March 13, 2023 Out on the north end of the Mitigation Lands there is a beautiful wetland. This time of the year it functions as a small lake where ducks and geese congregate. The Tules and cattails change color with the seasons and grow lush and thick in some areas. Walking out into this area…
Read moreFebruary 28, 2023 Winter weather always provides great conditions to go out and look for wildlife tracks. Paul Rezendes writes in his wonderful book, Tracking and the Art of Seeing: How to Read Animal Tracks and Sign, that “At one time, being able to read tracks and sign was a matter of life and death.…
Read moreOn March 24 MCRCD Willits Mitigation Project will be having a free public tour focusing on The Willits Wastewater Treatment Plant ,winter raptors, Tule Elk , and other wildlife. For more information or to RSVP please contact marisela@mcrcd.org .This tour has a limit on participants so please sign up early!
Read moreAre you a person that can’t pass a fallen log or flat object on the ground without carefully turning it over to see what could be hiding or living under it? There is a whole ecosystem of ‘fossorial,’ or burrowing creatures that depend on rotting logs or piles of leaves to live under. Recently a…
Read moreFebruary 15, 2023 One day last week when a colleague and I were out by Outlet Creek, in the area of the Little Lake Mitigation Lands called the Cox 80, we saw a foraging skunk in the daylight. This was the second time I had seen a striped skunk in that area, and this one…
Read moreJanuary 31, 2023 This time of the year in Little Lake Valley is a moment for the raptors to shine. The deciduous trees are great for finding a Red-tailed Hawk or a Cooper’s Hawk sitting in one of the oaks or willows. We are part of the Pacific Flyway here in Little Lake Valley. Hawks…
Read moreJanuary 23, 2023 The rain has changed Little Lake Valley in many ways, and it is now the middle of winter. The days are still shorter (though each day is incrementally longer) and we have especially cold mornings with a few hours of warm sunshine on the days it hasn’t been raining. Walking out into…
Read moreThe annual restoration work and maintenance that occurs on the project has slowed down during the winter season. During a walk yesterday, I was struck by the quiet and stillness on the project. The sun is beginning to shine once more and the sky is clear. Wildlife activity has eased as many creatures have hunkered…
Read moreJanuary 9, 2023 Being out in the valley after so much rain is always a marvelous experience. The ‘Little Lake’ can cover the central and northern part of the Willits Valley and provides extensive aquatic habitat and a winter home for waterfowl and raptors, similar to the large wildlife refuges of the Central Valley. We…
Read moreJanuary 4, 2023 This time of the year I become obsessed with the plants and other organisms that thrive during the wet and cold time of the year. Looking at the bare branches of the trees one can see a light sage-green fuzzy looking organism that looks like a plant, and erroneously is often called…
Read moreJoin us for a winter walk around the treatment ponds in Little Lake Valley to observe birds and other wildlife. Sign-up and RSVP required at marisela@mcrcd.org. We will meet at 8:30am at the Mendocino County Museum.
Read moreNovember 18, 2022 The Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo, makes up a large portion of the fauna in Little Lake Valley. It is a resident found year-round, sometimes congregating together in flocks of over fifty birds. A few years ago, I counted over two hundred of them making their way into the north end of the…
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