July Calendar of Events
This month, snorkel with sharks, go birdwatching, take an evening hike, celebrate the oceans and more.
Badgering House Details…
Not just a Midwestern football team, badgers are complicated creatures that have special housing quirks and behaviors. No, it’s not about the color of their amoires, either.
Bigger Cemetery, Fewer Griffith Park Critters?
The final resting place for nearly 200,000 humans is being weighed against the quality of life for urban critters in Griffith Park, probably the most urban “wild” park in the United States.
Because the dead keep coming, Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills announced a new plan to create 200,000 new interment spaces at the nearly overflowing cemetery that butts up against the 4210-acre Griffith Park. More burial plots – above and below ground – would mean the removal of 835 oak, sycamore and walnut trees and some rare plants across 18 acres of land. Environmental groups are not happy
June Calendar of Events
The Butterfly Pavilion is now opened at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in Claremont. Check out native SoCal flappers and caterpillars including a pipevine swallotail as pictured.
Snorkel local waters with Birch Aquarium
Get off the beach this summer and explore the wonders of SoCal waters with a variety of outings, courtesy of the Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego. Join aquarium naturalists who lead two different weekend excursions to get face-to-face with the marine life that lives just off the La Jolla coast. Choose […]
Open House for native flappers
Orange County’s only butterfly house – that’s exclusively home to OC native flappers – is throwing open its doors on Saturday May 7 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Don’t worry; there’s a second door to keep the butterflies contained!)
“The Improbable Crow” on May 18
They use tools, they build objects and a whole bunch of them is called a “murder.” Considered among the world’s most intelligent animals, crows give us much to contemplate and celebrate. On May 18 at 7 p.m., Dr. John Marzluff will discuss this fascinating creature at a free public lecture “The Improbable Crow” at UCLA […]
Open House at California Wildlife Center on April 30
Meet the caring people and the wild injured critters they serve when the California Wildlife Center hosts an open house on Saturday, April 30. Held from noon to 4 p.m., the twice-a-year event features behind-the-scenes tours, wildlife exhibits, children’s activities and – probably the biggest draw of the day – up-close encounters with rescued and […]
Free tour, free condors on April 30, May 4
A match made in heaven: free tours to experience the landscape and maybe, just maybe, a glimpse of Califoria condors hanging out in their native ‘hood.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is offering free tours of the Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge in Kern County, a key condor recovery location. Tours are April 30 and May 4 and start at 10 a.m.
Win a trip to Santa Cruz Island
The fine folks at the Nature Conservancy are offering an island adventure that’s close to home, but worlds away. Enter a chance for you and a guest to experience the beauty and grandeur of Santa Cruz Island, one of the five islands that make up the Channel Island National Park off the Ventura coast.
Field work fun in the Santa Monica Mountains
Proving that it’s not just for kids, the second annual Santa Monica Mountains Science Festival promises a bevy of outdoorsy-activities that will entice the stubbornest coach potatoes to get up to enjoy the wide open spaces. Watch owls fly at night. Identify a wildflower. Learn how to track mountain lions and bobcats. Listen to stories […]
Avoiding the rattler; workshops teach humans and dogs snake props
Got dogs? (Yay!) Got dogs that love to hike with you in the mountains and canyons? (Big yay!) Got dogs that love to pounce on snakes? (Boo!)