Recycling can at Point Dume Beach

During a recent excursion to Point Dume Beach in Malibu, I was looking for a trash can and I came across this (see photo on the left). About 30 feet away there was another can just like it, but I wondered…is this a trash can?

As you can see in the photo, it has several stickers on it that say “recycle here” and also there’s the message, “Plastics. Too valuable to waste. Recycle.” Yet, the bin wasn’t the characteristic blue color and there was no other can around for trash.

To solve the mystery, I lifted the lid and took a look inside where I discovered tons of trash. Then I read all the labels on the outside again and determined this really was a recycling bin, but since there wasn’t a trash can around it had become the garbage receptacle instead.

Why on earth would anyone place a recycling bin on the beach without a trash can? As a recycling fanatic, I’ve been very disappointed to discover over the years that many people can’t be bothered to recycle properly. And even with clear color-coded trash and recycling bins placed side by side, somehow trash always ends up in the recycling.

To be fair, in the Los Angeles area where many cities merge into one massive urban environment without clear delineations, recycling can be very confusing because each city offers different recycling options. In some cities you can recycle all plastics and in some you can’t. In some cities you can recycle Styrofoam and in others you can’t.

But to place a recycling bin on the beach without a trash can, that doesn’t make any sense. Then if people don’t throw trash in the recycling bin it will end up on the beach and ultimately in the ocean. Sigh.

What did I do? Usually in these scenarios where I can’t find a trash and/or a recycling bin I just take whatever it is home and dispose of it properly. In this case, I saw how much trash was already in the recycling bin and disgustedly threw my one dirty little Kleenex in and slammed the lid. “Argh, recycling foiled again,” said like a pirate with my fist in the air. “We must have recycling bins and trash cans side by side!”

(Note: For those of you who live in the City of Los Angeles, click here for a complete list of recyclables. Everyone else, please find a list of recyclable items on your city’s Bureau of Sanitation or Bureau of Waste Management website.)

Baby Allen’s hummingbirds at the California Wildlife Center

Spring is the time of year when many of the birds and the bees are getting busy with the birds and the bees. This means our feathered friends are finding choice places up high to build nests away from predators and prying eyes. After industriously collecting construction materials and layering twig upon twig just so, it’s time for mating rituals and laying eggs.

Bird couples don’t ask for much from us, they just want a quiet area to escape for awhile and safely care for their young. Often nests are built in trees hidden within the new spring foliage, which brings me to my point…spring is the absolute worst time to trim trees.

During my recent foray to the California Wildlife Center, there were several baby Allen’s hummingbirds there that had lost their nests thanks to tree trimming. For those of you who don’t live in Los Angeles, you may be surprised to learn that a little tree trimming could cause so many problems, but here tree trimming is really tree cutting or what I call tree slaughter.

Los Angeles tree slaughter

Instead of trimming a branch here and there, tree trimmers actually chop off large branches and pull off most of the leaves. The picture on the right is a perfect example, there aren’t really any choice nesting areas after someone trims with a chainsaw. I’ve ranted about this before in my post called “Bird friendly tree trimming,” but it seemed worth mentioning again.

For all the tree and bird conscious people out there, please make sure your friends, neighbors and coworkers know not to let gardeners trim trees in spring. Even better if you can convince people to have their trees truly trimmed and not chopped.

Help our feathered friends by keeping trees healthy, leafy and full throughout the year; it means more oxygen for us and also more shade.

California Wildlife Center

It’s time to share a couple more things about the California Wildlife Center that didn’t make my last post. As part of the tour, we had the chance to visit the hospital area and see recovering baby humming birds and mourning doves that were so cute.

We also saw where volunteers check in to find out about new arrivals and what types of animals currently need care. There was a huge white board full of acronyms listing all the patients and where they were located at the Center. Next to the white board was a  thick white binder containing all the food recipes and instructions for each animal. Flipping through it gave you a real “taste” of what it would be like to volunteer. Enjoy!

Mourning Dove
1 tbl pigeon seed
1 tbl mllet
1 pinch grit
Mix seed and grit together in a shallow lid

Pelican diet
20 smelt or 12 anchovies or 10 sardines in sturdy large bowl to avoid tipping.
ALWAYS defrost fish with COLD water.

