May 3, 2023 This cool and moist week has me thinking about mushrooms and fungi, important members of every ecological community. Luckily, there are still plenty of them out there to photograph and enjoy before the summer heat. There are different definitions for decomposers but this one from the Biologyonline.com website is clear and concise:…
Read moreApril 24th, 2023 It has started off as a cooler spring and our wildflowers are just beginning to bloom and the neotropical migrant birds have arrived to nest in our area. The colors are a welcome relief from the drab browns of winter. So many shades of green, and now there are pink, yellow, and…
Read moreMarch 27, 2023 To better understand the effectiveness of our habitat management that includes grazing and invasive species management in support of protecting threatened North coast semaphore grass populations, the MCRCD added an additional early-spring round of semaphore grass monitoring in some select areas on the project. North coast semaphore grass, Pleuropogon hooverianus, is a…
Read moreJoin MCRCD, Anderson Valley Winegrowers, Mendocino Winegrowers, and NRCS on May 2nd, from 9 – 11:30 a.m. to learn about soil health and Carbon Beneficial Practices. Presentations will include conversation on cover cropping and no-till in vineyard systems, rainfall simulator and infiltration demonstration, carbon farm planning, and other climate-beneficial farming practices.. Workshop will be held…
Read moreMarch 15th, 2023 As spring approaches, the Tule Elk in Little Lake Valley seem to be more present and spread out in the north and south parts of the Mitigation Lands. They are just as likely to be resting on higher and dryer ground as they are running through the inundated pastures. The bull elk…
Read moreMarch 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 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 more2/7/2023 Walking under the canopy of the oak woodlands is always a pleasant experience. The rains over the weekend have left the low-lying swales and pools full of water. The ground is certainly well saturated at this point. The sun is shining through the occasional cloud, but the air remains crisp in the shaded woodland.…
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…
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