Ms. Kathy Keane

Bird Walk at El Dorado with Kathy Keane | Poster

San Felipe, Baja, Mexico

Monday, Jan 11th, Kathy Keane will do a bird walk at El Dorado Ranch.

Kathy Keane, founder and president of KBC, is a biologist and ecologist with over 20 years of field experience and 15 years of experience preparing documents pursuant to environmental laws governing biological resources.

Ms. Keane has an undergraduate degree in ecology from Cornell University and a master's degree in terrestrial biology, with an emphasis on ornithology, from Cal State Long Beach.She has specialized experience with several special-status species in southern California, including 20 years of studies on the endangered California Least Tern, which breeds along the coast in protected nesting areas such as at the Port of Los Angeles.

Ms. Keane has supervised the work of other biologists and biological field teams for projects of less than one acre to those extending over 3,000 acres or 50 linear miles.She has prepared biological resources sections of Environmental Impact Reports, subcontracting the work of other biological experts including botanists, insect specialists and wildlife corridor experts, conducted and supervised focused surveys on 18 special-status species, and provided mitigation and construction monitoring services for private residential projects to large-scale utility projects.
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Kathy Keane

On a recent overcast morning, biologist Kathy Keane walked across the rippled landscape on her daily rounds, stepping carefully to avoid crushing the pairs of delicate eggs nestled and camouflaged in the sand.

Keane, who runs Keane Biological Consulting in Long Beach, was hired by the port in 1986 to monitor the least tern site.

Nests are marked with small wooden Popsicle sticks.A thick binder is kept at the site for Keane and her assistants, including some graduate students, to make field notes on the day-to-day observations.
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"The parents can recognize the call of their own chicks," said Keane, who bands the legs of chicks to assist in tracking the birds from season to season.
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Some 200 chicks have died at the port's site this year, Keane said, presumably due to food supply issues.

But overall, it's been a good year at the port so far, Keane said, speculating that an increase in predators at other California sites -- crows at Venice Beach, ground squirrels in Huntington Beach and coyotes at Bolsa Chica -- are driving some terns to the port.

Keane developed a fascination with least terns several years earlier, after returning to school for graduate work and doing field study on the birds in Cape Cod, Mass.

"I just got really attached to them," she said."They have a happy little call."

Over the years, Keane has established herself as one of the few experts on least terns in the state.

It's more than a job.

As the least terns return from South America in early April each year, Keane personally welcomes them back.

The birds, she notes, typically congregate on the sand near the Long Beach pier during evening hours a few weeks before establishing their nests at Pier 400.

"I have a ritual," Keane said.

Kathy Keane, an independant biological consultant and nature photographer, will be giving a fascinating presentation at the San Felipe Title Company book store.Wednesday, April 23.1:30 PM.Complimentary cake and coffee.

Questions?Phone 577-0471.

Secretary - Kathy KeaneKathy Keane is a consulting biologist with particular expertise in the California Least Tern.In 1997 and 1998, she coordinated Least Tern monitoring at all nesting sites in California under contract through the California Department of Fish and Game.Over the past 10 years, she has also conducted Least Tern monitoring and other studies at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and at Batiquitos Lagoon.Kathy has worked for the past 11 years as a biological consultant regarding CEQA, NEPA and the Endangered Species Act.After employment at two consulting firms, she started her own business, Keane Biological Consulting, in March 1995 and operates the business as a sole proprietor.She teaches biology part-time and also teaches a class she developed for biological consultants, "Biology and the Law," which is offered once a year through the Extension program of California State University Long Beach.

Kathy Keane
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Kathy Keane is a consulting biologist with particular expertise in the California Least Tern.In 1997, 1998, and 1999, she coordinated Least Tern monitoring at all nesting sites in California under contract through the California Department of Fish and Game.Over the past 15 years, she has also conducted Least Tern nest monitoring and foraging studies at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and at Batiquitos Lagoon.Kathy has worked for the past 15 years as a biological consultant, conducting a variety of surveys and authoring reports pursuant to several environmental laws that protect wildlife.She teaches biology part-time at Cerritos College and has taught introductory bird identification classes to Audubon groups and has led birding trips for the Natural Science Section of the Sierra Club.

Meetings are held at: Plummer Park7377 Santa Monica BlvdWest Hollywood, CA 90046

Meetings are scheduled for Great Hall, adjacent to Audubon Bookstore.

