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.
