Each new member will receive a Citizen Scientist Field Guide and possibly a “Habitat is where it’s at t-shirt”, dependent on the level you choose. On top of that the new member will receive monthly emails that assign discover contests competitions with cool prizes to be awarded.

So considering getting your child or grandchild a Kit & Burt Citizen Scientist membership today. The future will thank you.

Follow this link to learn more. Kit & Burt Citizen Scientists.

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Grazing

There is no doubt you have seen them lately, goats roaming around and grazing on certain parts of Roseville, Rocklin, or Lincoln. These cities have put into place a comprehensive grazing program in an effort to reduce the use of potentially harmful pesticides and to reduce fire hazards for their residents. Grazing is a cutting edge and biodynamic way of reducing fire hazard and keeping invasive plant species down to a minimum. In a way, this is a “back to the future” sort of approach to managing land.

“We are rediscovering the value of managed grazing with a combination of sheep and goats and we believe that the wave of the future is to go back to the past,” stated Patrick Shea, Executive Director of the Wildlife Heritage Foundation.

Aside from being cute furry creatures, they play an important role in our habitat. Grazing allows the preserve manager a means to maintain the herbaceous cover and biomass within a range that is conducive to the health and long-term persistence of the natural communities that currently exist on the property. In addition, grazing also assists in reducing the fire hazard associated with the mass of dry vegetation that accumulates during the dry summer and fall seasons. Finally, grazing with goats and sheep assists in the management of invasive plant species by reducing weedy populations and inhibiting their spread.

Goats and sheep live together nicely and having them graze property together produces a great outcome. Goats tend to target and eat broad-leaf non-native annuals while sheep target and eat grasses. These plants grow quickly, however, small ruminants (goats and sheep) take them down so they do not have a chance to re-seed. Some plants such as the yellow star thistle have seeds that can be viable for at least ten years. The fact that they are not allowed to go to seed vastly reduces the risk that they will invade the open spaces. The same story is true for the Himalayan blackberry, a non-native, invasive species common our area. Grazing cuts the blackberry down so much that they are not given a chance to grow and spread.

Grazing animals are almost always accompanied by one or more guardian dogs. The dogs are inside the fence with the animals to protect them from predators, most commonly coyotes. Guardian dogs are really cute but they are raised to guard their flock. They don’t necessarily want to socialize with people. Don’t be alarmed if they bark at you until you move away from their flock. They are just doing their job!

WHF reaches out regularly to schools near open spaces that have sheep and goats grazing. We do a presentation for the whole school, including a mini herding demonstration with some herding dogs and goats. Let us know if you have grazing animals near your school and we would be happy to make a visit!

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Wildlife Heritage Foundation event synopsis

1/28/13

On the 24^th of January the California Council of Land Trusts held the first Mitigation Summit where many topics concerning SB 1148 (CDFW Mitigation Banking Program) and SB 1094 (mitigation endowment) were discussed. Topics included the new California Department of Fish and Wildlife “looking forward” effort, renewable energy, farmland mitigation and Mitigation Banking.

In case you missed it we felt it prudent to provide you, our clients, with a general overview of this event.

The most important talking point of the day that we find important to share with you was the position taken by the Director of Fish and Wildlife, Charlton Bonham and the Deputy Director Kevin Hunting. During Director Bonham’s speech he covered many topics including his commitment to revamp CDFW to improve project approval timelines as well as refocus the purpose of the Department.

In his speech Bonham said “CDFW will not invoke CESA as a backdoor approach to approving endowment holders…”also that “CDFW is not in the business of approving endowment holders involved in CESA mitigation projects.” These two points are of significant value to you as a current or potential project proponent. Here is why, if your Regional contacts at CDFW are currently delaying your project for any reason related to the ability of CDFW to confirm a nonprofit’s status to hold endowments these quotes are your new pathway to getting your projects approved.

Another key take away from this summit that you should be aware of is the relationship between SB 1148 and SB 1094 and mitigation banks. According to Helen Birss and 2 other staff members the new processes being designed to free up the backlog of banks at CDFW, which currently stands at 95, should be in full swing by the end of 2013. A flow chart has been designed by CDFW that outlines the new fee structure and where in this process you might fall as a current applicant. Unfortunately this flow chart was not made public, yet, it is still in flux.

