimball Garrett or Jon Dunn weresecond in popularity. Eighty-five percent ofreaders look at the list of field trips in eachTanager. Although the workshops andmeetings scored quite high, only about 33%of the people say their birding skills weresharpened by the ID workshops at monthlymeetings (see Audubon House summary).One in five keep a pet bird; the most com-mon are Parakeets. Museum and zoo exhib-its of birds seem to intrigue 87% of us, withmost visiting the San Diego Zoo. One readerwould not patronize any place that keptbirds in captivity or on display, yet admitsto keeping a pet bird.

Books and Periodicals

The total number of bird books in anindividual's library broke down like this:

43% own about 1022% own about 2519% own about 5015% own about 100 or more

Not surprisingly, the most popular type ofbook owned is a field guide, 94% of us haveat least one. Next on the list (even thoughthey may not be books) were bird check-lists.

Locals were split 50/50 for carefullygoing through the booklist included in theTanager (twice per year), but more thantwo-thirds of the out-of-towners gothrough it. Oddly, 57% of out-of-townersvisit the bookstore (somewhere betweenrarely and frequently) versus 67% of locals.Ninety percent say they usually can findwhat they want from the bookstore. Manypeople complimented the bookstore andstaff. Suggestions were basically aboutexpanding inventory, particularly on localbirding. As for receiving an LAAS book-store gift certificate as a reward for recruit-ing new members, out-of-towners didn'thave much interest (as to be expected) andlocals were split.

The Western Tanager ranked highestamong the magazines and newsletters aboutbirds. Next was Audubon, followed byBirding, Birdwatcher's Digest, and AmericanBirds.

Of those who read the Tanager, thesame number read it cover to cover as thosewho read some articles, a small number(8%) scan it quickly. It appears that themajority of out-of-town subscribers arereading it cover to cover.

A pleasant surprise was that 95% ofour readers like the new look of the Tanager.Readers' wish list for the Tanager had quitea few interesting items — some good ideasfor regular sections as well as some greatideas for articles. One particularly frequent

suggestion was to have more informationabout local happenings. Foreign birdingseemed to be found interesting but lessrelevant.

Several responses were critical of thelength and number of conservation articlesand urged more orientation toward birdingsubjects in general.

Birds of the Season by Hank Brodkinseems to be the most favored section of theTanager, with Conservation Conversationby Sandy Wohlgemuth and the Field Tripsportion of the Announcements sectioncompiled by Nick Freeman tying for sec-ond.

About two-thirds of readers save backissues of the Tanager; while more than halfsave back issues of Audubon. On the subjectof Audubon, 21 % read it cover to cover, 58%said they read some articles, 15% scan itquickly, and 6% admit to not reading it atall.

Twelve percent of respondents sub-scribe to Audubon Activist and 5% to AudubonWildlife Report.

Most people said they don't care ifNational Audubon Society sells their nameand address to other conservation organi-zations, but the number of those who resentit ran a close second. Markedly smallerwere those who think it's a good idea.

Audubon House

The monthly meeting received exception-ally high marks from respondents: 98% saidthey like the ID workshops before themeeting; 100% like the speakers; 100% likethe topics selected and the format; 98% likethe variety of programs. Still high was the86% who said they like the bird photographcontests held annually. Only 40% liked thebanquets. Since this year the plan is to havea picnic rather than the semi-formal ban-quet, it will be interesting to note the par-ticipation and popularity of this alterna-tive.

Although almost half the respondentssaid they were comfortable attending eve-

Western Tanager March 1990

ning meetings at Plummer Park, mostweren't happy with the meeting room it-self. Over one-half of those who respondedhave never attended a monthly meeting.Other comments/suggestions were: reluc-tance to come to the park at night (want abetter, safer area); preference for a meetingplace closer to downtown or the westside orin other locations to cut travel times anddistances; use of an historic building; morecomfortable seats and improvedaudio-visual facilities. We know the meet-ings themselves are good, so, should all elsestay the same, attendance would probablyrise if the facility was in a better location andbetter furnished.

Several members would utilize ride-sharing if it were available. We will makesome efforts to get that started immedi-ately.

Only one-third expressed a desire tomeet on Saturday mornings following abird walk. One frequent observation wasthat local respondents will travel hundredsof miles to see a rare bird but not even 20miles to attend the monthly meeting.

The most heart-warming responseswere from the disabled and the elderly whosupport LA AS totally in spirit, even thoughunable to attend meetings.

The Bird Alert Tape is a telephoneservice to birders that informs callers ofrecent sightings of species generally notcommon to either the area or season. Al-most 75% of respondents said they use thetaped message and, of those, 90% approvedof the format. There were requests that thetape be updated more often than once perweek, some would like to see: daily up-dates; slower speech rate; notification ofseasonal arrivals of more "common" birds;and better directions including a ThomasBros, map book page number and coordi-nates (which will also be added to the FieldTrips section of the Tanager). Sincethe infor-mation on the tape is provided by personscalling in when they see a bird of interest inthe field, perhaps more information can begiven, particularly more explicit directionsto the exact location.

ConservationThe first question in this section was de-signed to get a feel for our members' pres-ent conservation efforts and their priorities.Fortunately, it appears that 98% of respon-dents are recycling and conserving wher-ever they can. The next highest tendency isto donate to worthy conservation projects.

The last query was actually a series ofvalue questions trying to establish where

our members actually stand on some of theissues the board of directors spends a goodamount of time debating. Consistent withfeedback from the Books and Periodicalssummary, 92% want more emphasis onlocal conservation such as creating a wild-life area at Sepulveda Basin. Less emphaticwas a 78% response for increasing the con-tribution of funds toward internationalproblems such as rainforest conservation.A habitat restoration project such as the"adopt a refuge" program should be startedaccording to 96% of the respondents. Wellover two-thirds wanted to increase politi-cal actions like the "Save Mono Lake" law-suit. Collecting aluminum cans at AudubonHouse was about 60/40 for. Seventy-eightpercent felt that letter writing campaigns toinfluence politicians' votes should be in-creased. The awarding of research grants tograduate students in bird biology and re-lated fields should be increased (57%) orstay as is (39%). Awarding scholarships forstudy at Audubon's Ecology Camp of theWest should increase (60%) or stay as is(35%). A strong 91 % favored an increase inproviding nature education programs toelementary schools. By a 2-to-l vote, theannual Christmas Bird Counts should staythe way they are.

And finally on fund-raising drives suchas the Birdathon, responses were split be-tween increase and stay as is. This is apositive note because it shows we aren'tasking for too much money too many times.

There is some minor correcting to do, butoverall the organization's direction seemssomewhat cohesive with its members as awhole. This survey has been extremelyhelpful in bringing those needs and desiresof our supporters to our attention. The re-sults of this effort are sure to have severallong-range effects that will undoubtedlybring the goals of our members closer tofulfillment. Thank you for your participa-tion.

Special thanks to Charles Schoettlin,Millie Newton and Kathy Hirsh for theirhelp with the task of sorting out this ques-tionnaire. %*»

At TheLast Board

Meeting

Fourteen members of the board of directorswere in attendance (January 4, 1990). Themeeting began with President Robert VanMeter bringing members up to date withannouncements including a thanks fromWhittier Narrows Nature Center and Asso-ciates for our recent monetary donation. Inaddition, our chapter received an Outstand-ing Education Achievement Award fromNational Audubon for our support of theAudubon Adventures Youth Program(along with only 10 other chapters). This isa direct result of the last Birdathon whichMelanie Ingalls chaired; next Birdathon totake place from April 1 through May 15.

