Hi group,

This Spring, I am coordinating a joint Audubon-USGS-LA Rec. and Parks
effort to survey reptile/amphibian and small mammal diversity in Debs
Park along the lower Lower Arroyo Seco. I understand that some
monitoring has accompanied the recent riparian habitat enhancement
effort farther upstream, i.e. adj. to the casting ponds (sorry, don't
know "official" name of restoration project).

I also heard that a paper was published recently (in Southwestern
Naturalist) on small mammal diversity of the Arroyo Seco (yes, our
Arroyo Seco!). Does anyone have this reference?

Would anyone have a contact person for either of these 2 projects?

Thanks!
Dan Cooper

We would like to remind you of this upcoming event.

Huntington Gardens

Date: Sunday, March 12, 2000
Time: 8:00AM - 12:00PM PST (GMT-08:00)

Allen South until end at Orlando.  Turn left, then right onto
Oxford.  At gate tell guard you are here for the Pasadena
Audubon trip. Meet at main entrance.

How can I change my email address? Should I unsubscribe and the
subscribe with the new one? Thanks. JS

We would like to remind you of this upcoming event.

Hahamongna Monthly Walk

Date: Saturday, March 4, 2000
Time: 8:00AM - 11:30AM PST (GMT-08:00)

210 to Oak Grove Dr. exit.
Meet in parking lot by ballfield.

Please disregard previous email.

Is it possible to be more specific on the section where the voting takes
place?  I don't see it in the MSNBC article.

We would like to remind you of this upcoming event.

San Jacinto Wildlife Area

Date: Sunday, February 27, 2000
Time: 8:00AM - 2:00PM PST (GMT-08:00)

Directions:
10 East
215 South
Ramona Expressway East
Davis Road left (easy to miss)
Two miles to HQ
Meet in parking area on East side of road.  Allow at least 90
minutes from Pasadena.

Kathie Schmiechen, Consultant to the National Audubon Society

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some of you have already seen the web poll MSNBC has up on sequoia
national  monument:  <http://www.msnbc.com/news/370766.asp#BODY>.
The tide
is turning against us, despite what we know from independent polling
is an
overwhelming public favorability rating.  So log on and vote, then
pass this
along.
______________

This message came from National Audubon.  There is an informative
article is at this site with arguments for and against.  Please take
a moment to log in, read the article, and vote.

Ron

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-calbird@...
[mailto:owner-calbird@...] On Behalf Of marjorie hastings
Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2000 3:57 PM
To: CALBIRD
Subject: [CALBIRD] [Fwd: ACTION ALERT - Ducheny Wetlands Destruction
Bill]


We all must stop this bill!!!
--
Marjorie Hastings              Flowers fill the
Spring Valley, CA.               potholes of
mhast27@...                  LIFE !

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-calbird@...
[mailto:owner-calbird@...] On Behalf Of marjorie hastings
Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2000 3:57 PM
To: CALBIRD
Subject: [CALBIRD] [Fwd: ACTION ALERT - Ducheny Wetlands Destruction
Bill]


We all must stop this bill!!!
--
Marjorie Hastings              Flowers fill the
Spring Valley, CA.               potholes of
mhast27@...                  LIFE !

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-calbird@...
[mailto:owner-calbird@...] On Behalf Of marjorie hastings
Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2000 3:57 PM
To: CALBIRD
Subject: [CALBIRD] [Fwd: ACTION ALERT - Ducheny Wetlands Destruction
Bill]


We all must stop this bill!!!
--
Marjorie Hastings              Flowers fill the
Spring Valley, CA.               potholes of
mhast27@...                  LIFE !

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Thanks!

I was surprised not to see them in the field guide after we saw them at the
Gardens - they are so distinct that it is difficult to mis-identify them
and I was wondering whether this was a fluke or not.

