Sea and Sage Audubon Society (Sea and Sage) is an Orange County chapter of the National Audubon Society with nearly 3,500 members. We serve all of Orange County, advancing the appreciation, understanding, and conservation of birds, other wildlife and their habitats. The origins of the chapter can be found as far back as 1946, when Dr. Earl Sanders taught a class at Santa Ana Junior College where he and his students interested in birdwatching formed a “bird club.” An organizing meeting was held on July 7, 1946, when “over thirty-five interested bird enthusiasts were gathered together under the lovely oak trees at the Tucker Bird Sanctuary for a potluck dinner…”. The group was active from its inception, and we know about their activities thanks to minutes kept from that first and subsequent meetings.
The following are a few notes of interest from the earliest years:
- Members participated annually in the National Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count beginning in 1946.
- In 1947, a request was received from the American Ornithologists Union for food and clothing for ornithologists in need in Europe; a $10 package of food was sent to CARE, and a letter of appreciation came later from the German recipient.
- Records suggest that Roger Tory Peterson came to Orange County in 1948 to present “Audubon Screen Tours.”
- And in 1950, the name “Miss Fern Zimmerman” appears in chapter records for the first time – Miss Zimmerman was to become a figure of paramount importance in the development of the chapter.
News Article on Christmas Bird Count 1955
LA Times 1981
OC Register 1987
Here is a brief history of SJWS, also known as “the Marsh”: The site had been used for over 60 years by two duck hunting clubs which were still in operation when the Irvine Ranch Water District (IRWD) built the Michelson Water Recycling Plant on the site in 1966. The ponds at the marsh are used by IRWD to help naturally clean urban runoff from San Diego Creek and help protect Upper Newport Bay from excessive algal blooms. It was a longtime vision of Peer Swan, president of the IRWD Board of Directors, to see the Marsh developed as a wildlife sanctuary and focus of educational activities. In 1991, local philanthropist Joan Irvine Smith donated $100,000 to the National Audubon Society for “projects & studies relating to Education and Water Conservation” at the Marsh, and Sea and Sage was invited to oversee this public outreach. By 1992 the old bunkhouse on the site had been renovated as the new Audubon House, Trude Hurd had been hired as Project Director for the Marsh Education Program, and the first “test” group of fifth grade students had arrived for an education tour called Outdoor Adventures. The rest is (more) history!
2020
Current Gail Richards
Past Presidents
Doug Lithgow
Vic Leipzig
Bruce Aird
Jay Miller
Al Baumann
Tom Croom
Chris Obaditch
Neal Anderson
Bruce Aird / Neal Anderson
Mark Singer
Susan Sheakley
Chris Obaditch
Ginny Chester
John Bradley
Dick Kust
Ginny Chester
Dick Kust
Ferne Cohen
Marge Mazur
Ed Bauman / Marge Mazur
Ed Bauman
Don Jordan
Sam Berry
Margaret Carlberg
John Wilkerson
Barry Thomas
Jim Vandezande
William Paine
Ken Tanksley
Bob Anderson / Ken Tanksley
Elvera Hasford
Dale Woolley
Dwight Roberts
Gerry Gach
John Kochendorfer
Vanche Plumb
Sea and Sage Audubon Society
Oral History Project
In 2017, in anticipation of the chapter’s 60th anniversary celebration, the Archives and Records Committee began an oral history project, setting out to interview and make audio recordings of people who were influential in the history of the chapter. Individuals who have been interviewed to date are listed below in alphabetical order by last name. If you would like to listen to one or more interviews, contact Archives@Seaandsageaudubon.org. Each of these individuals has made significant contributions to Sea and Sage Audubon Society and/or to the conservation of habitats and wildlife in Orange County. There are many others we’d like to interview in the future.
Bruce Aird – Chapter President 2000, 2011 – 2014; expert birder, photographer, field trip leader, participant in Snowy Plover surveys, and longtime member of the Science Committee
Neal Anderson – Chapter President 2000 – 2002
(deceased 2/5/2020)
Sam Berry – Chapter President 1977 – 1979; longtime Conservation Committee participant (deceased 2/1/2018)
Pete Bloom – Dr. Peter Bloom is a raptor biologist who was introduced to Audubon by his mother at age 5, and who “grew up” in the Sea and Sage chapter. He has been a member since 1970 and became active in his teens in the efforts to save East Orange County canyons. He was a key field participant in the National Audubon Condor Program from 1982 – 1987 attaching patagial transmitters and removing the last California Condors from the wild in an effort to save the species. He continues to actively research raptors in locations around the world.
John Bradley – Chapter President 1991 – 1992, during which time the chapter made the decision to move to San Joaquin Marsh; the board then hired an Education Project Director (Trude Hurd), designed and moved into Audubon House, and established an Education Program at the Marsh.
Margaret Carlberg – Chapter President 1975 – 1977; Margaret and her husband Dave were key activists involved in saving the Bolsa Chica Wetlands. (deceased 11/7/2022)
Ginny Chester – Chapter President 1987 – 1989, 1992 – 1994; Ginny was a longtime activist in the efforts to save East Orange County canyons, and was also noted for her native plant garden. (deceased 1/2023)
Rick Derevan – Pro bono attorney in the early 1980’s in the legal efforts to save the East Orange County canyons
Peter DeSimone – Pete has been Manager of the Starr Ranch National Audubon Sanctuary in South Orange County since 1988; he is a longtime conservation activist and raptor expert. Pete sometimes offers hawk and owl banding trips for Sea and Sage members.