Discussion continued from last meet-ing about a possible book project our chap-ter may underwrite; negotiations are still inprogress.

The board approved a grant of $1,000for student research of Brown-footed andBlue-footed Boobies.

The board allotted $1,000 for studenttravel to the AOU/COU Convention in LosAngeles this June.

A decision was made to amend thebylaws to change the position of Registrarfrom an elected one to an appointed one.

California Wildlife Protection Initia-tive will be on the June ballot partly due toour signatures on recent petitions that SandyWohlgemuth and others circulated. Theboard contributed $50 to promote the meas-ure.

LAAS will try a plan with Union Fed-eral Savings wherein LAAS members whohave accounts there may designate LAASto receive a small amount of interest ontheir accounts.

LAAS bookstore business is continu-ing to do well.

A contributor has now enabled us topurchase the new copy machine for theLAAS office.

We need a new answering machine forthe office.

The "Picnic Committee" will pursuesuggestions from the board for a member-ship birding picnic in early summer. ^ -

Western Tanager March 1990

by Sandy Wohlgemuth

M igrating songbirds have never hadan easy time of it. In this hemi-sphere, simply flying the thou-

sands of miles from their breeding areas inCanada and our more northern states towinter in Latin America is a perilous jour-ney. They run the gauntlet of predatoryowls and accipiters. Long flights over openwater maybe too much for some individu-als, particularly if the winds are unfavor-able. Hurricanes, especially over theGulf ofMexico, can devastate a fall migration. Manyfly at night and in fog that obscures tallbuildings and radio towers that becomeformidable obstacles. Even if none of theseperils existed, the physical demands on atiny bird covering all those miles on a thim-bleful of fat are extraordinary.

And then there are cowbirds. We're allaware of the nest predation of these indo-lent invaders who trick smaller birds intoraising cowbird offspring as their own. (Arecent PBS nature film showed the gut-wrenching maneuver of a blind, featherlesscowbird shoving a warbler chick out of itsnest to its death. The cowbird is hatchedwith a special structure on its back thatgives it the leverage to perform the eviction.An evolutionary development that achievesthisbizarre method of perpetuating the spe-cies is truly a marvel to behold.) Brown-headed Cowbirds can lay ten or more eggsand have parasitized 200 different speciesof birds.

These multiple pressures on migrantshave been going on for millennia. The lossesto these hazards are normal and, like moun-tain lions culling deer, weed out the weakand the old, keeping the populations vigor-ous. But recently there have been ominouschanges.

A few years ago, dedicated birdersbegan to experience an uneasy feeling thatthey were seeing fewer songbirds, espe-cially in migration. As time passed, thereseemed to be poorer birding days than weremembered. The occasional good day inthe field with many warblers and vireosand an outstanding vagrant or two wasclouded by a gnawing concern that thingsweren't really like the good old days. Someof the hot spots were cooling down, wethought, but we were never quite sure.

Perhaps, we said, it was just a local affair;next year would prove our worries to bebaseless. There didn't seem to be any solidevidence to confirm or deny our fears.

Then in June 1989, the curtain of doubtwas lifted and the unpleasant statistics werepublished. The National Academy of Sci-ences released the results of a study madeby Chandler Robbins and Russell Green-berg. Populations of 56 species of birdswere surveyed from 1978 to 1987. Seventypercent of the species showed a decline of1% to 2% a year. Greenberg, a researchscientist at the National Zoological Park,said, "It doesn't sound like much, but if it isa persistent loss, that percentage could beimportant." The number of Wood Thrusheshas gone down by 40% in ten years, a fright-ening indication of what is happening tomany of the 120 species of passerines thatmigrate between temperate and tropicalAmerica. So our worst fears have beenconfirmed; the graph line of bird popula-tions seems to be downhill all the way withno promise that it will bottom out.

The assault on the tropical rainforests,where so many of "our" birds winter, seemsto be the most obvious cause of the songbirddecline. For several years, we have beentold of the wholesale destruction of habitatto provide short-term cropland and pas-ture. The list of disasters — present andprojected — has become too familiar: 25million acres of forest lost every year; theextinction of little-known species and theconsequent loss of biological diversity;sources of medicines that may never bediscovered; the profound loss of trees thatcapture carbon dioxide, thus inhibitingexcessive warmingof the earth; the decima-tion of irreplaceable ecosystems. Many ofthe reasons for the decline can only beguessed at. Some migrant species, when

they reach the tropics, spend the winter inmonastic isolation: males in one place,females in another. A biologist in Missourinoticed that in his area there were no nest-ing ovenbirds—only males could be found.Had the winter habitat of female ovenbirdsbeen destroyed?

The cards seem to be stacked againstwildlife as the century draws to a close. Lestwe become holier-than-thou toward ourLatin neighbors, remember that we NorthAmericanos are scarcely blameless. Ancientforests are under attack in our northwestand in British Columbia. The old benignpolicy of sustained growth is being replacedby the greed of take-over pirates whodemand immediate liquidation of forestassets to pay off junk bond debt. The clear-ing of our eastern forests for the last 300years has taken its toll on the hapless mi-grants. Although there appears to be con-siderable forest left in the East, it has beenreduced to small fragments. Nesting birdsno longer have the protection of a deepexpanse of wooded habitat. Cowbirds canmove easily from open fields nearby, pene-trate theskimpy forest for hundredsof yardsand lay their eggs in the nests of their vic-tims. A survey in Illinois showed that 100%of the nests of thrushes and Summer Tana-gers had been parasitized. The fragmenta-tion also made it easier for predators likeraccoons and snakes to raid the nests.

Far more devastating to bird habitathere at home is the explosion of land devel-opment: more people — more houses —more shopping centers. Nesting areasaround cities have decreased by half overthe last 30 years. Birders know perhapsmore acutely than others what "develop-ment" can mean. The quiet wooded canyonwith chattering woodpeckers and thescream of a Red-shouldered Hawk can bereplaced with the wave of a zoning changeby roaring trucks dumping garbage into thenew landfill. The mountains of southernCalifornia are being paved over with apattern of roads connecting expensivehomes to fashion malls and ten-story officebuildings. There is so much asphalt andconcrete under foot that when the rainseventually come, the water cannot soakinto the earth but runs off with a ferocity

Birds are . . . indicators ofour health and safety/'

Western Tanager March 1990

that carries mud and debris into bedrooms— sometimes taking the bedrooms with it.

What to do about all this? We are beingtold from many quarters that this is the Ageof the Environment. Governments and citi-zens alike are becoming more sensitive tothe accumulation of the sins of this over-populated world. The media are full ofstories of acid rain, ozone holes, the green-house effect, oil spills, toxins in the water, inthe air and in our bodies. (Have we leftanything out?) Will we have the guts tochange our self-destructive ways in time tosave the animals, the birds and our ownsouls? Will we increase the amount of wildareas here and everywhere that can still berescued from destruction? We need moreNature Conservancies and World WildlifeFunds, more aggressive government actionto set aside or buy wilderness, to forgiveThird World debts in exchange for wildlifeprotection.

