Conejo Valley Audubon

Lawns to Habitat and Ashes to Habitat Grant applications will be accepted until July 31
2025-06-01 00:00 - 2025-07-31 23:59 (America/Los_Angeles)
Find info and applications for the CVAS Lawns to Habitat and Ashes to Habitat Grants under our HABITAT PAGE.

Beginner Birding Class Part 1
2025-05-31 08:00
Our first class this year will meet at 8 am at the Conejo Valley Botanic Garden, 400 W. Gainsborough Rd., Thousand Oaks. Drive to the parking lot off of Jeaunine Drive. Class will be held in the Kids’ Adventure Garden. A $10 cash donation will be collected for CVBG. Bring water & snacks, wear comfortable shoes and binoculars if you have them. All ages welcome! Two further classes will be June 7 and June 14, locations to be announced.

Please RSVP at education@conejovalleyaudubon.org

🗻Mount Pinos
2025-05-25 08:00 - 13:00 | Mt. Pinos, Cuddy Valley Rd., Frazier Park, CA, 93225, United States
Join us as we go into the mountains to find some alpine birds. To carpool, meet at 6 am at the Janss Park & Ride, located on the east side of the 23 freeway at the Janss Road Exit by the soccer fields. Alternatively, meet at 8:00 am at the Mt. Pinos Nordic Base parking lot at the end of Mount Pinos Road (GPS: Cuddy Valley Rd, Forest Rte 9N24, Frazier Park, CA 93225 — or use coordinates 34.8134, -119.1263). Dress warm!

Target species include – Clark’s Nutcracker, Mountain Chickadee, Pygmy Nuthatch, Olive-sided Flycatcher, White-headed Woodpecker, Townsend’s Solitaire, Green-tailed Towhee, Red Crossbill and more!

Trip leader – Richard Armerding: (310) 701-3878.

🏝️Island Scrub-Jay Pelagic trip to Santa Cruz Island
2025-05-18 08:00 - 17:30 | Channel Islands Harbor (Oxnard), 3600 Harbor Blvd, Oxnard, CA, 93035, United States
This trip is organized by Island Packers, not CVAS. Tickets must be purchased through them either on the Island Packers website https://islandpackers.com/oxnard-to-scrub-jay/ or call (805) 642-1393. The cost is $138 per person. Leaves from Oxnard Harbor. Please arrive at 7:15 a.m., 45 minutes prior to depature.

We will take our time on our way over to the island, looking for shearwaters, alcids, and other pelagic species. Once on the island, we will spend an hour or so looking for the endemic Island Scrub-Jay and other unique island wildlife! Then, we will spend the rest of the afternoon cruising around the Santa Barbara Channel looking for more birds and other wildlife.

Beginner Bird Walk Rancho Sierra Vista / Satwiwa
2025-05-14 08:00, 2025-03-12 08:00 - 11:00
Conejo Valley Audubon invites birders of all experience levels to attend our monthly Beginner Bird Walk at Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa. These walks are held on the second Wednesday of each month. We will meet at 8:00 am at the main parking lot, which is accessible off Lynn Road at Via Goleta in Newbury Park. Rancho Sierra Vista is an excellent place to see many of the oak woodlands birds that are common in the Conejo Valley area. We will take time to introduce beginning birders to these species and teach the best techniques for locating and identifying them. Wear comfortable walking shoes and layered clothing, and bring water.

Contact walk leader Richard Armerding at (310) 701-3878 (texting is OK)

🌃Two Rivers Park
2025-05-10 19:00 - 20:30 | Two Rivers Park, River St., Fillmore, CA, 93015
*Time change*

Meet at Two Rivers Park at River and C Street in Fillmore at 6:30 pm in the evening. We will be going just before dusk to hopefully see nighthawks come out! If you want, we will meet at Daniel’s Gourmet Food Co. in Fillmore at 5 pm beforehand for food and drinks.

Trip leader – Sammy Cowell (818) 470-7098

🍔Birds and Burgers - Fillmore: Daniel Gourmet Food Co.
2025-05-10 06:00 - 18:50 | Daniel’s Gormout Foods Co., 751 Ventura Street, Fillmore, California, 93015, United States
*Time Change*

Join us before our Nighthawk field trip for food and drinks at Daniel’s Gourmet Food Co. in Fillmore! Contact Sammy Cowell (818) 470-7098, if you’re interested in going!

