NATURAL PERSPECTIVES:

Vic and I are continuing our coverage of the many wonderful events this month to celebrate the local environment. First of all, we left out of our previous column the fact that you need to make reservations for the Sea and Sage Audubon bird walks if you plan to go. These trips are limited to 15 for each bird outing to ensure a quality birding experience. The next two upcoming bird walks are April 17 at Huntington Central Park and April 20 at Talbert Marsh. Call Nancy Kenyon at (949) 786-3160 to make reservations and get the exact meeting location and time.

Some of the other environmental activities this month include a lecture series at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday to April 16 at the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center at Pacific Coast Highway and Newland Street. First up on Tuesday will be a talk about living with urban wildlife such as coyotes and raccoons. On Wednesday, Kim Kolpin will talk about using California native plants in home landscaping. As some of you know, Kolpin leads the plant restoration activities on Bolsa Chica Mesa with the Bolsa Chica Land Trust Stewards. Then, on April 16, former Huntington Beach Mayor Debbie Cook will speak about our energy future. Because Cook has solar panels at her home, you can bring questions about that aspect of energy.

On April 18, the Huntington Beach Tree Society will be planting the first trees in a total planting of 100. These trees will be installed around the city in honor of the city’s centennial. Meet near the entrance to Shipley Nature Center at 8:30 a.m. for this planting, which will be in Central Park.

On April 19, Rainbow Disposal will host an Earth Day event from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at their newly modernized facility at 17121 Nichols St., which is between Warner and Slater avenues east of Beach Boulevard and west of Gothard Street. There will be food, drinks, entertainment and tours of the recycling center where the refuse from the community is automatically sorted into various types of recyclables.

Our favorite part is the seemingly magic “ping” of soda cans flying off the conveyor belt and into the aluminum bin. We were told that it has something to do with differential conductance, but we prefer the magic explanation. In addition to booths staffed by various organizations in town, there will be prizes and information on how to build a greener community. You can see how those environmentally friendly waste trucks operate. They run on compressed natural gas and are a lot quieter and less polluting compared with the old diesel trucks.

On April 25, Shipley Nature Center will host its Earth Day event. Running from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Shipley’s annual Spring Festival will feature a sale of native plants, exhibit booths, live animals, food for sale, and a Maypole dance outside Shipley’s main gates at 11 a.m. Get there early for the best pick of native plants, because some varieties sell out early.

Shipley Nature Center constantly changes, so be sure to take a walk and see how all the trees and plants are growing. The California lilacs, called Ceanothus, are spectacular this time of year.

Restoration of the center began in late 2002 when the Friends of Shipley Nature Center began managing the facility under a lease with the city. So many wonderful changes have occurred since then, with continual outpouring of help from scout groups, school groups and the community at large. The nature center is once again a thriving little ecosystem that provides homes for beautiful butterflies, interesting insects, numerous cottontails, slithering snakes, skittering lizards, and birds galore. The parking area for the nature center is in Central Park on the west side of Goldenwest Avenue. The nature center is the fenced-in portion of Central Park that lies just north of the Slater flood control channel.

This month of fabulous environmental activities closes out with a book signing by Huntington Beach’s own Dave Carlberg from 7 to 9 p.m. April 30 downstairs in rooms C and D at the Huntington Beach Library. You can buy a copy of Dave’s book, “Bolsa Chica, Its History from Prehistoric Times to the Present, and What Citizen Involvement and Perseverance Can Achieve,” at the signing. It is also available through the Join/Shop/ Donate page of www.amigosdebolsachica. org/join.htm for $20.

Vic and I had the opportunity to preview a draft of the book. It is marvelous, loaded with pictures and maps, and filled with things even we didn’t know about Bolsa Chica. I read the book this past weekend while on a birding outing with Vic and his bird class in beautiful Pine Valley in San Diego County. While Vic and his class tromped through sage and chaparral in search of songbirds, I read in the car.

Once I started, I couldn’t put the book down. It was filled with intrigue, chicanery, mystery and more, with end-of-chapter hooks that kept me turning the pages to see what happened next. And I know the story!

In addition to covering Bolsa Chica through the ages, Carlberg tells how the Amigos de Bolsa Chica persevered over decades to protect the Bolsa Chica wetlands. Even though Vic and I have been intimately involved in the fight to save and then restore the Bolsa Chica, there were things I didn’t know, surprises in every chapter. I’m hoping to do a more thorough review closer to the signing, but I wanted to get this teaser in early to give everyone time to order their own copy.

Get outdoors and enjoy some of these great family events.

VIC LEIPZIG and LOU MURRAY are Huntington Beach residents and environmentalists. They can be reached at vicleipzig@aol.com.