Project Description
The Orange County Chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology (OCSCB) plans to restore 4.8 acres of endangered habitat in the Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve of Orange County, California. As a part of the Coastal Orange County Wetlands Important Bird Area, Upper Newport Bay provides critical habitat for both water and terrestrial birds. Restoring habitat will support more birds, including the Federally Threatened coastal California Gnatcatcher. The restoration process will stress community involvement by engaging the members of OCSCB and the surrounding Orange County community. All data collected in the monitoring of the project site will be made available to the Avian Knowledge Network through online data entry. Birders in the surrounding community will be trained in area search techniques to ensure that monitoring is carried out over the long term. We will submit checklists from monitoring and birding days to California eBird.