http://www.sfvaudubon.org/">San Fernando Valley Audubon Society

The months of April and May bring our annual Birdathon. You have probably received your pledge letter for this annual fundraiser, a sponsored birding event. The money raised covers most of our ongoing expenses and helps support our educational programs for school children, including the Sepulveda Basin Environmental Educational Program (SBEEP) based at the Sepulveda Wildlife Bird Sanctuary.

Please join us in pledging a set amount of money on the number of species to be spotted during a designated bird walk and then do come on the walk itself! Many members choose this event to honor the leader whose walks she or he has been able to enjoy.

If you did not receive a pledge form, please e-mail me at rose.leibowitz@sfvaudubon.org and I will be happy to send you a form.

BIRDATHON EVENTS

Join us and help count at one or more of these walks!
See the Calendar Section for directions and times.

Kris Ohlenkamp – Sepulveda Basin, April 4
Art Langton – Malibu Creek State Park, April 18
Caroline Oppenheimer – O’Melveny Park, April 20
Jim Moore – Butterbredt Springs, Galileo Hills, Piute Ponds, April 21
Richard Barth – Morongo Basin, April 24
Nancy Herron Knode – Descanso Gardens, May 9

Additionally, there will be four teams undertaking “Big Day” efforts on behalf of the Birdathon. The team leaders are Muriel & Allan Kotin, John & Andrew Willis, Art Langton and Jim Hardesty.

- Submitted by Rose Leibowitz, Birdathon Chair

Saturday, April 10

8:30 AM – Noon

Photo by Rose Leibowitz, 2010

Come for the whole time or just a part of it.
Bring your friends and family.

Help us keep this lovely resource in prime condition
for the critters who rely on it for food and shelter.

Directions: Exit the San Diego Freeway (I-405) on Burbank Blvd. Go west about one-half mile to Woodley Avenue and turn right (north). Travel about one-half mile to the second possible right turn (at sign for the Water Reclamation Plant and Japanese Garden). Turn right and go east about one-half mile to Wildlife Area parking at the end of the road.

The April issue of the Phainopepla newsletter is now online.

The March issue of the Phainopepla newsletter is now online.

I encourage all to attend this community workshop on the updating of the Sepulveda Basin Master Plan on Saturday, February 20, 2010.  This is part of updating the master plan (land use plan) of the entire Sepulveda Basin for the first time in over 30 years and will be important in shaping changes to the Basin.

You may want to express support for some of the ideas that I and other members of the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Areas Steering Committee are promoting or have other suggestions.  Here is a rough description of what I hope the new Master Plan will include:

The former corn maize field immediately east of Woodley Avenue and between Woodley Park and the Wildlife Reserve should become part of the Wildlife Reserve, as an enhancement and link to both Woodley Section 2 and the Wildlife Reserve; the east bank of Haskell Creek and adjoining field along the stretch from the Reserve access road (“Wildlife Way”) to Victory Boulevard should be restored as riparian habitat;  the area north of the Reserve parking to the archery range and dam wall, which is currently but unclearly defined as Wildlife Reserve, should be protected and improved as part of the Wildlife Reserve; and all water courses within Sepulveda Basin, including those now treated as drainage channels, should be managed as riparian corridors, including Hayvenhurst, Woodley and Encino Channels/Creeks.

As meetings take place, these goals will be refined and improved.

I hope you will attend and actively participate in the meeting, including writing your own comments on what you want to keep as is and what changes you hope to see.

─Muriel Kotin, SFVAS Representative to Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Areas Steering Committee