Los Angeles Audubon Society

STERNTANAGEIL

Volume 55 Number 8 June 1989 ^ ^

I n 1988 I booked a tour of the southTexas coast months ahead of theMarch departure. I wanted to see

the Whooping Cranes and some birds Ihad missed on my last visit 14 years ago.

There was talk of a new U.S. vagrantfrom Mexico, the Crane Hawk, right in thearea I would be visiting. It would be greatif it stayed, but I guessed the chances wereslim.

Finally we arrived in Rockport. Thenext morning we boarded 'The Skimmer,"a unique flat-bottomed boat, to see whoop-ing cranes. Captain Ted gave a non-stopcommentary on the habitat and life historyof the Whooping Cranes which winter onthe off-shore islands. He monitors thecranes every day and obviously is deeplyattached to them. He is also an excellentbird spotter.

There was a fine rain which soakedthrough everything and misted up eye-glasses, but after a short stay inside thecabin, I decided to go back on deck.Almost at once the rain stopped, andthere they were ~ family groups ofWhooping Cranes, each in its territory,usually two mature birds with oneimmature.

Captain Ted cut the engines and wefloated very close to the 5-foot-tallWhooping Cranes. Their take-off was glo-rious, their lovely white wings with theblack primaries outstretched, and long legstrailing behind.

On a nearby small island we could seeItalian-pink-colored blobs - RoseateSpoonbills!. As we got nearer we couldsee clearly that the pink was really vividwith a deeper red on the birds' shoulders.There must have been about 14 of them.Running about on the mud flats werePiping Plovers, a treat for those of us fromthe western United States.

The next day we drove to Aransas. Atthe entrance to the refuge, next to a smallconcession store, we stopped in hopes offinding a certain Mexican vagrant in the

Vagrancy SweepsSouth TexasbyDorothyDimsdale

brush andtrees nearby.We found aL o n g - b i l l e dThrasher, butnot much else. Itwas very damp andovercast. Then the callwent up: "Crimson-col-lared Grosbeak!" It was afemale and didn't have a crimson collar,but was an overall deep rich green with ablack head and breast — a lovely bird. Itcame up on a branch for us all to see.

The weather was rapidly improving aswe drove out to the end of Padre Island,known as Mustang Island. Here, withoutany difficulty, we found a Lesser Black-backed Gull, a casual European

vagrant. It sat, then walked, thenflew, giving us great looks. After

it flew, we noticed nearby asmallish gull with a very

rosy breast. It was aFranklin's Gull,quite unusual in

this neighbor-hood. I hadn'tseen one withsuch a rosybreast before,though thismanifestation is

not uncommon.The drive to King Ranch was less

exciting. Our best bird for the day was a

Western Tanager June 1989

Couch's Kingbird — Yawn ?!Our leaders had more vagrants in

mind for us, however. Early the next daywe drove to Sabal Palm Grove to see theGray-crowned Yellowthroat. This was thefirst time in 61 years that the bird had beenseen in the U.S. It had been seen for thelast 20 days, singing constantly, so wewalked confidently to the prescribed spotand waited — and waited — and walked —and waited. No bird. We left. That's theway it goes sometimes.

We cheered ourselves up by going tothe Brownsville dump. Doesn't everyone?There, the small Mexican Crow joined theChihuahuan Ravens foraging in thegarbage. The experience made us hungry,so next we ate lunch at the birders' favorite"ontra" called Luby's. From there it wasonward and upward to the Santa AnaWildlife Refuge, where the Crane Hawkhad been seen. "Fat chance," I thought.

We walked through the brush forages, seeing very little, then a Golden-crowned Warbler appeared — anotherMexican vagrant! It hopped furtivelyabout in a bush near us. We watched for20 minutes, getting only brief glimpsesuntil suddenly it emerged for one perfectview as it paused on a branch and was offagain.

Spirits were high and we returned tothe entrance prepared to leave, when weheard: "Crane Hawk! Crane Hawk!" The

call came from close by. "Ye Stars!" Ithought, and raced to the spot, not a hun-dred feet away, where the hawk wasperched. This is a lovely bird. Shiny blackwith long orange legs and a beady red eye.It flew right over our heads to perch acrossthe road. We saw the narrow white stripeacross the underside of the primaries andthe white tail bars. It perched again, andthis time we had it in the scope. Was Idreaming? So many unexpected goodies —and more to come.

Breakfast the next morning was at5:45 a.m. because a call to Sabal

Palms brought the news thatMike Farmer, theSanctuary manager,had found the Gray-crowned Yellow-

throat. It was indeep grass, so

those whohad

boots

wore them and we all sprayed ourselveswith insect repellant.

We could hear the bird singing longbefore we saw it. It sat upon a bush, its yel-low throat reverberating and its pale, low-er mandible giving it a manicured,squeaky-clean appearance. Its vivid throatblending subtly to a buffy breast.

"An absolute crippler!" was how anEnglishman in bur group enthusiasticallydescribed the sighting. The bird sang asthough it would burst with happiness.

