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May 18, 2020
A Great Season for Horned Owls
Great Horned Owls (GHOWs) are amazing creatures. These night-hunting apex predators have adapted to almost every nook and cranny of the N. American continent. They prey on just about anything that walks, crawls or flies -- as long as it isn’t more than two or three times their size. Woodley Park, home of the Sepulveda… read more
April 23, 2020
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Bored? Bird!
No doubt many, if not most, of our members and friends are doing some birding – or a lot – while in forced domestication. After all, it is migration season. Even though most of the choicest migrants are seen in parks and on hikes, nevertheless the observant back-yard birder will see an itinerant stranger from… read more
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April 4, 2020
Griffith Park Raptor Survey
In January of this year, Courtney McCammon contacted SFVAS to see if our chapter wanted to partner with Friends of Griffith Park in their 3rd season of monitoring raptor nests. Courtney partners with Dan Cooper and their data is shared with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. We were excited to learn about this program and… read more
March 17, 2020
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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… read more
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March 7, 2020
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;… read more
March 5, 2020
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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… read more
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February 28, 2020
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… read more
February 13, 2020
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Young Landscapers from Los Encinos School Beautify Our Wildlife Reserve
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 native California salvias around… read more
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February 1, 2020
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… read more
January 31, 2020
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