Description:

We will visit the Lagoon, the breakwaters, Ballona Creek and the salt pans. High tide is at 9:00 am. Low tide at 2:00pm. Perhaps a visit to the nearby Ballona Freshwater Marsh will also be possible. Birds may include Yellow-crowned Night Heron, rocky shorebirds, Royal and Caspian Terns, and three species of cormorants plus others. Restrooms are at the Del Rey Lagoon Park.

Meet: We will depart from the Whittier Community Center at the SE corner of Mar Vista and Washington Ave. at 6:30am. We should arrive in the Playa del Rey area about 7:20. Parking will be at the Del Rey Lagoon parking lot provided the gates are open. The parking lot is on Pacific Ave. 

Bring: Bring binoculars, a scope if you have one, and lunch and water. 

RSVP: Please call or text Larry Schmahl at 562-714-1843 if you plan to attend. Limit 18 people. 

Trip Leader:  Larry Schmahl

Program Topic

Our own Linda Leroy will be sharing her Birds of Whittier Narrows. For all who have seen Linda’s photos at photo share events, her bird photography is excellent and she is a regular presence in the Narrows. 

Program Format

Hybrid meeting - It is your preference: Join in person or online.  

In person: NEW LOCATION! This year our meeting location has changed.

• Address: First Friends Church, 13205 Philadelphia St., Whittier.

• Entrance: The entrance is on Washington Ave.

• Parking: Parking is available in their parking area behind the church and along Washington Ave.

Online: please RSVP here and we will send you a link to the meeting.

The program is free and open to the public.

Join us for our beginner bird walk in Sycamore Canyon.

This bird walk will be a very slow walk into the Sycamore Canyon Preserve. We will stop frequently to listen and observe the birds around us. Bring binoculars if you have them!

Meet at the entrance gate to the Sycamore Canyon trail. The trail is located adjacent to Rose Hills Cemetery gate 17, but note that the trail is not in the cemetery! The entrance to Sycamore Canyon is a driveway just southwest of the entrance to the cemetery.

Leader: Larry Schmahl

Our calendar of activities for 2025-2026 will be live by September 1.

Please check back here to find out what we have in store.

Join our email list to be notified when the activities are posted.

Description: We will start at the abandoned Mil Portero Campground (about a 30 minute drive from the Flying J Travel Center) and look for Western Wood-Pewee, Stellar's Jay, Mountain Chickadee, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Pygmy Nuthatch and others.  Next, another 20-minute drive will take us to the Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge sign overlook where we have seen California Condor in the past.  Depending on the time, we will drive back and have lunch at the Valle Vista Campground.  After lunch, we will drive up to the top of Mount Pinos, where we hope to see some mountain species - Green-tailed Towhee, Fox Sparrow, White-headed and Hairy Woodpeckers, Violet-green Swallows and others. This will be the alternate lunch spot if the campground is not available. 

IMPORTANT: A Forest Service Adventure Pass is required at some sites and should be purchased ahead of time if you are driving (Big 5 Sporting Goods and REI are good places to get them)  An annual pass is $30 and a one-day pass is $5.

Meet: We will convene in the parking lot of the Whittier Community Center and carpool/caravan, leaving at 6:00 AM.  For those that wish to drive directly there, plan on meeting at the Flying J Travel Center at the Frazier Park exit at approximately 7:45 AM.

Bring: This is a full day with all of the driving, so bring everything you need to be comfortable. Bring your usual birdwatching stuff, water, lunch, chairs, sunblock, hat etc.

Trip Leader:  Steve Huber

RSVP: Please let me know if you are coming so I can let you know of any changes in plans.  email:  stevekhuber@hotmail.com text:  562-217-1886.

IMPORTANT: THIS MEETING WILL TAKE PLACE ON WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18TH.

To cap off our Chapter year, join us at the Community Center to share food and photos.

Bring an appetizer, main dish, or dessert to share. Bring your own plate, utensils, and cup.