It was still early and we moved on toBentsen State Park where we watched aTropical Parula as we ate lunch. What anannoying distraction!

At a feeder in a campground nearbywe watched Indigo Buntings, Golden-fronted Woodpeckers glorious in the sun-light, Green Jays, and then anotherMexican vagrant — the Blue Bunting. A 5-inch-long bird, it is a deep, deep oceanblue with a royal blue forehead and rump.In the shade the male bird looks almostblack.

That afternoon we also found aNorthern Beardless Tyrannulet, whichprompted one of our group to ask why itwasn't called just plain CleanshavenTyrannulet.

At Solenino we stopped at a feederhoping for Brown Jays, but saw instead anAudubon's Oriole and an AltamiraOriole. A Clay-colored robin appeared on

BIRD QUEST '89, Texas Updateby James F. Clements

My trip to Texas was planned to coincide with the annual returnof millions of birds from the American tropics. Of 207 speciesrecorded, the 81 new birds brought me to 1721 species for theyear, almost exactly on my estimated target of 1700 birds at thispoint. It will be interesting to see what China holds for me in itsinscrutable palm on the next leg of BIRD QUEST '89!

Most of the spring-migrant birds in Texas cross the openwaters of the Gulf of Mexico from Central America. They usuallybegin at sunset for the 700-mile journey. Exhausted after battlingheadwinds, thousands of warblers, vireos, grosbeaks, tanagers,buntings and other songbirds literally " fall out" of the sky andinvade the trees and lawns of the Texas coast.

On the day of my arrival in High Island the woods werealive with migrant warblers of 24 species... not to mention hun-dreds of dazzling Indigo Buntings and Blue Grosbeaks. I wouldestimate that in Boy Scout Woods alone there were several thou-sand thrushes of four species! I was thrilled to renew myacquaintance with many of the eastern warblers I had not seenfor over a decade, including stunning views of the elusiveSwainson's Warbler.

A highlight of the trip was seeing five of the seven speciesendemic to the United States. These include the endangeredRed-cockaded Woodpecker, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Carolina

Chickadee, Bachman's Sparrow and Fish Crow. With the endem-ic California Yellow-billed Magpie that I saw on New Year's Dayto kick off BIRD QUEST '89, the only U.S. endemic bird I will notsee this year is the Lesser Prairie Chicken.

As I watched an exhausted Scarlet Tanager, reflected in awoodland pool at sunset, it reminded me of one I had watchedtwo weeks earlier in Ecuador. A Scarlet Tanager, bathed in theearly morning sunlight of the cloud forest, with a backdrop ofepiphytes and mosses, is a pretty tough bird to forget. Thiscould be the same bird I watched in Ecuador. I had come herecruising at 500 miles an hour, 35,000 feet above the weather, inthe comfort of a jet airliner. I marveled that this miraculousfeathered wonder could complete the same trip with all the dan-gers inherent in a 5000-mile migration.

This incident also heightened my awareness of how impor-tant these "staging" areas are in the established migration routesof millions of migratory songbirds and shorebirds. The loss ofeven one critical "refueling" stop could mean the loss of a•species... possibly the fate of Bachman's Warbler and the EskimoCurlew!

One most encouraging sign was the large "concentration ofBrown Pelicans on the Texas coast, a bird that was conspicuousby its absence in recent years, and was the subject of intensestudy by the Museum of Natural History's ornithologist, the lateDr. Ralph Schreiber. In company with its larger congener, theAmerican White Pelican, it put a good finishing touch on yetanother successful leg of BIRD QUEST '89.

Western Tanager June, 1989

the ground, a rather dull-looking birduntil you get it in the scope and see thesubtlety of its beige, brown and cinnamoncoloring.

The next morning, on a bluff over-looking the Rio Grande, in a large bush,we saw birds we thought at first to beAmerican Goldfinches. They were fourWhite-collared Seedeaters out in the openfor all to see! Usually, they scrabble aboutin the scrub or long grassy areas. But herethey were, not 15 feet away, in full view.

We moved on to Falcon Dam wherewe walked a half mile and into a clearing.Two Hook-billed Kites glided over, as ifon cue. One perched then took off again.

On our last day we found the GreenKingfisher. We had previously seen theRinged Kingfisher, large and colorful.And finally the Brown Jays were heard. Awhole noisy flock flew into a nearby treeon the U.S. side of the Rio Grande.

We were all somewhat drained fromthe excitement of so many rare birds, notto mention the dozens of expected species.We drove to McAllen for a few hours restand arranged to meet late that afternoon.

During this time our leaders set out tofind us the Red-crowned Parrots andGreen Parakeets. We drove in the direc-tion of the birds' last sighting and in notime had seen both species — noisy andcharming, the Parakeets with their longtails, slim and elegant, as they settled intoa roost tree, and the Red-crowned Parrotsflying like ducks with their short squaredtails and quick wing beats. The Red-crowns paused to eat loquats from some-one's garden tree, holding the fruit in oneclaw and delicately taking leisurely bites.

