Ballona Bird Watch !

Bird abundance and species diversity are two key indicators of a healthy coastal wetlands ecosystem containing diverse habitats.  These photos, taken by local Audubon enthusiast Don Sterba, continue to document good ecosystem health at the Ballona Freshwater Marsh and its connected Riparian Corridor.

The 51-acre Corridor and Marsh at Lincoln Blvd. and Bluff Creek Drive are not natural features.  They were constructed from dry land by Playa Vista as mitigation for the development’s impacts to natural wetlands at the western edge of the development, and also to mitigate impacts from rainfall runoff from the developed land.  Typically, the California Coastal Commission requires 4 acres of wetlands habitat be constructed or restored in exchange for impacts to 1 acre, or a 4:1 ratio.  So, the 51-acre habitat replaced about 12 impacted acres of natural habitat. 

The Corridor and Freshwater Marsh have become a case study for how to create successful freshwater wetland habitat where little previously existed.  A decade after completion, the Freshwater Marsh hosts one of the largest varieties of birds, both waterfowl and songbirds, of any coastal marsh area in southern California (1).  The most recent monitoring study shows the Freshwater Marsh system exceeds the 5- and 10-year goals established by federal, state and local permits for bird diversity, with 31 breeding species using the marsh in 2012.  Four of these birds are sensitive: the Virginia rail, moorhen, cinnamon teal and least bittern.  The Least Bell’s Vireo also has nested in the marsh complex each year since 2012, and is expected to return next spring.  A total of 217 bird species used the marsh for breeding or foraging in 2012, and increase of eight over 2011.  

Sterba’s first photo shows a Indigo Bunting, which are native to our area, but which typically nest in Central California where woodlands and riparian corridors are much larger than ours here in the south.  Indigo buntings breed in brushy and weedy habitats along the edges of farmed land, woods, road, power lines, railways and riparian habitats. They also breed in clearings in open deciduous woodlands, in weedy or abandoned agricultural fields, and in swamps.  According to Lisa Fimiani, Executive Director of Friends of Ballona Wetlands, the bird is likely migrating through the area and will probably stay just a few weeks.  “One day,” Fimiani said “when the Riparian Corridor gets mature enough, the bird may nest here.” 

Don Sterba’s other photos are of young Bushtits getting ready to fledge (fly away from their nest), and a male Lazuli Bunting.  Don took the photos on April 25, 2014 in the Riparian Corridor and reported that the Indigo Bunting was not very cooperative and dove inside dense bushes when it got nervous.  So, his photo is a distant shot with extensive cropping resulting in an image that is not very sharp.  This is the second one Don has found in the Riparian Corridor - the first was a female in September 2012 near the eastern end.

Thanks Don!

Enjoy Your Ballona Wetlands!

www.ballonafriends.org

1.  E. M. Read and E Strecker  2013.   Ballona Freshwater Wetlands.   Report of Monitoring, Operation and Maintenance.  Prepared for Ballona Wetlands Conservancy.  February 26, 2013.  Edith Read and Associates and Geosyntec Consultants.