Friends of the Kern River Preserve

 

CUCKOO CALL!

September 2008

Fall 2008 Events, Festivals, Happenings, Walks, Research Projects, Maintenance Projects...  See our website - http://kern.audubon.org for these and more exciting developments at Audubon California's Kern River Preserve
 

Upcoming Events

Saturday, September 20, 2008 - 7 a.m. - 11 a.m. Kern Valley Pride Day. RSVP. Email

Saturday - Sunday, September 27-28, 2008 - 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Kern Valley Turkey Vulture Festival, Kern River Preserve, Weldon.
 

News

Join the Kern River Preserve's social networking site on FACEBOOK

Take this survey to help us gather information for our new Visitor's Center - http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=W2Pbo40sZJ3QY31gRRL8MQ_3d_3d

 

This male Rufous Hummingbird flew through the Kern River Preserve on his way to northern breeding grounds in April. courtesy Alison Sheehey © 2008

10th Annual Hummingbird Celebration

Almost 300 people attended the tenth annual Hummingbird Celebration  on August 9th... read all about it by clicking this sentence...

This male Rufous Hummingbird flew through the Kern River Preserve on his way to northern breeding grounds in April.
 

14th Annual Autumn Nature and Vulture Festival

The vultures are already circling the date... join the Friends of the Kern River Preserve for our annual celebration of America's largest janitorial stewards on September 27-28, 2008. Read all about it here...

 

Air Quality & Climate Change

Restoring the forest along the South Fork Kern River has benefits for wildlife and is a beautiful place for people to visit. One of the greatest benefits of the expanding forest is the amount of carbon sequestered and the air purifying quality of deciduous forests. Read all about how the preserve benefits air quality in the Kern River Valley here.

 

Kelso Creek Sanctuary Survives the Piute Fire

The rains came - the fire was drenched and Kelso Creek Sanctuary was spared the devastation of the Piute Fire which started on June 28, 2008. More than 37,000 acres eventually burned. Kelso Creek is stained with dark black soot when the ash was flushed off the mountains by normal summer thunderstorms. more...
 

Audubon Kern River Preserve hosts researchers from UC Berkeley's Grinnell Resurvey Project

Important research on changes in vertebrate distribution began in the Kern River Valley in May 2008. Throughout the state, researchers from UC Berkeley have fanned out over the past few years to resurvey transects covered by Joseph Grinnell from 1908 to 1938. Read about it here...

PBS Nature series films on the Kern River Preserve

Audubon Kern River Preserve's Black-chinned Hummingbirds are to be featured in a documentary on hummingbirds in the PBS's series "Nature." In June, a three person crew filmed Black-chinned Hummingbirds and the research being done by Teresa Feo and Chris Clark on the sounds the hummingbirds make. The episode is due to be released in late 2009 or early 2010.

CSU Monterey Bay visits KRP.

In late May, 23 ecology students from CSU Monterey Bay along with their professors, Dr. Fred Watson, Dr. Susan Alexander and Thor Anderson visited Audubon's Kern River Preserve as part of the field lab for their class ESSP 303L "California transect." MORE...

Kern County Wins Birdiest Inland County for the Fifth Year in a Row

The word continues to get out that if you want to see hundreds of species in one place, come to Kern County. Our county again won the Birdiest Inland County competition with birders recording 241 species during the weekend of May 2-4, 2008. The Kern River Preserve and the South Fork Valley remain one of the critical bird havens that make this area one of the finest places in the country to view many species of birds. MORE...

 

Stewardship

Parker Ranch conservation easement

Audubon has worked with its partners over the past several years to help purchase a conservation easement on an integral link in the coast to the Sierra wildlife corridor. MORE...

Cyrus Canyon purchase protects extremely rare Kelso Creek Monkeyflower

In 2006, after years of being good land stewards, the Sprague Family offered Audubon another significant piece of their land holdings in Cyrus Canyon. Audubon purchased then transferred the land to the Bureau of Land Management to protect this unique 1660-acre parcel of juniper woodland and upper Sonoran grassland in perpetuity. MORE...

Research

Tricolored Blackbirds (Agelaius tricolor) Breed Successfully

Land protected in the South Fork Valley by Audubon and the California Department of Fish & Game (CDFG) is home to several new flocks of nesting Tricolored Blackbirds. These colonial nesters have declined dramatically in the last few years and although they have no special protection they are listed by CDFG as a Species of Special Concern. MORE...

San Emigdio Blue butterfly

San Emigdio Blue (Plebejus emigdionis) is an extremely rare butterfly found only in montane desert regions of southern California from Inyo County southwest through the Mojave Desert and Southern Sierra Nevada to Los Angeles County. The host plant for its caterpillar is four-winged saltbush (Atriplex canescens). MORE..

This female San Emigdio Blue was photographed last year on habitat that was bulldozed this year. Photo courtesy Alison Sheehey © 2007

Yucca Giant Skipper on the Kelso Creek Sanctuary in April courtesy Alison Sheehey © 2008

Two Rare Butterfly Species found on Kelso Creek Sanctuary

This past April, a team of lepidopterists conducted a butterfly census in the Kelso Valley. During the count the rare San Emigdio Blue and Yucca Giant Skipper were discovered on Audubon's Kelso Creek Sanctuary.

