Description: The West San Gabriel River Parkway Nature Trail is a little park, located at 4624 Shadeway Road in Lakewood. It is a lesser-used park and is well maintained with flat clay paths that run in parallel to the concreted section of the San Gabriel River. There is ample parking. This park is about 1.2 miles long, less than 30 yards wide and spans the area between E. Carson St. and Del Amo Blvd. eBird reports 123 species for the year.

Meet: We will meet in the parking lot of the Whittier Community Center and carpool/caravan, leaving at 6:30 AM. 

Bring: Your usual birdwatching stuff, sack lunch, water, hat and a thirst for adventure. 

Trip Leader:  Jim McNamara

Program Topic

The presentation highlights updates about the Habitat Authority's restoration, preservation, wildfire preparedness and how it serves the local communities. Now in its 30th year as an agency, its financial challenges will be discussed as well, along with information about Measure PH which was unanimously put on the November election ballot by the Habitat Authority's Board of Directors for consideration by voters.

https://www.habitatauthority.org/measureph/

Bios

Michelle Mariscal is the ecologist for the Puente Hills Habitat Preservation Authority (Habitat Authority). She has a Master’s degree in Ecology from the University of California Riverside. Her responsibilities include coordinating the ecological activities of the Puente Hills Preserve and helping to monitor the long-term sustainable health of the Preserve’s natural resources in balance with recreation.

Andrea Gullo is the Executive Director of the Habitat Authority. She has 29 years' experience in natural land management, and previously worked for several park agencies including California State Parks. She holds a Master's degree in Urban Planning from UCLA. She has served as President and Board Member for several local and national nonprofit organizations. At the Habitat Authority, she is responsible for managing and/or supervising all agency activities.

Program Format

Hybrid meeting - It is your preference: Join in person or online.  

In person: the meeting will take place at the Whittier Community Center, located at 7630 Washington Ave. Whittier. Please wear a mask.

Online: please RSVP here and we will send you a link to the meeting.

The program is free and open to the public.

Join us for our beginner bird walk in Sycamore Canyon.

This bird walk will be a very slow walk into the Sycamore Canyon Preserve. We will stop frequently to listen and observe the birds around us. Bring binoculars if you have them!

Meet at the entrance gate to the Sycamore Canyon trail. The trail is located adjacent to Rose Hills Cemetery gate 17, but note that the trail is not in the cemetery! The entrance to Sycamore Canyon is a driveway just southwest of the entrance to the cemetery.

Leader: Linda LeRoy

We will depart from the Whittier Community Center at the SE corner of Mar Vista and Washington Ave. at 6:30 AM.

We should arrive in the Playa del Rey area about 7:20. Parking will be at the Del Rey Lagoon  parking lot provided the gates are open. The parking lot is on Pacific Ave. We will be arriving at the rising tide. We will visit the lagoon, the breakwaters, Ballona Creek and the salt pans. Perhaps a visit to the nearby Ballona Freshwater Marsh will also be possible. Birds may include Yellow-crowned Night Heron, rocky shorebirds, Royal and Caspian Terns, and three species of cormorants plus others. Restrooms are at the Del Rey Lagoon Park.

Bring: Binoculars, a scope if you have one and lunch and water. Dress in layers.

RSVP: Please call or text Larry Schmahl at 562-714-1843 if you plan to attend. Limit 18 people.

Trip Leader:  Larry Schmahl

Program Topic

"Raptor Quest: Chasing America's Raptors" will be presented by Author and Photographer, Scott Harris.  Harris will present his program remotely but can be watched live on the screen at the Community Center as well as virtually.

Scott Harris spent 17 months chasing 53 raptors across 34 states--his version of a Raptor Big Year. The program will be about his adventures, misadventures, successes and failures. From 36-degree days, to ones over 100 degrees, to just getting on the bird just in time, to the frustrations of missing one by minutes. It's about the birds--of course--but it is also about the people he met, the things he learned and why he's already working on his next adventure.

