The Egret Corner
February 2021 | Issue 8
Flowering Baccharis salicifolia, commonly known as mule fat or seep willow. Mule fat is a flexible, yet hearty flowering riparian shrub. Native to the southwest of North America, it's often found near freshwater sources. This plant can be seen around Ballona's freshwater marsh.

Photo by Jonathan Coffin, edited by Lisa Rachal.
Dear Ballona Wetlands Advocates,

Welcome to our monthly newsletter! Today we are happy to share an activist that has helped tackled a large multi-million corporation, a romantic bird display, and a survey form for you to share your thoughts on our newsletter and get a chance to receive a Starbucks gift card!

Project Updates:

  • our 3rd nature education virtual class has been completed for the new year, if you know a group (age: 7-11 years) who may be interested, please fill out this form

  • currently reaching out to elementary schools and offering our virtual class

  • exploring other methods to safely reach out to students during the school year and summer

Please enjoy the rest of the newsletter, for previous issues visit our newsletter archive. If you have any questions or concerns email lisa@ballona.org.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Sincerely,

The Ballona Wetlands Team
Diversity in the Field: Presenting Margie Richard
Margie Richard is a prime example of how anyone can stand up to a large multi-million polluting corporation like Shell.

Richard grew up 25 ft away from Shells Chemical Plant, in the historically black neighborhood Old Diamond of Norco, Louisiana. After a series of residential and factory causalities and health-related illness and deaths, Richard became an unwavering activist.

Richard fought for over 27yrs and succeeded in getting Shell to reduce emissions and finance the relocation of all of Old Diamond's residents. After this success, she continued to work with and hold Shell accountable in Norco and expanded her activism to help other communities like hers in the U.S. and internationally.
Bird of the Month - Clark's Grebe
Interesting Facts
With Valentine's day just passing what better bird to showcase this month than the Clark's Grebe, which performs a striking courtship to find their life mate. Click here to view their beautiful display.

Habitat - Fresh and brackish waters

Diet - Mostly fish but occasionally other aquatic creatures and insects such as salamanders, crustaceans, worms, and grasshoppers

Nesting - Floating nest near the edge of the water by emerging vegetation
Photo: Jonathan Coffin, edited by Lisa Rachal
Facts from allaboutbirds.org
*Birds featured here have been seen at the Ballona Reserve or in the surrounding area.

Get the Chance to Receive a Starbucks Gift Card!
Thank you for viewing our monthly newsletter, the Egret Corner. We hope you have found our content both useful and enjoyable. Our newsletter was created for our supporters, so your views and input are very important.

Please help us improve our newsletter with your feedback by filling out this quick survey and letting us know your thoughts (answers will be anonymous).

As a thank you for taking the time to complete our survey, we will be randomly selecting ONE email from the completed forms to receive a $10 Starbucks gift card.

The winner will be selected this Friday on February 19, 2021.

Your Contributions Further Our Efforts!
Contributions collected are used to advance our efforts to advocate for the greater Ballona Wetlands ecosystem. Any contributions are greatly appreciated.
The Ballona Wetlands Land Trust is a non-profit community organization
dedicated to advocating for the greater Ballona Wetlands ecosystem and to facilitating access to this ecosystem for education, stewardship, and public outreach.