The metaphor is a little tired, but it stillholds: birds are like the miner's canary,indicators of our health and safety. Althoughthere are still millions of birds, their num-bers and varieties are falling. ChandlerRobbins of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Serv-ice says, 'There are going to be big de-creases in populations and some will van-ish altogether." To prove him wrong willtake a heap of doing. ^ ~

REFERENCES:World Watch Magazine,

January-February 1990, pp. 11-12Smithsonian Magazine,

February 1990, pp. 28-36

Birdathon '90 ToRaise Funds ForEnvironmentalEducation

April 1 - May 15 are the dates for Birdathon'90, Los Angeles Audubon's annual fund-raiser to support environmental education.Organizers haveplanned a variety of activi-ties and hope to raise $10,000 to supportyouth education programs in Los Angelesschools. The event is fun, and you don'thave to be an expert birder to participate.There are many ways to get involved:

FIELD TRIP PARTICIPANTS havean opportunity to bird with an expert:

• Sunday, April 29, ornitholo-gist Kimball Garrett (Natural His-tory Museum of Los AnglesCounty) will stage a "Loonathon/Scoterthon" at Point Dume towatch spring migration in fullswing. Participants are asked tofind sponsors who will pledge afew cents per bird. He estimatesthe group will see 500-1,000 Pa-cific Loons and about the samenumber of Surf Scoters.• Saturday, May 5, authorChuck Bernstein (The]oyofBirding)will reprise last year's popular tripin Malibu for beginning birders.The group will bird at MalibuCreek State Park and Malibu La-goon and will see approximately

50-80 species. Participants areasked to bring a minimum of $25.00in pledges.For more competitive types, there are

the BIG DAY COMPETITORS and BACK-YARD BIRDERS.

• BIG DAY COMPETITORSform a team, sign up sponsors andchallenge LAAS's board of direc-tors for prizes based on the mostspecies seen and most moneyraised during a single 24-hourperiod.• BACKYARD BIRDERSpledge $1.00 or more per speciesand then count the birds at theirbackyard feeding station. Prizes,including seed, feeders, and plantsare given for most species seenand most money raised.Everyone who participates in the event,

and sponsors who contribute$50.00 or more,will receive an official Birdathon '90 t-shirt.

'The Birdathon is a great opportunityto involve new people in Audubon's activi-ties," says Melanie Ingalls, Birdathon Chair-person. "People are intrigued by the eventand very willing to pledge when they hearwhere the money goes." Birdathon '90 willsupport LAAS's education programs, in-cluding teacher workshops, environmentaleducation fairs, scholarships for teachers toAudubon Camp of the West, and theaward-winning Audubon Adventures program forgrades 3-6.

To register for Birdathon '90, return theform attached to this month's Tanager orcall Audubon House at (213) 876-0202 formore information, t^ .

Anne Ehrlich To SpeakAnne Ehrlich, Associate Director for the Center for Conservation Biology at StanfordUniversity, will speak on THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES OF PREPARINGFOR WAR. She is national chair of the Sierra Club's Military Impacts on the EnvironmentCommittee.

Ms. Ehrlich will speak at the Santa Monica Unitarian Church, 1260 18th Street, SantaMonica, at 7:30 p.m., Friday, March 16,1990. The event is sponsored by the Nuclear IssuesSubcommittee of the Sierra Club's Angeles Chapter and by the Environment and PeaceCommittee of the Unitarian Church.

Ms. Ehrlich has written or co-authored many technical articles in population biologyand has written extensively on issues such as environmental protection and the environ-mental consequences of nuclear war. She is co-editor, with John Birks, of a Sierra Club bookto be published this year, Hidden Dangers: The Environmental Consequences of Preparing forWar. She co-edited the article which appeared in the January-February 1990 Tanager, 'TheChallenge of Growth." In March, 1985 she received the Humanist Distinguished ServiceAward, jointly with Paul Ehrlich, from the American Humanist Association. In 1988 she waselected Honorary Fellow in the California Academy of Science. In 1989 she was selected forthe United Nations Global 500 Roll of Honor for Environmental Achievement.

For further information, call Florence McKenna at (213) 395-6762. V -

Now On @Recycled PaperStarting with this issue of the Western Tana-ger, we are now using 100% recycled paper,

Ridesharing ToHelp MembersLAAS will promote ridesharing to ourmonthly meetings. The idea was suggestedby the recent survey. A program will helpcoordinate riders and rides. Potential ride-sharers can call Audubon House to try toconnect with someone or can look for oth-ers from their part of town at the monthlymeetings (areas will be noted on name tags).

Western Tanager March 1990

BookstoreNews

by Charles Harper

Many visitors at Audubon House askabout our pricing and service policies;

so at the risk of boring some readers, Iwould like to outline our operations.

The bookstore is the greatest singlefundraising mechanism for LAAS conser-vation programs. All net income after oper-ating expenses goes to our environmentaland educational efforts.

Unlike the LAAS share of your annualdues—which almost covers production ofthe Western Tanager—or the fees you pay forfield and pelagic trips which are calculatedto offset the cost of these services, moniesraised from bookstore sales are meant to

Salton SeaSuccessThe February 4 field trip to the Salton Seaturned up a good assortment of winteringbirds, local specialties and a couple of Ari-zona birds that had recently been "stakedout."

Wintering birds included 150 SandhillCranes, thousands of White-faced Ibis, aGlaucous-winged Gull, Canada Geese, lotsof Snow Geese and a smattering of Ross'Geese, about six Lewis' Woodpeckers, andStilt Sandpiper.

Local specialties included Abert'sTowhee, Vermillion Flycatcher, Gila Wood-pecker, Verdin, and Yellow-footed Gull.

The proverbial cherry on top was aCurve-billed Thrasher recently located nearBrawley and five Inca Doves in the samearea.

EasyLAAS

for

If you bank with Union Federal Savings, allyou need do is register your account with"charity number 199" to generate an auto-matic donation of 15 base points to LAAS atno cost to you! This amounts to about $30for a $20,000 account and could well gener-ate thousands with a good response. Aphone call to your local branch is all it takes.

produce funds needed to accomplish theSociety's goals.

We operate on much the same prin-ciples as any retail store, but profits go tohealing the environment, not into privatepockets.

Because we are in competition withother nature shops and bookstores, wenaturally try to keep prices as low as pos-sible; but our size does not let us competewith such major marketing strategies as thePathway Book Club or with the "camerawarehouses" back east. Other small retail-ers have the same problem and must rely onother means to attract customers.

In our case, we try to do a much betterjob of getting you what you want when youwant it. We pride ourselves on the com-pleteness of our stock of birdfinding andidentification guides, on our ability to ad-vise you accurately on the best book orequipment for the task, and on the speed ofour response to your needs. These abilities

Giant Kangaroo Rat(endangered)Drawing courtesy ofAlison Sheehey,Kern Audubon Society

BylawsAmendment

are a result of the astoundingly dedicatedteam of volunteers that man our bookstoreand office five days a week. And our steadygrowth over the last few years attests to theconfidence birders all over the world havein us!

We do not have any discount differen-tial between members (either local or na-tional) and the general public. Because ourcustomers are scattered so widely and mostof our business is mail order, it would beextremely difficult to monitor currentmemberships and still be fair to all.