Scott Harris will present a program of photographs of raptors and his journey to find 53 of the Raptors that call the Lower 48 States home. It took him 17 months and more than 100,000 miles of travel across 34 States. 

He is the author of a brand new book, "RaptorQuest, Chasing America's Raptors."

Harris is retired and lives with his wife in South Carolina.

Program Format

Hybrid meeting - It is your preference: Join in person or online.  

In person: the meeting will take place at the Whittier Community Center, located at 7630 Washington Ave. Whittier. Please wear a mask.

Online: please RSVP here and we will send you a link to the meeting.

The program is free and open to the public.

Join us for our beginner bird walk in Sycamore Canyon.

This bird walk will be a very slow walk into the Sycamore Canyon Preserve. We will stop frequently to listen and observe the birds around us. Bring binoculars if you have them!

Meet at the entrance gate to the Sycamore Canyon trail. The trail is located adjacent to Rose Hills Cemetery gate 17, but note that the trail is not in the cemetery! The entrance to Sycamore Canyon is a driveway just southwest of the entrance to the cemetery.

Leader: Jim McNamara

Once again this year, we will be heading to higher elevations to the San Gabriel Mountains. We plan to make various stops including Grassy Hollow and Guffy Campground on Blue Ridge Road.

IMPORTANT: Drivers will need an Adventure Pass or America the Beautiful Pass to park and use amenities where we will be stopping.  Adventure Passes are $30 for the year and $5 for the day.  The most reliable and easy place to purchase an Adventure Pass are the Big 5 Sporting Goods stores - check the Angeles National Forest website for other locations.  

Meet: We will convene in the parking lot of the Whittier Community Center and carpool/caravan, leaving at 6:00 AM sharp.

We should be back in Whittier between 4:00 and 5:00.

Bring: Bring your usual birdwatching stuff, sack lunch, water, hat and a thirst for adventure. 

Trip Leader: Larry Schmahl

To cap off our Chapter year, join us at the Community Center to share food and photos.

Bring an appetizer, main dish, or dessert to share. Bring your own plate, utensils, and cup.

If you would like to share your favorite photos from this year, bring a thumb drive with up to 25 photos.

The program is open to the public and is free.

The program will take place at the Whittier Community Center, located at 7630 Washington Ave. Whittier.

Join the County of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation as they unveil their newest natural area!

• Opening Ceremony: 10 AM - 11 AM

• Event Activities: 11 AM - 8:30 PM

Join us for our beginner bird walk in Sycamore Canyon.

This bird walk will be a very slow walk into the Sycamore Canyon Preserve. We will stop frequently to listen and observe the birds around us. Bring binoculars if you have them!

Meet at the entrance gate to the Sycamore Canyon trail. The trail is located adjacent to Rose Hills Cemetery gate 17, but note that the trail is not in the cemetery! The entrance to Sycamore Canyon is a driveway just southwest of the entrance to the cemetery.

Leader: Steve Huber

We be visiting the burrowing owl preserve next to the Chino Chaffey College campus and then on to the Chino Creek Wetlands and Educational Park.  We will finish the day with lunch at the wetlands. 

Meet: We will be leaving the Whittier Community Center at 7:00 AM.  Alternatively, meet us at the College Park Avenue parking lot at Ruben Ayala Park at 7:45 AM. 

Bring: Your birding equipment, cameras, water and lunch if you are joining us.

Trip Leader: Steve Huber

Program Topic

Larry and Jennifer Schmahl will share stories and pictures from their recent nature tour of Northern Ecuador.

Program Format

Hybrid meeting - It is your preference: Join in person or online.  

In person: the meeting will take place at the Whittier Community Center, located at 7630 Washington Ave. Whittier. Please wear a mask.

Online: please RSVP here and we will send you a link to the meeting.

The program is free and open to the public.

Join us for our beginner bird walk in Sycamore Canyon.