Monthly Program-NATIVE PLANTS AND FIRE SAFETY
2025-05-05 19:00 - 20:30
Ojai Valley Land Conservancy’s Rewild Ojai Coordinator, Claire Woolson, will give a presentation and discussion on using native plants to create habitat for birds in your own backyard. Claire will talk about the importance of native plants and offer resources to add them to your yard. In addition, she will discuss wildfire and how to incorporate firewise tactics while still using native plants.

JOIN US AT THE WESTERN FOUNDATION!

We have the privilege of holding our meetings at the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology (also known as the Bird Museum), 439 Calle San Pablo in Camarillo. If you arrive when the doors open at 6:30, you’ll have the rare opportunity to look around the museum’s collections for a half hour before the meeting starts at 7:00 pm. (Also check out wfvz.org)

CVAS’s meetings will be hybrid, simultaneously live at WFVZ (recommended) and on Zoom. The link to join on Zoom is https://zoom.us/j/6155249106.

Anyone interested in joining us for dinner at Wood Ranch Camarillo before the meeting, let Chrystal know you’re coming (805-261-9885), then meet at the restaurant by 5:00 pm.

🌊Santa Clara River Estuary
2025-05-03 08:00 - 11:00 | Surfer’s Knoll, 1600 Spinnaker Dr, Ventura, CA, 93001
Meet at 8 am at the Surfer’s Knoll parking lot off of Spinnaker Drive. The beginning of May marks the tail end of shorebird migration, the peak of songbird migration, and the beginning of the breeding season for summer residents, and Santa Clara River Estuary is a great place to see all of this in action! We will look for ducks, gulls, phalaropes, plovers, swallows, warblers, and more.

Trip leader – Sammy Cowell: (818) 470-7098

2025 CVAS Bird-friendly Garden Tour
2025-04-27 09:00 - 15:00
Our tour will feature yards which provide habitat for our native birds and demonstrate the use of drought tolerant California native plants in the landscape. This year the gardens will be located in Ventura. Hosts will be on site to answer questions. The tour is free of charge.

CVAS has a mission to make the public aware of the importance and beauty of birds, natural habitats, native plants and wildlife. At a time when bird populations are in decline due in large part to loss of habitat, we are dedicated toward promoting the creation of viable habitat for both local and migratory birds in our area. Our Bird-Friendly Garden Tours serve to educate and promote awareness about the importance of California native plants in supporting our bird populations, because native plants support the native bugs that birds feed to their babies. We encourage you to spread the word and bring your friends!

If you are interested in attending this year’s tour, please RSVP to cvasbfgt@gmail.com NO LATER THAN Friday, April 18th, 2025.

When registering, please include the FIRST and LAST NAME of each guest who will be attending, along with your E-MAIL and a PHONE NUMBER. You will receive confirmation within 72 hours of your RSVP. If you do not receive confirmation, please check your SPAM or Junk mail. If you do not find the confirmation, please resubmit your RSVP and add this e-mail to your safe-senders list.

Two days prior to the tour, you will receive a list of addresses. After the tour, you will receive a follow-up e-mail with information relevant to planting a bird-friendly native garden habitat.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

· No restroom facilities will be available. Sorry

· No dogs will be allowed in any of the gardens.

· We encourage plant photography

· There will be no charge for this educational tour.

🌵Big Morongo Canyon Preserve
2025-04-26 08:00 - 17:00 | Big Morongo, 11055 East Dr., Morongo Valley, CA, 92256, United States
Big Morongo Preserve is one of the best places in southern California for migrant flycatchers, warblers, vireos, and other species but also hosts some great breeding birds. We can expect to see (or hear) Summer and Western Tanagers, Brown-crested and Vermilion Flycatchers, Bullock’s and Hooded Orioles, Yellow-Breasted Chat, Bell’s Vireo, as well as migrants and desert residents. Bring lunch, snacks, and plenty of water. In the afternoon we may look for Black-throated Sparrow and Scott’s Oriole.Meet at Covington Park. Take I-10 to Hwy 62, go north 10 miles to Morongo Valley and then turn right on Park Avenue. Please contact

Pete Robertshaw (909 771-9720) ahead of time if you are interested, to better coordinate meeting times and carpools.