If you would like to share your favorite photos from this year, bring a thumb drive with up to 25 photos.

The program is in-person only and will take place at the Whittier Community Center, located at 7630 Washington Ave. Whittier.

The program is free and open to the public.

Join us for our beginner bird walk in Sycamore Canyon.

This bird walk will be a very slow walk into the Sycamore Canyon Preserve. We will stop frequently to listen and observe the birds around us. Bring binoculars if you have them!

Meet at the entrance gate to the Sycamore Canyon trail. The trail is located adjacent to Rose Hills Cemetery gate 17, but note that the trail is not in the cemetery! The entrance to Sycamore Canyon is a driveway just southwest of the entrance to the cemetery.

Leader: Linda LeRoy

Description: Advance Purchase is required for Garden Entry.

SCBG Ticket Page

GARDEN ADMISSION:

• Foundation Members: FREE

• Adults: $15

• Seniors (62 and over): $11

Meet: We will convene in the parking lot of the Whittier Community Center and carpool/caravan, leaving at 7:00 AM. 

Bring: Your usual birdwatching stuff, sack lunch, water, hat and a thirst for adventure. 

Trip Leader:  Jay Oberholtzer

Program Topic

"Modern Conservation: Exploration, Education, Action" will be the topic presented by Los Angeles Zoo and Botanic Gardens docent, John L. Peel at our meeting on Thursday, May 15, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.

Peel provides zoo tours for all ages. He provides lectures and multi-media presentations on reptiles, mammals, birds, and bugs. He has visited 38 zoos and wildlife rescue programs across the country. He is also a professional part-time animal keeper in the Enrichment Department at the Zoo, researching, designing and building custom apparatus that promotes health and well-being for every species. John is the board parliamentarian of the Association  of Zoo and Aquarium Docents and Volunteers, an international organization.

Peel started rescuing injured, captured, and mistreated wild animals more than 50 years ago and continues to assist in the homing and relocation of snakes.   

He has also been a docent for the Puente Hills Habitat Authority, guiding tours exploring the flora and fauna in California.

John is a graduate of UCLA and Cal State University Fullerton. He worked with families, adolescents, and children in direct service and administrative positions in various social service academic, faith-based, and health care organizations for nearly 40 years. John founded two adoption agencies during his 29 years as CEO.

Program Format

Hybrid meeting - It is your preference: Join in person or online.  

In person: the meeting will take place at the Whittier Community Center, located at 7630 Washington Ave. Whittier. Please wear a mask.

Online: please RSVP here and we will send you a link to the meeting.

The program is free and open to the public.

Join us for our beginner bird walk in Sycamore Canyon.

This bird walk will be a very slow walk into the Sycamore Canyon Preserve. We will stop frequently to listen and observe the birds around us. Bring binoculars if you have them!

Meet at the entrance gate to the Sycamore Canyon trail. The trail is located adjacent to Rose Hills Cemetery gate 17, but note that the trail is not in the cemetery! The entrance to Sycamore Canyon is a driveway just southwest of the entrance to the cemetery.

Leader: Steve Huber

Join the Friends of Whittier Hills Annual Meeting!

This year, there will be presentations on

• Goat grazing research in our very own Turnbull Canyon, and

• Birds in the Whittier Hills and the protection of our local birds.

Description: Hahamongna Watershed Park is in northwest Pasadena off the 210 freeway and the varied habitats, riparian, weedy floodplain and oak woodlands, should be excellent for a wide variety of resident and migratory birds in April. 

Meet: We will be leaving the Whittier Community Center at 7:00 AM. Alternatively, you may meet us there at 8:00 AM in the upper parking area that parallels Oak Grove Drive near the restroom. 

Bring: Bring your birding equipment, a hat and sunblock, water and lunch.

RSVP: Let me know if you plan to join us and/or need directions (stevekhuber@hotmail.com).

