Weeshoff honored with Audubon's William Dutcher Volunteer Award

Dave Weeshoff received the 2017 2013 William Dutcher Award for the Pacific Flyway at last weekend’s Audubon Convention in Park City, Utah. Weeshoff was honored for his many years of contributions to the Audubon mission, including his work to make renewable energy safer for birds, establish Marine Protected Areas in Southern California, and support marine bird conservation through his work with International Bird Rescue. Audubon couldn’t have found a better advocate for birds in California.

William Dutcher was a prominent amateur ornithologist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and in 1905 was appointed the first President of the National Audubon Society.  The Dutcher Award was created in his honor to recognize superior volunteer service by Audubon leaders that results in bird conservation at scale.

House passes H.R. 23, the worst water bill we've seen

The U.S. House of Representatives this morning passed H.R. 23, which we opposed because it seeks to wrest control over much of California's water from the state to the feds. If eventually signed by President Trump, it will overturn decades of negotiations on water in California. Audubon California opposes it because it will divert water from the Center Valley refuges, undermine the Endangered Species Act, and halt the restoration of the San Joaquin River. Audubon activists sent about 3,500 emails to Congress just in the last week in opposition to this bad bill. Now it moves on to the Senate, where we will continue our fight.

Protecting dairy land in Oceanside

Nice article from the San Diego Union Tribune about Buena Vista Audubon's recent land acquisitions north of San Diego. The Wimberly Fund, managed by Audubon California and National Audubon Society, contributed to this purchase. 

Watch for the Whydah

Watch for the Whydah. Orange County is one of the places where it may become a problem.

David Yarnold op-ed: Saline lakes are drying up across the West — and putting birds at serious risk

Audubon President David Yarnold writes today in the Los Angeles Times about how short-sighted management of water in the arid West is putting birds -- and people -- at risk. Speaking about the shrinking saline lakes -- such as the Salton Sea and the Great Salt Lake -- he notes that birds are incredibly reliant on these ecosystems that have been increasingly destabilized by diversions.

"Because water birds in the West depend on the region’s entire network of salt lakes, these declines could be catastrophic for the global populations of some species. For instance, 99% of the North American population of eared grebes — small waterfowl distinguished by bright red eyes that are framed by sassy tufts of golden feathers — depends on western saline lakes to survive their long migrations. What’s more, dams, diversions, extended drought and water demand along the Colorado River have devastated cottonwood-willow forests and other native river habitat. While this riverbank habitat accounts for less than 5% of the regional landscape, it supports more than 40% of all bird species in the Southwest."

The fascinating world of CA pelagic birds

Terrific piece in Bay Nature Magazine explores the world of California pelagic birds.