Assembly report - Chapter Volunteer Awards

At each Assembly, Audubon California gives the Chapter Volunteer Award for Outstanding Service to exceptional individuals who have made an outstanding contribution towards the Audubon mission. On Sunday at the Assembly,  Audubon California gave the 2009 Chapter Volunteer Award for Outstanding Service to Steve Ferry of Santa Barbara Audubon, Nick Freeman of Los Angeles Audubon, Mike Prather of Eastern Sierra Audubon, Robin Winslow Smith of Sequoia Audubon, Tam Taafe of La Purisima Audubon, and Marilyn Waits of Redbud Audubon. The group is pictured above with Glenn Olson, Audubon California’s Executive Director.

Assembly report - Sierra Celebration

Everything we do at Audubon began with a love of birds. That’s how our movement began more than a century ago. And yet, when one gets caught up in the activity of conservation, protecting, and fighting, and responding to need, it can be easy to forget the love that brought you to this in the first place. Tonight’s program at the Audubon California Assembly featured a celebration of the Sierra Nevada hosted by educator/naturalist John Muir Laws, author of Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada. What Jack Laws does better than most these days is share his enthusiasm for California’s great outdoors. And while his message tonight was all about our responsibility to steward our natural resources, he intertwined that with a call for us to connect at a personal level with nature. “What we have to do is a joyful act,” he said. While the Tresspassers played modern Sierra bluegrass music in front of projected photos by Galen Rowell, Rob Hirsch, Alison Sheehey, and a film by Larry Arbanas, Assembly attendees danced into the night. (photo by Alison Sheehey)

Assembly report - The Future of Conservation

Six youth programs from around the state gave presentations that kicked off the Assembly with hope for the future of conservation. Los Angeles Audubon brought some Eco-Warriors from Dorsey High in South Central who relaxed on the Asilomar grounds after their presentation.

Assembly Report - Birding Monterey Bay

Scott Huber of Altacal and the Board of Audubon California and his son Liam led a bird walk on Monday morning. Other field trips included birding at Carmel River, a pelagic in Monterey Bay led by Todd McGrath and Jon Feenstra, and trips to see Condor to Ventana.

Yolo Audubon holds Green Summit in November

Yolo Audubon held a Green Sumitt with other environmental orgs in Woodland, California in the Central Valley on November 15th. Workshops included climate change,  green jobs, and outreach to the Central Valley diverse community. Pictured here are Yolo Audubon President Alison Kent with other planners of the meeting.

LA Audubon conducts baseline survey at Baldwin Hills park

On Valentines Day, 2009, students from Dorsey High School, members of the Los Angeles Audubon Society, and avid birders from the community helped to conduct the first baseline avian survey at the soon-to-be open Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook State Park, recording 18 species. This information will go to databases at both California State Parks and Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Great Backyard Bird Count Program. We got the one sunny day of a very rainy holiday weekend, and were lucky enough to take in the fantastic views of the Los Angeles Basin (mountains to ocean!) that this new state park offers visitors. In addition to surveying for birds, volunteers also initiated the collection of mammal tracks at this site - casts of tracks will be used to teach students about urban wildlife through Los Angeles Audubon’s outdoor education programs. Our greenhouse advisor was also on hand to help point out and identify native plants and ongoing habitat restoration projects in the park with students and birders.  We topped off our hike and bird count with a pizza party at the Baldwin Hills Greenhouse, where students in the Baldwin Hills Greenhouse Internship  and Restoration Leadership Programs discussed the projects they are currently working on at the greenhouse. The day’s three outstanding student volunteers were awarded Audubon bird plush toys for their excellent work. Many thanks to the students who hiked the muddy trail on Valentines Day, and many thanks to the Audubon birders who helped the students with species identification!

-From LA Audubon Director of Interpretive Stacey Vigallon-

Rossmoor homeowners vow to go ahead with woodpecker shoot

December 18th, 2008 · The Contra Costa Times reports that two homeowners groups in Rossmoor have reaffirmed their intention to use a U.S. Fish & Wildlife permit to shoot Acorn Woodpeckers that are building granaries in several homes. Despite an ongoing effort from the Mt. Diablo Audubon Society to bring in experts and even pay for possible solutions, the shooting is expected to go ahead soon. This is despite comment from several experts that the shooting is unlikely to solve the problem, and might even make it worse.

“Killing the woodpeckers is a shortsighted and very short-term solution,” Eric Walters, an acorn woodpecker specialist at UC Berkeley’s Hastings nature reserve in Carmel Valley, wrote in an e-mail to the Times this week. “Unless they plan to wipe out the entire acorn woodpecker population, shooting birds is not going to do a darn thing to stop the damage to their retirement community.”