Back-Yard Habitat Falls Way Short
As a biologist working with California gnatcatchers and other species associated with coastal sage scrub, I have been generally pleased with The Times’ technical accuracy in covering scrub-related news.
However, you dealt your credibility a blow in printing Ted M. Doniguian’s confused ramblings (Letters, Jan. 31) about swimming pools, crows and gnatcatchers. Simply stated, California gnatcatchers require large expanses of coastal sage scrub in order to survive. Period.
It would be nice if gnatcatchers could be drawn into yards with pools or feeders, but unless most of us commit to planting coastal sage scrub in our back yards and parks, the idea of having a “local resident family of gnatcatchers meticulously plucking ample numbers of (bugs) from our pool each morning” is a pipe dream.
Mr. Doniguian’s letter demonstrated how widely misunderstood coastal sage scrub issues remain among the general population and the media.
ROBB HAMILTON
Costa Mesa
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