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March 17, 2020
Sometimes The Good Guys Win
Since 2007, the Mountains Recreation and Conservancy Authority (MRCA), a local public agency established in 1985 to manage, promote and protect open and wild land for public enjoyment, had its eye on 285 idyllic acres in the southern Santa Susana Mountains. MRCA works with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy (SMMC) and other local groups and…
March 7, 2020
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Cub Scouts In the Basin!
Saturday, March 7, members of local pack 564 joined SFVAS volunteers for a walk in the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve. The lads ranged from Lions (Kindergarten) through Tigers, Bears and Wolves to Webelos (Fifth Grade). All were experienced outdoors-kids, knew how to use binoculars and were very observant. We saw California Towhees; Bluebirds; Yellow-rumped Warblers;…
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March 5, 2020
A Hazard to Birds: Plastic Grass in Easter Baskets
Easter is right around the corner, and however we're going to celebrate it during this "situation," it's not hard to envision gleeful children tearing into their baskets full of candy and toys. The goodies are embedded in layers of cheap shredded plastic meant to simulate grass. The grass flies everywhere as the children grab the…
February 28, 2020
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Wild and Free — in the Basin
On Wednesday, February 26, a group of parents and their home-schooled children, age 2-8, joined SFVAS leaders for a nature walk in the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve. This group, which calls itself "Wild and Free," goes on a hike somewhere every Wednesday in parks and on trails from Thousand Oaks to Simi Valley to the…
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February 13, 2020
Young Landscapers from Los Encinos School Beautify Our Wildlife Reserve
We can dig it! Accompanied by SFVAS volunteers, third graders from Los Encinos School visited the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve on January 28, 2020. The morning began with a community service project, namely the beautification of the parking area with new landscape plants. Parents labored to dig the necessary holes; then the students planted fourteen…
February 1, 2020
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Habitat Restoration Day at the Basin!
The Audubon Birdwalk at 8:00 will be led by our own Benny Jacobs-Schwartz! The LA River is being turned into a viable, recreational, urban waterway -- but it's a job of constant improvement, protection and maintenance that only Angelenos can do, working together. Come help -- it's fun, messy and at the end you see…
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January 31, 2020
Report on the Grainger Walk
The Yucca Trail located at 2002 Stunt Road in Calabasas leads into the land that was up for sale by the Grainger Family and purchased by Mountains Restoration Trust, with the help of San Fernando Valley Audubon Society, in 2019. This purchase was important to bird species as the land will not be used for…
January 12, 2020
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Grainger Property Birdwalk — A First! Saturday Jan. 25
Our donation to the Mountains Restoration Trust has paid off. Come and see why we felt it was so important that this piece of land be set aside for nature and birds. This unique walk is open to a total of 15 participants. All photos for the signage was provided by our member Dave Barton.…
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July 24, 2019
Birds of the Mojave Desert Three-day Workshop
Beginning on Friday evening, this course will examine the important role of these stopover areas in the conservation of neotropical migrant birds and introduce the techniques used to identify the common families of birds found in the vicinity of the Desert Studies Center. On Saturday, students travel by car to various migrant bird traps near…
June 23, 2019
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