🐻 Bear Divide
2025-04-19 06:00 - 10:00 | Bear Divide Picnic Area, 21525 Santa Clara Truck Trail, Canyon Country, CA, 91387, United States
Bear Divide is a narrow pass in the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County that funnels thousands of birds through a tiny gap in the mountain ridge with hundreds of birds flying by at eye level per minute. Dawn flight is the best time to witness this spectacle, so we plan to be at Bear Divide by 6 a.m. If you want to carpool, contact Sammy Cowell to arrange a meeting spot. There may also be an opportunity to watch banders catch and tag migrants with mist nets.

Trip leader: Sammy Cowell (818 470-7098).

🪻Conejo Valley Botanical Garden
2025-04-13 08:00 - 11:00 | Conejo Valley Botanic Garden, 400 W. Gainsborough Rd, Thousand Oaks, CA, 91360
As migration heats up, the Conejo Valley Botanical Garden offers birds a nice resting stop in the middle of Thousand Oaks. There is a decent chance to see multiple different warbler species, vireos, flycatchers, orioles, and other migrants.

Meet at the parking lot off Jeaunine Dr.

Trip leader: David Person (805 469-6806)

April Monthly Program-The Klabundes’ Great Eclipse Birding Adventure
2025-04-07 19:00
The Klabundes’ Great Eclipse Birding Adventure

On April 8th 2024, North America was treated to the spectacle of a total solar eclipse as the moon’s shadow passed across the continent, from Mexico to Newfoundland. Many of us scurried to points along the path of totality. Some were greeted by clouds, but others got lucky and had beautiful clear skies. Don and Chrystal Klabunde were among the lucky. So, join us on April 7th as they present photos from a few birding hot spots along their cross-country drive to Indiana as well as Don’s awesome photos of the 2024 total eclipse!

🪽Sisar Canyon
2025-04-05 08:00 - 11:00 | Sisar Canyon, 12799 Sisar Canyon Rd, Ojai, CA, 93023
Sisar Canyon is a great spot to see migrating warblers, vireos, and flycatchers as they forage throughout the oaks and riparian of the canyon. It’s also a decent spot to see Black-chinned and Costa’s Hummingbirds! Meet at 8 am at the parking lot off Sisar Rd. Parking is very limited, so carpooling is suggested.

Trip leader: Spencer Seale (805 746-9789).

🛣️ Cañada Larga Road
2025-03-29 08:00 | Canada Larga Road, 180 Canada Larga Rd, Ventura, CA, 93001
Saturday, Mar 29th: Cañada Larga Road

The ranchland along Cañada Larga Road provides great habitat for many grassland species, and the riparian habitat along the creek is a great place to spot early migrants. Meet at 8:00 am at the beginning of the road, and we will drive up the canyon together, stopping at various points.

Trip leader: Marc Better (510) 919-5283

🦗Potrero Open Space
2025-03-23 08:00 - 11:00 | Rancho Potrero, 5020 Lynn Rd, Thousand Oaks, California, 91320, United States
*DATE CHANGE*

Sunday, Mar 23nd: Potrero Open Space

Meet at 8:00 am in the Rancho Potrero Trailhead parking lot off Lynn Road. This open space is ideal habitat for a variety of grassland species! We’ll specifically be looking for the local population of Grasshopper Sparrows that winter and breed in the area. Vesper Sparrow and Western Meadowlark overwinter as well, and swallows and kingbirds might be arriving early.

Trip leader: Ryan Burnett (530) 258-6742

🦅Lake Casitas
2025-03-15 08:00 - 11:00 | Lake Casitas, 11311 Santa Ana Rd, Ventura, CA, 93001, United States
Thanks to Ojai Rotary Club, we will be able to charter a small boat out onto the lake! Space is limited, so please text Sammy at (818) 470-7098 or email him at fieldtrips@conejovalleyaudubon.org if you are interested in coming on this trip. Meet outside the lake entrance at 8:00 am, and we’ll carpool in, since the cost is $20 per car.

Trip leaders: Sammy Cowell (818) 470-7098 and Jerry Maryniuk

🛶Lake Piru
2025-03-08 08:00 - 11:00 | Lake Piru, 4780 Piru Canyon Rd, Piru, CA, 93040
Meet at 8:00 am at Warring Park in Piru. We’ll look for the largest bird in North America, the California Condor as well as other large raptors, plus waterfowl, and early spring migrants. The entrance fee will be $5 per car for this field trip, instead of the normal $10, so be sure to tell them you are part of the CVAS birding group.