For our finale we drove out at dusk toBentsen State Park. The CommonPauraques were easy to find. They weresitting in the middle of the road, their eyeslike small white lights in the glare of thehead lamps. They flew in a fluttery moth-like fashion. We saw one on the grassverge and our leader walked slowlytowards it, keeping it all the while in-hisspotlight. When he was very close, hebent down, quickly and gently scoopingup the bird in his hands. He brought itover for us to see. It was a female. Welooked at the white wing patches andbuffy undertail patches. A couple of quickphotos were taken and the bird released.Surfeited, we left for our farewell dinner.

Our leaders, John Coons and ChrisBenesh had worked for us, joked with us,and earned our respect and affection.Without them, most of our good sightingswould never have happened.

NASConvention toFeatureSouthwest

Come to National AudubonSociety's Biennial Conventionthis fall to enjoy the Southwest's

spectacular scenery, and renew your com-mitment to the environmental cause. Thetheme of the convention is "OurSouthwest: Challenged by Growth." Thegathering will be held in Tucson, ArizonaSeptember 12 to 16. The meeting offersfield trips to some of the southwest's bestbirding spots, a taste of the region's fasci-nating history and culture, and an intro-duction to its environmental challenges.

In the last few decades, as Americansmigrated in search of opportunity andwarm weather, the southwest experiencedunprecedented growth. Many of the con-vention sessions will focus on the escalat-ing pressure for development and how itthreatens the region's wildlife, water, air,and scenic beauty. This problem confrontscommunities in all parts of the country. „

WorkshopsNoted conservationists and public officialswill discuss such subjects as wildlife pro-tection, western water resources, forestmanagement, off-road vehicle use, andgrazing on public lands.

There will also be sessions and work-shops on a wide variety of local, nationaland global environmental problems,including Audubon's high-priority issues -acid rain, the Platte River, the ArcticNational Wildlife Refuge, and the ancientforests of the Pacific Northwest.Participants are invited to help getAudubon's new society-wide wetlandspreservation campaign off the ground.

Field TripsAs always, the convention offers lots ofopportunities to explore the region.Among the field trips to choose from are avariety of .birding outings as well as visitsto the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, ahummingbird banding station, and his-toric mining towns.

For two days during the convention, ashuttle bus will run between the conven-tion site, the University of Tucson campusand its many museums, and the down-town Tucson shopping and historic area.

You can turn your visit to Arizonainto a full-blown vacation by signing upfor one of the tours preceding or followingthe convention. These include birding andsightseeing in the Grand Canyon, the birdsand natural history of southeasternArizona, a natural history tour of the Gulfof California, and a six-day birding tour ofthe Alamos area of Mexico. Also on thePre- and post-convention agenda are one-day outings, including a hike up a ruggedriparian canyon, a butterfly watch, aghost-town tour, and a visit to the KittPeak Observatory and the Indian reserva-tion in which it is located.

Audubon is also holding a specialEcology Camp the week before the con-vention, in the Chiricahua Mountains ofsoutheastern Arizona.

Free InformationThe convention is being held in theDoubletree Hotel, near Randolph Park inTucson. Accommodations are available atthe Doubletree and Viscount Suite hotelsat a special rate of $50 per night.Registration is $60 per person. Field tripsare extra. Everyone is invited; sign up ear-ly to reserve your place. For a free conven-tion brochure, write:

Audubon Convention Office,4150 Darley Ave., #5,BoulderColorado 80303

or call (303) 499-3622.

'•VDf-L

Western Tanager June 1989

EPA Decisionon Two ForksDam

S aving the Platte River has been aNational Audubon Society High-Priority Campaign for more than

two years. The Platte, which flows fromthe Rockies, through Wyoming andNebraska, to the Missouri River, is beingstudied for several dams. These waterprojects would be extremely damaging towildlife habitat. NAS President Peter A.A. Berle called the proposed Two Forksdam an environmental and economic mon-strosity. He now reports that the EPA,under its new administrator WilliamReilly, has moved to protect the PlatteRiver from the Two Forks dam project.

The EPA action initiates an environ-mental review of the proposed Two Forksdam, which should then get a veto. Yet thePrairie Bend project in Nebraska and theDeer Creek project in Wyoming continueto loom ominously over the Platte's future.National Audubon, energized by the EPAdecision, wants to energize to its grass-roots activists for a long-term battle overthe Platte.

Donations SoughtBequests and memorial donations are veryimportant to Los Angeles Audubon. Makea lasting contribution to the environmentby your gift to the Los Angeles AudubonSociety.

AudubonTelevision,Video andComputers

N ational Audubon has producedexcellent nature films that will bebroadcast on PBS on successive

summer Sundays at 8:00 P.M. Check yourlocal programming this summer. TurnerBroadcasting has been very supportive ofAudubon's filmmaking, and many of theseprograms can also be seen on TBS.

