Slough Buzz
No. 131

  
Featuring...
Volunteer Day at the Slough: June 28
Troop 275 Helps Clean El Chamisal
Enjoy Summer at the Reserve
Changes on ESF Board
Job Opportunity at the Reserve
Support the Slough with Amazon Smile
Sightings
Find Out More
Join Our List
June 27, 2014

This is Slough Buzz, your email update from the Elkhorn Slough Foundation. We invite you to share this email with a friend by scrolling to the link at the bottom of this page.

 

Volunteer Day at the Slough:

Saturday, June 28, 10am-1pm at the Reserve 

 
Join us for Volunteer Day at the slough!

 

Join us for some hands-on activities Saturday, June 28 from 10am-1pm, for fun, learning, and helping future restoration.

 

The family-friendly event will include starting seedlings at the Reserve's state-of-the-art greenhouse, exploring tiny slough life at our microscope lab, and getting creative with arts and crafts. Thanks to our community partner Keurig Green Mountain, you'll also have a chance to win a Keurig brewing system and coffee!

 

So come out to the Reserve and get your hands dirty. We'll meet at the welcome table outside the Visitor Center.

 

We look forward to seeing you!

 

Thank you, Boy Scout Troop 275!

Prunedale Boy Scout Troop 275, with some of the trash cleaned from El Chamisal.





As part of an Eagle Scout Project, Prunedale Boy Scout Troop 275 rolled up their sleeves to clean up old drip tape and abandoned agricultural plastic from the ESF's El Chamisal property.  (Check out the photo album on our Facebook page.) 

 

ESF is continuing its restoration work on El Chamisal--which has been removed from agricultural production due to the steepness of the land--by clearing trash, repairing erosion, and eliminating invasive weeds. Our objective is to return it to native oak woodland and grassland habitat.

 

Community volunteers are instrumental in helping restore our conserved lands, and the Boy Scouts are exceptional in their ability to help. We thank them for removing yards and yards of old-drip tape and other trash--including a hidden mound of agricultural plastic and a 5-gallon bucket of used motor oil.

 

Thanks for a job well done, Troop 275!  

 

Enjoy Summer at the Reserve

Open Regular Hours on Independence Day

Spend a summer day at the slough! (Photo by Sharon Burkett)


It's officially summer! Why not visit Elkhorn Slough Reserve for a picnic or a leisurely summer stroll? The Reserve and Visitor Center are open from Wednesday through Sunday, 9am to 5pm (including Friday, the Fourth of July.)

 

Enjoy our award-winning Visitor Center with its fun and informative exhibits, a nature bookstore, and knowledgeable naturalists on staff to answer your questions. Facilities include picnic tables, restrooms and 5-miles of hiking trails. We'll even loan you a pair of binoculars!

 

Free docent-led tours are available Saturday and Sundays at 10am & 1pm, with a special birding tour the first Saturday of each month at 8:30am. 

 

Changes on the Foundation Board
(l to r) Departing Board members Steven Webster, Lydia Villarreal, and Steve Dennis with ESF Executive Director Mark Silberstein



Following best practices for non-profits, ESF's Board of Directors are subject to term limits. It is with gratitude that we acknowledge the excellent service of three community members who will be stepping off the board.

Steve Webster (former President), Steve Dennis (former Vice President) and Lydia Villarreal may be leaving the board, but not the slough. All three will remain engaged in our efforts. We thank them for guiding the Foundation through some very exciting times.

 

We are pleased to have Judith Connor take the helm as President of the Board of Directors. Connor has served on ESF's board for 5 years and, for much of that time, has chaired our Land Committee. She is a resident of the Elkhorn Slough watershed, with strong interests in native habitat restoration and invasive species management.

 

Anne Olsen steps into the role of Vice President, bringing to the position her keen legal mind and deep passion for the slough. C. Michael Pinto continues as Treasurer.

 

The Foundation is extremely lucky to have such a diverse, talented, and committed Board of Directors. Their generosity, foresight, and knowledge is key to the Foundation's success. Thank you to all!

 

Job Opportunities at the Reserve  



 

Are you a naturalist or educator passionate about sharing the wonders of Elkhorn Slough?  There are currently two job opportunities at the Reserve. 

 

The Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, managed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW), is seeking to fill a full time Fish and Wildlife Interpreter II position to help lead the Education, Volunteer and Visitor Center programs at the Elkhorn Slough Reserve. DFW has scheduled an open statewide exam for those interested in applying to get on the hiring list for this and other state DFW Interpreter II and III positions. The deadline for applying to take the exam is July 3, 2014.  

 

The Reserve is also seeking an energetic and talented Educator to assist with a broad range of programs at the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve.  The job includes administrative duties in support of these programs as well as hands on teaching and interpretation.

 

For more information about either of these positions, view the job postings on our website.

 

Help Support ESF through Amazon Smile





Help protect and restore the Elkhorn Slough when you shop online. Through Amazon Smile, a percentage of your purchase can be donated to support the work of the Elkhorn Slough Foundation whenever you shop on Amazon.  

 

You get the same products, prices, and service and a way to support our work to protect and restore the slough.  The only difference is that, to support ESF through Amazon Smile, you must access the site at http://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-2823247. When you do, .5% of the price of your eligible purchases will be donated to ESF. 

 

Thanks for the support -- and don't forget to tell your friends!

 

Sightings

ESF kayakers sighted this sandhill crane near Kirby Park in early June.
(Photo by Deborah Carter)



Elkhorn Slough's active heron rookery (featured recently in the Santa Cruz Sentinel) remains lively with nesting herons, egrets, and cormorants. Sheltered conditions and plentiful fish and invertebrates in the marsh channels and tidal flats help make the slough a favorite feeding and breeding ground for a variety of birds. You can view a video of the rookery on our YouTube channel.

 

On June 7, paddlers on the Foundation's "Kayaking the Upper Slough" event encountered a surprise visitor not far up the slough from Kirby Park--a sandhill crane. Sandhill cranes are not regular residents (or even regular migratory visitors) at Elkhorn Slough. However, they do stop over occasionally straying from their normal migratory routes.

 

On that same day, 105 Southern sea otters were counted in the main channel of the slough. (You might see some of them on our Otter Cam.) The wildlife abounds here at Elkhorn Slough!

 

For a list of birds and wildlife recently spotted at the slough, visit our Sightings blog. And visit Dave on the Trail for photos and short essays on natural history by Reserve Manager Dave Feliz.
The Elkhorn Slough Foundation is a nonprofit, community-supported organization working to conserve and restore Elkhorn Slough and its watershed. The Foundation works with local, state and national constituencies to protect our natural heritage.

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Elkhorn Slough Foundation
Phone: (831) 728-5939