By Lisa Fimiani, Executive Director One of the most interesting parts of my job as ED for the Friends is joining the Audubon Docents every year for their training. I usually cannot make all of the classes, but I go to as many as I can. Martin Ramirez, Associate Professor, Department of Biology at LMU, [...]

“Summer afternoon”: no stranger to the beauty of words and language, writer Henry James chose these as the most beautiful. Well, it’s hard to beat the beauty of a majestic spring day at Ballona, but this past Saturday’s monthly open house confirmed James’ wisdom to the three dozen or so visitors, volunteers, and docents. As [...]

OK, we’re suckers for a pretty face, and here are two we’re now carrying around in our wallet. The endangered Least Bell’s Vireos that are nesting in the Playa Vista riparian corridor below the LMU bluff (here’s our worldwide exclusive June 4th report) have had two babies, and our friend, birder and photographer Don Sterba, [...]

iPhone Photos of Ballona From a Friend of the Friends Nadine Yiang, one of our core volunteers over the last year or so, is currently doing an internship with Friends’ Programs Director, Kelly Rose, and it turns out that she’s also a taker of beautiful photos. Nadine shared these photos with us, taken with her [...]

Southern California, as you’re probably aware, does not suffer from a lack of sunshine and temperate weather; the flip-side, however, is what any recently-transplanted East Coaster might complain of as “a lack of seasons.” To which we would respond, “You clearly have not seen the Ballona Wetlands during the spring!”  Most striking, as you’ll see [...]