September 25, 2020 Legacy Park and Topanga Beach

I didn't have much time today so I thought I'd do a circuit again of Legacy Park and then hit Topanga Beach on the way back. Both visits were a bit underwhelming. I was hoping to see some migrants at Legacy. Afterall, the city has gone to a lot of expense and time to plant all native vegetation there. However, other than a few wading birds I only saw one white crowned sparrow. However it was nice to see three juvenile night crowned herons. It seems like their numbers might be up this year.

From there I stopped at Topanga for the high "low tide". There were already too many people there and I was in a rush to get home so I only took a few photos of shells on the sand and a couple of birds. The good news is, it appears there are more young Heermann's gulls (I think most of the ones there were maybe second year birds, though I'm not good on gull ID's). Since over 90% of Heermann's gulls nest on one island off the coast of Mexico, they are considered vulnerable and a couple of years ago, no juveniles were seen.

In other news, one of the chapters of the Nevada Sierra Club has asked permission to use one of my desert tortoise photos (not posted here) as part of their campaign to protect habitat for endangered species throughout the state. I'm always pleased when I can contribute to a good cause. A few months ago, I was also asked to contribute a photo of my blunt-nosed leopard lizard for a conservation cause, so I'm hoping to continue to make photography a tool for conservation and call attention to our vulnerable and endangered species.

Publicado el septiembre 25, 2020 11:51 TARDE por