What we took from the breakout session co-chaired by Patrick Shea was that CDFW has much work to do in terms of getting all parties, including CDFW staff, on board with the new processes and that the queue of 95 projects will be prioritized and addresses individually. We cannot say you will avoid the new fees, nor could they, but the goal is to effectively eliminate this blockade within 12 months.

If you have any questions for us regarding the summit, our take away points or how this may affect your project please email or call Patrick Shea (pshea@wildlifeheritage.org or 916-434-2759).

Best regards in 2013,

Wildlife Heritage Foundation

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By Emilian Geczi, M.S.|Keith Cerk, M.A., M.Div.

Over the next decade, employment in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) sector is expected to grow at a significantly higher rate than in the overall job market. This projected growth represents an exciting opportunity for our youth, but conveying excitement about a STEM career to our children is not always easy. Ethnic minority, female, and low-income students are particularly disengaged from STEM-related learning, relative to the school population at large (1).

How To Increase Diversity Participation In The STEM Sector

Research shows that the great majority of adults who are active in the environmental science, engineering, and advocacy fields had formative outdoor experiences during childhood or had role models who directed their attention to the environment (2). Finding ways to connect our children – irrespective of social background – with the outdoors and with people who are passionate about the environment may therefore represent a key strategy in opening up a world of career opportunities for them. Connecting kids with nature not only contributes to their physical, social, and emotional development (3), but it may also instill in them the enthusiasm to pursue a career in science or in another STEM field.

Outdoor Education Programs Combine Fun With Life-Long Learning

Programs that introduce children of diverse backgrounds to the outdoors provide anecdotal evidence that exploring the sights, textures, smells, tastes, and sounds of the environment can combine fun and learning in a way that makes a lasting impression. Jacqueline, an eleven-year-old who moved to the U.S. with her family from abroad, was one of 10 students who enrolled in a summer program organized in 2008 by the First Baptist Church of Waukegan, IL, in partnership with several public and private organizations. The program allowed students to explore their neighborhood’s natural resources and meet scientists who make their living turning stones, counting birds, sampling water, or engaging in other activities that students themselves were undertaking. Jacqueline became fascinated with the American Toad and ended up presenting various facts and research findings about the species to other students. Later in the summer, Jacqueline paid a visit to the program coordinator and, after chatting about her experiences, stated her intention to become a paleontologist. Outdoor exploration can ignite passion for subjects like science and math. In the process, college and career aspirations can become a reality for children who otherwise might have never considered a profession in a scientific field.

Let Kids Be Their Own Guides

Whenever possible, parents should take their children outside and allow them to become their own guides.

· Unstructured time spent outdoors can help children develop interests and sensibilities that will last a lifetime.

· Families can also engage in outdoor activities, such as gardening or fishing, that affirm the passion and skills of their adult members.

· Kids may very well catch the spirit and the zeal from their parents.

· Participating in outdoor recreation programs offered through local agencies and organizations can supplement these family activities by exposing children to conservation scientists and other professionals who are enthusiastic about their work.

Partner With Your School

Outdoor youth programs delivered through local schools can be especially effective in communicating the importance of science and math to students of varied backgrounds. In the Chicago region, more than 6,000 public school students participate every year in the Mighty Acorns program, which takes them on three field trip experiences annually to a nearby public resource. Students have an opportunity to engage in conservation actions such as collecting seeds and planting seedlings in addition to exploring the outdoors on their own. Staff members are consistently amazed at how passionately children perform their work when entrusted to make a positive difference on the land. Trusting the child’s lead in the outdoors and nourishing his or her spirit of discovery, together with finding opportunities to interact with people who are passionate about the environment, may constitute a set of actions that go a long way toward cultivating the next generation of STEM professionals.

