Torrance

Forest Bathing Gets Feathery at Madrona Marsh

Visit the Torrance nature preserve over Earth Day Weekend and learn about a mindfully deep approach to birdwatching.

Greg Chapel/EyeEm

What to Know

  • Madrona Marsh Preserve and Nature Center is at 3031 Torrance Boulevard in Torrance
  • Ornitherapy alights on April 24 and 25, 2021
  • $25 per person

Finding peace, solitude, open space, and a breezy state of being?

So many Southern Californians have sought to do just that since March 2020, when a saunter in the sunshine helped to provide people an aura of calm in an uncalm time.

Of course, we've always been famously outdoorsy around these parts, thanks to boasting magnificent mountains, canyons, beaches, and a little bit of everything else in our leafy, craggy, sandy region.

It's a region that's full of feathery wonders, too, from scrub jays to crows to gulls to owls, too.

But stepping up your birdwatching game on your hikes through the hills or along the ocean's edge? You may have been wanting to approach your avian interests in a new and more mindful way.

You can follow the path to bird-blissful mindfulness over Earth Day Weekend at Madrona Marsh Preserve and Nature Center in Torrance. For the marvelous marsh will be hosting authors Richard Crossley and Holly Merker as they discuss the birdful connection called ornitherapy.

"Think of forest bathing, but with birds" is one way to view the peaceful practice, which is all about really being in the moment as you observe the winged wonders that add so much beauty to our local bioversity.

The cost is $25, and there are a few talks scheduled on both April 24 and 25, meaning you have a few times to consider. But do note that "limited" is the word, capacity-wise, and once a talk fills up to 10 people, the event will be closed.

Have you become a bit of an aspiring birder over the last several months, all while observing hawks, hummingbirds, and other skyward critters during a hike or neighborhood ramble?

Madrona Marsh is a pretty place, at any time, to engage in that plumage-perfect pursuit.

In fact, there are a number of out-in-the-sunshine happenings at the preserve that fluff their feathers, regularly, so it might be a place worth a fresh-air'd hour or two of your time.

And if you're really feeling the nature connection as April 2021 draws to a close?

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is encouraging Southern Californians to participate in the City Nature Challenge, which helps science to better understand the wildlife that lives among us.

It's not affiliated with Madrona Marsh, but spending one April weekend at the bird-strong Torrance spot, and participating in the City Nature Challenge over the following weekend, seems like a mindful way to enjoy the world outside.

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