Birds And Other Back Yard Creatures

Born in 1944, I grew up in postwar Los Angeles, when there was still plenty of undeveloped land. Our back yards in Rosemead and Whittier were full of a variety creatures, frogs, horned lizards, tarantulas, stink bugs, many types of beetles and grasshoppers, lots of butterflies, and many different kinds of birds. I particularly remember flocks of Cedar Waxwings. I captured many of these animals and studied the ones that were most interesting to me. NONE of the creatures I remember can be found in backyards anymore. Sometimes I see one while hiking in the Santa Monica Mountains or other "natural" areas, but I haven't seen Cedar Waxwings in decades. Given the rapid postwar development of southern California and the tripling of the population in my lifetime, it is obvious that habitat loss is the major cause of the disappearance of the animals I remember from my childhood.