Springtime…Brought to you by Audubon California

Over the last two days my fellow Audubon California board members and myself were shown some of the phenomenal work that the organization has been performing on behalf of birds in northern California.

First stop was the Davis Ranch in Colusa. This 5,000 acre rice and row crop operation adjacent to the Colusa National Wildlife Refuge has been in a farming family for more than 100 years. Previous unenlightened generations of ranchers were proud that “not a single tree grew between the river and western boundary of the ranch”. In collaboration with Audubon a new generation of Davis Ranch farmers see the benefits of sharing the land with nature. Audubon Staffers showed us ‘Riparian corridors’ where swaths of native shrubs and trees are being planted along formerly denuded canals. Narrow rice checks are being widened to provide ‘loafing areas’ for ducks and shorebirds. And miles of ‘edge’ are being allowed to grow feral to encourage repatriation of native species.

Forty-five minutes to the south near Winters we were shown another set of projects that are benefitting upland habitat. The borders of dry creek-beds, overgrazed for decades, are being seeded with native grasses, shrubs and trees like willows and cottonwoods. Nest boxes have been installed to encourage nesting by tree swallows, western bluebirds and American Kestrels. Recently barren fields gave us great looks at white-tailed kites and loggerhead shrikes.

The trip concluded with a BBQ dinner at Audubon’s recently acquired Bobcat Ranch – a 6800 acre jewel of savannah blue oak woodlands in the western coast range, where a small army of staff and volunteers is learning more ways to repair and restore native habitat not only for the benefit of birds, but for the enjoyment of humans in perpetuity.