Please keep in mind that when youshop at Audubon Bookstore, you are notonly getting value for dollar but are alsohelping save the Ballona Wetlands and thetropical rainforest, the Sepulveda Basin andthe California Condor, educating thousandsof Los Angeles school children on conser-vation issues, and participating as a mem-ber in the impact LAAS is making in solvingsome of our environmental woes. t^»

Quality Birdsat MuguThe January 27 field trip to Point Mugu gotoff to a shaky start as birders arrived withpitted windshields, had their door springssprung, and frequently refused to emergefrom their cars to scan the wintering water-fowl, harriers and shorebirds that made upthe majority of sightings. At times, the windwas so fierce that only our fearless leaderDaniel Cooper braved the elements to berewarded with a stunning male Black Sco-ter balancing that little orange ball on thebase of his bill! In fact, we saw all threescoters during the day and a female Com-mon Goldeneye and a Pelagic Cormorant toboot! The cormorant was as cooperative asthe Black Scoter, swimming quite close tothe shore and giving everyone a good lookat its dark face, slender bill and long tail.

The board of directors proposes the following amendment to the bylaws of the Los AngelesAudubon Society to be voted upon at the meeting on April 10,1990:

Article 4: OFFICERSSection 1 (elective officers) would be amended to eliminate the post of Registrar of Members.Section 12 (duties of the Registrar of Members) would be stricken from the bylaws.

Article 7: STANDING COMMITTEESSection 2 shall add the word "Membership" to the list of standing committees.Section 4 shall add a "Membership" paragraph following the paragraph "Headquarters."The "Membership" paragraph shall read as follows: The Membership Committee shallmaintain membership records of the Chapter and, by itself and in cooperation with theNational Society, shall take all appropriate action to maintain the existing membership andto acquire new members. ^ ~

Western Tanager March 1990

San Joaquin Antelope Squirrel (threatened)Drawings courtesy of Alison Sheehey,

Kern Audubon Society

Blunt-nosed Leopard Lizard (endangered)

AudubonWestern Regional Conference

The 1990 Western Regional Conference will take place April 7-10 at Audubon's conferencecenter at Asilomar, California on the Monterey peninsula. The theme will be "ProtectingEcological Landscapes." There will be a variety of workshops and discussions on conserva-tion, nature study and Audubon chapter activities.

Conservation issues such as wetlands protection, water quality, state non-game pro-grams, ancient forests, marbled murrelets and spotted owls, and Audubon's internationalconservation agenda will be the subject of workshops.

Chapter leaders will have sessions on organization and fundraising, computer appli-cations and environmental education.

The conference offers top-flight workshops on nature photography and bird identifi-cation.

Seven field trips will explore a forest, field, ocean, aquarium, and the historic SanAndreas Fault. Field trips have limited capacity and should be signed up for early.

National Audubon Ecology CampsNational Audubon Society offers a variety of ecology workshops that get glowing praisefrom alumni. The camps, at various seasons, are located in Yellowstone area of Wyoming,the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state, Big Bend National Park in Texas, the Chiri-cahua Mountains of southeastern Arizona, Muscongus Bay in Maine, coastal Connecticut,Sanibel Island in South Florida, and cloud forest and rain forest of Costa Rica. The camps andworkshops last from one week to twelve days.

Audubon Camp of the West, in Wyoming's Wind River Mountains, is the most remoteof the Audubon Camps, and the one best known in this part of the country. Week-longsessions begin on June 23, July 29 and August 5. Twelve-day sessions begin on July 1 andJuly 15. The cost is $525 and $725, respectively.

For information, contact Audubon Ecology Camps & Workshops, National AudubonSociety, 613 Riversville Road, Greenwich, CT 06831, (203) 869-2017.

Trout CampIn The SierrasWeek-long Audubon Golden Trout Work-shops will be held in the Sierras July 29-August 18,1990. This is the fourteenth yearof an informal field natural history pro-gram in the Golden Trout Wilderness of theeastern high Sierras, providing accessibil-ity to these ecosystems for better under-standing of these unique habitats. Thecampis at 10,100 feet in the Cotton wood Lakesbasin south of Mt. Whitney and is reachedonly by trail. The program is similar to theAudubon Camp of the West, with morehiking, and is flexible to suit the interests ofeach group. Most campers are adults, andinterests are not confined to birding.

The camp is sponsored by the GoldenTrout Committee, composed of members ofseveral Audubon chapters in southern andnorthern California. Cost for the camp,Sunday through Saturday, is $195 for adults,$135 for children age 10-13, and $110 forchildren age 3-9. For details, call or writeCindi McKernan, 1230 Friar Lane, Redlands,CA 92373, (714) 793-7897.

The Golden Trout Committee is nowoffering the David Gaines Sierra Scholar-ship. To apply, submit a 300-word essayregarding your interest in the Sierra Ne-vada (and its conservation) by June 1,1990.

Western Tanager March 1990

Back To Baseby Dorothy Dimsdale

"Can you tell me how many trees there are inCalifornia?"

"I'm afraid I don't know the precise num-ber of species."

"No, not species. How many trees arethere?"

"I have no idea.""Well, how many bushes would you say

there are?"

C harles, our only full-time worker atAudubon House, took thiscall. Whilehe enjoys, and is excellent at finding

answers to difficult phone questions, heneeds time to get on with the overall run-ning of 'The House." As volunteer help isneeded, I'm back into the fold after a respiteof a few years, just for one day a week.

You may be surprised to learn that I'mnot the most fascinating or knowledgeableperson to work at Audubon House, but I'mthe only one (at the moment) who is willingto write about my experiences there.

Of course, a part-timer can't know theanswers to all the questions, but almost, ifnot all the people who call are pleasant andeasy to talk to, and one can always holler toCharles for help. I fielded this one early inJanuary 1990.

"What's happening to the environment?""In what way?""There's a Robin in my garden.""How very nice.""I've lived here for twenty years and this is

the first time I've had a Robin. What's goingon?"

My answer is too long to detail herebut, I hope, satisfied the caller that the"greenhouse effect" had not yet singled outher yard.

A very important part of the serviceswe provide comes from our bookstore - the

most comprehensive in the U.S. on theworld's birds, and from which we mailbooks absolutely anywhere. The book de-partment always needs help. We also havea small library which covers every area ofornithological interest.

Then there are our field trips. Even ifyou're not very interested in birds, the placeswe visit are often fascinating parts of Cali-fornia, from the desert to the mountainsand the sea, including the Salton Sea. Best ofall the people are friendly without being ag-gressively so, and with all our present-dayscary feelings regarding the future of ourplanet, the Audubon Societyisa very worth-while place to give a hand, if only for a fewhours.

It isn't necessary, but it helps to be abirder as there's great satisfaction in beingableto help people identify theiryard birds.They're so delighted to give that "new"bird a name. However, when I first volun-teered I knew nothing at all about birdsexcept that they were covered with feathersand flew and were nice to have around. Itdidn't matter. There were (and still are)plenty of jobs to keep me occupied whileothers answer the phone. At first, I thoughtthe birders at Audubon House were a trulyodd lot. Of course, like most people, I haveal ways thoughtthatsingingbirdsare lovely,and very often pretty to look at, but whywould anyone want to know every littlesparrow species? What I discovered wasthat it's rather like doing a jigsaw puzzle -once you start, you want to see the completepicture. In fact, curiosity as to why peoplechoose to pursue this weird hobby was theundoing of me, and now I'm as eager abirder as the rest of them.

