Dear Friend,

What's your favorite thing to do at Bolsa Chica in August? Is it trying to catch a glimpse of the cute little fluffy black Ridgway's Rail chicks in the pickleweed? Or lending a hand to give all the young plants a drink of water during the restoration volunteer days? Well, whatever it may be, we hope you get to soak in some sunshine like our local lizards and get away from it all for a few hours to enjoy a walk at Bolsa Chica.

The short of the long is our Summer fundraiser is still on and we hope you can donate your support towards our amazing restoration program! You can watch a quick video tour of our native plant nursery the Growing Space to see their hard work in action. We're also launching a 1 month online only t-shirt sale in August! Stock is limited, so get them while they last.

Until next time, see you on the trails.

As you may know, our Bolsa Chica Stewards have been working on restoring native plant habitat on a thin stretch of the Mesa since 1996. With the support of membership, the Stewards team has planted 60,000 native plants, built the Mesa trail, created our on-site Growing Space native plant nursery, and brought 32,000 volunteers from the community out to assist in this labor of love. We could not have done this without your support.

Much has happened in these past 29 years, including a 62-acre wildfire on July 26, 2020. California’s wildfires have inflicted tremendous losses, which in turn has led the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to undertake a test site for fire-resilient restoration on the Mesa. It began two years ago, and our Stewards team has been quietly assisting in the early phase of the project. Now, as the Stewards enter their 30th year, we are stepping up to partner with CDFW to restore a 20-acre footprint within the fenced-off part of the Mesa, to nurture a biodiverse habitat that is wildfire resilient.

We will need your support to realize our vision of a fully restored Mesa! To launch our biggest restoration effort yet we need funds to purchase pounds of native seed, tools and equipment to expand our capacity. Your donation now will help launch this effort in the best ways possible, setting the stage for success.

We're having an online t-shirt sale for 1 month only! To make room for new gifts coming soon, we are clearing out the rest of the Great Blue Heron and CA Least Tern t-shirts from our inventory. So, for the month of August we are discounting the t-shirt to only a $15 donation for each one. Limited to stock on hand, we will not be reprinting these so grab them now before they're gone for good!!

Here at the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, the Bolsa Chica Land Trust has been conserving and restoring Bolsa Chica since 1996 with the Bolsa Chica Stewards. In 2017, we created our on-site California native plant nursery called the Growing Space. Here we grow all the plants for our habitat restoration work. Come along to get a behind-the-scenes tour of our Growing Space with Beverley, Director of Restoration and Stewardship, and see our work in action!

August's Animal of the Month: Black-crowned Night Heron

This strong, stocky, and handsome bird is a medium-sized heron with a black crown and back, white face and breast, three plumes on its nape, and gray wings. These herons are very aggressive night-time hunters. They usually start hunting at twilight and prey upon fish, frogs, small mammals, eggs in nests, and young birds. They rest in the daytime in trees and bushes. At Bolsa Chica, Black-crowned Night Herons can often be found roosting during the day in a clump of Brazilian pepper trees along the PCH trail near the tide gate. They can be found year- round at Bolsa Chica. As a sign of its success, this species is widespread throughout the USA and Mexico in watery habitats such as coastal wetlands, inland marshes, lakes, and mangroves.

25” long; 44” wingspan; 1.9 pounds

photo: Brian Goebel

Reminders When You Visit Bolsa Chica

Here are some things to remember during your visit:

• Please stay on the trails. Not only could you disturb nesting birds, but snakes are often not far off the trails.
• Enjoy the flowers, but please do not pick them.
• Do not feed the animals.
• Do not litter. Please pack out your trash, including food scraps.
• No bikes or ebikes.
• No dogs.
• No drones.
• Enjoy being with nature!
• If you see any BCLT Stewards working along the trail, say hi! We are happy to answer any questions.

Support Bolsa Chica Today!

Questions? Email us at Info@BCLandTrust.org or call (714) 846-1001

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Photo Credits:

Ridgway's Rail chick- Steve Smith, Child digging- Ryne Wall, t-shirts- E. Chin, Miracles docent with kids outreach table- Jeff Rokos, volunteers on beach- Mike McMahan, landscape-Eileen Rizzacasa, Black-crowned Night Heron- Brian Goebel