References

1. U.S. Department of Labor [USDL]. (2007). The STEM workforce challenge: The role of the public workforce system in a national solution for a competitive science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce. 2. Chawla, L. (1999). Life paths into effective environmental action. Journal of Environmental Education, 31, 15-27. 3. Burdette, H.L. & Whitaker, R.C. (2005). Resurrecting free play in young children. Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine, 159, 46-50. Emilian Geczi coordinates the Chicago Wilderness Leave No Child Inside initiative. He works with environmental, educational, faith-based, and other organizations to support programs that connect children with the outdoors. He has an M.S. degree in Natural Resources from the University of Vermont. To learn more about the Leave No Child Inside initiative or the Mighty Acorns program, you can visit the kidsoutside.info website or contact Emilian at 312-545-1007. Rev. Keith Cerk serves on the Chicago Wilderness Faith-Based Advisory Group and on the Youth Services Board of Kids Hope United.  He pastors an urban, multi-cultural congregation and has worked with at-risk children, youth and gang members for over 20 years.  Keith is a wilderness canoe trip guide who also co-directs a nature adventure program which uses the outdoors to engage children’s interest in the sciences.  He loves to point out that adults in “green collar” careers can get paid for doing the same kind of fun activities the kids are doing.  A certified Wilderness First Responder, Keith holds M.A. and M.Div. degrees and has been trained by the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) and the Wilderness Awareness School.  He can be reached via his church’s website: fbcwaukegan.com.

http://www.education.com/reference/article/outdoor-education-science-math-diverse/

LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW WHF IS GETTING KIDS OUTSIDE. WHF EDUCATION PROGRAM

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Great Blue Heron by: Phil Robertson

Cool Facts

Thanks to specially shaped neck vertebrae, Great Blue Herons can curl their neck into an S shape for a more aerodynamic flight profile and to quickly strike prey at a distance.

Great Blue Herons have specialized feathers on their chest that continually grow and fray. The herons comb this “powder down” with a fringed claw on their middle toes, using the down like a washcloth to remove fish slime and other oils from their feathers as they preen. Applying the powder to their under parts protects their feathers against the slime and oils of swamps.

Great Blue Herons can hunt day and night thanks to a high percentage of rod-type photoreceptors in their eyes that improve their night vision.

Despite their impressive size, Great Blue Herons weigh only 5 to 6 pounds thanks in part to their hollow bones—a feature all birds share.

Great Blue Herons in the northeastern U.S. and southern Canada have benefited from the recovery of beaver populations, which have created a patchwork of swamps and meadows well-suited to foraging and nesting.

Along the Pacific coast, it’s not unusual to see a Great Blue Heron poised atop a floating bed of kelp waiting for a meal to swim by.

The white form of the Great Blue Heron, known as the “great white heron,” is found nearly exclusively in shallow marine waters along the coast of very southern Florida, the Yucatan Peninsula, and in the Caribbean. Where the dark and white forms overlap in Florida, intermediate birds known as “Wurdemann’s herons” can be found. They have the body of a Great Blue Heron, but the white head and neck of the great white heron.

The oldest Great Blue Heron, based on banding recovery, was 24 years old.

Great Blue Herons congregate at fish hatcheries, creating potential problems for the fish farmers. A study found that herons ate mostly diseased fish that would have died shortly anyway. Sick fish spent more time near the surface of the water where they were more vulnerable to the herons.

Habitat

Marsh

Great Blue Herons live in both freshwater and saltwater habitats, and also forage in grasslands and agricultural fields, where they stalk frogs and mammals. Most breeding colonies are located within 2 to 4 miles of feeding areas, often in isolated swamps or on islands, and near lakes and ponds bordered by forests.

Food

Fish

Great Blue Herons eat nearly anything within striking distance, including fish, amphibians, reptiles, small mammals, insects, and other birds. They grab smaller prey in their strong mandibles or use their dagger-like bills to impale larger fish, often shaking them to break or relax the sharp spines before gulping them down.

Nesting

Nesting Facts

Clutch Size

2–6 eggs

Number of Broods

1-2 broods

Egg Length

2.4–3 in

Egg Width

1.8–2 in

Incubation Period

27–29 days

Nestling Period

49–81 days

Egg Description

Pale blue, fading slightly with age.