July 9 "Greed, Guns andWildlife"

July 16 "Grizzly and Man:

Uneasy Truce"

July 23 "Whales"

July 30 "Crane River"

August 6 "Woodstork, Barometerof the Everglades"

August 13 "Messages from the

Birds"

August 20 "Sharks"

August 27 "Sea Turtles"

All TV specials will eventually bereleased on home video. The latest threereleases, in April, were "Galapagos: MyFragile World," "Ducks Under Siege" and"Woodstork: Barometer of the Everglades."The first home releases in January were"The Mysterious Black-footed Ferret,"

"Panthers & Cheetahs: On the Edge ofExtinction" and "Condor." More informa-tion is available from Audubon at(202) 547-9009. Audubon videos for edu-cational purposes, and an excellent teach-ers guide, are available from WETA/TVEducational Activities, P.O. Box 2626,Washington, D.C. 20013, (800) 445-1964.

The Audubon television empireexpands with new productions fromaround the world. New films are comingout on ancient forests, wolves, climatechange, beaches and coastal pollution, dol-phins and the ocean ecosystem, wildfire,tropical forests, overgrazing of publiclands and the Arctic National WildlifeRefuge. They will be released within twoyears.

Audubon Television Specials have acompanion book Life in the Balance. Asecond book is being written by RogerDiSilvestro with photographs by PageChichester. Each chapter will correspondto one Audubon TV Special, to providedeeper coverage of the topic. John Wiley &Sons, Inc. will publish it in early 1990.

Finally you have to know about thenew MIVD (Multimedia InteractiveVideodisc). The videodisc is based uponthe Audubon Television Special on wet-lands, "Ducks Under Siege." The programis called "The Mystery of the DisappearingDucks." A Macintosh HyperCard comput-er program allows the student to influencethe action in this Sherlock Holmes-typebiological mystery. California high schoolstudents said that a mystery format wouldbe most interesting. The MIVD prototypewill soon be turned into a product suitablefor school curricula.

EnvironmentalFederationE. H. Kendig, Jr.

L ike other organizations, our LosAngeles Audubon Society needsnew sources of funds to meet a

constantly rising overhead. LA AS hastherefore joined with about 20 other envi-ronmental organizations in theEnvironmental Federation of California.The Federation raises funds for the mem-bers.

The Environmental Federation con-centrates on a single method of operation.It seeks, employers who will allow contactwith their employees at the workplace, toobtain donations paid through payroll

deductions. This method has been a greatsuccess for the United Way and other char-itable groups.

The Environmental Federation starteda few years ago in Northern California andhas enlisted many public and privateemployers, including Apple Computer.The Federation recently expanded itsefforts to Southern California, and the Cityof Los Angeles itself participates in theprogram.

At this time, the Federation needsentrees to private and public employers toexpand its program. Every employer webring into the program means income forLos Angeles Audubon. We thereforerequest that any member, who has a con-tact with the personnel department of anypublic or private employer in southernCalifornia, give the information to Mr.Charles Harper at Audubon House. We

will coordinate with the EnvironmentalFederation to see if that entity can berecruited.

The organization that produces a newemployer gets all first-year donations fromthose employees unless they specificallydesignate otherwise. After the first year,donations go into the general funds of theorganization to be divided among themembers.

The companies to be recruited do nothave to be giant corporations but can besmall groups of 20 or more. If you knowsomeone influential in any business orpublic entity, please contact us and we cantake it from there. The potential is enor-mous.

Western Tanager June, 1989

BookstoreNewsby Charles Harper

O ne of the newest items on themarket is bird-listing software-computer programs to help you

keep track of your sightings and bird lists.There are already several different pro-grams available, and it is often difficult tochoose among them without having exper-imented with their capabilities yourself.

The LAAS Bookstore has obtainedcopies of the most popular programs andhas been testing them on the computer foruser-friendliness, accessibility of data andversatility. We have selected three soft-ware packages to stock in the store whichwe think offer the most to the averagebirder. Now available are:

PLOVER, from Sandpiper Software,at $59.95

BIRDBASE, from Santa BarbaraSoftware, at $39.95

WORLD BIRDBASE, from SantaBarbara Software, at $89.95

Both Plover and Birdbase cover theA.B.A. area of the continental U.S. andCanada, while World Birdbase includes allthe birds on Earth and is based on JimClements' Birds of the World: A Checklist.

Plover might be more generally usefulto those who wish to manipulate data -creating seasonal lists, writing birding arti-cles, etc. - while Birdbase seems moredirected toward listing per se. Birdbasedata are more readily convertible if oneanticipates graduating to World Birdbase.

If you would like to explore these pro-grams before purchase, please contact meand arrange for some computer time with-in the bookstore's "open" hours.

An Audubon Action Alert

Volunteers SoughtAudubon House can direct you do-good-ers to some good deeds. Would anyonebe willing:

To take visiting birders around for aday?

To take care of young and injuredbirds?

To help fill mail orders in our world-famous book store?

