Dear {First Name},

February is starting with a roar with the Lunar/Chinese New Year on Feb. 1st! It is the year of the Water Tiger, agile and powerful. Just like the Bolsa Chica wetlands! Of course Valentines Day is also in Feb. and we are excited to announce a new way to love the wetlands: by learning how to better care for them through university-level scientific research! Learn more about the new program below. Please remember to cut all plastic rings to protect our wildlife. Read below about a local wildlife rescue related to plastic rings by the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center. We also have a few more calendars available just in case you need some stunning Bolsa Chica wildlife images to grace your walls.

If you like our e-newsletters please consider sharing it with your friends and family. You can also follow us on Instagram or Facebook to catch our weekly "Notes from the Mesa" and "Wildlife Wednesdays" as we share with you what we see and find every week!

The Bolsa Chica Land Trust is excited to announce the launch of our new Research Program! The Research Program's objective is to scientifically document Bolsa Chica’s flora and fauna, elucidate the relationships between species and their habitats, and document longitudinal changes in the environment due to global warming and other threats.

The Research Program is an attractive opportunity for faculty and students in ecological and other sciences to conduct scholarly research in the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve with access to saltwater bays, mudflats, salt marsh, coastal dunes, seabird nesting islands, riparian, freshwater marsh, coastal sage scrub, and grassland. The Reserve provides critical habitat for more than 250 wildlife species.

Bolsa Chica has much to offer research scientists, and we have much to learn so that we can better care for the Reserve in the future. We believe launching this new program will mutually benefit the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve and researchers. 

A detailed description of the program can be found on our website at

www.BCLandTrust.org/research.

From Debbie McGuire, Ex. Dir. of the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center, photos courtesy of WWCC

It's a simple action that only takes a second. Snip the ring…

By cutting through plastic rings—such as those you see on six-packs, milk bottles and jar lids—as well as snipping rubber bands, hair ties, and masks before disposing of them, you can save an animal's life.

On January 17^th, a Pied-billed Grebe was found at the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve with a bottle ring stuck around its neck. The bird was rescued by a member of the public and brought to the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center. 

Our skilled Wildlife Technician staff gently removed the bottle ring, only to find the skin underneath red and irritated from the plastic it had been rubbing against. As a waterbird, the Pied-billed Grebe needed some care to help it recover from the injury and re-establish its waterproofing. After some pain medication and a course of antibiotics, the bird—which weighs just over one pound—was able to move to our outside pools. The Pied-billed Grebe took some encouragement to preen itself and eat on its own, but eventually was deemed ready for release!

The bird was released after one week on January 24^th by volunteers from the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center and was observed diving for food just moments later.

“Many of the animals we work with—while they may not have bottle rings or fishhooks—are affected by humans in ever more dramatic ways. This bird is a disquieting reminder for us to be careful with the way we interact with nature.”

-Jaret Davey, Wildlife Technician at the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center.

February Bird of the Month: Greater Yellowlegs

Look for a medium sized sandpiper with very bright yellow legs. Its feeding behaviors include running about in shallow water, high stepping and even leaning almost horizontally forward to catch a small fish. Watch as it dines on insects and their larvae, invertebrates, crabs, and snails. Lastly, listen for descending “tew” notes and you have found a Greater Yellowlegs.

14” long; 28” wingspan; 6 oz.

photo: Brian Goebel

Reminders When You Visit Bolsa Chica

Here are some things to remember during your visit:

• Please stay on the trails. Not only could you disturb nesting birds, but snakes are often not far off the trails.
• Enjoy the flowers, but please do not pick them.
• Do not feed the animals.
• Do not litter. Please pack out your trash, including food scraps.
• No bikes.
• No dogs.
• No drones.
• Enjoy being with nature!
• If you see any BCLT Stewards working along the trail, say hi! We are happy to answer any questions.

Support Bolsa Chica Today!

Photo Credits:

banner- Jay Spring, Pied-billed Grebe- Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center, calendar cover, Greater Yellowlegs- Brian Goebel, wetland landscape, PCH trail, bridge, research tools- E. Chin, Stewards- James Huang, Miracle docent with kids, Elegant Terns on beach- Marinka Horack