Trip Leader:  Steve Huber

Program Topic

Scott Rashid will present on the Northern Goshawk. The Northern Goshawk is a large and powerful hawk that inhabits the mountains of the west. In March these magnificent birds, about the size of a Common Raven, begin courtship in the mountains above 8000 feet. They construct large stick nests near the tops of large aspen, ponderosa or lodgepole pine. The female lays two to three light blue eggs and feeds her nestlings as the male delivers prey. 

These birds’ prey upon a wide variety of items. These massive hawks are fearless while pursuing their prey through the forest. They do this with impressive speed and power, often overtaking their prey in short bursts of powerful flight.

During the program you will see images and videos of these truly impressive birds in their preferred habitat. You will learn how they prepare their prey for consumption, how they feed their young, how they defend their nest and young and much more.

Program Format

Hybrid meeting - It is your preference: Join in person or online.  

In person: the meeting will take place at the Whittier Community Center, located at 7630 Washington Ave. Whittier. Please wear a mask.

Online: please RSVP here and we will send you a link to the meeting.

The program is free and open to the public.

Join us for our beginner bird walk in Sycamore Canyon.

This bird walk will be a very slow walk into the Sycamore Canyon Preserve. We will stop frequently to listen and observe the birds around us. Bring binoculars if you have them!

Meet at the entrance gate to the Sycamore Canyon trail. The trail is located adjacent to Rose Hills Cemetery gate 17, but note that the trail is not in the cemetery! The entrance to Sycamore Canyon is a driveway just southwest of the entrance to the cemetery.

Leader: Steve Huber

Description: March 22 will be a field trip to IRWD (Irvine Ranch Water District) San Joaquin Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary in Irvine. This gem of a birding location is near the UC Irvine Campus at University Drive and Campus Drive.

333 species of birds have reported to Ebird which have included many rarities over the years.

The site is made up of freshwater ponds and riparian areas which we will explore as time allows.

There are restrooms so go ahead and have your morning coffee. The site offers adequate parking but please carpool if possible. The site is open from dawn to dusk.

Bring a lunch, water, a hat, binoculars and a scope if you have one.

Meet: We will be leaving from the Whittier Community Center at 6:30 AM.  If you are coming from home, the address is 5 Riparian View, Irvine, but it’s easier to find if you Google the sanctuary by name.

Bring: Bring a lunch, water, a hat, binoculars and a scope if you have one. 

Trip Leader:  Larry Schmahl

Program Topic

"After the Fires," will be the topic presented by Eric Strauss and Lisa Fimiani, both from the Center for Urban Resilience (CURes) at Loyola Marymount University.

With the aftermath of the January fires still with us, we are going to examine the impact of fire--and the almost constant threat of fire -- on our region. Eric Strauss is the executive director of the Center for Urban Resilience (CURes) at Loyola Marymount University. He is an expert in urban ecology and studies ways humans and nature can better coexist.

Our co-speaker is Lisa Fimiani, who is The Drollinger Environmental Leadership Fellow with Loyola Marymount University's Center for Urban Resilience (CURes). She will talk about landscaping to lessen the risk of fires. She is a certified Master Gardener and Restoration Specialist.

Program Format

Hybrid meeting - It is your preference: Join in person or online.  

In person: the meeting will take place at the Whittier Community Center, located at 7630 Washington Ave. Whittier. Please wear a mask.

Online: please RSVP here and we will send you a link to the meeting.

The program is free and open to the public.

Join us for our beginner bird walk in Sycamore Canyon.

This bird walk will be a very slow walk into the Sycamore Canyon Preserve. We will stop frequently to listen and observe the birds around us. Bring binoculars if you have them!

Meet at the entrance gate to the Sycamore Canyon trail. The trail is located adjacent to Rose Hills Cemetery gate 17, but note that the trail is not in the cemetery! The entrance to Sycamore Canyon is a driveway just southwest of the entrance to the cemetery.

