POMONA VALLEY BIRD ALLIANCE
Formerly Pomona Valley Audubon Society

 

 Dan Guthrie Bird Oasis
PVBA acting in conjunction with the city of Claremont has established a bird observation and feeding  station along the Thompson Creek Trail. This station provides feeders and a solar powered dripping water supply where cyclists,walkers, and dog owners can gaze upon the feeding birds. There is an illustrated  guide to the common birds of this area to aid in identification. Volunteers are needed to monitor and restock the bird feeders and to do minor cleanup and planting jobs. for details contact:
Jenny Antoniaks antoniaks.cj@verizon.net

Eyes and Ears on Burrowing Owls 

Since 2017, the dedicated volunteers in our PVBA owl project have monitored Burrowing Owl nesting sites in Chino and Ontario during the nesting season.  In addition to surveying owls and burrows, we are working on protecting the remaining nesting places so the owls are not totally extirpated from our area.  

Each year we start monitoring the owls in March and are looking for volunteers to keep a record of the birds at some of the known sites in our area and look for additional burrowing sites. The extent of your involvement is up to you: either once a week or once a month is fine. Skipping a time for travel or other activities is doable. Also, unlike most owls, Burrowing Owls are often active during the day, so they are easier to observe. If you would prefer to work directly on owl conservation, that is also an option. We will focus on how to improve the mitigation areas in Chino to do a better job of attracting nesting owls to those safe areas. This is an opportunity to get to know Burrowing Owls better, to spend a little time observing these fascinating birds, and to help protect the owls to ensure that they will be nesting in our area for years to come. 
For more information, please contact Suzanne Thompson, sthompson@pomona.edu

 North Etiwanda Preserve 

The NEP is a habitat conservation area established in 1998 as the result of a mitigation for construction of the 210 Freeway. It is located at the north end of Etiwanda Ave. in northeastern Rancho Cucamonga at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. It consists of over 700 acres of unique Riversidean Alluvial Fan Sage Scrub plant community and is home to the birds and animals associated with both coastal sage and chaparral. Twice a year in April and October PVBA takes a field trip to the preserve and counts the wild birds. This is one of our major Citizen Science projects and our data is shared with the county biologist who manage the habitat. The survey involves a moderately strenuous 5–6-hour hike through the trails of the preserve; volunteers are always welcome. For details contact: tinastoner@earthlink.net

Unique Opportunities

PVBA takes our ‘show on the road’ several times a year by participating in popular public and environmental education events in the community. You can join our crew of volunteers to educate the public, young and old alike, about the importance of birds and conservation.

for more information on any of these events, please contact us at pomonavalleybirdalliance@gmail.com 

We regularly have a booth at Claremont’s Village Venture Arts and Crafts Faire and Earth Day Celebration as well as two special events at the CA Botanic Garden, the Family Bird Festival in February (held in conjunction with the Great Backyard Bird Count) and Things That Go Bump in the Night in October. We have participated in school science fairs, special events at the San Dimas Canyon Nature Center, and we invite the public to “Meet the Birds” on the Thompson Creek Trail at the Dan Guthrie Bird Oasis. Our mission is to share the excitement of birds and nature with our community, and that’s what we are passionate about.

We have a variety of displays on important topics like the dangers of rodenticides and how to prevent birds from flying into glass windows. Ideas new displays and help with creating them is always welcome.

FALL 2025 EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES

all is a busy time for our chapter with lots of community outreach events, three in October and one in November. And our calendar is “falling” into place.  If you’d like to participate in any of the following outreach events, email tinastoner@earthlink.net.

The 2025 dates:

Halloween Nature Crawl

at the San Dimas Canyon Nature Center – Saturday, October 11 from 3 – 6:30 pm (set up at 2:00) This is a fun event where we do owl education and you even get to dress up in costume (we’ve had owls, bats, pirates, witches, you name it). There were over 1,000 people there last year and this has become the nature center’s big event and fund raiser of the year. Email tinastoner@earthlink.net if interested.

Things That Go Bump in the Night – Fri and Sat. October 17 and 18

at the California Botanic Garden – Friday and Saturday, October 17 and 18 from 5:30 – 9 pm (set up at 4:30) This two-night ticketed event admits 800 visitors each night. It’s usually close to a sellout crowd on Friday night and always sold out on Saturday. Our station is called “The Owlery” and we’ll be doing owl (and other birds of the night) education and have live education ambassador birds from the nature center and our falconer friends. Email tinastoner@earthlink.net if interested.

Village Venture in the Claremont Village – Sat. Oct. 25

Arts and Crafts Festival on First Street in the Claremont Village – Saturday, October 26 from 8 am to 5 pm (set up at 7 am) please indicate your time-of-day preference (hours you can work) and if you can help with set-up or breakdown. This is our biggest community outreach event of the year and a long-standing tradition. With live birds in the booth from our falconer friends, our booth continues to be one of the most popular at this event attended by thousands of people. We’ll be fund-raising for the San Dimas Raptor Rescue as well.Email tinastoner@earthlink.net if interested.

Fall in the Farm – Saturday  November 22