Pomona Valley Audubon Society
A chapter of the National Audubon Society
Serving the Birds and the People who Love Them in Southern California's Pomona Valley since the 1950s
Events
Pomona Valley Audubon Society’s field trip to the Salton Sea has been cancelled due to anticipated heavy traffic at birding venues from competing events. Look forward to January 2026 when we will return to the Salton Sea.
Birding the Newport Back Bay by Pontoon Boat
THIS TRIP HAS FILLED.
931 W Coast Hwy, Newport Beach, CA 92663- Difficulty: Easy
This is our Pelagic Trip for Landlubbers with excellent opportunities to see and photograph shorebirds, waterfowl, herons, ospreys and more from a covered pontoon boat. Meet at Memorial Park in Claremont by 08:30 AM or be at the Newport Sea Base by 10:00 AM. Anticipate 2-2 ½ hour trip. Attendance limited to 18 participants with sign up no later than January 8, 2025. Cost $24.00 per participant (nonrefundable) via check made out to Pomona Valley Audubon Society or via Paypal or Venmo. Mileage: 86 miles roundtrip. Contact trip leader Scott Marnoy gopherus2@gmail.com BEFORE sending payment to reserve a spot.
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Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park. San Dimas, CA 91773 – Difficulty: Moderate
Enjoy one of the richest birding sites in Southern California on our fourth Sunday of the month Bonelli Bird Walk. We meet in the parking lot of Brackett Field (airport) at 1615 McKinley Ave., La Verne, CA 91773 (better known as the Norm’s Hanger Coffee Shop parking lot.) To reach the parking lot, take McKinley Ave. west from Fairplex Drive to the parking area at the end of the road on the right. Meet at 7:45 AM to caravan into the park for free entrance and an 8:00 AM walk. 2-3 hours. Don’t forget your binoculars and comfortable shoes. Walk Leader: Dan Stoebel dstoebel@mac.com
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1500 N. College Ave. Claremont, CA 91711
Meet at the entrance at 8:00 AM for free admission. This family-friendly bird walk is approximately 2 hours long and is perfect for beginners and experienced birders alike. No binoculars? No worries! Loaner binoculars are available (limited number so first come first served.) You will receive instructions on their use as well. PVAS volunteer Scott Marnoy (gopherus2@gmail.com) and others will lead the walks. Please RSVP using this link to the Botanic Garden’s reservation site: http://11213.blackbaudhosting.com/11213/tickets?tab=2&txobjid=9ae32f34-cfcc-4110-8417-696372df1473
7:00 – 9:00 Hughes Center [1700 Danbury Road, Claremont] Highlights include a challenging and informative Bird Id, light refreshments, and the thrills of the door prize drawing. The featured presentation this month is
Elise Ferree – Wintering White-crowned Sparrows at the Bernard Field Station and Beyond
Elise Ferree is currently investigating the behavior of migratory white-crowned sparrows that migrate from Alaska to overwinter in southern California. Her talk will highlight findings based on the past seven years of observations that examine how these sparrows return to and utilize the Bernard Field Station as an overwintering site. She will also share some preliminary data comparing the return rates and behavior of white-crowned sparrows overwintering in Claremont suburban neighborhoods.
Dr. Elise Ferree teaches biology at the Department of Natural Sciences of Scripps and Pitzer Colleges. Her research focuses on behavioral ecology, with wild populations of birds and spiders as study organisms. Elise is also interested in nutrition and public health, as well as sustainability and urban ecology of plants and animals. She attended The College of William and Mary, Wake Forest University for her MS, received her PhD at UC Santa Cruz and was a postdoctoral associate at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area –15501 E. Arrow Highway, Irwindale, CA 9170- Difficulty: Moderate (walking up to 3 mi)
Patrick Gavit will lead us on this mid-week two hour trip for year-round as well as over-wintering species including a variety of sparrows and water birds. Carpool from Memorial Park in Claremont at 7:00 a.m. or meet at Parking Lot #6 at 7:30 AM. Bring snacks, water, and lunch if you’d like to stay in the park to eat after birding. No vehicle entry fee on weekdays this time of year. Est. driving 31 mi.
Contact Trip Leader: Patrick Gavit ebiner.gavit@gmail.com or 626.214.6905.
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Sources for treating injured birds:
Kristine Koh (626) 559-5732 treats raptors in San Dimas (drop-off by appointment at the San Dimas Canyon Nature Center)
Kandie Cansler is a licensed bird rehabilitator in Oak Glen and affiliated with Bear Paw Ranch (also in Oak Glen), who specializes in orphaned and injured raptors. Her home phone number is 909-790-1010 and her cell phone number is 909-289-0166.
Leslie Triplett, Pond Digger Ranch Wildlife Rehab at 909-800-7676, 9012 Oak Glen Road in Cherry Valley, specializes in passerines.
The latest edition of the Chaparral Naturalist is now available PVAS-Winter2024-25-singlepages
2024 Christmas Bird Count Results
Seth Thompson
‘Twas the week before Christmas, Saturday December 14, and all through the area 60 PVAS volunteers were conducting the 2024 Christmas Bird Count. Over 700 Audubon chapters in the United States and Canada pick one day from mid-December to early January to conduct a census of birds in their area, identifying species and counting individuals. This year we recorded 125 species and over 8,000 individuals in our counting area. This was down slightly from the 2023 total of 133 species, which was slightly fewer than the average for the last 10 years. The 8,000 individual birds was markedly fewer than the average number seen in most past years. There is no obvious explanation for the decline. As every birder is aware, sometimes you seem them and sometimes you don’t. There were 15 species seen in 2023 that were not seen this year; but 7 species spotted this year that were missed last year. And once again, living the good life on their favorite wintering grounds, Yellow-rumped Warblers were the most common bird in the survey.
A special shout out goes to Sheila White who takes care of getting our data into the National Audubon data base and maintains the historical record of our counts.
You can view the full results here https://ebird.org/tripreport/302233.
Saturday, January 18, was the third Burrowing Owl Work Party of the season.
Eleven dedicated PVAS volunteers, ranging from students to seasoned veterans, spent two hours removing invasive weeds from a central mound in the College Park Burrowing Owl Preserve in Chino.
Keeping the vegetation low in the field and around the artificial borrows PVAS installed four years ago maintains the habitat that Burrowing Owls prefer.
A bonus as we work in the Chino fields is seeing unexpected birds like this Mountain Bluebird, which Trisha Gleeson captured along with the other photos in this report.
