Notes about your surroundings.

Non-Native Plant Removal--Volunteers are needed on Saturday to help in an effort to rid the Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve of non-native plants. The event is sponsored by the state Department of Fish and Game, with Adventure 16--a Costa Mesa-based outdoor-outfitter firm--providing information about the event.

Those participating will be asked to help pull out the pampas grass and other non-native vegetation that have been growing in the Upper Newport Bay area over the last few years. Pampas grass is a tough saw-edged plant that can grow to 9 feet or more.

“People have been tracking it in or the wind has carried it there,” said Christina Bickley from Adventure 16.

Volunteers will also be cleaning up any litter in the area, Bickley said. Those wishing to participate are asked to either bicycle, walk or car-pool to the ecological reserve, since parking is limited. Those interested in car-pooling should meet at 8:30 a.m. at Shell Maker Island, on the southern end of Back Bay Drive near Jamboree Road.

Volunteers will all meet at the Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve parking lot on Back Bay Drive by 9 a.m. All volunteers will be asked to sign release forms by the state Department of Fish and Game.

Participants should wear long sleeves, long pants and preferably gloves, “because the pampas grass is fairly razorlike,” Bickley said. They are also asked to bring a day pack, sun block, sunglasses, a sack lunch, at least two quarts of drinking water, sturdy shoes or boots, as well as any shovels, tree saws and picks they might have.

The state Department of Fish and Game will sponsor a plant-a-thon in mid-February to re-vegetate the area with native plants, such as cordgrass, pickleweed and salt grass, according to Bickley.

For more information, call Adventure 16 at (714) 650-3301.

Beasts and Breakfast--Also on Saturday, the Santa Ana Zoo is hosting a continental breakfast followed by a guided tour of the zoo. Participants will help the zoo’s staff members feed the animals breakfast. There is a $15 fee for each parent-and-child pair or a $10 fee for each child 7 years and older.

For registration information, call (714) 836-4000. The zoo is at Prentice Park, 1801 E. Chestnut Ave., Santa Ana.

Bolsa Chica Tour--Free public tours of the Bolsa Chica wetlands will be held Saturday. Sponsored by Amigos de Bolsa Chica, the tours will leave at 20-minute intervals from 9 to 10:30 a.m.

Those interested are asked to meet at the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve parking lot, on Pacific Coast Highway across from Bolsa Chica State Beach. For more information, call (714) 897-7003.