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Diane Shader Smith
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The Wall Street Journal – Birding Goes Extreme
Birding has long been a hobby for nature lovers, but the pursuit has recently gone more mainstream-boosted by the rise of ecotourism and the surging interest in a safe and relaxing pastime during the pandemic, along with user-friendly apps that bird lovers can use to record and track different species. Now, some enthusiastic hobbyists are springing for landscape redesigns, specialty bird food and high-tech bird feeders to attract and photograph feathered visitors.
Susan Gottlieb has spent decades cultivating a garden with native plants and birds on her 1-acre property in Beverly Hills, Calif. PHOTO: JENNELLE FONG FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Steps through Ms. Gottlieb’s garden. PHOTO: JENNELLE FONG FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Now, the Gottliebs’ garden is a local landmark with close to 20 bird boxes, three seed feeders, four mealworm feeders and around 15 hummingbird feeders. Ms. Gottlieb said she goes through about 70 pounds of sugar a month making hummingbird nectar. At roughly $6.50 for a 10-pound bag, that adds up to $546 a year. Over the years, the Gottliebs have opened their garden to visitors and hummingbird researchers from the University of California Davis. Ms. Gottlieb has also published four coffee table books about the couple’s native garden. “I’m on a mission to get people to understand the importance of native plants and conserving our heritage and our wildlife,” she said.
Ms. Gottlieb goes through about 70 pounds of sugar a month making nectar for hummingbirds. JENNELLE FONG FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Scott Logan, a naturalist and photographer who works with Ms. Gottlieb to document birds and other wildlife in her garden, said he uses broadcast-quality video and digital SLR camera traps, which are triggered by movement to take pictures. He installed them throughout the garden, mounted on tripods camouflaged by branches that are secured with zip ties. Each camera is also covered with wood painted to blend in with the environment.Los Angeles Audubon
Los Angeles Audubon Society would like to thank Susan and Daniel Gottlieb for their major gift contribution in support of the Snowy Plover Program, helping Los Angeles Audubon to continue to monitor and protect this threatened species.
UC Davis
Indianapolis Zoo
You can help garden plants and wildlife hunker down for the snowy season ahead with a few easy changes to your winter prep routine!
Mongabay News
New research indicates that even after 40 years of recovery, fast-growing tropical forests in Brazil house far fewer species and sequester less carbon than their primary counterparts.
LA Sanitation - Biodiversity Team
City Plants is interested in understanding how residents feel about trees in the City of Los Angeles. A survey has been developed to inform the UFMP framework and we invite you to take part.
allevents.in › San Diego
Join us and visit two horticultural stars of Los Angeles: The Gottlieb Native Garden in Beverly Hills and the nearby Getty Center. Traveling by private motor coach, we will first visit The Gottlieb Native Garden, home to more than 200 hand-selected native plant species and nearly 400 documented wildlife species.
Pacific Horticulture
What defines a native plant? This is a contentious subject. Some botanists and biologists believe that once a species has been in North America long enough it effectively becomes native.
Associated Press
Spread out along a hillside near the Beverly Hills Hotel, Susan Gottlieb’s baseball-field-size home garden — dubbed the Gottlieb Native Garden — boasts more than 100 species of native plants and brims with wildlife activity.
TimeOut LA
“National Parks of Alaska and Hawaii” G2 Gallery focuses on nature and wildlife photography, and this exhibit highlights photographs taken in national parks in Alaska and Hawaii. A concurrent show at the gallery includes photography of the Gottlieb Native Garden.