Huntington Beach Tree Society


With the plentiful Toyon bushes now bursting with ripe winter berries, nearly 100 Cedar Waxwings like these, captured by local photographer Henry Thinh Hoang, have been observed in the Urban Forest gorging on this annual feast. Throughout Huntington Central Park,  these birds are a welcome and unforgettable wintertime spectacle. If you visit, listen for their high-pitched, trilled whistle. To check our website for the most recent bird observations, click here.   

November in HB is Monarch Butterfly time, when these beauties return en mass to both Gibbs Butterfly Park and Huntington Central Park East, where they cluster in the Eucalyptus trees. While you are there, check out the new Monarch art adorning the park’s pylons, created by talented artist Lubica and commissioned by HB Trees.

Fall is the best season for planting in our region, especially when it comes to California-native plants & trees. From left, among the new trees put in the ground in & around the Urban Forest by these tree huggers include (from L) Deodar Cedar, Wooly Bush & fast-growing Cali Coastal Oaks.

HB Trees presented its first-ever Urban Forest BIRD-A-THON Sept. 22-25. The event coincided with the start of the fall migration. An abundance of birds were observed, including those shown here, compliments of birder & photographer James Kendall. Pledges from the BIRD-A-THON provided “seed money” to add coastal sage scrub essential for endangered coastal CA Gnatcatchers. “Lena’s Legions,” the official BIRD-A-THON kick-off team on Thursday, observed 41 species for a total of 312 birds! The “Bluebirds” team shown above, led by birders Betty Kanne & Lena Hayashi and comprised primarily of novice birders, spied 26 species on Saturday morning. The Urban Forest’s diverse bird population has proven HB Trees’ “If you plant it, they will come”  philosophy to be true. More event highlights are found by clicking here.

Click on the photo to read the story & others on the BIRD-A-THON.

Stop and admire the view! Our thanks to Eagle Scout Candidate Annaleah LaParne, Troop 568G, and her team for creating a bench and rest area at the top of the hill along the Shipley to Shore Trail.

Sharing their elbow grease – A team of volunteers from Google spent a recent Friday morning with us to landscape and plant along the Shipley to Shore Trail. Their team coordinator told us, “What a beautiful space you guys are creating, we really enjoyed it!” Learn more about volunteering solo or as a group by clicking here. 

The area surrounding this mulch tree, shown above getting started in winter 2022 & below in June, after the Google team added 100 flowering natives like Buckwheat, Salvia, Monkey Flower, Mexican Marigolds and Ceanothus. Watch it fill out and begin flowering in the coming weeks and months!
“Incredible!” exclaimed Yvonne Schwab on a recent stroll around the Urban Forest. Yvonne was an original HB Tree Society member in 1998. Since then, she and husband Bill Hauser have been “greening” the park as annual contributors to the non-profit, all-volunteer HB Tree Society.

Leave a gift with the Huntington Beach Tree Society to have a lasting impact, growing well beyond your lifetime. To learn more, please visit our Donations page.

Click here to read this story in the March 30, 2022, Daily Pilot newspaper.

Let’s Grow!

Click here to find how you can help with forestation, beautification and restoration in Huntington Beach.

​New volunteers are always welcome! To learn more, click here.

Find weekly updates on our Shipley to Shore Nature Trail Facebook page. We hope you “like” it!

Support, Your Style

Are you and your dog enjoying outings through the Urban Forest & along the Shipley to Shore Nature Trail?  We welcome your support through funding and volunteering! To show our appreciation, Urban Forest best dog friend photos will be featured on hbtrees.org/dogsupporters.

If you have an Amazon account, your purchases can now beautify our community. For the same products and prices, you can donate 0.5 percent of the price of your purchases, which adds up quickly!  Simply visit your Amazon page and under  “Account & Lists,” select Amazon Smile and type “Huntington Beach Tree Society, Inc.” For future online shopping, type “SmileAmazon” in your browser to be directed to the site.

Here’s how your groceries can make our community greener:

Visit ralphs.com. Create or log into your Ralphs account. Click on “Community Rewards” & search for the non-profit HUNTINGTON BEACH TREE SOCIETY, then click Enroll.

It costs nothing to enroll or contribute, & funds forestation for generations. Let’s grow!

Check out these videos!

Saving Green, shot & produced by Matt Hanlon, is a 20-minute documentary with HB Tree Society volunteers who fought for decades to preserve & maintain HB’s parks, working with the city on a more sustainable model for managing city-owned green space.

A 3-minute presentation from 2020 showing why then Huntington Beach Mayor Lyn Semeta presented the HB Tree Society with the city’s first-ever “Making a Difference” Award.
Huntington Beach Tree Society (HBTS) was incorporated in 1998 as a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) with the purposes of:

  • Planting and maintaining trees
  • Educating the public about the benefits and importance of trees and California friendly plants
  • Enlarging our green environment (another name for plants/trees in cities) for the enjoyment and health of all
  • Increasing habitat for urban wildlife

We are an equal opportunity, all-volunteer organization. Donations do not go to salaries. Our dollars go a long way! 

Exceptional attributes: We are an equal opportunity, all-volunteer organization. Donations do not go to salaries.  We have a donated office and donated use of two trucks. Our dollars go a long way! To date we have purchased and planted more than 8,000 trees and CA-friendly plants growing in and around the Urban Forest, located in southwest Huntington Beach Central Park.

 

HB Central Park Feathered Tree Fans

Visit the Bird watching in the Urban Forest page for regular updates on species observed.

As habitat expands thanks to planting and nurturing by HB Tree Society volunteers, more birds, butterflies and other species are appearing!

American Kestrel in the Urban Forest (Photo by John O’Gara)

Anna’s Hummingbird (Photo by John O’Gara)

A Spotted Towhee, spotted in the Urban Forest

Hummingbird in the HB Central Park Secret Garden

A hummingbird pollinates Central Park wildflowers

Cooper’s Hawk on the Shipley to Shore Trail

 

Black Phoebe, dining on a dragonfly.

A Great Horned Owl on an evening visit to HB Central Park’s westside raptor foraging area.

A blue-gray Gnatcatcher, at home in the Urban Forest.

A white-tailed Kite, also seen in the Urban Forest

Birder Lena Hayashi has been tallying bird counts at Shipley Nature Center for years. Since fall 2020, she and her team have been doing counts in the Urban Forest as well!  Click here to learn more. 

 




Checks may be sent to:

HB Tree Society
PO Box 1269
Sunset Beach, CA  90742

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