Audubon Canyon Ranch

Do you love looking under rocks or logs for herps (amphibians & reptiles)? Sign up for the Herpetology Coverboard Training on November 20 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Martin Griffin Preserve. Help is needed throughout the year to record the number and types of amphibians and reptiles by looking under coverboards for all the surprises that await. Fill out the form at https://lnkd.in/gq4awJSV. #communityscience

We were so pleased to welcome a group of Sonoma Master Gardeners to Bouverie Preserve for a tour of M.F.K. Fisher’s Last House and a hike of the preserve with all its sights and smells of a landscape freshly stewarded with good fire. Photo by Last House docent Carolyn Greene.

Reminder: Applications for the California Naturalist Certification Course with UC Environmental Stewards are due by November 15. Learn more at https://lnkd.in/gj8TdQgi. Begins January 2025. This course is an inclusive, community-centered program committed to introducing participants from diverse backgrounds to California’s natural environments. California Naturalist Certification Courses are offered by a range of organizations, including Audubon Canyon Ranch, who will host this 2025 session. Woot! Open to all, especially encouraging participation from historically underrepresented communities. Your involvement will pave the way for fostering inclusivity and community science in our beloved open spaces.

Winter shorebird surveying begins in November! Sign up to join a lively group of volunteers and contribute to research. If you can’t join as a volunteer, but you still want to learn about how to identify shorebirds recreationally, here is a guide you can download: https://lnkd.in/gfBCcB_H. Photo credit (in order) to Nils Warnock: Young Western Sandpiper, Willet in the water, and a group of Long-billed Dowitchers. #ShorebirdSurvey #BirdWatching #VolunteerOpportunities #BirdIdentification #WinterBirds #WildlifeResearch #NatureLovers #BirdConservation #AvianResearch

Update 10/28/24: This burn is postponed due to predicted rain. **Smoke & Traffic Advisory** Glen Ellen, CA – A 17.5-acre prescribed burn is planned on Tues, Oct 29 at Oak Hill Farm located on Sonoma Highway 12. Prescribed burning across oak savannah will remove annual grass thatch to benefit native bunch grasses and wildflowers. This is a permitted burn; please avoid calling 9-1-1 to report smoke and fire in the prescribed area. **This operation is subject to change depending on conditions. Ignitions may commence as early as 10 a.m. and conclude by 5 p.m. Residents in the Kenwood and Sonoma area may see or smell smoke in the air for up to 10 hours. Travelers on Sonoma Highway 12 may notice smoke and experience slowing traffic. 👁️🗨️ See updates about this burn at app.watchduty.org/i/37110 ⚠️ Flip notification switch to ON position for push notifications. The prescribed burn will be managed by Audubon Canyon Ranch’s Fire Forward program with support of local fire agencies and the Good Fire Alliance Sonoma County's prescribed burn association. Crews will manage the burn activities during the day and will patrol the area through evenings and subsequent days until all heat sources have been extinguished. Oak Hill Farm has farmed and stewarded the land using sustainable practices for over 50 years. They are known for providing vegetables, flowers, and nourishing a sense of place in our community, but are also actively stewarding forests and grasslands. They have used ecological thinning, pile burning, and prescribed fire as tools to bolster the health and resilience of the land they steward. Learn more about good fire and prescribed burning at www.fireforward.org and on social media at Audubon Canyon Ranch. Sign up for personalized email notifications about prescribed burns we are leading near you at egret.org/smoke-alert/. Seen above, prescribed fire practitioners from Fire Forward and the Good Fire Alliance tend a previous grass and oak savannah burn. Photo by Sashwa Burrous. #fireforward #goodfire #landstewardship #sonomavalley

