FROM THE DIRECTOR: Spring 2025

Together with Mountainfilm on Tour in the fall, the Rewild Ojai Native Garden Tour in the spring is becoming a hallmark of OVLC’s seasonal calendar. We are thrilled to see the community embrace the intention and practice of “going native” in their yards! In its first two years, the tour has concluded at the beautiful Birdsong Ranch, which highlights the full breadth and beauty of what native plants contribute to a well-designed landscape. 

So, in anticipation of another great Garden Tour, my wife and I invited close friends from LA who are dedicated native gardeners. As the owners of a yard that has been featured in Theodore Payne Foundation’s native garden tour, they were excited to come see what Rewild Ojai had to offer. 

Unlike many of OVLC’s other events, a fair number of folks come from out of town for the Garden Tour. However, it was a totally unexpected visitor from much farther away that got the morning off to an auspicious start! At about 6:30 in the morning, as I was getting ready to go to Birdsong to help set up, I started hearing from birders from LA that they would be up in our area to see “the bird.” Having been entertaining the night before, I had no idea what they were talking about and checked eBird to see what was in the area. 

Amazingly, someone had reported a swallow-tailed kite the night before from Birdsong Ranch! As can be seen in the photo, there is no confusing a swallow-tailed kite for any other bird! I alerted Lizzy Chouinard (OVLC Board member and our host at Birdsong Ranch) that the bird had been reported and got a pithy and incredulous response. This is understandable since this bird, which was refound and watched at Birdsong for over an hour, represents only the third occurrence in California for that species. Accordingly, by the time I drove over to Birdsong, birders were lining the road! 

Birds so far out of range are referred to as vagrants and for many birders represent the pinnacle of the birding experience. For me the birding pinnacle is witnessing migration in full swing. Many Garden Tour participants saw the bird and questioned whether this wanderer was a consequence of our changing climate or some other environmental factor. There are many theories on the causes of vagrancy in birds but perhaps the most hopeful is the theory that vagrants are the outer fringes of an expanding population. Less hopeful is the thought that habitat destruction causes these individuals to need to explore further for suitable habitat. Conservation and restoration of habitat is therefore important for our native birds. 

The assembled birders all watched the bird circle up and head south. The last report of a sighting was from downtown Ventura where someone saw it heading south over Victoria Avenue. 

Tom Maloney, Executive Director