Shorebirds are returning to the Bay Area for the winter, having spent the spring and summer nesting season as far north as the Arctic. Here Least Sandpiper and Red-necked Phalarope forage in the wetland habitat at ACR’s Toms Point Preserve. Tomales Bay is designated a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention....

We are very pleased to announce the hiring of Jared Childress as ACR’s prescribed fire specialist, effective August 13, 2018. As a member of ACR’s science and stewardship staff, Jared will identify and assess units for prescribed fire or other vegetation management treatments on ACR lands and on the lands of our partner agencies and land owners/managers. He will work with our current staff to write burn plans, and interface with fire agencies, the air quality management districts, and our neighbors and community members.

Director of Stewardship Jeanne Wirka expresses our collective delight at filling this much-needed staff position, “Jared is joining ACR at a super-exciting time. The ACR stewardship staff at all of our preserves are looking forward to working with him to...

As any field researcher knows, failed attempts are just part of the work flow for most projects! We try, we fail, we adjust methods, we try again. After a spring season of several near misses—and a couple of face-plants in the salt marsh muck—trying to capture additional Great Egrets for our GPS study, we are very excited to report to you that our team recently has captured two adults, both with breeding plumage, at Toms Point, Tomales Bay. The captures and tagging went very smoothly. After release, the birds took off and flew out of view toward the Walker Creek delta, their lightweight solar GPS backpacks collecting a range of movement and behavioral data.

Since late February, Living with Lions team has captured six lions spanning the southern Mayacamas and Sonoma Mountain area. Two of these lions were study subjects recaptured to replace failing GPS collar batteries and check overall health. Four others are new lions in our study and their movements are already giving us a better understanding of the lion landscape.

P6, who is the surviving offspring from P1's 2017 litter of three, was captured weeks prior to her dispersal from mom. Since leaving 'home,' P6, now 13 months old, has proven to be a good hunter as indicated by the remains of a couple of large does cached at one of her feeding sites.

P8 and P9, daughter and mom, were spotted by quick thinking Taylor Mountain Regional Park personnel. Working together, our team...