Adult Heron
3-6 anchovies or 3-9 smelt (depending on the size of the bird)
1 small mouse or pinkie
2 small crayfish or shrimp
ALWAYS defrost fish with COLD water.
Place all ingredients in heavy ceramic dish.

Yellow flowers at Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook

This weekend my husband and I headed to Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook for a hike. If you live in the Los Angeles area and haven’t heard of this little California State Park right in Culver City off Jefferson Blvd., then you are missing out!

Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook is basically a really big grassy hill that was saved from development by a group of neighbors who couldn’t just sit by and watch the only green thing left in their entire community disappear. Thanks to all of their hard work, the rest of us get to enjoy a little patch of wild California right in the middle of urban insanity.

The park features a steep stone staircase where exercise buffs get in a serious cardio workout; there’s always a lot of heavy breathing from that area. I prefer to take the winding trail that crisscrosses back and forth around the stairs circling to the top. The trail is also a great workout and easier on the knees. But the best part is that as you walk up the trail, you are surrounded by beautiful tall wild grasses, shrubs and flowers teeming with wildlife.

There are always tons of birds flying around, cool lizards scurrying by and one time we saw a sweet snake lazying about in the sun. (After describing the snake to Park staff, they said it was a gopher snake and completely harmless.) The park also draws all sorts of people ready to sweat it up on the hill. I’ve seen personal trainers demanding sprints, entire families on a walk and dancers posing for pictures.

This weekend we climbed the trail and then walked down the steeper road, which allows cars to get to and from the Visitor’s Center at the top. We decided we still had some energy left and headed back up the road for another workout. As we were walking back up, a father and son came barreling down the hill from the trail at full speed. The boy was probably about four years old. As we passed by he asked his dad, “Do people feel a stabbing pain when they run too much?” The dad started laughing hysterically.

My thought: It’s good to teach your kids the merits of exercise, but it’s never too early to start teaching them to stop and smell the roses or in this case, the shrubbery.

California’s central coast

Earth Day is a time for celebration, but even more important it’s a time for gratitude. Our Earth provides us with everything we need, fresh water, food, shelter supplies and even spiritual and emotional sustenance. Just think of the last time you watched the ocean’s waves roll in or saw a breathtaking sunset.

Not a day goes by that we don’t use the Earth’s resources to sustain us. The question is what are we doing to help sustain Earth? Give thanks for all we receive by giving back: plant a tree, grow a garden, rescue an injured wild animal, buy produce from local farmers, take reusable totes shopping, pick up trash, ride a bike, recycle, turn off the lights, avoid using harsh cleaning products or drink water from the tap. Doing all these little things adds up and it’s a great way to say thank you and let our precious planet know we don’t take her for granted.

California Wildlife Center

I had the chance to visit the California Wildlife Center during their recent Open House and was completely blown away by all the amazing work they do. The Center is located about halfway between Malibu and Calabasas off Malibu Canyon Road. It’s tucked away in the middle of the woods surrounded by hills and greenery, a rare and beautiful natural setting for Los Angeles.

The California Wildlife Center rescues and rehabilitates sick, injured and orphaned animals native to California with the intent of releasing them back into the wild. This mission keeps the few staff and squadron of volunteers very, very busy. Since 1998 when the organization was founded, the Center has cared for more than 32,000 animals!

They help all sorts of animals including birds, deer, opossums and coyotes, just to name a few. Unfortunately, many of the rescued animals are in trouble because they’ve suffered from what the Center refers to as “negative human interactions.” The Center takes in and cares for mostly land-based animals, but they also have an agreement with the City of Malibu to rescue marine mammals stranded along the city’s 27-miles of coastline.

Even though they don’t care for marine mammals onsite, their rescue responsibility has kept them insanely busy this year with the hundreds of sea lion pup strandings that have been all over the news in Southern California. (This video provides a great overview about all the issues surrounding the sea lion pup strandings.) According to Victoria Harris, a volunteer and President of the Board, they are receiving 50 to 60 calls a day about sea lion pups needing help and when the sea lion pups are picked up they only weigh 15 pounds when they should weigh about 40.

Rescued sea lions are taken to the Marine Mammal Care Center (MMCC) in San Pedro, but due to the overwhelming demand the California Wildlife Center is going to be lending a hand with marine mammal care for the first time. Sea lion pups needing care will continue to go MMCC, but to make more room, the California Wildlife Center will be taking in their elephant seals. So in two short weeks they have been tasked with designing and building an enclosure to accommodate their soon to be arriving elephant seal guests. And there are a lot of things to consider such as how to dispose of 200 pounds of elephant seal poop and where to order 33,000 pounds of fish.

