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IN THE FIELD: Corte Madera Mountain

By Tom Oberbauer

Back in January of 1978, I hiked up onto Corte Madera Mountain with a friend, Tom Scott (now with UC Berkeley and UC Riverside), who had been studying Golden Eagles in San Diego County. Bald Eagles were wintering at Corte Madera Lake. After postponing the hike due to rain, that was a good rain season, we drove out to Corte Madera Lake, which was accessible because Tom Scott had a key, and we hiked up the north side of Corte Madera Mountain on a little used trail. The trail climbed through a woodland of mostly coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia), but also Coulter pine (Pinus coulteri), as well as Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi). It was foggy going up and the view was obscured.

IN THE FIELD: Corte Madera Mountain
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In The Field: The New Santa Fe Valley Trail

By Jürgen Schrenk

Recently, the new Santa Fe Valley Trail, connecting the San Dieguito River Park’s Del Dios Gorge Trail with the Lusardi Creek Preserve, was opened to the public. The beginning of the trail took us through fields of Menzies’ Goldenbush (Isocoma menziesii var. menziesii).

In The Field: The New Santa Fe Valley Trail
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The Desert a Month after Monsoonal Rains

By Jürgen Schrenk

After yet another week of waiting for the temps to go down watching our Monarch production and limiting our walks to local parks, I was worried that I might completely miss the monsoonal “spring” in the desert. So, I went on a quick drive along S-2

The Desert a Month after Monsoonal Rains
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CNPS-SD Helps With Rare Plant Surveys

By Justin Daniel, Vice President, Rare Plants Co-chair

With vaccinations allowing more contact outdoors and a workload a year behind, it's been a busy time a few of us to help some of our fantastic environmental conservancy organizations around San Diego County by assisting them in their rare plant surveys. The following are glimpses into some of the recent surveys. Come along for the ride and reach out to support our partners, too!

CNPS-SD Helps With Rare Plant Surveys
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The Mount Laguna Surprise

By Tom Oberbauer

…The next week, I drove up and hiked to the location I visited in December and sure enough, the display of Platystemon californica (above) was pretty amazing. Sheets of color extended across the slopes leading into the center of the meadow. I spent some time attempting to photograph and create video of the breeze gently shaking the small flowers. From this location, the view of the meadow ranges across its full length, extending more than three miles in the distance to the south. Laguna Lake also contained a good level of water reflecting the blue sky, apparently left over from the previous two good rainfall seasons. I attempted to capture the view of the flowers with the lake and end of the meadow in the distance. The breeze and the movement of the flowers in this manner always reminds me of when I was a child and my family visited Estes Park in Colorado and we observed alpine wildflowers…

The Mount Laguna Surprise

butterfly

Visit the San Diego County Fair Pollinator Trail!

Where can you find some peace and quiet after a long day at the San Diego County Fair?

Why, at The Pollinator Trail, of course!

Across the nation, pollinators are disappearing. The Pollinator Trail exhibit at the county fair provides San Diegans with a look at how they can help pollinators like butterflies, bumble bees and hummingbirds thrive. This year, the exhibit overlaps with National Pollinator Week, June 19 – 25, 2017, which aims to create awareness about the importance and plight of our pollinators.

Exhibit Details: For the third year, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be one of several partners with the San Diego Pollinator Alliance to host the Pollinator Trail exhibit at the San Diego County Fair. The exhibit has several components to help the public learn and experience what can be done for pollinators at an apartment, house or garden. This includes three large native gardens, an example of a pollinator patio garden, a live honeybee exhibit and the Butterfly Flight House where visitors can come face to face with live flying butterflies.

The Pollinator Trail is located at the Farm (the infield of the track at the fairgrounds) and is ongoing from June 2 to July 4 at the San Diego County Fair.

Background: Pollinators are critical for our food supply, and they’re in trouble. Take the monarch butterfly for example: over the last 20 years, populations of monarch butterflies in North America have declined nearly 80 percent. Conserving pollinators and their habitat has positive cascading effects leading to conservation of other animals like songbirds and mammals. Pollinator habitat adds beauty to any setting with its vibrant displays of flowers and by attracting insects, birds, and other wildlife.

Our well-being depends on healthy animals. Pollinators are responsible for 75 percent of our food supply, and one of every three bites of food we eat. Pollinators also support healthy ecosystems that clean the air, improve water quality, reduce soil erosion, flood protection and support other wildlife.

Join us at the Pollinator Trail to celebrate pollinators, walk the butterfly house, or learn about helping pollinators thrive.

The Pollinator Trail is a joint exhibit presented by:
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Natural Resource Conservation Service
Resource Conservation District of Greater San Diego County
The Butterfly Farms
California Native Plant Society - San Diego Chapter
Sky Mountain Permaculture Institute

For more information about the exhibit, visit: http://www.rcdsandiego.org/san_diego_county_fair_pollinator_garden.aspx