Learn About Local Animals with the Bolsa Chica Conservancy
Join the Bolsa Chica Conservancy at their weekly Live Animal Feedings to witness firsthand the feeding behavior of California native animals! If you're looking to get out of the house and learn about local animals, join them in person for their weekly live animal feeding presentation! Here you will be able to learn more about the animals at theie Interpretive Center, including snakes, sharks, crabs, and much more! During the feeding, they will cover topics like feeding habits and the general biology and anatomy of reptiles and marine animals! This is a free event but donations are always welcome to help with the cost of caring for and feeding our animals. They hope to see you there! Spaces are very limited due to COVID-19 social distancing protocols, so please contact jeannette@bolsachica.org if you can no longer attend.*This is an observational event, not a volunteer event* ***Please note that the snake feedings involve live mice.*** Visit: https://bolsachica.charityproud.org/VolunteerRegistration/Index/?activity=7018&date=8/5/2023
Learn About Local Animals with the Bolsa Chica Conservancy
Join the Bolsa Chica Conservancy at their weekly Live Animal Feedings to witness firsthand the feeding behavior of California native animals! If you're looking to get out of the house and learn about local animals, join them in person for their weekly live animal feeding presentation! Here you will be able to learn more about the animals at theie Interpretive Center, including snakes, sharks, crabs, and much more! During the feeding, they will cover topics like feeding habits and the general biology and anatomy of reptiles and marine animals! This is a free event but donations are always welcome to help with the cost of caring for and feeding our animals. They hope to see you there! Spaces are very limited due to COVID-19 social distancing protocols, so please contact jeannette@bolsachica.org if you can no longer attend.*This is an observational event, not a volunteer event* ***Please note that the snake feedings involve live mice.*** Visit: https://bolsachica.charityproud.org/VolunteerRegistration/Index/?activity=7018&date=8/12/2023
Tour the Bolsa Chica Wetlands with the Bolsa Chica Conservancy
Looking for an exciting and educational way to spend your Saturday morning? Join the Bolsa Chica Conservancy for their guided hike of the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve! During this tour, you'll learn the history, wildlife, and the restoration of the wetlands! Here's what you'll need: Close-toed shoes you don't mind getting dirty, Water, Sunscreen/Hat, **Face covering**, Cameras/binoculars (optional), and a sense of adventure! **COVID-19 Update: Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, theywill be limiting the number of participants to 10 people to maintain social distancing practices. Theywill also be requiring the use of face coverings. Visit: https://bolsachica.charityproud.org/VolunteerRegistration/Index/?activity=7019&date=8/12/2023
Restore and Maintain the Bolsa Chica Wetlands with Bolsa Chica Conservancy
Want to help the community and your local environment, and have fun doing it? Then join the Public Volunteer Service Day with the Bolsa Chica Conservancy! At this event, participants have the opportunity to help restore and maintain the Bolsa Chica Wetlands! Participants will help this local treasure with invasive plant removal, debris disposal, and/or native plant installation. Public Service Days are held on the Second Sunday and Last Saturday of every month, and run from 9:00 AM until 12:00 PM. Please come in closed-toe shoes, as you will be working in off-road terrain! Come prepared with sun protection with a water bottle, sun glasses, sun screen, and/or a hat! They recommend arriving 10 - 15 minutes early to secure parking. To that end, they also encourage carpooling whenever possible! If you have any questions, please contact them via phone at (714) 846 - 1114 or via e-mail at kenny@bolsachica.org. Visit: https://bolsachica.charityproud.org/VolunteerRegistration/Index/?activity=7008&date=8/13/2023
Learn About Local Animals with the Bolsa Chica Conservancy
Join the Bolsa Chica Conservancy at their weekly Live Animal Feedings to witness firsthand the feeding behavior of California native animals! If you're looking to get out of the house and learn about local animals, join them in person for their weekly live animal feeding presentation! Here you will be able to learn more about the animals at theie Interpretive Center, including snakes, sharks, crabs, and much more! During the feeding, they will cover topics like feeding habits and the general biology and anatomy of reptiles and marine animals! This is a free event but donations are always welcome to help with the cost of caring for and feeding our animals. They hope to see you there! Spaces are very limited due to COVID-19 social distancing protocols, so please contact jeannette@bolsachica.org if you can no longer attend.*This is an observational event, not a volunteer event* ***Please note that the snake feedings involve live mice.*** Visit: https://bolsachica.charityproud.org/VolunteerRegistration/Index/?activity=7018&date=8/19/2023
Learn About Local Animals with the Bolsa Chica Conservancy
Join the Bolsa Chica Conservancy at their weekly Live Animal Feedings to witness firsthand the feeding behavior of California native animals! If you're looking to get out of the house and learn about local animals, join them in person for their weekly live animal feeding presentation! Here you will be able to learn more about the animals at theie Interpretive Center, including snakes, sharks, crabs, and much more! During the feeding, they will cover topics like feeding habits and the general biology and anatomy of reptiles and marine animals! This is a free event but donations are always welcome to help with the cost of caring for and feeding our animals. They hope to see you there! Spaces are very limited due to COVID-19 social distancing protocols, so please contact jeannette@bolsachica.org if you can no longer attend.*This is an observational event, not a volunteer event* ***Please note that the snake feedings involve live mice.*** Visit: https://bolsachica.charityproud.org/VolunteerRegistration/Index/?activity=7018&date=8/26/2023