Talk to Charles Harper at AudubonHouse for information. (213) 876-0202

Arctic RefugeNeeds YourUrgent Support

I ncredibly stunning in its beauty,the Arctic National WildlifeRefuge is still largely untouched

by development. It is, in fact, the largestundisturbed wilderness in the UnitedStates. Congress now is considering billsboth for and against development. Thereis much to be done in the coming monthsto convince your congressmen of theneed to save the refuge. We urgentlyneed your help in the fight to protect theArctic refuge from oil and gas develop-ment.

An International Ecological TreasureThe Arctic coastal plain is the prime calv-ing ground for the Porcupine caribouherd. The region's spectacular sceneryand rich wildlife have led people to callthe coastal plain the "AmericanSerengeti." Ducks, swans and loons neston the plain and in the coastal lagoons;snowy owls, golden eagles, gyrfalconsand peregrine falcons nest inland. Atleast sixteen species of fish live in thestreams and rivers of the plain. Wolves,foxes and polar bears also roam the area.

Oil companies believe there could besignificant amounts of oil under thecoastal plain. In response to intensepolitical pressure, in November 1986 theInterior Department recommended thatthe plain be opened for leasing to the oiland gas industry. This recommendationwas made despite the U.S.Fish andWildlife Service's finding that oil devel-opment would result in a "major popula-tion decline" of the caribou herd - up to72,000 animals lost. The agency also pre-dicted that muskoxen and lesser snowgeese populations would be cut in halfand polar bear habitats would be critical-ly disrupted.

Oil field development is a large-scaleindustrial activity. It requires huge quan-tities of gravel for roads, drill pads, air-ports and seaports; equally huge quanti-ties of fresh water will have to beobtained from the rivers of the plain.Pollution will affect the fragile tundra farbeyond the actual edges of the facilities.Such effects have already been demon-strated at the nearby Prudhoe Bay oilfields.

Drilling in the Arctic refuge woulddestroy its pristine character forever.

. That is why Audubon has consistentlyopposed any industrial activity on thecoastal plain.

Do We Need the Oil?The Interior Department admits thatthere is a only a one-in-five chance offinding oil, and a smaller chance still offinding quantities to make drilling prof-itable. The oil industry nevertheless saysthat the plain must be developed toavoid dependence on foreign oil imports.Audubon believes that these argumentsignore some important facts:• 94 percent of all the potential oil-bear-

ing land in Alaska and 90 percent ofAlaska's arctic coast are alreadyopen to the oil industry. These landsshould be explored first.

• Sensible energy alternatives exist thatdo not threaten to destroy the coastalplain. For example, a mere 1.7 mile-per-gallon improvement in fuel effi-ciency standards for cars would savemore oil than drilling in the refugecould ever produce.

What You Can DoWrite to your senators and representativetoday. Give them facts about the ArcticNational Wildlife Refuge.

We have a worldwide oil glut. Nowis the time to implement conservationmeasures that will make our nationsecure for decades without sacrificingthis priceless treasure.

Address your letters to:

The Honorable

U.S. SenateWashington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable

U.S. House of RepresentativesWashington, D.C. 20515

For more information, contact:

Brock Evans,National Audubon Society,801 Pennsylvania Avenue, S.E.,Washington, D.C. 20003.

Western Tanager June 1989

ConservationConversation

by Sandy Wohlgemuth(Reprinted from Dec. 1982 issue)

Y ears ago, in the misty recesses oftime, before there were birders, wevisited Yellowstone National Park.

Exploring the bizarre and beautifulgeothermal curiosities, we came upon theworld-famous Morning-glory Pool. There,at the bottom of this graceful funnel ofclear water and colorful earth, lay anobscene beer can. That did it. We becameinstant conservationists.

Some time later, on a vacation inPrairie Creek Redwoods State Park, whenbirds had become an exciting new passion,we stumbled upon an incredible latter-dayHiroshima: a clear-cut redwood forest. Wewrote our first letter to the newspaperabout this wanton destruction, and it wasprinted. We joined the ancient and honor-able Save-The-Red woods League that orig-inally was formed to solicit money fromwealthy donors to buy groves of trees inmemory of loved ones. (Our twenty buckshardly put us in that awesome company.)But the awakening environmental ethosstirred the old bones of the League intolobbying for watershed protection and thecreation of a national park.

Eventually we joined almost everyconservation group in the business: theSierra Club when it roused the troops toprevent damming the Grand Canyon; theEnvironmental Defense Fund (EDF) whenit litigated the elimination of DDT;National Audubon as it became a powerfulforce to rescue us from our ecologicaldilemmas. (Of course we had becomeNational members through L.A. Audubonwhen the birding virus struck.)

Conservationists. . . Who are we any-way? Are we a passel of hopelessRomantics standing in the path of the bull-dozer of history? Are we trying to set backthe clock to an imaginary Utopian erawhen man had not yet conquered thewilderness and there were no endangeredspecies? Perhaps there is a grain of truthhere. There is an inexpressible thrill inviewing a mountain crowned with snow, astream purling over the rocks on its way to

the distant sea. The closer we are to gen-uine wildness, the more exhilaration wefeel. The high-country backpacker walk-ing through tundra belly-flowers can trulyfeel she has returned to an antique timewhere all the air is clean and pure, allstreams uncontaminated, and the world isbright and new.

