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Walking Ecology Lecture Series Just Got Even Better!
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Last week Jenson Audio-Stereo of Santa Barbara finished installation of a new projector, large format screen and sound system in Clarke Hall... opening a new world of possibility for lectures, public forums, film screenings, and LCOGT telescope simulcasting. We are busily planning the 2013-14 Walking Ecology Lecture Series with large format in mind! 
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Look who's been showing up in Sedgwick's trail cameras! 
Soaring raptors are a common sight in the Santa Ynez Valley. Many a heart leap when visitors catch sight of a large, soaring bird over Sedgwick- hoping it is an eagle or condor. But if it's soaring with its wings raised in a V and making wobbly circles, it's likely a turkey vulture.
Vultures use their long dihedral shaped wings to ride thermals coming off the mountains and posses a keen sense of smell to find fresh carcasses. The part of a vulture's brain responsible for processing smells is particularly large compared to other birds. Its heightened ability to detect odors- it can detect just a few parts per trillion- allows it to find dead animals miles away. Scavengers are a critical part of the ecosystem and we are thrilled to have them here to remind us that its a wild place where the circle of life is constantly turning.
Vultures have developed such an affinity to the trough located in the NE corner of the reserve that we now refer to it as "the Vulture trough".
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