This makes two wildlife preserves that Audubon owns and manages that prove to be important islands of habitat for the very local San Emigdio Blue butterfly.

Leaving A Legacy for the land

Help the Kern River Preserve to protect this land in perpetuity. Leaving a bequest is one of the most powerful ways an individual or family can help create a lasting benefit for the wildlife, the land and the people at this Preserve. It is really simple to do find specific instructions on our legacy webpage. 

Volunteer Opportunities

Monthly Event Coordinator

Qualifications: Skill and knowledge of local naturalists and historians desired. Ability or willingness to learn how to write Press Releases and flyers is required. Must have time and transportation to coordinate monthly educational events at the Kern River Preserve. Contact information and supervision will be provided by Kern River Preserve . Call Alison at (760) 378-2531 for information.

Friends of the Kern River Preserve

1st Friday of most months 1p.m.

Friday, September 5, 2008 - 1 p.m. - Friends of the Kern River Preserve Monthly Meeting. Email

Meet at the Sprague House to discuss projects, needs, and volunteer work assignments.

Volunteer Workdays at the Kern River Preserve

3rd Saturday of each month 9a.m.

Meet at the KRP Headquarter for volunteer work assignments. Bring work gloves, hat, appropriate clothes to get dirty, and footgear or shoes that can get wet.

Volunteer Opportunities

Service Workdays—Help KRP staff and volunteers with work projects at the preserve!—for dates and time, see Calendar of Events. Bring a sack lunch and wear sturdy outdoor clothes. Contact Reed Tollefson at rtollefson@audubon.org for details.

We Need—A team of people to serve as hosts, instructors, chaperones, materials preparers and general assistants for KRP visitors and special events. • A team of gardeners to take on the responsibility of lawn and garden care at KRP Headquarters. • People with painting, carpentry and/or electrical skills to do construction, repairs and maintenance on Headquarters’ buildings and equipment. People to conduct research on grazed vs. un-grazed areas looking at various environmental parameters – vegetation, animal diversity etc... We need help constructing Osprey Nesting Platforms

Wish List

Items and volunteer projects desperately needed at the Kern River Preserve.

CAN YOU HELP US? Have you noticed our trails becoming a little unkempt... our tractor keeps breaking down.

For maintenance

We NEED a new tractor desperately, so we can mow our trail without threat of more breakdowns and parts that can not be found.

What we need is a Medium Farm Tractor, Category III with a 3-point hitch, 4x4, approx 40 hp. Attachments needed include: Chipper, Box Scraper, Front end loader, Hydraulic Auger

Also needed a flatbed Trailer suitable for hauling a tractor or automobile.

Our Buildings

ROOF - Both the current Visitor's Center and the Audubon House at Sprague Ranch need new roofing. Help us with our campaign to fund the roof repair on these important buildings.

Paint/Wiring - The Audubon House at Sprague Ranch desperately needs new wiring. All buildings in our compounds need paint. The Audubon House at Sprague Ranch needs high speed internet at costs over $500 to install and $90 per month to maintain.

Nature Trail

We need money to buy interpretive trail signs and to rebuild the trail boardwalk. We need more benches and kiosks along the nature trail and we need to repair the driveway and parking lot.

For our office

Oversized laser color copier for making maps, brochures and kiosk items.

For the planet

Land Protection – We have spent about $2.5M on land protection over the last 2-3 years – we always are looking for more land and money.

Economy car for travel to events, errands, presentations and meetings

FOR RESTORATION PROJECTS

Ditch Improvements

a. Culverts, Risers, Concrete other materials
b. Labor
c. Equipment time

Riparian Restoration

a. Irrigation lines, emitters, materials
b. Planning and permitting
c. Labor

Tri-colored Black Bird Nesting Habitat Restoration

a. Materials
b. Labor for implementation and management

FOR THE NEW AUDUBON CENTER

1. Visitor Center – we have a $152K planning grant from SNC – we need another $125K to complete planning and permitting

2. We will be looking for several million for construction, operations of AC.

3. Volunteer Help with Audubon Center Market Evaluation and Business Plan

Be a part of our riparian restoration and outreach programs in the Kern River Valley as a member and volunteer.  Looking for other ways to support Kern River Preserve? If you can help us with our wish list please contact Reed Tollefson for details.

About this newsletter

Cuckoo Call is published occasionally for those interested in the happenings at Audubon California's Kern River Preserve. If this e-newsletter has piqued your interest in the Kern River Preserve, consider taking the next step. If you are not already a member, please join us! To our current members, we greatly appreciate your continued support.

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Cuckoo song is © Doug Von Gausig, http://naturesongs.org, All rights reserved.

The cuckoo call is written by Audubon Kern River Preserve , Alison Sheehey, if you have questions or suggestions for our next e-newsletter, email her at krpfriends@audubon.org

Images © 2008 Audubon and Nature Alley™. Nature Alley and Nature Ali are trademarks of Alison Sheehey. All rights reserved.