Restore and Maintain the Bolsa Chica Wetlands with Bolsa Chica Conservancy
Want to help the community and your local environment, and have fun doing it? Then join the Public Volunteer Service Day with the Bolsa Chica Conservancy! At this event, participants have the opportunity to help restore and maintain the Bolsa Chica Wetlands! Participants will help this local treasure with invasive plant removal, debris disposal, and/or native plant installation. Public Service Days are held on the Second Sunday and Last Saturday of every month, and run from 9:00 AM until 12:00 PM. Please come in closed-toe shoes, as you will be working in off-road terrain! Come prepared with sun protection with a water bottle, sun glasses, sun screen, and/or a hat! They recommend arriving 10 - 15 minutes early to secure parking. To that end, they also encourage carpooling whenever possible! If you have any questions, please contact them via phone at (714) 846 - 1114 or via e-mail at kenny@bolsachica.org. Visit: https://bolsachica.charityproud.org/VolunteerRegistration/Index/?activity=7009&date=8/26/2023
Join Friends of the LA River for Habitat Restoration Day
Join Friends of the LA River, California Native Plant Society, and San Fernando Valley Audubon for a morning of invasive plant removal and bird walks in the Sepulveda Basin! For more details and to sign up click here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/habitat-restoration-day-tickets-495674926047
Donate to Support the Bolsa Chica Conservancy
Wetlands are one of many habitats that encompass a watershed and provide a crucial connection between land and the ocean. They also provide functions, known as ecosystem services, that are vital not only to the native and migratory species that inhabit them, but to humans as well. Some of these important functions include: mitigation of climate change by trapping carbon dioxide (carbon sink), serving as a buffer zone during flooding events, maintaining water supplies by replenishing aquifers and filtering water that passes through, and providing essential habitat for plants and wildlife. You can help protect the Bolsa Chica wetlands, its threatened species and their habitats, while at the same time supporting the education of thousands of K-12 students with your donation to the Bolsa Chica Conservancy today. Your support of the Bolsa Chica Conservancy’s STEM-based educational programs on wetland science, watersheds, coastal ecology, environmental sustainability, and habitat restoration will make a world of difference to students in need. Visit: https://bolsachica.charityproud.org/Donate
Purchase Native Plants Support the Bolsa Chica Conservancy
Bring the beauty of Bolsa Chica to your home and support local ecosystems at the same time! Want to purchase some native plants? The Bolsa Chica Conservancy periodically hosts native plant sales, so check back regularly. Native plants are widely diverse and a great addition to any growing space! In southern California, where residents contend with long, dry summers, and short, unpredictably wet winters, adding native, drought-tolerant plants is a great way to add some color to your home while also saving money! Visit: https://bolsachica.org/native-plants-at-home/
Volunteer with Culver City Parks and Recreation
The City of Culver City has so many opportunitites to get to know your community members, and help out along the way! You can help adult learners with their GED studies, you can help your differently abled neighbors do activities, you can clean and sort library materials, and so much more! Check out their volunteer website for more info and to choose your favorite activitiy today. Visit: https://www.culvercity.org/Explore/Volunteer
Go Wild for the Peninsula
Go WILD with the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy and support the Go Wild for the Peninsula initiative! Your gift will help create a coastal Wildlife Corridor preserving the iconic landscape of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. By giving an online donation, you are providing essential funding for conservation initiatives that will help protect the natural lands of the Peninsula now and forever. Visit: https://pvplc.org/donate-pvplc/
Donate to Support the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy
The Conservancy helps preserve plants, animals and natural habitats all over the Peninsula. By joining the Conservancy today, you will be welcomed into a family of dedicated individuals committed to saving open spaces on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. There are many ways to make a donation. Visit: https://pvplc.org/ways-to-give/
Volunteer to be an Onshore Volunteer for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
Onshore Volunteers are an essential part of ensuring funding for Sea Shepherd campaigns and carrying Sea Shepherd’s mission to the general public. Their campaign leaders, directors and other staff cannot be everywhere at once, so their OSVs help bring Sea Shepherd’s important message to as many corners of North America as they can. The OSVs arrange participation in events, help to manage and transport merchandise and informational materials, and interact with the public. Without funding and public awareness, Sea Shepherd cannot do the work that they do. They are wholly funded by donations, not corporate sponsors or political interest groups. Their vested interest is in the welfare and preservation of ocean wildlife. There is no other group or movement like Sea Shepherd, and their OSVs must reflect that uniqueness in the effort that they put into their Onshore Volunteer program. Visit: https://seashepherd.org/get-involved/onshore-volunteer/