This bird walk will be a very slow walk into the Sycamore Canyon Preserve. We will stop frequently to listen and observe the birds around us. Bring binoculars if you have them!

Meet at the entrance gate to the Sycamore Canyon trail. The trail is located adjacent to Rose Hills Cemetery gate 17, but note that the trail is not in the cemetery! The entrance to Sycamore Canyon is a driveway just southwest of the entrance to the cemetery.

Leader: Larry Schmahl

Bear Divide is a low, narrow, pass or saddle within the San Gabriel Mountains just above Soledad Canyon. It is home to amazing morning flights of migrating birds in the spring from March through May with the height of migration usually towards the end of April. Thousands of migrating birds have been known to funnel over the narrow divide daily, sometimes so close an observer feels the need to duck or dodge. 

The Moore Lab of Zoology at Occidental College runs a regular count to quantify the numbers and identities of birds migrating through Bear Divide. As this is on public lands, the public is welcome to watch and participate. By 9 or 10 AM, the show is usually over. Clear days after a storm front are best, fog or winds in the wrong direction tend to shut migration down though.

Our field trip is timed to hopefully experience spectacle at the height of north bound migration. 

Meet: We will convene in the parking lot of the Whittier Community Center and carpool/caravan, leaving at 5:30 AM sharp.

We should be back in Whittier by 12:00 noon.

Bring: Be prepared for anything. Cold, wind, rain, heat. No need for a lunch as we will be done before then. 

Trip Leader: Larry Schmahl

Program Topic

John Beynon, past President of the Whittier Area Environmental Coalition (WAEC) will speak about the origins of  Earth Day and how Whittier celebrates it. The talk will be presented live at the community center, and you can join in person or online.

Beynon graduated with a decree in architecture from MIT in 1959.  He worked for UNESCO for 32 years, stationed in Paris and Bangkok. He was the lead architect of an international team tasked to introduce low-cost innovations in school design. During his final six years with UNESCO, he served as director of development cooperation in Education. Tasks included leading multi-disciplinary teams to assess and plan national educational systems including the Palestinian Authority and Bosnia Herzegovina. 

Since retirement in 1996 he headed the United Nations Association Chapters in Boulder, Colorado and Whittier. With the Whittier Chapter, the Whittier Area Environmental Coalition , WAEC was formed. WAEC is open to all Whittier Area organizations contributing to protect the environment. The Whittier Area Audubon Chapter is one of those organizations. The main event of the WAEC is the Earth Day event which will take place earlier in the week.

Program Format

Hybrid meeting - It is your preference: Join in person or online.  

In person: the meeting will take place at the Whittier Community Center, located at 7630 Washington Ave. Whittier. Please wear a mask.

Online: please RSVP here and we will send you a link to the meeting.

The program is free and open to the public.

Join us for our beginner bird walk in Sycamore Canyon.

This bird walk will be a very slow walk into the Sycamore Canyon Preserve. We will stop frequently to listen and observe the birds around us. Bring binoculars if you have them!

Meet at the entrance gate to the Sycamore Canyon trail. The trail is located adjacent to Rose Hills Cemetery gate 17, but note that the trail is not in the cemetery! The entrance to Sycamore Canyon is a driveway just southwest of the entrance to the cemetery.

Leader: Linda LeRoy

This is, perhaps, the best place to see just about every kind of raptor there is for Southern California.  Last year, a juvenile gyrfalcon had been seen making an early morning appearance starting in early January. Rough-legged Hawks, Kestrels, Harriers and Red-tails are everywhere. It seems like there is usually at least one of each duck and a fair bit of peeps. There will be plenty of birds.

IMPORTANT: Everyone entering the wildlife area is required to be in possession of a CDFW Lands Pass.  A one-day pass can be purchased for $5.66 ($32.14 for annual pass) on the CDFW website - need to enter the location and date of visit. 

We will be doing some driving and stopping.

