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always for the community VOL 25 NO 4
July / August 2020
www.valleysentinel.com
SPOTLIGHT
Danville Student Receives National Recognition A Danville student was named a National Youth and Young Adult Ambassador by the Campaign for TobaccoFree Kids for his leadership in fighting big tobacco. Akshaj Molukutla, 13, is from Danville, and has been involved in tobacco control and prevention for one year, including through local group CourAGE Contra Costa. As an Ambassador, Akshaj will build on his experience seeing the harms of tobacco in his community by expanding his advocacy skills. As part of the Ambassador program, the teens took part in a five-day online training session to hone their advocacy and communications skills.
ECRWSS
PRESORTED STANDARD US POSTAGE PAID DANVILLE, CA PERMIT NO. 70
See TOBACCO-FREE KIDS page 5
This month The Museum of the San Ramon Valley celebrates the centennial of the 19th Amendment when women won the right to vote! The museum will be hosting two events to honor this. Please see the news on page two. The above image is called Awakening, by Henry Mayer, 1915.
Last Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) Marsh Habitat in Contra Costa County in Dire Need of Protection
Postmaster: Dated Material
By James M. Hale
Sentinel Newspapers, Inc. P.O. Box 1309 Danville, CA 94526 925-820-6047
The Green-winged Teal (Anas carolinensis) or (Anas crecca carolinensis) is a locally common, widespread waterfowl species that breeds in the northern areas of North America, from Alaska and Canada down to California and the western Unites States. Unlike other dabbling ducks, it prefers the forested wetlands of Canada for nesting, rather than the imperiled prairie pothole region. It rarely nests in Contra Costa County, with only a few records in the literature. The few accounts are from McNabney marsh near Martinez. There is continued debate as to whether the North American Greenwinged Teal is conspecific with the Eurasion Teal (Anas crecca), a subspecies, or separate species.
The American Ornithological Society is reviewing the issue. Many authorities consider it to be a distinct species based on morphological, behavioral, and molecular evidence. The scientific name is from Latin, Anas, for duck, and carolinensis, for of Carolina. The subspecies crecca, is onomatopoeic, for the sound the male or drake makes when calling. The Green-winged Teal is the smallest North American dabbling duck. Sheltered northern boreal wetlands, such as Taiga bogs, and marshes with emergent vegetation like bulrushes, cattails and sedges are the preferred habitat. Nesting occurs on land, near water, and under vegetative cover. It feeds by dabbling
in water for pondweed, and the seeds, leaves, and shoots of aquatic vegetation, or grazing. Insects, mollusks, and crustaceans are also consumed. It is a highly gregarious species that will form large, post-breeding flocks. This strongly migratory species spends its winters much farther south of its breeding range, with huge numbers wintering in the
Marismas Nacionales-San Bias mangroves of western Mexico. The highly maneuverable, fast flight of the Green-winged Teal is characteristic of the species. Breeding males are colorful birds, with light gray backs, pale yellow rumps, and chestnut See HABITAT page 5
This Month’s Special Section:
Home & Garden
page 6-7