Birding with Bob is Back!

On Sunday, November 19th, Bob Shanman, retired Wild Birds Unlimited store owner and Emeritus Board Member of the Friends, led his first "Birding With Bob" bird walk at Ballona for the Friends, after a long absence due to Covid-19 restrictions and challenges the past three years. 

It was a beautiful crisp Fall morning, and the birds were abundant and exciting to watch in the Del rey Lagoon, along Dockweiler Beach, the Jetty, and the Levee adjacent to the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve.  The young and the old flocked around Bob as he shared his extensive knowledge of 1st-year gulls, the migratory routes of birds in the Pacific Flyway, and the importance of the Ballona Wetlands as a major stopover site. 

Bob also declared that 43 years ago, he began birding Ballona in 1980, and veteran birders like Tommye, Russ, and Lisa, who have birded Ballona almost as long as Bob, were happy to see Bob back at what he loves to do best: BIRD! 

High Schooler Calvin Bonn, a protege of Bob's since he was a young boy, was with a group of youngsters from a club called LA Birders (LAB), and there were plenty of new faces in the group. 

Birding with Bob is our newest monthly tour, so come next month to see the Birds of Ballona - and Bob, of course by registering on our Community Events Calendar!     

Photos taken by Lisa Fimiani