OUTDOOR ENTHUSIASTS PEEK AT VALLEY'S NATURAL WONDERS.Byline: Steven J. Gorman Daily News Staff Writer About 60 nature lovers tramped across acres of rolling grassland, chaparral and rock formations Saturday at the Chatsworth Reservoir, catching a rare glimpse of one of the last open, wild places in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. . The dry, 1,300-acre basin, owned and managed by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is the largest municipal utility in the United States, serving 3.9 million residents in 2006. It was founded in 1902 to deliver water and electricity supplies to residents and businesses in Los Angeles. , is generally closed to the public. But some of the area's natural denizens turned out to greet bird-watchers and other outdoor enthusiasts who took part in the 26th annual tour, sponsored by the Chatsworth Reservoir Conservancy. A young raccoon raccoon, nocturnal New World mammal of the genus Procyon. The common raccoon of North America, Procyon lotor, also called coon, is found from S Canada to South America, except in parts of the Rocky Mts. and in deserts. peeked out from behind a tree branch to charm human visitors admiring an old California live oak. Another large, furry critter dashed across a stand of tall grass and disappeared into a hole. But perhaps the biggest thrill of the day was a flock of Canada snow geese that flapped overhead, seemingly on cue, as if to mark their return to Southern California. "We were standing out by the lake, and they were talking about the Canada geese, and all of a sudden about 20 of them flew right over our heads, right over a ridge," said Bob Campbell of Newhall. His 10-year-old son, Bobby, was equally impressed. "Seeing the Canada snow geese, I liked that a lot," he said. A 23-acre man-made pond in the reservoir basin provides a winter refuge for the geese and other migratory waterfowl waterfowl, common term for members of the order Anseriformes, wild, aquatic, typically freshwater birds including ducks, geese, and screamers. In Great Britain the term is also used to designate species kept for ornamental purposes on private lakes or ponds, while in , as well as a nesting area for neotropical migrant birds such as the Northern oriole oriole, common name applied to various perching birds of the Old (family Oriolidae) and New (family Icteridae) Worlds. The European orioles are allied to the crows, while the American orioles, of the hangnest group, belong to the blackbird and meadowlark family. , Western kingbird kingbird: see flycatcher. and the silky flycatcher flycatcher, common name for various members of the Old World family Muscicapidae, insectivorous songbirds including the kingbirds, phoebes, and pewees. Flycatchers vary in color from drab to brilliant, as in the crested monarch and paradise flycatchers of Asia and , said Arthur Langton of the Audubon Society. In all, the area provides yearlong or temporary habitat for about 200 species of birds, he said. Other permanent inhabitants
The game is based loosely on the concepts from SameGame. include deer, coyote coyote (kī`ōt, kīō`tē) or prairie wolf, small, swift wolf, Canis latrans, native to W North America. It is found in deserts, prairies, open woodlands, and brush country; it is also called brush wolf. , bobcats, rabbits and other small mammals. The reservoir, which was drained in 1969, also is home to some 50 varieties of wild grasses, numerous species of chaparral, grand California oak trees hundreds of years old, and several ancient Indian archeological sites. Dominating much of the view from inside the reservoir are the towering Chatsworth Rocks - craggy sandstone formations that lie just to the north. "You are standing in the largest parcel of undeveloped property in the San Fernando Valley," said Helen Trend, who heads the Chatsworth Reservoir Conservancy and conducts the annual reservoir tour. Trend advocates permanently protecting the reservoir by having it designated a state wildlife sanctuary. She wants to build a nature center there and open the area to the public for hiking and other passive recreational activities under the guidance of park rangers. The reservoir is generally off-limits to visitors, except for the annual tour, group visits and student field trips conducted by the conservancy by permit from the Department of Water and Power. Preservation groups raised strong objections to a 1994 proposal by Los Angeles city parks officials to develop 400 acres of the reservoir as a site for two executive-style golf courses, a driving range, restaurant, batting cages and a family recreation center. Those who visited the area Saturday said they were delighted by its natural beauty. "I'm amazed by the tremendous variety of bird life," said Alan Dymond, a Sierra Club Sierra Club, national organization in the United States dedicated to the preservation and expansion of the world's parks, wildlife, and wilderness areas. Founded (1892) in California by a group led by the Scottish-American conservationist John Muir, the Sierra Club member from Studio City. "It could become the jewel of the Valley if it's properly managed." One of the key attractions on Saturday's tour was a large outdoor kiln, believed to have been built by Indians and later used by Spanish settlers to extract limestone for mixing with clay in the construction of adobe buildings. Atop a ridge overlooking the reservoir basin, visitors sat among a circle of boulders and rock outcroppings that once sheltered an Indian campground. Archeological digs at the site have unearthed Unearthed is the name of a Triple J project to find and "dig up" (hence the name) hidden talent in regional Australia. Unearthed has had three incarnations - they first visited each region of Australia where Triple J had a transmitter - 41 regions in all. more than 800 arrowheads and the skeletal remains of more than 150 small animals, Trend said. "It's really fun when you live in an area to find out what was here before," said Lisa Layland, a resident of Chatsworth. "It makes you feel like a part of the history." CAPTION(S): PHOTO Photo (1) Canada geese returned to their winter refuge at the Chatsworth Reservoir on Saturday, thrilling onlookers. (2) Chris VanSchaack tills a field next to the reservoir's 23-acre pond. John McCoy/Daily News |
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