Cheers,

Ian

  At 08:08 AM 2/22/00 -0800, you wrote:
>From: "Ron Cyger" <RCYGER@...>
>
>Ian and Tiina -
>
>Red-Whiskered Bulbuls were more established in years past around here.
Then, I believe about five years ago, many were eradicated as "pests."  The
Huntington Gardens was one of the few locations that wouldn't allow
eradication to take place on their property.  (Anyone, please correct me if
I'm wrong.)
>
>Before the eradication, we even saw bulbuls in the Arroyo.  Since then, I
believe the only place they can be found is at the Huntington Gardens.
We'll see how long they can last with the limited gene pool.
>
>Ron Cyger
>
>
>>>> <ianb@...> 02/21/00 08:57pm >>>
>From: ianb@...
>
>Dear members,
>  My wife and I were at Huntington Gardens this past Saturday and saw
>a small flock (7-10) of Red-Whiskered Bulbuls.  According to our
>version of the Eastern Peterson guide, these birds are established
>near Miami, FL but they are not listed in the Western Field guide.
>
>Has anyone else seen these around here?
>
>Ian and Tiina
>
>
>
>
>
>-
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>GET A NEXTCARD VISA, in 30 seconds!  Get rates as low as 2.9%
>Intro or 9.9% Fixed APR and no hidden fees.  Apply NOW!
>http://click.egroups.com/1/915/1/_/_/_/951236081/
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Community email addresses:
>  Post message: PAS-AS@onelist.com
>  Subscribe:    PAS-AS-subscribe@onelist.com
>  Unsubscribe:  PAS-AS-unsubscribe@onelist.com
>  List owner:   PAS-AS-owner@onelist.com
>
>Shortcut URL to this page:
>  http://www.onelist.com/community/PAS-AS
>
>
>
Ian Brown, Ph.D.
Division of Biology, M/C 216-76
Caltech,
1200 E. California Blvd.
Pasadena, CA, 91125
(626) 395-6818
fax (626) 795-2088

Ian and Tiina -

Red-Whiskered Bulbuls were more established in years past around here.  Then, I
believe about five years ago, many were eradicated as "pests."  The Huntington
Gardens was one of the few locations that wouldn't allow eradication to take
place on their property.  (Anyone, please correct me if I'm wrong.)

Before the eradication, we even saw bulbuls in the Arroyo.  Since then, I
believe the only place they can be found is at the Huntington Gardens.  We'll
see how long they can last with the limited gene pool.

Ron Cyger


>>> <ianb@...> 02/21/00 08:57pm >>>
From: ianb@...

Dear members,
   My wife and I were at Huntington Gardens this past Saturday and saw
a small flock (7-10) of Red-Whiskered Bulbuls.  According to our
version of the Eastern Peterson guide, these birds are established
near Miami, FL but they are not listed in the Western Field guide.

Has anyone else seen these around here?

Ian and Tiina





-

At 04:57 AM 2/22/2000 +0000, you wrote:
>From: ianb@...
>
>Dear members,
>  My wife and I were at Huntington Gardens this past Saturday and saw
>a small flock (7-10) of Red-Whiskered Bulbuls.  According to our
>version of the Eastern Peterson guide, these birds are established
>near Miami, FL but they are not listed in the Western Field guide.
>
>Has anyone else seen these around here?
>

   They have been established at Huntington for many years now,
and are occasionally seen elsewhere in the San Gabriel Valley.
I have seen them at Descanso Gardens in La Cañada.


/-----------------------------------\
| Bill Principe                     |
| 3932 Robin Hill Road              |
| La Canada, California  91011-3808 |
| +1 818 952 3932                   |
| Principe@...                 |
\-----------------------------------/

Dear members,
   My wife and I were at Huntington Gardens this past Saturday and saw
a small flock (7-10) of Red-Whiskered Bulbuls.  According to our
version of the Eastern Peterson guide, these birds are established
near Miami, FL but they are not listed in the Western Field guide.

Has anyone else seen these around here?

Ian and Tiina

I apologize, here's Karen's message I neglected to include - Ron

Subject: Re: parrot conference
    Date:  Mon, 21 Feb 2000 18:55:00 PST
    From: "Karen Mabb" <kmabb@...>
      To:   sigalert@...

Does anybody know anybody with a spare room or something?  Ali
Sheehey and
Barbara Mansfield need a place to stay and are starving students.
If not,
I'll see what Kimball and I can do about taking some of our grant
money and
paying some or all of their hotel bill.

Karen
________________________

Suzie or Ron wrote:

   From: Suzie or Ron <sigalert@...>

   Karen Mabb sent this message re: an available room for the parrot
   conference on March 4, 2000.  Please respond to Karen directly.

   Thanks,
   Ron

   P.S.  If you haven't join pas-as@onelist.com, please do so now.
   This list will be the means to communicate with Pasadena Audubon
   Society members electronically.  Simply send an e-mail to
   <pas-as-subscribe@onelist.com>, then confirm, and you're in!

Karen Mabb sent this message re: an available room for the parrot
conference on March 4, 2000.  Please respond to Karen directly.

Thanks,
Ron

P.S.  If you haven't join pas-as@onelist.com, please do so now.
This list will be the means to communicate with Pasadena Audubon
Society members electronically.  Simply send an e-mail to
<pas-as-subscribe@onelist.com>, then confirm, and you're in!



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

This message went out earlier on CalBird - Ron

Greeting, CALbirders-

Today is the first day of the Great Backyard Bird Count (February
18-21),
and reports rushing in. As of 3:30pm Friday, we have received almost
1700
checklists. If you've submitted your observations, thank you. We
hope
you'll continue to throughout the count. If you haven't, we hope you
will.
Your data will be used to create a "snapshot" of late-winter bird
distributions across the continent, which will be combined with our
other
projects such as Christmas Bird Count and Project FeederWatch. This
will
allow us to look for changes in distribution and abundance of North
American birds. Results from sightings made across North America are

currently being mapped; you can already see how your reports are
fitting
into the continent-wide perspective.

California is 9th in states reporting the most species, with 63. You
can
view maps of any species being reported.

Please spend a little time counting the birds you see in your yard,
parks,
wildlife refuges, or other areas and put them into our database at
www.birdsource.org. Instructions are at the site. This is FREE, and
there's
no registration. We'd appreciate it if you would pass this
information on
to anyone else that you think might be interested.

Individuals and groups who do not have computer access can still
participate. They may contact us here at the Lab for more
information, at
cornellbirds@....

Best in birding,

Allison Wells
Communications and Public Outreach Director
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Rd.
Ithaca, NY 14850
http://birds.cornell.edu

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

The ONElist site will be off-line from 9am until 3pm Pacific
Standard Time
on Saturday 19th February, 2000 for scheduled maintenance.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Mail will not be delivered during this time.  Any mail posted to a
list
during this time will be delivered after 3pm Pacific Standard Time
on
Saturday 19th February, 2000.

Thank you in advance for your patience.

The Wednesday 2/16/00 LA Times (SC Living-Section E, Page E1) has two great
articles on Birding in Southern California.

We would like to remind you of this upcoming event.

Pasadena Audubon Society General Meeting

Date: Wednesday, February 16, 2000
Time: 07:30PM - 09:00PM PST (GMT-08:00)

Earthwatch, presented by Murial Horacek, is the topic this
month.

Meeting is at Eaton Canyon Nature Center.

The city of Pasadena invites the public to attend a series of
meetings promoting the planning process of the Central Arroyo Seco
Master Plan.  This section of the Arroyo Seco stretches from Devil's

Gate Dam to the Colorado Street Bridge.  All meeting are held at the
City Yards, 233 W. Mountain St.

Recreational Users        Tuesday February 15, 6 p.m.

Environmental Users      Thursday February 17, 6 p.m.

Central Arroyo Master
Plan Advisory Comm.   Thursday February 24, 6 p.m.

As you may know, the upper Arroyo Seco Master Plan was approved by
the city council late last Tuesday morning, with the addition of
more soccer fields.  Your input and involvement is vital at these
meetings if we wish to keep the upper and lower Arroyo Seco
natural.  You have to speak up to be heard.

Also, if you haven't subscribed to the PAS-AS listserv yet, do so
right now.  It's easy, just send an e-mail message to the URL below!

To subscribe (no fee) simply e-mail a message as follows.
<PAS-AS-subscribe@onelist.com> and you're a member.

Hi folks,

As some of you know, I have been working with Audubon-California (National
Audubon Society) to establish a nature center in Debs Park in Highland Park
(just south of South Pasadena along the Arroyo Seco). Currently, I'm leading
monthly birdwalks there on the last Saturday of every month at 8:00 am
(entrance off Monterey Rd.). For a birdlist and more information, check out
www.audubon-ca.org and follow the
link to the "Centers" page.

Also, I was just sent the following message. Could anyone help out with
this?
Please email Mr. Moore directly, and cc me. I will be happy to provide you
with all the information necessary to lead a birdwalk in Debs Park. April
should be great.

Thanks!

Dan Cooper
(323) 254-0252
dcooper1@...

-----Original Message-----
From: Richard "Dick" Moore [mailto:revsmoore@...]
Sent: Tuesday, February 08, 2000 8:29 PM
To: dcooper1@...
Subject: Field Trip


El Dorado Audubon Society, Long Beach, plans its Birdathon to begin on
Saturday, April 8. This year, as last year, a portion of the Birdathon
income will go to Debs Park. We would like to make a birding field trip to
Debs Park on April 8. Are you available and willin

The Pasadena Star-News reported on Wed 2/8 that the City Council voted for a
plan that modified the original by adding one more large soccer field where
in the new 9-hole disk golf course and relocating the new 9 holes somewhere
else in the park.

