NEST HAZARD TREE CREWS STUMPED BY BIRD LOVERS.

Byline: Carol Rock Staff Writer

SAUGUS - Jerry Murphy, a bird enthusiast and member of the Audubon Society, gazed through binoculars Thursday at a little nest perched in the crook of a towering tree on Diaz Drive in Saugus.

A tattered red balloon hung below the collection of twigs and leaves where two small Tyrannus verticalus flitted around - yellow-breasted kingbirds to the human observers below.

The nest was easy to spot and the subject of consternation for Murphy and local birder Teresa Savaikie - who accused tree trimmers hired by the city of Santa Clarita of violating the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act and threatened the trimmers with a $15,000 fine.

``I don't know how many baby birds went into the wood chipper this morning,'' Savaikie said.

It appeared there was no violation, an official with the state Department of Fish and Game said later.

Earlier in the week, local birders met with city arborist Robert Sartain near the trees in the Espuella Drive neighborhood. Sartain said he was waiting for further information from the group.

Savaikie insisted that during the meeting arborists had been told specifically which trees had nests in them.

``They came in this morning and cut back the tree, leaving the nest exposed to other predatory birds and the heat,'' explained Murphy, the bird activist. ``I think that's the mother up there. Now she'll be too busy protecting the nest and it will limit how much food she can give her babies. They're not supposed to be trimming trees with nests in them.''

Marty Wall, patrol lieutenant for the California Department of Fish and Game, went by the tree in question Thursday afternoon and said he found the birds ``busy and fine.''

``There is no requirement for a biological survey to be done before tree trimming is completed,'' Wall said. ``In this case, the work was stopped and the parent birds looked OK to me. There are a lot of questions we can't answer - was this a good place for the birds to build a nest or do we know what really harasses them?

``I was out by the tree and there was a gardener using a really loud leaf blower,'' said Wall. ``That harassed me, but these may be city birds and it may not bother them. We just don't have any way of knowing.''

The Fish and Game spokesman said education might be the answer, as tree trimmers can't be forced to suspend all operations from February to August. His office has prosecuted tree trimmers who have exhibited criminal negligence or intent, but he did not think that happened Thursday, he said.

Because of residents' concerns, the city has agreed to stop trimming in that particular neighborhood and will add it to the tree-trimming schedule at a later date.

``We are arborists, not the Audubon Society,'' said Sartain. ``We recognize large raptors' nests, like owls and hawks, but we need to educate ourselves more. We have been in contact with Department of Fish and Game biologists to provide us with some instruction on types of nests that we will pass on to our contractors.

``We don't want to disturb birds, but our primary concern is maintaining trees for the public's safety,'' he said.

The city's year-round tree maintenance program is on a six-year cycle. Sartain said city contractors are responsible for more than 50,000 trees and that many more are included in landscape maintenance districts and homeowners association areas within city limits.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) A Western kingbird perches near its nest in a sycamore Thursday, the day for tree trimming in the Saugus neighborhood.

(2 -- color) Bird activist Jerry Murphy watches a Western kingbird nest in a tree trimmed by maintenance workers Thursday.

(3) Jerry Murphy, a member of the Audubon Society, keeps watch on a migratory bird that made its nest in a tall sycamore. The towering tree on Diaz Drive in Saugus was trimmed back Thursday.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer