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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – This year, the annual Clear Lake Christmas Bird Count, held by the Redbud Audubon Society, will be on Saturday, Dec. 15.
The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is a traditional project of Audubon societies around the country and takes place between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5.
Each December birders gather to record every individual bird and species encountered during the day. Each count group has a designated circle of 15 miles in diameter and tries to cover as much ground as possible within a certain period of time.
The data collected by each count group are then sent to the National Audubon Headquarters in New York.
Count data is published in a special edition of the National Audubon Society American Birds Magazine.
Redbud Audubon invites all birders and nature enthusiasts to join in the upcoming Christmas Bird Count. Birders of all skill levels are encouraged to participate.
This is Audubon’s longest running wintertime tradition and is the 38th year the count has taken place in Lake County.
There will be two main groups that participants might wish to join – one will meet at the Ranch House at Anderson Marsh State Historic Park and the other will meet at the visitor’s parking lot at the Clear Lake State Park. Both groups will meet at 8 a.m. and continue through to early or midafternoon.
After the count, participants are invited to a pizza dinner at 6 p.m. at Kelseyville Pizza on State Street in Kelseyville to join in the count compilation where the tally of the day’s sightings is compiled.
Previous to the bird count, at the Thursday, Dec. 13, meeting at the Presbyterian Church Social Hall in Kelseyville, Redbud Audubon will present an extensive slide show and discussion of distinguishing features of birds that are often seen during the annual count. The meeting is open to the public and visitors are encouraged to attend.
If you are interested in participating in the bird count, call Darlene Hecomovich, at 707-928-5591 or email her at
The Christmas Bird Count began more than a century ago when 27 conservationists in 25 localities, led by scientist and writer Frank Chapman, changed the course of ornithological history.
On Christmas Day in 1900, the small group posed an alternative to the “side hunt,” a Christmas day activity in which teams competed to see who could shoot the most birds and small mammals.
Instead, Chapman proposed to identify, count, and record all the birds they saw, founding what is now considered to be the world’s most significant citizen-based conservation effort – and century-old institution.
Scientists rely on the remarkable trend data of Audubon’s CBC to better understand how birds and the environment are faring throughout North America – and what needs to be done to protect them. Data from Audubon’s signature Citizen Science program are at the heart of numerous peer-reviewed scientific studies.
National Audubon’s president, David Yarnold states: “The information gathered by its army of dedicated volunteers leads directly to solutions. At a time when people wonder if individual actions can make a difference, we know that our volunteers enable scientists to learn about the impacts of environmental threats like climate change and habitat loss. That’s good news not just for birds but for all of us.”
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
Gov. Jerry Brown and First Lady Anne Gust Brown hosted the 81st annual Capitol Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony Wednesday night on the West Steps of the State Capitol in Sacramento.
Gov. Brown lit the Capitol Christmas tree with 10-year-old Christian Anderson of Costa Mesa.
This year's tree is a 50-foot tall white fir tree from the Latour Demonstration State Forest located near Redding in Shasta County. It is the first Capitol Christmas tree from a state forest.
The tree is decorated with hundreds of handcrafted ornaments made by children and adults with developmental disabilities who receive services and support from the state’s development centers and 21 nonprofit regional centers.
It is illuminated by approximately 10,000 ultra-low wattage LED lights.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
UKIAH, Calif. – A Santa Rosa man and a Lakeport man escaped injury on Tuesday when the moving truck in which they were riding overturned on Highway 128.
Ramon Jesus Severns, 37, of Santa Rosa and Tracy Dean Faustino, 50, of Lakeport were involved in the single-vehicle crash, which occurred early Tuesday afternoon, according to the California Highway Patrol’s Ukiah office.
Severns was driving a 1997 GMC 6500 box truck with riding Faustino as his passenger, the report said.
CHP Dispatch received a call at approximately 1:19 p.m. about a loaded moving truck having overturned on Highway 128 approximately a mile and a half west of Fish Rock Road, according to the report.
CHP units responded and when they arrived on scene they found both the eastbound and westbound lanes of traffic blocked, the report explained.
The CHP said traffic detours subsequently were put in place. The highway would be reopened at 6:20 p.m. that night.
Based on the CHP investigation, Severns had become distracted by items in the vehicle and allowed the truck to drift to the right and leave the roadway.
Severns lost control of the truck, which the CHP said overturned and came to rest against a telephone pole.
The CHP said Severns and Faustino, both of whom were wearing their seat belts, were uninjured.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation, the CHP said.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The holiday season is supposed to be a time for family, friends and festive celebrations. Unfortunately, each year between Thanksgiving and New Year’s it is also a time when there is a tragic jump in the number of alcohol-related highway fatalities.
Since 1981, every President of the United States has proclaimed December “National Drunk and Drugged Driving (3D) Prevention Month” to help underscore the public’s commitment to preventing impaired driving and promoting the use of designated drivers and sober ride programs.
The month of December and the New Year’s Eve holiday are also often highlighted by significant increases in state and local law enforcement efforts to combat impaired driving such as the use of sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols.
The California Highway Patrol reported that in Lake County over the past two years there have been five fatalities and 96 injuries due to alcohol-impaired driving crashes.
Impaired driving is one of America’s deadliest problems. In 2010, 10,228 people were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, accounting for nearly one-third (31 percent) of all traffic-related deaths in the United States.
Every day almost 30 people die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. This amounts to one death every 48 minutes.
The annual cost of alcohol-related crashes totals more than $51 billion. The cost of a person’s first DUI, without a crash or any injury, is estimated to be $8000.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), about three in every 10 Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at some point in their lives.
Lake County Alcohol and Other Drug Services is joining with other national, state and local highway safety and law enforcement officials to remind everyone this holiday season to always designate a sober driver before each holiday party or event involving alcohol.
Remembering to designate a sober driver before the party begins is just one of several, simple steps to help avoid a tragic crash or an arrest for impaired driving.
Other important reminders include:
- Never get behind the wheel of your vehicle if you’ve been drinking, buzzed driving is drunk driving;
- If impaired, call a taxi – use mass transit if available – or call a sober friend or family member to come and get you;
- Or, just stay where you are and sleep it off until you are sober.
- If you are hosting a party this holiday season, remind your guests to always plan ahead to designate a sober driver, always offer alcohol-free beverages during the event, and make sure all of your guests leave with a sober driver; and
- Friends don’t let friends drive drunk. Take the keys and never let a friend leave your sight if you think they are about to drive while impaired.
Driving impaired or riding with someone who is impaired is simply not worth the risk.
The consequences are serious and real. Not only do you risk killing yourself or someone else, but the trauma and financial costs of a crash or an arrest for driving while impaired can be significant and not the way you want to spend your holiday season.
So remember, this holiday season, if you catch a buzz, catch a ride.
For more information or if you have questions please contact Lake County Behavioral Health in Lakeport at 707-994-6494 or in Lucerne at 707-274-9101.