Dear Friend,

Love is in the air with this beautiful American Kestrel adorned with heart-shaped spots which is perfect for February! Recently, the Bolsa Chica Land Trust's Board of Directors held elections for board leadership positions. BCLT voted in a new President and re-elected the Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary. The Bolsa Chica Stewards' native plants are happy little sprouts with all this rain, but the weeds are thriving too. Not to mention all the trash the rain washed into Bolsa Chica! Please join one of our trash clean-ups (beach and steward volunteer days) listed under the Volunteering section.

We are still in need of a special Miracles of the Marsh volunteer docent coordinator for the 2023 spring school season, so please spread the word to everyone you know! Speaking about Miracles of the Marsh, your donations allow us to share the knowledge and natural wonders of Bolsa Chica with these students by helping us cover the printing costs of the workbooks, and the costs for the school buses for the field trips. February is known for being the month of love, so let's show our love for Bolsa Chica in many different ways!

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

Dan Kalmick has been elected by the Bolsa Chica Land Trust’s board of directors to serve a two-year term as the organization’s president.

Kalmick has served on the Land Trust board for more than a decade, and he was treasurer in 2018-2020.

“I’m looking forward to serving at this exciting time for the Bolsa Chica Land Trust,” Kalmick said. “Our educational and restoration programs are going full steam and we’re working hard to support the responsible state and federal agencies in their stewardship of these vital wetlands.”

Kalmick succeeds Jennifer Thomas, who served nine years as the Land Trust president, which saw the organization transition from its founding goal of saving the Bolsa Chica to focus on management and restoration of the now-protected wetlands.

A long-time civic activist, Kalmick served eight years on the Huntington Beach Planning Commission prior to his election to City Council in 2020. He has also served as a Reserve Firefighter/EMT with the Orange County Fire Authority, vice-chair of the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) Citizens Advisory Committee, and a member of the boards of Algalita Marine Research and Education and Huntington Beach Tomorrow. He has been a panelist on both state and national conferences on Climate Adaptation. As a councilmember, Kalmick has served on many regional boards including the Southern California Association of Government’s Energy and Environment Policy Committee and Emerging Technology Policy Committee.

The Land Trust board also re-elected Vice President Roberta Armstrong, Secretary Marinka Horack and Treasurer Jeff Rokos to new two-year terms.

The Miracles of the Marsh Education Program is off and running this school year! We have even more schools signed up for the 3rd grade program which means a lot more students get to learn and experience the wonders of Bolsa Chica inside and outside the classroom. The program consists of an in-classroom presentation, a free workbook for each student, and an on-site docent led tour. All of the presentations and tours are done by our outstanding Miracles of the Marsh volunteer docents.

The on-site tours are structured in a way that reinforces what the students learned during the in-class presentation and workbooks. There are 4 main topics they learn about, and the kids are broken up into groups when they get off the bus. Once they are halfway through the tour, each group rotates through each topic station led by a dedicated docent (see photo above). As you can tell, the docents really get into it :) To keep the fieldtrip on time, each station session is timed to ensure each group gets to visit each topic before heading back to the bus.

This year we need a special volunteer Miracles docent tour coordinator to help with the tours ASAP because school tours have started! This position is NOT giving the tours, so you don't have to know anything about the information taught on the tours like animals or history. This volunteer is responsible for making sure the supplies (binoculars, seating pads, etc.) are ready at the stations and that the docents stay on track during their sessions. Basically, it's coordinating the docents and groups between the topic stations in a timely and smooth process.

If you are interested in learning more about this special volunteer position or even better, want to sign up right now, please email Beverley at Beverley@BCLandTrust.org.

2023 Calendars STILL AVAILABLE!

Forgot to pick up a calendar in all of the holiday hustle and bustle? No worries, we've got you covered. We've got a lot of 2023 Wings Over Bolsa calendars still taking up room in the office. We really want that office space back for more important things like in-person meetings, workbooks for all the students in the education program, gosh, even just being able to walk around without weaving in between boxes would be nice. So please, can you help us out and spread the Bolsa Chica love with others?

Bonus: besides it being filled with beautiful birds and images from scenic Bolsa Chica, it's quite functional and educational. For each month of the calendar, the calendar committee meticulous selects photos of wildlife you can find at Bolsa Chica that month, as well as supplements the main photos with interesting facts about that animal!

The price is the same as last year at just $15 donation per calendar. We also have the 5-pack special again (buy 4 calendars, get 1 free). Follow the directions on the description to get the automatic discount in your cart. It is printed in California with soy ink and partially recycled paper resulting in high quality calendars. Thank you to the more than 20 photographers who generously submitted their photos for the calendar!  

Miracles of the Marsh Education Program Needs Your Help!

As the year begins so does BCLT’s Miracle of the Marsh program. Now in its 20^th year our docent team is again ready to educate about 2,000 eager third grade students on wetlands biology, Bolsa Chica’s history, and the Reserve’s important role in our coastal environment. 

The Miracles program runs from January to June and is core to our mission. Each student receives a workbook that they use during their classroom lessons before their field trip to Bolsa Chica. 

Your donation will help us cover the printing costs, and the costs for the school buses for the field trips. Please help us share the knowledge and natural wonders of Bolsa Chica with these students, donate today!

Feb. Bird of the Month: Belding's Savannah Sparrow

Savannah Sparrows are one of the most numerous songbirds in North America. Its subspecies, Belding’s, is a year-round resident at the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve and is state and federally protected as endangered. It nests exclusively in pickleweed salt marshes of coastal California, most of which has been lost to development, leaving only 5% of these saltwater wetlands remaining. At Bolsa Chica look for a small bird with dark streaks on its breast and a yellow eyebrow flying in and out of the pickleweed along the water’s edge and listen for its high, buzzy song.

5.5” long; 6.75” wingspan; 0.7 oz.

photo: Jodi Newell

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!

Questions? Email us at Info@BCLandTrust.org or call (714) 846-1001

Photo Credits:

banner- Alan Wendell, calendar- Eric Benson, Miracles docent led session- Bequi Howarth, sand dune trail- E. Chin, Stewards- James Huang, Bridge tour, Miracle docent with kids, kids with binoculars, Elegant Terns on beach- Marinka Horack, Belding's Savannah Sparrow- Jodi Newell