Art Pickus, whose wife Jean also worksone day a week at The House was telling meabout his introduction to birding severalyears ago. Neither he nor Jean could tell thedifference between a duck and an ostrich atthat time (and I hope they'll forgive me formaking that public), so they decided to go

on one of our field trips to try to find outhow to watch and identify birds. During thetrip a flock of specks flew across the sky andthe leader of their group looked up andannounced, "Cedar Waxwings!" Art said itwas hard to tell they were birds, let alonewhat species. Then a single bird dived likelightening into a bush, and the leader calledout its identity immediately. This happenedon several occasions, though all Art sawwere flocks of birds zipping by or a flash ofa bird diving into a thicket, which wassomewhat boring. As the bird or birds werealmost impossible to see, let alone identify,he and Jean told me that they decided be-tween themselves that the leader made upthe identification just to impress the group- or to put it more bluntly, they thought hewas lying. Only after a few field trips andquestioning the leader as to how he/sheknew what species they were seeing, didArt and Jean realize how it was indeedpossible to name a fast flying and disap-pearing bird, and then to their great pleas-ure, finally finding they were able to do thesame. This really got them into a hobbywhich now consumes most of their sparetime.

Part of the attraction (and frustration)of birding is that it's almost impossible toknow every bird in every situation. I havetaken Arnold Small's superb classes andfield trips at UCLA Extension, which areinvaluable to all interested in birds andbirding from beginners to those furtheralong. Try one session and you'll find your-self eagerly looking forward to the follow-ing one. I have listened enthralled to JonDunn's lectures, held often at LAAS eve-ningmeetings, and then, havingtaped them,played them over and over at home. Yet outin the field it can be another story.

There was a Tree Sparrow in Fullertonin January 1990. It was in with a flock ofChipping Sparrows. When I arrived at thescene, Jon had found the bird (that's alwaysa good start) and then for a brief moment

O'PIN IONSby MacArthur Wilson

Eor the past couple of winters, birdershave been trooping to Death Valley to har-ass a small, marginal population of a gentleand innocuous species of ground-dove.There have never been more than a handful(unplucked) of individuals there, who seemto decimate over the course of the winter,only to be replenished the next fall.

Furnace Creek Ranch and its environs,a small green patch in the middle of 1,500square miles of gravel, functionsin the sameway as an oceanic island. It attracts plantsand animals flying over or swimming bybecause it stands out like a green thumb,and they stay because it offers certainamenities not available for a long way inany direction: food and shelter.

Because it attracts a lot of animals forits size, it gets relatively crowded, and justas there are inordinate numbers of surpris-ing species arriving over time, there are(theoretically) equally inordinate numbers

of species leaving Furnace Creek Islandoverthe same length of time. In other words,in a mature biogeographic "island," speciescolonization rate equals species extinctionrate, and both rates are higher than on thevaster continents.

During a visit one weekend in Novem-ber, friends of mine saw an Eastern Phoebeand a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, but misseda Lapland Longspur, a LeConte's Sparrowand a Bufflehead that had been seen thereonly a day or so previously; the followingweek's bird alert tape announced sightingsof Harris' and White-throated Sparrows at

Western Tanager March 1990

got it in the scope. I looked in the scope andsaw three birds, all more or less alike, thenthey flew. With a strong feeling of inade-quacy I knew I'd have to follow the flockuntil I was able to pick out the bird formyself. This was where the learning partcame in.

At that moment my friend Millie ar-rived (also a House volunteer, that's how Imet her), and as she hadn't yet seen the bird,she was just as eager as I to pursue andidentify it for ourselves. After studying thebirds feeding in the grass, all we could seewell were their backs. Their breasts wereburied in the grass as were their heads.Then we realized thatone of the

be intimidating). However, I really felt forthe newish birder on a recent field trip whogaveawayhis newness whiletryingto coverit up. I think he was just eager to seem to bea knowledgeable birder and was very en-thusiastic. Someone remarked that wehadn't seen any Northern Mockingbirdsthat morning. The newish birder said, "Isaw one fly over when I arrived. It was a fe-male." Those last four words gave him away,though no one was unkind enough to chal-lenge him on the matter. There is no way todifferentiatethe sex of afree flying

San Joaquin Kit Fox (endangered)

birds had more prominent and much whiterwing bars. By keeping this bird in our bin-oculars we were able to follow it as it slowlymoved out of the grass, then we saw thegray face and rufous smudges at the sides ofthe breast, and finally, the dark spot in thecenter of the breast. Yeah! We had it.

The good feeling was that we had beenable to identify it for ourselves and not justtaken someone else's word for it, even JonDunn's (though if he'd said it was a nestlingDouble-striped Thick-knee, I expect I'dbelieve him).

It's no shame to know less than every-one else in your group (though I agree it can

Drawing by Alison Sheehey, Kern Audubon Society

Northern Mockingbird. To be certain, Iasked Kimball Garrett of the L.A. Museumof Natural History (who also gives reallyexcellent lectures at our Society). He saidthat only in very special circumstances canthe sexes be decided, and usually not in afree flying bird. Maybe our fellow birderdid see a Mockingbird, but those last fourwords made his sighting suspect.

The main thing to remember is thatyou don't have to be a brilliant identifier ofbirds, you just have to enjoy trying to figurethem out, and the ability to identify willcome naturally in time. I've been birdingseriously for fifteen years and I still know

disgustingly little. If you can tell a joke,share your lunch; or just keep quiet whilethe big birders have their say (and the lastmove is the best), you'll find that they get soused to seeing you around, the fact thatyour knowledge is bordering on zero isforgotten. I've been shuffling around theedge of the crowd for so long, even myparanoid fear of being ostracized for sayingsomething like "Water Pipit!" when it'sbeen decided that the bird's name is "Ameri-can Pipit" has left me. Then, of course,there's always the possibility that theyhaven't even noticed your presence in thefirst place - and even that isn't all bad. Finda piece of information not yet universallyknown, e.g., "I had no idea that the Hoatzinis a ruminant!" and announce it as thoughyou were the source of the information, andyou're in! (Don't use the Hoatzin bit, everybirder of note knows more than the Hoatzinitself about its functioning at the presenttime.)

So, it's a frustrating, time consuming,exhilarating and exciting way to spend time.When birding, one can find oneself amongthose who know so much more, as well asthose who know less than oneself - and onelearns from both groups. Seeing a new birdis wonderful for a birder, but being able topositively identify it as well, is the supremehigh.

Perhaps I should apologize for all thischat about birdwatching and hope it hasnot taken away from the inside working ofAudubon House. However, as we all knownow, unfavorable trends from our careless-ness in the treatment of the environmentvery often first manifest themselves in birds,e.g., DDT, Selenium, and ocean dumping ofwaste, to name only a few.

The nitty-gritty of this wandering dia-tribe is to say that Audubon House needshelp. If you have some time, we can use it.I'm happy to say that I have been toleratedand accepted with all my faults and igno-rance. So what are you waiting for?! 1 ^

Furnace Creek, but no Eastern Phoebe orYellow-bellied Sapsucker.

Anyone familiar with the area willknow that in birding it, one does not simplymiss seeing these birds; with assiduity oneshould miss little or nothing, because thearea is painfully finite and totally acces-sible. It is that the birds come and go.

Many of them fall prey to raptors andother predators. There is an unusually largenumber of birds of prey — obeying thesame island rules above — includingCooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks. LastwinteraRuddyGround-Dove was snatched

from before the eyes of its admirers by oneof thebold roadrunners that strut the green-sward. This November, my friends foundthe remains of a Long- or Short-eared Owl,done in by a bird larger and fiercer thanitself.