The descent to "civilization" can be atraumatic shock. We find ourselvesimmersed in the clatter of machinery, thegrime and litter of city streets, the miasmaof smoke and smog. . . The spirit rebels.We escape at every opportunity to the hid-den canyon not yet scarred with motorbiketracks or the distant estuary abounding inwaterbirds. We catch the flash of migrat-ing warblers, the glint of sun on a brilliantbutterfly, the jangled cries of gulls andterns, the smells of decomposing marshdetritus or the aromatic perfume of thechaparral. Lost in the willows of a fugitivecreek we are temporarily in a miraculousgreen land.

Unfortunately the escape routes arebecoming fewer. Like the wild creatures ofthe world, we are being forced into asmaller and smaller corral. One by one thecanyons are being shaved clean for homesor used for trash-disposal dumps. Thenative vegetation disappears and with itthe natural habitat. The estuaries aretransformed into marinas. It is obvious, toeveryone who treasures the natural world,that a counterforce is necessary if any of itwill survive.

Time was when we could turn ourheads and look the other way about eco-logical disasters. It was too bad that theGarrison Diversion project was going toinundate or damage eight or nine NationalWildlife Refuges in (where was it?) NorthDakota. North Dakota, for godsake! Orthe Indian Point nuclear plant was sure tokill all the fish in the Hudson river. LikeCandide, we were happy to cultivate ourown garden. We still had our places tobird or swim or hike or enjoy the wild-flowers. That time is nearly past. Not only

is the corral becoming smaller, but so is theHemisphere. It seems impossible to be anisolationist any more. The tropical rainforests - far, far away - are disappearing atan alarming rate, and with them the winterhomes for "our" tanagers, orioles, vireos,warblers and other colorful migrants.How will that affect our birding in anotherdecade? The Secretary of the Interior isdetermined to explore for oil on the entirecontinental shelf. How will the inevitablespills and leaks affect the offshore waters,the mudflats and estuaries of all ourcoasts? And can we ignore the "final solu-tion" for all life on earth: nuclear war?

So we try to become part of the coun-terforce. We join, we write, we donate. TheWorld Wildlife Fund is campaigning tosave a portion of the tropical forests. TheNature Conservancy may rescue ourMorongo park from inappropriate devel-opment. The Sierra Club is working vigor-ously for urban parks, especially the SantaMonica Mountains National RecreationArea. National Audubon, with its 450,000members, is trying to save our Condor.Hard-core conservation is a tough job. Ittakes time, energy, persistence. It can befrustrating and rewarding; you lose someand (Hallelujah!) you win some. We can'tall have the same involvement. Only a fewof us can fly to Sacramento or Washingtonto lobby or testify. All of us can write a 13tfpostcard or get signatures on a petition orcontribute five bucks to the Mono LakeCommittee. Let's do it.

Western Tanager June 1989

New StripMiningMethodsThreaten theWestCalifornia Desertand Historic Townat RiskBill Dillinger, SacramentoChapter Past President

T he old ghost town of Bodie, anational historic landmark andState His tor ic Park in Mono

County, is the focal point for opposition toa new type of strip mining that is spread-ing throughout the West.

These strip mines use the new "heap-leach" process, which can profitably recov-er minute amounts of gold - 0.069 ouncesper ton, less gold than a '49er had stuckunder his fingernail - but they do enor-mous damage to the landscape.

The MinesA mine near Elko, Nevada is digging a pit500 feet deep and half a mile wide. AtBodie, the top 400 feet would be bulldozedoff the mile-long ridge that forms the back-drop for the town. Effects on the fragilebuildings of the old town itself could bedisastrous.

There are 80 to 100 such mines operat-ing, or in the planning stage, in Nevada. AUniversity of Nevada conservationist pre-dicts that the state will soon be "pock-marked like the surface of the moon." Atleast half a dozen are operating or in thepermit stage in California, and a couplemore are working on pr ivate ly-ownedland; others are in prospect.

The Heap-Leach ProcessConservat ionis ts are par t icular ly con-cerned over the loss of ducks, geese, andshorebirds, and mammals ranging fromdeer to field mice, in huge p o n d s ofcyanide-laced water leached from "heaps"of ore the size of Cheop's pyramid.

The N e v a d a Fish and GameDepartment has tallied 5700 bird and ani-mal deaths in mine ponds over the last 5years, despite preventive efforts runningfrom distress calls to noise-making can-nons to robot boats and Heavy Metal

music. Nets over the smaller ponds seemto work fairly well; only neutralization ofthe cyanide, an expensive process, worksfor the big ones.

A mining operation in the BLM's EastMojave National Scenic Area - to be a newNational Park under Senator Cranston'sDesert Bill - has promised to build "guz-zlers" to lure wild creatures away from thefatal ponds.

Activists Awake!So far environmentalists have been unableto do more than slow down the multi-mil-lion dollar international mining corpora-tions, but they're hoping that Bodie can bea rallying point. The California State ParkRangers Association has formed a SaveBodie! committee and is spreading theword through Audubon and other organi-zations' newsletters.