Trip leaders: Peter Robertshaw (909) 771-9720.

© Don Klabunde

SMITHSONIAN BIRD FRIENDLY® CERTIFICATION
2025-03-03 19:00 - 20:30 | Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology, 439 Calle San Pablo, Camarillo, CA, 93012
Smithsonian Bird Friendly® certification

Did you know that many of the brilliant birds flitting across North American backyards are coffee connoisseurs—and you can help them out with your own coffee choices? Many migrant songbirds spend winters on farms where coffee grows under tall trees. Developed by Smithsonian scientists, Bird Friendly® is the only certification that guarantees every coffee bean sold is grown in a way that protects habitat for birds and other wildlife. As the gold standard in biodiversity-friendly certifications, all Bird Friendly coffee comes from organic and deforestation-free farms that sustain diverse, native shade trees on their land. In 2023, the Bird Friendly program certified over 14,000 hectares of land in 12 countries, with 3.58 million pounds of coffee moving through the certified supply chain.

Join Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center’s Laura Rathmell as she discusses coffee, birds, and how your morning cup of coffee can protect the migratory birds we know and love.

To learn more about the Bird Friendly program and where to buy Bird Friendly® certified coffee, visit https://birdfriendly.si.edu

We have the privilege of holding our meetings at the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology (also known as the Bird Museum), 439 Calle San Pablo in Camarillo. If you arrive when the doors open at 6:30, you’ll have the rare opportunity to look around the museum’s collections for a half hour before the meeting starts at 7:00 pm. (Also check out wfvz.org)

CVAS’s meetings will be hybrid, simultaneously live at WFVZ (recommended) and on Zoom. The link to join on Zoom is https://zoom.us/j/6155249106.

Anyone interested in joining us for dinner at Wood Ranch Camarillo before the meeting, let Chrystal know you’re coming (805-261-9885), then meet at the restaurant by 5:00 pm.

CVAS ANNUAL DINNER & AUCTION
2025-03-02 17:30 - 21:00 | Palm Garden Hotel, 495 Ventu Park Road, Thousand Oaks, California, 91320
This is our annual gala fundraiser. Click here for full info

Carrizo Plains 🌷
2025-02-22 00:00 - 23:59 | Carrizo Plain Meeting Point, 32660 CA-33, Maricopa, CA, 93252, United States
Take a trip to the beautiful Carrizo plain where Ferruginous Hawks, Prairie Falcons, Golden Eagles, Mountain Bluebirds, and Mountain Plovers like to spend the winter! This is an all day trip, so be prepared! Meet at 8 a.m. at the corner of Hwy 166/33 and Soda Lake Rd. Trip leaders: Thelma Williams and Dee Lyon (805) 427-0987

Great Backyard Bird Count 🐦
2025-02-15 08:00 - 10:00
Every year in February, the National Audubon Society hosts the Great Backyard Bird Count (https://www.birdcount.org/). This year, our chapter will participate by actually birdwatching in people’s backyards! We will have 4 home locations (Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park, and Camarillo) to choose from. If you are interested in joining contact Sammy Cowell (818-470-7098, samueldavidcowell@gmail.com) to be assigned a home! Afterwards, we will hope onto a Zoom call to share our lists!

Lake Sherwood 🦆🏘️
2025-02-08 08:00 - 11:00 | Lake Sherwood, 2201 Stafford Rd., Westlake Village, CA, 91361
Look for waterfowl and oak woodland denizens at the foothills of the Santa Monica’s! Space is limited, so call Bob Zwiegler (805) 496-0377 to get your name onto the list to get through the Stafford Rd. gate. Meet at 8 a.m.