Other birds suffer the side effects ofdistraction caused by the great numbers ofhumans that Furnace Creek Island also at-tracts. Some of these people just talk loudlyand drive golf carts about; others silentlyfollow the birds around all day. Both kindsof people interrupt the birds' feeding, bath-ing and resting, and send them up with a

flutter likely to attract the eye of any accip-iter hidden nearby. In a constricted envi-ronment, this effect too is exacerbated.

This unfortunate phenomenon willremain a contentious issue in birding circlesand is a paradigm for the dilemma facingthe human race as a whole. A rarity isdiscovered; if you get to see it, why shouldn'tI, as a fellow member of this aggressivelydemocratic society, get to see it too? Soeveryone flocks to see the bird until criticalmass is reached and the rarity becomes anextinction, one way or another. ^ ~

Western Tanager 10 March 1990

B i r d Q u e s t ' 8 9 W i n d - U p

L by James F. Clements, Ph.D. L

. ecember was an active finale forBird Quest '89. After the frus-

jtrating overlaps of Kenya and/ Thailand, it was more like a finesurgical operation dragging out

'the last remaining bird s of the year.The Los Angeles Audubon rare bird

tape was right on target with a small flock ofLewis' Woodpeckers at Malibu Creek StatePark. Then Arnold Small and Bruce Broad-books joined me for a day's birding inOrange County, which added five species. . . including California's second Sprague'sPipit (studied from 25 feet away in thescope).

I next flew to Seattle for a quick week-end, adding ten species on a long drive toAnacortes and Whidbey Island. Only a last-minute sighting of a Black-capped Chicka-dee at my son Dan's feeding station savedme the embarrassment of missing one ofNorth America's best-known birds!

Fortunately the Evening Grosbeaks andRed Crossbills that regularly frequent Dan'sfeeding trays put in an appearance for meand my brother the following week in themountains of central Mexico.

Bob and I spent a week birding thewilds of the state of Guerrero . . . addingsome uncommon birds like Lucifer Hum-mingbird, Colima Warbler, Red-faced War-bler and the elusive Sierra Madre Sparrow.

We added a total of 30 species for ourintense efforts in this wild and remote partof Mexico. We missed the quest bird ofGuerrero, the rare Omilteme Jay, but at theFilo de Caballo study site Bob and I weretreated to one of the most spectacularhummingbird displays I have ever wit-nessed.

In an opening in the pine-oak forest, aone-hectare field of flowers was in full

bloom. The blossoms were red, white, pink,yellow and purple, and no fewer than ninespecies of hummingbirds were feeding atthe same time . . . without any apparentviolation of one another's territory. Bobwent out of his mind with this eye-levelopportunity to photograph such elusivequarry . . . especially two incredibly coop-erative male Bumblebee Hummingbirds.

I was reminded of Henry Walter Bates'remarks as he watched a hummingbirdbathing in a heliconia patch along theAmazon River: "I thought, as I watched it,that there was no need for poets to inventelves and gnomes, whilst Nature furnishesus with such marvelous little sprites readyon hand."

I flew home for a quick two days forChristmas and then back to southern Mex-ico to end up with VENT's annual Christ-mas Oaxaca tour. The southern Mexicanhighlands adjacent to Oaxaca harbor anincredible 26 endemic species of birds andKenn Kaufmann, Ted Parker and Rick Bow-ers did their best to drag out each of theskulking critters for the Bird Quest '89 tally.One by one they fell... Dwarf Vireo, SlatyVireo, Boucard's Wren, Bridled Sparrow,Dwarf Jay, White-throated Towhee, Gray-barred Wren.

I was astounded by the lack of parrotsand took two days off to drive to the coast atPuerto Escondido for the coastal and low-land birds that were not to be hoped for inthe highlands. This added another ten spe-cies to the trip list, including the beautifulOrange-breasted Bunting and the LeastPygmy-Owl.

But the piece de resistance was providedon December 31, the final day of birding.Rick Bowers lent me a pre-recorded selec-tion of the rare Oaxaca Sparrow's song, and

on the way up to the mountain, Kenn andTed pointed to the spot where they had seenthe bird the previous day.

No sooner had I played the tape thanKaren and I were bombed by an angry pairof Oaxaca Sparrows . . . my 3,630th (andfinal) bird of the year, and a real skulkingMexican endemic for my 6,124th life bird.

It was quite an ending to 265,000 milesof circling the globe in my dual pursuits ofraising funds for the L. A. Museum of Natu-ral History and breaking the world recordfor number of bird species sighted in acalendar year.

Despite my not reaching my goal of4,000 species, my brother Bob reminded methat on the dust jacket of the second editionof Birds of the World: A Checklist, I was de-scribed as "one of a handful of naturalistswho has identified over 3,000 species ofbirds in their natural habitat."

Even more poignant, however, was theABA's Birding magazine summary of May-June 1969, in which the top world list wasStuart Keith... at 3,170 species!

My fiancee and I spent the first week ofthe new year at Las Hadas in Manzanillo,while I re-involved myself in HartmutWalter's Socorro Island Dove rehabilitationproject. Watching the Brown Pelicans frommy balcony each morning was a silentreminder of ho w much Bird Quest '89 wouldhave meant to the person most responsiblefor i t . . . Dr. Ralph Schreiber.

Postscript: This summary was delayed dueto the necessity of having my failed hipreplaced. The operation was successfullyperformed at St. John's Hospital in SantaMonica, and I am now home and healingaccording to plan. Quo vadis? 'r$*.

Raptor WorkshopRevisitedby Nick Freeman

What makes raptors so popular among hard-core and casual birders alike? Is it some-thing about their throne at the top of thefood chain? Their regal demeanor as theysoar, stoop and survey their domain? Orsimply the ease with which they can be

spotted and observed perching on telephonepoles or wheeling overhead? Whatever theanswer, a healthy crowd of birders demon-strated their common fascination with tal-oned avifauna by showing up at Ned Har-ris' workshop on the diurnal raptors ofCalifornia. The lecture was presented in anaccessible format, stressing reliablefieldmarks but also hitting on the newerholistic methods. Ned's slides beautifullyillustrated the characteristic markings ofthe 22 species discussed.

The next morning, the rainy cold snapsnapped just in time to make for an unex-pectedly pleasant, if cool, day for our bustrip into the Antelope Valley. The group gotgood-to-incredible looks at many of theraptors expected in the area, including plen-tiful Ferruginous and Red-tailed Hawksand a curious Golden Eagle wheeling over-head. Ned was also able to draw on theexpertise of top raptor specialists PeterBloom and his co-workers to make this tripa particularly memorable event. ^ -

Western Tanager 11 March 1990

ANNOUNCEMENTSContinued from page 22

Saturday, April 14 - Ballona Wetlands. Until anew leader is found, this may be our last trip toBallona. Wintering waterfowl and shorebirdsshould be giving way to early migrants. BlackOystercatchers are usually seen. Meet at 8 a.m. atthe Pacific Ave. footbridge. Take the Marina Fwy(90 West) to Culver Blvd., turn left to Pacific Ave.,then right to the bridge at the end. Street parkingis usually available. [LA, p.55A, D-l]

Friday, April 20 - Chatsworth Park South. Joinleader Allan Keller for a morning of prime mi-gration birding. We will seek warblers, orioles,grosbeaks and others in this chaparral-oak wood-land habitat. From Topanga Canyon Blvd. gowest on Devonshire and continue into the park-ing lot by the Recreation Center. Meet at 8.00 a.m.[LA, p.6, B-2]

Saturday, April 21 - L.A. River Walk for Begin-ners. Daniel Cooper will lead this urban morn-ing bird walk in coordination with the Friends ofthe Los Angeles River, in an effort to see somebirds on less than a full tank of gas, and to showthat there are still stretches of the river that con-tain enough wildlife habitat to enjoy and be con-cerned about. Take Fwy 5 to Los Feliz, head eastover the river, then park at the cafe adjacent to thegolf course on the north (left) side of the street.Meet at 8 a.m. [LA, p.25, B-6]

Saturday, April 21 - Whittier Narrows RegionalPark. See March 18 for details.