Write your state and federal legisla-tors and the governor urging a strongstand to protect Bodie and a hard look atthe environmental consequences of thiskind of mining throughout the West. TheMono County Board of Supervisors mustreview the official application for a miningpermit at Bodie; they should know theconcerns of recreationists who are themainstay of the County's tourist-basedeconomy. Write and request that they keepyou informed.

For more information on the Bodie situa-tion, write:

Save Bodie!,P. O. Box 28366,Sacramento,CA 95828

Reservation Policy and Procedures:Reservations for LAAS trips will be acceptedONLY if ALL the following information issupplied.(1) Trip desired,(2) Names of people in your party,(3) Phone Numbers--(a) usual; and (b) evening

before event, in case of emergency cancella-tion;

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

(5) Self-addressed stamped envelope for con-firmation and associated trip information.

Send to: Reservations Chair, LAAS, 7337 SantaMonica Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90046.If there is insufficient response, the trip will

be cancelled two weeks prior to the scheduleddate (4 weeks for pelagics) and you will be sonotified and your fee returned. Your cancella-tion during that time will bring a refund onlyif there is a paid replacement.

Membership NoteMembership in the National Audubon Society iscomputerized, so it is no longer advisable torenew through the Los Angeles AudubonSociety. However, if your membership haslapsed, you will receive the next WesternTanager sooner if you renew through LAAS.

The national computer system sends multiplenotices commencing four months before yourmembership lapses. Please excuse notices thatmay have crossed your check in the mail.

Subscribers who are members of anotherAudubon Chapter should not send theirrenewals to the Los Angeles Audubon Society.

If you move out of the LAAS membershiparea, you are automatically changed to thechapter into whose area you moved. If you wishto remain in LAAS and receive the WesternTanager please indicate this to the NationalAudubon Society. You may also subscribe to theWestern Tanager separately (see below).

EDITOR: Jesse MoormanASSOCIATE EDITOR: Hank BrodkinASSISTANT EDITOR: Susan Chasen

CONSERVATION ED.: Sandy WohlgemuthORNITHOLOGY CONSULTANT:

Kimball GarrettTYPE AND LAYOUT: Etcetera Graphics

PRINTING: Beacon IithoPublished ten times a year by the

Los Angeles Audubon Society,7337 Santa Monica Blvd.,

West Hollywood, CA 90046PRESIDENT: Robert Van Meter

1ST VICE PRESIDENT: Jean Brandt2ND VICE PRESIDENT: Charles Schoettlin

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY: Andrea KaufmanAudubon membership (local and national) is$35 per year, Senior Citizen $21, and at pre-sent new members are being offered an intro-ductory membership for $30 for the first year,including AUDUBON Magazine and THEWESTERN TANAGER. To join, make checkspayable to the National Audubon Society, andsend them to Audubon House at the aboveaddress. Members wishing to receive theTANAGER by first class must send checks for$5 to Los Angeles Audubon Society.THE WESTERN TANAGER received the 1987Special Conservation Award and 2nd placehonors for Newsletter, Chapter with morethan 900 members from the NationalAudubon Society.

Subscriptions to THE WESTERN TANAGERseparately are $12 per year (Bulk Rate) or $17(First Class, mailed in an envelope). To sub-scribe, make checks payable to Los AngelesAudubon Society.

Los Angeles Audubon Headquarters, Library,and Bookstore are located at:Audubon House, Plummer Park, 7337 SantaMonica Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90046.(213) 876-0202. Hours: 10-3 Tues. through Sat.

^•ANNOUNCEMENTSJune 1989

Mariposa lily photo by Robert Gustafson

EVENING MEETINGMeet at 8:00 p.m. in Plummer Park

Tuesday, June 13 - Robert Gustafson will pre-sent Rare Plants, Endangered Habitats: ASouthern California Perspective. RobertGustafson, Botany Collections Manager at theLos Angeles County Museum of NaturalHistory, has a longstanding interest in rare andendangered plants in both southern Californiaand Hawaii.

Pavement Plains photo by Robert Gustafson

Southern California with its mild climate andvaried landscape has an extremely interesting,highly diverse and unique flora. Endangeredhabitats such as pavement plains, vernal pools,salt marshes and sand dunes are all home toendemic plants. Most of us are unaware of theunique plants that make up these communities.Areas as small as our own Ballona Marsh canharbor unique species (a cinquefoil, a memberof the rose family, now presumed extinct!)Please join us, you'll come away with a greaterappreciation and understanding of these endan-gered areas of southern California.

* • *

IDENTIFICATION WORKSHOPPrecedes the regular meeting, 7:30-8:00 p.m.Everyone is invited to attend. This month's

speaker and topic will be announced on the birdtape one week before the meeting

Phone (213) 874-1318.* * *

FIELD TRIPSCALL THE TAPE!

Before setting out on any field trip, call theAudubon bird tape, (213)874-1318 for specialinstructions or possible emergency cancellationsthat may have occurred by the Thursday beforethe trip.

