Bird-Watcher to Share 27 Years of Sightings

It’s possible to enjoy rare glimpses and sonorous warbles of the birds of the Santa Monica Mountains without waking up at 4 in the morning to get to them.

Pierce College biology teacher Ted Kinchloe has been rising early and heading into the dark hills for predawn stakeouts with cameras and tape recorders for 27 years. On Saturday, he will present a free show at Soka University highlighting photographs and recorded bird calls gathered over a quarter of a century.

Though, to hear his colleagues tell it, such intense bird-watching has its perils.

“You know what he did one time?” asked Barbara Harmon, a lab technician at Pierce who has worked with Kinchloe for 26 years. “He was very intent on watching some birds, and he knew if he brushed some shrubbery out of the way he could get a better look. And guess what?” she said, chuckling. “Poison ivy.”

“It’s not as if you could walk out one day with your Instamatic and get all those pictures on a single day,” added Greg Homel, a bird photographer who has traveled around the world with Kinchloe. “It takes a lot of hard work, a lot of dedication and some suffering.”

Kinchloe, however, does not dwell on the hardships. Asked about the long hours spent crouched in place, waiting for birds, he replied, “Well, basically, you stay motionless, but the anticipation makes the time go.”

And when the desired bird is finally spotted?

“Sometimes you fumble around with your gear, you get so excited,” he said. “You’re stimulating me to go out and do it right now.”

Kinchloe will show slides accompanied by music and bird calls. The presentation will include photographs of habitats in the Santa Monica Mountains along with plants, reptiles and butterflies, he said.

“Santa Monica Mountains Habitat Encounters” will be presented Saturday from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Soka University, 26800 W. Mulholland Highway in Calabasas. For information and reservations, call (818) 878-3741.