Meet: We will convene in the parking lot of the Whittier Community Center and carpool/caravan, leaving at 7:00 AM sharp.

We should be back in Whittier between 4:00 and 5:00.

Bring: I recommend that everybody bring some folding chairs. As long as the weather cooperates, a clear sunny day is about all that is required. A sandwich, Coke and a folding chair are about as close to heaven as one gets in the Inland Empire. 

Trip Leader: Nathan Huber and Steve Huber

Program Topic

"Dark-eyed Juncos: Adaptations to the Urban Environment" will be presented by Ellie Diamant and Samuel Bressler.

Ellie Diamant is a behavioral ecologist and evolutionary biologist interested in the interaction between human-caused environmental change and wildlife response, particularly birds in the built environment. She is currently a Zuckerman Postdoctoral Scholar at Ben Gurion University of the Negev. Previously she conducted her doctoral research at UCLA with Pamela Yeh. She explored how populations respond to multiple stressor interactions, with an emphasis on the pattern and process of behavioral and morphological adaptation in an urbanizing songbird, the Dark-eyed Junco, across Southern California cities.

Sam Bressler is a Biological Consultant with LSA Associates, Inc. specializing in the birds of Southern California. He is also a long-time volunteer and former board member of Sea and Sage Audubon Society and compiles the organization's Puente-Chino Hills Christmas Bird Count.

Dark-eyed Juncos are a model species to study urban adaptation and response in California. Diamant and Bressler will discuss their six years of research into how juncos are being shaped by the urban environment and the patterns and processes underlying their adaptation to the urban environment . Dark -eyed Juncos exhibit differences and similarities in morphological evolution across Southern California , potentially in relation to behavioral innovation. Behaviorally, urban juncos have lower fearfulness across cities and nivel nesting behavior. The COVID-19 pandemic provided an opportunity to explore how these behaviors are shaped by human activity, demonstrating key insights on behavioral adaptations to city living.

Program Format

Hybrid meeting - It is your preference: Join in person or online.  

In person: the meeting will take place at the Whittier Community Center, located at 7630 Washington Ave. Whittier. Please wear a mask.

Online: please RSVP here and we will send you a link to the meeting.

The program is free and open to the public.

Join us for our beginner bird walk in Sycamore Canyon.

This bird walk will be a very slow walk into the Sycamore Canyon Preserve. We will stop frequently to listen and observe the birds around us. Bring binoculars if you have them!

Meet at the entrance gate to the Sycamore Canyon trail. The trail is located adjacent to Rose Hills Cemetery gate 17, but note that the trail is not in the cemetery! The entrance to Sycamore Canyon is a driveway just southwest of the entrance to the cemetery.

Leader: Jim McNamara

Program Topic

"Birds of Sri Lanka" will be the topic presented by Dinara De Silva.

Dinara is the 12 year-old who astonished us with her photos at our December photoshare. Currently she is studying in Sti Lanka and is in the 7 th grade. Dinara enjoys going on many birding trips. This program will focus on a birding trip to a rain forest and will show the birds found there. She will also show common Suburban birds and discuss their behavior. Suburban common wetland birds will also be featured. 

Dinara has been interested in birding and wildlife for about three years and photography for about two years. She uses a Canon R500 with a Sigma 75 to 200 lens.

Program Format

Hybrid meeting - It is your preference: Join in person or online.  

In person: the meeting will take place at the Whittier Community Center, located at 7630 Washington Ave. Whittier. Please wear a mask.

Online: please RSVP here and we will send you a link to the meeting.

The program is free and open to the public.

Join us for our beginner bird walk in Sycamore Canyon.

This bird walk will be a very slow walk into the Sycamore Canyon Preserve. We will stop frequently to listen and observe the birds around us. Bring binoculars if you have them!

Meet at the entrance gate to the Sycamore Canyon trail. The trail is located adjacent to Rose Hills Cemetery gate 17, but note that the trail is not in the cemetery! The entrance to Sycamore Canyon is a driveway just southwest of the entrance to the cemetery.