Program: Kathy Keane, California Least Tern | ECNC Potluck/Silent Auction/Birdathon Awards/Installation of Officers | Program: The Jon & Mickey Show: Flycatchers & Questions | Meetings
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The California Least Tern by Kathy Keane The Least Tern of the West Coast is an endangered subspecies due to its habit of nesting on the beaches in the vicinity of lagoons and wetlands.It breeds from April through August at nesting areas along the coast from the San Francisco Bay, California to lower Baja California, Mexico.However, over 80% of the nesting population is concentrated in 10 sites.In addition, poor production years such as 1999, still threaten the population, as do a variety of native and non-native predators.

Kathy Keane is a consulting biologist with particular expertise in the California Least Tern.Over the past 15 years, she has conducted Least Tern nest monitoring and foraging studies at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and at Batiquitos Lagoon.She teaches biology part-time at Cerritos College and has taught introductory bird identification classes to Audubon groups and has led birding trips for the Natural Science Section of the Sierra Club.

All of the state's least tern nesting sites have seen rising numbers, said biologist Kathy Keane of Keane Biological Consulting in Long Beach.

The Port of Los Angeles site was responsible for approximately a quarter of the fledglings in the entire state in 2003.

Keane has been working with the port to maintain the least tern nesting site since 1986, when there were fewer than 100 nests.

"The port does a really good job of preparing and protecting the site," she said, noting that the site is next to a busy container terminal that became fully operational only in the past year.

Project: Caltrans State Route 101 Bridge over Santa Clara River Construction - As a subcontractor to Myra Frank, subcontracting to DJMJ+Harris, Kathy Keane conducted construction monitoring to ensure contractors complied with all aspects of project permits including a California Dept. of Fish and Game Streambed Alteration Agreement, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Biological Opinion, and Army Corps of Engineers Section 404 permit.
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Project: Pier 400 Closure Study and Monitoring of California Least Tern Foraging, Port of Los Angeles Harbor Deepening Project, for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - For MEC: Kathy Keane and KBC biologists Nathan Mudry and Matt Amalong analyzed data collected over 8 years of foraging surveys in the Los Angeles Harbor to determine whether harbor dredging for the Pier 400 project had any apparent effect on Least Tern foraging.
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For Aspen: Kathy Keane and 5 subcontractors collected data on Least Tern foraging at 28 stations in the Los Angeles Harbor during the 2001, 2002 and 2003 Least Tern breeding seasons.
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Project: Long Term Monitoring, Batiquitos Lagoon Enhancement Plan - Kathy Keane, President of KBC, is Team Leader for avian studies as part of a 10-year monitoring program by the Port of Los Angeles for an extensive wetland mitigation plan in Carlsbad, California.Ms. Keane coordinates surveys by six to eight ornithologists that extend over two days, four times annually.All bird species are recorded throughout the lagoon, including the number of individuals, the habitat they are using, bird behavior, weather, time and tide.Ms. Keane analyzes data for each survey, prepares a quarterly report discussing results and trends and participates in preparation of annual reports summarizing and comparing results of all surveys.
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Project: Biological Section of EIR for Market Center, City of Long Beach - KBC president Kathy Keane and subcontracting botanist Julie Greene conducted general biological surveys of this 7-acre site in Long Beach.
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A detailed mitigation plan for the southern tarplant was also developed by Ms. Keane and Julie Greene.
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Project: Inland Feeder EIR/EIS and Mitigation Monitoring - KBC president Kathy Keane, while in the employ of another consulting firm, served as primary author of the Biological Resources Environmental Planning Technical Report as well as the biological resources section of the EIR/EA for the Metropolitan Water District's Inland Feeder project.The project survey area encompassed an area one-half mile wide along five alternative pipeline alignments, each approximately 45 miles in length.Significant issues included the endangered Stephen's kangaroo rat and Santa Ana River woolly star, coastal sage scrub and Riversidean alluvial sage scrub.Ms. Keane attended project meetings with resources agencies during the course of the project and coordinated all field work while participating in monitoring of geotechnical investigations to avoid additional impacts on biological resources including endangered/threatened species.Ms. Keane also directed the completion of a study plan to determine successful revegetation methods for sensitive plants and reviewed additional revegetation plans.
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Kathy Keane of Keane Biological Consulting conducted surveys of the project area in 2000 and authored the biological resources section of the Negative Declaration.
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Kathy Keane and other KBC biologists conducted a series of three focused surveys for Belding's savannah sparrows to determine the approximate number of breeding pairs at the mouth of Big Canyon Creek.
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Project: City of Santa Maria U.S. 101/S.R. 135 Interchange Improvement - Kathy Keane of KBC prepared a Natural Environmental Study pursuant to Caltrans guidelines for an interchange improvement project in northern Santa Barbara County.

For those whose homes thirst for the aesthetic touch, Kathy Keane, biologist and Nature photographer, was on hand with her beautiful work and Alfonso Arambula Robles from Ensenada was set up to display a few of his amazing metal sculptures.