FOCL Points April 2010

Excerpt from: The Ruddy Duck by Rich Sonnenberg

The smallest duck that spends the winter at the lagoon is the Ruddy Duck measuring only fifteen inches long, compared to eighteen inches for the Lesser Scaup, and twenty inches for the American Wigeon. The Ruddy is a chunky little duck with a proportionally large head and bill, giving a rounded appearance floating on the water. It is distinguished by its long, narrow, stiff tail feathers which serve as a rudder, hence its nickname "stiff tail". Read more...

FOCL Points October 2009

Excerpt from: Everything’s Swale at Colorado Lagoon by Eric Zahn, Restoration Director

On the first day of September 2009 the groundbreaking of a bioswale at Colorado Lagoon took place. This undulation in the earth will act as the interface between the Little Rec Golf course and a portion the Lagoon’s western arm. Currently, immeasurable gallons of freshwater from the golf course irrigation system runs-off directly into Lagoon waters, without filtration. This run-off, filled with fertilizers and pesticides, will now be filtered by a human-made bioswale slated for completion before the end of 2009. Read more...  

FOCL Points March 2009

Excerpt from: Something’s Fishy by Eric Zahn, Restoration Director

YES people fish at the Colorado Lagoon! And YES they actually do catch fish!! It seems fishy, but it is true, there are plenty of fish living in the Colorado Lagoon and humans fish there on a daily basis. Many species of fish actually depend on inshore marine habitats to complete some part of their life history. The 11 acres of water at the Lagoon provide areas for fish to take shelter, forage, mate and mature. Many of these fish also provide a food source for predators like pelicans, cormorants, and grebes. Read more...  

FOCL Points September 2008

Excerpt from: Terns at the Lagoon by Rich Sonnenberg, President of the El Dorado Audubon Society

Much less common at the lagoon is the Least Tern. As its name implies it is the smallest member of the tern family, measuring nine inches in length compared to thirteen inches on the Forester’s Tern. The Least Tern’s wingspan is twenty inches versus thirty one inches on the Forester’s. Also the Least Tern has yellow legs and bill, along with a white forehead. The California Least Tern, which is the subspecies seen at the lagoon, is considered an endangered species. In our area, the Least Terns nest at the Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge and at Bolsa Chica. They show up in April and are usually gone by August. Read more...  

FOCL Points March 2008

Excerpt from: American Coot by Rich Sonnenberg, President of the El Dorado Audubon Society

What is the most common bird at the Colorado Lagoon in winter? It’s the American Coot, or “mud hen” as they are sometimes called, with over 300 of them at the Lagoon currently enjoying their winter in “sunny” southern California. Lots of coots stay year-around in the southland, but the coots at the Lagoon, except maybe one or two, take off in the spring, presumably to their breeding grounds in Canada. Read more...  

FOCL Points September 2007

Excerpt from: Ice Plant: Floral Friend or Foreign Foe?? by Eric Zahn, Restoration Director

Some call it “sea-fig,” and some call it “Hottentot,” others call it “Carpobrotus,” but most people call it “ice plant.” Yet, regardless of its name, ice plant has become quite a controversial California cultivar.

In fact ice plant does not refer to just a single organism. There is an entire botanical family of plants regarded as ice plants.  Ice plants belong to the Aizoaceae or “fig-marigold” family, which consists of over 2,000 herbaceous succulent species of plant, almost all of whom originate exclusively from a small coastal area in South Africa.  These plants vary in shape, size, color, and habitat preference; however, they are all limited to growing within Mediterranean climates. Read more...

FOCL Points April 2007

Excerpt from: A Salt Marsh Unseen by Eric Zahn, Restoration Director

During a short walk around the Colorado Lagoon a watchful eye can come across all sorts of curious marine organisms.  The ice cream cone shaped shells of the California horn snails dot the mud and sand flats. Underneath the footbridge, which has become encrusted with bryozoan colonies and sea squirts, moon jellies are gently undulating. Pelicans dive, egrets perch, and herons stalk their prey, while cormorants spread their wings as they seemingly worship the sun.  It is enough stimuli for an enthusiastic photographer to fill up their entire memory card. Read more...