Eco-conscious

It has been a week of eco-consciousness throughout Huntington Beach, with Earth Day celebrations and service work taking place last weekend. But those with an eye toward habitat restoration have more to look forward to this Saturday, as the Shipley Nature Center in Central Park has its second annual Spring Festival.

The festival, which begins with a continental breakfast at 9 a.m., will feature entertainment for kids and adults as well as educational opportunities, from face-painting to talks on the Western Monarch Butterfly.

One event center volunteers look forward to is a sale of native plants, a way of living in a little more harmony with the California climate.

“This is what would have been here had people not been planting Better Homes and Gardens cottage nurseries,� volunteer Shari Engel said.

“We’re hoping [the event] brings out some of the people who are now rethinking their gardens because of water issues and global-warming issues,� Engel said.

Numerous conservation groups and businesses, ranging from the Wildlife Care Station and Amigos de Bolsa Chica to recycling company Rainbow Disposal, are scheduled to participate in the festival’s Information Fair to educate residents. There will also be habitat tours of the grounds at 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., and Friends of Shipley Nature Center’s Kay Goddard will update visitors on the center’s recent projects.

Some of the events will be more about pure fun. Visitors can dance around a maypole at 11 a.m., while the Fifth Wheel Blue Grass Band will perform from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and Engel says the group was a major hit last year.

“Some people are thrilled to death that we invited them back,� she said. “It’s amazing what they can do.�

Also taking place Saturday is the City of Huntington Beach’s annual Arbor Day tree planting at Central Park, taking place in partnership with the Huntington Beach Tree Society. The society doesn’t need any more volunteers for the event, but the planting will occur from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at Central Park, 6622 Lakeview Drive.

The blend of celebration and conservation was just as strong last weekend, as events took place in the Bolsa Chica Wetlands both days.

On April 21, volunteers joined the Bolsa Chica Stewards and the Bolsa Chica Land Trust, rolled up their sleeves and added more than 900 native plants, such as cord grass, to the newly restored Bolsa Pocket area of the wetlands. It was the first planting the area has yet seen, said Bolsa Chica Land Trust Executive Director Flossie Horgan.

“We had over 250 people,� she said. “We had all different types of people — families and scout groups and college students. It was really unbelievable.�

The positive mood continued on April 22, as the Bolsa Chica Conservancy and the Amigos de Bolsa Chica, along with the California Department of Fish and Game, celebrated Earth Day with family fun and education.

Visitors had a chance to count migrating birds, touch wetland animals in the Interpretive Center’s touch tanks, test water quality and learn from volunteers about the habitat restoration going on throughout the area.