The motion was voted 5-3 (OPPOSING: Crowfoot, Little, Madison) at 12:30 am
early Tuesday morning long after advocates had left the chambers. The council
also asked that a budget be developed for the plan.

Although this may move things along, the matter is not over.  The plan must
be studied for its environmental impacts through the EIR process. That is
expected to be completed by early in 2001. It is very likely that many
environmental groups will wade in during the process.

Hopefully, in the meantime, the city and PSUD will find new fields for
soccer.  The more they find, the greater the arguement for reductions of
fields in the park.

It is clear that building a coalition with the soccer community to work
toward getting as many new fields on line as possible so as to reduce the
pressure for fields in Hahamongna. Although no overall total has been
mentioned, it will be important to evaluate "real need" based maximizing
usage, efficient scheduling and staggering various league seasons, etc. If a
"reasonable need" can be determined as to number of fields--this target
number would help the decision makers. Presently, it some on the council and
many in the soccer community just keep ratcheting-up the number on a
politically irrational basis. If this makes since, efforts should be made for
the city staff to prepare report to go to the council or be used during the
EIR process.

This assessment could be done by someone in the city or recreation type that
can objectively assess the various organization's need for fields in the
Pasadena area to establish a benchmark number. The assessment should include
how many could be made available in the next 2-3 months, how many in the 3-6
month period, and so on?

I think that if the soccer people see a "good faith" progress is being made
on getting more fields within the city boundaries, they might ratchet back
their effort and take the pressure off Hahamongna, assuming they're not on a
jihad.

This issue is still a matter of concern. Stay tuned for more information when
it becomes available.

PAS one-listers - here's another list you might be interested in. Is this a
great communication device or what?
Hello,

You're invited to join a community I moderate called
Altadena-Foothills. Here's a description of my
community:

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Focus of the Altadena Foothills Conservancy is on protecting local
foothills, mountains, and watersheds from destruction and overdevelopment

------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you choose to join, you will receive email messages from
other community members.

You may join by visiting

http://www.onelist.com/subscribe/Altadena-Foothills

If you are not already a ONElist member, you will need to
complete a quick and free registration process before
joining the community.

When joining the community, you may choose to read messages
via email or by visiting the ONElist Web site at
http://www.onelist.com/

If you do not wish to join the Altadena-Foothills
community, please ignore this message.

NOTE: ONElist invitations are intended for friends, family,
and colleagues to inform each other about communities of
interest. If you find this invitation to be objectionable,
please forward a copy of this message to abuse@corp.onelist.com

Regards,

Steve Bass
Moderator, Altadena-Foothills

The following message from CALBIRD should be of interest
to Pasadena birders.

>
>Please let us know if you're interested in attending
>or presenting.  Pass this along to others who might be
>interested...
>
>
>THE STATUS AND ECOLOGY OF NATURALIZED PARROTS IN CALIFORNIA
>
>When:           Saturday, 4 March 2000
>                Conference -- 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
>                Field trip --  4:00 p.m. to dusk
>
>Where:          Conference -- Eaton Canyon Nature Center Auditorium, Pasadena
>                Field trip -- Temple City roost sites
>
>Organizers:     Kimball L. Garrett
>                Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
>                kgarrett@...
>                (213) 763-3368
>
>                Karen T. Mabb
>                Temple City
>                kmabb@...
>
>                Melanie Stalder
>                Cal Poly Pomona
>                parrotproject@...
>
>Purpose:        To assess our current state of knowledge of the identity,
>                status, distribution, population biology, ecology, and
>                conservation issues of naturalized parrots (Psittacidae)
>                in California, and to develop strategies for future research.
>
>Structure:      A series of short presentations summarizing recent and
current
>                research, followed by discussion sessions assessing research
>                needs and techniques.
>
>                These sessions will be followed by a field trip to parrot
roost
>                sites in and near Temple City (about 15 minutes by car from
>                Eaton Canyon).
>
>Call for presentations:
>                Presentations should be brief (10-15 minutes) and should
>                succinctly summarize past or current research.
Presentations >                relating to parrots outside of California
(but relevant to the
>                naturalization of parrots in  California) will be welcomed;
>                also welcome are papers on techniques for studying parrots in
>                the wild.
>
>                Topics might include:
>                        General status and distribution
>                        Status in specific regions of California
>                        Field identification
>                        Census techniques
>                        Movements
>                        Nesting biology
>                        Roosting behavior
>                        Foraging and food
>                        Mortality/predators
>                        Species relationships
>                        Hybridization and genetics
>                        Interactions with native species
>                        Importation data
>
>Fee:            At present we foresee no participation fees.  Should we
elect to
>                provide a catered lunch or van transportation for the field
>trip
>                we will collect money to cover expenses.
>
>Registration:   Please respond to Kimball Garrett <kgarrett@...> with the
>                the information requested below:
>
>                Name:
>
>                Mailing address:
>
>                e-mail address:
>
>                __  I plan to attend; please continue to send information
>about the
>                    conference. (optional) I am interested in giving a
>presentation
>                    on:
>
>                __  I might attend; please continue to send information
>
>                __  I cannot attend, but would like to receive additional
>information
>
>                Those who have indicated plans to attend or an interest in
>receiving
>                more information about the conference will be sent
>additional occasional
>                e-mails with more specific information.
>
>
>
>
>
>**********************************************************
> Kimball L. Garrett
> Ornithology Collections Manager
> Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
> 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90007 USA
> 213/763-3368 phone; 213/746-2999 FAX
> kgarrett@...
>**********************************************************
>
>

