On Sunday, January 19, nearly 150 community members and nature enthusiasts gathered at the Placerita Canyon Nature Center to learn more about the California condor. Dianne Erskine-Hellrigel, Executive Director of the Community Hiking Club and President of the Santa Clara River Watershed Conservancy, gave an informative and engaging presentation on the plight of the California condor.
Diane has worked with the condors for eight years, preventing deaths from micro-trash and doing educational presentations for the community to try to keep the condors safe.
The program, hosted by the Community Hiking Club, the County of Los Angeles, and the Placerita Nature Center Associates, provided interesting facts about the condors, including how they are being brought back from the brink of extinction. Many in attendance were members and parents of local Cub Scout Pack 40, and were surprised to learn that there is a nesting pair of condors in Santa Clarita.
After the presentation, about 100 of the people who had attended, participated in a micro-trash clean-up at Bear Divide Picnic Area. Micro-trash is small trash, such as pieces of glass, bottle caps, nails and ammunition. Because condors mistakenly ingest micro-trash, believing it to be food, it is one of their primary causes of death. The volunteers removed a significant amount of micro-trash that afternoon.
To learn more about the Placerita Canyon Nature Center, visit www.placerita.org. For more information about the Community Hiking Club, visit www.communityhikingclub.org.