Condition at Hatching

Bluish eyes open, chick covered in pale gray down, able to vocalize.

Nest Description

Male Great Blue Herons collect much of the nest material, gathering sticks from the ground and nearby shrubs and trees, and from unguarded and abandoned nests, and presenting them to the female. She weaves a platform and a saucer-shaped nest cup, lining it with pine needles, moss, reeds, dry grass, mangrove leaves, or small twigs. Nest building can take from 3 days up to 2 weeks; the finished nest can range from a simple platform measuring 20 inches across to more elaborate structures used over multiple years, reaching 4 feet across and nearly 3.5 feet deep. Ground-nesting herons use vegetation such as salt grass to form the nest.

Nest Placement

Tree

Great Blue Herons nest mainly in trees, but will also nest on the ground, on bushes, in mangroves, and on structures such as duck blinds, channel markers, or artificial nest platforms. Males arrive at the colony and settle on nest sites; from there, they court passing females. Colonies can consist of 500 or more individual nests, with multiple nests per tree built 100 or more feet off the ground.

Behavior

Stalking

Great Blue Herons forage, usually alone, across much of the U.S. This largest of the North American herons wades slowly or stands stock still, peering into the water for prey. In flight the Great Blue Heron folds it neck into an “S” shape and trails its long legs behind, dangling them as it prepares to land or when courting. Breeding birds nest in colonies that can number several hundred pairs, where they build stick nests in trees, on bushes, or on the ground. If you visit a colony, look for elaborate courtship and pair-bonding displays that include a ritualized greeting, stick transfers, and nest relief ceremony in which the birds erect their plumes and “clapper” their bill tips. Pairs are mostly monogamous during a season, but they choose new partners each year. Away from the colony, Great Blue Herons defend feeding territories from other herons with dramatic displays in which the birds approach intruders with their head thrown back, wings outstretched, and bill pointing skyward. Gulls and even humans may also be a target of this defensive maneuver.

Conservation

status via IUCN

Least Concern

Great Blue Heron numbers are generally stable and in some places increasing across the U.S. Some local population declines have occurred, particularly in the “great white heron” group in southern Florida, where elevated mercury levels in local waterways may be a factor. Because they depend on wetlands for feeding and on relatively undisturbed sites for breeding, Great Blue Herons are vulnerable to habitat loss and to impacts such as traffic, logging, motorboats, and other human intrusions that can disrupt nesting colonies. Other threats include chemical pollutants or other causes of reduced water quality. Although contaminant levels have declined in many areas, pollutants such as PCBs and DDT and newer types of industrial chemicals continue to affect heron habitats and can contribute to factors such as reduced nest site attendance.

Source: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Blue_Heron/lifehistory

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DISTRIBUTION, ABUNDANCE, AND SEASONALITY

The yellow-bellied marmot is common and widespread in, or near, rocky areas in the Sierra Nevada, Cascades and White Mts. Optimum habitats are alpine dwarf-shrub, perennial grassland, wet meadow, subalpine conifer, and open stands of lodgepole pine forest. Also found in open, grassy understories of mixed conifer, montane riparian, red fir, eastside pine, montane chaparral, sagebrush, bitterbrush, low sage, aspen, Jeffrey pine, and pinyon-juniper habitats.

SPECIFIC HABITAT REQUIREMENTS

Feeding: This herbivore feeds on seeds, flowers, leaves, and stems of a wide variety of grasses, forbs, and shrubs, and it occasionally eats insects. It forages on the ground. Fat (to 50% of body weight) is accumulated prior to hibernation. Marmots appear to avoid plants with known high concentrations of secondary compounds such as alkaloids or tannins.

Cover: Uses rocky areas and talus for cover. Digs a burrow system as a refuge and hibernaculum. Burrow usually is under rocks, but also may be under tree roots or buildings.

Reproduction: Builds a nest of dry grasses in the burrow system.