Sunday, April 22, EARTH DAY - Placenta Can-yon. Catch the migration with perhaps our mostrenowned birdsong aficionado, Kimball Garrett.The group will explore the oak woodlands andgrasslands of the canyon and adjacent WalkerRanch. Take Hwy 14 to Placerita Canyon Roadand drive east (right) about 3.5 miles to the Plac-erita Nature Center lot on the right. Meet outside

D WP Employees ?Are any of our LAAS members employeesof the Department of Water and Power? Ifso, please contact Steve Hirsh at (213)255-5515. We'd like your help with a spe-cial project.

ResearchVolunteers

WantedBreeding biology of Western AmericanCrows ongoing research for UCLA Ph.D.dissertation, needs volunteers few hoursper week mainly in April and May at BalboaGolf Course, Encino. Spotting scope help-ful. Contact: CaroleeCaffrey (213) 825-0087or (213) 396-7882 before 10:30 p.m.

the chained lot at 7.00 a.m. and finish beforenoon. [LA, p.127, H-4]

Sunday, April 22 - Malibu Lagoon. See March 25for details.

Sunday, April 29 - Mojave Narrows. HaroldBond will lead his band of merry birders throughthis prime birding oasis to see what spring desertspecialties the lake, marsh, fields and woods ofthis extensive area can produce. Rails, VermilionFlycatchers and wayward vagrants have beenknown to augment the more usual freshly moltedmigrants. Take Hwy 15 toward Victorville, andtake the Bear Valley cut-off east (right) for about4 miles. The entrance road to the park will be onthe left. Bring a lunch and dress for the possibilityof cold and wind. Bring a scope if you have one.Bird with Harold after lunch as well if you like.Overnight camping in the park and lodging inVictorville are available. Meet at 8.00 a.m. at theMojave Narrows Boathouse.

Sunday, April 29 - Kimball Garrett leads a"Loonathon" at Point Dume forBirdathon '90. See attached flyer orcall Audubon House for details andto register.

Saturday, May 5- ChuckBern steinwill lead a trip for beginning birdersat Malibu Creek State Park and

Malibu Lagoon for Birdathon '90. See attachedflyer or call Audubon House for details and toregister.

Saturday, May 5 - Santa Anita Canyon. LeaderMary Carmona. Take the 210 Fwy east towardArcadia and take Santa Anita Avenue north tothe very end. Meet at the trailhead at the bottomof the parking lot at the end of the road. Amoderately strenuous 4-mile round trip throughoak and chaparral canyons. Good selection ofbreeding and migrant passerines. Bring a lunch.May be cool. Meet at 7.00 a.m. [LA, p.20A, F-l]

Sunday, May 6 - Topanga State Park. SeeMarch 4for details. %~

RESERVATION TRIPS(Limited Participation)Policy and Procedures

Reservations for LAAS trips will be acceptedONLY if ALL the following information hasbeen supplied:(1) Trip desired(2) Names of people in your party(3) Phone numbers: (a) usual and

(b) evening before event, in case ofemergency cancellation or changes

(4) Separate check (no cash please) to LAASfor exact amount for each trip

(5) SASE for confirmation and associatedtrip information.

Send to: Reservations, LAAS, 7377 SantaMonica Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90046

If there is insufficient response, thetrip will be cancelled two Wednesdays priorto the scheduled date and you will be sonotified and your fee refunded. Your cancel-lation within that time will bring a refundonly if there is a paid replacement available.

WESTERN TANAGERPublished 10 times a year by

Los Angeles Audubon Society7377 Santa Monica Boulevard

(Plummer Park)West Hollywod, CA 90046EDITOR: Jesse Moorman

ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Hank BrodkinCONSERVATION EDITOR:

Sandy WohlgemuthORNITHOLOGY CONSULTANT:

Kimball GarrettDESKTOP PUBLISHING: WP Plus

PRINTING: Marcotte Printing

Los Angeles Audubon Society is a chapter ofNational Audubon Society. Opinions ex-pressed in articles or letters herein do notnecessarily express the position of this pub-lication or of LAAS.

PRESIDENT: Robert Van Meter1st VICE PRESIDENT: Jean Brandt

2nd VICE PRESIDENT:Richard Webster

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY:Mildred Newton

Annual membership in both societies is$35 per year, $21 for seniors, and presently$30 for new members for their first year.Members receive the Western Tanagernewsletter and Audubon magazine, anationalpublication.

Renewals of membership are computer-ized by National Audubon and should notnormally be sent to LAAS. New member-ships and renewal of lapsed membershipsmay be sent to Los Angeles Audubon Houseat the above address. Make checks payable tothe order of National Audubon Society.

Non-members may suscribe to the WesternTanager for $12 per year. The newsletter issent by first class mail to subscribers andmembers who pay an additional $5. Makechecks payable to Los Angeles AudubonSociety.

National Headquarters, New York(212) 832-3200

Los Angeles Audubon Headquarters,Library and Bookstore are open

Tuesday - Saturday10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.(213) 876-0202-office

(213) 874-1318 - bird tape(updated Thursdays)

To report bird sightings,

before 9:00 p.m.(818) 788-5188 - Jean Brandt

(213) 827-0407 - Hank Brodkin

Western Tanager 12 March 1990

ANNOUNCEMENTSEVENING MEETING

Meet at 8:00 p.m. in Plummer Park

Tuesday, March 13 - Dr. Michael Wallace, Di-rector of The Captive Breeding and Release Pro-gram for the California Condor as well as theCurator of Birds at our own L.A. Zoo, will pres-ent a program on The California Condor. This isa topic of national interest. His talk will includedetails about the current use of Andean Condorsas experimental surrogates (female Andean Con-dors were released in the Los Padres NationalForest this year). The Captive Breeding Programis moving ahead successfully and Dr. Wallacewill give us a behind-the-scenes look at how itworks. Please join us and get reacquainted withthe magnificent California Condor and thestruggle to bring it back from extinction.

IDENTIFICATION WORKSHOPThere will be no identification workshop. At7:45 p.m., Birdathon chairperson Melanie Ingallswill present National Audubon Society'sBirdathon slideshow and discuss plans for thisyears event which will support L.A. Audubon'seducation programs.

NEXT MONTHTuesday, April 10-Don Roberson, "Birding theBounding Main," seabirds and mammals of theeastern tropical Pacific Ocean

FIELD TRIPSCALL THE TAPE!