Leader: Jim McNamara

Program Topic

Scott Rashid has been studying small owls for more than 30 years. His presentation, "Small Mountain Owls" covers the natural history of the Northern Pygmy, Northern Saw-whet, Flammulated, and Boreal Owls that inhabit the mountains of the west. During the presentation, he will be discussing teach species courtship activities, vocalizations, nest site preferences, preferred prey, egg laying, young, and post fledgling activities.

Scott has had the Northern Pygmy-Owls, Flammulated Owls, and Northern Saw-whet Owls nesting in the same tree in different years. which shows that in Colorado these three specie prefer the same habitat. 

During the presentation, we will see images and videos of each species' that only Scott has found as he has documented the first Flammuated Owl nest and Boreal Owl nest in the history of Rocky Mountain National Park.

Program Format

Hybrid meeting - It is your preference: Join in person or online.  

In person: the meeting will take place at the Whittier Community Center, located at 7630 Washington Ave. Whittier. Please wear a mask.

Online: please RSVP here and we will send you a link to the meeting.

The program is free and open to the public.

Join us for our beginner bird walk in Sycamore Canyon.

This bird walk will be a very slow walk into the Sycamore Canyon Preserve. We will stop frequently to listen and observe the birds around us. Bring binoculars if you have them!

Meet at the entrance gate to the Sycamore Canyon trail. The trail is located adjacent to Rose Hills Cemetery gate 17, but note that the trail is not in the cemetery! The entrance to Sycamore Canyon is a driveway just southwest of the entrance to the cemetery.

Leader: Steve Huber

Meet: We will convene in the parking lot of the Whittier Community Center and carpool/caravan, leaving at 7:00 AM. 

Bring: Your usual birdwatching stuff, sack lunch, water, hat and a thirst for adventure. 

Trip Leader:  Jim McNamara

Program Topic

Bruce Everett will be sharing his photos and stories of the Puente Hills Habitat.

Program Format

Hybrid meeting - It is your preference: Join in person or online.  

In person: the meeting will take place at the Whittier Community Center, located at 7630 Washington Ave. Whittier. Please wear a mask.

Online: please RSVP here and we will send you a link to the meeting.

The program is free and open to the public.

Join us for our beginner bird walk in Sycamore Canyon.

This bird walk will be a very slow walk into the Sycamore Canyon Preserve. We will stop frequently to listen and observe the birds around us. Bring binoculars if you have them!

Meet at the entrance gate to the Sycamore Canyon trail. The trail is located adjacent to Rose Hills Cemetery gate 17, but note that the trail is not in the cemetery! The entrance to Sycamore Canyon is a driveway just southwest of the entrance to the cemetery.

Leader: Linda LeRoy

Steve Huber will lead our annual Tim and Lloyd Bulmer Bird Walk beginning at Legg Lake in Whittier Narrows Recreation Area.

This tradition began with an invitation to a local journalist, the late Bill Bell, from his neighbor, the late Thelma Bulmer, a past chapter president, as a way to show our city that yes, indeed, Whittier has wild birds. Let’s see who is in town for the winter!

Meet: at the Santa Anita Legg Lake parking lot (Whittier Narrows Area D Parking Lot on Santa Anita Ave.)

Program Topic

This is your chance to show your favorite photos from this year. Bring a thumb drive with your photos and some holiday goodies to share. (Kindly limit your photos to 25.)

Program Format

In person only.

The meeting will take place at the Whittier Community Center, located at 7630 Washington Ave. Whittier.

The program is free and open to the public.

Join us for our beginner bird walk in Sycamore Canyon.

This bird walk will be a very slow walk into the Sycamore Canyon Preserve. We will stop frequently to listen and observe the birds around us. Bring binoculars if you have them!

Meet at the entrance gate to the Sycamore Canyon trail. The trail is located adjacent to Rose Hills Cemetery gate 17, but note that the trail is not in the cemetery! The entrance to Sycamore Canyon is a driveway just southwest of the entrance to the cemetery.

Leader: Larry Schmahl