Endangered Species : Urbanization Threatens Wetland Havens for Migrating Birds

Migratory birds--thousands of them, representing up to 150 species--are already passing over the South Bay on their way south for the winter.

But when the birds look down on the area, they see mostly rooftops and pavement. Urbanization has destroyed many of the wetlands they need for food and shelter.

In all of the South Bay only four wetlands, plus some beach areas, still provide stopovers for migratory birds, biologists say, and some of those places face problems from urbanization in spite of preservation efforts.

But for now, especially in the next few months, the wetlands provide not only a haven for birds but are a gold mine for bird watchers. At least two environmentalist groups are organizing tours of the wetlands.

Wetlands are defined as areas that are periodically, seasonally or perennially flooded that also have specific types of vegetation, according to Lee Jones, consultant for an environmental research firm in Costa Mesa.

Wetlands fall into two categories: freshwater, flooded by rain or runoff, and salt-water, flooded by the ocean. Salt-water wetlands are sometimes called estuaries.

The California Department of Fish and Game has designated four areas in the South Bay as wetlands: Madrona Marsh in Torrance, Ballona wetlands between Playa del Rey and Marina del Rey, Willows Marsh in Gardena and Harbor Regional Park in Wilmington.

Some of the migratory birds in these wetlands will stay in the South Bay until the spring; others will merely make a “pit stop,” continuing south in search of warmer climates. The Arctic tern, a species sometimes seen in the South Bay, migrates all the way from the Arctic Circle to South America, the longest known bird migration.

In the spring, migratory birds stop again on their way back north, where they reproduce and prepare to migrate again. “Between June and September, the younger birds learn to fly,” said Earl Louppe, wildlife biologist of the Department of Fish and Game. It is also a time to build up strength for the trip south, he said.

In their journeys, birds rest and feed in wetlands, the only environment in which most species can find adequate food. “Little ponds will attract a few migrant ducks,” but don’t generally don’t offer the insects and worms that most birds eat, Louppe said.

For both birds and nature lovers, however, wetlands have become scarce as development shrinks natural preserves, biologists say. “These areas are getting scarcer all the time, and no substitutes are being built,” Louppe said.

About 90% of Los Angeles County’s original wetlands have been destroyed, said Jones, the environmental consultant.

“The whole nation has a problem” protecting wetlands, said David Morafka, a biology professor at California State University, Dominguez Hills.

In highly developed areas like the South Bay, the loss has been especially acute. “It’s pretty much a wipeout . . . in the South Bay,” said Carl Wilcox, a biologist associated with Friends of Newport Bay in Orange County.

But there are bright spots in the South Bay. After a citizens group called Friends of Madrona Marsh and others protested a developer’s plan to reduce that wetland from 54 acres to 10 and build a residential and commercial project, Torrance officials and the developer worked out an agreement. In exchange for approving a revised project, the city would be given 46 acres and would buy eight acres of the marsh. Terms of the deed are still being worked out.

Eventual Nature Park

The city eventually may turn Madrona Marsh into a nature park with an interpretive center, said Torrance Councilwoman Katy Geissert.

The Ballona (pronounced “buy-YO-nah”) wetland is set for a major restoration. About 175 acres that are just “surviving” will be restored, as well as some former wetlands that had been allowed to dry up. With buffer zones, the restoration area totals 209 acres.

The National Audubon Society and Los Angeles County officials are handling the project. No starting date has been set for the project, which is expected to cost $10 million. Planners predict that almost 1 million people each year will visit their finished project, according to David Cowardin, staff planner of the Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning.

Other wetlands, however, still face the ills of urbanization. At Harbor Lake in Harbor Regional Park, for example, development has wiped out many small animals, said Arnold Small, a biology instructor at nearby Los Angeles Harbor College. But Small, whose students use the lake as an outdoor lab, added that in spite of the pollution, fish and migratory birds are common.

Drafting Plan

Los Angeles city officials are drafting a management plan aimed at improving the 45-acre lake and adjacent wetland, said David Attaway, an environmental analyst for the city’s Department of Recreation and Parks.

Willows Marsh is another convention center for migratory birds in the South Bay, said Ayers of the Gardena Department of Recreation and Parks. The seven-acre wetland overlaps onto the Los Angeles city strip area, thanks to pipes that run under Vermont Avenue and Artesia Boulevard.

Neither Gardena nor Los Angeles has designated it as a recreation area, but South Park, a Gardena-owned recreation area, lies just north and west of the wetland.

The wetland does not face any danger of destruction, officials said. The site is regulated by the Army Corps of Engineers, which must approve any development, they said.

Many Different Kinds

So what kinds of birds can one expect to see in a wetland?

Sandpipers, gulls and ducks, to name a few, said Marty Pletcher, another biologist for the Department of Fish and Game.

Some other species that can be seen:

- Snipes, brown striped birds whose color scheme camouflages them in grass.

- The black-crowned night heron, a black, gray and white bird characterized by a curved neck.

- The widgeon, whose rarer European cousin drew bird enthusiasts from all over the Southland when one was seen at Madrona Marsh, said Betty Shaw, a member of Friends of Madrona Marsh.

And there is one “misfit”, the endangered California least tern, which migrates north in the winter, south in the summer, and can sometimes be seen in the South Bay the wetlands.

Ron Hein, wildlife manager of the Department of Fish and Game, said that December and January are the best month for “birding,” as the hobby is known.

And the best birding place in the South Bay is the Ballona wetland, said Shaw and Sandy Vohlgemuth, conservation chairman of the Los Angeles chapter of the Audubon Society. Salt-water flooding offers birds a rich source of food, inviting both shore and land-dwelling migratory birds.

Field Trips

The society schedules regular field trips at Ballona from fall until spring, and the marsh is frequently visited by other nature lovers, Vohlgemuth said. School groups also conduct trips, he said.

“It can be interesting to others who are not bird lovers, too,” Vohlgemuth said. The society will conduct birding field trips on Nov. 9 and Dec. 16.

Most of Madrona Marsh is fenced, but the part purchased by the city is open, said Georgean Griswold, president of the Friends of Madrona Marsh. The group offers nature walks in the spring, after the wetland is flooded by winter rains, she said.

Shaw, a birder for more than 15 years, says that her hobby “can be as scientific or as amateurish as you want to make it. Sometimes birds can be identified by the behavior they display, how they live and raise their young.”

Shaw said that coastal migratory birds also can be seen at King Harbor in Redondo Beach and some area beaches. Another favorite spot among bird watchers is the South Coast Botanic Garden on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

J. Cris Avery, 20, of Redondo Beach isn’t an avid birder, but he appreciates the wetlands. He said he spent many childhood days hiking at Madrona Marsh with his father.

“It’s nice,” he said, “getting a break from constant houses and shopping centers . . . to see some open space.”