Stewardship Update
Written by Haley Sutton, Land Stewardship Associate and Kendra Smith, Education & Outreach Coordinator
Love for Mother Earth
Photo by Haley Sutton
We celebrated Earth Month by taking care of native plants across multiple properties. First, volunteers convened at Marsh Creek 1 and 7 to continue chipping away at the sheet mulching work of the pollinator garden while celebrating the rain.
The following week, volunteers spread the love for Mother Earth by nurturing oak and buckeye plantings along the Ang riparian corridor, a project we have in partnership with the East Contra Costa County Habitat Conservancy.
Diablo Restoration Team volunteers. Photo by Haley Sutton
Volunteers visited all five sites to fix tree tubes and caging around numerous trees.
Thank you to our amazing volunteers for all their enthusiasm and hard work!
Stewards in the Field
Photo by Haley Sutton
There was a lot going on at Curry Canyon Ranch in April!
Property stewards and staff conducted tree monitoring for the UC Berkeley–led Sudden Oak Death (SOD) Blitz around the property and completed annual spring cleaning at the ranch house.
Monarch caterpillar on California milkweed. Photo by Haley Sutton
Staff also completed a bridge at the lower 200 acres of Curry Canyon Ranch that crosses over a drainage that’s susceptible to seasonal flooding and erosion.
We’ve been seeing a lot of growth this spring.
The willow stakes installed in a drainage last fall by students during a Conservation Collaboration Agreement field experience have taken root and are sprouting new leaves.
And California milkweed is in bloom!
Staff also spruced up the trails at Mangini Ranch Educational Preserve so that they are more visible for visitors, and rattlesnakes have also been observed staying cool too.
Discover Diablo Program
Photo by Mary Nagle
Sauntering and Soloing, April 12th. Out at Save Mount Diablo’s Mangini Ranch Educational Preserve, participants got to experience a deeper connection to nature through a contemplative solo exercise led by our very own Executive Director, Ted Clement.
Amidst an oak woodland forest with beautiful vistas, participants journaled about what nature means to them and how they can take care of nature, resulting in profound reflections.
All That Begin with B and Beyond, April 13th. Postponed to June 15th because of rainy weather.
Shell Ridge Open Space Loop, April 25th. After being postponed earlier in the year because of rain, participants were able to get out on a lovely hike along the beautiful rolling hills and through the oak woodlands of Walnut Creek Open Space.
With views of Mount Diablo, wildflowers in bloom, and a stop by a small lake along the loop, it was well worth the wait.
Discover Diablo: Shell Ridge. Photo by Mary Nagle
Wildflower Hike in Mitchell Canyon, April 20th. Participants were invited to the hillsides of Mitchell Canyon to find spring wildflowers. They enjoyed seeing the colorful array of wildflowers found among the chaparral and streamside ecosystems of Mitchell Canyon, including Mount Diablo fairy lanterns.
Joint Mt. Diablo Bird Alliance and Save Mount Diablo Birding Walk, April 27th. Save Mount Diablo partnered with Mount Diablo Bird Alliance on this birding walk at Save Mount Diablo’s beautiful Curry Canyon Ranch, an area of Mount Diablo not normally open to the public.
Participants hiked through rangeland ecosystems in search of spring migrants, arriving summer birds, and raptors.
BioBlitz
For this year’s two-week BioBlitz, which began on April 19th, we were excited to invite the public to explore open spaces in all 12 counties of the Diablo Range for the first time!
Participants were encouraged to collect observations of species diversity in these open spaces and add them to Save Mount Diablo’s iNaturalist project page.
We are excited to see the diversity found throughout the Diablo Range as a result of our two-week and 24-hour BioBlitzes.
