— THE WHY — |
AT ORMOND BEACH   Two shots of an American Bald Eagle (A-29) at Ormond Beach Wildlife Pond, on the grounds of the Oxnard Wastewater Plant. He is a male from a nest in Alaska and was released in 2004 from Santa Cruz Island. He spent most of his time on Cruz and Rosa in his earlier years, but earlier this season he ventured over to the mainland and has remained there since. We are lucky enough to still have a functioning GPS transmitter on him, so we are able to follow his movement patterns that way. He's been on the mainland since March 21, and this is his first time on the mainland, and he seems to like it because he hasn't returned to the island at all since he left. For the most part, he had been staying around Point Conception and the Hollister Ranch area. He's been seen in Santa Barbara, Goleta, and now Ventura and Oxnard. (Photos courtesy Robert Hooper; History courtesy of Coleen Cory) |
 Photos courtesy Alan Sanders
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 Since the founding of our nation, the area now containing the State of California has lost 91% of its wetlands. Here in Oxnard we personally experience the harm done with our "years of the spiders, the flies and the gnats" — Some bird species that normally visit us skipped those years, or were driven away from overcrowding by other species. As we continue to overpopulate our state, it is imperative that we restore what wetlands we can. If we fail, we do so at our children's and their children's peril. These pages try to explain and to prove that assertion. Fuller's Report — Special Birds Seen At Ormond Beach: Northern Fulmar, California Condor (reported seen feeding on a seal carcass), Snowy Plovers, Semipalmated Plovers, Virginia Rail, Peregrine Falcon, White Ibis, Egrets, Great Blue Heron, Black Rail, Western Grebe, Surf Scoters, Black Phoebe, Loggerhead Shrike, Belted Kingfisher, Black Crowned Herons (seen arguing with each other), Red Tailed Hawks, Trumpeter Swans!, White-Tailed Kites, Bald Eagle Fledgling! (seen fishing in the drain between the Perkins Rd. parking lot and the wetlands), three (3!) Golden Plovers, Eared Grebes, Indigo Bunting, Yellow-crowned Night Heron, and Ruddy Ground Dove. The last three were seen by Auduboners at Ormond Beach and are firsts in these parts. Also, on June 14, an informal count at Ormond netted 31 Snowy Plover nests and 48 Least Tern nests. |
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Oct. 13, 2005 [mp3 audio file - 6 min.] —   [ Home | Fuss | Vision | Calendar | Maps | Commentary | Links ] |
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Oxnard Coastal Wetlands / Webmaster Originated 21 Feb 2007 |