OC Birder Girl: Conservation Issues

Saturday, September 20, 2008

California Coastal Cleanup Day

Funny and to-the-point Public Service Announcement about California Coastal Cleanup Day 2007

I went down to Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve to bird and ended up picking up trash and doing a little birding. It was a good day. I am constantly amazed by the trash I see at Bolsa Chica and other parks--especially in waterways, ponds, lakes, and streams. Mostly fast food trash including cups, straws, plastic flatware, food containers, wrappers, plastic bags, and lots and lots of cigarette butts.

Black-crowned Night Heron hiding.

Willet foraging in the pickleweed.

Last year in Orange County, California along, 6,760 volunteers picked up 91,789 pounds of trash and 16,044 pounds of recyclables.

Great Egret found a nice rock to fish from.

Much trash is blown there by the wind from the beach or flows there in the water from the watershed. Someone tosses a paper cup out of the car window, it flows into the sewer and down the waterway to streams, lakes, and to the ocean.

One of a pair of Black Phoebes I saw at the Reserve that day.

Read this quote from the California Coastal Cleanup site:

"Almost 90 percent of floating marine debris is plastic. Due to its durability, buoyancy, and ability to absorb and concentrate toxins present in the ocean, plastic is especially harmful to marine life. "

Plastic is found frequently in the stomachs of dead wildlife. It is fed by birds to their young. They starve to death with plastic in their stomachs. Clean up after yourself and throw trash away. Much of this trash arrives here through the run-off water from the surrounding neighborhoods. Leave trash on the curb or in the gutter or anywhere but the trash can and it ends up in beautiful places like this injuring and killing innocent wildlife.

Marbled Godwits and their common companions, the Willets.

Marbles Godwits and Willets

Water and Pickleweed. Lots of birds seen and unseen hunkered down in the Pickleweed.

Check out their site:

California Coastal Cleanup Day

Some Things I picked up:

Lots of cigarette butts

Paper Cups

Styrofoam Cups

Hunks of Styrofoam

Candy Wrappers

Straws

A six-pack package

Plastic bags

Home - Index - Contact - Shop - Ask the OC Birder Girl - OC Birder Girl Videos

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Watershed--What is it?

Upper Newport Bay aka Newport Back Bay

Orange County has a mosaic of 13 watersheds through which our water is absorbed into the earth or makes its way to the ocean. Some of the watersheds are very small--just a few miles in area--some over a hundred. The Santa Ana River Watershed starts in another county. Most of our nature centers and parks have ponds or streams that are fed by water from the watersheds. It prevents flooding and provides some filtering of water.

Short video on water and the watershed below.

Watershed 101 from Surf Rider Foundation

Upper Newport Bay

Below is a longer video on the watershed in an interview with a naturalist.

What is a watershed?

Below is a five-part series from Michigan on watersheds in general with a little bit on theirs in particular.

Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve

Into the Watershed Part 1

American Coots, Mallards, and American Wigeons quack it up in neighborhood run off.

Into the Watershed Part 2

Great Blue Heron at Huntington Central Park

Into the Watershed Part 3

Into the Watershed Part 4

CITC explains watersheds this way "It's the area of land that catches rain and snow and drains or seeps into a marsh, stream, river, lake or groundwater. " Water used to seep naturally into the ground and excess flowed away in streams and rivers to the ocean. Now our concrete and asphalt prevent the water from absorbing into the earth. What you leave on the street or throw out the window of a vehicle ends up in natural areas like parks and streams and wetlands.

Into the Watershed Part 5

So now you understand all about the watershed as the circulatory system of Orange County and the challenge of all our impervious surfaces. Our Wetlands are in the Seal Beach Wildlife Refuge, Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, Talbert Marsh, San Joaquin Marsh and San Joaquin Wildlife Refuge, Huntington Central Park, and the estuary and wetlands of Upper Newport Bay to name a few. In addition to wetlands, many parks and nature centers are filters for neighborhood runoff in Orange County. These areas are important for containing and filtering water before it is released into the ocean. They help prevent flooding. They aren't just important for birders or nature lovers. They are places that preserve the quality of water for our planet and safety during floods. They also do provide places on the Pacific Flyway for migratory birds to rest or winter over. Nothing like the watershed. We birders should understand it and be able to talk with other Orange County residents about the watershed in Orange County.

Turtlerock Nature Center

The watershed is important to people, wildlife, and cities. Orange County has 13 watersheds. Click on these links to OC Watershed to find out about each watershed:

1) Coyote Creek Watershed

2) Carbon Creek Watershed

3) Westminster Watershed

4) Talbert Watershed

5) Santa Ana River Watershed

6) San Diego Creek Watershed

7) Newport Bay Watershed

8) Newport Coast Creek Watershed

9) Laguna Canyon Watershed

10) Aliso Creek Watershed

11) Salt Creek Watershed

12) San Juan Creek Watershed