Audubon Canyon Ranch's Main Preserves: Bouverie Preserve, Glen Ellen, CA Martin Griffin Preserve, Stinson Beach, CA Cypress Grove Preserve, Marshall, CA Modini Preserve, Healdsburg, CA
We are excited to share this first look at mama mountain lion P4 and her three 3-month-old kittens. Born on July 8, 2019 in the Mt. Veeder area of Napa County, they all appear healthy and on the road to becoming fully-fledged big-cats!
In this footage recorded October 8–10, P4 has killed and cached a deer for them, a task she will continue to do for the next year until they are ready to disperse. Odds of survival are brutal though; this is the third litter of kittens we've...
In late August Sarah Warnock—who returned to live in West Marin in 2018 when her husband Nils was appointed director of conservation science at ACR—was combing the Tomales Bay shoreline near Cypress Grove Research Center. Although trained as an ornithologist, Sarah has a passion for fossils and was on a mission. She was rewarded beyond all expectation when she found the roots of a mammoth molar sticking up through the rocky shore, as if to wave hello. Having lived for many years in Alaska, where mammoth fossils are not uncommon, Sarah recognized it right away.
Since the discovery, Sarah has been working with regional experts to confirm the identity of the fossil and to devise a plan to carefully remove the molar for future analysis. Bobby Boessenecker, paleontologist and adjunct...
While many in the ornithological world will not be surprised by the recent Science article, "Three billion North American birds have vanished since 1970," the findings are a wake-up call for readers everywhere and highlight the importance of developing trigger points for monitoring programs that lead to effective communication and conservation action.
To add local context to the overall decline, on Tomales Bay, where ACR has monitored shorebirds since 1989, mean winter shorebird numbers have declined from about 20,000 individual birds in the late 1980s to about 6,000-7,000 individual birds currently, a population decline of roughly 65%. The biggest losers appear to be Dunlin and Western Sandpipers.
In our upcoming edition of Conservation in Science, Director of...
Since 1985 ACR has protected Toms Point from development and for the benefit of the natural systems of Tomales Bay. Through the archeological excavations of Tsim Schneider, Lee Panich and team, we also have come to understand the cultural importance of places like Toms Point—both historic and contemporary—to native people of California and are deeply grateful to continue on a path of shared purpose with regional tribal members and researchers.
Their work recently was highlighted in the San Francisco Chronicle and is recommended reading for our North Bay community.
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Say Hello! to P19, the male offspring of P1, Sonoma's Super Mama and P5, the resident male in the area. The Living with Lions team captured and collared P1’s 13-month-old offspring on Wednesday evening. Now known as P19, the young male looked healthy and well cared for by his mom. We’re grateful to have had a chance to collar him before he disperses. Our team on this collaring event included: Director and Principal Investigator Quinton Martins, veterinarian Graham Crawford, Bouverie Resource Ecologist Jennifer Potts, Research Associate Alex Hettena, and Research Technician Sheila McCarthy.
P19 marks the third of P1’s cubs (from three different litters) that we have collared. It was terrific to meet him again at close proximity after seeing him and his sibling for the first time...
On July 29, mountain lion P14, a young male we've been tracking since January, was killed in Mendocino County after a depredation permit was issued by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). The permit was requested by a Point Arena landowner after 12 sheep were killed. This is the fourth collared mountain lion killed for livestock depredation since our study, Living with Lions, began in October 2016.
The story of P14 goes back to the first week of 2019 when property owners Paul and Maria woke to find their two adult llamas dead in the field on their property near Jenner, CA. The large but rather old llamas—used to protect a small flock of goats against predators—were attacked and killed by a male mountain lion. In California, the offending animal would typically...
Several months ago, Prescribed Fire Specialist Jared Childress had the pleasure to lead a small group of basket weavers from the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria (FIGR) to the pygmy redwoods at Bouverie Preserve. They were looking for California hazel (Corylus cornuta var. californica) and were pleased by the quality of the post-fire shoots — thin, straight pliable basketry shoots that typically regrow only 1-2 years after burning. We learned so much observing their collection activities. Generously, the FIGR weavers group gifted the Preserve this traditional basket from the collected hazel. We look forward to sharing the story and the basket with the school kids when they return to the trail in the fall.
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With a keen eye toward climate change and potential impacts on preserve ecology and infrastructure, ACR contracted with Laurel Collins of Watershed Services and Jason Pearson of Lotic Environmental Services to conduct a preliminary geomorphic assessment of the four watersheds in the Martin Griffin Preserve (MGP). Project objectives included:
"Good stewardship entails looking after those in our care," says Quinton Martins, director of Living with Lions, in the recent Game Changers special edition of North Bay BIZ magazine. It's no surprise they found Quinton's optimism for community-driven conservation a compelling story but along the way they also discovered just how the project is winning the hearts of school children, landowners, volunteers and research partners.
As Executive Direction John Petersen says, "The work Quinton's doing is a perfect fit for ACR's mission—land stewardship, nature education and conservation science. We're fortunate to have him and his expertise as part of our team."
ACR’s Fire Forward program on Saturday conducted a 27-acre controlled burn of annual grassland and oak savannah at Bouverie Preserve near Glen Ellen. Ecological objectives for this event were timed to reduce non-native and invasive plants, promote native bunchgrasses and native wildflowers and to offer a ‘live fire’ cooperative...
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Photo credit: Ray Peterson
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