By Joan Nielsen, RLn Contributing Writer
Walk around winding trails over three acres, breathing in the wonderful scents of native plants like sages and poppies and lilac verbena, all the while reading descriptions of these blooms, butterflies and local birds.
The White Point Nature Preserve was featured on the 15th Anniversary Theodore Payne Native Plant Garden Tour. Sharing this native landscape helps inspire greater understanding about what is possible for native gardens to create a healthy and resilient Los Angeles.
The White Point Nature Preserve features three acres of a 102-acre native preserve of conservancy-restored coastal sage scrub habitat. The preserve includes hiking and handicap accessible trails with amazing views of the Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island. The Nature Education Center is former a World War II military bunker. Concrete was used from that period to build seating for visitors. A courtyard sundial shows the solstice and equinox set in stones on the ground and a bioswale captures rain. This preserve fulfills a critical need for open space and urban parkland for the Los Angeles Basin.
Take a self-guided tour and learn about the Tongva, the Native Americans Indians who were the first to inhabit the Los Angeles coastal basin as seafaring traders.
The Tongva nation is represented throughout the demonstration gardens, which show their connection to native plant life in four garden themes. The north garden represents rituals like music, noting flutes made from the sambucus tree. The east garden is the edible garden, with strawberries, blackberries and cherries. The south garden represents structural life, like willow trees used to build houses. The west garden represents medicine via plants with healing properties, like mugwort.
Now go inside the Nature Education Center and watch as a night camera video captures a sleek silver fox the size of a small dog sniffing around and suddenly climbing up a tree like a cat to hunt for bird nests.
The land conservancy offers educational programs for the community and field trips for local and school children. Activities at the Nature Education Center include monthly nature walks, special presentations, bird walks, children’s story times, volunteer opportunities and field trips for the public. The center is staffed by trained naturalists and filled with interactive exhibits about the fascinating history of the area. Learn about the history of the White Point area from prehistoric times replete with dinosaur bones to present day local flora and fauna like wild grasses and wild beasts. There are beautiful examples of local birds that call White Point home, like California gnatcatchers, white-capped sparrows, spotted towhees, red-tailed hawks and big white owls. You can even learn to identify animals and avians by their scat (that’s poop, kids).
Just imagine this — a tiny hummingbird flies so high he almost disappears in the sky then suddenly dive bombs toward you like a fighter pilot, pulling up short and motionless right in front of your eyes.
White Point Earth Day activities:
The Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy invites the community to join a special Earth Day celebration and film screening April 21.
The two-part event will begin with an outdoor volunteer day and a choice of family activities, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the White Point Nature Preserve, 1600 W. Paseo del Mar, San Pedro, followed by a free screening of the acclaimed documentary Jane at 5 p.m. the Warner Grand Theatre, 478 W. 6th St. in San Pedro.
Details: www.pvplc.org