UPPER NEWPORT BAY UPDATE:Earth Day events -- free family fun

Earth Day this year is Sunday. Come join your friends and neighbors and help us celebrate from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Peter and Mary Muth Interpretive Center, 2301 University Drive, Newport Beach. It’s free, and families are welcome.

There is ample free parking, and food and soft drinks will be available for purchase. This is all about enjoying the Back Bay and learning about its local environs through exhibition booths and interactive, educational displays.

Many agencies and volunteer organizations from around Orange County will host booths and demonstrations to explain their respective roles in helping to protect Mother Earth.

This is a great way for kids to learn about Upper Newport Bay, one of the few remaining estuaries in California. Some sponsoring agencies include the California Coastal Commission; the California Department of Fish and Game; the city of Newport Beach; the Newport Bay Naturalists and Friends; the Orange County Department of Harbors, Beaches and Parks; and the Orange County Health Care Agency, among many others.

Also, the Newport Beach Film Festival will feature films with environmental themes.

Other activities include scavenger hunts for all ages, science and crafts booths, a touch tank with sharks, environmental exhibits, an opportunity drawing, and live music.

Earth Day is a time for all of us to think about how we can protect our planet and preserve its future.

There are many ways we can contribute, including recycling, reusing and conserving resources, and preventing pollution. Visit us on Earth Day to learn how and why we should all be involved.

For more information about Earth Day, call (949) 923-2296 or go to www.newportbay.org.

NEW BOBCAT FAMILY AT THE BAY

This year the Newport Bay Naturalists and Friends will have a special booth to showcase our new family of bobcats that has recently taken up residence at the bay. The female bobcat, nicknamed Babe, was first photographed along Back Bay Drive on Dec. 22, 2005. Since then she’s had a litter of three kittens. All have dispersed by now and are believed to be doing well. The first few years of a bobcat’s life are challenging as they seek to find their own territory and compete with coyotes for sufficient food.

Babe weighed 14 pounds when she was first captured by rangers for inspection. She was later released with appropriate tagging for observation. These cats are not a lot bigger than a domestic house cat but a great deal stronger and faster.

Residents and visitors walking their dogs within the nature preserve should keep their animals on a leash, as required by law, to prevent the dogs from harming, or being harmed by the birds and other animals that reside in this small piece of land reserved for them.

Research on local bobcats is being done by the U.S. Geological Survey in conjunction with Colorado State University and the Nature Conservancy. Researchers use various radio tracking devices to monitor the animals. Babe is fitted with a device that will allow her movements to be tracked by GPS.

There have been numerous sightings, usually in areas where the bobcats’ favorite prey, rabbits, is most abundant. They also hunt ground squirrels and other rodents, usually at night.

Bobcats perform a vital service for the environment by helping to keep down the rodent and rabbit population around the bay.

We are fortunate to have these cats share our area.

Because of fragmentation of the land and commercial development, many of our native inhabitants are being displaced.

— Dick Newell and Jean Whittaker contributed to this column.