Sunday, June 4 - Topanga State Park. LeaderGerry Haigh will show us around this nearbyscrub oak / chaparral habitat. Migrants shouldbe migrating and local breeders should besinging. This is a good trip for beginning bird-ers and those new to the area. Meet at 8 a.m. inthe parking lot of Trippet Ranch. From Topanga

Canyon Blvd. in the Valley, take a very sharpturn east uphill on Entrada Dr. (7 miles so. ofVentura Blvd. or 1 mile no. of Topanga Village.)Follow the signs to the state park, and meet inthe parking lot. $3 parking fee.Saturday, June 10 - Pelagic Trip to SantaBarbara Island and Osborne Banks. Leaders areKimball Garrett and Jonathan Alderfer.R.V.Vanruna leaves Terminal Island Berth 26 at6:00 A.M., returns at 6:00 P.M.; $32.Reservations required; no refund on cancella-tions less than two weeks before sailing.Saturday, June 10 - Mono Basin SpringBreeding Bird Count, led by the Mono LakeCommittee. This weekend should be the green-est, songiest time to enjoy the high-countryspring. Everyone is invited, regardless of bird-ing experience. The count circle includes LundyCanyon, Lee Vining Canyon and the CountyPark, although birders will be split into parties.Meet at 6.00 a.m. at Lee Vining Visitor's Center.Bring water and lunch. For information, call(619) 647-6620. Potluck dinner and compilationof birds follows.

Saturday, June 10 - Huntington LibraryBotanical Gardens. Leader is Daniel Cooper,who is out at the gardens on the secondSaturday of each month. Take the 210 Fwy toAllen Street, turn south for about three miles,turn left on Orlando, right on Oxford and lookfor the entrance on the right. Tell the guard thatyou are attending the bird walk, and he willgive you a pass. Meet in the lot at 8.00 a.m.Saturday, June 17 - San Gabriel Mountains.Leader David Koeppel will be looking for mon-tane breeding species such as Mountain Quail,MacGillivray's Warbler, Western Wood-Pewee,and Olive-sided Flycatcher (soon to be BorealPeewee). Meet at the entrance to CharletonFlats Campground at 7.30 a.m. and bring lunchand insect repellant.

Sat.& Sun., June 24 & 25 (26th optional) --Southern Sierras Weekend with Bob Barnes.This very popular, almost annual trip coverswidely varying terrain from desert to riverine tomontane habitats, and usually nets over 120species with the Monday extension. Hopeful tolikely birds include Wood Duck, Yellow-billedCuckoo, Willow and Grey Flycatchers, EveningGrosbeak and Red Crossbill. Limited participa-tion. Fee $22 plus $10 for optional Mondayextension. Reserve with SASE per field trip pol-icy. A bird report of the trip will be provided tothose attending.

Sunday, July 9 - Big Bear Lake and Vicinity.Co-leaders Louis Tucker and Nick Freeman willmeet other birders at Coldbrook Campground at8.00 a.m. Proceed along Highway 38 abouthalfway along the Lake, and turn south onTulip Road. The campground will be onthe south side after the road curves. Targetbirds include Williamson's Sapsucker,Calliope Hummingbird, Lincoln's and Brewer'sSparrows, Cassin's and Purple Finches andWhite-headed Woodpecker. It should be warm,and there may be bugs, so come prepared. Wewill plan to eat a picnic lunch along the way.Sunday, July 9 - Topanga State Park. LeaderGerry Haigh. See June 4th trip for details. Notethis is the second Sunday of the month ratherthan the (usual) first.

Sat and Sun, July 15 and 16 - Mineral KingWeekend with Rob Hansen. On Saturday wewill bird the foothill chaparral, Yellow Pine and

fir habitats around Three Rivers for Blue Grouseand many others. Sunday we will gain 3000 feetto an elevation of 10,000 ft. during our fairlystrenuous walk through the fir forest and highalpine meadows of Mineral King. Rosy Finchesand Calliope Hummingbirds may be seen atthese elevations. More leisurely self-guidedloops will also be available. Rob's knowledge ofthe flora, ecology and geology of this areashould make this a notable natural history tour.In addition, communal lodging Saturday night

Q |

will be provided at no extra charge, and Robwill provide a barbecue dinner at cost. Bring asleeping bag, as some will sack out on the floor.Maximum 20 participants. $30 fee includesSaturday night lodging; does not include BBQdinner or vehicle entry fee. Sign up with SASEat Audubon House per policy.Sunday, July 16 - Mt. Pinos. Jean Brandt willbe leading this popular annual trip in search ofmountain birds such as Calliope Hummingbird,Green-tailed Towhee and bluebirds. NoCalifornia Condors, but stay tuned for future re-introductions. Take Highway. 5 north to theFrazier Park Road offramp and turn left (west)onto the road. Turn left at the (only) traffic sig-nal into Frazier Park and meet in the parking lotat 8.00 a.m. Bring a picnic lunch.

see page 7 for Reservations Po.licy and Procedure