Dedicated to Conservation
Mission:
To increase public awareness and educate our youth of the need to preserve and protect natural wildlife habitats within our environment.
Vision:
We partner with various conservancies to preserve natural habitat
Educate our members and youth to the unique habitat needs of the various species that live in the Antelope Valley
Youth program partnership with Los Angeles County Library to educate our youth about birds
Bird walks with members and their families
Purpose:
To provide educational programs and services that build awareness of the importance of birds and other wildlife, and to promote conservation and restoration of natural habitats, primarily in the Antelope Valley area.
Antelope Valley Audubon Society - Chapter Territory Map
The purple area shown in the map represents the territory that is covered by our chapter. Note that we cover the entirety of Edwards Air Force Base as well as the cities of Lancaster and Palmdale.
Audubon Listing for Antelope Valley (Lancaster) as an important bird area for California
This area of the western Mojave Desert is within the Antelope Valley of northern Los Angeles Co., one of the rapidly-developing regions of the country. As tract homes replace thousands of acres of open space each year, birds are being forced into increasingly smaller areas. The land here slopes gradually to drain into the vast alkali playas of Rosamond and Rogers Dry Lakes on Edwards Air Force Base. The land here is overwhelmingly privately-owned, though several hundred acres are protected as the Antelope Valley California Poppy State Reserve.
{link:For IBA map, click here.|http://www.audubon.org/bird/iba/usibac/2009_P8/CA270m_AntelopeValley08.pdf}
Ornithological Summary
The remnant Joshua Tree Woodland in this area supports one of the farthest-west populations of Le Conte's Thrasher in the state (only the San Joaquin Valley group lies beyond). Now existing as a metapopulation fragmented by subdivisions, its future is uncertain. The largest groups are currently northeast of the intersection of Sierra Hwy. and Ave. P East, and about twenty miles northwest of here, west of Rosamond (mainly Kern Co.). The grassland bird community is most impressive in winter, when large numbers of raptors concentrate in three main areas: along Lancaster Blvd. north of Lake Hughes; along Ave. A west of Rosamond; and along Ave. J east of Lancaster. Large flocks of Vesper Sparrows, Horned Lark and Mountain Bluebirds also occur here, widely extirpated elsewhere in the Los Angeles area. The agricultural fields, especially alfalfa, are productive year round. Winter brings Mountain Plover, whose flocks are among the last in southern California. After wet winters, nesting grassland species like Northern Harrier and Short-eared Owl linger well into spring, and occasionally even breed. Swainson's Hawk maintains its southernmost breeding outpost in the state here, nesting in windbreaks east of Lancaster (1-2 pr.). As this IBA lies in the path of a major spring migrant route for songbirds, these windbreaks can host hundreds of vireos, thrushes and warblers during April and May. Fields that receive effluent from local water treatment facilities can support hundreds of White-faced Ibis and shorebirds, and these fields support a group of around 200 Long-billed Curlews in fall and winter.
Help us learn more about the birds at this IBA! Enter your birding data online at Calfornia eBird! (http://ebird.org/california/)
Conservation Issues
This IBA is seeing rapid transformation from an agricultural/wildland landscape to an urban zone of tract homes and planted trees. Much of the conservation efforts in the western Mojave (e.g. BLM's West Mojave Habitat Conservation Plan) have focused on protected the Desert Tortoise, and would not be expected to give much attention to bird habitats, such as alfalfa fields in Palmdale. Conservation action could focus on protecting and linking undeveloped lands of east Palmdale with the San Gabriel Mountains, and those west of Rosamond with the Tehachapi Mtns.
Ownership
The land here is overwhelmingly privately-owned, though several hundred acres are protected as the Antelope Valley California Poppy State Reserve. Much is owned by the Air Force (Edwards AFB), there are several small parks, and city-owned water reclamation facilities.
Habitat
Three major bird habitats are present in a mosaic of agriculture and wildland: Joshua Tree woodland and desert scrub, arid grassland/?wildflower fields? and alfalfa fields with tall windbreaks. Near the dry lakes are the regions wetlands: the Piute Ponds, the Lancaster Sewage Ponds, the Rosamond Sewage Ponds, and the South Base Sewage Ponds. Water levels at the ponds change during the year alternatively providing habitat for shorebirds and waterfowl.