Water: Drinks water while active. Captive animals from a xeric habitat drank less and produced less, and more concentrated, urine than animals from a mesic habitat In the xeric habitat, 73-74% of the total water intake came from drinking, and the remainder came from vegetation and metabolic water.

Pattern: Prefers rocky outcrops and talus slopes with nearby grasses and forbs. Uses rocks for shelter, sunning, and observing. Uses open stages of forests if an understory of grasses and forbs is present. Requires water source. May avoid areas of heavy grazing. In the Sierra Nevada, large populations may be found in, and around, meadows. Small “satellite” populations may occur in less preferred sites. These populations have lower reproductive rates and high turnover.

Source: Life history accounts for species in the California Wildlife Habitat Relationships (CWHR) System were originally published in: Zeiner, D.C., W.F.Laudenslayer, Jr., K.E. Mayer, and M. White, eds. 1988-1990. California’s Wildlife. Vol. I-III. California Depart. of Fish and Game, Sacramento, California. Updates are noted in accounts that have been added or edited since original publication.

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Dip netting in freshwater ponds, dissecting native plants, examining animal bones and owl pellets, and engaging all five senses during nature walks are only some of the activities that students experience during a typical field trip with WHF. Our Outdoor Environmental Education Program has grown and flourished over the last four years. What started out with a limited effort, hosting two field trips a year, has transformed into a multi-faceted program. We not only share the wonders of the natural world with young students at a few of our protected preserves, but we also give school-wide presentations on the benefits of grazing open space. In addition to this, our Education Program has begun to branch out into community-wide outreach by hosting the annual Calling Back the Salmon Celebration.

Kelly Velasco, our Education and Outreach Director, is always on the look-out for new ways to deliver hands-on, engaging, science-related experiences to students of all ages. The Foundation is committed to continuing our current programs and expanding them. We plan to include multi-visit field trips to allow students to experience how the landscape changes throughout the year. In addition, we are hoping to develop and grow our community-wide, educational nature walks at a few of our properties.

Be sure to check our website often for new events and activities that may come up. If you are a teacher and you are interested in taking a completely free (including bus transportation) field trip to one of our properties, be sure to fill out the form on our website at www.wildlifeheritage.org. Hopefully we will see you sometime in 2013!

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The Third Annual Calling Back the Salmon Celebration was a day full of sunshine, live music, and activities. We experienced our largest turn out yet as our regional community came together to celebrate bringing salmon back to Auburn Ravine. Mumbo Gumbo rocked the park as people meandered through the festival area checking out amazing art, interactive booths, yummy food, and tons of kid’s crafts.

Majestic birds of prey flew through the air in an awe-inspiring demonstration by Ladi Hawke and her team of rescued hawks and owls. Even the kids got to participate in one of her “fly-overs!”

Our Celebration gets bigger and better every year so mark your calendar for October 5th and 6th, 2013!

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Black Crowned Night Heron

Cool Facts

Young Black-crowned Night-Herons often disgorge their stomach contents when disturbed. This habit makes it easy to study its diet.

The Black-crowned Night-Heron may nest in the same tree with ibises or other herons.

Adult Black-crowned Night-Herons apparently do not distinguish between their own young and those from other nests, and will brood chicks not their own.

Habitat

Marsh

Various wetland habitats, including salt, brackish, and freshwater marshes, swamps, streams, lakes, and agricultural fields.

Food

Fish

Aquatic invertebrates, fish, amphibians, lizards, snakes, rodents, eggs, and other foods.

Nesting

Nesting Facts

Clutch Size

1–7 eggs

Egg Description

Greenish

Condition at Hatching

Eyes open, partially covered in white and gray down.

Nest Description

A platform of sticks placed in tree or cattails. Nests colonially; more than a dozen nests may be in a single tree.

Nest Placement

Tree

Behavior

Stalking

Grasps prey; does not stab with bill.

Conservation

status via IUCN

Least Concern

Overall, populations stable. Because of wide distribution and feeding habits, the Black-crowned Night-Heron is an excellent indicator of ecosystem health. You can help scientists learn more about this species by participating in Celebrate Urban Birds!

Source: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-crowned_Night-Heron/lifehistory

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