Leader: Steve Huber

The Open House will focus on the Habitat Authority’s recent work around preservation and wildfire preparedness and highlight next steps we are considering in order to secure the funding needed to meet the long-term needs of the communities we serve.

There will be a short presentation at 6:30 PM followed by an opportunity to mingle and speak with our volunteers, rangers and staff members one-on-one.

Please RSVP at https://forms.gle/57d6QkfP2Zjfs9A28

Whittier Regional Symphony presents

Preconcert Reception Honoring Yosh Nakamura, Our Whittier Hero

Time/Location: 12:45 PM at the Whittier HighSchool Library, 12417 Philadelphia St.

First Concert of the Year

A Highland Frolic

Time/Location: 3:00 PM at Whittier High School’s Vic Lopez Auditorium

Meet: We will convene in the parking lot of the Whittier Community Center and carpool/caravan at 6:00 AM, leaving at 6:15 AM.

Arrive at Crystal Cove State Park about 7:15 AM

• People meeting us there please arrive by 7:15 AM (see below for directions)

Begin birding about 7:30 AM

Be prepared for rain as AccuWeather forecast for Sat morning at Crystal Cove is:

• 55% chance of rain but only 0.03 inches predicted 

• Visibility 9 miles

• Temp 55 to 60 (F)

• Wind gusts to 10 mph, but 8 mph from SE

• Cloud cover 94%

Bring: Bring a lunch but we may need to eat in car if rain starts

• Bring rain gear, prepare to protect your binoculars and cameras.

Please RSVP: Text your cell phone number and name if you plan to attend to (714) 244-8063

• Will make a group text if we need to cancel or need to find you.

Trip Leader: Jim McNamara

_________________________________

Directions from Whittier:

• 605 S to 405 S and exit MacArthur Ave.

• right (south) on MacArthut to PCH

• left (south) on PCH stay in right lane

• turn right at Newport Coast Dr. 

• pay $15 to park, $1 senior discount if asking

• TURN LEFT & Drive to end South most parking lot.

Program Topic

Andrea Jones, Director of Conservation for Audubon California, will speak about the latest science and conservation projects at the Salton Sea and Owens Lake. Despite record breaking snowpack this past winter across the west, saline lake ecosystems are facing continued long-term water declines-- threatening habitat, birds, and surrounding communities. Learn more about Audubon's incredible network of chapters and advocates that make significant progress in protecting this irreplaceable network of habitats through science and policy efforts.

Andrea Jones is Director of Conservation for Audubon California. For the past 15 years, she has worked with staff and the network of Audubon chapters across the state to implement conservation projects at high priority Important Bird Areas. In particular, she has focused on leading Audubon's conservation efforts along the coast and in estuaries, focusing on restoration, advocacy and engagement. Her work has also included providing science expertise and negotiating conservation agreements at saline lakes, including Owens Lake and Salton Sea. She oversees efforts in priority bird species and serves as the spokeswoman for bird conservation across California. Prior to California, Andrea worked at Massachusetts Audubon where she served as the Director of the Coastal Waterbird and Grassland Bird Programs.

Program Format

Hybrid meeting - It is your preference: Join in person or online.  

In person: the meeting will take place at the Whittier Community Center, located at 7630 Washington Ave. Whittier. Please wear a mask.

Online: please RSVP here and we will send you a link to the meeting.

The program is free and open to the public.

Join us for our beginner bird walk in Sycamore Canyon.

This bird walk will be a very slow walk into the Sycamore Canyon Preserve. We will stop frequently to listen and observe the birds around us. Bring binoculars if you have them!

Meet at the entrance gate to the Sycamore Canyon trail. The trail is located adjacent to Rose Hills Cemetery gate 17, but note that the trail is not in the cemetery! The entrance to Sycamore Canyon is a driveway just southwest of the entrance to the cemetery.

Leader: Larry Schmahl