Before setting out on any field trip, call theAudubon bird tape, (213) 874-1318 for specialinstructions or possible cancellations that mayhave occurred by the Thursday before the trip.

Notations in parentheses after trip listings referto Thomas Bros, map page an d grid coordinates(county, page number, grid coordinates).

Sunday, March 4 - Topanga State Park. LeaderGerry Haigh will guide participants through thisbeautiful nearby area. The group will look atwintering and resident species in the sycamores,grassland, scrub oak and chaparral. This is anideal trip for a beginning birder or for someonenew to the area. Meet at 8 a.m. in the parking lotof Trippet Ranch. From Topanga Canyon Blvd.heading south, take a very sharp turn east (left ifheading south from the San Fernando Valley)uphill onto Entrada Drive (7 miles south ofVentura Blvd. and 1 mile north of Topanga Vil-lage). Follow the signs to the state park. $3 park-ing fee. [LA, p.l 09, D-4]

Saturday, March 10 - Ballona Wetlands -CANCELLED. See April 14.

Sunday, March 11 - Sepulveda Basin NaturalArea. Leader Dustin Alcala hopes to find fairnumbers of the waterfowl and raptors that ex-ploded into this area when the lake bed wasfinally filled with water. There should also besome grassland/riparian/shorebird activity.Meet at Woodley Park at 7.30 a.m. To get there,

take Burbank Blvd. west, turn right onto Woo-dley Avenue and continue to the Woodley Parkentrance on the right. Meet in the first parkingarea. [LA,p.l5, B-6]

Sunday, March 18 - Upper Bee Canyon. LeaderDustin Alcala. A 6-mile strenuous walk throughreal wilderness, impressive, rugged oak-wood-land habitat with a fair chance of seeing PurpleFinch, Varied Thrush, Lawrence's Goldfinch,Band-tailed Pigeon, Nuttall's and Lewis' Wood-peckers, and deer and other mammals. Dustin isalso familiar with the native plants and trees inthe area. Not for lightweights, but not a forcedmarch. Layered clothing, hat, long sleeves anddurable lug-soled footwear suggested. Pack light,bring lunch and water. Take 405 Fwy north to118 Fwy west; take the Balboa Blvd. offrampnorth, turn left onto Jolette Avenue then righton to Meado wlark Avenue. Park at the side of thestreet where Meadowlark dead ends at VanGogh Street. Meet at 7a.m. Call Dustin before thetrip at (818) 767-0558 (before 9 p.m.) for recentsightings and more info. [LA, p.l, E-3]

Sunday, March 18 - Whittier Narrows RegionalPark. David White will lead a morning walk tocheck in on their resident birds and renownedwaterfowl. Meet at 8 a.m. at the Nature Center,1000 N. Durfee Avenue in South El Monte, offFwy 60 between the Santa Anita and Peck Dr.exits, west of Fwy 605. [LA, p.47, D-5]

Tuesday, March 21 - L.A. Arboretum. BarbaraCohen will lead a morning walk through variedhabitat looking for quail, owls, herons, raptorsand early migrants. Meet at 8 a.m. in front of thegatehouse in the parking lot on Baldwin Ave-nue, Arcadia, just south of Fwy 210, on the westside of the street. No admission fee. [LA, p.28,C-4]

Saturday, March 24 - Bolsa Chica and NewportBack Bay. Irwin Woldman will lead this trip tothe best-known estuaries in the L.A. Basin.Wintering and early migrant shorebirds shouldbe looking dapper by now. Other birds to lookfor include scoters, rails, ducks, gulls andBelding's Savannah Sparrow. Meet at 8 a.m. inthe Bolsa Chica estuary parking lot on the eastside of the Pacific Coast Hwy. Take the 405 Fwypast the 605 Fwy to Valley View. Exit and followValley View south as it becomes Bolsa ChicaRoad, turn west at the end onto Warner, then leftonto PCH. You will pass the small parking lot forthe Bolsa Chica estuary on your left and willhave to make a U-turn farther down to get backto the lot. A large turnout of participants mayrequire some paid parking across the street. Afee may be charged at Newport Back Bay. Bringa lunch and scopes. [OR, p.25, D-2]

Sunday, March 25 - Malibu Lagoon. Fourth Sun-day of each month. Meet at 8.30 a.m. in the lagoonparking lot (daily fee) on the ocean side of PCH,just north of the lagoon bridge. You can also turninto town for street parking. This walk is underthe leadership of a member of the Santa MonicaAudubon Society. [LA, p.114, B-5]

Saturday, March 31 - Starr Ranch Sanctuary.We will meet Park Ranger Pete DeSimone at ad-jacent Casper Park at 8.30 a.m. and carpool intopark in private vehicles, heading north throughBell Cany on in to Starr Ranch. We should glimpseGrasshopper Sparrows along the way. An un-strenuous walk through fairly untouched oakwoodlands may be good for passerines andyoung raptors. Take Fwy 5 south to the OrtegaHwy (74), then head east out of San Juan Capis-trano on Hwy 74 for about 8 miles to the CasperPark entrance on your left. Sign in at the gate andpark in the lot immediately left of the gatehouse.Reserve by phone with Audubon House. Raincancels. $5 donation to Starr Ranch not manda-tory. Do not send money to Audubon. Participa-tion limited. [OR, p.66,0-3]

Sunday, April 1 - Topanga State Park. SeeMarch 4 for details.

Thursday, April 5 - Point Dume Seabird Watch.One of our masters of field I.D., Jon Dunn, willbe watching the world (of seabirds) go by fromthis prominent promontory. Loons, scoters andgulls should provide the meat of the observa-tions. Take PCH north past Malibu, turn left ontoWestward Beach Road, which divides the blufffrom the south end of Zuma Beach, and continueto the parking lot at the end of the road. Take thetrail to the top of the bluff, veering right at the Tin the trail. 1.30 p.m. to 5-ish. Dress warmly andbring a scope if possible. [LA, p.110, B-6]

Sunday, April 8 - El Dorado Park. Jim and BettyJo Stevenson will show us around the extensivenature center and parkland that comprise theirhome turf. Meet at 7.30 a.m. in the grassy areabehind the Nature Center parking lot (majorbucks to park here!) To get to the park and findfree parking, take the 605 Fwy south to SpringStreet; head west and make a U-turn, then parkalong Spring before the flood control channel.Take the sidewalk over the channel to the park-ing lot on your right, then proceed to the back ofthe lot. [LA, p.72,F-l]

Sunday, April 8 - Providence Mts. and Vicinity.Leader Chet McGaugh. If you are intrigued bythe eastern Mojave Desert but wouldn't knowwhere to start on your own, this trip may be ofspecial interest. Chethas spent considerable timein these areas and hopes to find Crissal andBendire's Thrashers singing on their nestinggrounds. The far reaches of the desert are pres-ently under severe legislative scrutiny. Asidefrom seeing early breeding and migrating birds,you can firm up your knowledge and apprecia-tion of this very scenic desert area. Plan to do alot of driving Saturday afternoon (and Sundayevening), as we will meet at 6 a.m. Sundaymorning at Pike's Coffee Shop in Baker. TakeHwy 15 east 60 miles past Barstow; take theBaker turnoff (Hwy 127) into town, and Pike'swill be on the left side of the road. Reserve withAudubon House. Fee: $16. 20 maximum. CallNick Freeman at (213) 596-6172 with yourname,phone number and address for accommodationinformation as it becomes available.

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