Natural Perspectives:

In a rare alignment of events, Vic and I led separate class field trips to Bolsa Chica on Dec. 10. Mine was in the morning. Vic’s was in the afternoon. Mine was with the Orange County Conservation Corps. His was with his Golden West College biology class. Our students had completely different experiences.

The goal of my field trip was to introduce the eight inner-city young men in my group to the natural world, and to get them excited about the wildlife that lives among us. To accomplish this, we do a wildlife survey, using a checklist that I prepared. I’ve been using this format since early summer, and it’s been a big hit.

I appoint a captain of the group and five lieutenants. Each lieutenant is in charge of a different category of wildlife (invertebrates, fish, reptiles, birds or mammals) and gets a sheet with photos of commonly seen species in that category.

The lieutenants report their observations to the captain, who keeps a running tally of what is seen.

This group was raring to go. The first task was to spot an animal, which at Bolsa Chica is pretty easy. Then they turn to the lieutenant in charge of the photos of that category for identification. I’m there for backup ID.

This enthusiastic group began identifying wildlife before it had even left the parking lot.

The first critter they found was a California ground squirrel, quickly followed by coots and snowy egrets. Then they set out across the boardwalk, which brought them even more wildlife. The water was crystal clear, and they quickly found the strawberry anemones that grow on the algae under the walk bridge. They found barnacles, mussels and juvenile fish in rapid succession.

At the end of the boardwalk, I explained to the group how the Amigos de Bolsa Chica saved the wetlands, and how the Bolsa Chica Land Trust saved the mesa.

Reality is a bit more complicated than that, but that suffices for my group. The story of private residents organizing to fight developers and preserve open space is a good lesson in community involvement and activism. This, too, is part of our curriculum for the Corps members, as part of what we do is train them to be productive, contributing members of society.

I also explained about the new full tidal basin. I pointed out that it has a high concentration of round stingrays and sharks in the summer.

In fact, I was seeing 10 to 20 stingrays on summer field trips and an occasional shark. On this winter trip, as expected, we saw none.

Our next stop was the tide gates. We normally see dozens of striped mullet in the Wintersburg Flood Control Channel. But it had just rained, and the water was a dark, murky brown, with trash piled high against the yellow rubber dam that serves as a debris trap. Visibility in the water was zero.

The Corps members were duly impressed with the pollution of the water. They could see what it means when storm drains are labeled “Drains to the Ocean.” If trash is in the street in Westminster, Garden Grove or Anaheim, sooner or later it ends up in Bolsa Chica.

Then we saw it. A handsome male scaup was flopping helplessly atop the debris piles in the flood control channel by the tide gates. At first glance, the duck appeared to have something tethering its legs. It couldn’t fly or swim. I placed a quick call to the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center. As we watched, the duck flopped over onto its back, and I could see that the legs weren’t tangled. My guess was that it had gotten oiled or was poisoned by something in the water. Vic would offer an alternate explanation later.

The only way of rescuing the duck was by boat. That would have been too dangerous because of the current of the outgoing tide. As we watched helplessly, the duck was swept into the culvert that separates the flood control channel from outer Bolsa Bay. Heavy flap gates close off the culvert on the bay side. The duck would most likely drown as it was pushed up against the flap gates by the swift current of the outgoing tide. Reluctantly, we had to abandon it.

Vic’s afternoon field trip was far different. His students couldn’t see into the water under the walk bridge because the tide was higher and the wind had picked up. But Vic spotted some phenomenal birds for them, including a peregrine falcon that was being harassed by a crow. In a feat of aerial acrobatics, the peregrine turned on the crow and sent black feathers flying.

Vic speculated that the duck — a favorite prey item of peregrines — had been hit by the falcon, but had survived. Spinal neurological damage would have fit what we were seeing in the scaup’s behavior. And if that was the case, there was nothing that the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center would have been able to do for it other than euthanize it quickly and humanely. I wish that I had known that a peregrine was in the area on my morning field trip, because my students were saddened to think that the actions of humans might have harmed the scaup.

The Beach Community Garden Assn. is making progress on getting a community garden started in Huntington Beach. The members are making an appeal before the Huntington Beach City Council on Monday for support of the project. If you would like to see a community garden in Huntington Beach, this will be an important opportunity to make your voice heard. Either show up at the meeting or contact the council members to let them know that we really need a community garden. Thanks.

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