Ready to Run again?

The 2nd annual 'field and 'dale fun run is scheduled for March 12, a littler earlier than last year.   Choose 6k or 12k.  If you are on Facebook, you can check either the Field and Dale page or the Panorama Vista Preserve page  for more information as we get closer to the date.  Or check back here!

                      MARCH 21 IS COMING FAST!  IT IS NOT TOO LATE TO SIGN UP. 

                                                  WALKERS ARE WELCOME

Go to Events page of www.panoramavista.org for information on registration and maps of the course.

Bladderpods in Spring

Kestrel activity

Today one of the kestrels from box #1 was seen driving a hawk off which had been sitting on top of the box. The kestrel pursued it as far as the river and then returned to take up vigil on a telephone wire nearby.

This California Sycamore was planted in 2007

The tree is now approximately 17 feet tall.  Other sycamore seedlings were planted 2007-2008 and were handwatered with kitty litter jugs or water from a small trailer tank until 1-1.5 years ago.  They are now on their own.  The river is a quarter of a mile away.

1992 and 2002 views of the river below the Bluffs

1992 : the riparian forest along the river is a thin strip.  This was 40 years after Isabella Dam and vegetation dependent on seasonal flooding were hard hit.  However, some trees with good tap roots survived, e.g. cottonwoods when the water table was 30 feet down.

2002:  The Kern River Corridor Endowment had purchased this land in the late 1990s from ARCO but no significant revegetation efforts had yet begun as of 2002.  Owning the land was the important thing;  the Endowment was formed on the principle that this area would never be developed.  The in-holding now known as River Ranches (the square in the upper right) was not part of ARCO's property and so not part of the Endowment's purchase;  however, the formation of the Endowment and establishment of the preserve predates development of River Ranches.

1956 view of River below the Bluffs

This is 3 years after Isabella Dam's construction.  Vegetation is shrinking in areas near the river.

1937 River and Canals

 

By 1937, agricultural and dairy activities had moved into an area along the Beardsley Canal;  farmers reached their property by driving along the canal.  The riparian forest is noticeably less dense than it was in 1910, but the farms were in an area that had not been densely vegetated.

1910 Kern River from the Bluffs Looking West

This very early view of the Kern Island Canal (on the left), the river (middle) and the oilfield (right) shows the thickness of the riparian forest shortly after the turn of the century. 

(This is a detail from a panoramic view of the Kern River Oilfield in the digital photographic collection from the Library of Congress.)

Dove Eggs Hatch

The dove eggs in the potted plant have at long last hatched!!  They were first spotted on Mother's Day, a suitable date!

Birdsong

Nesting Dove

The nursery has also drawn this drove to it -- a potted box elder seemed like a nice place for a nest.  She/he has two eggs in there;  the volunteers who come to hand-water the plants are tip-toeing around, trying not to unduly ruffle her feathers.

King Snake

This has been a good spring for King Snake sightings.  This snake was out in the field, stretched out and so relaxed it let us circle around taking photos for at least 3 mninutes.  Then it slowly went away.

In the bottom photo, this larger snake was in the nursery but has been seen inside the nearby sea train where we store equipment.  Mice have also been spotted inside the sea train.  Hmmmm.

Bee Colony Gone

We first photographed this bee hive, located high up on a dead tree, in 2011 but it may have been there some time before. It was still active in April of 2013 but it is dead and falling apart as of April 2014. We hope the bees might simply have migrated elsewhere and not fallen victim to Colony Collapse Disorder.  A beekeeper friend says new bees may eventually take up residence.  We will be keeping an eye out.

Native Plant Propagation at the Preserve

People sometimes wonder where the plants being raised in Panorama Vista's native plant nursery come from. With few exceptions, stock (such as these potted willows) have been propagated from cuttings or seeds collected on Preserve property. Volunteers hand-water them in the nursery so they will be ready to plant. Many thanks to these volunteers!

 

Great Blue Heron Keeping an Eye on Things

Dick Adams (1940-2013) was the Program Chairman for the Kern Audubon Society and to reflect his love for birding and to honor his memory, Audubon members chose to plant an elderberry, whose berries are a prime source of food for birds.

Here we see Harry Love driving in a post with a plaque to Dick Adams and in the middle of the cleared space is a young elderberry enclosed in chicken wire;  by this time next year it should be 5 feet tall.

After all eggs are hatched, the nest is abandoned and looks as if nothing had ever happened there.

Killdeer parents do not allow shell to remain in the nest.

KILLDEER CHICKS ARE PRECOCIOUS