Volunteer to be a Crew Member on One of Sea Shepherd’s Vessels
They are looking for navigators, sailors, engineers, electricians, carpenters, welders, cooks, medics or nurses, small boat operators, photographers, videographers, electronics technicians, radio and antenna technicians, and even a few unskilled but dedicated Ocean Defenders. Visit: https://seashepherd.org/get-involved/crewing-at-sea/
Support the Starr Ranch Sanctuary’s Work
Please consider supporting Starr Ranch. Your donation will help them: Enroll students in their Field Ecology and Junior Biologist programs, now in their second decade of giving insight into nature and imparting valuable practical skills, support their seasonal restoration and education staff – recent college graduates from all over the country who come to live and work at Starr Ranch for 6-10 months to learn about their innovative approaches to restoration, wildlife research, and education, remove invasive plant species – without the use of toxic chemicals – in preparation to restore rare habitats such as coastal sage scrub, which is found only here in Southern California, increase the quality of the viewing experience of Starr Ranch's webcams – their broadcasts heard 'round the world, and maintain Starr Ranch. This includes twelve buildings, eight vehicles, two tractors plus implements, and 18 miles of roads. Most importantly, it will help preserve this special place. From all of the folks at Starr Ranch, thank you! Visit: https://act.audubon.org/a/support-starr-ranch
Volunteer as a Bird Bander with the Starr Ranch Sanctuary
Dedicated birders who would like banding experience are invited to apply to become volunteer banders for a MAPS (Mapping Avian Productivity and Survivorship) station at the Starr Ranch Bird Observatory. MAPS is a growing network of hundreds of songbird banding stations in North America run by the Institute for Bird Populations (IBP). Long term banding data from MAPS stations help track changes in populations and migration patterns. In 2005, they became part of an international monitoring network that tracks birds in their wintering grounds, MoSI (Monitoreo de Sobrevivencia Invernal) with stations from Mexico to Columbia (and Starr Ranch!). Visit: https://starrranch.org/volunteer/
Volunteer for Songbird Monitoring with the Starr Ranch Sanctuary
Besides bird banding, Starr Ranch manages other songbird monitoring projects that utilize volunteer citizen scientists who are trained by ornithologists. Monitoring usually targets rare species and habitats such as coastal sage scrub but they also use songbirds as indicators of restoration success and climate change. New monitoring projects help them make decisions on which invasive plant species they will work to control. Below are some current songbird monitoring projects that utilize citizen science volunteers: Songbirds of Starr Ranch Coastal Sage Scrub, Effects of Coastal Sage Scrub Restoration on Songbirds, Effects of the Streambank Weed, Periwinkle, on Songbirds, and Songbird Phenology in Coastal Sage Scrub and Riparian Woodlands. If you would like to volunteer or would like to learn more about Starr Ranch songbird monitoring projects, please contact Sandy DeSimone (sdesimone@audubon.org) at 949-858-0309. Visit: https://starrranch.org/volunteer/
Help the Starr Ranch Sanctuary Monitor Other Wildlife with the Starr Ranch Sanctuary
In spring 2004 Starr Ranch Sanctuary trained volunteers to assist their biologists with a long-term study that examined the effects of artichoke thistle control and coastal sage scrub restoration on small mammals (and songbirds). The goal of this project was to produce estimates of small mammal species composition, richness, diversity, and abundance in their paired restoration and pristine coastal sage scrub monitoring sites as well as over a chronosequence of sites of increasing restoration age. Data collected through 2010 indicated a negative effect of artichoke thistle and a positive effect of restoration, so this small mammal study is currently inactive. Monitoring responses to actions or lack of actions remains the key strategy for resource management in a changing climate. Currently Starr Ranch biologists train citizen science volunteers to help them monitor wildlife that serve as good indicators of habitat quality and help them decide which invasive species they will work to control. These are long term projects that will also aid in detection of shifts in wildlife populations that may be associated with a changing climate. Current wildlife monitoring projects include: Aquatic Vertebrates of Bell Creek (fish, reptiles and amphibians), Perennial Pools of Bell Creek, Effects of the Streambank Weed, Periwinkle, on Small Mammals and Invertebrates, and Phenology of Butterflies (and Plants) of Coastal Sage Scrub and Riparian Woodland. If you would like to volunteer with our wildlife monitoring projects, please contact Sandy DeSimone (sdesimone@audubon.org) at 949-858-0309. Visit: https://starrranch.org/volunteer/
Join a Volunteer Fire Watch with the Starr Ranch Sanctuary
In partnership with the Reserve at Rancho Mission Viejo and the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA), Starr Ranch runs a volunteer fire watch. Each year since 2008 volunteers are trained in late summer by the OCFA to deter arson and report behaviors that could lead to fires and to detect fires quickly if they start. Volunteers work in pairs during Red Flag Warnings, periods of high winds and dry conditions, usually in the fall. Lookout locations are at the edges of south Orange County preserved land from Starr Ranch south to the Reserve at Rancho Mission Viejo. Visit: https://starrranch.org/volunteer/
Featured Projects
*Field Trip Friday* Join Big Sunday for a Trail Ride!
