MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

December 2024

A look at some of the abandoned vehicles from the creek bed in March of 2000. A total of 10 vehicles were pulled from the site.

So where are we today? All the cars have been long removed from the creek bed. The 260 acre  Lake Calavera Preserve is now  permanently preserved and managed by the city of Carlsbad. In 2000 the adjacent 470 acre Carlsbad Highland Ecological Reserve (CHER) was established as one of 200 ecological reserves in the state of California and is managed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The combination of these two preserves has created one of the largest contiguous open spaces in our local area.

And here's the site today; still clean after 24 years! At right is the wetland area where junked cars once lay. Top right; natives spiny rush and cattail in the forefront. Bottom; native lemonade berry in in the forefront. (Photos by J.Cannon taken 11/24/2024)

El Corazon-

We began this site restoration in 2018 and continue monthly events. We are focused on controlling the spread of invasive plant species and continue to remove the ubiquitous fennel from the sensitive habitat at El Corazon.

Below, students from Rancho Buena Vista High School's Generation Green Club removing fennel on the hillside in October.

Rancho La Costa-

We continue our ongoing efforts to restore native grassland habitat at this site. We have planted over 300 native plants (and scattered hundreds of seed balls) since 2021. We continue our monthly events to remove invasive plants and water as needed.

Below, Generation Green Students weeding and watering at the site.

La Costa Oaks/Arterro Greenbelt-

This restoration is the inspiration of David Newman and fulfillment of his CA Naturalist Certification Capstone Project. David is restoring an empty 1.5 acre greenbelt area between two HOAs on Calle Pera in Carlsbad. We supplied 45 native plants and a group of local volunteers (including Preserve Calavera) helped David do the initial planting in Jan 2023. David has reported slow but steady progress and he is happy that all of the plants have survived two summers.

We have enjoyed hosting and co-hosting a wide variety of events in our local community this year and greatly appreciate our many volunteers of all ages.

Annual Wildflower Hike at Lake Calaveras Preserve-

James Dillane (above), wildflower extraordinaire with the CA Native Plant Society, shared his knowledge of the native plants and especially the springtime wildflowers in April.

Endangered Species Day- Buena Vista Audubon Society (BVAS) and Preserve Calavera cosponsored this annual May event (LINK). It provides an opportunity for the community to learn about the importance of protecting not just endangered species, but all native species and their unique habitats. Photo above, visitors learning about climate change with Paige DeCino.

Bat Outing at Lake Calavera- We had a very enthusiastic crowd turn up for our Bat Outing in August. We had 6 Echo Meters on hand to detect the ultra sonic bat vocalizations. We also had a night vision camera focused at the lake (photo above).

National Public Lands Day at Lake Calavera Trail Maintenance-

The City of Carlsbad hosted a trail maintenance volunteer event at Lake Calavera in September. We were on hand with info and a demonstration on Animal Tracking.

(Above photos by E. Bartlett)



Valley Arts Festival- An annual celebration of Oceanside and its first peoples, today known as the San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians, one of the seven tribes of the Luiseño nation.

At our event tables, along with sharing info, visitors (like the family above) made native wild flower seed balls and decorative butterflies.

King Tide Event at Carlsbad State Beach Park—This state wide event highlights the effects climate change is having on rising sea levels.  We were on hand, with the City and Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation, to answer questions on climate change, sea level rise and habitat impacts.

An ongoing area of concern for us has been the wildlife corridor for the coastal CA gnatcatcher that was designated by the the City of Oceanside’s 2010 Subarea Plan. The Wildlife Corridor Planning Zone (WCPZ) was identified as part of a larger project to connect open spaces between Camp Pendleton and Carlsbad. In order to jump start the ignored plan, in February 2024, we awarded a contract to Tito Merchant (Ecological Conservation & Management, Inc.) to complete a Wildlife Corridor Study Evaluation of the Northern Connector through the WCPZ. We are hoping this will give the city an impetus to actually complete the wildlife corridor as it was meant to be.

And while not yet"accomplishments," our long term efforts to acquire and preserve more land, and improve the function of the Regional Wildlife Movement Corridor continue. (Please take the time to review this important issue from our January 2024 Newsletter.)

But we can't do anything without strong support from people like you!

• Your volunteer work makes our restoration and water quality programs possible!
• Your email and comments at public meetings responding to our action alerts makes sure decision makers know that the community cares about protecting our natural resources.

And of course, your donations are needed to support all of this work!

Please consider a year end donation, either for any immediate priority- or for one of our ongoing programs like habitat restoration, water quality monitoring or land acquisition. If donating to a particular project, please note under "Designation" (general fund, NSDC WQ program or restricted land acquisition).

Together, we can continue to protect, enhance and  restore the precious natural resources of this area!

A beautiful evergreen native shrub, Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) produces bright red berries at this time of year that reminded early settlers of the holly back home, thus giving it the common names Christmas berry and California Holly. So many people were collecting branches as decorations that the state of California passed a law in the 1920s forbidding the practice. Hollywood was named after this plant! It is the official plant of the city of Los Angeles.

Best of all, those berries are a major food source, along with Mistletoe (yep, another native CA plant associated with Christmas!) in the winter for lots of year round and visiting birds!

Mammals large and small eat the berries up too; rabbit, coyote, fox, bear and deer will browse new growth. A great strategy for seed dispersal! (Photos above taken at Lake Calavera Preserve by E. Bartlett)

In the summer, the fragrant white flowers (photo at right credit ) are an important source of pollen and nectar for our pollinators; native bees, butterflies, moths and hummingbirds. It is the host plants for a variety of moth species.

The dense foliage provides cover and nesting sites for a host of animals; woodrats often build their stick nests against the trunk, California Quail forage beneath and many birds build nests in its branches, including Anna’s Hummingbird, California Towhees and the Western Scrub Jay.

Toyon is a great choice for your native garden. It is evergreen, attracts native pollinators, does well in all kinds of soil and it is fire retardant when kept moist. It is a super easy to grow shrub and it grows fast!

You can read more about Toyon on the California Native Plant Society-Calscape website

America's Wildest City -KPBS Documentary Filmed in San Diego County

America's Wildest City is a new hour-long documentary from PBS Nature that takes us into our own backyard. San Diego County is home to more biodiversity than any other county in the continental U.S. 

You will meet a diverse array of wildlife thriving incongruously in a landscape of that has been utterly transformed by humans. From the dramatic rituals of grebes and the playful antics of ground squirrels to the thrilling hunts of orcas and the moonlit spawning of grunion, witness nature’s resilience and beauty amidst the urban sprawl.

For more information and a link to the video: America's Wildest City