Pete DeSimone Up a Tree
Pete Holding a Barn Owl Chick
Sandy DeSimone – Dr. Sandy DeSimone has been Starr Ranch Director of Research, Education and Land Management since 1997; a biologist and teacher, she is an expert in Coastal Sage Scrub and in non-chemical removal of invasive plant species. She is also scientific director of the ongoing Audubon California BirdSeasons citizen science project in which Sea and Sage members have participated every month for three years – and counting!
Sylvia Gallagher – Dr. Sylvia Gallagher has been a chapter member since 1971. She has taught Birding Skills Workshops on a wide range of subjects every year since 1980, contributing to the birding knowledge of many hundreds of students. She organized and led the Orange County Breeding Bird Atlas project in the 1980’s, and she is longtime board member who has filled many roles in the chapter through the years. Her husband Jim took thousands of photos that are used by Sylvia in teaching her classes.
Lena Hayashi – Longtime chapter member and environmental activist, a key member with organizations including the Huntington Beach Wetlands Conservancy and the Orange Coast River Park. Lena was a docent at Newport Back Bay and other parks for the Anaheim School District. She was a backpacking trip leader for the Sierra Club, and she led a private group trip up Mount Kilimanjaro in 1998. Since 2002, Lena has continued to coordinate and volunteer for a number of monthly bird surveys within Orange County.
Carolyn Honer (deceased 4/21/2022) — A chapter member since 1958, Carolyn has served as a board member in several positions. She brought Sylvia Ranney into the chapter, and later, she met Jim Gallagher and brought him into the chapter especially for his photography skills. Carolyn introduced Sylvia Ranney and Jim Gallagher, and they were married on her patio.
Robert House – A chapter member since approximately 1956, Robert was a longtime biology teacher at Newport Harbor High School and also a summer national park ranger. His vision and long-term effort led to the establishment of the Environmental Nature Center in Newport Beach. He was an instructor for many summers at the Audubon Camp of the West in Dubois, WY. It was Robert who led the first international field trip for the National Audubon Society as well as many subsequent field trips around the globe.
Jay Miller – Chapter President 2008 – 2011. Jay was Programs Co-Chair with his wife Marquita for six years. He has been active for years with the Education Program, including Outdoor Adventures, Bat Walks, summer camps and community tours.
Marquita Miller – Marquita was chapter Programs Co-Chair with her husband Jay for six years as well as solo Programs Chair for two additional years. She has been active for years with the Education Program, including Outdoor Adventures, Bat Walks, summer camps and community tours.
Chris Obaditch – Chapter President 1994 – 1996, 2002 – 2004. Chris has been a longtime board member and chapter liaison to the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary Board of Directors. He led monthly bird walks at the San Joaquin Marsh for 25 years.
Kaaren Perry – Kaaren was chapter Education Chair from 1990 to 2000, during the years when the chapter negotiated a contract with the Irvine Ranch Water District to move to the San Joaquin Marsh and to establish an Education Program. She was Education Chair during the design and set-up of Audubon House in a historic bunkhouse at the Marsh and during the hiring of Education Project Director Trude Hurd, all in 1992. She participated in the planning and initial curriculum design of Sea and Sage school tours, and it was Kaaren’s sixth grade class that participated in 1992 in the first school tour at the Marsh. Since moving to Morro Bay, Kaaren has led yearly field trips for Sea and Sage in the Morro Bay area, and she continues to be active with education programs for Morro Coast Audubon. Her yard in Morro Bay may be the only back yard anywhere that has hosted all three “countable” North American vultures!
Connie Spenger – A chapter member from 1968 to 2003, Connie served as publicity chair and wrote many articles for the Tattler. She has long been a conservation activist in numerous causes including Tecate Cypress, the saving of East Orange County canyons, mountain lions, and native plants.
Ralph Sugg – Ralph was a game warden with California Fish and Game at the San Joaquin Marsh during the Duck Club and duck hunting years and provided many details about those years at the Marsh; later, he was Director on the board from 2015 – 2018.
Peer Swan – Peer is a longtime elected member of the Irvine Ranch Water District Board of Directors and served many years as Board President. He has been the most significant individual whose vision and support of a wildlife sanctuary at the Marsh contributed to its creation and development; similarly, his support was instrumental in bringing Audubon to the Marsh and in the establishment of on-site educational programs, and he has been supportive of Sea and Sage ever since. See also Birth of SJWS
SJWS Planning 1990’s
Ranch Hand of the Year 1997
Jerry Tolman – Jerry participated for fifty unbroken years in Christmas Bird Counts from 1969 through 2019, until his string was broken by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. He has been an avid North American and international birder, perhaps best described as an “extreme birder”. Jerry sighted and reported the first North American record of Yellow-breasted Bunting in Gambell, Alaska in 1978, and described the habitat where he found the bird as “55-gallon oil drums.”
John Wilkerson – Chapter President 1974 – 1975, during the time when the Upper Newport Bay Ecological Preserve was dedicated. John was a longtime high school biology teacher and a summertime national park ranger. Recently he has been a lecturer and field trip leader on Orange County geological history.
Doug Willick – Doug contributed his “Rarities in Orange County” column for the Wandering Tattler newsletter for more than 30 years, beginning in 1988. He was the author with Robb Hamilton of The Birds of Orange County Status and Distribution (1996), and he was long active in providing input on bird records to the California Bird Records Committee and “North American Birds” publication.