Count birds on Saturday and a word about Chollas Lake

Global Big Day:

So, apparently tomorrow is some kind of global bird counting day. It is hoped that everyone around the world will count birds tomorrow. It's called the Global Big Day and it's also a fundraiser for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. It's a lot like the Great Backyard Bird Count. Click on that link and it will take you to a page where you can submit your data.



International Migratory Bird Day:

Head on out to the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve tomorrow, May 9th,  for fun activities for the whole family at their visitor's center. They're located at 301 Caspian Way in Imperial Beach. They will have birdwatching tours, educational games and activities for adults and children. It's a nice reserve with lots of interesting native plants and animals.

May 16th, Explore Mission Trails Day:

Mission Trails Regional Park will have a ton of activities all over the park for Explore Mission Trails Day next Saturday, May 16th.. Most of the activities will either be at the visitor's center at 1 Junipero Serra Way, East Fortuna Staging Area, or Kumeyaay Lake Campground.  Your kids can ride a pony, get a close-up look at raptors and do crafts. There are also several walks, including a birding walk and a starlight walk. It runs mostly from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. with the night-time activities at Kumeyaay Lake starting at 7 p.m. Call the Mission Trails Regional Park for more details at 619-668-3281.

A word about Chollas Lake:

Recently, news stories have started jumping on the city for dumping water into Chollas Lake. For those who don't know, Chollas Lake is a small pond that used to be a fully functioning reservoir. Currently, kids under 15 fish there and there's camps for underprivileged children and other activities. The residential area nearby is an ethnically diverse, low income area. It's an extremely nice park and it's extremely nice to have a park like that in a low income area. 

The news media is making out that they're only dumping water into the lake so that people can fish. Trust me, it's not a prime fishing spot. But, it's nice for the kids. It's also home to dozens of domestic waterfowl who can't travel anywhere if the lake were to dry up. They would have to be re-homed or even euthanized if that lake dried up. I'm sure the staff there would do their best to get them new homes if that happens, but I don't think that all of them will be able to be able to be rehomed. Other wildlife may also suffer as other areas get drier and drier.

Chollas Lake is also a backup source for water to put out brush fires in the area. And, it can still function as a backup reservoir. The problem is that, I guess, a lot of it evaporates and those eucalyptus trees suck up a lot of water. I say that they need to do more research on this instead of criticizing the situation and making it look like a bunch of privileged people are being selfish.

Nature stuff going on around San Diego the weekend of January 31-Feb 1, 2015

Buena Vista Lagoon

I usually post my weekend events articles on Examiner, but thought I would post them here and see how they do. I may go back to posting them on Examiner in the future.

Saturday's weather is supposed to be a little wet, but may clear up in the afternoon. It should still be a nice weekend for most activities, though. Bring an umbrella for Saturday morning. Here are a few things going on this weekend.

Earth Discovery Institute: I like posting events for this organization. Mostly, they work with the east county preserves such as Rancho Jamul and Crestridge. This weekend, they will be having  the "Lilac 5k Fun Run and Kids Fun Run Fundraiser" on Saturday, January 31st from 7-11am. The actual race starts at 8:30am. and begins at the Crestwood Ecological Horsemill Road entrance at 1171 Horsemill Road in El Cajon. Unfortunately, pre-registration ends tonight. But, you can register at the day of the event. Entry fees for the race on the day of the event are $30, but Crest residents get $5 off. The fun run is $15 for the day of the race. Contact the Earth Discovery Institute at  619-447-4715 or email info@earthdiscovery.com for more information.

Mission Trails Regional Park: The park wants people to know that the south climbers trail is now open. It was damaged by fire last summer. This area is popular for climbers and is open from sunrise to sunset. Be prepared for a lot of people on the weekends. Also, if you want to learn about the basics of birding at Mission Trails, there will be a free class this Saturday at 1pm in the Visitor's Center. They are located at 1Father Junipero Serra Trail in east San Diego. Call them at (619) 668-3281 for more details.

Buena Vista Audubon: You can also learn about basic birding and participate in a bird count at the lagoon this Saturday beginning at 8am. The class starts at their nature center at 2202 S. Coast Highway in Oceanside. Joan Fountain at 760-729-1379 and Tom Troy at 760-420-7328 are the ones leading the class and count.

Update on "Mystery Goo": So far, no one knows what the goo is, but some of the bird patients that were being cleaned are being re-released in a different location. They have ruled out oil and PIB, the substance that killed hundreds of sea birds in Great Britain a few years ago. The little dunlin shown in the picture on this blog a few posts ago is said to be doing well.

On My Examiner.com page: Sorry that I haven't posted a Lake Murray birding update as I've been a bit under the weather. I may have to pass on it for this month and post it next month.