ANNENBERG WILDLIFE CROSSING
2025-02-03 19:00 - 20:30 | Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology, 439 Calle San Pablo, Camarillo
Robert Rock, President & CEO of Rock Design Associates, leads the design of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in Agoura Hills, California. The project involves an ambitious collaboration between five core project partners including the National Wildlife Federation, the National Park Service, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains, and the Mountains Recreation Conservation Authority. Rock’s project team is comprised of over a dozen consultants with considerable expertise in their respective fields, from engineering to wildlife biology and from acoustic modeling to soil science. Rock’s expert team collaborates directly with Caltrans on the documentation and construction oversight of the crossing and the additional twelve acres of restored habitat that will reconnect the Simi Hills on the north to the Santa Monica Mountains on the south over the 101 Freeway. His talk will include insights into the thorough design process needed for such a project and the unique collaboration necessary to accomplish it. The concrete structure over the freeway has made incredible progress over the course of the last year and Rock’s talk will include an update on construction efforts as well as a few things to look forward to seeing on the project site this spring.

JOIN US AT THE WESTERN FOUNDATION!

We have the privilege of holding our meetings at the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology (also known as the Bird Museum), 439 Calle San Pablo in Camarillo. If you arrive when the doors open at 6:30, you’ll have the rare opportunity to look around the museum’s collections for a half hour before the meeting starts at 7:00 pm. (Also check out wfvz.org)

CVAS’s meetings will be hybrid, simultaneously live at WFVZ (recommended) and on Zoom. The link to join on Zoom is https://zoom.us/j/6155249106.

Anyone interested in joining us for dinner at Wood Ranch Camarillo before the meeting, let Chrystal know you’re coming (805-261-9885), then meet at the restaurant by 5:00 pm.

Bard Lake 🦢
2025-02-03 09:00 - 12:00 | Bard Lake, 2100 Olsen Rd, Thousand Oaks, CA, 91360, United States
Bard Lake is a 230-acre reservoir operated by Calleguas Water District. After a brief introduction by the water district, we will walk around the 3-mile loop around the reservoir looking at different duck and gull species (note: golf carts are available for those who would like them). The lake is typically closed to the public, so this is a special treat for CVAS! Make sure to email fieldtrips@conejovalleyaudubon.org to complete the liability form! Trip leader – Sammy Cowell

Pt. Mugu Naval Base ✈️🪖
2025-01-24 08:00 - 13:00 | Pt. Mugu Naval Base, 10A Naval Air Rd., Port Hueneme, CA, 93041, United States
Join us as we explore Ventura County’s most biodiverse hotspot (please note, that this trip is open to current CVAS members only). The Navy must background check each attendee before attendance, so members will need to email fieldtrips@conejovalleyaudubon.org to complete and return the form by January 3rd! Also, this trip lasts longer than our normal field trips (8 a.m. – 1 p.m.), and you are not allowed to be on the base without our trip leaders. So, if you cannot make it the whole time, please come another time.

Target species include Brant, Black Skimmer, shorebird species, Vermillion Flycatcher, and more!

Trip Leaders – Martin Ruane and David Pereksta.

Mt. Clef Open Space/CLU ⛰️🌵
2025-01-19 08:00 - 11:00 | Briar Bluff (CLU), 200 Bainbridge Ct, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360, Thousand Oaks, CA, 91360, United States
Poke through the prickly pear patches (but try not to get poked!) as we look for roadrunners, Cactus Wren, and the endangered California Gnatcatcher! If time permits, we may go down to CLU and explore different habitats on campus. Meet at the end of Bainbridge Ct. at 8 am. Trip leader: Sammy Cowell (818) 470-7098.

Salton Sea 🌵🌊*CANCELLED*
2025-01-11 08:00 - 2025-01-12 17:00
*This trip has been cancelled*

This oasis in the desert beckons! For this overnight trip, we will start early Saturday afternoon, near the north end of the Salton Sea, and then probably bird down the west side of the lake to Unit 1. We’ll spend the night in Brawley, bird a little around the town early on Sunday. We will continue to work our way north on the east side of the lake, stopping at several hotspots before heading home Sunday afternoon. Please note that the trip will require limited driving on unpaved roads.

Please contact Peter Robertshaw (peterrobertshaw@verizon.net, 909-771-9720) for the details and to arrange for carpooling and lodging recommendations.

Target birds: thousands of Snow and Ross’s Geese, Sandhill Cranes, lots of ducks and waders, rails, raptors, Burrowing Owls, Mountain Bluebirds and Plovers, and desert species like Gambel’s Quail, Abert’s Towhee, doves, Gila and Ladder-Backed Woodpeckers, and Vermilion Flycatcher.
