The first annual San Dieguito Watershed calendars are available and there's still a whole year left to use them!  Order on-line from this San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy link.
 

We need Sign Spinners for the Farmers Market!  If your scout troop or high school school students would like a civic project to earn badges and credits please contact us immediately!  Anne@sdrp.org or (760)432-8318

Date:        Saturday, January 29th/No Reservations Needed
Time:        8:00am - 9:30am
Location:   Lagoon Trail, Del Mar
Difficulty:  Easy

Join avid birder Dave Batzler at the San Dieguito Lagoon as the River Park continues public bird watching sessions designed to encourage amateur birders to share their love of birds. We will have birding guides on hand for your convenience and also a scope to view the birds from different areas along the way!   Bring your binoculars, camera, and water!  No fee.  Meet at the information kiosk at the start of the Lagoon Trail located at the end of the cul-de-sac on San Andres Drive in Del Mar.

The San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy, a 501(c)(3), is our non-profit and the Friends of the San Dieguito River Valley is a 501(c)(4), a political advocacy group.  Both of these organizations contribute greatly to the vision of this beautiful regional open space park.  We have the same goals, but different roles.   Please visit them at www.sdrvc.org and www.fsdrvc.org to learn more about continuing efforts to acquire, protect, and manage lands within the River Park.

"Having the chance to build trails one plant and one shovelful at a time makes me happy - when our plants have grown up and the trails are done, I like to think that future generations will thank us for our work, just like I thank those who built Balboa Park and Mission Bay Park."

    Carol Carr, our Volunteer of the Month, has been supporting the San Dieguito River Park for 10 years!  After retiring from the Port of San Diego in 2000 she was appointed to the CAC (Citizens Advisory Committee) because of her involvement with the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, and then she put her talents to work to revive the River Park's Trails Committee by volunteering as Chair in 2003 - a position she still holds!  After the fires in 2007 Carol started doing volunteer field work alongside the Rangers to actively restore the trail system.  Cleaning culverts, scattering seed, installing plants, harvesting cactus, building trails, shoveling dirt . . .    In her spare time Carol can be found on the trails bicycling and hiking!

These work projects take place every second Sunday of each month from 8:00am till 11:00 am.  Habitat Rehabilitation Work Projects take place every third Saturday of each month from 8:00am till 11:00am.  The restoration of our Park's trail system and the creation of wildlife habitat are essential to providing a quality experience for all River Park visitors.  We need YOU!

Saturday, January 15th  
Del Dios Park (Entrance to Lake Hodges)  
8:00am - 11:00am

Sunday, February 13th  
Sunset Drive Staging Area 
8:00am - 11:00am
(on the Mule Hill Trail near Sikes Adobe Historic Farmstead)

Images of Crystalline Iceplant (Mesembryanthemum crystallinum) and the second photo isGoldenbush (Isocoma menziesii var. vernonioides). 

Non-native invasive plants are a real threat to the San Dieguito River Park. California has about 4,200 native plant species, and is recognized internationally as a "biodiversity hotspot." Invasive plants are detrimental because they can take over entire ecosystems by out-competing native plants for resources, thus reducing habitat for native wildlife.

One of the most invasive plant species the Park is dealing with at the San Dieguito Lagoon is Crystalline Iceplant. Several tactics are used to eradicate the species: herbicide application, hand-pulling, planting of natives and native seed dispersal. Recently Park Rangers and Volunteers have planted over 500 native plants along the Lagoon trail.  Also, large quantities of Coastal Goldenbush have been dispersed along the lagoon because it is a "weedy" native and will eventually out-compete the abundant Crystalline Iceplant. Habitat Restoration at the San Dieguito Lagoon is ongoing; and if you or your group would like to be involved please contact us at (858) 764-2275 extension 14.

Students from Camp Hope will spend most of their day on Saturday, January 22nd at Sikes Adobe Historic Farmstead learning about the pioneer experience in the San Pasqual Valley.  They'll get a chance to go back in time and experience work and play in the 19th century by doing chores such as laundry and gardening; and then making clay marbles to play with. They'll travel even further back using dig boxes to discover the archaeology of this site, which is still under excavation!  If you are interested in sharing the past with your children or students contact Museum Manager Anne Cooper at Anne@sdrp.org.  SikesAbobe.com

The San Dieguito River Park is a member of the San Diego Children and Nature Collaborative (SDCaN), organized in 2009, which promotes nature based education and other children's programs.  We will be hosting an exhibit at the Children and Nature Lecture at the San Diego Natural History Museum at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 25th.  The lecture, "Grounding Learning in Place and Community" will begin at 6:30 p.m. with Greg Smith, from Lewis and Clark College.  Other exhibitors include Family Adventures in Nature, Earth Discovery Institute, I Love A Clean San Diego, Mission Trails Regional Park, and Olivewood Gardens.  The lecture is   $5 and registration should be made through the San Diego Natural History Museum. Join us!  We're working to prevent Nature Deficit Disorder!

Celebrate Saint Valentine's Day by Taking Tea at the Sikes Adobe
Sunday, February 13th, 2011
1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Cost $5.00 to be paid at the door.

Cups of tea, tea cakes, cookies and a tour of the historic farmhouse
12655 Sunset Drive, Escondido, CA 92025 in the San Dieguito River Park.

For more information, please e-mail or call:
sikesadobe@sdrp.org
(760) 432-8318