Thankfully, they received a $75,000 grant to help cover the costs for the elephant seal enclosure, but they still had to raise $25,000 on their own within days to make all this happen. Very impressive! During the tour we saw the first phase of construction, which was mostly a platform and two enormous plastic containers to hold all the poop. I look forward to seeing photos of the completed project on their Facebook page.

I’ve barely scratched the surface of all the things I learned at the California Wildlife Center, stay tuned for more fascinating facts and other important information animal fans should know. In the meantime, they are looking for more volunteers, so if you are interested in helping please visit the volunteer section of their website and donations are always welcome.

Photo by Daniel Beltrá for Greenpeace

I was fortunate to have the chance to attend a reception for photographer Daniel Beltrá at the G2 Gallery. (I wrote another post about his work not that long ago.) He was super nice and answered many questions about his amazing aerial photos of the BP Gulf oil spill. One burning question I had (pun intended) was, “Is that bright orange along the edge of the blue path fire?” (Look in the middle of the photo on the left.)

According to Beltrá, that ethereal looking blaze is not fire; it’s actually caused by oil and chemical dispersants uniting. As the chemical dispersants Corexit 9527A and 9500A merged with oil to help the black mass degrade faster, completely unnatural and eerie colors formed on and under the ocean’s surface. The colors were usually bright orange or a strange glowing yellow-green.

Beltrá has taken aerial photographs all over the world and he said he’s never seen anything like it. A couple years ago at another gallery exhibit of Spill hosted near the Gulf, he had a chance to talk to a researcher examining the effects of the oil spill on blue crab larvae. She was finding the same exact orange fire-like color in larvae. Since then, blue crab larvae containing oil have been in the news and also studies have found that the combination of oil and Corexit is 52 times more toxic than just oil.

Later I thought…putting anything into the ocean that turns water and oil into an alien orange or yellow-green probably isn’t a good idea. Also, putting anything into the ocean named Corexit just doesn’t sound great. Sometimes a study tells you what you already knew; using chemical dispersants was a very bad idea.

(Don’t forget to go see Spill at the G2 Gallery, it will be on display through April 21st.)

Photo credit: Bill Steinkamp / International Bird Rescue

As usual, International Bird Rescue is doing a lot of great work. It has already been a very busy year. In February, the Los Angeles center rescued 77 oil-covered common murres. They are diving birds that spend most of their lives out on the open ocean and this group encountered the natural oil seeps off Southern California. Thankfully, IBR saved the day by taking them all in, meticulously washing them and returning them to full health. To see a video of some of the common murres being released, visit the IBR blog. You can tell they are so excited to be home!

Now that spring is in full swing, IBR is already receiving the first batch of orphaned baby birds. Their San Francisco Bay center rescued a mallard duckling that somehow became separated from its mom and was being attacked by another duck. Not cool duck. I was surprised to read on their blog that IBR rescued 2,000 orphaned wild ducklings last year! And that’s just ducks.

Photo by Kylie Clatterbuck / International Bird Rescue

The Los Angeles Center also just rescued their first orphan of the spring season, a baby black-crowned night heron, which is the craziest, cutest baby bird I’ve ever seen! (Do you see the resemblance to my egg critters? See the photo on the right.) According to the IBR blog, they rescue more than 400 young herons and egrets each year. Wow!

If you love birds, especially baby birds, this is a time when IBR could really use your support. Caring for all these cute critters costs money. So share a little love and make a donation, a baby bird will thank you or tweet you.

Egg critters

It’s been great writing Ocean Wild Things and all, but I found my new talent: egg critters!

Yesterday at a friend’s house we all celebrated Easter by dying eggs. At first it was just going to end there, but then my friend pulled out googly eyes, colorful fuzzy balls and some super glue and the next thing you know we were all making egg critters. I think mine turned out exceptionally well.

I think these egg critters could really “blow-up” in a big way. By mass producing these, I could start selling them and make the big bucks. It means I won’t have time to keep writing, but hey, when you find something good like this you can’t just walk away.

April Fool’s! I’m not really going to start making egg critters. But they’re pretty cool don’t you think? Except I managed to get glue all over their eyeballs…