Big Sunday,
passion@bigsunday.org,
323-549-9944
For the past few summers, we've had many adventures with all kinds of nice people – vets, foster youth, people experiencing homelessness – all over the city. Well Big Sunday's annual Field Trip Friday's are back and ready to hit you with a summer of fun! Join us for a beautiful and relaxing horseback trail ride Friday July 14, 2023 at Studio Horse Rental (formerly known as Circle K Stables) in Burbank. We'll have two riding sessions so make sure to arrive at atleast 10 minutes before your designated ride time. These spots are filling up fast so don't miss out, Sign up Today!
https://bigsundayorg.wufoo.com/forms/friday-field-trips-2023/
*Field Trip Friday* Join Big Sunday for a Harbor Cruise !
Big Sunday,
passion@bigsunday.org,
323-549-9944
Big Sunday's annual Field Trip Friday's are back and ready to hit you with a summer of fun! We invite lots of people of all ages, from all walks of life, for a 2-hour harbor cruise. Guests include individuals, families, corporate groups, faith groups. Plus nice folks from group homes, hospitals, shelters – some of whom have never been on a boat before!
All participants are asked just one thing: to meet at least one new person. Then, we all just enjoy each other’s company. Along the way we'll enjoy coffee, juice, and awesome snacks while watching the sea lions take in some sun.
Sign up below for the cruise leaving from Shoreline Village in Long Beach: Friday July 21st. This cruise leaves promptly at 10 am and returns at 12 pm. Please sure to be there before 10am! We would hate for you to miss the cruise! (And everyone’s welcome!)
Cruises are always free. To sign up, please fill out the form below.
https://bigsundayorg.wufoo.com/forms/friday-field-trips-2023/
*Field Trip Friday* Join Us For A Donut Crawl !
Big Sunday,
passion@bigsunday.org,
323-549-9944
Big Sunday's annual Field Trip Friday's are back and ready to hit you with a summer of fun! We're excited to host folks from underserved communities on these fun-filled outings, but volunteers are invited to come along and join the party too! Join us Friday, July 28th for our first ever DONUT CRAWL! We'll cruise around the city tasting donuts from some popular donut shops around LA. We'll play games, listen to some tunes, and rate our favorite donuts from each stop. This'll be an event you don't want to miss!
Sign up Today:
https://bigsundayorg.wufoo.com/forms/z1qicljz0aguxvc/
*Field Trip Friday* Join Us For A Bowling Extravaganza
Big Sunday,
passion@bigsunday.org,
323-549-9944
For the past few summers, we've had many adventures with all kinds of nice people – vets, foster youth, people experiencing homelessness – all over the city. Well Big Sunday's annual Field Trip Friday's are back and ready to hit you with a summer of fun! Join us Friday, August 4th for a FRIYAY of FUN on a bowling extravaganza. There will be food, drinks, and a lot of friendly competion that you don't want to miss out on.
The bowling alley is located in the valley at: 19616 Ventura Blvd, Tarzana, CA 91356. This event is from 11 am – 1 pm. If you’re someone who runs late (you know who you are), leave a little time to get lost if you haven’t been there before.
Sign up Today! : https://bigsundayorg.wufoo.com/forms/friday-field-trips-2023/
*Field Trip Friday* Join us for Horseback Trail Ride!
Big Sunday,
passion@bigsunday.org,
323-549-9944
For the past few summers, we've had many adventures with all kinds of nice people – vets, foster youth, people experiencing homelessness – all over the city. Well Big Sunday's annual Field Trip Friday's are back and ready to hit you with a summer of fun! Join us for a beautiful and relaxing horseback trail ride Friday August 11th, 2023 at The Monte Verde Trails Ranch in Sylmar We'll have two riding sessions so make sure to arrive at atleast 10 minutes before your designated ride time. These spots are filling up fast so don't miss out, Sign up Today!
https://bigsundayorg.wufoo.com/forms/friday-field-trips-2023/