Please share this with anyone who is following Hahamongna planning.

The fate of Hahamongna is still up for grabs, and will be so until the
completion of the EIR in 2001. The City Council's vote of 4-4 (FOR: Holden,
Streater, Bogaard, Tyler; AGAINST: Crowfoot, Little, Madison, and Haderlein)
failed to get a majority.  Haderlein changed his position from his previous
meetings vote on 1/27 and Madison seemed to move further to Crowfoot and
Little camp on this matter.

  It should be noted that the original plan (presented on 1/27) had four large
soccer fields. The preferred of the several modified plans reported by City
staff kept the active areas the same but overlaid the four larger soccer
fields with 8 smaller sized ones. The alternative proposed by Madison and
voted on by council (4-4) accepted the resizing proposal and added swapping
out 9 holes of disk golf for 1 additional field (and more parking spaces).
This alternative would have impacted 1+ acres of willow drainage. One of the
opposition council members suggested that "with more soccer fields, more kids
who would not normally go to Hahamongna (read ugly gravel pit) may discover
nature while they are waiting to play soccer." Following that vote, the
council voted on the original plan 4-4 tie noted above.

  Following the vote, the council sent the plan back to the advisory group for
another review of the option voted on last night (to swap out 9 holes of disk
golf for 1 more soccer fields) as well as the other options presented by
staff. A date for the next hearing is unclear at this time.

  Following the council vote Holden proposed that council consider including
alternatives in the plan and allow the EIR process to make the choice,
something that the Sierra Club advocated in their letter. I left before this
vote, but this seemed to be a way of taking (as well as postponing) the
immediate pressure off the council.

  PAS members who spoke before the council were Jane and Bob Stavert and Don
Rogers (with handout). Seen in the gallery was Tracey Alsobrook. Many others
who spoke for Hahamongna said privately that they are members of Audubon.

  The soccer advocates (just as passionate) have a very convincing need for
fields and the council members who opposed the Hahamongna plan seem to be
holding the Hahamongna plan hostage until they can find additional fields in
the Pasadena area. A representative of the Pasadena Unified School District
was present and seemed very open to working with the city.

  It is clear that until the soccer interests get more fields, the pressure
for more soccer fields in Hahamongna will continue. It is important to
contact both the City and the school district and tell them that you want
them to find more fields OUTSIDE Hahamongna. It might be interesting to see
if some kind of alliance could be forged with the soccer community to lean on
the City and PSUD to make more existing fields available for soccer in the
next month or so and to develop new fields within the next year.




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I'm forwarding a message from Kimball Garrett...


Dear Birders:

Brian Small just informed me that his father, Arnold Small, passed
away this morning.  Arnold's contributions to birding in California,

North America, and the world are far too great to be summarized
here.
His passion as an educator, birder, photographer, conservationist,
and family man made him a unique and special person, and he will
be greatly missed.  My deepest personal sympathies go to Mimi,
Brian,
and the rest of the family.

I'm sure that more information will be posted soon.

Kimball

Did you see the reference to Pasadena Audubon Society in this month's (February)
issue of Sunset Magazine?