In theory, California should count its blessings (sorta) when it comes to the number of monarch butterflies that have passed through the state this winter season. A new report from the Xeres Society reveals that the number of flappers that have overwintered in California has remained steady from previous years. Data from the Thanksgiving count […]
Herpetologists are rubbing their eyes in disbelief, but a small population of California red-legged frogs is hopping around the Simi Hills area, adjacent to the Santa Monica Mountains. These amphibians, the largest native frog in the Western United States, haven’t been seen in the neighborhood in four decades. According to the National Park Service about […]
Just like the crowded 405 freeway, the coastline off of Ventura, Los Angeles and Orange Counties might need to establish some kind of SigAlert with all the marine mammal activity that’s been seen these days. Record numbers of gray whales have been reported by the American Cetacean Society (ACS) LA Gray Whale Census and Behavior […]
Native milkweeds, the mainstay of monarch everywhere, is in serious decline with new development bulldozing over many historic patches of the native plant — the only one that the monarch will lay eggs on. SoCal gardeners who want to promote and the plant in their backyards can find a wide variety of milkweed at theses […]
The rain was fierce, pouring down in steady sheets on this cold morning in Ventura. What kind of day is this to count butterflies, I wondered as I pulled into a small neighborhood park to meet Donna Grubisic, a volunteer with the Vista-based Monarch Program. Fat drops fell on our heads as we shook hands […]
Orange County roads may be a little safer for wildlife – especially mountain lions – if a proposed $3 million fence is erected on a stretch of freeway that’s known to be one of the deadliest critter corridors in the Santa Ana Mountain range. The Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency would give the final nod of […]
Who doesn’t love a baby face? Three mountain lion kittens were recently discovered in the Santa Monica Mountains and biologists from the National Park Service are hoping to one day add them to the other mountain lions they are studying. Born in the Malibu Springs area, the kittens (known now affectionately as P-32, P-33 and […]
Megapods are wondrous. All that joyous splashing, all that community cavorting. This week, a megapod of about 30 orcas delighted folks off the Palos Verdes Peninsula, including volunteers with the Gray Whale Census who were first surprised by the mysterious pod. On the American Cetacean Society’s Facebook page, Alisa Schulman-Janiger (census project director and orca […]
There were many auspicious signs on the first day of the gray whale census at Pt. Vicente Interpretive Center in Palos Verdes where a group of faithful volunteers were shining up their binoculars for the annual cetacean count. In addition to spying a gray whale at about 7:30am – the official first one of the […]
“Everyone wants a chunk of Griffith Park, after a while, who knows how much of it will be left?” says Gerry Hans of the Friends of Griffith Park about the two baseball fields that are being proposed at the Crystal Spring picnic area. The wild side of Griffith Park has been getting a lot of […]
Captured with serious, bold and unflinching poses, the new exhibit “Nature LA: Birds of Prey” running into Jan. 5, 2014 at the G2 Gallery in Venice showcases Southland feathered flappers from the lens of Culver City-based photographer Jennifer MaHarry. These are the not the happy chirpers helping Cinderella that you’d see in a typical Disney […]
Agoura teen Tanner Saul is living at the right time when it comes to pursuing his dream of working with wildlife and his recent first place win in this year’s prestigious American Museum of Natural History’s Young Naturalist Awards.