Jack Fancher Tern Island in Bolsa Chica.mov

Mr. Jack Fancher is sort of the unsung hero of saving the Least Tern, an amazing, tiny acrobat which migrates from Central America each year to nest on the beaches of California. A tiny bird, like 4 ounces, it's incredibly strong and flies like a little helicopter. Baby least terns chirp in a special way so that their parents can recognize them; they are perhaps the cutest of all young birds.

Only one thing they ask to survive: untrammeled beaches. Unfortunately, all our beaches are destroyed or else raked every night; some developers, such as Bixby in Long Beach, reputedly paid kids to kill the LT so that they could develop LT nesting sites.

When Mr. Fancher came on the scene, San Diego was destroying North Island, the last place the then-huge flocks of LT could nest; almost single-handed, Fancher, who was with FWS, set up a string of fenced nesting sites that allowed LT survival, although raided by Crows and bothered by human kites and fireworks.

When Fancher got the chance to design Bolsa Chica restoration, he graciously left an area, which might be called "Least Tern Beach", for the LT!
Thanks, Jack! You did your duty, over and above. Mark Gold, of Heal the Bay, also fell in love with the LT; they are delicate, strong, and have very intriguing behaviors.

Thanks to Jack Fancher, and to the good folks of HB who saved BC: League of Women Voters, Amigos de Bolsa Chica, and the Bolsa Chica Land Trust. And to special folks, the Horgans and kin, Debbie Cook, Linda Moon and thousands of ordinary HB folks who wouldn't let Bolsa Chica die, who saved it from greedy developers.

Although much of the Mesa was saved, needed for a healthy wetlands, the Native American sacred sites were desecrated, and the Coastal Commission was lied to allowing the destruction caused by the so-called "Sandover" project on ORA-83. Still more greedy developers, even after they went bankrupt they are still plotting to destroy the last sacred sites.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Jack Fancher
• Least Terns
• Tern Island
• Bolsa Chica
• Bolsa Chica Land Trust
• Amigos de Bolsa Chica
• Debbie Cook

[illegalsmilereturns]

You take some wonderfull shots but I think someone should start a collection to get you a new HD camera that would benefit all your subscribers :)