**Smoke Alert** Audubon Canyon Ranch & Sonoma Land Trust plan to conduct a 22-acre prescribed burn in Glen Ellen at Bouverie Preserve & Glen Oaks Ranch on Mon, Oct 28 to build resilience against wildfire and benefit native habitat in the Sonoma Valley. This is a permitted burn; avoid calling 9-1-1 to report smoke and fire in the prescribed area. **The operation is subject to change depending on conditions. Ignitions may begin as early as 10am and conclude by 5pm. Residents and travelers in the Kenwood and Sonoma area may notice smoke for up to 10 hours. Children, older adults, and those with respiratory conditions should consider limiting outdoor activities and using an air filter at home if local air quality is poor. The prescribed burn will be conducted by Audubon Canyon Ranch and Sonoma Land Trust with support from local fire agencies. The crew will manage burn activities during the day and patrol until all heat has been extinguished. **Aviso de humo** Audubon Canyon Ranch y Sonoma Land Trust tienen previsto realizar una quema controlada de 22 acres en Glen Ellen, en las Reservas Bouverie y Glen Oaks Ranch, el lunes 28 de octubre que aumentará la resiliencia a los incendios forestales y beneficiará al hábitat autóctono del Valle de Sonoma. Esta es una quema permitida; por favor evite llamar al 9-1-1 para reportar humo y fuego en el área programado. **Esta quema controlada está sujeta a cambios que dependen de las condiciones. Los encendidos pueden comenzar a partir de las 10 de la mañana y concluirán a las 5 de la tarde. Los residentes y viajeros en Kenwood y Sonoma pueden ver u oler humo en el aire durante un máximo de 10 horas. Los niños, los adultos mayores y las personas con afecciones respiratorias deben considerar la posibilidad de limitar las actividades al aire libre y utilizar un filtro de aire en casa si la calidad del aire local es mala. Esta quema controlada se llevará a cabo por Audubon Canyon Ranch, y Sonoma Land Trust, con el apoyo de agencias locales de bomberos. La cuadrilla gestionará las actividades de la quema durante el día y patrullará hasta que se haya extinguido todo el calor. 📷 Sashwa Burrous #PrescribedBurn #WildfireResilience #SonomaValley #GlenEllen #AudubonCanyonRanch #SonomaLandTrust #EnvironmentalProtection #WildlifeHabitat #FireSafety

Welcome Susan Shaw, who has joined our board of directors! Susan is a community organizer whose roots as a narrative family therapist were born out of her early activism for racial, social, and economic justice. In 2009 Susan co-founded the North Bay Organizing Project (NBOP) and served as its executive director for the next 12 years. Susan also co-founded the Graton Day Labor Center (Centro Laboral de Graton) in 2002 and served as the director for five years as well as board member for 14 years. Alongside her responsibilities as director of NBOP, Susan also served as state director of Gamaliel of California for six years, until 2018. Raised in Singapore and rural Ohio, Susan lives in western Sonoma County. Thank you for your dedication and service, Susan!

🐴🐴 Repost from our friends with Giant Steps Therapeutic Equestrian Center. "We’re thrilled to announce the success of our pilot trail ride! Our clients asked and we listened! After several months of preparation for this opportunity, a group of Giant Steps riders enjoyed a wonderful day of nature & fun. We can’t wait to build on this momentum for future rides, extending the opportunity to all of our clients. A heartfelt thank you to Bay Area Barns and Trails and Tukman Family Foundation for helping to fund this initiative and to Audubon Canyon Ranch for granting us access to the beautiful and secluded trails of the Bouverie Preserve that made this possible. We are also so appreciative of our staff, volunteers, and clients for being a part of this experience. And we can't forget a job well done by Pierre & Buster. Here’s to many more adventures ahead." #TrailRide #NatureLovers #EquestrianLife #OutdoorAdventure #BayAreaTrails #GiantSteps #CommunitySupport #NatureExperience #HorsebackRiding

🐾 Living with Lions Principal Investigator Quinton Martins confirmed that P33 has a young kitten on Taylor Mountain. We weren’t 100% sure but now we are. This is the offspring of P33 and P13. P33’s kitten is particularly threatened as P13 is no longer alive to protect it from any other male lions that take over this now vacant territory that includes P33's home range. Video footage courtesy Quinton Martins/True Wild. Footage shows P33 with her kitten, feeding on a cached deer covered with leaf matter. #LionConservation #LivingwithLions #auduboncanyonranch #california #WildlifePhotography #LionResearch #BigCats #AnimalBehavior

Comet Tsuchinshan over Cypress Grove Tuesday night, spotted by Grizzly Corp Fellow Emily Dewing. Photo by Grants Manager Sarah Warnock. Comet Tsuchinshan is in the constellation of Serpens, at a distance of 86,870,052.9 kilometers from Earth. #CometTsuchinshan #CypressGrove #Astrophotography #SerpensConstellation #NightSky #SpaceWatching #AstronomyLovers #Stargazing #NaturePhotography